aquatic mammals
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Author(s):  
Matthew Mo ◽  
Katarina Bonatakis

Drones or unoccupied aerial vehicles are rapidly being used for a spectrum of applications, including replacing traditional occupied aircraft as a means of approaching wildlife from the air. Though less intrusive to wildlife than occupied aircraft, drones can still cause varying levels of disturbance. Policies and protocols to guide lowest-impact drone flights are most likely to succeed if considerations are derived from knowledge from scientific literature. This study examines trends in the scientific literature on using drones to approach wildlife between 2000 and 2020, specifically in relation to the type of publications, scientific journals works are published in, the purposes of drone flights reported, taxa studied, and locations of studies. From 223 publications, we observed a large increase in relevant scientific literature, the majority of which were peer-reviewed articles published across 87 scientific journals. The largest proportions of peer-reviewed research articles related to aquatic mammals or aquatic birds, and the use or trial of drone flights for conducting population surveys, animal detection or investigations of animal responses to drone flights. The largest proportion of articles were studies conducted in North America and Australia. Since animal responses to drone flights vary between taxa, populations, and geographic locations, we encourage further growth in the volume of relevant scientific literature needed to inform policies and protocols for specific taxa and/or locations, particularly where knowledge gaps exist.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fábio Lopes Melo ◽  
Bruna Bezerra ◽  
Fabia Oliveira Luna ◽  
Nahir Alejandra Navarrete Barragan ◽  
Rodrigo Moraes Loyo Arcoverde ◽  
...  

Abstract For two years, the world has been experiencing a coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. Non-human animals are susceptible to the virus, including marine mammals. Here we aimed to test Antillean manatees, Trichechus manatus manatus, for the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). We collected samples from 19 individuals kept under the responsibility of the Brazilian centre for research and conservation of aquatic mammals (ICMBio/CMA). We analysed the samples through RT-PCR and RT-LAMP-PCR and found that two of the 19 manatees tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Such a result led to a new biosecurity protocol in the ICMBio/CMA to avoid potential human-manatee coronavirus contamination, showing how we can use simple genetic tools to improve the care and conservation of manatees.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Song ◽  
Mengjun Yu ◽  
Suyu Zhang ◽  
Rui Zhang ◽  
Inge Seim ◽  
...  

Aquatic vertebrates consist of jawed fish (cartilaginous fish and bony fish), aquatic mammals, reptiles and amphibians. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of 630 aquatic vertebrate genomes to generate a standardized compendium of genomic data. We demonstrate its value by assessing their genome features as well as illuminating gene families related to the transition from water to land, such as Hox genes and olfactory receptor genes. We found that LINEs are the major transposable element (TE) type in cartilaginous fish and aquatic mammals, while DNA transposons are the dominate type in bony fish. To our surprise, TE types are not fixed in amphibians, the first group that transitioned to living on land. These results illustrate the value of a unified resource for comparative genomic analyses of aquatic vertebrates. Our data and strategy are likely to support all evolutionary and ecological research on vertebrates.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devin Hoffer ◽  
Clayton Nielsen ◽  
Andrew Rutter ◽  
Stefano Anile

Abstract Throughout midwestern North American ecosystems, semi-aquatic mammals including beaver (Castor canadensis), mink (Neovision vision), muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), and river otter (Lontra canadensis) co-exist in wetlands. These species are ecologically important through their manipulation of habitats and interactions with other species present. Although natural resource managers in urban ecosystems are interested in semi-aquatic mammals and factors affecting their ecology, few such studies exist in the literature. We studied impacts of restoration practices and other environmental covariates on detection and occupancy of the 4 aforementioned focal species on forest preserves managed by the Lake County Forest Preserve District (Lake County, Illinois, USA). Sign surveys were conducted during December-April in 2018-19 and 2019-20. We quantified 12 variables representing bank measurements, temperature, precipitation, soil type, and survey replicate to inform the detection process and quantified 12 variables representing forest cover measurements, aquatic plant measurements, dominant landcover, restoration practices, and anthropogenic disturbances for the occupancy process. Single species, multi-season occupancy models were run in RStudio using the package unmarked. Detection probabilities ranged from 0.10 ± 0.07 for river otters to 0.60 ± 0.03 for muskrats; occupancy probabilities ranged from 0.28 ± 0.18 for river otters to 0.90 ± 0.05 for muskrats. Detection and occupancy were influenced by similar environmental factors (bank measurements, precipitation, and survey replicate for detection; and stream measurements and food availability for occupancy) compared to more rural locations. We provide further evidence that muskrats are urban adapters and document the initial stages of river otter recolonization in the Chicago Metropolitan Area.


Author(s):  
Xiaoqing Zhang ◽  
Hai Chi ◽  
Gang Li ◽  
David M Irwin ◽  
Shuyi Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract Lysozyme enzymes provide classic examples of molecular adaptation and parallel evolution, however, nearly all insights to date come from c-type lysozymes. G-type lysozymes occur in diverse vertebrates, with multiple independent duplications reported. Most mammals possess two g-type lysozyme genes (Lyg1 and Lyg2), the result of an early duplication, although some lineages are known to have subsequently lost one copy. Here we examine g-type lysozyme evolution across > 250 mammals, and reveal widespread losses of either Lyg1 or Lyg2 in several divergent taxa across the mammal tree of life. At the same time, we report strong evidence of extensive losses of both gene copies in cetaceans and sirenians, with an additional putative case of parallel loss in the tarsier. To validate these findings, we inspected published short-read data and confirmed the presence of loss of function mutations. Despite these losses, comparisons of selection pressures between intact g- and c-type lysozyme genes showed stronger purifying selection in the former, indicative of conserved function. Although the reasons for the evolutionary loss of g-type lysozymes in fully aquatic mammals is not known, we suggest that this is likely to at least partially relate to their hairlessness. Indeed, while Lyg1 does not show tissue-specific expression, recent studies have linked Lyg2 expression to anagen hair follicle development and hair loss. Such a role for g-type lysozyme would explain why the Lyg2 gene became obsolete when these taxa lost their body hair.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 210197
Author(s):  
Ole Næsbye Larsen ◽  
Colleen Reichmuth

Male walruses produce some of the longest continuous reproductive displays known among mammals to convey their physical fitness to potential rivals and possibly to potential mates. Here, we document the ability of a captive walrus to produce intense, rhythmic sounds through a non-vocal pathway involving deliberate, regular collision of the fore flippers. High-speed videography linked to an acoustic onset marker revealed sound production through cavitation, with the acoustic impulse generated by each forceful clap exceeding a peak-to-peak sound level of 200 dB re. 1 µPa. This clapping display is in some ways quite similar to the knocking display more commonly associated with walruses in rut but is produced through a very different mechanism and with much higher amplitudes. While this clapping behaviour has not yet been documented in wild individuals, it has been observed among other mature male walruses living in human care. Production of intense sounds through cavitation has previously been documented only in crustaceans but may also be an effective means of sound production for some aquatic mammals.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. e0251974
Author(s):  
Sabrina Bettoni ◽  
Angela Stoeger ◽  
Camilo Rodriguez ◽  
W. Tecumseh Fitch

Most aquatic mammals have complex social and communication systems. Interestingly, little is known about otters’ vocal communication compared to other aquatic mammals. Here, for the first time, we acoustically describe vocalizations of the neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis), a solitary and endangered New World otter species. We recorded vocalizations and behavioral contexts from six captive neotropical otters at Projeto Lontra, Santa Catarina Island, Brazil. Analysis of acoustic parameters were used to classify the vocalizations according to structure and context. We describe six call types with highly tonal as well as chaotic vocalizations with fundamental frequencies ranging from 90 to 2500 Hz. Additionally, we identified sex differences in the usage of calls. Results suggest that the neotropical river otter has a rich vocal repertoire, similar in complexity to other solitary otter species, but less complex than that of the social giant otter. Despite differences in sociality, phylogeny and ecology, L. longicaudis seems to possess vocalizations homologous to those found in other otters (e.g. hah and chirp), suggesting phylogenetic inertia in otter communicative repertoire. Otters thus offer an interesting but neglected group to explore the evolution of communication systems.


Author(s):  
Sannie Brum ◽  
Patrícia Rosas‐Ribeiro ◽  
Rodrigo de Souza Amaral ◽  
Diogo Alexandre Souza ◽  
Leandro Castello ◽  
...  
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