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Research Articles (Mammal Research Institute): Recent submissions

  • All in the details : a first assessment for the viability of metabarcoding in diet composition analysis of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) 
    O'Connor, Bridget C.; Crossey, Bruce Gareth; Hall, Grant; Ganswindt, Andre; Oosthuizen, Carel Jakobus (Wiley, 2024-11)
    DNA metabarcoding is a contemporary technique in diet composition studies and stands to fill key knowledge gaps left by traditional diet analysis methods. For endangered species such as the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus), ...
  • Agent-based modelling of southward coastal migration by humpback whale mother-calf pods off eastern Australia 
    De Bie, Jasper; Lee, Serena B.; Meynecke, Jan-Olaf; Seyboth, Elisa; Samanta, Saumik; Vichi, Marcello; Roychoudhury, Alakendra N.; Mackey, Brendan (Wiley, 2025)
    Humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae encounter a variety of environmental conditions during seasonal migration between feeding grounds and breeding grounds. Relationships between environmental conditions and migratory ...
  • Habitat use strategies of African elephants under different seasonal and ecological constraints 
    Chui, Scott Y.S.; Getz, Wayne M.; Henley, Michelle; Seidel, Dana P.; Keith, Mark; Parrini, Francesca; Karczmarski, Leszek (CSIRO Publishing, 2024-09)
    CONTEXT : Habitat selection is a fundamental process that shapes animal spatial ecology. Species with wide geographic distribution that occupy diverse habitats have to adapt their resource acquisition strategies to maximise ...
  • The diverse socioeconomic contributions of wildlife ranching 
    Denner, Candice; Clements, Hayley S.; Child, Matthew F.; De Vos, Alta (Wiley, 2024-07)
    The expansion of wildlife ranching has been broadly linked to conservation benefits, job creation, and economic contributions. However, a more nuanced understanding of the socioeconomic contributions of wildlife ranching ...
  • Anthropogenic pressure limits the recovery of a postwar leopard population in central Mozambique 
    Briers-Louw, Willem D.; Kendon, Tamar; Rogan, Matthew S.; Leslie, Alison J.; Almeida, Joao; Gaynor, David; Naude, Vincent N. (Wiley, 2024-05)
    The population size and conservation status of wildlife in post-conflict areas is often uncertain. In Mozambique, decades of armed conflict resulted in largescale wildlife population depletion with limited conservation ...
  • Validating enzyme immunoassays for non-invasive reproductive hormone monitoring in Temminck's pangolin 
    Scheun, Juan; Ganswindt, Andre; Jansen, Raymond; Labuschagne, Kim (Oxford University Press, 2024-11)
    Gonadal hormones play a central role in reproductive function and success. As such, quantifying reproductive hormones noninvasively in threatened, vulnerable and endangered wildlife species offers an ideal tool for assessing ...
  • Performance of protected areas in conserving African elephants 
    Correa, Roberto J.; Lindsey, Peter Andrew; Critchlow, Rob; Beale, Colin M.; Geldmann, Jonas; Plumptre, Andrew J. (Wiley, 2024-07)
    Protected areas have been gazetted to protect natural resources and biodiversity, but evaluations of effectiveness rarely include measures of species population change. We compiled annual site-level spending and elephant ...
  • Ratting on wildlife crime : training African giant pouched rats to detect illegally trafficked wildlife 
    Szott, Isabelle D.; Webb, E. Kate; Mshana, Said; Mshigeni, Anthony; Magesa, Walter S.; Iyungu, Alexander; Saidi, Miraji; Van de Laak, Dian; Schneider, Miriam; Dore, Ashleigh; Brebner, Kirsty; Davies-Mostert, Harriet T.; Cox, Christophe; Fast, Cynthia D. (Frontiers Media, 2024-10)
    The illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is one of the largest global crime economies, directly threatening species and their habitats, and biodiversity, and indirectly the global climate, and countries’ economies. Syndicates ...
  • Androgen-mediated maternal effects and trade-offs : postnatal hormone development, growth, and survivorship in wild meerkats 
    Davies, Charli S.; Shearer, Caroline L.; Greene, Lydia K.; Mitchell, Jessica; Walsh, Debbie; Goerlich, Vivian C.; Clutton-Brock, Tim H.; Drea, Christine M. (Frontiers Media, 2024-09)
    INTRODUCTION: Mammalian reproductive and somatic development is regulated by steroid hormones, growth hormone (GH), and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). Based largely on information from humans, model organisms, ...
  • Seasons of death : patterns of predation on wild lemurs and other fauna by endemic and introduced predators 
    Sauther, Michelle L.; Cuozzo, F.P.; Youssouf, Ibrahim Antho Jacky; Strinden, Michael; Lafleur, Marni; Ness, Jenifer; Larsen, Richard Scott; Millette, James B.; O'Mara, Teague (Brill Academic Publishers, 2024-08)
    Introduced species can negatively impact endemic flora and fauna. Studies have primarily utilized camera trap observations and occupancy modelling to better clarify the presence/absence and temporal overlap of endemic and ...
  • Fenced in : wildlife fencing intensification in southwest Limpopo, South Africa 
    Wagner, Cecilia; Scholtz, Rheinhardt; Nel, Lizanne; Keith, Mark (Southern African Wildlife Management Association, 2024-01)
    Wildlife farming, or game ranching, collectively termed here as the wildlife sector, has changed over the past few decades in South Africa, leading to growth in conservation and green economy, but resulting in an increase ...
  • Seasonal and ocean basin-scale assessment of amino acid δ15N trends in a Southern Ocean marine predator 
    Friscourt, Noémie; Lea, Mary-Anne; Cherel, Yves; Wotherspoon, Simon; Brewer, Elizabeth A.; Oosthuizen, W. Chris; De Bruyn, P.J. Nico; Wege, Mia; Goebel, Michael E.; Trathan, Philip N.; Walters, Andrea (Inter-Research, 2024-10)
    Please read abstract in the article.
  • Migratory movement of photo-identified humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae along the southeastern coast of Africa 
    Tree, B.; Olbers, J.; Seyboth, Elisa; Seakamela, S.M.; Cockcroft, V.G.; Vermeulen, Els; Findlay, K.P. (NISC (Pty) Ltd and Informa UK Limited (trading as Taylor and Francis Group), 2024-10)
    The global conservation of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae relies on continuous assessments of the populations’ post-whaling status, which in turn require information on population mixing and movements. One of the ...
  • Drivers of habitat availability for terrestrial mammals : unravelling the role of livestock, land conversion and intrinsic traits in the past 50 years 
    Pacifici, Michela; Christiano, Andrea; Lumbierres, Maria; Lucherini, Mauro; Mallon, David; Meijaard, Erik; Solari, Sergio; Tognelli, Marcelo F.; Belant, Jerrold L.; Butynski, Thomas M.; Cronin, Grew; D'Huart, Jean-Pierre; Da Re, Daniele; De Jong, Yvonne A.; Dheer, Arjun; Fei, Li; Gallina, Sonia; Goodrich, John M.; Harihar, Abishek; Gonzalez, Carlos A. Lopez; King, Sarah R.B.; Lewison, Rebecca L.; De Melo, Fabiano R.; Napolitano, Constanza; Rahman, Dede Aulia; Robinson, Phillip T.; Rondinini, Carlo; Semiadi, Gono; Strier, Karen; Talebi, Mauricio; Taylor, William Andrew; Thiel-Bender, Christine; Ting, Nelson; Wiesel, Ingrid (Wiley, 2023-12)
    The global decline of terrestrial species is largely due to the degradation, loss and fragmentation of their habitats. The conversion of natural ecosystems for cropland, rangeland, forest products and human infrastructure ...
  • Evidence for inbreeding depression in captive Damaraland mole-rats 
    Seager, David; Leedale, Amy E.; Thorley, Jack Benjamin; Vullioud, Philippe; Zottl, Markus; Clutton-Brock, Tim H. (Royal Society Publishing, 2024-10)
    Mating between closely related individuals can result in a reduction in offspring fitness, known as inbreeding depression. Here, we investigate whether breeding with close relatives affects the reproductive output of parents ...
  • The curious case of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis dysfunction in subordinate female naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber) : no apparent role of opioids and glucocorticoids 
    Hart, Daniel William; Roberts, Elise; O'Riain, M. Justin; Millar, Robert P.; Bennett, Nigel C. (Wiley, 2024-10)
    The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) is a unique model mammal in which to study socially induced inhibition of the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal (HPG) axis. Naked mole-rat groups exhibit a high degree of reproductive ...
  • Wind-driven upwelling of iron sustains dense blooms and food webs in the eastern Weddell Gyre 
    Moreau, Sebastien; Hattermann, Tore; De Steur, Laura; Kauko, Hanna M.; Ahonen, Heidi; Ardelan, Murat; Assmy, Philipp; Chierici, Melissa; Descamps, Sebastien; Dinter, Tilman; Falkenhaug, Tone; Fransson, Agneta; Grønningsæter, Eirik; Hallfredsson, Elvar H.; Huhn, Oliver; Lebrun, Anais; Lowther, Andrew; Lübcker, Nico; Monteiro, Pedro; Peeken, Ilka; Roychoudhury, Alakendra N.; Rożanska, Magdalena; Ryan-Keogh, Thomas; Sanchez, Nicolas; Singh, Asmita; Simonsen, Jan Henrik; Steiger, Nadine; Thomalla, Sandy J.; Van Tonder, André; Wiktor, Jozef M.; Steen, Harald (Nature Research, 2023-03-09)
    The Southern Ocean is a major sink of anthropogenic CO2 and an important foraging area for top trophic level consumers. However, iron limitation sets an upper limit to primary productivity. Here we report on a considerably ...
  • The positive effect of plant diversity on soil carbon depends on climate 
    Spohn, Marie; Bagchi, Sumanta; Biederman, Lori A.; Borer, Elizabeth; Brathen, Kari Anne; Bugalho, Miguel N.; Caldeira, Maria C.; Catford, Jane A.; Collins, Scott L.; Eisenhauer, Nico; Hagenah, Nicole; Haider, Sylvia; Hautier, Yann; Knops, Johannes M.H.; Koerner, Sally E.; Laanisto, Lauri; Lekberg, Ylva; Martina, Jason P.; Martinson, Holly; McCulley, Rebecca L.; Peri, Pablo L.; Macek, Petr; Power, Sally A.; Risch, Anita C.; Roscher, Christiane; Seabloom, Eric W.; Stevens, Carly; Veen, G.F. (Ciska); Virtanen, Risto; Yahdjian, Laura (Nature Research, 2023-10-19)
    Little is currently known about how climate modulates the relationship between plant diversity and soil organic carbon and the mechanisms involved. Yet, this knowledge is of crucial importance in times of climate change ...
  • Kin recognition for incest avoidance in Damaraland mole-rats, Fukomys damarensis 
    Leedale, Amy E.; Vullioud, Philippe; Seager, David; Zottl, Markus; Glauser, Gaetan; Clutton-Brock, Tim H. (Royal Society Publishing, 2024-10)
    Across taxa, breeding among close relatives is usually avoided because it incurs fitness costs to offspring. Incest is often averted through the dispersal of either sex from the natal area to breed. In some philopatric ...
  • Spatial patterns of large African cats : a large-scale study on density, home range size, and home range overlap of lions Panthera leo and leopards Panthera pardus 
    NAms, Vilis; Parker, Dan M.; Weise, Florian Johannes; Patterson, Bruce D.; Buij, Ralph; Wageningen, P.B.; Radloff, Frans G.T.; Vanak Ashoka, Abi Tamim; Tumenta, Pricelia N.; Hayward, Matt W.; Swanepoel, Lourens H.; Funston, Paul J.; Bauer, Hans; Power, R. John; O'Brien, John; O'Brien, Timothy G.; Tambling, Craig; DeIongh, Hans H.; Ferreira, Sam M.; Owen‑Smith, Norman; Cain, James W.; Fattebert, Julien; Croes, Barbra M.; Spong, Goran F.; Loveridge, Andrew J.; Houser, Ann Marie; Golabek, Krytyna A.; Begg, Colleen M.; Grant, Tanith; Trethoman, Paul; Musyoki, Charles; Menges, Vera; Creel, Scott; Balme, Guy A.; Pitman, Ross T.; Bissett, Charlene; Jenny, David; Schuette, Paul; Wilmers, Christopher C.; Hunter, Luke T.B.; Kinnaird, Margaret F.; Begg, Keith; Owen, Cailey R.; Steyn, Villiers; Bockmuehl, Dirk; Munro, Stuart J.; Mann, Gareth K.H.; DuPreez, Byron D.; Marker, Laurie L.; Huqa, Tuqa J.; Cozzi, Gabriele; Frank, Laurence G.; Nyoni, Phumuzile; Stein, Andrew B.; Kasiki, Samuel M.; MacDonald, David W.; Martins, Quinton, E.; VanVuuren, Rudie J.; Stratford, Ken; Bidner, Laura R.; Oriol-Cotteril, Alayne; Maputla, N.W. (Nakedi Walter); Maruping-Mzileni, Nkabeng; Parker, Tim; Van't Zelfde, Maarten; Isbell, Lynne A.; Beukes, Otto B.; Beukes, Maya (Wiley, 2023-04)
    1. Spatial patterns of and competition for resources by territorial carnivores are typically explained by two hypotheses: 1) the territorial defence hypothesis and 2) the searching efficiency hypothesis. 2. According ...