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Research Articles (Mammal Research Institute): Recent submissions

  • Genetic guidelines for translocations : maintaining intraspecific diversity in the lion (Panthera leo) 
    Bertola, Laura D.; Miller, Susan M.; Williams, Vivienne L.; Naude, Vincent N.; Coals, Peter; Dures, Simon G.; Henschel, Philipp; Chege, Monica; Sogbohossou, Etotepe A.; Ndiaye, Arame; Kiki, Martial; Gaylard, Angela; Ikanda, Dennis K.; Becker, Matthew S.; Lindsey, Peter Andrew (Wiley Open Access, 2022-01)
    Conservation translocations have become an important management tool, particularly for large wildlife species such as the lion (Panthera leo). When planning translocations, the genetic background of populations needs to ...
  • Conserving alpha and beta diversity in wood-production landscapes 
    Jones, Gavin M.; Brosi, Berry; Evans, Jason M.; Gottlieb, Isabel G.W.; Loy, Xingwen; Nunez-Regueiro, Mauricio M.; Ober, Holly K.; Pienaar, Elizabeth Frances; Pillay, Rajeev; Pisarello, Kathryn; Smith, Lora L.; Fletcher, Robert J., Jr. (Wiley, 2022-06)
    International demand for wood and other forest products continues to grow rapidly, and uncertainties remain about how animal communities will respond to intensifying resource extraction associated with woody bioenergy ...
  • Ecological specialization and evolutionary reticulation in extant Hyaenidae 
    Westbury, Michael V.; Le Duc, Diana; Duchene, David A.; Krishnan, Arunkumar; Prost, Stefan; Rutschmann, Sereina; Grau, Jose H.; Dalen, Love; Weyrich, Alexandra; Noren, Karin; Werdelin, Lars; Dalerum, Fredrik; Schoneberg, Torsten; Hofreiter, Michael (Oxford University Press, 2021-09)
    During the Miocene, Hyaenidae was a highly diverse family of Carnivora that has since been severely reduced to four species: the bone-cracking spotted, striped, and brown hyenas, and the specialized insectivorous aardwolf. ...
  • Opposing community assembly patterns for dominant and nondominant plant species in herbaceous ecosystems globally 
    Arnillas, Carlos Alberto; Borer, Elizabeth; Seabloom, Eric W.; Alberti, Juan; Baez, Selene; Bakker, Jonathon; Boughton, Elizabeth; Buckley, Yvonne; Bugalho, Miguel Nuno; Donohue, Ian; Dwyer, John; Eskelinen, Anu; Firn, Jennifer; Gridzak, Riley; Hagenah, Nicole; Hautier, Yann; Helm, Aveliina; Jentsch, Anke; Knops, Johannes M.H.; Komatsu, Kimberly J.; Laanisto, Lauri; Laungani, Ramesh; McCulley, Rebecca L.; Moore, Joslin L.; Morgan, John; Peri, Pablo Luis; Power, Sally A.; Price, Jodi; Sankaran, Mahesh; Schamp, Brandon; Speziale, Karina L.; Standish, Rachel; Virtanen, Risto; Cadotte, Marc W. (Wiley Open Access, 2021-12)
    Biotic and abiotic factors interact with dominant plants—the locally most frequent or with the largest coverage—and nondominant plants differently, partially because dominant plants modify the environment where nondominant ...
  • Reproductive state influences the degree of risk tolerance for a seasonally breeding mesopredator 
    Marneweck, Courtney J.; Van Schalkwyk, Ockert Louis; Marneweck, David G.; Beverley, Grant; Davies-Mostert, Harriet T.; Parker, Daniel M. (Oxford University Press, 2021-07)
    The risk of predation can alter the way animals perceive costs and benefits in their environment, on which foraging decisions are made. To maximize fitness, animals with offspring show the most pronounced alteration in ...
  • No evidence of pre-hibernation or pre-migratory body mass gain in Miniopterus natalensis in north-eastern South Africa 
    Pretorius, Mariette Estelle; Markotter, Wanda; Kearney, Teresa; Seamark, Ernest; Broders, Hugh; Keith, Mark (Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 2021-02-24)
    Migration and hibernation are survival strategies that require physiological preparation using fattening. Bats employ both strategies in times of resource shortages. However, because males and females vary seasonally in ...
  • Collaboration for conservation : assessing countrywide carnivore occupancy dynamics from sparse data 
    Van der Weyde, Leanne K.; Tobler, Mathias W.; Gielen, Marie Charlotte; Cozzi, Gabriele; Weise, Florian Johannes; Adams, Tempe; Bauer, Dominik; Bennitt, Emily; Bowles, Matthew; Brassine, Alienor; Broekhuis, Femke; Chase, Michael; Collins, Kai; Finerty, Genevieve E.; Golabek, Krystyna; Hartley, Robyn; Henley, Steve; Isden, Jessica; Keeping, Derek; Kesch, Kristina; Klein, Rebecca; Kokole, Morulaganyi; Kotze, Robynne; LeFlore, Eric; Maude, Glyn; McFarlane, Kevin; McNutt, J. Weldon; Mills, Gus; Morapedi, Mompoloi; Morgan, Simon; Ngaka, Keitumetse; Proust, Nicolas; Rich, Lindsey; Roodbal, Marnus; Selebatso, Moses; Snyman, Andrei; Stein, Andrew B.; Sutcliff, Robert; Tshimologo, Botilo; Whitesell, Carolyn; Winterbach, Christiaan W.; Flyman, Michael, V (Wiley, 2022-05)
    AIM : Assessing the distribution and persistence of species across their range is a crucial component of wildlife conservation. It demands data at adequate spatial scales and over extended periods of time, which may only ...
  • How hornbills handle heat : sex-specific thermoregulation in the southern yellow-billed hornbill 
    Van Jaarsveld, Barry; Bennett, Nigel Charles; Czenze, Zenon J.; Kemp, Ryno; Van de Ven, Tanja M.F.N.; Cunningham, Susan J.; McKechnie, Andrew E. (Company of Biologists, 2021-02)
    At a global scale, thermal physiology is correlated with climatic variables such as temperature and aridity. There is also evidence that thermoregulatory traits vary with fine-scale microclimate, but this has received ...
  • Habituation of common eland (Taurotragus oryx) to intensive routine handling, and the effect of immunocastration thereon 
    Musa, Abubakar S.; Needham, Tersia; Kotrba, Radim; Neradilova, Silvie; Ganswindt, Andre; Ceacero, Francisco (Elsevier, 2021-04)
    The temperament of captive common eland (Taurotragus oryx) during handling is crucial for their management, as they have been identified as an ideal antelope for game meat farming, and are well-represented in captive ...
  • Behavioural change during dispersal and its relationship to survival and reproduction in a cooperative breeder 
    Harrison, Natasha D.; Maag, Nino; Haverkamp, Paul J.; Ganswindt, Andre; Manser, Marta B.; Clutton-Brock, Tim H.; Ozgul, Arpat; Cozzi, Gabriele (Wiley, 2021-11)
    1. The ability of dispersing individuals to adjust their behaviour to changing conditions is instrumental in overcoming challenges and reducing dispersal costs, consequently increasing overall dispersal success. Understanding ...
  • Can citizen science analysis of camera trap data be used to study reproduction? Lessons from snapshot Serengeti program 
    Thel, Lucie; Chamaillé-Jammes, Simon; Keurinck, Léa; Catala, Maxime; Packer, Craig; Huebner, Sarah E.; Bonenfant, Christophe (Nordic Society Oikos, 2021-03)
    Ecologists increasingly rely on camera-trap data to estimate biological parameters such as population abundance. Because of the huge amount of data camera trap can generate, the assistance of non-scientists is often sought ...
  • Predation risk effects on intense and routine vigilance of Burchell's zebra and blue wildebeest 
    Yiu, Sze Wing; Keith, Mark; Karczmarski, Leszek; Parrini, Francesca (Elsevier, 2021-03)
    Prey increase vigilance to maximize predator detection, but this comes at the expense of foraging depending on the vigilance type: (1) intense vigilance, when all feeding processes are ceased, and (2) routine vigilance, ...
  • Hot days are associated with short-term adrenocortical responses in a southern African arid-zone passerine bird 
    Moagi, Lesedi L.; Bourne, Amanda R.; Cunningham, Susan J.; Jansen, Raymond; Ngcamphalala, Celiwe Angel; Ganswindt, Andre; Ridley, Amanda R.; McKechnie, Andrew E. (Company of Biologists, 2021-05)
    Relatively little effort has been directed towards elucidating the role of physiological stress pathways in mediating avian responses to global heating. For free-ranging southern pied babblers, Turdoides bicolor, daily ...
  • Alternative tactics in male African ground squirrels: the impact of variable rainfall on condition and physiology 
    O’Brien, Kelsey A.; Waterman, Jane M.; Bennett, Nigel Charles (Oxford University Press, 2021-02)
    Alternative reproductive tactics occur when conspecifics of the same sex use different behavioral processes to maximize reproductive success. Resource availability can have significant impacts on the proximate factors ...
  • The influence of drying methods on the chemical composition and body color of yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor L.) 
    Selaledi, Letlhogonolo Andrew; Mabelebele, Monnye (MDPI Publishing, 2021-04-08)
    To preserve the quality of the yellow mealworm, different drying methods are being explored by farmers and processors. However, the energy costs associated with these methods are usually high for smallholder insect-rearing ...
  • A framework for the Eltonian niche of humans 
    Moll, Remington J.; Killion, Alexander K.; Hayward, Matt W.; Montgomery, Robert A. (Oxford University Press, 2021-09)
    Recent research has highlighted several influential roles that humans play in ecosystems, including that of a superpredator, hyperkeystone species, and niche constructor. This work has begun to describe the Eltonian niche ...
  • Bone remodeling in the longest living rodent, the naked mole-rat : interelement variation and the effects of reproduction 
    Montoya-Sanhueza, German; Bennett, Nigel Charles; Oosthuizen, Maria Kathleen; Dengler-Crish, Christine M.; Chinsamy, Anusuya (Wiley, 2021-07)
    The pattern of bone remodeling of one of the most peculiar mammals in the world, the naked mole-rat (NMR), was assessed. NMRs are known for their long lifespans among rodents and for having low metabolic rates. We assessed ...
  • Long bone histomorphogenesis of the naked mole-rat : histodiversity and intraspecific variation 
    Montoya-Sanhueza, German; Bennett, Nigel Charles; Oosthuizen, Maria Kathleen; Dengler-Crish, Christine M.; Chinsamy, Anusuya (Wiley, 2021-06)
    Lacking fur, living in eusocial colonies and having the longest lifespan of any rodent, makes naked mole-rats (NMRs) rather peculiar mammals. Although they exhibit a high degree of polymorphism, skeletal plasticity and are ...
  • African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) show differences in diet composition across landscape types in Kruger National Park, South Africa 
    Crossey, Bruce Gareth; Chimimba, Christian Timothy; Du Plessis, Cole; Ganswindt, Andre; Hall, Grant (Oxford University Press, 2021-10)
    The Kruger National Park (KNP) is home to the last genetically viable, minimally managed population of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus, wild dogs) in South Africa. Until 2004, this population remained stable, but since ...
  • How unique is unique? Quantifying geometric differences in stripe patterns of Cape mountain zebra, Equus zebra zebra (Perissodactyla: Equidae) 
    Prinsloo, Nicolas Derek; Postma, Martin; De Bruyn, P.J. Nico (Oxford University Press, 2021-02)
    Please read abstract in the article.