Urbanisation is reshaping mammalian communities worldwide, yet forest specialists are generally considered poor urban adapters. The pine marten Martes martes, for long regarded as an indicator of intact woodlands, has recently shown signs of expansion into human-modified landscapes. Here, we combined citizen-science records and camera-trapping data to reconstruct the distribution of the pine marten in urban areas of Italy. Moreover, we used camera traps to investigate activity patterns, and spatiotemporal niche overlaps of the pine marten comparing urban vs. natural context sampling campaigns in central Italy. Verified reports from 2000 to 2025 confirm the species presence in multiple Italian cities, including several regional capitals, with percent of wooded cover within the city boundaries as main driver of pine marten occurrence, together with city elevation and the occurrence of the congeneric M. foina. In a protected urban area of Rome, camera traps recorded 192 independent detections in one year, including 46 pine martens, 79 red foxes Vulpes vulpes, 33 Eurasian red squirrels Sciurus vulgaris, and 34 humans. Pine martens exhibited a predominantly crepuscular activity, with significant peaks at dawn and dusk, differing from the more nocturnal red fox. Temporal overlap between martens and foxes was low in the urban park (Δ₁ = 0.38) but overlap with red squirrels (Δ₁ = 0.84) and humans (Δ₁ = 0.77) was high, suggesting flexible diel adjustments to urban pressures. Compared to a natural reference site, pine martens in the city displayed reduced synchrony with foxes but increased overlap with both prey and human activity, indicating behavioural adaptation to anthropogenic environments. Our findings suggested a growing capacity of M. martes to persist in urban green spaces by modulating temporal activity and resource use. The increase of urban records of pine marten highlights the need to reconsider its ecological classification and integrate cities into future conservation strategies for this carnivore.
Environmental conditions interact with genetic factors to shape sexually selected traits. In temperate bovids, horns grow in discrete annual increments, providing the opportunity to link year-specific environmental conditions to developmental trajectories. We combined segment-level horn data from 252 Alpine chamois (Rupicapra r. rupicapra) with climate and remotely sensed vegetation productivity (EVI) data and applied a path-modelling framework to quantify how sex, environmental variation, and compensatory growth jointly determine total horn length. As expected, horn growth occurred primarily early in life. The first measurable growth segment (L2) accounted for most between-individual variance and was strongly influenced by sex and current-year vegetation productivity. Subsequent segments contributed progressively less to total variance but were not independent. In particular, we detected condition-dependent compensatory growth between L2 and L3: individuals with reduced early growth tended to show stronger recovery under high vegetation productivity, whereas under poorer environmental conditions compensatory growth was weaker. This indicates that the ability to compensate for poor early growth depends on environmental conditions. Consequently, horn size reflects both developmental constraints established early in life and the opportunity for environmentally mediated compensation in later years. Because horn segments represent annual, time-stamped growth increments, they provide a framework for reconstructing how environmental variability shapes phenotypic development. Interpreting total horn length requires understanding which life stages dominate its variance, with direct implications for understanding the evolution of sexually selected traits and for wildlife management.
Studying the urea nitrogen salvaging process, which supports the symbiotic relationship between ruminants and their gastrointestinal microbiome, allows researchers to test hypotheses linking physiology and ecology. In this current study, we investigated the effects of both seasonal diet and artificial food acceptance on ruminal morphology and UT-B2 urea transporters of culled peri-urban fallow deer (Dama dama). At the rumen morphological level, our analysis covered all age classes (spanning 0–15 y.o.). At the cellular level we focused on subadult and adult individuals (age ≥ 3 y.o. therefore excluding fawns and yearlings) and analysed male and female samples separately, since previous research reported both sex- and age-related differences in deer rumen UT-B2 abundance. Rumen papillae physical measurements revealed males in winter had significantly longer papillae than during the mating autumn hypophagia, but this was not the case for females. Begging behaviour and age also affected rumen papillae, with significantly increased papillae density in consistent beggars accepting food from park visitors, whereas older individuals were characterized by papillae with increased length, increased width, and decreased density. For UT-B2 urea transporter proteins western blotting revealed a significant increase in abundance in winter samples for both male and female subadults and adults. Males that displayed consistent begging behaviour also had a significantly higher abundance of UT-B2 transporters. These data suggest that both seasonal changes and human-wildlife feeding interactions can affect deer rumen physiology. These findings improve our understanding of basic rumen physiological processes and add insight into the unseen effects that humans feeding wildlife may have. Provided the large availability of rumen samples in relation to widespread culling activities, we suggest that rumen analysis can facilitate researchers in testing specific hypotheses on feeding ecology and behavioural shifts within human-dominated landscapes.
Civets of the genus Viverra remain poorly studied, especially in Southeast Asia’s lowland dry forests. In particular, the coexistence mechanisms of similar Vierra species are unknown. To address this gap, we analyzed camera-trap data from Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary and Chhaeb-Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia to examine spatial and temporal interactions between the Endangered large spotted civet (V. megaspila) and the more common large Indian civet (V. zibetha), two closely related species that are ecologically and morphologically similar, often sympatric, and potentially competing for limited resources. We applied two-species occupancy models to estimate co-occurrence and evaluate the effects of predictors, and used hierarchical trigonometric regression mixed-effect models to quantify temporal overlap. Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI), elevation, and remoteness emerged as key predictors of occupancy, though responses varied between species and sites. Activity analyses revealed predominantly nocturnal patterns with crepuscular peaks. Diel overlap was high, with only marginal shifts in areas of sympatry; large Indian civet reduced activity slightly when large spotted civet was present. These findings indicate partial niche partitioning, with coexistence facilitated primarily by spatial segregation along elevation and moisture gradients, while temporal partitioning played a minor role. By providing rare insights into the coexistence strategies of two little-known Viverra civets, this study advances understanding of niche partitioning in Southeast Asia’s threatened lowland dry forests and underscores the need for further research on understudied carnivores.
The Italian hare (Lepus corsicanus) is a lagomorph endemic to central–southern Italy and Sicily, listed as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List. Despite growing conservation interest, its gut microbiota has not been previously described. Here, we provide the first characterization of the prokaryotic gut microbiota of wild L. corsicanus from Sicily. Cecal samples from legally harvested individuals were analyzed by sequencing the V3–V4 region of the bacterial 16 S rRNA gene, examining variation in relation to host age, sex, and habitat clusters. The microbiota was dominated by Bacillota and Bacteroidota, followed by Actinomycetota, with families such as Ruminococcaceae, Rickenellaceae, and Bacteroidaceae being predominant. Alpha diversity, measured as the number of Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASVs) and Shannon index, showed no differences between sexes but was significantly higher in juveniles than adults, as a probable consequence of different feeding behaviors. Habitat clustering did not significantly affect alpha diversity nor beta diversity. Nevertheless, phylogeny-based presence/absence analysis revealed limited differences, and differential abundance analysis highlighted specific taxa as more prevalent in certain clusters, calling for further investigations on habitat influence. Overall, our findings support the importance of establishing species-specific microbial baselines and provide a reference dataset for L. corsicanus, which represents a fundamental step to integrate gut microbiota into conservation-oriented research on this endemic species.
Two ecologically similar semi-aquatic herbivores can coexist if they segregate along at least one niche dimension, such as space or time. Urban habitats may constrain this segregation by homogenizing habitats, reducing resource diversity, and altering animal behavior, potentially intensifying interspecific interactions. Coypus (Myocastor coypus) and capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) frequently co-occur in urban wetlands of Argentina and share similar habitat requirements, making them an ideal model to evaluate mechanisms of coexistence under urban constraints. This study examines spatial, temporal, and fine-scale spatio-temporal interactions between coypus and capybaras within a single large gated urban complex composed of multiple residential developments in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Specifically, we aimed to: (1) assess spatial overlap and patterns of co-occurrence across the complex; (2) quantify overlap in daily activity patterns and its seasonal variation; and (3) evaluate simultaneous spatio-temporal co-occurrence at shared sites and its seasonal dynamics. We found a relatively high degree of spatial and temporal overlap between both species, particularly during warmer seasons when food availability is higher. In contrast, segregation emerged at the fine-scale simultaneous spatio-temporal level, driven by differences in peak activity periods and suggesting avoidance of direct encounters. This pattern is consistent with the competitive exclusion principle and indicates that interference competition may become more pronounced during colder seasons, when resources are limited. Our results highlight how urbanization constrains niche segregation at broad scales while promoting coexistence through subtle temporal and behavioral adjustments within a single, highly modified urban habitat.
Rodents, particularly the family Muridae, are exceptionally species-rich, with a global distribution and significant ecological and economic roles. Despite their ubiquity, many murids remain poorly studied, especially members of the subfamily Murinae inhabiting Southeast Asia’s biodiverse island ecosystems. Borneo, a hotspot for arboreal rodent diversity, hosts several endemic murines, including the elusive Emmons’s tree rat (Pithecheirops otion), known from only one museum specimen and three sightings documented with photographs. We assess the phylogenetic placement of P. otion by sequencing DNA from the holotype and presumed relatives in the genus Pithecheir. We recovered high-quality mitochondrial genomes and two nuclear genes to estimate the first species-level phylogeny that includes these two genera. Both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA support a sister relationship between Pithecheirops and Pithecheir and provide sufficient evidence to support their placement in the tribe Pithecheirini. Our review of distributional records of Pithecheirini reveals a severe paucity of geographical information, which hinders conservation assessments.
Thermoregulatory responses are essential for maintaining homeostasis and could be influenced by multiple factors, including ambient temperature (Ta) and immune challenges such as the acute phase response. While changes related to acute phase response in core temperature have been widely studied, the dynamics of surface temperature (Ts) under different Ta conditions remains less explored. Here, we assessed Ts changes in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum during the acute phase response, using infrared thermometry under short-term exposure to three Ta conditions (15 °C, 25 °C, and 32 °C), representing the thermal variation experienced in their natural habitat. Animals received an injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, which induces the acute phase response) or saline, and Ts was recorded in several body regions and at different time points. Overall, LPS had no effects on Ts. Instead, Ta strongly influenced Ts, with higher temperatures recorded after exposure to 32 °C. Temporal increases in Ts were observed only under 32 °C. Differences between 15 °C and 32 °C were found for eye and genital temperatures after exposures to this Ta. Positive correlations were found between Ts and core temperature. However, while febrile peaks were observed in rectal temperature, Ts remained relatively unaffected, highlighting limitations in using infrared thermometry to detect thermal changes induced by acute phase response. These findings suggest that while Ts is highly sensitive to Ta and reflects thermoregulatory adjustments, core temperature remains a more reliable indicator of immune activation.
The introduction of alien species can alter existing species interactions and behaviours, posing new challenges for wildlife conservation and management. Long-term data provide an invaluable resource for testing theoretical principles and understanding species’ responses to new colonisers. In this study, we used camera-trap data to assess temporal partitioning among two lagomorphs—the native European hare (Lepus europaeus) and the alien Eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus), a rabbit species native to Northern and Central America—and their principal predator, the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), before and after the Eastern cottontail colonised the study area. Our results reveal that, in both phases, the European hare and the red fox exhibited a low degree of temporal overlap. The red fox showed predominantly nocturnal activity, whereas the hare consistently showed a strongly bimodal pattern with peaks around sunrise (or early morning) and sunset. This temporal partitioning appears to be a key mechanism by which the European hare minimises encounters with the red fox, thereby reducing predation risk. The arrival of the Eastern cottontail did not modify the hare’s diel activity patterns, while the red fox exhibited subtle shifts in its activity rhythms, possibly reflecting adaptive foraging in response to changing prey availability. The Eastern cottontail showed seasonal behavioural plasticity in its activity rhythm, being predominantly nocturnal during the cold season and shifting to a bimodal pattern with a marked peak in the early morning (one hour preceding that of the European hare) during the warm season. In the cold season, when resource scarcity may force the cottontail to occupy the same spatial locations at a fine scale, temporal overlap with the native lagomorph was lower. We suggested that temporal segregation with the European hare is a key mechanism allowing the Eastern cottontail to establish in the invaded area. These findings underscore the role of temporal behavioural plasticity in mediating interspecific interactions and facilitating the success of alien species such as the Eastern cottontail.
The Block Island meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus provectus) is endemic to Block Island, Rhode Island in the United States of America, and is one of six meadow vole insular subspecies in North America. The Block Island meadow vole has been designated as a subspecies based on morphological examination; however, genetic analyses have not been conducted to test this classification. We tested the subspecies classification by examining mitochondrial DNA sequences from the cytochrome B (cytb) gene of 20 Block Island individuals and 37 mainland individuals from Rhode Island. We identified one nucleotide that was unique to all Block Island meadow voles compared to mainland Rhode Island meadow voles, but the nucleotide was found in a meadow vole sequence from GenBank. Sequencing results revealed three Block Island and eight mainland meadow vole cytb haplotypes. Two haplotypes were detected on Block Island with one haplotype unique to each year and another haplotype shared between years. We suggest that the Block Island meadow vole should continue to be classified as a conservation unit and managed separately from mainland populations. Additional genetic analyses also should be conducted to determine their divergence time from mainland meadow voles, which could elucidate when they colonized Block Island. The Block Island meadow vole is the only endemic taxon on the island, which could have been a natural occurrence or an historic human facilitated introduction.
Human disturbances influence mammalian ecology, affecting both space use and activity patterns. We evaluated how anthropogenic factors shape these variables in the mara Dolichotis patagonum, an endemic and vulnerable species in Argentina. The study was conducted in Ischigualasto Provincial Park (San Juan) and its surrounding area using 89 camera traps deployed between 2019 and 2021. Occupancy models were used to assess space use, while overlap estimates were applied to compare activity patterns. The models indicated that maras more frequently used areas with high domestic species presence and proximity to National Road 150. In contrast, human settlements and the tourist circuit showed no significant effect. Regarding activity, the species maintained a diurnal pattern near settlements but extended activity to 24 h near the road, possibly owing to reduced night-time traffic. Although temporal overlap with domestic animals was high, differences in activity peaks were detected. These findings suggest that maras exhibit behavioural flexibility in response to human disturbances, which may enhance persistence in modified environments, although associated risks such as collisions and predation remain.
Passive acoustic monitoring offers a non-invasive approach to studying the vocalisation of cryptic species, yet its application to the Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) has remained limited. Here, we describe the systematic characterisation of Asiatic lion roars and develop an automated detection model to support acoustic monitoring in the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, the last stronghold of the free-ranging population of this subspecies. Autonomous recording units (ARUs) were deployed across three survey phases, yielding 1,259 h of audio data. Using manually annotated roar clips, we trained two custom detection models via the BirdNET-Analyser framework. Among these, the Leo2 model performed best, achieving a precision of 0.63, a recall of 0.71, and an F1 score of 0.67, and substantially reducing false positives when evaluated on an independent test dataset. Temporal analyses indicated a pronounced peak in roaring activity between 03:00 and 05:00 h, along with increased activity after dusk extending into the late-night. An attenuation experiment further demonstrated reliable detection of lion roars up to 2 km under natural habitat conditions. To our knowledge, this study establishes the first acoustic reference framework for free-ranging Asiatic lions and demonstrates the feasibility of integrating passive acoustic monitoring with machine learning–based detectors for long-term monitoring, ecological research, and conservation management of this endangered population.
Understanding dietary patterns is crucial in landscapes where wildlife increasingly relies on both natural and human-derived food resources. This study examined seasonal dietary patterns of Himalayan brown bears (Ursus arctos isabellinus) in Lahaul Valley, India, where crop depredation by brown bears has increased alarmingly in recent years. Based on 253 scat samples collected between May to November during 2018–2022, diet composition was analysed using frequency of occurrence (FO) and estimated dietary energy content (EDEC). Significant seasonal variation was observed in most of the food items. Plant matter predominantly constituted the diet during both post-hibernation (FO = 62
Assessing the distribution and diversity of terrestrial and semi-aquatic mammals is fundamental for effective conservation efforts. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding has emerged as a rapid and cost-effective method for surveying mammals. It has promising avenues for conducting national surveys and enabling comprehensive assessments of mammalian populations across diverse habitats. We collected eDNA samples from 60 water systems across six regions in England (from north to south), United Kingdom, over a period of up to four days in each region. We detected 26 mammals from five taxonomic orders across all sampling locations, recovering 53–89
Seasonality shapes the timing of life-history events in animals across ecosystems, influencing how species allocate time and energy throughout the year. Yet conventional seasonal frameworks, often derived from environmental cues such as temperature or vegetation phenology, may not align with the behavioral timing experienced by animals in response to changing ecological and energetic conditions. Using GPS tracking data from Asian black bears (Ursus thibetanus) in central Japan, which exhibit pronounced seasonal shifts in life-history transitions, we inferred behavioral states with hidden Markov models to identify behavior-based seasonal phases. The proportion of behavioral states changed progressively from spring to autumn, with an increasing dominance of active states (exploring and traveling) as bears adjusted to reproductive and energetic demands. From late May to late August, females spent a greater proportion of time traveling, whereas males balanced exploring and traveling states, suggesting behavioral differences in mate search during the mating season. Both sexes showed a substantial increase in time spent in the exploring state after late august through autumn, coinciding with their hyperphagic period. These behavioral transitions delineate reproductive and hyperphagic phases of the annual cycle, demonstrating that behavioral dynamics provide a biologically meaningful framework for understanding animal seasonality and its linkage to environmental variability.
Subterranean rodents are key model systems for studying the ultimate and proximate causes of cooperative breeding and reproductive skew. The northern mole vole is a truly subterranean, highly social cooperative breeder with an evolutionary history independent of other subterranean rodents. This makes it a unique system for investigating parallelism and divergence in underground social evolution. By combining microsatellite analysis, low-invasive age estimation, and four-year group monitoring, we identified first-order relationships, elucidated the genetic mating system, and gained new insights into sex-specific social strategies. Most groups consisted of a single breeding pair and their offspring born in the current or previous 1–2 reproductive seasons. However, nearly half of the groups contained multiple adult males unrelated to the breeding female yet closely related to each other and, in known cases, philopatric. Several males shared paternity in some of these groups. Extra-group genetic polyandry was rare or absent, and no evidence of extra-group paternity was detected. Pair bonds persisted for years, likely until the death of one partner. In known cases, the disappearance of breeding females was followed by (i) the emigration of most daughters, resulting in a prevalence of male-biased groups and cooperative polyandry; (ii) incestuous breeding by some daughters; (iii) plural breeding of some sons; and (iv) serial monogamy of some breeding males. The turnover of breeders appears to be a determinant of social dynamics and mating system in the studied population.
Understanding how topography structures tropical faunal communities require disentangling direct effects from indirect effects mediated by vegetation and hydrology. We investigated these pathways in bat assemblages within Central Amazonian white-sand ecosystems, which are nutrient-poor, structurally heterogeneous habitats that remain largely understudied for bats. Using mist nets, we captured 602 individuals from 31 Phyllostomidae species across 19 plots spanning campina (open, shrubby) and campinarana (forested) formations within the Rio Negro Sustainable Development Reserve. We applied structural equation models (SEMs) to disentangle direct and indirect causal pathways linking terrain elevation, streams proximity, and vegetation structure to bat richness, abundance, and composition. Understory openness (positive effect) and stream proximity (negative effect) were the main direct predictors of bat diversity, particularly for frugivorous bats. Critically, terrain elevation exerted minimal direct influence but strong indirect effects: lower elevations and areas near streams supported more open vegetation, which in turn increased bat richness and abundance. This indirect and positive pathway was the dominant mechanism structuring bat assemblages, with frugivorous species showing the strongest responses. Campinas and riparian campinaranas functioned as biodiversity hotspots, likely due to their open understory structure and higher food availability. Our results demonstrate that fine-scale topographic variation ( 30 m elevation range) can significantly structure tropical bat communities through indirect ecological pathways, a pattern consistent with other tropical open ecosystems. Because elevation and stream networks can be obtained from remote sensing, they represent valuable proxies for predicting biodiversity in data-limited landscapes. Thus, elevation can be used as a proxy for vegetation structure variables, which are more difficult, time-consuming, and costly to measure in the field.
The genus Lepus is considered a model to investigate ongoing evolutionary processes, as it diverged only 8.61 million years ago. The Alpine mountain hare (L. timidus varronis) is a specialist, and the European hare (L. europaeus) a generalist. In the European Alps, they occur mostly in parapatry, with reported hybridisation. Hybrids can influence evolutionary trajectories, either promoting genetic homogenisation or contributing to the emergence of novel lineages. Differences in foraging behaviour between the two lagomorph species exist, but resource competition appears to occur in overlapping elevations. We investigated dietary ecology of both species and their hybrids, focusing on seasonal and altitudinal differences, in faecal samples collected along altitudinal gradients in Grisons, Switzerland. Dietary composition was inferred for 90 European hares, 59 Alpine mountain hares and 52 hybrids using a DNA metabarcoding approach. We identified 25 orders, 41 families, 93 genera and 88 plant species. Alpine mountain hares showed a selective feeding behaviour selecting plant species typical of the respective elevation. European hares confirmed a more generalist pattern, feeding on different plant taxa irrespective of the elevation, without evidence for dietary restriction toward the end of the vegetation period. Our findings are consistent with the idea that European hares can successfully inhabit Alpine ecosystems and may compete with Alpine mountain hares. In some cases, hybrids exhibited distinct dietary ecology relative to their parental species, resulting in greater overall variability. Hybrids in the Alps might influence evolutionary processes, especially under climate warming, when the parental species gain advantageous dietary traits through backcrossing.
Anatolia served as a critical glacial refugium for Palearctic biota during the Pleistocene; however, the evolutionary history of the hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) in this region has remained largely unexplored. We investigated the phylogeographic structure and divergence times of Turkish M. avellanarius populations using mitochondrial (NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1, ND1) and nuclear (apolipoprotein B, ApoB) DNA markers. Mitochondrial phylogenetic analyses revealed a deep, reciprocally monophyletic split (3.7
