Movement patterns and athletic performance of leopards in the Okavango Delta

Although leopards are the most widespread of all the big cats and are known for their adaptability, they are elusive and little is known in detail about their movement and hunting energetics. We used high-resolution GPS/IMU (inertial measurement unit) collars to record position, activity and the first high-speed movement data on four male leopards in the Okavango Delta, an area with high habitat diversity and habitat fragmentation. Leopards in this study were generally active and conducted more runs during the night, with peaks in activity and number of runs in the morning and evening twilight. Runs were generally short (less than 100 m) and relatively slow (maximum speed 5.3 m s−1, mean of individual medians) compared to other large predators. Average daily travel distance was 11 km and maximum daily travel distance was 29 km. No direct correlation was found between average daily temperature and travel distance or between season and travel distance. Total daily energy requirements based on locomotor cost and basal metabolic rate varied little between individuals and over time. This study provides novel insights into movement patterns and athletic performance of leopards through quantitative high-resolution measurement of the locomotor, energetic, spatial and temporal movement characteristics. The results are unbiased by methodological and observational limitations characteristic of previous studies and demonstrate the utility of applying new technologies to field studies of elusive nocturnal species

Wild or Domestic? Biometric Variation in the Cat Felis silvestris Schreber

Investigation of modern biometric data indicates that it may be possible to distinguish wildcats from house cats in many instances. Applying the log-ratio (log-difference) technique to archaeological samples from medieval northern Europe, and to mixed samples of wildcats and house cats, shows that the differentiation may not always be clear, and the possibility that some samples include hybrids is discussed. The technique is applied to samples from the Orkney Islands to demonstrate that single wildcat specimens can be identified in small samples. Copyright (C) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

The scaling of postcranial muscles in cats (Felidae) I: forelimb, cervical, and thoracic muscles

The body masses of cats (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae) span a ~300‐fold range from the smallest to largest species. Despite this range, felid musculoskeletal anatomy remains remarkably conservative, including the maintenance of a crouched limb posture at unusually large sizes. The forelimbs in felids are important for body support and other aspects of locomotion, as well as climbing and prey capture, with the assistance of the vertebral (and hindlimb) muscles. Here, we examine the scaling of the anterior postcranial musculature across felids to assess scaling patterns between different species spanning the range of felid body sizes. The muscle architecture (lengths and masses of the muscle‐tendon unit components) for the forelimb, cervical and thoracic muscles was quantified to analyse how the muscles scale with body mass. Our results demonstrate that physiological cross‐sectional areas of the forelimb muscles scale positively with increasing body mass (i.e. becoming relatively larger). Many significantly allometric variables pertain to shoulder support, whereas the rest of the limb muscles become relatively weaker in larger felid species. However, when phylogenetic relationships were corrected for, most of these significant relationships disappeared, leaving no significantly allometric muscle metrics. The majority of cervical and thoracic muscle metrics are not significantly allometric, despite there being many allometric skeletal elements in these regions. When forelimb muscle data were considered in isolation or in combination with those of the vertebral muscles in principal components analyses and MANOVAs, there was no significant discrimination among species by either size or locomotory mode. Our results support the inference that larger felid species have relatively weaker anterior postcranial musculature compared with smaller species, due to an absence of significant positive allometry of forelimb or vertebral muscle architecture. This difference in strength is consistent with behavioural changes in larger felids, such as a reduction of maximal speed and other aspects of locomotor abilities

A hypothetico-deductive approach to assessing the social function of chemical signalling in a non-territorial solitary carnivore

The function of chemical signalling in non-territorial solitary carnivores is still relatively unclear. Studies on territorial solitary and social carnivores have highlighted odour capability and utility, however the social function of chemical signalling in wild carnivore populations operating dominance hierarchy social systems has received little attention. We monitored scent marking and investigatory behaviour of wild brown bears Ursus arctos, to test multiple hypotheses relating to the social function of chemical signalling. Camera traps were stationed facing bear ‘marking trees’ to document behaviour by different age sex classes in different seasons. We found evidence to support the hypothesis that adult males utilise chemical signalling to communicate dominance to other males throughout the non-denning period. Adult females did not appear to utilise marking trees to advertise oestrous state during the breeding season. The function of marking by subadult bears is somewhat unclear, but may be related to the behaviour of adult males. Subadults investigated trees more often than they scent marked during the breeding season, which could be a result of an increased risk from adult males. Females with young showed an increase in marking and investigation of trees outside of the breeding season. We propose the hypothesis that females engage their dependent young with marking trees from a young age, at a relatively ‘safe’ time of year. Memory, experience, and learning at a young age, may all contribute towards odour capabilities in adult bears

Evaluating the function of wildcat faecal marks in relation to the defence of favourable hunting areas

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Ethology Ecology and Evolution on 2015, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/03949370.2014.905499To date, there have been no studies of carnivores that have been specifically designed to examine the function of scent marks in trophic resource defence, although several chemical communication studies have discussed other functions of these marks. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that faecal marks deposited by wildcats (Felis silvestris) serve to defend their primary trophic resource, small mammals. Field data were collected over a 2-year period in a protected area in northwestern Spain. To determine the small mammal abundance in different habitat types, a seasonal live trapping campaign was undertaken in deciduous forests, mature pine forests and scrublands. In each habitat, we trapped in three widely separated Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) cells. At the same time that the trapping was being performed, transects were conducted on foot along forest roads in each trapping cell and in one adjacent cell to detect fresh wildcat scats that did or did not have a scent-marking function. A scat was considered to have a presumed marking function when it was located on a conspicuous substrate, above ground level, at a crossroad or in a latrine. The number of faecal marks and the small mammal abundance varied by habitat type but not by seasons. The results of the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated that small mammal abundance and habitat type were the factors that explained the largest degrees of variation in the faecal marking index (number of faecal marks in each cell/number of kilometres surveyed in each cell). This result suggests that wildcats defended favourable hunting areas. They mark most often where their main prey lives and so where they spend the most time hunting (in areas where their main prey is more abundant). This practice would allow wildcats to protect their main trophic resource and would reduce intraspecific trophic competitio

Cryptic complexity in felid vertebral evolution: shape differentiation and allometry of the axial skeleton

Members of the mammalian family Felidae (extant and extinct cats) are grossly phenotypically similar, but display a 300-fold range in body size, from less than 1 kg to more than 300 kg. In addition to differences in body mass, felid species show dietary and locomotory specializations that correlate to skull and limb osteological measurements, such as shape or cross-sectional area. However, ecological correlates to the axial skeleton are yet untested. Here, we build on previous studies of the biomechanical and morphological evolution of the felid appendicular skeleton by conducting a quantitative analysis of morphology and allometry in the presacral vertebral column across extant cats. Our results demonstrate that vertebral columns of arboreal, scansorial and terrestrial felids significantly differ in morphology, specifically in the lumbar region, while no distinction based on dietary specialization was found. Body size significantly influences vertebral morphology, with clear regionalization of allometry along the vertebral column, suggesting that anterior (cervicals and thoracics) and posterior (lumbar) vertebrae may be independently subjected to distinct selection pressures

Increasing game prices may alter farmers’ behaviours towards leopards (Panthera pardus) and other carnivores in South Africa

Human-carnivore conflict occurs globally, particularly in regions where large carnivores predate livestock. Retaliatory killings do occur, and although predation of livestock by carnivores happens, losses from other factors such as disease or injury can be misattributed because of landowner perceptions. Game farming for both trophy hunting and eco-tourism is becoming increasingly common in South Africa, and there has been a rapid increase in the cost of game animals (in some species as much as five-fold) between 2010 and 2015. This could result in an increase in conflict between commercial game farmers and carnivores. We conducted two questionnaire surveys of farmers in 2010 and 2015 to investigate this. We asked if there had been changes in farming practices, perceived predator activity, perceived amount of livestock and commercial game losses, and actions taken towards carnivores in a South African farming community. We found no significant change in farming types in the area or losses of livestock between the years. However, there was a significant increase in perceived commercial game losses reported, even though protection of game had increased. Actions taken towards carnivores by livestock/game farmers were also significantly more negative in 2015 compared to farmers growing crops, but there was no such difference in 2010. We suggest that these changes could be a result of the increase in game prices over that period, leading to greater financial losses when an animal is predated, which in turn could increase the likelihood of retaliatory killings of carnivores

Isotopic Niche Differentiation Among Mammals from a Rainforest in Peninsular Malaysia

We performed stable isotope analysis on eight mammalian species: pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina), long-tailed macaque (M. fascicularis), dusky leaf monkey (Trachypithecus obscurus), brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus macrourus), wild boar (Sus scrofa), lesser mouse-deer (Tragulus javanicus), greater mouse-deer (T. napu), and barking deer (Muntiacus muntjac), to test the hypothesis that the differences in diet and habitat types among species, guilds and foraging strategies are reflected in the δ15N and δ13C signatures of their tissues. Whereas the isotopic ratios differed among taxa, the four major isotopic groups observed were: mouse-deer species, primate species, brush-tailed porcupine, and wild boar. The brush-tailed porcupine showed the most divergent isotopic signatures, depleted in both δ15N and δ13C, and the wild boar had isotopic signatures enriched in both δ15N and δ13C. Although results are only indicative, the three habitat types occupied by the species were reflected by differences in isotopic signatures, with the ground-dwelling species having the most divergent isotopic values from arboreal and semi-arboreal species. Likewise, among the four different types of dietary lifestyle groups tested, each group showed either significantly different δ15N or δ13C from other groups. Omnivores had the highest isotopic values, and bark-eater/frugivores had the lowest. By increasing the sample sizes both within the species and the number of species in future analyses, this isotopic technique provides opportunity to elucidate the diets of their putative predators in the rainforests of Peninsular Malaysia

Palaeolithic diet decreases fasting plasma leptin concentrations more than a diabetes diet in patients with type 2 diabetes:A randomised cross-over trial

BACKGROUND: We have previously shown that a Palaeolithic diet consisting of the typical food groups that our ancestors ate during the Palaeolithic era, improves cardiovascular disease risk factors and glucose control compared to the currently recommended diabetes diet in patients with type 2 diabetes. To elucidate the mechanisms behind these effects, we evaluated fasting plasma concentrations of glucagon, insulin, incretins, ghrelin, C-peptide and adipokines from the same study. METHODS: In a randomised, open-label, cross-over study, 13 patients with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to eat a Palaeolithic diet based on lean meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, root vegetables, eggs and nuts, or a diabetes diet designed in accordance with current diabetes dietary guidelines during two consecutive 3-month periods. The patients were recruited from primary health-care units and included three women and 10 men [age (mean ± SD) 64 ± 6 years; BMI 30 ± 7 kg/m(2); diabetes duration 8 ± 5 years; glycated haemoglobin 6.6 ± 0.6 % (57.3 ± 6 mmol/mol)] with unaltered diabetes treatment and stable body weight for 3 months prior to the start of the study. Outcome variables included fasting plasma concentrations of leptin, adiponectin, adipsin, visfatin, resistin, glucagon, insulin, C-peptide, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, glucagon-like peptide-1 and ghrelin. Dietary intake was evaluated by use of 4-day weighed food records. RESULTS: Seven participants started with the Palaeolithic diet and six with the diabetes diet. The Palaeolithic diet resulted in a large effect size (Cohen’s d = −1.26) at lowering fasting plasma leptin levels compared to the diabetes diet [mean difference (95 % CI), −2.3 (−5.1 to 0.4) ng/ml, p = 0.023]. No statistically significant differences between the diets for the other variables, analysed in this study, were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Over a 3-month study period, a Palaeolithic diet resulted in reduced fasting plasma leptin levels, but did not change fasting levels of insulin, C-peptide, glucagon, incretins, ghrelin and adipokines compared to the currently recommended diabetes diet. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00435240 ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12933-016-0398-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users