Find research datasets worth reusing

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2005View details →

Fig.12 in Late Miocene large mammals from Yulafli, Thrace region, Turkey, and their biogeographic implications

Fig.12. Length vs. width plot of p3s and p4s in Hippopotamodon antiquus and Microstonyx major.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2005View details →

Fig. 11 in Ailurid carnivoran mammal Simocyon from the late Miocene of Spain and the systematics of the genus

Fig. 11. Skull (A) and life appearance (B) of Simocyon batalleri (artwork by M. Antón).

opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: Juvenile concentrations of IGF-1 predict life-history trade-offs in a wild mammal

Early postnatal development can have profound effects on life-history traits later in life. One mechanism hypothesized to mediate this relationship is the anabolic hormone, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). IGF-1 contributes importantly to postnatal growth, and thus offers a means by which environmental and genetic variation might direct organismal development, reproduction and survival. We tested whether juvenile concentrations of IGF-1 can predict intraspecific variation in life-history traits later in life using longitudinal data from free-living female spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta). We found that juvenile concentrations of IGF-1 predicted heavier juvenile mass, which in turn predicted greater survival to reproductive maturity. However, independent of mass, higher juvenile concentrations of IGF-1 predicted earlier age at first parturition and reduced longevity in adulthood. Our results highlight the importance of early postnatal development as a determination period in mammals and suggest that concentrations of IGF-1 during this sensitive period can be used to predict important later-life trade-offs between growth, reproductive fitness and life span in wild, long-lived animals.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Split between two worlds: automated sensing reveals links between above- and belowground social networks in a free-living mammal

Many animals socialize in two or more major ecological contexts. In nature, these contexts often involve one situation in which space is more constrained (e.g. shared refuges, sleeping cliffs, nests, dens or burrows) and another situation in which animal movements are relatively free (e.g. in open spaces lacking architectural constraints). Although it is widely recognized that an individual's characteristics may shape its social life, the extent to which architecture constrains social decisions within and between habitats remains poorly understood. Here we developed a novel, automated-monitoring system to study the effects of personality, life-history stage and sex on the social network structure of a facultatively social mammal, the California ground squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi) in two distinct contexts: aboveground where space is relatively open and belowground where it is relatively constrained by burrow architecture. Aboveground networks reflected affiliative social interactions whereas belowground networks reflected burrow associations. Network structure in one context (belowground), along with preferential juvenile–adult associations, predicted structure in a second context (aboveground). Network positions of individuals were generally consistent across years (within contexts) and between ecological contexts (within years), suggesting that individual personalities and behavioural syndromes, respectively, contribute to the social network structure of these free-living mammals. Direct ties (strength) tended to be stronger in belowground networks whereas more indirect paths (betweenness centrality) flowed through individuals in aboveground networks. Belowground, females fostered significantly more indirect paths than did males. Our findings have important potential implications for disease and information transmission, offering new insights into the multiple factors contributing to social structures across ecological contexts.

opencc-zeroDec 2018View details →

A standardized assessment of forest mammal communities reveals consistent functional composition and vulnerability across the tropics

Understanding global diversity patterns has benefitted from a focus on functional traits and how they relate to variation in environmental conditions among assemblages. Distant communities in similar environments often share characteristics, and for tropical forest mammals, this functional trait convergence has been demonstrated at coarse scales (110-200 km resolution), but less is known about how these patterns manifest at fine scales, where local processes (e.g., habitat features and anthropogenic activities) and biotic interactions occur. Here, we used standardized camera trapping data and a novel analytical method that accounts for imperfect detection to assess how the functional composition of terrestrial mammal communities for two traits – trophic guild and body mass – varies across 16 protected areas in tropical forests and three continents, in relation to the extent of protected habitat and anthropogenic pressures. We found that despite their taxonomic differences, communities generally have a consistent trophic guild composition, and respond similarly to these factors. Insectivores were found to be sensitive to the size of protected habitat and surrounding human population density. Body mass distribution varied little among communities both in terms of central tendency and spread, and interestingly, community average body mass declined with proximity to human settlements. Results indicate predicted trait convergence among assemblages at the coarse scale reflects consistent functional composition among communities at the local scale, suggesting that broadly similar habitats and selective pressures shaped communities with similar trophic strategies and responses to drivers of change. These similarities provide a foundation for assessing assemblages under anthropogenic threats and sharing conservation measures.Understanding global diversity patterns has benefitted from a focus on functional traits and how they relate to variation in environmental conditions among assemblages. Distant communities in similar environments often share characteristics, and for tropical forest mammals, this functional trait convergence has been demonstrated at coarse scales (110-200 km resolution), but less is known about how these patterns manifest at fine scales, where local processes (e.g., habitat features and anthropogenic activities) and biotic interactions occur. Here, we used standardized camera trapping data and a novel analytical method that accounts for imperfect detection to assess how the functional composition of terrestrial mammal communities for two traits – trophic guild and body mass – varies across 16 protected areas in tropical forests and three continents, in relation to the extent of protected habitat and anthropogenic pressures. We found that despite their taxonomic differences, communities generally have a consistent trophic guild composition, and respond similarly to these factors. Insectivores were found to be sensitive to the size of protected habitat and surrounding human population density. Body mass distribution varied little among communities both in terms of central tendency and spread, and interestingly, community average body mass declined with proximity to human settlements. Results indicate predicted trait convergence among assemblages at the coarse scale reflects consistent functional composition among communities at the local scale, suggesting that broadly similar habitats and selective pressures shaped communities with similar trophic strategies and responses to drivers of change. These similarities provide a foundation for assessing assemblages under anthropogenic threats and sharing conservation measures.

opencc-zeroJun 2021View details →

Source pool diversity and proximity shape the compositional uniqueness of insular mammal assemblages worldwide

Islands have been the test bed of several theories in community ecology, biogeography, and evolutionary biology. Progress within these disciplines has given a more comprehensive and mechanistic understanding of the processes governing variation in species richness among islands. However, it remains unclear whether these same processes also explain variation in species and phylogenetic composition among islands. Integrating theory from ecology and biogeography, we infer the roles of dispersal, selection, and stochasticity on the composition of insular assemblages within archipelagos. We further assess the influence of source pool diversity and connectivity on the compositional uniqueness of insular assemblages. Island systems worldwide. We compiled data on species composition of non-volant mammals on ∼200 islands in nine archipelagos distributed worldwide from the literature. We used variation partitioning to quantify the relative influence of the environment (selection) and geographic distance (dispersal) relative to a null model (stochasticity, randomness) on taxonomic and phylogenetic compositional turnover within archipelagos. We then used a linear mixed model to gain further insight into the underlying mechanisms shaping variation in assemblage composition among islands at a global scale. Specifically, we assessed the influence of source pool diversity, isolation from the source pool, and island characteristics on compositional uniqueness. Our results suggest that within-archipelago variation in the composition of insular mammal assemblages is associated with stochastic or unmeasured processes rather than abiotic selection or dispersal limitation. The diversity and proximity of the source pool, as well as some island characteristics, explained variation in phylogenetic, but not taxonomic, compositional uniqueness globally. Within archipelagos, the largely unexplained variation in compositional turnover points to the overwhelming influence of extinction mediated by ecological drift or other stochastic processes, which obscures or overrides the signature of selection and/or dispersal. Globally, isolated islands associated with highly diverse source pools exhibit high phylogenetic uniqueness whereas well-connected islands associated with small source pools show the opposite trend. Phylogenetically unique assemblages also tend to occur on islands with a small elevational span and low annual temperature variation. Taken together, our results suggest that source pool diversity, along with the potential for colonization from those pools, plays an important role in shaping the composition of insular mammal assemblages worldwide.

opencc-zeroSep 2019View details →

Data from: Comparative genomic analysis of the pheromone receptor Class 1 family (V1R) reveals extreme complexity in mouse lemurs (genus, Microcebus) and a chromosomal hotspot across mammals

Sensory gene families are of special interest, both for what they can tell us about molecular evolution, and for what they imply as mediators of social communication. The vomeronasal type-1 receptors (V1Rs) have often been hypothesized as playing a fundamental role in driving or maintaining species boundaries given their likely function as mediators of intraspecific mate choice, particularly in nocturnal mammals. Here, we employ a comparative genomic approach for revealing patterns of V1R evolution within primates, with a special focus on the small-bodied nocturnal mouse and dwarf lemurs of Madagascar (genera Microcebus and Cheirogaleus, respectively). By doubling the existing genomic resources for strepsirrhine primates (i.e., the lemurs and lorises), we find that the highly speciose and morphologically cryptic mouse lemurs have experienced an elaborate proliferation of V1Rs that we argue is functionally related to their capacity for rapid lineage diversification. Contrary to a previous study that found equivalent degrees of V1R diversity in diurnal and nocturnal lemurs, our study finds a strong correlation between nocturnality and V1R elaboration, with nocturnal lemurs showing elaborate V1R repertoires and diurnal lemurs showing less diverse repertoires. Recognized subfamilies among V1Rs show unique signatures of diversifying positive selection, as might be expected if they have each evolved to respond to specific stimuli. Further, a detailed syntenic comparison of mouse lemurs with mouse (genus Mus) and other mammalian outgroups shows that orthologous mammalian subfamilies, predicted to be of ancient origin, tend to cluster in a densely populated region across syntenic chromosomes that we refer to as a V1R "hotspot."

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2021View details →

Data used, summary and codes: A validation standard for Area of Habitat maps for terrestrial birds and mammals

Birds_AOH_Metadata: Logistic modelling and point validation summary along with pixel summary of AOH maps for Birds . Mammals_AOH_Metadata: Logistic modelling and point validation summary along with pixel summary of AOH maps for Mammals. Column_Names_Index_AOH_Metedata: Description of column names of Birds_AOH_Metadata and Mammals_AOH_Metadata Point_localities_ebird: Latitude and longitude of points per species for birds downloaded from eBird used to validate the AOH maps.  Point_localities_gbif: Latitude and longitude of points per species for mammals downloaded from GBIF used to validate the AOH maps.  Logistic_Regression_Codes_AOH_Validation: R script for logistic modelling. Point_Validation_Codes_AOH_Validation: R script for point validation of AOH maps. Sample_AOH_Maps: Few sample AOH maps which were validated.

opencc-zeroJul 2021View details →

Data from: Mammal-bearing gastric pellets potentially attributable to Troodon formosus at the Cretaceous Egg Mountain locality, Two Medicine Formation, Montana, U.S.A.

Fossil gastric pellets (regurgitalites) have distinct taphonomic characteristics that facilitate inferences of behavioural ecology in deep time, despite their rarity in the fossil record. Using the taphonomic patterns of both extant and fossil small mammals from more recent geologic deposits as a guide, we assess the taphonomy of three unusual multi-individual aggregates of mammal skeletons from paleosols at Egg Mountain, a dinosaur nesting locality from the Upper Cretaceous Two Medicine Formation, Montana, USA. One aggregate consists of two individuals of the multituberculate Filikomys primaevus. This specimen is characterized by brecciated crania, articulated postcrania, and an absence of digestive markings, all suggestive of a non-predatory origin. Two additional aggregates consist of three and eleven individuals, respectively, primarily of the marsupialiform Alphadon halleyi. High proportions of crania and indigestible elements (e.g. teeth), extensive disarticulation and breakage, digestive corrosion patterns, and the absence of a phosphatic ground mass are indicative of regurgitalites and align with features of extant prey in diurnal raptor gastric pellets. We interpret these specimens as the oldest known mammal-bearing regurgitalites. The discrepancy in taphonomic features implies behavioural separation between the two mammalian taxa at the locality. Abundant shed teeth and nesting evidence at the locality favors Troodon formosus as the predator responsible for the regurgitalites, congruent with previous inferences of a small-bodied prey diet, manipulation of prey during feeding, heightened metabolic processes, and potential nocturnality for this taxon.

opencc-zeroJul 2021View details →

Supporting data for: Evolutionary drivers, morphological evolution and diversity dynamics of a surviving mammal clade: cainotherioids at the Eocene-Oligocene transition

The Eocene-Oligocene transition (EOT) represents a period of global environmental changes particularly marked in Europe and coincides with a dramatic biotic turnover. Here, using an exceptional fossil preservation, we document and analyse the diversity dynamics of a mammal clade, Cainotherioidea (Artiodactyla), that survived the EOT and radiated rapidly immediately after. We infer their diversification history from Quercy Konzentrat-Lagerstätte (South-West France) at the species level using Bayesian birth-death models. We show that cainotherioid diversity fluctuated through time, with extinction events at the EOT and in the late Oligocene, and a major speciation burst in the early Oligocene. The latter is in line with our finding that cainotherioids had a high morphological adaptability following environmental changes throughout the EOT, which likely played a key role in the survival and evolutionary success of this clade in the aftermath. Speciation is positively associated with temperature and continental fragmentation in a time-continuous way, while extinction seems to synchronize with environmental change in a punctuated way. Within-clade interactions negatively affected the cainotherioid diversification, while inter-clade competition might explain their final decline during the late Oligocene. Our results provide a detailed dynamic picture of the evolutionary history of a mammal clade in a context of global change.

opencc-by-4.0Aug 2019View details →

Figure 7 in Two new genera and two new species of the mite family Neopygmephoridae (Acari: Heterostigmata) associated with small mammals from USA

Figure 7 Theriadania venusta sp. nov., female: A – gnathosoma in dorsal view, B – gnathosoma

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2007View details →

Figure 3 in Deforestation affects biogeographical regionalization: a case study contrasting potential and extant distributions of Mexican terrestrial mammals

Figure 3. Mexican regionalization based on consensus cladogram of t1.

Figure 3 in Structural differences in mammal assemblages between savanna ecosystems of the Colombian Llanos

Figure 3. Species accumulation curves at the three savanna ecosystems of Colombian Llanos. Dotted lines show 95% confidence interval.

Figure 2 in Structural differences in mammal assemblages between savanna ecosystems of the Colombian Llanos

Figure 2. Some species recorded in Savanna ecosystems in the Colombian Llanos: (A) Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris; (B) Myrmecophaga tridactyla; (C) Puma yagouaroundi; (D) Cuniculus paca; (E) Puma concolor; (F) Odocoileus cariacou; (G) Leopardus pardalis; (H) Tamandua tetradactyla; (I) Pecari tajacu.

Figure 1 in Structural differences in mammal assemblages between savanna ecosystems of the Colombian Llanos

Figure 1. Geographical location of the localities studied in the three savanna ecosystems sampled in the Colombian Llanos: (A) SE-1., floodplain savannas (Arauca); (B) SE-2., aeolian savannas (Casanare); (C) SE-3., high-plain savannas (Vichada).

Figure 2 in Medium and large sized mammals of the Boqueirão da Onça, North of Bahia State, Brazil

Figure 2. Mammals registered in Boqueirão da Onça, Bahia State, northeastern Brazil. (A) Tamandua tetradactyla; (B) Euphractus sexcinctus; (C) Tolypeutes tricinctus; (D) Mazama gouazoubira; (E) Pecari tajacu; (F) Tayassu pecari; (G) Cerdocyon thous; (H) Leopardus tigrinus; (I) Leopardus pardalis; (J) Panthera onca; (K) Puma concolor; (L) Herpailurus yagouaroundi; (M) Conepatus semistriatus; (N) Kerodon rupestris; (O) Dasyprocta nigriclunis.

Figure 1 in Medium and large sized mammals of the Boqueirão da Onça, North of Bahia State, Brazil

Figure 1. Mosaic formed by the National Park (NP) Boqueirão da Onça and the Environmental Protection Area (EPA) Boqueirão da Onça. Insertions on the left indicate the distribution of the Caatinga biome in northeastern Brazil and the location of the study area in the north of Bahia State, Brazil.

Figure 3 in Spatiotemporal ecology of two Neotropical herbivorous mammals

Figure 3. Activity density pattern of the spotted paca (A) and tapeti (B) during the rainy and dry seasons, at a forest fragment, IFS, São Cristóvão, SE, Brazil. The X-axis shows the time of the day. During the rainy season, the average sunrise time was at 06:15 and average sunset time at 17:45. For the dry season, the average sunrise time was at 05:45 and the average sunset time was at 18:15.

Figure 2 in Spatiotemporal ecology of two Neotropical herbivorous mammals

Figure 2. Individual distributions of spotted paca and tapeti at a forest fragment at IFS, São Cristóvão, SE, Brazil.We collected the data through camera traps records at 33 sample sites from July 2015 to August 2017. The presence of each species was inferred from species camera trap records from each sample site, while the absence of the species was inferred by the lack of these records.

Figure 1 in Spatiotemporal ecology of two Neotropical herbivorous mammals

Figure 1. Forest Fragment location at the Federal Institute of Sergipe (IFS), São Cristóvão, SE. The insertion at the top-right hand corner represents the Brazilian territory with a highlight to Sergipe state (on dark gray).