The dependence of Hyalomma aegyptium on its tortoise host Testudo graeca in Algeria

Hyalomma aegyptium (Linnaeus, 1758) (Ixodida: Ixodidae) has recently been confirmed as a carrier of numerous pathogenic, including zoonotic, agents. Four environmentally distinct regions of Algeria, located between the humid coastal zone and the arid Saharan Atlas range, were selected in order to compare differences in tick abundance among localities, and the correlations between tick abundance and host population characteristics and other environmental conditions. Sampling was carried out during May and early June in 2010–2012. A total of 1832 H. aegyptium were removed from 201 tortoises. Adult ticks accounted for 52% of the collection. In the pre‐adult stages, larvae were dominant. Data on prevalence, intensity (mean ± standard deviation, range) and abundance of tick infestation were calculated for each locality. Locally, prevalences reached 100%. The sex ratio was biased in favour of males (4.2). Intensities of infestation differed significantly among the localities studied for all developmental stages of the tick. The intensity of infestation by adult ticks was positively correlated to the size of the tortoise and with tortoise population density in the habitat. However, findings for immature tick stages were independent of both variables. No significant correlations between infestation intensities and the climatic parameters tested were found. Immature ticks were observed to prefer the front parts of their tortoise hosts, whereas the majority of adults were attached to the rear parts.     

Some factors influencing the Moroccan distribution of the western Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise, Testudo graeca graeca L., and those precluding its survival in NW Europe

The Moroccan distribution of Testudo graeca graeca L. is defined by locality records (109) and related to data from nearby or bioclimatically equivalent meteorological stations (86) to produce a rain-temperature climagram. Tortoises attain 1900 m in the High Atlas range. Tortoises occur where mean annual rainfall (P) is up to 1062 mm, and even 1112 mm where mean minimum monthly temperature for the coolest month (m) is below 0^oC and they are usually absent unless associated (90.0%) with Quercus ilex L. and Quercus suber L. woodland. Tortoises are absent from the Arctic-Alpine and Arid or Saharan bioclimates and where, without riverine habitat, Emberger's Quotient (Q) is below 19.5 (P = 139 mm) in the Steppe bioclimate. Below Q_= 39.1, they occur (88.9%) where there is Argania spinosa (L.) Maire woodland in the south-west and other broad-leaved and mixed wood- and scrubland species elsewhere. The Moroccan climagram includes and is extended by further stations (36) in the North African and southern European ranges generally ( T. g. graeca is reported in NW Egypt). The Moroccan range potentially occupies 167 000 m². Of a total of 45 stations below 550 m in NW Europe, the Western Mediterranean climagram only overlaps 12 in more oceanic Britain and Ireland; 11 are coastal or insular and 11 where Quercus woodland extends the natural range with m below 0^oC in montane areas. Tortoises do not occur where mean annual sunshine much exceeds 3250 h in northern Africa or below c. 2400 h in NW Europe. Tortoises introduced from the Mediterranean region by the pet trade are unable to reproduce if they survive in NW Europe for insolation is insufficient for egg incubation and hatchling survival.     

Ultrastructure of the respiratory epithelium in the lungs of the tortoise,Testudo graeca

The respiratory epithelium in the lungs of the tortoise (Testudo graeca) has been studied by electron microscopy. The epithelium consists of a mosaic of two different cell types (here called "pneumonocytes"). Type I pneumonocytes are roughly squamous and possess attenuated flanges of cytoplasm which extend over the septal capillaries. Localized cytoplasmic expansions are often present near the periphery of these flanges. Most of the organelles are concentrated in the perinuclear region; the most prominent of these are the mitochondria and osmiophilic inclusions. In contrast, type II pneumonocytes are cuboidal and are richly endowed with organelles including large Golgi complexes, extensive endoplasmic reticulum and numerous inclusion bodies. The morphological evidence suggests that type I pneumonocytes are involved in the secretion of osmiophilic material (presumed to be pulmonary surfactant) and in maintaining the integrity of the air-blood barrier. Type II pneumonocytes appear to be concerned solely with the production of surfactant.     

Isolation and characterization of eight microsatellite loci for the study of gene flow between Testudo marginata and Testudo weissingeri (Testudines: Testudinidae)

The taxonomic status of the Greek Testudo species, marginated tortoise (Testudo marginata Schoepff, 1793) and dwarf marginated tortoise (Testudo weissingeri Bour, 1995), is controversed. In order to study the gene flow among these Greek Testudo species, eight polymorphic microsatellite markers were characterized and screened for 32 individuals. The number of alleles observed per locus ranged from two to 19. Observed heterozygosities varied from 0.235 to 0.830. These microsatellite loci were also successfully tested on seven closely related species of Testudinidae. This set of microsatellites offers an efficient tool to investigate genetic differentiation among testudinid species.     

Sexual dimorphism in steppe tortoises (Testudo horsfieldii): influence of the environment and sexual selection on body shape and mobility

Selective forces shape sexes differently, with male body proportions facing strong selection to enhance mate searching and male-to-male combat traits, and female fitness being influenced by the ability to assimilate large amounts of nutrients necessary for vitellogenesis (and/or gestation), and their ability to carry the eggs or embryos. We evaluated the sexual dimorphism of body proportion of more than 800 wild steppe tortoises (Testudo horsfieldii) in Uzbekistan. The thick, well-developed shell offers protection from predators but pronounced digging habits probably also constrain body shape (e.g. a shell that is dorso-ventrally flattened, although round from a dorsal view helps to penetrate into, and move within the soil). Thus, in this species, natural selection might favour a heavy and flat shell that is 'closed' with small openings for appendages. In males, these environmental influences appear to be countered by sexual selection. Compared to females, they weigh less (absolutely and relative to shell dimensions), have longer legs, have shell structure allowing wider movements for their legs, and they walk faster. Males were also able to right themselves more quickly than females did in experimental tests. This quick righting ability is critical because intra-sexual combats frequently result in males being flipped onto their backs and becoming prone to hyperthermia or predation. Females are heavily built, with wide shells (relative to male shells), which may provide space for carrying eggs. From our results, a number of simple hypotheses can be tested on a wide range of chelonian species.     

Synchrony, scale and temporal dynamics of rock partridge (Alectoris graeca saxatilis) populations in the Dolomites

1. Harvesting records of rock partridge ( Alectoris graeca saxatilis ) were examined first to identify the presence of cycles in a species with a southern European distribution and then to examine synchrony between populations at a range of scales.
2. Hunting records from 1965 to 1994 were obtained from 210 hunting areas and analysed at three spatial scales: subpopulation, population and metapopulation. Rock partridge exhibited cyclic fluctuations in about 40% of the time series with a period of 4–7 years. The results did not change with spatial scale. The density-dependent structure of the populations showed that most populations exhibited damped oscillations.
3. The proportion of populations that were in synchrony increased with scale from the population to metapopulation level. There was no decline in synchrony with distance but a large variation between populations irrespective of distance.
4. The populations clustered into dry and wet habitats, with those in the dry habitat being more cyclic. We suggest the lack of spatial synchrony with distance but greater synchrony within habitats may reflect the influence of stochastic events operating on populations with different density dependence structures.     

Hyalomma aegyptium as dominant tick in tortoises of the genus Testudo in Balkan countries, with notes on its host preferences

Collection of 1327 ticks sampled throughout Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia, from 211 tortoises belonging to three species, Testudo marginata Schoepff, T. graeca Linnaeus, and T. hermanni Gmelin, revealed the presence of four species of ixodid ticks, namely Hyalomma aegyptium (Linnaeus), Haemaphysalis sulcata Canestrini and Fanzago, H. inermis Birula and Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille). Study confirmed the strong dominance of all life stages of H. aegyptium among ticks parasitizing west Palaearctic tortoises of genus Testudo Linnaeus. Furthermore, a considerable portion of ticks collected from tortoises in southwestern Bulgaria represent larvae and nymphs of H. sulcata. At the same area we collected as exception one larva and one nymph of H. inermis from a single specimen of T. hermanni. Our findings of four adults of R. sanguineus is the first record of this species from reptilian host. According to our results achieved on localities with syntopic occurrence of two tortoise species, T. marginata and T. graeca represent in the Balkans the principal hosts of H. aegyptium, whereas T. hermanni serves only as an alternative host in the areas close to range of either T. marginata or T. graeca.     

Improvement of field sampling methods for adult Karoo paralysis ticks,Ixodes rubicundus (Acari: Ixodidae), through addition of host odour

The responsiveness of Ixodes rubicundus ticks on questing substrates and the success of their attachment to non-living substrates were investigated. The purpose of this study was to relate responsiveness to conditions of temperature and humidity, to compare the efficacy of flagging and dragging methods to estimate the size of populations of adult I. rubicundus in the field, and to determine the possible influence of host odour on the efficacy of these methods. Responsiveness was tested under varying conditions of temperature and humidity under field conditions, and the same ticks were used to determine the duration of attachment to a flannel cloth, either impregnated with host odour from sheep wool or without it. Flagging and dragging methods were compared under laboratory conditions with cloths either treated with host odour or not. Within the range of ambient temperatures recorded during this study (7–25°C) most of the ticks (86%) were responsive. No obvious relationship between temperature, relative humidity and responsiveness of ticks was evident. Ticks remained on average 32.9 seconds (n=64) on cloth treated with host odour compared to 9.1 seconds (n=54) on untreated cloth. Flagging was 1.5–1.7 times as effective as dragging and treatment of the cloths with host odour increased the efficacy 2.4 (dragging) to 2.8 (flagging) times. The reactions of ticks to external stimuli should, therefore, be taken into account to maximize field sampling success.     

Ichnosystematics of the Lower Permian Invertebrate Traces from the Collio and Mt. Luco Basins (North Italy)

The Lower Permian ichnofauna in the Collio Formation (Artinskian) in the Val Trompia (Brescian Prealps, North Italy) has been studied for a long time, but the studies have focused mainly on vertebrate prints. In this study, the invertebrate ichnofauna of the Collio Formation, and in the epiclastites of the Monte Luco Formation (Artinskian) cropping out in the Monte Luco area (Trentino Alto Adige region), is systematically analyzed for the first time. This ichnocoenosis consists of: Permichnium isp., Paleohelcura tridactyla, Diplichnites gouldi (Types A and B), Diplopodichnus biformis, Circulichnis montanus, Helminthopsis hieroglyphica, Gordia marina, Acripes cf. multiformis, Cruziana cf. problematica, Cochlichnus anguineus, Palaeophycus tubularis, Planolites isp. and ?Scoyenia isp. The ichnoassociation from the Collio Formation belongs to the Scoyenia ichnofacies, while that from the Mt. Luco Formation belongs to the Mermia ichnofacies. The latter, because of the lack of complete data, can be linked only to one of several submersion phases of the intravolcanic basin and is not referred to the complete continental Permian sequence in this zone. The composition of the ichnoassociation here analysed is similar to those of other European (especially France and Germany) and extra-European areas (especially North America and Argentina).     

ChAnge, Stress, Sustainability and Aquatic ecosystem Resilience In North African wetland lakes during the 20th century: an introduction to integrated biodiversity studies within the CASSARINA Project

The CASSARINA Project is a co-ordinated joint study of recent environmental change in North African wetland lakes. Nine primary sites were selected for detailed study comprising three sites in each of Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. Multi-disciplinary studies were undertaken by scientists from each of these countries working in co-operation with colleagues in the UK and Norway. The detailed results are presented in a consecutive suite of papers that describe both modern ecosystem attributes and the recent environmental histories of each site. This paper presents an overview of the aims, structure and initial results of the project.Modern site attributes measured were water quality and phytoplankton (Fathi et al., 2001), zooplankton (Ramdani et al., 2001b), fish (Kraïem et al., 2001) and littoral vegetation (Ramdani et al., 2001a). Baseline water quality data showed that one site (Megene Chitane) was acid with low salinity but the others had high alkalinities with varying degrees of brackishness. All the sites tended to be eutrophic and the phytoplankton was mainly dominated by green or blue-green algae. Where fish were present, growth rates were high with marginally highest rates in the Egyptian Delta lakes (Kraïem et al., 2001). Marginal vegetation surveys showed that emergent macrophytes were still extensive only in the Delta lakes (Ramdani et al., 2001a) where they form important refuges and restrict water pollution. In 1998, one Moroccan wetland lake (Merja Bokka) was drained completely for cultivation.Site specific environmental change records for the 20th century period were obtained using palaeolimnological techniques. Sediment core chronologies (Appleby et al., 2001) were based mainly on radio-isotopes (²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs). Sedimentary remains of aquatic biota, diatoms, zooplankton, higher plants and benthic animals (Flower et al., 2001; Ramdani et al., 2001c; Birks et al., 2001a) and pollen (Peglar et al., 2001) were investigated (Birks et al., 2001b). Major differences in past species abundances were found and were interpreted in terms relevant to biodiversity and water quality/availability change. Metals and pesticide residues in sediment cores indicated that lake contamination was generally lower than in some European sites but some DDE profiles showed a close correspondence with known usage histories (Peters et al., 2001).Hydrological changes affecting water quality and availability mainly arose from land-use intensification during the 20th century and are shown to be the main driver of biodiversity disturbance at all nine CASSARINA sites. Summarizing floristic and faunistic changes using species richness values indicated that freshening of the Delta lakes during this century generally increased aquatic diversity. Species richness also increased during the final drainage of Bokka but tended to decline in acid Chitane. Modern sampling showed that phytoplankton and epiphytic diatom diversity was higher in the Delta lakes but this was not so for zooplankton. Each biological group reacted differently to environmental disturbance and this lack of concordance makes overall diversity changes difficult to predict.     

Origins of the Iberomaurusian in NW Africa: New AMS radiocarbon dating of the Middle and Later Stone Age deposits at Taforalt Cave,Morocco

Recent genetic studies based on the distribution of mtDNA of haplogroup U6 have led to subtly different theories regarding the arrival of modern human populations in North Africa. One proposes that groups of the proto-U6 lineage spread from the Near East to North Africa around 40–45 ka (thousands of years ago), followed by some degree of regional continuity. Another envisages a westward human migration from the Near East, followed by further demographic expansion at ∼22 ka centred on the Maghreb and associated with a microlithic bladelet culture known as the Iberomaurusian. In evaluating these theories, we report on the results of new work on the Middle (MSA) and Later Stone (LSA) Age deposits at Taforalt Cave in Morocco. We present 54 AMS radiocarbon dates on bone and charcoals from a sequence of late MSA and LSA occupation levels of the cave. Using Bayesian modelling we show that an MSA non-Levallois flake industry was present until ∼24.5 ka Cal BP (calibrated years before present), followed by a gap in occupation and the subsequent appearance of an LSA Iberomaurusian industry from at least 21,160 Cal BP. The new dating offers fresh light on theories of continuity versus replacement of populations as presented by the genetic evidence. We examine the implications of these data for interpreting the first appearance of the LSA in the Maghreb and providing comparisons with other dated early blade and bladelet industries in North Africa.     

Metapodial bones of Ursus gr. spelaeus from selected caves of the North Italy. A biometrical study and evolutionary trend

The cave bear evolution is characterized by some specific trends, including the increase in size, the progressive complication of the tooth surface and the gradual strengthening of the metapodial bones. Important indicators of the evolutionary level are the morphodynamic index of P⁴/₄ and the plumpness index of the metapodial bones. Only recently, the morphological and morphometric analysis was complemented by genetic analysis – particularly of mtDNA. As a consequence, mainly based on genetics, new taxa have been proposed, for some of whom the exact taxonomic rank (species or subspecies?) is still under discussion. However, the new evolutionary model presents some problems because the genetic data alone are not sufficient to ensure a specific distinction and the morphodynamic and morphometric data do not support a specific distinction between the cave bear populations. The morphometric analysis performed on numerous metapodial bones belonging to some Italian (Buco dell’Orso, Covoli Velo and S. Donà di Lamon) and European populations seems to confirm, on the whole, a level of diversity not higher than that of a subspecies, allowing at most the identification of some local evolutionary trends, as assumed for the populations which have been living in the Italian peninsula.     

Palaeoecological and palaeoethnological analysis of botanical macrofossils found at the Neolithic site of Rivaltella ca'Romensini, northern Italy

The botanical macrofossils (charcoals, seeds and fruits) found during the archaeological excavation of the middle Neolithic site of Rivaltella Ca'Romensini near Reggio Emilia, northern Italy, have been analyzed. Among the charcoal fragments 11 different taxa have been identified, with a clear predominance of oaks. The relative frequencies of the different taxa probably do not reflect the real frequencies in the forest, but suggest that firewood had been gathered selectively. Among the seeds and fruits, four different Gramineae, a small wild apple and some hazelnut shells have been identified. These results indicate that the food economy of the Neolithic Rivaltella inhabitants was partially based on agriculture and on fruit gathering.     

Geographical and seasonal distribution of the bluetongue virus vector, Culicoides imicola, in central Italy

Following the first incursion of bluetongue virus (BTV) into Italy, the geographical and seasonal distribution of the biting midge Culicoides imicola Kieffer (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), the main vector of BTV and African horse sickness virus, was investigated in two regions of central Italy (Lazio and Tuscany). Surveillance of Culicoides was carried out between July 2001 and December 2002 using light traps: 1917 collections were made in 381 trap sites, well distributed across both regions. During the survey, bluetongue outbreaks were recorded in both regions. Culicoides imicola was found in 89 (23%) trap sites, distributed fairly continuously along the whole western coastline, between 41.2697 degrees N and 44.05724 degrees N. It was found only occasionally inland and usually in low abundance, with catches of more than 1000 specimens per night found in only two sample sites and 74% of catches numbering fewer than 10 specimens. Adults were caught from March to mid December, with peaks ranging from the end of August to mid November. The coastal distribution and the presence of only few sites with year-round records of adult vectors suggests that colonization may have occurred recently, by passive wind-dispersal from external source areas (Sardinia and Corsica). Alternatively, the species may occur in established, previously undetected, autochthonous populations that are limited from extension inland and northern-ward within Lazio and Tuscany by cool winter temperatures.     

Stable isotope evidence for the consumption of millet and other plants in Bronze Age Italy

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis was carried out on human and animal bones from four inland Early and Middle Bronze Age sites in Northern and Southern Italy. The main aims of the investigation were to explore the contribution of plant foods to the human diet and to examine any dietary differences between and within each of the sites. At two of the sites in Northern Italy, human and animal bones were significantly enriched in ¹³C. This finding was attributed to the consumption of domestic millets (Panicum miliaceum and/or Setaria italica), which are C₄ pathway plants. Conversely, individuals from the two Bronze Age sites in Southern Italy were significantly depleted in ¹³C compared to those from the north. Here, millet was absent from the diet, and protein from C₃ plants made a much greater dietary contribution than animal protein. This finding highlights the importance of cereal cultivation, most likely of wheat and barley, in the south of Italy during the Bronze Age. Overall, our results support the idea that the widespread cultivation of millet first occurred in Northern Italy, following its introduction from across the Alps in Central Europe. Finally, we found no significant differences in the stable isotope values between individuals at each site, when grouped by their sex or presence of grave goods. This leads to the conclusion that any status difference that may have existed is not reflected in the long‐term dietary record, or at least not as measurable by stable isotope analysis. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.