Phylogeography of the blue tit ( Parus teneriffae -group) on the Canary Islands based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data and morphometrics

An analysis of the sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (1005 bp) of the Parus teneriffae-group from the Canary Islands and North Africa revealed new insights into the phylogeography of this taxon. The origin of the radiation on the Canarian Archipelago was apparently one of the central islands—Tenerife or Gran Canaria. The populations on El Hierro (P. t. ombriosus) and La Palma (P. t. palmensis) represent distinct monophyletic lineages. Blue tits from Gran Canaria are genetically distinct from those of La Gomera and Tenerife (P. t. teneriffae), which supports the results of other studies and suggests the existence of an—until now—undescribed taxon there. In contrast, the populations on the eastern islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote (P. t. degener) could not be distinguished from North African blue tits (P. t. ultramarinus), and these populations should be subsumed under the subspecies ultramarinus. Taxonomic recommendations based on these results include the distinction of the northern European P. caeruleus from P. teneriffae, including blue tits from North Africa and the Canary Islands, the treatment of degener and ultramarinus as synonymous (P. teneriffae ultramarinus) and a new blue tit taxon on the island of Gran Canaria (P. t. hedwigii nov. ssp.), which is formally described. The genetic results are in parts supported by bioacoustic and morphological data.     

Trabecular bone mass and bone content of diet-related Trace elements among the Prehispanic inhabitants of the western Canary Islands

The trabecular bone mass (TBM) of 29 bone cylinders (obtained at the iliac crest with a Bordier's trephine) belonging to non-sanile adult skeletons of the prehispanic inhabitants of the Western Canary Islands was determined histomorphometrically. Scanbning electron microscope and/or binocular microscope observations of the cylinders were also performed in order to exclude diagenetic alterations of the bones. Bone content of Sr, Mg, Mn, Co, Cu, Fe and Zn of the skeletons and of soil samples from the burials where they were found were also measured. These procedures were also performed in a control group of 21 preciously healthy individuals dead as a result of trauma. Although mean TBM values of the prehispanic samples not different from those of the control group, some individual TBM values of skeletons from La Palma and El Hierro were fully in the osteoporotic range. Individuals from La Palma and El Hierro showed high mean Sr, Mg and Mn bone contents, whereas Zn and Fe contents were below the normal range, indicating a mainly vegetarian diet. Individuals from Tenerife showed nearly normal Sr and Mg bone contents, low Zn and higher Fe values than those from the other islands; these results indicate a more mixed diet. No relationship was found between TBM and bone trace element contents.     

Phylogeography of skinks (Chalcides) in the Canary Islands inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) evolution was investigated in skinks of the genus Chalcides found in the Canary Islands ( Ch. sexlineatus, Ch. viridanus and Ch. simonyi ), together with some North African congenerics ( Ch. polylepis and Ch. mionecton ). Several sites were included within islands to cover areas of known within-island geographical variation in morphology. Skinks from the islands of El Hierro and La Gomera appear to be sister taxa. The relationships between this clade and the Tenerife and Gran Canarian skinks were not fully resolved, although the best working hypothesis indicated monophyly with the former, with the latter forming a closely related outgroup. Ch. simonyi from Fuerteventura was more distantly related to the Western Canary Island skinks and did not show close relationships with the North African species Ch. mionecton and Ch . polylepis . Possible colonization sequences for the four most Western Canary Islands were considered. El Hierro appears to have been colonized relatively recently from La Gomera, commensurate with the recent origin of this island, while dispersal between La Gomera and Tenerife and between Gran Canaria and Tenerife or La Gomera appears to have taken place considerably earlier. Substantial within-island haplotype divergence was found in Gran Canaria and Tenerife. This may be a result of recent periods of intense volcanic activity found within these two islands. Lower levels of within-island differentiation are found in La Gomera and El Hierro and may be explained by lower levels of volcanic activity during recent geological history and a more recent colonization, respectively.     

Reconciling gene trees with organism history: the mtDNA phylogeography of three Nesotes species (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) on the western Canary Islands

The processes of island colonization and speciation are investigated through mtDNA studies on Canary Island beetles. The genus Nesotes (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) is represented by 19 endemic species on the Canary Islands, the majority of which are single island endemics. Nesotes conformis is the most widespread, occurring on Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Palma and El Hierro. Nesotes conformis forms a paraphyletic assemblage, with a split between Gran Canaria and the other three islands. Nesotes conformis of the western Canary Islands cluster with Nesotes altivagans and Nesotes elliptipennis from Tenerife. Fifty‐two individuals from this western islands species complex have been sequenced for 675 base pairs of the mtDNA cytochrome oxidase II gene, representing Tenerife, La Palma and El Hierro. A neighbour joining analysis of maximum likelihood distances resulted in three distinct mtDNA lineages for N. conformis, two of which also include mitotypes of N. altivagans and N. elliptipennis. Through application of parametric bootstrap tests, we are able to reject hypotheses of monophyly for both N. conformis and N. altivagans. Nesotes altivagans and N. elliptipennis are poorly separated morphologically and mtDNA sequence data adds support to this being one species with a highly variable morphology. We propose that N. altivagans/N. elliptipennis is recently derived from two ancestral mtDNA lineages within N. conformis from the Teno region of Tenerife. We further propose colonization of the younger islands of La Palma and El Hierro by N. conformis from a mitochondrial lineage within the Teno massif (colonization; diversification; mitochondrial DNA; Canary Islands; Coleoptera).     

Phylogeography of pipistrelle-like bats within the Canary Islands,based on mtDNA sequences

Evolution of three Canary Island Vespertilionid bat species, Pipistrellus kuhlii, Pipistrellus maderensis, and Hypsugo savii was studied by comparison of approximately 1 kbp of mtDNA (from cytochrome b and 16S rRNA genes) between islands. mtDNA reveals that both P. kuhlii and P. maderensis exist in sympatry on Tenerife (and possibly other islands). Their morphological similarity explains why their co-occurrence had not been detected previously. Levels of sequence divergence are quite low within P. maderensis. Haplotypes were either identical or separated by /=12 mutational steps) indicating colonization of the latter from the former sometime during the last approximately 1.2 Ma, with low subsequent gene flow. Unlike P. maderensis the El Hierro population alone appears to represent an ESU. The H. savii haplotypes detected in Gran Canaria and Tenerife are identical or separated by 1 mutational step.     

Index to Vegetatio,volumes 74–110 (1988–1994)

Chamaecytisus proliferus (L.fil.) Link (Fabaceae: Genisteae) represents a species complex in the Canary Islands. Floristic data from 147 releves from the whole complex were collected and analysed by classification (TWINSPAN) and ordination (DECORANA) methods. Results indicate that white escobon of Tenerife, escobon of El Hierro, white escobon of Gran Canaria and typical tagasaste in La Palma are associated with those plant communities from the north of these islands which are under the influence of the north-eastern trade winds. Narrow-leaved escobon in Tenerife and La Gomera, escobon of southern Gran Canaria and white tagasaste of La Palma are found in those areas which are not under the direct influence of these winds. Morphological forms from the more easterly islands (Gran Canaria and Tenerife-La Gomera) have the broadest ecological range and they have played an important role in the floristic changes which have taken place after the destruction of the forests in these islands. The highest priorities for in situ conservation should be given to wild populations of typical tagasaste, white escobon of Tenerife and escobon of El Hierro.Abbreviations IBPGR International Board for Plant Genetic Resources - DECORANA Detrended Correspondence Analysis - OTU Operational Taxonomic Unit - TWINSPAN Two Way Indicator Species Analysis     

Evolution of an invasive rodent on an archipelago as revealed by molar shape analysis: the house mouse in the Canary Islands

Aim The aim of this paper is to identify the patterns in the morphological differentiation in Canary Island mice, based on fossil and modern samples. In order to achieve this, the mouse species present on the archipelago were first compared with a set of continental mice. The differences between the continental and Canary Island samples, and among the Canary Island samples, provide insights into the processes of colonization and the subsequent insular evolution. Location Canary archipelago. Methods An outline analysis based on Fourier transformation was used to quantify shape differences between lower molars. Together with the fossil and modern Canary Island samples, a reference set of genotyped continental populations of the commensal Mus musculus and the wild Mus spretus was used for comparison. Results The morphometric analysis showed that all the mouse specimens from the Canary Islands and Cape Verde belonged to Mus musculus domesticus. Lower molars of extant mice from La Gomera, El Hierro, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and to a lesser degree from Lanzarote, were similar to those of genotyped M. m. domesticus from the continent, while teeth of extant mice from Fuerteventura were more divergent. Fossil mice from Fuerteventura were very similar to the extant representatives on this island, and similar to the fossil mice on the nearby islands of Lobos and La Graciosa. Main conclusions The mouse present on the Canary archipelago has been identified as the house mouse M. m. domesticus. Based on the shape of the lower molar, the Canary Island mice are divergent from the continental ones, but the degree of divergence varies with the geography of the archipelago. Overall, populations from eastern islands are more divergent from the continental mice than populations from western ones. Fossil populations indicate that this situation was established several centuries ago. Two main factors may have contributed to this pattern: the appearance of different types of environment on the islands since the successful settlement of the mouse, and/or the number of subsequent introductions of continental individuals via shipping.     

Bone histology of prehistoric inhabitants of the Canary Islands: comparison between El Hierro and Gran Canaria.

The trabecular bone mass (TBM) of the proximal epiphyses of right tibiae belonging to 273 prehispanic inhabitants of Gran Canaria (60. 81% males and 35.53% females) were assessed by histomorphometrical analysis of undecalcified samples and compared with that of 41 samples from El Hierro (52.63% males and 47.37% females). Among the prehispanic population of Gran Canaria 19.05% showed TBM values below 13.5% and 30.40% below 15%, although individual variability was high (range 6.71-35.4%). In sharp contrast with these results, only one case (2.44%) from El Hierro showed a TBM value below 15%, whereas mean TBM (23.50;+/- 5.60%) was significantly higher than that of the population of Gran Canaria (17.88 +/- 5.20%). The high prevalence of osteoporosis on Gran Canaria may reflect protein-calorie malnutrition. Prehistorically Gran Canaria exhibited a relatively high population density (30-40/km(2)) and a strong reliance on agriculture, in contrast with a lower population density (4/km(2)) on the island El Hierro, where the population consumed mainly marine products.     

A new marine interstitial ingolfiellid (Crustacea,Amphipoda, Ingolfiellidea) from Tenerife and Hierro

Ingolfiella canariensis n. sp., from coarse sand and gravel in the mediolittoral zone of Tenerife and Hierro, Canary Islands, is described. The new species shares supposedly apomorphous characters with species from comparable habitats from the Andaman Islands, Bermuda and Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles). The female of Ingolfiella similis Rondé-Broekhuizen & Stock, 1987, from Fuerteventura is also described.     

Predicting potential distributions of invasive species: the exotic Barbary ground squirrel in the Canarian archipelago and the west Mediterranean region

This contribution aimed to predict the invasive Barbary ground squirrel (Atlantoxerus getulus) potentiality for invading the Canary Islands and western Mediterranean region, by determining firstly the climatic suitable areas in its native range and secondly, using presence data in the invaded range. Nineteen environmental variables submitted to a Principal Components Analysis selected those variables with higher factor loadings, which represent the main environmental conditions of the Northern African region (temperature in the coldest quarter, seasonal temperature, precipitation in the coldest quarter, temperature in the wettest quarter). After selecting hundred times more pseudo-absence points than presence observations (n = 6600 at a 0.083° resolution), Generalized Additive Models and Single-hidden-layer Neural Networks fitted in R were used to calibrate the model. Model results were extrapolated for the Canary Islands and the western Mediterranean region. In order to select between the two techniques, we calculated three accuracy measures (specificity, sensitivity and AUC) after using a Jack-knifing procedure and models were repeated ten times. The GAM model was less accurate than the NN model. Suitable areas did not have mean temperatures in the coldest quarter lower than −5°C and precipitation in the coldest quarter higher than 300 mm, respectively. We predicted favorable climatic areas across almost all the Maghreb, the European western Mediterranean region and in all the Canary Islands. Nevertheless, the seven islands differed significantly in the mean favorability scores, with El Hierro, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria being the most suitable. Same methodological analysis was applied to predict A. getulus distribution in other Canarian islands based on presence data from the invaded Fuerteventura. In this case, only Lanzarote and Gran Canaria appeared to be climatically suitable for the species. Our predictive model is an applicable tool to establish the invasive potential of A. getulus and to prioritize management strategies, within and outside the Canarian archipelago, to impede the expansion of this invasive squirrel out of Fuerteventura Island.     

Complex population genetic structure in the endemic Canary Island pine revealed using chloroplast microsatellite markers

The Canary archipelago, located on the northwestern Atlantic coast of Africa, is comprised of seven islands aligned from east to west, plus seven minor islets. All the islands were formed by volcanic eruptions and their geological history is well documented providing a historical framework to study colonization events. The Canary Island pine (Pinus canariensis C. Sm.), nowadays restricted to the westernmost Canary Islands (Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro), is considered an old (Lower Cretaceous) relic from an ancient Mediterranean evolutionary centre. Twenty seven chloroplast haplotypes were found in Canary Island pine but only one of them was common to all populations. The distribution of haplotypic variation in P. canariensis suggested the colonization of western Canary Islands from a single continental source located close to the Mediterranean Basin. Present-day populations of Canary Island pine retain levels of genetic diversity equivalent to those found in Mediterranean continental pine species, Pinus pinaster and Pinus halepensis. A hierarchical analysis of variance (AMOVA) showed high differentiation among populations within islands (approximately 19%) but no differentiation among islands. Simple differentiation models such as isolation by distance or stepping-stone colonization from older to younger islands were rejected based on product-moment correlations between pairwise genetic distances and both geographic distances and population-age divergences. However, the distribution of cpSSR diversity within the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria pointed towards the importance of the role played by regional Pliocene and Quaternary volcanic activity and long-distance gene flow in shaping the population genetic structure of the Canary Island pine. Therefore, conservation strategies at the population level are strongly recommended for this species.Communicated by D.B. NealeA. Gómez and S.C. González-Martínez as joint authors     

Radiation of Atlantic goldcrests Regulus regulus spp.: evidence of a new taxon from the Canary Islands

Phylogenetic relationships between goldcrest populations from the Atlantic Islands (Azores and Canary Islands) were investigated by two molecular markers (mitochondrial control region and cytochrome b sequences), and partly by morphology and territorial song. The Azorean goldcrest populations are closely related to European nominate R. r. regulus. Most probably, the Azores were colonized by goldcrests in a single late‐pleistocene invasion, while colonization of the Canary Islands presumably occurred in two steps: An early invasion to Tenerife and La Gomera 1.9–2.3 million years (my) ago and a more recent one to El Hierro and La Palma 1.3–1.8 my ago. Distribution of haplotypes on the Azores suggests a division of R. r. azoricus on São Miguel into an eastern population with close affinities to R. r. sanctaemariae and a western population belonging to the lineage of R. r. inermis on the central and western island group. The Canarian populations are genetically substructured into a northeastern group embracing Tenerife and La Gomera and a second, southwestern group including El Hierro and La Palma. Genetic distances between members of the two Canarian clades range at 3.1–3.4% (TrN distance, control region and cytochrome b). Differentiation between the two groups is also supported by morphology and by territorial song. Substitution rate estimates for the both genes range at approximately the same values of 0.0031 and 0.0044 substitutions per site and lineage per my which roughly corresponds 0.61–0.83% divergence between Regulus lineages per my. Highest local rates occur in island clades of the Azorean and the Canarian population and in R. r. japonensis from the Russian Far East and Japan. However, a general acceleration of a molecular clock in island populations is not evident from the Regulus data set due to extremely low local rate estimates in the Canarian clade of Tenerife and La Gomera. As a taxonomic consequence of the marked differentiation of the two Canarian goldcrest clades the populations from El Hierro and La Palma are described as a taxon new to science and are named Regulus regulus ellenthalerae n. ssp.     

Influence of Therapy with Metformin on the Concentration of Certain Divalent Cations in Patients with Non-insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus

Research was performed on a group of 30 patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), who never received antidiabetic medication before, and on a group of 17 healthy adults. The patients were administered treatment with metformin, 1,000 mg/day. Plasmatic and urinary concentration of magnesium have been measured, copper and zinc along with the concentrations of glucose, HDL, LDL, cholesterol, tryglicerides, HbA1c, and total erythrocyte magnesium, in advance and after 3 months of treatment. Data showed significant differences in the NIDDM group vs the control group: for plasma magnesium—1.95 ± 0.19 vs 2.20 ± 0.18 mg/dl, p < 0.001; urine magnesium—237.28 ± 34.51 vs 126.25 ± 38.22 mg/24 h, p < 0.001; erythrocyte magnesium—5.09 ± 0.63 vs 6.38 ± 0.75 mg/dl, p < 0.001; plasma zinc—67.56 ± 6.21 vs 98.41 ± 20.47 μg/dl, p < 0.001; urine zinc—1,347.54 ± 158.24 vs 851.65 ± 209.75 μg/24 h, p < 0.001; plasma copper—111.91 ± 20.98 vs 96.33 ± 8.56 μg/dl, p < 0.001; and urine copper—51.70 ± 23.79 vs 36.00 ± 11.70 μg/24 h, p < 0.05. Treatment with metformin for 3 months modified significant erythrocyte magnesium—5.75 ± 0.61 vs 5.09 ± 0.63 mg/dl, p < 0.001 and urine magnesium—198.27 ± 27.07 vs 237.28 ± 34.51 mg/24 h, p < 0.001, whereas it did not modify significant the plasmatic and urinary concentration of the other cations. The erythrocyte magnesium concentration was inversely correlated with HbA1c (r = −0.438, p = 0.015). The plasma level of copper was positively correlated with HbA1c (r = 0.517, p < 0.003), tryglicerides (r = 0.534, p < 0.003), and cholesterol (r = 0.440, p < 0.05), and the plasma level of zinc was inversely correlated with glycemia (r = −0.399, p = 0.029). Our data show a significant action of metformin therapy, by increasing the total intraerythrocyte magnesium concentration and decreasing the urinary magnesium elimination, positively correlated with the decrease of glycemia and HbA1c in NIDDM patients.     

Molecular evidence for adaptive radiation of Micromeria Benth. (Lamiaceae) on the Canary Islands as inferred from chloroplast and nuclear DNA sequences and ISSR fingerprint data

The Canary Islands have been a focus for phylogeographic studies on the colonization and diversification of endemic angiosperm taxa. Based on phylogeographic patterns, both inter island colonization and adaptive radiation seem to be the driving forces for speciation in most taxa. Here, we investigated the diversification of Micromeria on the Canary Islands and Madeira at the inter- and infraspecific level using inter simple sequence repeat PCR (ISSR), the trnK-Intron and the trnT-trnL-spacer of the cpDNA and a low copy nuclear gene. The genus Micromeria (Lamiaceae, Mentheae) includes 16 species and 13 subspecies in Macaronesia. Most taxa are restricted endemics, or grow in similar ecological conditions on two islands. An exception is M. varia, a widespread species inhabits the lowland scrub on each island of the archipelago and could represent an ancestral taxon from which radiation started on the different islands. Our analyses support a split between the "eastern" islands Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria and the "western" islands Tenerife, La Palma and El Hierro. The colonization of Madeira started from the western Islands, probably from Tenerife as indicated by the sequence data. We identified two lineages of Micromeria on Gomera but all other islands appear to be colonized by a single lineage, supporting adaptive radiation as the major evolutionary force for the diversification of Micromeria. We also discuss the possible role of gene flow between lineages of different Micromeria species on one island after multiple colonizations.     

Status and relationships of the extinct giant Canary Island lizard Gallotia goliath (Reptilia: Lacertidae), assessed using ancient mtDNA from its mummified remains

Ancient mitochondrial DNA sequences (378 base pairs of cytochrome b and 368 of 12S rRNA) extracted from a mummified extinct giant lizard, Gallotia goliath , from eastern Tenerife, Canary Islands, were used to assess the species status and relationship of this form within the genus. G. goliath is clearly a member of the G. simonyi group of the western Canary islands (Tenerife, La Gomera, El Hierro and La Palma) and is not closely related to the giant G. stehlini of Gran Canaria. Contrary to recent opinion, it is phylogenetically distinct, within the G. simonyi group, from the extant G. simonyi of El Hierro and also from the recently discovered live G. gomerana on La Gomera and from G. intermedia in north-western Tenerife. It may be the sister taxon of either all the other members of the G. simonyi group or of G. intermedia . The phylogenetic distinctness of G. goliath makes Tenerife unique among oceanic islands in having had one giant and two medium-sized lizard species that were probably substantially herbivorous, the others being G. intermedia and G. galloti . Gallotia shows great community differences on other islands in the Canaries, two having a single small species, one a single giant, and three a giant and a medium-sized form. © 2003 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2003, 80 , 659–670.     

Evolution of distribution and habitat patterns in endemic millipedes of the genus Dolichoiulus (Diplopoda: Julidae) on the Canary Islands, with notes on distribution patterns of other Ganarian species swarms

Forty-six species of the genus Dolichoiulus , all endemic, occur on the Canary Islands The highest number of species occur on the largest, highest island (Tenerife); fewest occur on Lanzarote, Fuerteventura (low, xeric), El Hierro and La Palma (small, remote). Most of the Dolichoiulus species live on one island only, as in other endemic Canarian species swarms. The scarcity of pluri-insular Dolichoiulus species, in connection with information on phylogeny, suggests that speciation has mainly taken place within individual islands. Distribution patterns are partly governed by habitat differences between species, but vicariance patterns between species living in the same kind of habitat are evident on La Gomera and Tenerife. Dolichoiulus species occur in all kinds of natural habitats. Laurisilva and cave species are generally paler than other species. In the laurisilva of eastern Tenerife, microhabitat differentiation between species is pronounced. In some, but far from all, cases, species coexisting in the same microhabitat are of different sizes. The ancestral colonizing species of Dolichoiulus is/are hypothesized to have been small and to have lived in coastal habitats. Colonization of higher altitudes was usually accompanied by an increase in body size. Invasion of the laurisilva was usually accompanied by a habitat shift from the ground layer to logs.     

The evolutionary history of Afrocanarian blue tits inferred from genomewide SNPs

A common challenge in phylogenetic reconstruction is to find enough suitable genomic markers to reliably trace splitting events with short internodes. Here, we present phylogenetic analyses based on genomewide single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of an enigmatic avian radiation, the subspecies complex of Afrocanarian blue tits (Cyanistes teneriffae). The two sister species, the Eurasian blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) and the azure tit (Cyanistes cyanus), constituted the out‐group. We generated a large data set of SNPs for analysis of population structure and phylogeny. We also adapted our protocol to utilize degraded DNA from old museum skins from Libya. We found strong population structuring that largely confirmed subspecies monophyly and constructed a coalescent‐based phylogeny with full support at all major nodes. The results are consistent with a recent hypothesis that La Palma and Libya are relic populations of an ancient Afrocanarian blue tit, although a small data set for Libya could not resolve its position relative to La Palma. The birds on the eastern islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote are similar to those in Morocco. Together they constitute the sister group to the clade containing the other Canary Islands (except La Palma), in which El Hierro is sister to the three central islands. Hence, extant Canary Islands populations seem to originate from multiple independent colonization events. We also found population divergences in a key reproductive trait, viz. sperm length, which may constitute reproductive barriers between certain populations. We recommend a taxonomic revision of this polytypic species, where several subspecies should qualify for species rank.     

Intraspecific evolution of Canary Island Plecotine bats,based on mtDNA sequences

Island differentiation and relationships with congenerics were investigated in the endemic Canary Island bat Plecotus teneriffae, based on approximately 1 kb of mtDNA from the 16S rRNA and cytochrome b genes. P. teneriffae had closer affinities with P. austriacus than with P. auritus. Levels of differentiation between Canary Islands were quite high relative to Pipistrelle-like bats, consistent with philopatric behaviour in the Plecotus genus. Cladogenesis within P. teneriffae appears to have occurred after the emergence of the islands of El Hierro and La Palma during the Pleistocene. An intraspecific network shows that haplotypes from the younger islands of La Palma and El Hierro are connected to the Tenerife haplotype by a similarly large number of mutational steps. This suggests that they were both colonised at a similar time from the much older island of Tenerife. The other Plecotine bat species, Barbastellus barbastellus shows close affinities with B. barbastellus from mainland Spain, with levels of mtDNA divergence being comparable with intraspecific variation within other mammal species.     

Chemical immobilization of free-ranging dhole (Cuon alpinus), binturong (Arctictis binturong), and yellow-throated marten (Martes flavigula) in Thailand

No published information exists on the chemical immobilization of free-ranging dholes (Cuon alpinus), binturongs (Arctictis binturong), or yellow-throated martens (Martes flavigula). We chemically immobilized these species in Thailand using a mixture of ketamine hydrochloride with xylazine hydrochloride (KH–XH) and tiletamine hydrochloride with zolazepam hydrochloride (TH–ZH). Mean (±SD) dose of KH–XH was 18.1±5.3 and 0.9±0.1 mg/kg for dholes (n=2), 19.7±4.1 and 1.3±0.4 mg/kg for binturongs (n=8), and 28.7±3.3 and 1.1±0.1 mg/kg for yellow-throated martens (n=5), respectively. Mean dose of TH–ZH was 4.1±0.1 mg/kg for dhole (n=2). Induction time, duration of anesthesia, and recovery time were satisfactory for standard field research procedures including radio-collaring, although the effects on yellow-throated martens and binturongs were more variable. Respiration and muscle rigidity were monitored during sedation with no observed adverse physiological effects. Individuals were released after full recovery and monitored via radio telemetry for 4–23 months with no observed detrimental effects due to chemical immobilization. We conclude that KH–XH and TH–ZH are safe and effective immobilization agents for these carnivores; however, we suggest testing different KH–XH ratios and dosages, and other immobilizing agents for these species.