Patterns of sexual dimorphism in the Persian Leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) and implications for sex differentiation

Extant felids show a high degree of inter-sexual dimorphism, meaning significant size differences between males and females. Such a differentiation may have various ecological, behavioural and evolutionary implications, at both species and subspecies levels. We have investigated the sexual size differences in one of the most dimorphic felids, i.e. the Leopard (Panthera pardus), based on 63 craniometric and 55 morphometric samples from Iran which belong to the subspecies Persian Leopard (P. p. saxicolor). In order to explore patterns of sexual dimorphism, multivariate statistical analysis on 24 skull variables as well as univariate approaches for two body measurements were applied. We found significant inter-sexual differences in skull size whereas it was not meaningful after removing the effect of size to address skull shape. Moreover, inter-sexual differentiation was also remarkable when comparing morphometric body measurements in adults, showing that the males possess a larger head mass and longer body, but sub-adults did not show any remarkable differentiation between sexes. A combination of craniometric and morphological features is proposed for sex differentiation in Leopards.     

圈养条件下亚成体雌性金钱豹肺微血管铸型的扫描电镜观察

<正>金钱豹(Panthera pardus)属国家一级重点保护野生动物。关于人(Homo sapiens,真炳攸等,1990)、鼠(Ferrieira et al.,2001)、家兔(俞诗源和李重阳,1995)、牦牛(Bos grunniens,柳东阳,2007)、绵羊(Schraufnagel et al.,1995)、川金丝猴(Rhinopithecus roxellanae,俞诗源,1997)和双峰驼(Camelus bactrianus,Yu et al.,2004;Zhao et al.,2005)等动物肺的微血管构成情况已有报道。金钱豹作为大型食肉兽,体格强健,行动敏捷,能跳善爬,其肺应具有更加完善的结构特征     

山西晋中庆城林场华北豹及其主要猎物种群的红外相机监测

华北豹(Panthera pardus japonesis)是中国特有的豹亚种。由于长期缺乏有效的科学调查, 目前对其分布、种群及动态、行为、猎物现状等基础信息不清。在2007-2014年期间, 本研究应用红外相机技术(camera trap)对山西晋中庆城林场的华北豹种群开展了长达7年的连续监测。先后监测到14只华北豹, 其中成年个体11只(3♀, 8♂), 幼体3只, 成年雌雄比例为0.375; 在其间出现了2次繁殖。该区域主要的有蹄类猎物为野猪(Sus scrofa)和西伯利亚狍(Capreolus pygargus), 其相对密度分别为4.16和3.48, 绝对密度分别为1.35只/km²和3.61只/km²。     

Primates are an important food resource for leopards (Panthera pardus) in Mahale,Tanzania

Leopard diets in the Kasoje area of the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania, were analysed by inspecting prey remains in 256 scats. This area is unique as leopard density is high despite a relatively low density of medium-sized ungulates, regarded as the most preferred prey of leopards. At least eleven prey mammal species were confirmed in the scats. Small prey mammals up to 10 kg comprised 91.4% of the relative biomass consumed; the mean prey biomass in each scat was 7.6 kg. Blue duiker (31.2%) was the most dominant prey species, followed by the red colobus (29.2%), semi-terrestrial Cercopithecinae (the vervet monkey and yellow baboon combined) (10.5%) and the red-tailed monkey (9.9%). At the order level, the most consumed prey taxon was Primates (53.8%), followed by Cetartiodactyla (39.6%) and Rodentia (5.8%). Among primates, the blue monkey was the most preferred prey species, followed by the red colobus and semi-terrestrial Cercopithecinae. High consumption of primates is a unique characteristic of the leopards in Mahale. This trend exemplifies the flexibility of leopards in their choices of prey, and such flexibility may be one of the underlying reasons for leopards exhibiting the broadest global distribution among all wild felid species.     

Distribution and human‐caused mortality of Persian leopards Panthera pardus saxicolor in Iran,based on unpublished data and Farsi gray literature

Gray literature and data from unpublished sources can provide important scientific information that has not been published scientifically. The Persian leopard (hereafter leopard) Panthera pardus saxicolor is classed as endangered on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and also is one of the least‐studied subspecies of leopard. It occurs in the Caucasus and Central and Southwest Asia. Iran contains more than 75% of the leopard's extant range, and the leopard population in this country serves as a source for neighboring countries. In this study, we determined the distribution and human‐caused mortality of leopards in Iran, by reviewing unpublished data and Farsi gray literature (which includes government reports) between 1 January 2010 and 30 December 2018. We created the most recent distribution map of the leopard in Iran. Our data display that human‐caused mortality of leopard in Iran mostly includes poaching and intentional poisoning, and roadkill.     

Prey of the Persian Leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) in a mixed forest-steppe landscape in northeastern Iran (Mammalia: Felidae)

We carried out a dietary analysis of Persian Leopards, Panthera pardus saxicolor, in a temperate region in north-eastern Iran, where the largest population nucleus exists across the subspecies range. We investigated 113 faecal samples collected between February 2009 and March 2010 in Golestan National Park. Faecal analysis revealed that leopards predominantly preyed upon wild ungulates, with the Wild Boar, Sus scrofa, being the most important prey species in terms of frequency and biomass. Eleven different prey items were identified, 7 of which were ungulates, comprising 99% of the total food items. We also found a spatial pattern in the prey composition of leopards: cervids were predominantly found in forest landscapes, whereas Wild Sheep, Ovis orientalis, was mainly found in steppe habitats, revealing the leopards’ predation on medium-to large-sized ungulates. Livestock remains were mainly extracted from steppe samples, but the overall contribution to the leopard diet pattern (approximately 8.5% of consumed biomass) suggested that conflict with human communities, at least within the investigated core parts of the National Park, is not a major concern. The study provides the first illustration of the Persian Leopard's dietary composition in a temperate area with a relatively high diversity of available prey, and can be a baseline for future investigation and human-leopard interaction monitoring     

Carnivores from Los Rincones,a leopard den in the highest mountain of the Iberian range (Moncayo,Zaragoza, Spain)

Carnivores are a common element in Pleistocene fossil assemblages. However, they are not so abundant in terms of the numbers of remains. Here, we present a palaeontological study of the carnivores from the Late Pleistocene (MIS 3) of Los Rincones (Spain), one of the few deposits accumulated by leopards. One hundred and ten leopard remains have been recovered. This carnivore is not the only inhabitant of the cave, and 175 remains belonging to Ursus arctos have also been recovered, making it one of the sites with the greatest number of brown bear remains in the Iberian Peninsula. The large number of leopard remains has allowed us to make a detailed morphological and biometrical study that has enabled us to classify the remains within the subspecies Panthera pardus spelaea. The European Ice Age leopard inhabited Europe during Upper Pleistocene and it presents some similarities with Panthera uncia. A study of the scarce remains of Canis lupus indicates that this was similar in size to Canis lupus maximus; the scarcity of the remains prevents us from assigning our remains to this subspecies. A study of the brown bear remains indicates that it is similar to other populations in the north of the Iberian Peninsula with this chronology.     

Induction of ovulation and successful artificial insemination in a Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor)

Techniques of artificial insemination have not been readily applied to zoo animals. The nonsurgical approach has been unsuccessful in nondomestic felids until the present study where pregnancy was achieved in a Persian leopard. The demonstration of this technique should encourage renewed attempts to artificially inseminate nondomestic felids.     

Brain size of the lion (Panthera leo) and the tiger (P. tigris): implications for intrageneric phylogeny, intraspecific differences and the effects of captivity

Intraspecific encephalization of the lion and the tiger is investigated for the first time using a very large sample. Using cranial volume as a measure of brain size, the tiger has a larger brain relative to greatest length of skull than the lion, the leopard and the jaguar. The Asian lion has a relatively much smaller brain compared with those of sub-Saharan lions, between which there are few differences. The Balinese and Javan tigers had relatively larger brains compared with those of Malayan and Sumatran tigers, even although these four putative subspecies occupy adjacent ranges in south-eastern Asia. Differences in brain size do not appear to correlate with any known differences in behaviour and ecology and, therefore, may reflect only chance differences in intrageneric and intraspecific phylogeny. However, captive-bred big cats generally have a reduced brain size compared with that of wild animals, so that an animal's life history and living conditions may affect brain size and, hence, functional or environmental explanations should be considered when linking brain size differences to intraspecific phylogenies.  © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2009, 98 , 85–93.     

三江源国家公园雪豹和岩羊生境适宜性分析

雪豹是青藏高原生物多样性保护的旗舰物种,主要以岩羊为食,研究两者在三江源国家公园的生境适宜性可为其种群保护提供科学依据。基于在国家公园区域内广泛调查获得的岩羊和雪豹分布位点数据,利用最大熵生态位(MaxEnt)模型,评价三江源国家公园内岩羊和雪豹的生境适宜性及其食物链空间分布模式,探讨生境与主要环境变量之间的相关性。结果显示,海拔、最干月降水量和温度年较差是影响岩羊和雪豹空间分布的主要环境变量;海拔最适区间在4 660~4 730 m重叠,最适最干月降水量在2~4 mm重叠,温度年较差在33.7℃~37.0℃重叠。雪豹和岩羊在国家公园内的适宜栖息地面积分别为19 246 km^2和39 977 km^2,分别占公园总面积的15.63%和32.47%;两者重叠的适宜栖息地面积为16 621 km^2,占公园总面积的13.50%,主要位于澜沧江源园区东北部、中部和东部区域以及长江源园区的东南区域。本研究可为制定三江源国家公园内岩羊和雪豹的协同保护管理措施提供理论依据。     

Phylogenetic Autocorrelation Analysis of Extinction Risks and the Loss of Evolutionary History in Felidae (Carnivora: Mammalia)

Phylogeny provides a natural measurement of biodiversity by allowing the computation of indexes that express the amount of phylogenetic diversity that are, in principle, independent of species counts and provides an objective measurement to evaluate the amount of biodiversity lost under the ongoing extinction crisis. In this note, we analyzed patterns of phylogenetic autocorrelation in extinction risks in Felidae (Mammalia: Carnivora) and estimated, using simulation procedures, the amount of phylogenetic diversity loss if k species are preserved in this clade. The simulations showed that loss of phylogenetic diversity based on the IUCN list for extinction threats in Felidae is within the expected values based on the simulated random model, a result also confirmed by the absence of phylogenetic autocorrelation in extinction risks, indicating that extinction threats are randomly distributed across the phylogeny. So, we confirm that loosing species will not necessarily generate a direct proportional loss of phylogenetic information and, consequently, that alternative measures of biodiversity could be used to establish conservation priorities under the common restriction of resources.     

Phylogenetic patterns of diversification in a clade of Neotropical frogs (Anura: Aromobatidae: Mannophryne)

We used partial sequences of mitochondrial 16S and cytochrome oxidase I genes to perform a phylogenetic study of collared frogs (Anura: Aromobatidae: Mannophryne ), a genus endemic to Venezuela and the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. We analysed 1.2 kb from 13 of the 15 described species of Mannophryne . Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses support the monophyly of Mannophryne . Mannophryne consists of three deeply differentiated clades that split from each other in a relatively short period of time. The diversification of Mannophryne occurred well before the glacial-interglacial periods of the Quaternary. Our data support the taxonomic validity of M. olmonae , a species endemic to Tobago Island. Mannophryne olmonae is more closely related to the continental species Mannophryne riveroi than to the Trinidad island endemic Mannophryne trinitatis . As in most tropical clades of frogs, molecular evidence indicates that species richness in Mannophryne is largely underestimated and, consequently, current priorities for conservation are inadequate.  © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2009, 97 , 185–199.     

华南虎、东北虎、孟加拉虎的D-100p和ND5序列及其在系统进化分析中的应用

本文采用PCR和质粒克隆测序方法,获得了华南虎线粒体D-loop区的480bp序列和东北虎、孟加拉虎线粒体D-loop区的503bp序列;同时还获得了这三个虎亚种和金钱豹线粒体ND5基因5’端309bp的部分序列。根据D-loop序列分析,华南虎与孟加拉虎、东北虎的平均距离(p-distance)分别为0．11088和O．11087,而东北虎与孟加拉虎间的平均距离为0．00994;根据ND5序列分析,华南虎与孟加拉虎、东北虎的平均距离分别为0．11434和0．11758,而东北虎与孟加拉虎间的平均距离为0．00324。三个虎亚种的mtDNA D-loop和ND5序列比较表明,华南虎是这三个虎亚种中最为古老的亚种。     

Effectiveness of acoustic “prey”: Environmental enrichment for a captive African leopard (Panthera pardus)

In the course of developing active naturalistic exercise opportunities for zoo felines at moderate cost, a computer-controlled acoustic prey device was established. Changes in the behavior of a 16-year-old melanistic leopard (Sabrina) were studied as she learned to actively pursue bird sounds and obtained food treats as a function of the activity. By the twenty-ninth day she began to capture all 24 bird parts supplied on the feeder belt and continues to actively use the opportunity on a daily basis. General activity and apparent well-being have been enhanced, while stereotypic behaviors have decreased. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.