Zebra stripes and tiger stripes: the spatial frequency distribution of the pattern compared to that of the background is significant in display and crypsis

Some striped animals are camouflaged in their natural environment, whereas others are conspicuous. Mammals are known to have spatial frequency analysers in their visual mechanism, and it is suggested that the spatial characteristics of a striped pattern are different in camouflaged and conspicuous animals. Fourier analysis of the stripes of the zebra shows spatial frequencies in the pattern that are unlikely to be present so strongly in their natural background scene. A similar analysis of the camouflaging stripes of a tiger show that the distribution of spatial frequencies are similar to that in the background scene.     

Coccidia from the Tiger Salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum, in Northeastern Colorado and in Northern New Mexico

SYNOPSIS. Oocysts of Eimeria ambystomae Saxe, 1955, Eimeria microcapi sp. n., and Eimeria urodela sp. n. are described from the tiger salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum , collected in Colorado and New Mexico. The oocysts of E. ambystomae are ellipsoid, 29.8 × 17.3 (24–38 × 15–25) μm, and the sporocysts lanceolate, 22.6 × 5.4 (16–27 × 5–7) μm. Oocyst and sporocyst residua are present, but not a polar granule and a micropyle. The oocysts and sporocysts of E. microcapi are ellipsoid, measuring respectively 38.1 × 25.3 (35-41 × 23-26) μm and 18.1 × 7.4 (16-19 × 6–8) μm. Oocyst and sporocyst residua, a micropyle (mean 3 μm), and a distinct micropyle cap (2 μm high) are present, but not a polar granule. The oocysts of E. urodela are spheroid, 22.2 (14-26) μm, and the sporocysts lanceolate, 16.3 × 5.8 (12-19 × 4-7) μm. Oocyst and sporocyst residua are present, but a polar granule and a micropyle are absent.     

Kin recognition and cannibalism in polyphenic salamanders

We investigated kin discrimination among larvae of Arizona tigersalamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum nebulosum) which occur as "typical"morphs that feed mostly on invertebrate prey and occasionallyon conspecifics, and as "cannibal" morphs that feed primarilyon conspecifics. When housed with smaller larvae that differedin relatedness, both cannibals and typicals preferentially consumedless-related individuals. Cannibals ate typicals much quickerwhen the choice was between nonkin and siblings than when thechoice was between nonkin and cousins, indicating that cannibalscould distinguish different categories of relatives. Cannibalswere less likely to eat a larval sibling that was a cannibalmorph than a sibling that was a typical morph. Occluding animals'nares temporarily eliminated kin discrimination, implying thatolfaction is important in recognition. Larvae from differentsibships varied considerably in their ability to discriminatekin, and the greater the probability that a larva from a givensibship would develop into a cannibal morph, the more likelythe members of that sibship were to discriminate kin. Our resultsenable us to infer the functional significance of kin recognitionin this species and to develop an evolutionary model of themechanisms underlying the joint control of kin recognition andcannibalistic polyphenism.     

东北虎微卫星DNA遗传标记的筛选及在亲子鉴定中的应用

利用18个家猫微卫星基因座，在东北虎(Panthera tigris sibilia)DNA中扩增结果有4个基因座没有产物，8个基因座为单态，6个基因座为多态性。同时利用苏门答腊虎的微卫星序列设计了8对引物，在东北虎DNA中有4对具有多态性。微卫星基因座的多态性百分率为38．5％。在供试的27只东北虎中，发现等位基因间的变异均为偶数碱基长度变化，对有准确谱系记录的个体研究表明，这10个微卫星DNA遗传标记符合孟德尔遗传规律，所以这些微卫星DNA可以有效的应用于东北虎的亲子鉴定。利用这10对多态性引物，我们成功地鉴定了7个父子关系不清的后代。收集的样品包括23只毛发样品和4只血液样品，实验结果表明，毛发和血液样品均可以得到清晰的微卫星条带[动物学报49(1)：118—123．2003]。     

老爷岭南部狍冬季移动、卧息生境选择及其适宜性评价

在动物生境研究中,移动生境和卧息生境是生境研究的焦点。开展移动生境和卧息生境选择,并在此基础上进行生境评价,有利于深入了解动物对移动和卧息生境条件的需求,制定科学合理的栖息地保护计划。以东北虎（Panthera tigris altaica）的主要猎物物种之一-狍（Capreolus pygargus）为研究对象,于2017-2019年冬季积雪覆盖期在老爷岭南部通过随机布设28个大样方和84条用于足迹链跟踪的样线收集狍的移动点和卧息点信息,再结合近年来收集的东北虎出现点,利用广义可加模型（GAM）和最大熵模型（MaxEnt）进行狍移动、卧息生境选择及评价研究。移动生境选择研究表明,狍在移动的过程中偏好选择坡度小、距农田距离>500 m、远离道路、居民点和低海拔或较高海拔的区域;移动生境评价分析表明,移动适宜和次适宜生境面积之和为1318.16 km²,占研究区域面积的51.28%,当加入虎活动点影响因子后,狍移动适宜和次适宜生境面积之和为901.52 km²,适宜和次适宜生境面积之和减少了31.61%。狍卧息生境选择研究表明,水源、农田、道路和雪深是影响狍卧息的关键因素,其中雪深对狍卧息生境选择的贡献率达到70.13%;卧息生境评价表明,卧息适宜和次适宜生境面积之和为1243.77 km²,占研究区域面积的48.39%,当加入虎出现点因子后,适宜生境和次适宜生境面积之和减少了61.00%,仅为485.02 km²。研究认为,虎的出现对狍移动和卧息生境选择均产生影响,虎的活动及捕食行为可能会减少狍的活动范围和频次,狍远离虎活动区域卧息休息,压缩了狍适宜卧息的空间。     

圈养东北虎血液生理参数的测定

东北虎(Panthera tigris altaica)是一种淑临灭绝的食肉动物,现已被列入IUCN濒危物种红色名录(Goodrich et al.,2015)。东北虎主要分布于俄罗斯远东地区、中国东北地区和朝鲜的北部(Kitchener et al.,2017)。根据中俄边境地区的野生东北虎数量调查统计,该地区生存着成年老虎39只和幼虎22只(Matiukhina et al., 2016)。     

龙虎交战针法联合悬吊训练对腰椎间盘突出症患者腰背伸肌群功能、神经传导速度和血清炎症因子的影响

摘要 目的：观察龙虎交战针法联合悬吊训练对腰椎间盘突出症（LDH）患者腰背伸肌群功能、神经传导速度和血清炎症因子的影响。方法：纳入我院2018年4月-2021年8月期间接收的LDH患者82例。按照随机数字表法将患者分为对照组（悬吊训练,n=41）和实验组（龙虎交战针法联合悬吊训练,n=41）。观察两组患者腰椎功能恢复情况、疼痛症状改善情况以及腰背伸肌群功能、神经传导速度和血清炎症因子的变化情况。结果：实验组的临床总有效率高于对照组（P<0.05）。治疗后,两组日本骨科协会下腰痛评价表（JOA）评分升高,且实验组高于对照组（P<0.05）。治疗后,两组Oswestry功能障碍指数（ODI）、视觉疼痛模拟评分法（VAS）评分下降,且实验组低于对照组（P<0.05）。治疗后,两组平均功率、腰背伸状态下峰力矩升高,且实验组高于对照组（P<0.05）。治疗后,两组腰背屈伸比下降,且实验组较对照组低（P<0.05）。治疗后,两组腓总神经和胫神经的传导速度均升高,且实验组较对照组高（P<0.05）。治疗后,两组血清白细胞介素-1β（IL-1β）、白介素-1（IL-1）、基质金属蛋白酶 3（MMP-3）、肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）水平均下降,且实验组低于对照组（P<0.05）。结论：龙虎交战针法联合悬吊训练可促进LDH患者腰椎功能改善,减轻疼痛症状,改善腰背伸肌群功能和腓总神经、胫神经的神经传导速度,降低机体血清炎症因子水平,具有较好的临床应用价值。     

亚洲虎种群恢复的机遇与挑战

虎(Panthera tigris)作为顶级捕食者, 对维持森林生态系统服务和结构完整性有着重要作用, 是研究和保护工作的旗舰物种。历史上, 虎曾广泛分布于亚洲大部分地区, 如今仅分布于南亚、东南亚和东北亚的破碎化栖息地, 各区域种群处于濒危或极度濒危状态。准确了解野生虎的种群状态和生态需求信息对于科学开展保护和恢复工作至关重要。本文通过综述近几十年的研究文献, 总结了野生虎种群现状和主要威胁因素, 评价了已有研究的重点与不足, 为未来亚洲虎种群的研究和保护提出了建议。目前与虎相关的研究主要集中在分布范围最广的孟加拉虎(P. t. tigris)和东北虎(P. t. altaica) 2个亚种, 而最急需关注的其他亚种仍研究不足。经过近十几年的努力和保护投入, 目前野生虎种群数量已从2010年的大约3,200只恢复到现在约4,500只, 但在越南、柬埔寨和老挝3个国家已经灭绝。虎面临的主要威胁包括持续的栖息地破坏和隔离、猎物缺乏、近交衰退、人虎冲突、贸易与盗猎和疾病威胁等。未来的研究和保护工作需要加强种群和栖息地连通性恢复、个体重引入、疾病管控以及加强跨境合作和反盗猎等。     

Phylogeographical population structure of tiger quolls Dasyurus maculatus (Dasyuridae: Marsupialia), an endangered carnivorous marsupial

Tiger quolls, Dasyurus maculatus, are the largest carnivorous marsupials still extant on the mainland of Australia, and occupy an important ecological niche as top predators and scavengers. Two allopatric subspecies are recognized, D.m. gracilis in north Queensland, and D.m. maculatus in the southeast of the mainland and Tasmania. D.m. gracilis is considered endangered while D.m. maculatus is listed as vulnerable to extinction; both subspecies are still in decline. Phylogeographical subdivision was examined to determine evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) and management units (MUs) among populations of tiger quolls to assist in the conservation of these taxa. Ninety-three tiger quolls from nine representative populations were sampled from throughout the species range. Six nuclear microsatellite loci and the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region (471 bp) were used to examine ESUs and MUs in this species. We demonstrated that Tasmanian tiger quolls are reciprocally monophyletic to those from the mainland using mtDNA analysis, but D.m. gracilis was not monophyletic with respect to mainland D.m. maculatus. Analysis of microsatellite loci also revealed significant differences between the Tasmanian and mainland tiger quolls, and between D.m. gracilis and mainland D.m. maculatus. These results indicate that Tasmanian and mainland tiger quolls form two distinct evolutionary units but that D.m. gracilis and mainland D.m. maculatus are different MUs within the same ESU. The two marker types used in this study revealed different male and female dispersal patterns and indicate that the most appropriate units for short-term management are local populations. A revised classification and management plan are needed for tiger quolls, particularly in relation to conservation of the Tasmanian and Queensland populations.     

Using Scent-Matching Dogs to Identify Individual Amur Tigers from Scats

Abstract: Scent-matching dogs have previously been used to identify caged individual Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) by fecal material (scat), but this technique has not been tested in the wild. We tested the hypothesis that trained dogs can identify individual tigers by unique characteristics present in scat. To conduct this work, we used 5 dogs and 58 scats from 25 known individual tigers in independent trials. Dogs correctly selected matched test scats at an average rate of 87% (SE ± 1.4%, n = 521 trials). The average accuracy rates for 4 dogs increased to 98% (SE ± 1.6%, n = 86 sets of repeated-trials) using repeated-trial tests. Each of 5 dogs made correct choices better than expected by chance (dog 1 χ²₁ = 507.9, P ≤ 0.001; dog 2 χ²₁ = 882.1, P ≤ 0.001; dog 3 χ²₁ = 374.1, P ≤ 0.001; dog 4 χ²₁ = 379.2, P ≤ 0.001; and dog 5 χ²₁ = 103.9, P ≤ 0.001). Four dogs were able to match 11 scats deposited over a 4-year period from one tiger with an accuracy of 100% (n = 40 trails). This method may be a useful alternative to genetic analyses that are used in conjunction with scat-sampling schemes in studies for which DNA genotyping is impractical or ineffective. Used with mark—recapture surveys to estimate species abundance, scent-matching dogs have the potential of being important tools in the study of wild Amur tigers, as well as other wildlife species.