Careful investigations of live coloration and other characters in the eublepharid gecko Goniurosaurus kuroiwae orientalis from Tonakijima Island, the type locality of the subspecies in the Central Ryukyus, Japan, reve...Careful investigations of live coloration and other characters in the eublepharid gecko Goniurosaurus kuroiwae orientalis from Tonakijima Island, the type locality of the subspecies in the Central Ryukyus, Japan, revealed its slight but consistent external differences from the consubspecific Tokashikijima population, whose phylogenetically divergent status against the former had been strongly suggested in a previous molecular study. A new subspecies, Goniurosaurus kuroiwae sengokui subsp. nov., is thus described for the Tokashikijima population. In life, Goniurosaurus k. sengokui subsp. nov. can be discriminated from G. k. orientalis in showing tint of reddish or pinkish, instead of yellowish, coloration in dorsal body pattern, and also usually darker and more or less reddish, instead of yellowish or grayish, iris in both adults and juveniles. Recalculation of sequence data at hand with relevant Gen Bank data confirmed substantial sequence divergences of G. k. sengokui from all other congeneric taxa of the Ryukyus described so far.展开更多
Southeast Asia’s tropical forests suffer the highest rates of deforestation and disturbance of any on Earth,with poorly understood impacts on native fauna.Asian tapirs(Tapirus indicus)are among the least studied of t...Southeast Asia’s tropical forests suffer the highest rates of deforestation and disturbance of any on Earth,with poorly understood impacts on native fauna.Asian tapirs(Tapirus indicus)are among the least studied of the large mammals in these forests.Using records from 9 camera trap surveys in 7 of the largest(>1000 km2)pro-tected area complexes,we assessed the influence of environmental variation and human-induced disturbance on tapir occurrence.Tapirs were detected at 13%of locations sampled,significantly associated with evergreen for-est(P<0.001).A multiple logistic regression model predicted tapir presence 87%of the time.According to this model,tapir occurrence was positively influenced by annual rainfall and proximity to the forest edge.Howev-er,tapirs may not avoid edges but instead prefer wetter evergreen forest,a habitat type that tended to occur fur-ther from the forest edge at higher elevations in our particular study sites(P<0.001).By comparison,4 other wild ungulate species that share habitats with tapirs showed a range of differing responses.Tapirs are expect-ed to be less sensitive to disturbance because they are not targets for hunting and trade,and are almost entire-ly active at night,so avoid peak traffic periods in parks.Tapir populations in Thailand may be more stable than in other parts of their global range because rates of forest loss have decreased>40%over the past 20 years.We recommend surveys to fill gaps in the understanding of the status in lesser-known protected areas,research to better understand the fine-scale environmental influences on behavior and habitats of tapirs,and other forest un-gulates,and continued legal status for tapirs in the highest category of protection.展开更多
基金partially supported by a Grant-in-Aid from the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Scientific Research C No.22510244 to M. Honda)a grant from the Zoshinkai Fund for Protection of Endangered Animals (to H.Ota)
文摘Careful investigations of live coloration and other characters in the eublepharid gecko Goniurosaurus kuroiwae orientalis from Tonakijima Island, the type locality of the subspecies in the Central Ryukyus, Japan, revealed its slight but consistent external differences from the consubspecific Tokashikijima population, whose phylogenetically divergent status against the former had been strongly suggested in a previous molecular study. A new subspecies, Goniurosaurus kuroiwae sengokui subsp. nov., is thus described for the Tokashikijima population. In life, Goniurosaurus k. sengokui subsp. nov. can be discriminated from G. k. orientalis in showing tint of reddish or pinkish, instead of yellowish, coloration in dorsal body pattern, and also usually darker and more or less reddish, instead of yellowish or grayish, iris in both adults and juveniles. Recalculation of sequence data at hand with relevant Gen Bank data confirmed substantial sequence divergences of G. k. sengokui from all other congeneric taxa of the Ryukyus described so far.
基金funded by the TRF/BIOTEC Special Program for Biodiversity Research and Training grant BRT-R353008 and BRT-R346001.
文摘Southeast Asia’s tropical forests suffer the highest rates of deforestation and disturbance of any on Earth,with poorly understood impacts on native fauna.Asian tapirs(Tapirus indicus)are among the least studied of the large mammals in these forests.Using records from 9 camera trap surveys in 7 of the largest(>1000 km2)pro-tected area complexes,we assessed the influence of environmental variation and human-induced disturbance on tapir occurrence.Tapirs were detected at 13%of locations sampled,significantly associated with evergreen for-est(P<0.001).A multiple logistic regression model predicted tapir presence 87%of the time.According to this model,tapir occurrence was positively influenced by annual rainfall and proximity to the forest edge.Howev-er,tapirs may not avoid edges but instead prefer wetter evergreen forest,a habitat type that tended to occur fur-ther from the forest edge at higher elevations in our particular study sites(P<0.001).By comparison,4 other wild ungulate species that share habitats with tapirs showed a range of differing responses.Tapirs are expect-ed to be less sensitive to disturbance because they are not targets for hunting and trade,and are almost entire-ly active at night,so avoid peak traffic periods in parks.Tapir populations in Thailand may be more stable than in other parts of their global range because rates of forest loss have decreased>40%over the past 20 years.We recommend surveys to fill gaps in the understanding of the status in lesser-known protected areas,research to better understand the fine-scale environmental influences on behavior and habitats of tapirs,and other forest un-gulates,and continued legal status for tapirs in the highest category of protection.