Waterfowl - Ducks, Geese & Swans of the World.

399 Seiten, durchgehend mit Farbfotos  illustriert. Sea World Press, San Diego

Inhalt (Ausgabe 1996, 490 Seiten, Verlag Hancock House):

This comprehensive volume covers the natural history of each of over 160 members of the ducks, geese, swans and screamers of the world. Beautifully illustrated and authoritative, this remarkable book is destined to become the ultimate reference work on the waterfowl of the world. The eighteen chapters deal with every aspect of waterfowl biology, including habitat, distribution, plumage, migration, feeding, courtship, predators and mortality. A separate appendix includes weights of virtually every species and subspecies of waterfowl. Concise full-colour range maps accompany each species account. More than 750 beautifully reproduced photographs represent a lifetime of intensive research and field study by the author. This definitive volume on the Anseriformes will prove invaluable to anyone interested in the natural history of the waterfowl -- weather teacher, student, naturalist, bird watcher, conservationist, aviculturist or ornithologist.

todd-biblio

The Vanishing Act: A History and Natural History of the Javan Pied Starling Gracupica jalla.

Ardea, 109(1):41-54 (2021). https://doi.org/10.5253/arde.v109i1.a1

Abstract:

The Javan Pied Starling Gracupica jalla, a recent taxonomic split from Asian Pied Starling G. contra, has disappeared almost entirely unnoticed from its native range in Java and Bali, Indonesia; in a circumstance unique in bird conservation, the only known populations are held in bird shops. To provide an evidence base for any future endeavour to re-establish a population in the wild, we reviewed all published information on the species relevant to its conservation, supplemented by specimen label data, unpublished field notes, diaries and manuscripts. A population in eastern Sumatra (nine localities reported, including Bangka) had obscure origins. The species was widespread in Java (168 localities) and Bali (13 localities), and was described as one of the commonest birds in open, i.e. non-forest, lowland country (records up to 1600 m), having a high tolerance of disturbed habitats, especially agricultural areas, with often large roosts inside city limits. It fed mainly on terrestrial invertebrates and fruits, often consuming plant pests and frequently probing dung. It bred all year but chiefly in response to rains, with apparent peaks in January and May in West Java and April in East Java, building conspicuous untidy nests high in trees and laying mostly 3 (2–4) eggs. The cagebird trade is blamed for the massive decline that abruptly became apparent in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but the use of pesticides in Java and Bali's agricultural environment seems likely to have played an unseen role. Searches are needed to find any remnant populations, along with the creation of a programme of captive breeding and research to identify potential areas for reintroduction.

van balen-biblio

Using historical genome‐wide DNA to unravel the confused taxonomy in a songbird lineage that is extinct in the wild.

Evol. Appl. 2021 Mar; 14(3): 698–709.

Published online 2020 Nov 7. doi: 10.1111/eva.13149

Abstract:

Urgent conservation action for terminally endangered species is sometimes hampered by taxonomic uncertainty, especially in illegally traded animals that are often cross‐bred in captivity. To overcome these problems, we used a genomic approach to analyze historical DNA from museum samples across the Asian Pied Starling (Gracupica contra) complex in tropical Asia, a popular victim of the ongoing songbird crisis whose distinct Javan population (“Javan Pied Starling”) is extinct in the wild and subject to admixture in captivity. Comparing genomic profiles across the entire distribution, we detected three deeply diverged lineages at the species level characterized by a lack of genomic intermediacy near areas of contact. Our study demonstrates that the use of historical DNA can be instrumental in delimiting species in situations of taxonomic uncertainty, especially when modern admixture may obfuscate species boundaries. Results of our research will enable conservationists to commence a dedicated ex situ breeding program for the Javan Pied Starling, and serve as a blueprint for similar conservation problems involving terminally endangered species subject to allelic infiltration from close congeners.

bavej-biblio

Diet and Activity of the Bear Cuscus, Ailurops ursinus, in North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

J. Mammalogy 80 (3): 905-912. https://doi.org/10.2307/1383259. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1383259

Abstract:

We studied the daily time budget and feeding activity of the bear cuscus, Ailurops ursinus, in the Tangkoko-Duasudara Nature Reserve, North Sulawesei, Indonesia. Bear cuscuses spent 63.4% of their time resting, and feeding accounted for only 5.6% of their activities. Bear cuscuses fed on 31 species of plants, including 26 identified trees and lianas from 17 fasmilies and 5 unidentified mitletoes. Dietary preference was influenced by availability of young leaves, and bear cuscueses maximized the amount of young leaves in the diet.

dwiyahreni-biblio

Fischbůch.

Das ist ein kurtze / doch vollkomme beschreybung aller Fischen so in dem Meer und süssen wasseren / Seen / Flüssen oder anderen Bächen jr wonung habend / sampt jrer waren conterfactur zů nutz und gůtem allen Artzeten / Maleren /Weydleüten und Köchen / gestelt: insondern aber denen so ein lust haben zů erfaren und betrachten Gottes wunderbare werck in seinen geschöpfften. Erstlich in Latin durch den hochgeleerten und natürlicher künsten wolerfarenen heeren D. Cůnrat Geßner beschriben: yetz neüwlich aber durch D. Cůnrat Forer zů grösserem nutz allen liebhaberen der künsten in das Teütsch gebracht.

Getruckt zuo Zürych bey Christoffel Froschower, im Jar als man zalt 1563

Zentralbibliothek Zürich, https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-5026  / Public Domain

gessner-biblio

Vulpes corsac (Carnivora: Canidae).

Mammalian Species 832 (27 May 2009): 1–8, https://doi.org/10.1644/832.1

Abstract:

Vulpes corsac (Linnaeus, 1768) is a canid commonly called the corsac fox or steppe fox. It is distributed throughout nearly all of the central Asian republics of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan and its range extends into portions of Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Mongolia, and China. It is adapted to arid conditions and can forego food and water for extended periods of time. Cortex and medulla features of its fur allow it to endure cold, harsh winter conditions but it is not adapted for walking on snow. It typically inhabits grassland steppes, semideserts, and deserts and will frequent agricultural lands and plowed fields in some areas. It is an opportunistic forager and hunter that is considered a species of Least Concern from a conservation standpoint.

clark-biblio

The last Bos primigenius survived in Bulgaria (Cetartiodactyla: Bovidae).

Lynx, n. s. (Praha) 52: 139–142. ISSN 0024-7774 (print), 1804-6460 (online). DOI: 10.37520/lynx.2021.010

Abstract:

A horn-core of Bos primigenius excavated from the depth of 537.3–537.4 m in the late medieval
deposits of the second half of the 17th century to the 1st half of the 18th century AD is reported. This
record suggests that the aurochs survived in the Central Balkans a century later than the reported known
date (1627) from northern Poland.

boev-biblio

Is the northern chevrotain, Tragulus williamsoni Kloss, 1916, a synonym or one of the least-documented mammal species in Asia?

Raffles Bull. Zoology 65: 506–514.

Abstract:

The northern chevrotain, Tragulus williamsoni Kloss, 1916, was described, and for nearly a century remained known, from only one specimen. This had been collected from Meh Lem in northern Thailand in 1916. Following a taxonomic revision of the genus Tragulus, its taxonomic status was regarded as uncertain. New information from a Tragulus specimen from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province, China, stored in the Kunming Institute of Zoology, corroborates the status of T. williamsoni as a distinct taxon based on skull measurements. The conservation implications of this finding include the urgent need to determine conclusively the taxonomic status of T. williamsoni, and its distribution and conservation status.

meijaard-biblio

Is the northern chevrotain, Tragulus williamsoni Kloss, 1916, a synonym or one of the least-documented mammal species in Asia?

Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 65: 506-514.

Abstract:

The northern chevrotain, Tragulus williamsoni Kloss, 1916, was described, and for nearly a century
remained known, from only one specimen. This had been collected from Meh Lem in northern Thailand in 1916.
Following a taxonomic revision of the genus Tragulus, its taxonomic status was regarded as uncertain. New
information from a Tragulus specimen from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province, China, stored in the Kunming
Institute of Zoology, corroborates the status of T. williamsoni as a distinct taxon based on skull measurements. The
conservation implications of this finding include the urgent need to determine conclusively the taxonomic status
of T. williamsoni, and its distribution and conservation status.

meiijaard-biblio

The Identity of Mousedeer (Mammalia: Artiodactyla: Tragulidae) observed at Lower Peirce Fotest, Singapore.

NATURE IN SINGAPORE 2009 2: 467–473.

Volltext (PDF)

Conclusion:

The napu and the kanchil are usually distinguished from each other by the number of white stripes on their throat and
neck. However, in rare cases, this does not hold true at least for the kanchil. When coat colour and dark mid-ventral
stripe are taken into consideration, the mousedeer from Lower Peirce, thought to be a napu, Tragulus napu, should be a
kanchil, Tragulus kanchil fulviventer. Therefore, there is no recent record of wild napu on Singapore Island.

low-biblio