Topic Review
Japanese River Otter
The Japanese river otter (Japanese: ニホンカワウソ(日本川獺 ー, Hepburn: Nihon-kawauso) (Lutra lutra whiteleyi) is an extinct variety of otter formerly widespread in Japan. Dating back to the 1880s, it was even seen in Tokyo. The population suddenly shrank in the 1930s, and the mammal nearly vanished. Since then, it has only been spotted several times, in 1964 in the Seto Inland Sea, and in the Uwa Sea in 1972 and 1973. The last official sighting was in the southern part of Kōchi Prefecture in 1979, when it was photographed in the mouth of the Shinjo River in Susaki. It was subsequently classified as a "Critically Endangered" species on the Japanese Red List. On August 28, 2012, the Japanese river otter was officially declared extinct by the Ministry of the Environment. It is the official animal symbol of Ehime Prefecture. In February 2017, a wild otter was caught on camera on Tsushima Island, Nagasaki Prefecture. However, it is not known whether the observed otter was a Japanese river otter.
  • 1.3K
  • 18 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Southern African Lion
The Southern African lion is a Panthera leo melanochaita population in Southern Africa. During the 20th century, lion populations in this part of Africa became fragmented and declined in several range countries due to loss of habitat and prey base, poaching and killing of lions to protect livestock and human life. In 2005, a Lion Conservation Strategy was developed for Southern and East Africa. Today, lion populations are stable only in large protected area complexes. In intensively managed protected areas in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, they increased since the turn of this century. The scientific name P. l. melanochaita was proposed for the Cape lion in 1842 that was eradicated in the mid-19th century. P. l. melanochaita differs genetically from P. leo leo; the two subspecies probably diverged at least 50,000 years ago.
  • 708
  • 18 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Ring-Tailed Cat
The ringtail (Bassariscus astutus) is a mammal of the raccoon family native to arid regions of North America. It is widely distributed and well adapted to disturbed areas. It has been legally trapped for its fur. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It is also known as the ringtail cat, ring-tailed cat, miner's cat or bassarisk, and is sometimes called a cacomistle, though this term seems to be more often used to refer to Bassariscus sumichrasti.
  • 1.3K
  • 14 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Parasites, Bacteria and Viruses of Glis glis
Rodents (Rodentia), due to their number and species diversity, are important elements of natural ecosystems. Some species of rodents are widely distributed. Glis glis (Linnaeus, 1766) (Rodentia, Gliridae) is one such species. An overview of the parasites, bacteria and viruses of G. glis inhabiting the Western Palearctic is given.
  • 641
  • 08 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Nutritional Value of Insects in Pet Food
Due to the increasing global population, the world cannot currently support the well-known techniques of food production due to their harmful effects on land use, water consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions. The key answer is a solution based on the use of edible insects. They have always been present in the diet of animals. They are characterized by a very good nutritional value (e.g., high protein content and contents of essential amino acids and fatty acids, including lauric acid), and products with them receive positive results in palatability tests. 
  • 544
  • 15 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Bimodal Processing and Learning in Insect Models
The study of sensory systems in insects has a long-spanning history of almost an entire century. Olfaction, vision, and gustation are thoroughly researched in several robust insect models and new discoveries are made every day on the more elusive thermo- and mechano-sensory systems. Few specialized senses such as hygro- and magneto-reception are also identified in some insects. In light of recent advancements in the scientific investigation of insect behavior, it is not only important to study sensory modalities individually, but also as a combination of multimodal inputs. This is of particular significance, as a combinatorial approach to study sensory behaviors mimics the real-time environment of an insect with a wide spectrum of information available to it. As a fascinating field that is recently gaining new insight, multimodal integration in insects serves as a fundamental basis to understand complex insect behaviors including, but not limited to navigation, foraging, learning, and memory. 
  • 282
  • 01 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Avian Malaria Vectors in Host-Seeking Behaviour
Vector-borne infectious diseases (e.g., malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever) result from a parasite transmitted to humans and other animals by blood-feeding arthropods. They are major contributors to the global disease burden, as they account for nearly a fifth of all infectious diseases worldwide. The interaction between vectors and their hosts plays a key role driving vector-borne disease transmission.
  • 370
  • 20 May 2022
Topic Review
The Italian Alpine and Subalpine trouts
Among the valid nominal taxa of the native trouts described in the Italian peninsula and the major Italian islands, Salmo cettii Rafinesque-Schmaltz 1810 was described from Sicily (type locality: Val Demone in northeastern Sicily and Val di Noto in southeastern Sicily, no types known). S. marmoratus (Cuvier 1829) is a subendemism of northern Italy described from the “lacs de Lombardie" (syntypes not available). S. cenerinus Nardo 1847 was described from northeastern Italy (type locality: not far from the sea, in rivers draining to the Venetian lagoon; no types known). The original description of S. cenerinus was written from the late 1700s to the early 1800s by S. Chiereghin, and published posthumously; a summary of this description was first published by Nardo. S. macrostigma (Duméril 1858) has been considered by several authors as an Italian trout; however, it was described from North Africa (type locality: Oued-el-Abaïch, Kabylie, Algeria). S. ghigii Pomini 1941 was described from central Italy (type locality: Sagittario River; no types known). S. fibreni Zerunian and Gandolfi 1990, described from the Lake Posta Fibreno in central Italy, and S. carpio Linnaeus 1758, described from Lake Garda, are restricted endemisms defined by ecomorphological and genetic traits. The island of Sardinia might host an undescribed Salmo species (Segherloo et al.).
  • 418
  • 28 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Neurophysiological Mechanisms of Cow–Calf Bonding
In buffalo, bonding is very particular due to the expression of specific behaviors, such as allo-suckling and communal rearing.
  • 736
  • 19 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Escherichia Coli
Escherichia coli are facultative, anaerobic Gram-negative rods with many facets. Within resistant bacterial populations, they play an important ecological role and can be used as a bioindicator of antimicrobial resistance. All animal species used for food production, as well as humans, carry E. coli in their intestinal tracts; plus, the genetic flexibility and adaptability of this bacteria to constantly changing environments allows it to acquire a great number of antimicrobial resistance mechanisms. Thus, the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in these commensal bacteria (or others, such as enterococci) can be a good indicator for the selective pressure caused by the use of antimicrobial agents, providing an early warning of the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in pathogens. As many as 90% of E. coli strains are commensals inhabiting the intestinal tracts of humans and warm-blooded animals. As a commensal, it lives in a mutually beneficial association with its hosts and rarely causes diseases. However, E. coli also remains as one of the most frequent causes of several common bacterial infections in humans and animals. In humans, it is the prominent cause of enteritis, community- and hospital-acquired urinary tract infection (UTI), septicemia, postsurgical peritonitis, and other clinical infections, such as neonatal meningitis, while, in farm animals, it is more prominently associated with diarrhea. On a global scale, E. coli can be considered the most important human pathogen, causing severe infection along with other major bacterial foodborne agents, such as Salmonella spp. and Campylobacter. Thus, the importance of resistance in E. coli, typically considered a benign commensal, should not be underestimated.
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  • 17 Feb 2022
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