“
“Melanistic leopards Panthera pardus are common in south-east Asian forests but the exact frequency of this variant phenotype is difficult to assess. Records from camera-trapping studies conducted at 22 locations in Peninsular Malaysia and southern Thailand between 1996 and 2009 show that only melanistic leopards were present in samples south of the Isthmus of Kra. During 42 565 trap-nights, we collected 445 check details photos of melanistic leopards and 29 photos of the spotted or non-melanistic morph. All 29 photos of spotted leopards came from study sites north of the Isthmus. These results indicate that this recessive trait may be nearly fixed in P. pardus populations

of the Malay Peninsula, suggesting a unique evolutionary history of leopards in the region. Assuming a very small effective population size (Ne=100) and a high initial allelic frequency, at least 1000 years would be expected to elapse until a neutral allele became fixed. The severe bottleneck implied by this scenario provides a testable hypothesis that can be addressed using molecular markers and evidence of past glacioeustatic changes across the region. Although natural selection might lead to rapid

fixation of melanism within Malayan leopards, had their effective population click here size been much larger (e.g. Ne=5000) and stable, with a lower allelic frequency, the fixation would require a longer time span (e.g. 20 000 years) if induced by genetic drift alone. “
“Human habitation in deserts can create rich novel resources that may be used by native desert species. However, at night such resources may lose attractiveness when they are in artificially lit areas. For bats, attraction to such manmade habitats might be species specific.

In an isolated village in the Negev desert that is known for its high bat activity we investigated the effects of artificial lighting on flight behaviour of two aerial insectivorous bat species: Pipistrellus kuhlii, a non-desert synanthropic bat, common in urban environments and Eptesicus bottae, a desert-dwelling species. Using an acoustic tracking system we reconstructed flight trajectories for bats that flew under artificial lights [Light treatment (L)] versus in natural darkness [Dark treatment (D)]. Under L both P. kuhlii and E. bottae flew significantly faster than under D. Under L, P. kuhlii also flew at significantly lower altitude (i.e. medchemexpress away from a floodlight) than under D. Whereas P. kuhlii foraged both in L and D, E. bottae only foraged in D. In L, activity of E. bottae decreased and it merely transited the illuminated area at commuting rather than foraging speed. Thus, under artificially lighted conditions the non-desert synanthropic species may have a competitive advantage over the native desert species and may outcompete it for aerial insect prey. Controlling light pollution in deserts and keeping important foraging sites unlit may reduce the synanthropic species’ competitive advantage over native desert bats.