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Capricornis; Cervus nippon; DNA; defecation; discriminant analysis; feces; pellets; species identification; surveys; ungulates; Japan
Abstract:
... The fecal pellets and fecal pellet group characters of two ungulates, the Japanese serow and sika deer, were compared in Tokushima, Japan, where the species occur sympatrically. Species identification based on 82 fecal DNA samples revealed that 28 and 54 fecal pellet groups were from Japanese serow and sika deer, respectively. The mean values of three fecal pellet groups characters, the maximum di ...
... Specimen number OMNH-QV 4815, including the skull, mandibles, fused basihyal and thyrohyal, vertebrae, ribs, and scapula from the Namba Formation (Holocene), in Osaka City, Japan is identified as Balaenoptera physalus by having the thick anteriorly projected and laterally narrower basihyal and thyrohyal complex, and slender mandibles with laterally tilted coronoid processes. OMNH-QV 4815 is the se ...
Eumetopias jubatus; Japan; coasts; continental shelf; mammals; seasonal variation; spring; statistical analysis; Sea of Japan
Abstract:
... Aerial surveys were conducted to estimate the abundance of wintering populations of Steller sea lions (SSLs; Eumetopias jubatus) in the Sea of Japan originated from Russian waters using the line transect sampling method during spring from 2005 to 2019. The survey areas covered the continental shelf off the western coast of Hokkaido. A total of 28 196 km survey effort was made through the study per ...
... Pipistrelles of the genus Hypsugo are among the rarest bats in Japan, known from a handful of records. In June 2018, a sequence of echolocation calls apparently by a bat of this genus was recorded by an automatic ultrasound recorder on the island of Okinawa. The calls closely resemble H. pulveratus, a Chinese species never before recorded in Japan, and H. alaschanicus, a very rare species in Japan ...
... We researched seasonal reproductive activity in the lesser Japanese mole, Mogera imaizumii, by morphometrical and histological methods for male internal genitalia using samples from Kanagawa Pref., central Honshu, Japan. On the basis of the weights of testis and the epididymis, we determined that their weights become higher during February–April. On the other hand, the histological profiles of sem ...
Tursiops aduncus; coasts; data collection; dolphins; females; males; philopatry; Japan
Abstract:
... Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) off Amakusa-Shimoshima, approximately 200 individuals, form relatively large groups frequently exceeding 100 individuals and show high site fidelity to the area around Tsuji Island, northern coast of Amakusa-Shimoshima. This suggests that individual dolphins may have long interaction times with many other individuals. Consequently, competition be ...
Apodemus argenteus; B chromosomes; X chromosome; aneuploidy; females; fluorescence; karyotyping; mice; mountains; quinacrine; staining; Japan
Abstract:
... We studied an occurrence of chromosomal aneuploidy for ten individuals in the small Japanese field mouse, Apodemus argenteus, from the western mountainous area of Kanagawa Prefecture, Honshu, Japan. Eight of the individuals examined showed the standard 2n = 46 and FNa = 48 constitutions as the most frequent karyotype. However, of those eight individuals, seven carried an inter-cellular mosaicism w ...
... Occurrence of bark-feeding damage by sika deer (Cervus nippon) was examined at 26 mixed plantations comprised of both sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) and hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) in Mie Prefecture, central Japan. There was no significant difference in damage ratios with the tree species in plantations with only slight damage. In plantations with a damage ratio over 5% in either tree speci ...
... Deer have been artificially introduced into many countries that are not within their native range. In some cases, they have disturbed the natural ecosystem in the invaded area. On Okinoshima Island in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, exotic deer were introduced from Taiwan in 1955 and have since bred in the wild, raising concerns about their invasion into the habitats of, and hybridization with, the na ...
... Several statistical models have recently been developed to estimate animal density using camera trappings without individual animal recognition. However, most models assume that detection by camera traps of animals passing a specific area of the camera view is perfect. A recently developed REST model (Nakashima et al. 2018; Journal of Applied Ecology 55: 735–744) also depends on the trapping rates ...
Capricornis; Dasytricha ruminantium; Entodinium; Epidinium; Protozoa; fauna; rumen; ruminants; Japan
Abstract:
... Ciliate fauna collected from the rumens of eight wild Japanese serows (Capricornis crispus) captured in the northern part of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, were compared with the ciliate faunas found in other Japanese wild ruminants. We identified six species belonging to two genera of ciliates (Entodinium nanellum, Ent. minimum, Ent. simplex, Ent. dubardi, Ent. longinucleatum, and Elytroplastron bub ...
... Age-specific changes in deer demographic parameters under food limitation are an important factor in predicting the post-population-crash dynamics of irruptive deer populations. To evaluate the differences in age-class-at-death between the initial irruption and post-population-crash phases of a sika deer (Cervus nippon) population, we analyzed a dataset of naturally dead carcasses from an introduc ...
... Mammal-plant interactions differ significantly between urban and natural environments; however, knowledge of mammal-pollinated plants in urban areas remains limited compared to plants in their natural habitats. Here, we compared the flower visitors of Mucuna macrocarpa between urban and forested areas in Okinawa-jima Island, Japan and in Taiwan. Mucuna macrocarpa requires a highly specialized poll ...
... Using fecal analyses, we examined the food habits of three large herbivorous mammals, the sika deer (Cervus nippon), the Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus), and the wild boar (Sus scrofa) on Mt. Asama, central Japan. Ten fecal samples were collected in all four seasons during 2012–2013, although boar feces were not available in summer because of high-level dung beetle activity. The proportions o ...
... Deer can strongly affect other species as a keystone species. The intensity of their herbivory impact on forest vegetation is suggested to be affected by not only deer density but also by other environmental factors such as landscape components. Especially, artificial grasslands such as pastures and meadows possibility affect deer impact on forest vegetation by altering deer foraging behavior. The ...
Castanopsis cuspidata; Japan; Sus scrofa; acorns; bamboos; body condition; crop damage; food composition; mammals; masting; stomach; wild boars
Abstract:
... We analyzed the stomach contents of wild boars (Sus scrofa) inhabiting evergreen forests in western Japan and found that they were dependent on the masting of acorns of Castanopsis cuspidata. The increased availability of C. cuspidata acorns positively affected their consumption by wild boars. In the good mast years, wild boars consumed C. cuspidata acorns from November to June of the following ye ...
... Dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) can be used to quantitatively evaluate tooth surface roughness and has been used to distinguish herbivorous ungulates according to interspecific dietary differences among grazers, browsers, and mixed feeders. Moreover, DMTA has been applied among local populations with intraspecific dietary variation. In general, the tooth surfaces of grazing species/popula ...
... In a heavy snowfall area in northeastern Japan, we clarified the diel activity patterns of and seasonal differences in three sympatric carnivores (red foxes, raccoon dogs, and Japanese martens) during winter and spring, and the interspecific differences among the activity patterns in each season. The activity time of the target species was obtained by camera-trap surveys at seven sites around the ...
Japan; Loliginidae; Ommastrephidae; Stenella coeruleoalba; chi-square distribution; diet; females; males; muscles; prey species; stomach; East China Sea
Abstract:
... Striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) mass-stranded on 26 April 2013 at Minamisatsuma, Kagoshima Prefecture, in southern Japan (East China Sea). The diet of the mass-stranded striped dolphins was investigated to reveal their foraging pattern through analyses of the stomach contents and stable isotopes in muscle. Of 26 stomachs sampled, 25 contained hard parts of prey animals; no fleshy remains ...
... Spatial separation and dietary differences may allow the coexistence of similar sized ungulate species. Over the past two decades, populations of the sika deer (Cervus nippon) have increased markedly and overlapped with the habitats of the Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus). Recently, the Japanese serow population has declined and shifted its habitat from higher to lower altitudes in Shikoku, Ja ...
DNA; Martes; females; forests; genetic markers; home range; males; monitoring; urine; wintering grounds; Japan
Abstract:
... In order to assess importance of isolated forests as the wintering habitat of the sable (Martes zibellina) in eastern Hokkaido, Japan, we performed DNA analyses on 59 samples noninvasively collected in field (54 fecal, 3 urine and 2 hair samples). Consequently, 46 (41 fecal, 3 urine and 2 hair samples) of the 59 samples were recognized to have dropped from the sable. In addition, we successfully i ...
... We studied home range use of crop-raiding Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) in Shiga Prefecture, central Japan, to address the effects of vegetation structure, specifically forest edge, on their habitat utilization. We compared the home range use of a troop inhabiting a rural area surrounded by a coniferous plantation with that of a troop inhabiting deciduous/coniferous forest mixed area. We then ...
Bryopsida; Eothenomys; environmental factors; forests; mountains; principal component analysis; regression analysis; trapping; traps; valleys; voles; Japan
Abstract:
... The relationship between environmental factors and the occurrence of the Smith's redbacked vole, Eothenomys smithii, was analyzed first by principle component analysis (PCA) to select factors and suitability of fit between capturing results of the voles, and subsequently by multiple regression analysis (MRA) to identify significant environmental factors affecting the occurrence of the vole. Six re ...
Cervus nippon; deer; forest habitats; forestry; herds; population density; population size; surveys; Japan
Abstract:
... Sika deer (Cervus nippon) populations in Hokkaido have irrupted during the last three decades, causing severe damage to agriculture and forestry. Methods have been developed to estimate their population size on large but not on small scales. We estimated deer density using distance sampling to analyze the feasibility of employing the line-transect method in forested habitats on a management-distri ...
... It's not always possible to obtain samples from dead male pinnipeds that are fresh enough to determine the histological characteristics of spermatogenesis and their stage of sexual maturity. We propose that the morphometrics of genital organs of northern fur seals, Callorhinus ursinus, can be used as a new indicator of sexual maturity. We analyzed data from collected records of male fur seals arou ...
... Nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial D-loop region were examined in three wild rodents (Apodemus argenteus, Apodemus speciosus, and Myodes smithii) on the northern slope of Mt. Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan, to elucidate the past evolutionary and present anthropogenic processes shaping their genetic diversity. Nucleotide diversity, median-joining network, and mismatch distribution analy ...
Japan; Tursiops aduncus; Tursiops truncatus; body length; bycatch; dolphins; females; haplotypes; males; microsatellite repeats; mitochondrial DNA
Abstract:
... Hybrid cetaceans occur in both captive and natural environments. This study is the first to describe the external morphological and genetic characterizations of natural intrageneric hybridization between the common bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, T. aduncus, in Japanese waters. In November 2019, a stray dolphin was seen in Moriura Bay, Wakayama, Jap ...
Japan; Ursus thibetanus; hibernation; life history; mammals; process control
Abstract:
... Hibernation (denning) is an important aspect of the life history of Asian black bears (Ursus thibetanus), and denning chronology can be influenced by biotic and abiotic factors. We investigated activity patterns during the pre-denning period of Asian black bears using statistical process control in combination with activity sensors to quantitatively identify a marked reduction in activity from 200 ...
... The vertical distribution of introduced Siberian weasels Mustela sibirica and endemic Japanese weasels M. itatsi in the Seburi Mountains in Kyushu, Japan, was examined from October 1996 to February 1998. Siberian weasels occurred near villages with paddy and cultivated fields, whereas Japanese weasels occurred in grasslands and plantations. The dispersion of yearlings destabilized the distribution ...
... We examined the relationship between the feeding habits of Asian black bears (Ursusthibetanus) and fruit availability during summer and autumn from 2008 to 2011 in the Ashio-Nikko Mountains, Japan. Our main questions were as follows: 1) How does the availability of multiple fruit species influence the feeding habits during summer and autumn? and 2) When do bears begin to forage on hard mast in rel ...
Rhinolophus ferrumequinum; anthropogenic activities; Japan
Abstract:
... The greater horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, is a large cave-dwelling bat and is commonest among cave-dwelling bat species in Japan. Cave-dwelling bats are very sensitive during the maternity season, and disturbance to maternity colonies often results in a serious impact on regional populations. However, a casual observation revealed R. ferrumequinum overcame serious accidental human dist ...
... Native sika deer (Cervus nippon) had not been observed in and around Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan. However, deer have recently been confirmed in this area, and the number of individuals and the range have been expanding, causing damage to forestry and natural vegetation. Although the origin of these deer is unknown, it may be derived from Formosan sika deer (C. n. taiouanus), wh ...
... Japanese macaques and alien macaques have hybridized in the Boso Peninsula, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. In this study, the origin of the alien species was investigated by molecular assessments with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome genes. Maternal origin was assessed by comparing mtDNA sequence records. The results suggested that the alien species in the southern part of peninsula originated ...
... The Asian black bear inhabiting the Shimokita Peninsula, the northernmost part of Honshu, Japan, is categorized as one of the endangered local populations (LPs) in the list of threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The Shimokita population has become geographically isolated and fragmented due to recent human activity. In this study, we conducted DNA sampling between 2005–2007 of two ...
Phoca largha; breeding sites; cytochrome b; genes; genetic variation; haplotypes; mitochondria; mitochondrial genome; population structure; Japan
Abstract:
... We investigated the population structure of the spotted seal, Phoca largha, around Hokkaido, Japan, inferred from sequence variations of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Twenty-six haplotypes were identified in 52 individuals, and 21 of them were newly found in the present study. To detect population structure, samples were divided into three groups—Mamiya, Okhotsk, and Habomai—based on breedi ...
Sus scrofa; alleles; archaeology; gene flow; genetic similarity; genetic structure; haplotypes; mitochondrial DNA; pseudogenes; swine; wild boars; Japan
Abstract:
... We investigated the genetic structure among populations of the Ryukyu wild boar (Sus scrofa riukiuanus) on Tokunoshima Island by analyzing DNA from modern and archaeological samples. Four and two mtDNA haplotypes were found in the modern and archaeological samples, respectively. One haplotype was shared between the modern and archaeological samples. Of the seven haplotypes, four were only found on ...
Martes; genetic variation; genotype; lakes; microsatellite repeats; mountains; population structure; rivers; Japan; Russia
Abstract:
... To assess the genetic variation and population structure of the sable Martes zibellina on eastern Hokkaido, Japan, we analyzed genotypes of 12 microsatellite loci on 48 individuals. Genotypes for all individuals examined were found to be different from each other. Mean observed and expected heterozygosites and allelic richness were calculated to be 0.52 (0.02–0.80), 0.58 (0.02– 0.79) and 5.49, res ...
Mus musculus; body length; cytochrome b; genes; head; islands; mice; mitochondria; mitochondrial genome; tail; Eurasia; Europe; Japan; Northern European region
Abstract:
... On the Miura Peninsula of central Honshu, Japan, there are international ports that, it is concerned, provide opportunities for the introduction of house mice via overseas cargoes. To evaluate the occurrence of such an introduction of overseas mice, in this study, we analyzed mitochondrial cytochrome b (Cytb) gene and the morphological characteristics of house mouse (Mus musculus) samples (n = 47) ...
Mustela; islands; multivariate analysis; skull; Japan
Abstract:
... Skull morphology of Mustela itatsi from two islands adjacent to Kyushu, Kamikoshikijima and Yakushima Isls., Kagoshima Prefecture were compared with populations from mainland Japan. Although size and shape variation of these island populations were within whole species range of variation, the size variation was less than that of some mainland populations. In contrast, canonical variate analysis sh ...
Vulpes vulpes; analysis of variance; body size; climatic factors; eating habits; females; geographical variation; males; muscles; principal component analysis; skull; snow; temperature; Japan
Abstract:
... To investigate the morphological variation in an island population of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), we measured 25 cranial and 24 dental characters for 225 specimens (137 males and 88 females) from Hokkaido Island, Japan. A Bayesian principal component analysis found only small differences among three groups identified genetically in previous studies. Concretely, analyses of variance and post-hoc t ...
Suncus murinus; captive animals; floors; foraging; grasslands; habitats; home range; laboratory animals; males; nocturnal activity; radio telemetry; residential areas; shrews; surveys; Japan
Abstract:
... The Asian house shrew (Suncus murinus) is a commensal species whose has become widespread across the Old World due to human activities. This species has been well studied in captivity as a laboratory animal; however, in the wild, its ecological habits are not well investigated. We conducted radio-telemetry surveys to determine home range, habitat selection, and activity patterns of the Asian house ...
... Horizontal and elevational distributions of Apodemus peninsulae, A. draco and A. latronum are illustrated. A total of 1,355 museum specimens were identified by their cranial measurements and the size of t7 cusp on the first upper molar in 180 localities of Russia, Mongolia, China, Taiwan, Korea, Myanmar, India and Japan. Apodemus peninsulae belonged to “the northern pattern”, A. draco to “the sout ...
concrete; dams (hydrology); rivers; sediments; shrews; streams; surveys; Japan
Abstract:
... The concrete walls of check dams are considered a physical barrier for aquatic and semiaquatic animals that inhabit mountain streams. Traveling behaviors around concrete check dams by the Japanese water shrew Chimarrogale platycephalus, a semi-aquatic mammal, were directly observed via radio-tracking in Kamikoshi Stream in central Honshu, Japan. Traveling behaviors were mainly observed on the wet ...
Japan; Macaca fuscata; conflict management; mammals; people
Abstract:
... The populations of the Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata), which were vulnerable until the early 20th century, have recently recovered. However, this recovery process has rarely been hailed as a conservation success, because it has triggered serious conflicts between people and the macaques. The key exacerbating causes of the conflicts have been the drastic changes in the interrelations between the ...
... In recent decades, invasive animals have disturbed the native ecosystem, via intraspecific and interspecific genetic hybridization. Previously, maternally-inherited mitochondrial DNA analysis detected two genetically distinct lineages of the sika deer (Cervus nippon) in the Japanese Archipelago and revealed the coexistence of both lineages mainly in the central part of Toyama Prefecture in Japan. ...
... Recently, the range of the deer has expanded worldwide, with dramatic increases in abundance; yet relatively little is known about how these increases influence other mammals at high trophic levels. A recent study showed that high deer density exerts cascading effects on raccoon dogs, omnivorous carnivores, because of any increase in their prey abundance in Oku-Nikko, Japan. Here, we examined the ...
Cervus nippon; deer; feces; hills; information management; microsatellite repeats; mountains; national parks; Japan
Abstract:
... To provide information for the management of sika deer in Tsurugi Quasi-National Park, Shikoku, Japan, we analyzed population genetic structure and migration patterns in the national park and surrounding areas based on from six to seven microsatellite loci using tissue and fecal samples. Bayesian clustering divided the deer into two populations, the Tokushima population and the Kochi population. T ...
Colobus guereza; Japan; body weight; color; fur; monkeys; neonates; social behavior
Abstract:
... Colobine monkeys generally spend less time each day engaged in social interactions than other primates. However, a notable feature of their social interaction involves females exchanging infants (i.e., infant handling). Here, we report on the handling of an infant in relation to pelage color change in a group of black-and-white colobus (Colobus guereza) housed in the Japan Monkey Centre. We found ...
... Bats that typically forage in the forest understorey can be difficult to capture using mist nets or harp traps alone. We assessed the effectiveness of an ultrasonic lure for increasing capture rates of vespertilionid bats in two forest zones in Japan. One sequence of stimuli was modelled on social calls of four species that typically forage in narrow-space; the other on those of four species that ...
Gliridae; correlation; forests; linear models; microhabitats; nest boxes; nesting; trees; Japan
Abstract:
... To investigate the factors that influence resting site preference of the Japanese dormouse Glirulus japonicus, we determined the effect of tree resources in a microhabitat on the use of nest boxes as daytime resting sites. The study area, which was in Mt. Nagakura National Forest in central Japan, was divided into 200 plots. In each plot, a nest box specially designed to harbor dormice was attache ...