Amblyceps yunnanensis, a new species, is described here based on the specimens collected from a tributary of the upper Irrawaddy in the western Yunnan Province, China. It differs from all its congeners by the following combination of morphological features: skin smooth with a complete lateral line; adipose-fin originates at vertical level from anterior one quarter of the length of the anal-fin base, in the form of a low and smooth edge; dorsal-fin with one very weak spine; pectoral-fins without spines; caudal-fin truncated without pinnate-like rays.

Reproductive characteristics and host use of two populations of the Korean bitterling, Acheilognathus signifer, which uses mussels as a host, were investigated from April to July in 2011 and 2013. The study sites in Korea were Goesan, where A. signifer prefers Lamprotula leai to three other mussels as a host and Danyang, with a single mussel species, Unio douglasiae and therefore no host choice. The two populations of A. signifer did not show any differences in the appearance such as standard length of females during spawning season. However, the Goesan population had longer ovipositors (mean ± SD, 21.68 ± 2.84 vs. 19.33 ± 1.85) and a higher egg number (22.46 ± 12.31 vs. 17.16 ± 7.23) than the Danyang population. With regard to the host mussels that had A. signifer eggs, L. leai in Goesan had longer shells (57.24 ± 6.84 vs. 41.66 ± 4.88) and hosted more A. signifer eggs (11.10 ± 8.35 vs. 4.40 ± 5.30). We assume that the difference in ovipositor length and egg number of A. signifer between the two populations may be related to phenotypic plasticity required for oviposition to minimize egg ejection and maximize embryo survival.

While removing fish during reservoir biomanipulation, it was noted that the diet of normally piscivorous 5 to 7 perch was dominated by macrophyte fragments, with fish eggs sub-dominant. To the best of our knowledge, macrophytes have not previously been reported as a food item in perch. Here, we briefly discuss this finding and its significance for perch diet studies.

Here we report the catching of a single specimen of a rare native fish species, the cactus roach Rutilus virgo (Heckel), by rod and line on 31 January 2016 at Břeclav (r.km 25.6), on the main channel of the River Dyje (right tributary of the River Morava, Danube basin). This report comes 62-years after the last confirmed record in the Czech Republic, the species having been reported as extinct in the country since then. The morphometric and genetic characteristics of the specimen are presented and evaluated in light of the previous report.

Movement patterns of three small rodent species (striped field mouse Apodemus agrarius, n = 18; Korean field mouse A. peninsulae, n = 21; and Korean red-backed vole Myodes regulus, n = 22) were tracked by radio-telemetry to determine seasonal variation in home range size, daily distance traveled, and number of daytime resting area in a post-fire planted stand of Japanese red pine Pinus densiflora in Mt. Gumbong, Samcheok, South Korea. Home range sizes and distances traveled did not differ among the species; however, significant differences were noted in the home range sizes (analysis of variance; F = 9.24, df = 2, 6, p = 0.05) and distances traveled (Kruskal-Wallis test; H = 9.51–15.38, p = 0.05–0.01) of each species across seasons. In winter, all three measures considerably decreased for all species examined. The home range sizes of male rodents of all species were 1.4–2.2 times larger than those of female rodents. All species were primarily nocturnal; in daytime, they remained confined to their resting areas. The durations of movement negatively correlated with daytime length (Spearman correlation analysis; r = -0.41, p = 0.01, n = 2583); no differences were observed in the number of daytime resting areas among species (F = 0.81, df = 3, 6, p = 0.38). However, the numbers of daytime resting areas of three small rodents were the smallest in winter. Thus, seasonal variation is an important factor affecting small rodent movement patterns. Further long-term ecological research would help elucidate how small rodents seasonally interact and share resources in the same habitat.

Cold tolerant species often exhibit specific responses to Pleistocene climate oscillations, including range expansions during glacial periods and altitudinal shifts between glacial and interglacial periods. Small terrestrial mammals are ideal candidates to study these processes due to their limited dispersal abilities, short generation time and rapid sequence evolution. The aim of this study was to investigate phylogeographical structure of the Alpine shrew (Sorex alpinus) within its recently fragmented range in the central and southern European mountain system. To examine its genetic structure, we sequenced the hypervariable domain of the mitochondrial control region in 51 individuals from 18 localities, covering the majority of the distributional area of the species. We analyzed the sequence dataset using population and landscape genetic approaches. We discovered shallow mitochondrial genealogy with degree of differentiation among site-specific haplogroups. This pattern, together with demographic analyses showing population expansion, corroborate the hypothesis that during the glacial periods, S. alpinus expanded its range into lower elevations between northern and high mountain system glaciers. This expansion was followed by a postglacial range breakup, retreat to moderate elevations of high mountain systems, and a formation of relict enclaves in smaller hilly areas.

The harvest mouse is a prey item for numerous vertebrates in various habitats, ranging from marshes and farmland, to urbanized areas. It has no specialised avian or mammalian predator and it always represents a low proportion of their diet, except in some wetlands where its frequency can exceed 40 % of total mammals taken by owls, which confirms the harvest mouse preference for this kind of habitat. Conversely, it is a much less important prey in farmlands. In Europe, barn owl (Tyto alba), long-eared owl (Asio otus), tawny owl (Strix aluco) and to a lesser extent little owl (Athene noctua) are the major avian predators of harvest mouse. Among carnivores, polecat (Mustela putorius) seems to be the main predator for the harvest mouse, but the scarcity of literature does not allow definitive conclusions. The influence of snow cover on the availability of harvest mice for raptors is pointed out, since this mouse tends to move above snow and therefore becomes easier prey than other rodents. Moreover, it seems that carnivores may be more efficient than raptors for hunting Micromys mice, probably because of their way of foraging amongst tall vegetation that makes them more likely to discover harvest mice.

Feral domestic dogs are efficient wild ungulate hunters in many parts of the world. This has not been confirmed in Mediterranean ecosystems. However, if feral dogs can predate upon wild Mediterranean ungulates, they can also do so upon livestock. Therefore, to more realistically understand human-wolf conflict in areas where wolves and feral dogs overlap, the possible role of the latter taking domestic prey should be considered. During a 6-month study period, we carried out daily observations of a pack of medium-sized dogs, where they were the only large-bodied carnivore capable of killing ungulates in a fenced estate in southern Spain. The estate contained sizeable populations of red deer, fallow deer and mouflons, but no livestock. We described feral dog predation patterns and depredatory impact. We found that dogs predated upon a total of 57 ungulates; fallow deer (47 %), red deer (37 %), and mouflon (16 %). Red deer adults were the least frequent prey, but dogs killed significantly more females and fawns of red and fallow deer. Mouflons were attacked indistinctly. Our results suggest that dogs in our study exhibited a kill pattern similar to Iberian wolves. Therefore, in areas where wolves and feral dogs coexist, a significant proportion of livestock predation could be falsely attributed to the wild canid. In addition, the presence of feral dogs may be a cause of risk in big game hunting estates.

Present study aimed to address molecular diversities of the small five-toed jerboa Allactaga elater Lichtenstein, 1825, and the Toussi jerboa Allactaga toussi Darvish et al., 2008, in marginal geographic distribution of the genus in Iran. The study involved 35 individuals of A. elater and A. toussi, from the east and central parts of Iranian plateau. The two probabilistic phylogenetic algorithms, Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Bayesian Inference (BI), applied on 68 sequences of the two mitochondrial genes (34 cytochrome b and 34 cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1), retrieved reciprocal monophyly of the two species. Independent species status of A. elater and A. toussi is further evident from their sympatry in eastern Iran. Each of these species was further subdivided into two deeply divergent phylogeographic lineages within Iranian plateau, showing high level of genetic divergence ranging from 7–10.7 % for cytb and 7.8–12.4 % for cox1 genes. Such values exceed the intraspecific level of variation in rodents.

We studied 468 museum specimens of the common hamster (387 skins and 204 skulls) collected in Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. Besides a standard tricolour type which prevailed, we identified six colour variants: stavropolicus with reduced white spots, and a bicolour entirely devoid of spots, white, piebald, dark-black (atypical melanistic) and intense dark (melanistic). The overall proportion of variant hamsters was estimated at 4.3 %. Colour variants were significantly more diverse and more frequent in Europe. The presence of melanistic hamsters was positively associated with high temperatures and high levels of precipitation. Cranial traits were largely invariant and the only significant trend was a slight increase in zygomatic width with longitude. We found no evidence of geographically contiguous clusters of populations which would be homogeneous enough or distinct from other similar clusters to be formally recognized as a distinct subspecies. The western segment of the common hamster's range (to the west of the Carpathian Mts.) is the most diverse genetically and morphologically while the populations to the east of the Carpathians are rather uniform. This homogeneity is further intensified on the eastern side of the Urals.

Body mass variations of Pipistrellus kuhlii and Eptesicus isabellinus were studied in the Bou Hedma National Park (central Tunisia) from June 2010 to June 2011. In both species, adult females were significantly heavier than males throughout the year. Seasonal variations were larger in adult females, body mass peaking during late pregnancy. After a secondary peak in September–October observed in both sexes in E. isabellinus, in males only in P. kuhlii, body mass reached a minimum value in winter when activity is low. Significant differences were also noticed between years in June for both species. Such pattern of seasonal variations of sexual size dimorphism is typical of hibernating vespertilionids.

In temperate zone the edible dormouse (Glis glis) is an obligate hibernator with a relatively short activity season during the summer. Young are born in seed-masting years, mostly in early August and there is a time constraint as they have to reach independence and sufficient body mass prior to hibernation into which they enter from late September to October. Given the seasonal time constraints, only one litter per year is known to occur in this rodent. Here we report on the timing of breeding in a Czech population of edible dormouse and on two proven cases when females produced two litters per season. Both cases concern very early breeding females which had lost their first litters prior to weaning. The second (replacement) litters were born late in the season and they were successfully weaned. We discuss that probably several factors like female condition, field research design or current phenological trends in extended growing seasons could lead to multiple breeding events in this species.