Ungulate

Deciphering the plastic (non-heritable) changes induced by human control over wild animals in the archaeological record is challenging. We hypothesized that changes in locomotor behaviour in a wild ungulate due to mobility control could be quantified in the bone anatomy. To test this, we experimented with the effect of mobility reduction on the skeleton of wild boar ( Sus scrofa ), using the calcaneus shape as a possible phenotypic marker. We first assessed differences in shape variation and covariation in captive-reared and wild-caught wild boars, taking into account differences in sex, body mass, available space for movement and muscle force. This plastic signal was then contrasted with the phenotypic changes induced by selective breeding in domestic pigs. We found that mobility reduction induces a plastic response beyond the shape variation of wild boars in their natural habitat, associated with a reduction in the range of locomotor behaviours and muscle loads. This plastic signa...

Space use by animals is determined by the interplay between movement and the environment, and is thus mediated by habitat selection, biotic interactions and intrinsic factors of moving individuals. These processes ultimately determine home range size, but their relative contributions and dynamic nature remain less explored. We investigated the role of habitat selection, movement unrelated to habitat selection and intrinsic factors related to sex in driving space use and home range size in Iberian ibex, Capra pyrenaica. We used GPS collars to track ibex across the year in two different geographical areas of Sierra Nevada, Spain, and measured habitat variables related to forage and roost availability. By using integrated step selection analysis (iSSA), we show that habitat selection was important to explain space use by ibex. As a consequence, movement was constrained by habitat selection, as observed displacement rate was shorter than expected under null selection. Selection-independ...

Five species of ungulates inhabit Costa Rica: the Central American red brocket (Mazama temama), the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), the white-collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), the white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) and the Baird’s tapir (Tapirus bairdii). In order to establish the actual ecological and biological state of the knowledge of the different species inhabiting Costa Rica, we reviewed the literature published between 2008 and 2018. On general terms, most research on ungulates was focused on the Caribbean low-humid lands, establishing relative population indexes during short time periods. Worth saying, many studies reporting ungulate abundances were actually jaguar monitoring studies. Also, a big deal of variation between sampling efforts was noted. No long-term population monitoring of any ungulate species was found. Regarding species, the white-collared peccary and the Baird’s tapir are the most studied species recently. On the other hand, the Central American red brocket is a data-deficient species. The white-lipped peccary represents a serious conservation concern due to its low population size, as a result of historical illegal hunting and habitat loss. Regarding habitat analysis, in qualitative terms, there is no change in the species range within the country. The white-collared peccary, the Baird’s tapir, and the white-tailed deer are the most registered ungulates. Few information about habitat suitability and its relationship with population viability or biological connectivity and its impacts (for example roadkill) has been accomplished recently. Recent ecological and behavioral research is focused on the analysis of interspecific interactions of the white-collared peccary in low humid forests on the one hand and the social behavior of highland Baird’s tapirs in the other. There is no recent study focusing on basic ecological aspects of the white-tailed deer, the Central American red brocket or white-lipped peccary. On veterinarian terms, research on wild ungulates is a relatively new area, and has focused mainly on parasitology. Many important research have been done in the country, improving the general knowledge of the species. However, in order to ensure ungulate conservation in Costa Rica, more research and actions such as long-term monitoring for establishing population trends, studies of ecological and genetic connectivity between populations, local communities’ involvement in ungulate monitoring, and turning ungulates into key species within different wildlife areas should become a priority.

... snow melt on irregular terrain at higher al-titudes also prolongs availability of new plant growth (Klein 1970; Bennett and Mathias 1984 ... ranges of the NE region, there are extensive Cambro-Silurian sediments and vegetation types dominated by willow and large forbs (Solli 1995 ...

The dietary guild structure of ungulate communities is a useful paleoecological tool for understanding the context of hominin paleobiology and evolution. Ungulates are well represented in the fossil record, and their dietary preferences reflect those of major habitat types. However, paleoecology relies on modern ecological patterns as analogs for recreating ecologies of the past. It has previously been suggested that for much of the Pliocene, no such modern analogs exist for the herbivore communities associated with hominins in eastern Africa. This study aims to determine whether the ungulate community associated with A. afarensis at the Pliocene site of Laetoli, Tanzania, shares similarities with extant communities or whether it lacks a modern analog. Our multiproxy approach using mesowear, hypsodonty, and stable carbon isotopes of tooth enamel to infer the diets of ungulates in the Upper Laetolil Beds shows that this community is dominated by browsers and mixed feeders and has a very low prevalence of grazers and frugivores. This dietary guild composition distinguishes the Upper Laetolil Beds from modern African communities and suggests either that the Upper Laetolil Beds had a unique vegetation structure which was able to support a higher diversity of browsing ungulates than that exists in African ecosystems today or that it retained an ungulate community that was resilient to environmental change. The Upper Laetolil Beds ungulate community is also unique relative to other mid-Pliocene communities in eastern Africa, some of which are similar to extant communities, while others, such as Laetoli, lack modern counterparts. This suggests that A. afarensis was a eurytopic species that inhabited a variety of ecosystems, including those with and without modern analogs. The cooccurrence of both analog and nonanalog communities in the Pliocene suggests that the transformation toward ungulate communities of modern aspect occurred asynchronously in eastern Africa.

Deciphering the plastic (non-heritable) changes induced by human control over wild animals in the archaeological record is challenging. We hypothesized that changes in locomotor behaviour in a wild ungulate due to mobility control could be quantified in the bone anatomy. To test this, we experimented with the effect of mobility reduction on the skeleton of wild boar ( Sus scrofa ), using the calcaneus shape as a possible phenotypic marker. We first assessed differences in shape variation and covariation in captive-reared and wild-caught wild boars, taking into account differences in sex, body mass, available space for movement and muscle force. This plastic signal was then contrasted with the phenotypic changes induced by selective breeding in domestic pigs. We found that mobility reduction induces a plastic response beyond the shape variation of wild boars in their natural habitat, associated with a reduction in the range of locomotor behaviours and muscle loads. This plastic signa...