The annual cycle of testes weight of adult male rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) was studied in three populations on the sub-Antarctic Kerguelen archipelago during 1984–85. This study was completed in April 1987 with an analysis of differences in diet quality between populations, assessed by the proportion of nitrogen and lignin in stomach contents. A marked annual cycle of testes weight was observed in all populations, with a rapid fall in testes weight from February to March. As in most rabbit populations studied elsewhere, testes growth resumed immediately in two populations (called Morne and Molloy). In contrast, testes growth was deferred by five to six months in the third population (Armor), subject to harsher environmental conditions. Moreover, a larger proportion of the Armor males had inactive testes during the reproductive season. The diet of the Armor population was characterized by low nitrogen and high lignin content, suggesting poor-quality diet as an immediate cause of deferred testes growth. We propose that reduced testes size during adverse conditions might be adaptive by increasing survival probability through reduction of basal metabolism and limitation of agonistic and reproductive activities, behaviours which are costly in terms of high energetic expenditure. However, at the population level, the timing of the breeding season was not related to the cycle of male testes weight and thus seems to depend on females' condition.

Differences in the prevalence and abundance of helminth parasites amongst host populations may result from variations in resistance to infection, differences in habitat preferences, diet or social behaviour. The use of helminth parasites as ‘ecological markers’ for determining differences between morphological groups of wild-living cats in Scotland was investigated, in light of the debate over the definition of a wildcat. The prevalence and abundance of the tapeworm Taenia taeniaeformis did not differ significantly between cats designated as ‘wild’ and ‘feral’ types. The prevalence of both helminths was high (94% and 69%, respectively) and there was significant variation in worm abundance related to season and geographical area. Also, prevalence of infection with Toxocara cati was significantly higher in female cats. Cats which harboured large numbers of one worm species were also likely to harbour large numbers of the other. However, a possible relationship with cat condition was only found for T. taeniaeformis for which there was a significant negative correlation between an index of cat condition and worm abundance amongst ‘wild type’ cats, but not amongst ‘feral type’ cats. Variations in worm burdens could not be attributed to differences in the diet of the cats as there was no significant relationship between the presence of any individual prey type and either the presence or abundance of T. cati or T. taeniaeformis. There was a significant negative correlation between density and biomass of individual worms in infections of T. taeniaeformis, suggestive of a density-dependent constraint on tapeworm growth.

The Quaternary dispersal of the red fox Vulpes vulpes in the Mediterranean area was evaluated through the study of allelic variation at 45 enzyme loci in 120 individuals from 10 sampling sites. A 375 bp fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene was also sequenced in a total of 41 specimens from the same sampling locations. Nine allozyme loci were polymorphic. The proportion of polymorphic loci per population (P) ranged from 0 to 15.6%, and expected average heterozygosity (H) from 0 to 4.4%. A total of 18 different Cyt b haplotypes were detected. Most of them were confined to only one population. Both allozyme and mtDNA data implied that our fox populations were genetically fairly isolated from one another, suggesting low gene flow between them. This isolation should be of comparatively recent origin according to the slight differentiation among Cyt b haplotypes. Fox populations appeared to belong to two genetically distinct groups. With a mean value of Nei's D = 0.024, genetic distance between these groups was similar to that detected at subspecies level in taxa of large mammals. This pattern may have originated from different colonization waves during Quaternary glaciations and deglaciations. Red foxes from Sardinia were more closely related to the Bulgarian foxes than to the Iberian ones. However, repeated introductions to Sardinia probably also occurred from Central Italy and Spain, as suggested by the presence of haplotype A and a typical Central Italian allele, Ck-290.

Tadpoles of different species of frogs and toads display different tendencies to aggregate. We investigated some of the costs and benefits of aggregating in three British species by examining their behavioural responses to the presence of conspecifics, and by monitoring the performance of tadpoles under different levels of social interaction with other individuals. The common toad (Bufo bufo), an aggregating species, displayed higher levels of activity than the natterjack toad (B. calamita) and common frog (Rana temporaria), two species that form aggregations less frequently. Moreover, out of the three species, only B. bufo increased activity in the presence of conspecifics. In all three species, increased interaction between individuals resulted in increased variation in size. However, average growth rate was affected only in B. bufo, which grew faster when raised in isolation and not interacting with other individuals. Under certain conditions intraspecific competition therefore seems to be more important than social facilitation, but may lead to average size at metamorphosis being larger within the population. The consequences of intraspecific competition within aggregations may therefore be different for individuals and populations.

A viviparous hoplonemertean, Prosorhochmus chafarinensissp. nov., is described from the Chafarinas Islands (western Mediterranean). The species lives in the low eulittoral under the encrusting alga Lithophyllum lichenoides. Prosorhochmus chafarinensis is compared and contrasted in detail with the other valid members of the genus, P. claparedii from European waters, P. americanus from South Carolina, and P. adriatica from Italy.

Effective anti-predator defence mechanisms depend on efficient recognition of possible predators. However, nocturnal aerial predators, such as owls, present very few stimuli to enable their detection by potential prey. The most prominent of these are their territorial calls which are believed to provide sufficient stimuli to activate anti-predator defence mechanisms in species heavily predated upon by owls. To test this hypothesis, the behaviour of voles (Microtus socialis), dormice (Eliomys melanurus), jerboas (Jaculus jaculus), and spiny mice (Acomys cahirinus) was analysed during and following exposure to playback of tape recorded calls of the tawny owl (Strix aluco). In response, voles crouched, and retreated to a small burrow present in the test arena; dormice also reduced the distances they travelled in the arena, and spent an increased amount of time around the burrow; jerboas crouched and froze during the playback of the owl call but not thereafter; spiny mice, however, displayed enigmatic behaviour in apparently ignoring the owl calls. The results, which demonstrate an induction of defensive behaviours to recorded owl calls, support the results of others who have examined the effects of exposing wild rodents to live owls.

The predatory behaviour of the terrestrial planarian Microplana termitophaga has been studied by a series of long-term observations, video records and photographs. The planarians feed by ‘fishing’ for termites at the open vent of the mound of Odontotermes transvaalensis, mainly for 2 or 3 hours after dawn. Locomotion (primarily by ciliary gliding) is described and a full account is given of feeding behaviour, including the stalking and selection of prey, the method of capture (termites are bodily lifted out of the vent by the adhesive front end of the planarian) and the time course of feeding and digestion (typically about 6 min). The largest meal observed by one individual was of 13 termites consecutively consumed over 3 h 14 min. Large numbers of soldiers at the rim reduce the predation rate, though planarians can capture soldiers.

The systematic status of a mound-building mouse population from the Adriatic coast at Ulcinj, Montenegro (Yugoslavia), originally reported as M. hortulanus ssp., is assessed using morphological and morphometric analyses. This population was compared to other M. spicilegus samples from Ukraine & Moldavia, Voivodina (Yugoslavia) and Austria, and to M. macedonicus from Turkey, Greece, and Macedonia. Character states of selected non-metric traits, along with the presence of a typical mound-building behaviour, allowed classification of the study population with M. spicilegus. This was also supported by Canonical Variate Analysis on size-adjusted dental traits. Uni- and multivariate morphometric studies revealed marked differentiation between the Ulcinj sample and the remaining M. spicilegus populations. The great deal of morphological divergence suggests a distinct systematic position of the Adriatic population, here described as Mus spicilegus adriaticus ssp. nova. Hypotheses about the possible origin and evolutionary history of the two eastern aboriginal mouse species are discussed.

The occurrence of large individuals in fluctuating populations of microtine rodents (the Chitty effect) has received considerable attention. Recent studies showed that there are no causal relationships between the Chitty effect and the multi-annual population cycles of voles and lemmings. We studied five populations of Microtus duodecimcostatus in southern France with capture-recapture methods. Mean body mass was constant in all populations. Maximum observed body mass was more variable, and slightly positively correlated with density, except in the most fluctuating population where the correlation was strong. A careful study of the occurrence of large voles in these populations showed that most were pregnant females, and that the few large males were present when density was high and sample sizes were large. Comparison with published studies indicates that the Chitty effect, though not restricted to microtines, is not a general phenomenon in small mammal populations. Our field results and laboratory data on the same species suggest that M. duodecimcostatus has a determinate body growth, contrary to some Microtus species which have an indeterminate growth.

Differences in wing morphology are described for three Eurasian populations of Drosophila lummei. A truss network of wing characters was used to quantify wing size and shape for 149 individuals from Japan, Sweden and Russia. Sexual dimorphism in wing size and shape was not substantial, so the sexes were pooled and multivariate analyses conducted. Both principal components analysis and discriminant analysis of wing morphology revealed significant differences among all geographic groups. These differences indicate that morphometric analysis of wing characters can reliably discriminate between geographic groups and accurately classify individuals of the three Drosophila lummei populations. Principal components analysis also revealed that characters occurring in the same section of the wing formed correlated suites which corresponded to morphologically and functionally distinct areas of the wing. This study is unique because it detects subtle morphological differences within a single species of fruit fly across an intercontinental distribution.The results corroborate genetic studies in which geographic variation was found for inversion polymorphisms among spatially separated populations of Drosophila lummei.

The growth patterns of body length and head size in female and male polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in western Hudson Bay were compared with those of five other populations using the von Bertalanffy equation. Our objective was to determine if differences in growth patterns could account for higher reproductive rates reported in female polar bears from western Hudson Bay compared to the other populations. Significant differences in asymptotic size and growth rate were found in body length and head size. At age of first breeding in western Hudson Bay (4.1 years old), females reached 97% of asymptotic body length, while females in other populations took between 4.5 and 5.5 years to attain the same proportion. Body length of three- and four-year-old females in western Hudson Bay declined between the 1960s and 1990s and temporal variation in growth rates makes cross-population studies uncertain. Zygomatic breadth and head length may provide the most useful measures to compare populations because they are simple to measure, non-varying, and growth in head length is almost complete (97–98%) by the age of first breeding in females. We conclude that higher reproductive rates in western Hudson Bay were associated with higher growth rates. However, the reason for the higher growth rates remain unknown.

Predation pressure has long been proposed as a determinant of mammalian social systems. Group size and composition were compared for 121 populations of cercopithecoid primates, from 39 species of 13 genera, living under low, moderate or high predation risk. In confirmation of previous studies, predation risk was found to have a major effect on group size, with populations under high predation pressure living in significantly larger groups than those at lower risk. However, there were differences in social structure between the predation risk categories. Unimale groups were smaller, had fewer females than multimale groups and were infrequently found under conditions of high predation risk. Predation risk had marked effects on the composition of multimale groups. Under conditions of high predation risk there was a disproportionate increase in the number of adult males over that predicted by the number of females present or by group size. At low predation risk there were fewer males than predicted on the basis of female group size. Together, these results suggest that male strategies to monopolize females depend both on the females' grouping patterns and on the needs of both sexes to maximize group size under high predation pressure.

The loss of tooth effectiveness due to molar wear has been proposed as an important cause of mortality in ungulate populations. Voluntary intakes, digestibility, mean retention times, chewing behaviour (during eating and rumination), and diet selection (physical selection: short vs long particles in hay; and botanical selection: leaf vs stem) were compared in two groups of female red deer (Cervus elaphus) which differed in molar occlusal surface area, in order to test the hypothesis that behavioural and physiological mechanisms can be used to maintain assimilation efficiency in the presence of low functional tooth effectiveness. The group with lower values for first lower molar occlusal surface area (OSA) corrected for body weight had lower voluntary food intakes (P = 0.0126). The low OSA group had a greater number of chews per g DM of food ingested (P = 0.0167), a greater time spent chewing (P = 0.0476) but a lower number of chews per min than did those with a high OSA (P = 0.0484). The total number of chews per day was similar for both groups (P = 0.2011). The number of ruminating chews per day was less for the low OSA group (P = 0.0377). The group with low OSA values had a larger average particle size in their faeces (P = 0.0346). No differences were detected between groups in the physical or botanical composition of the diet selected (P = 0.3030, P = 0.3056, respectively) or in total digestibility and mean retention times (P = 0.1357, P = 0.3464, respectively). As a consequence of the lower voluntary intake the low OSA group had a lower digestible dry matter intake (P = 0.0170). This study supports the view that intake modification and the time invested in chewing during eating are the main mechanisms used to compensate for reduced chewing effectiveness associated with changes in tooth morphology, although the compensation is not total.

I examined directional asymmetry (DA) in the number of subdigital lamellae under the fourth toe (MDA) and in injury frequency (IDA) on the hindlimbs of eight Agamidae. In no species were MDA and IDA statistically significant, neither was there significant sexual dimorphism in MDA. But a strong, positive relationship exists between MDA and IDA, contrasting with the weak positive correlation between the side of injury and the morphologically dominant side in individual lizards. Therefore the relationship between MDA and IDA results from an evolutionary process, probably involving higher survival after injury of the morphologically dominant side. This process suggests functional importance of DA in the frame of evolution caused by unsuccessful predation.

Habitat selection by female Dall's sheep (Ovis dalli dalli) during lambing was studied in interior Alaska, U.S.A., in 1988 and 1989. Selection of habitat changed with the chronology of lambing. During the pre-lambing period, maternal females selected sites with forage and avoided snow-covered areas. During peak lambing, food and steep slopes continued to be selected. Distance to escape terrain was a critical component of habitat selection by females throughout lambing. Maternal bands that ventured farther from escape terrain were in larger groups. Abundance of forage also increased in areas that were farther from this terrain.

Habitat selection by females also differed between years. In 1989, a late spring storm resulted in deep snow and delayed phenology of plants; forage was of lower quality, and the growing season was much shorter in 1989 than in 1988. Births of lambs also occurred later and less synchronously in the second year. Females selected terrain characteristics that were related to avoiding predators in 1988 when forage was more plentiful, but selected sites with forage in 1989 when food was less abundant.

Group size of maternal bands was larger in 1988 than in 1989, and females foraged most efficiently during 1988. Large groups may not have occurred in 1989 because lambs were born asynchronously, preventing cohesive movements of maternal bands with lambs of differing ages.

Both the chronology of lambing and a variable environment affected habitat selection by females. Maternal females made trade-offs between the requirements for forage to meet the high energetic costs of lactation and the risk of predation.

A new species of gecko of the genus Tarentola is described from a single specimen in the herpetological collection of the National Museums of Scotland. The gecko was part of a presentation made in 1884 by a resident of Jamaica, and is presumed to be a Jamaican endemic, possibly now extinct. Though clearly a member of the predominantly African genus Tarentola, the new species bears no specific affinity with the only other known New World species, and is very distinct in lepidosis from similar African taxa. A complete description is given for this new species, and it is named Tarentola albertschwartzi. Its possible relationship to the fossil Aristelliger titan Hecht, 1951, is discussed.

This study investigated the winter daily defecation rate (DDR) of fallow deer in a Mediterranean area, and reviewed the existing literature on the defecation rate of this species. A mean number of 26.5 pellet groups deer−1 day−1 was found in this study. This value was similar to that found in studies carried out in winter in the U.K. and Germany, suggesting that different diets and habitats do not affect fallow deer DDR.

Morphological and isozyme variations between 13 populations of the species hitherto named Patella granularis were investigated to see whether differences in shell structure between the west coast versus the south and east coasts of southern Africa are supported by other morphological features or by genetic differences. The shells showed a definite decrease in size from west to east, but this is correlated with productivity and is of no diagnostic use in distinguishing between populations. Discriminant functions analysis based on shell morphometrics failed to separate populations from the three coastal regions. Shells from the northern east coast do, however, have shell nodules with a dark pigmentation, distinctly separating them from those further south and west. No differences in radular or soft part morphology were detected between the populations, but the four northernmost populations on the east coast have a significantly shorter Z looping of the gut than the other populations along the coast. Significant microstructural differences in the sperm were also detected between these two groups of populations. Electrophoretic analysis of 16 enzyme loci failed to detect any significant differences between the west and south coast populations, but revealed a genetic identity (Nei) of 0.528 as well as four diagnostic alleles between the four northernmost populations from the east coast compared with those to the south and west. The two genetically distinct forms occurred sympatrically at one of the study sites on the east coast (Coffee Bay). It was concluded the two groupings were sufficiently different to warrant the recognition of a separate species, which is centred in KwaZulu-Natal on the east coast and extends south to Coffee Bay, from where it is replaced by P. granularis. There is, however, no evidence at all that the west coast populations are in any way separable from the remaining populations of P. granularis on the south coast.

Vocal signatures and individual recognition are documented in a wide range of avian and mammalian species, but little is known about cervids. However, the existence of individual characteristics in cervid vocalizations is highly probable, as the individual morphology of their vocal organ determines the spectral structure of the uttered signal. Here, we report the presence of individual characteristics in the spectral structure of fallow deer groans recorded during the rutting period. We digitized 147 vocalizations from four adult males and transformed each of them into a power spectrum of 32 values in order to represent the frequency distribution of the sound power. A neural network discrimination with cross validation performed on the resulting variables allowed us correctly to identify 87.9 % of the tested vocalizations. The spectrum characteristics of an individual remained stable over the rutting period, and probably over several consecutive ruts (the vocalizations of one male recorded during a previous rutting period were also correctly classified). We therefore conclude that the groan may constitute a vocal signature. The individually structured groan may provide a valuable basis for individual recognition during the breeding season and therefore may play an important role in the social interactions observed during this period.

Asaphidion flavipes, A. curtum, and A. stierlini, which are similar in shape and size, were compared for morphological measurements of the head and eyes. The species not only differ in body size but also in the relative length of their antenna, the surface area of their compound eyes, the number and density of their ommatidia, and the structure of their visual space. These differences can be interpreted functionally and correlate well with features of the various habitats in which the species are found.