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07 July 2008, Volume 23 Issue 4

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A Preliminary Study on the Sequence Variability of Cetacean c-mos Genes and its Application in Phylogenetic Analysis

YANG Guang JI Guoqing ZHOU Kaiya WEI Fuwen

2003, 23(4):  277-282. 

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Primers for amplifying the cetacean c-mos genes were designed based on the alignment of conservative region of c-mos genes from pigs and some other mammals. With these primers , the partial coding region of cetacean c-mos gene , which was 546 base pairs (bp) in length , was amplified by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for 23 toothed whales belonging to 12 species of five families. The amplified products were purified and directly sequenced by an ABI 310 automated genetic analyzer. The results suggested a very low level of sequence variation at cetacean c-mos genes. In the phylogenetic analysis using maximum likelihood method incorporated in computer software PHYLIP , species from the same family constituted respective monophyletic groups , but the relationship at subfamily level was not well resolved. This suggested that c-mos gene is an appropriate candidate in the phylogenetic study only at family andPor higher level.

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Effects of Huafen Enzymes - 1600 on Forage Disgestibility in Giraffa camelopardalis

ZOU Xinghuai

2003, 23(4):  282-287. 

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Three same-age healthy Giraffa camelopardalis were selected for four digestible tests with the addition of an exotic compound , Huafen Enzymes-1600 in their diets. Results indicated that adding the exotic enzyme could significantly improve digestibility of dry matter , crude protein , crude fat , and cellulose ( P < 0.05) , especially cellulose. As far as the forage digestibility , a reasonable addition of 1.2 ‰ of the Huafen Enzymes- 1600 is recommended.

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Effect of Grazing on Giant Pandas'habitat in Yele Nature Reserve

RAN Jianghong LIU Shaoying WANG Hongjia SUN Zhiyu ZENG Zongyong LIU Shichang

2003, 23(4):  288-294. 

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Impact of grazing on giant pandas'habitat was studied at Yele Nature Reserve , Sichuan in 2001. Forage ratio selection index is used to assess the bamboo utilization of both giant pandas and grazing. Among 482 sampling spots of our survey , panda traces at 54 sampling spots , grazing at 159 sampling spots were recorded. We use bamboo coverage , height , growth status , density and elevation to characterize habitats of both the giant panda and livestock and sort grazing intensity into intensive , medium , and weak. The results of analyses of Forage ratios , contingency tables and Pearson correlation suggest that a) the giant panda preferred to habitats of 2 - 3 m height bamboo , bamboo coverage of 50 % - 100 % , better bamboo growth status at elevation of 2 870 - 3 900 m; b) livestock , occurring at elevation of 2 700 - 4 000 m , showed no preference the above factors ; c) at intensive grazing sampling spots no panda traces was found and bamboo coverage was less than 50 % at 80 % of sampling spots ; d) bamboo density and adult bamboo density were less at the sampling spots where grazing occurred than the sampling spots where giant pandas occurred , but proportion of dead bamboo individuals was higher than the sampling spots of giant panda , e) and with the presence of bamboo or not and bamboo coverage is dependent on grazing intensity ; f) giant panda avoid the grazing habitat1 It is concluded that grazing has definite impact on pandas’habitats and therefore it should take measures to control grazing activities in the nature reserve.

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Distribution Pattern and Zoogeographical Analysis of Mammals in Qilian Mountain Areas , Qinghai , China

XIA Lin YANG Qisen XIANG Yu FENG Zuojian

2003, 23(4):  295-303. 

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The Qilian Mountain is located in the northeastern margin of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The authors had conducted two surveys on distributions of mammals in the Qilian Mountain and its adjacent area during the summer in 2001 - 2002. Altogether 72 species of mammals have been recorded in our investigational area , belongings to 7 orders , 20 families and 53 genera. Among them , 62 species which occupying 86.1 %of the total number of the mammals are considered to be Palaearctic and 7 species to be Oriental mammals , besides , the others to be widely spread mammals. On the basis of comprehensive physical factors including altitude , landforms , climate , vegetation , hydrology , land2use , etc. , the reasearch area was divided into 10 basic units (Operational Taxonomic Unit , OTU). Then the information of mammals in each unit was used to compute species composition similarity for the 10 units , using clustering methods. The clustering results indicated that the fauna on mammals in Huangshui Valley is quite different from all the other areas. The central area of Qilian Mountain is similar to the mountain area of Northern Qinghai Lake. The faunal differences between the Western Chaidamu Basin and the Mountain area of eastern Chaidamu Basin are obviously existent. The Mountain area of eastern Chaidamu Basin has a much closer relationship with the Central area of Qilian Mountain than that with the western and central area of Chaidamu Basin. Ecologically the existence of Qilian Mountain have caused obvious edge effects on mammal diversity and zoogeography. The species composition of mammals in this area not only have some similarity to Qinghai-Tibet Plateau , but also have a close relationship with Xinjiang area. For these reasons , the mammal diversity and zoogeography of the Qilian Mountain could be considered as a transitional area.

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Effect of Photoperiod on Body Weight and Energy Metabolism in Brandt's Voles ( Microtus brandti) and Mongolian Gerbils

LI Xingsheng WANG Dehua YANG Juncheng

2003, 23(4):  304-311. 

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Body weight , basal metabolic rate (BMR) , and energy metabolism were measured under long photoperiod (16L∶8D , LD) and short photoperiod (8L∶16D , SD) for acclimating Brandt's voles (Microtus brandti) and Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) . Animals were transferred from LD to SD conditions for 6 weeks for voles and 7 weeks for gerbils. Body weights were measured at 32 day intervals at first two weeks and at last 3 days of each week thereafter. Energy intake , digested energy , and metabolizable energy were determined by food trials (metabolic cage) with 32 day intervals. BMRs were measured by using closed circuit respirometer within thermoneutrality at the beginning and the end of acclimation. Under LD and SD conditions, both voles and gerbils tended to increase their body weights , increasing faster within the first 2 weeks and then slowing down , and became stable after 3 weeks. However , the magnitude of changes is different between LD and SD conditions, and also between voles and gerbils. Under SD conditions , body weights were increased by 37 % for voles and 11 % for gerbils , and those were lower than under LD conditions (47 % for voles and 25 %for gerbils). This suggests that there is a sensitive time to photoperiod and SD could constrain the increase in body weight for both species. There were no effect of photoperiod on energy intake, digested energy , and metabolizable energy for both voles and gerbils. Photoperiod also had no significant effect on BMRs for both species. These results suggest that short photoperiod can cue both Brandt's voles and Mongolian gerbils to decrease their body weights and thus decrease the absolute energy requirement per animal for winter survival in their natural environments.

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Rodent's Ability to Discriminate Weevil-Infested Acorns : Potential Effects on Regeneration of Nut-Bearing Plants

XIAO Zhishu ZHANG Zhibin WANG Yushan

2003, 23(4):  312-320. 

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Rodents, as both seed predators and seed dispersers, influence natural regeneration of nut-bearing species. Rodents' ability to discriminate insect-infested seeds was often debated. By offering seed-eating rodents three acorn types (sound acorns, weevil-infested acorns with or without weevils) of four fagaceous species (Quercus variabilis, Q. serrata, Cyclobalanopsis glauca, and Castanopsis fargesii) with different ratios in an experimental forest farmof Dujiangyan City, Sichuan Province , China , during the autumn of the year 2001. This study was carried out to test the hypothesis whether seed-eating rodents have the ability to discriminate infested seeds. The disappearance of infested acorns was slower than that of sound acorns for all species of all ratios. Rodents significantly removed more sound acorns than infested acorns of all species (67%- 92%), even when the proportion of infested acorns increased. When the ratio of infested acorns increased, the consumed and rejected proportions of infested acorns decreased while the removal rate increased. Seed-eating rodents do not always reject infested acorns , which might be related to acorn availability and quantity aswell as to rodents' foraging strategies. The results demonstrate that seed-eating rodents discriminate infested acorns accurately , and differentially remove and cache most of sound acorns and consume infested acorns (including weevils). This may affect the fates of sound and infested acorns and then influence natural regeneration of these nut-bearing species.

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Effect of Tannic Acid on the Growth and Survival of Root Voles (Microtus oeconomus)

LI Junnian LIU Jike TAO Shuanglun

2003, 23(4):  320-325. 

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The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of tannic acid on the growth and survival of small mammalian herbivores. Measurements were conducted with weaned root voles fed with 3%or 6%tannic acid and 10%or 20%protein in their diets. The results indicated that the effect of tannic acid on growth rate of weaned root voleswas greater when given a lower protein diet than a higher protein diet. After 20 d , with 10% protein diets , mean growth rates of the weaned voles fed with 3% or 6%tannic acid were -0.135 g/d and -0.25 g/d , respectively. When given 20% protein diet , mean growth rates of weaned root voles fed with 3% and 6% tannic acid for 20 d were 0.134 g/d and -0.116 g/d , respectively. Food utilization efficiencies of the voles fed with 3% and 6% tannic acid diets were significantly lower than that of the control diet at the level of 10%protein. When given the 20%protein diet , food utilization efficiencies of weaned voles fed with 6% tannic acid were significantly lower than that of the voles fed with 3% tannic acid diet or the control diet with the 10%protein diets , the average survival days of the weaned voles fed with 3% and 6% tannic acid diets decreased 26.23% and 49.36% compared to controls at the end of trial period , respectively. With 20% protein diets , the average survival of weaned voles given 6% tannic acid diet decreased 39.41% compared to controls at the end of trial period , although weaned voles given 3% tannic acid had a slight decrease of average survival days. The results of this study suggested that tannins could substantially affect the individual performance of weaned root voles.

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A Preliminary Study on Effects of Kinship on Parental Care and Infanticide of Brandt's Voles (Microtus brandti)

YU Xiaodong FANGJiming

2003, 23(4):  326-331. 

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This paper investigated the role of the kinship on parental care and infanticide in Brandt's voles (Microtus brandti) . In home cages , behavioral responses of adult voleswere observed and compared when placed with their own pups ( r = 0.50) and the unrelated pups ( r < 0.125). Behavioral observation was conducted corresponding to pup development which was divided into five periods : period. (newborn : 1 - 5 days) , period 2 (ear-erected : 6 - 9 days), period 3 (eye-opening: 10 - 14 days), period 4 (out of nest : 15- 20 days), and period 5 (weaning: 21 - 24 days). The parental behaviors included brooding and nursing, nonventral contact , and grooming. Other behaviors such as sniffing pups , nest-building , and the location of the subject voles were also recorded. Males spent significantly more time in brooding and nursing with their own pups than they did with the unrelated pups during the period 1. During the period 5 , they also spent more time in activities in nest and nonventral contact with their own pups than they did with the unrelated pups. They, however, spent less time with their own pups in grooming during the periods 1 and 3, and in sniffing during the periods 2, 4 and 5. In contrast , females also spent significantly less time with their own pups in grooming during the period 5, and in sniffing during the periods 1, 2 and 4. And they spent significantly more time with their pups in nonventral contact only during the period 5. The parents started killing the unrelated pups when the pups started out of nest (152 days old), and did not kill their own pups during all pup development. Moreover, although the pup development did not show an obvious effect on males in infanticide, females were more likely to adopt infanticide in the later period than in the early period. During the last two periods, kinship showed the significant effects on infanticide in females but not in males. More females killed the unrelated pups than males did. Therefore, we suggest that kinship, based on previous association or Pand phenotype matching, might play a positive role in regulating both parental care and infanticide by females, and in regulating parental care only by males in Brandt's voles.

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Structure of Small Mammal Communities in the Dwelling of Four Counties in Western Yunnan

WU Aiguo SONG Zhizhong LI Tianyuan DONG Xingqi ZHAO Wenhong YANG Zhiming

2003, 23(4):  332-338. 

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According to the cluster analysis of investigation from Ruili ,Baoshan , Yingjiang , Longchuan counties in western Yunnan province during 1983 to 1996 , the structure of small mammal communities can be divided into three types :(1) Ruili and Longchuan (indoor and outdoor) communities dominated by Rattus flavipectus and Suncus murinus; (2) Yingjiang (indoor and outdoor) and Baoshan (indoor) communities dominated by Rattus flavipectus, Suncus murinus and Mus musculus; (3)Baoshan(outdoor) community by Ruttus favipectus, Suncus murinus and Crocidura attenuats. The community 3 has the highest species diversity (1.589 7) , and communities 1 and 2 have lower diversities of 1.099 0 and 1.042 5, respectively.It was considered that the reduced number of Rattus flavipectus in the Baoshan area(outdoor)was the reason of the increased diversity in third community and was also the reason that Yesinia pesitis was not conserved on the Baoshan area for a long time. There is a very close relationship between the structure of small mammal communities and the mechanism of the conserve and spread of Yesinia pesitis.

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A Review and Prospects of the Research on Hair Microstructure

ZHANGWei XU Yanchun

2003, 23(4):  339-345. 

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The history of human learning about the microstructure of hairs has spanned over 160 years. With the development of microscopic techniques, people not only have outlined the basic structure of hairs , but also have connected the diversity and variability of hair microstructural characteristics to the species characteristics , environmental factors effecting the animals , textile and hair care business. The newly developed high technology in biology field will support further recognition of hair structure , and consequently ,the conventional species identification , relationship between morphology and function , and textile and hair care business will be accelerated by the discoveries of more detailed information of the hair structure.

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Introduction of the Hypotheses on the Origins of Bats-Monophyly or Diphyly

TIAN Lanxiang LIANGBing ZHANG Shuyi

2003, 23(4):  346-350. 

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This paper introduces the origins of bats-monophyly or diphyly , as well as evidences from morphology, biochemistry and molecular phylogeny studies. These evidences separately support the two important hypotheses and the debate about them. Moreover, the paper summarizes the new advances on this issue and discovers new questions.

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Preliminary Study on Method of Predicting Distribution of Mammals

XIE Yan WANG Song LI Dianmo John MacKinnon

2003, 23(4):  351-357. 

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On the basis of comprehensive natural factors including altitude , topography , climate , vegetation , river system , farm belt , etc. , the present paper has divided China's territory into 124 basic units by using the GIS technique. Distribution information of 171 selected mammal species were collected through the China Species Information System (CSIS) , and transformed them into geographical coordinates. Information of presence and absence of species in each unit were used to produce the mammal species distribution similarities to the 124 basic units by using mathematical quantitative analysis , i.e. , S<rensen comparability index formula to calculate correlative matrixes and Ward method for cluster analysis. According to localities of the units that few specimenrecords located , and their similarities to other units , we were able to predict the possible distribution of species. It has found that this prediction method is quite simple , fast , and reasonable accurate.

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A Dietary Shift in Sichuan Snub2nosed Monkeys

LI Baoguo ZHANG Peng Kunio WATANABE Chia L.TAN Fumio FUKUDA Kazuo WADA

2003, 23(4):  358-360. 

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Changes of Immunoglobulins in Colostrums of Giant Pandas

WANG Chengdong ZHANG Zhihe HOU Rong LAN Jingchao Huang Xiangming YU Jianqiou WANG Qiang ZHONG shunlong YU Xingming ZHAO Bo

2003, 23(4):  361-365. 

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This paper first reports that the contents of sIgA , IgG and IgM of 3 giant pandas′colostrums from day 1 to day 14 unconsecutively which have been determined by the method of "A Rate Nephelometer for Measuring Specific Protein by Immunopreciptin Reaction". The results indicated that sIgA is the most important immunuoglobulins of giant panda's colostrums , and IgG, IgM are also the major components of giant panda's colostrums. The contents of immunoglobulins in colostrums of giant pandas vary with the day: 1) the content of colostral sIgA is in the highest level (1 442.93 mgPdl) in lst day , and maintains a higher level (1 200 - 1 300 mg/dl) from 2nd day to 5th day , it drops abruptly in 7th day (727.61 mg/dl) ; 2) the content of colostral IgGis in the hingest level (86.15 mgPdl) , and maintains in a higher level (648.74 - 707.07 mgPdl) from 2nd day to 5th day , but drops abruptly in 7th day (375.14 mg/dl) ; 3) the content of colostral IgM varies rarely and maintains in a stable level during the first postpartum 5 days , and drops abruptly in 7th day. Based on the changes of immunoglobulins in giant panda's milks , the author conclude that milks from 1st day to 5th day postpartum should be giant panda's colostrums.

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Nursing Behaviors of the Captive Red Panda ( Ailurus f ulgens)

LIU Xueqing Zhang Zejun WEI Fuwen LI Ming LI Chun YANG Zhi HU Jinchu

2003, 23(4):  366-368. 

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Nursing behaviors of the captive red pandas were quantitatively studied by focal sampling methods in Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding from July to August , 2000. The results indicated that frequencies of activity and rest were low in the first three days after birth , and became higher as time went by. The frequency of licking cub was higher in the first day after birth and deserting cub was only observed in the seventh day. Frequencies of some behaviors , such as rest , licking cub , cherishing cub , sniffing cub , returning to shed and deserting cub , differed significantly in different phases of the first month after birth. Frequencies of licking cub , cherishing cub , sniffing cub and returning to shed were significantly higher in the pre-nursing period than in the midnursing and post-nursing periods. However , frequencies of rest and deserting cub were significantly higher in the post-nursing period than in the per-nursing and mid-nursing periods. The degree of maternal behaviors can be inferred from degree that the mother exposes her babies to the environment and the time that the mother leaves her shed.