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07 July 2008, Volume 20 Issue 3

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OBSERVATION ON GROUP SPLITTING AND REFORMING IN GOLDEN TAKIN (BUDORCAS TAXICOLOR BEDFORDI)

ZENG Zhigao ,SONG Yanling, GONG Huisheng

2000, 20(3):  161-167. 

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Data got from four golden takins (Budorcas taxicolor bee/fore/i) with radio-collared revealed that groups of the animal were split and reformed quite easily and could be identified very often in the field during from June 1995 to August 1996. Family groups were more stable than social groups and mixed groups. However the members of family except female and her 1-year calf were also changed quite often. Sub-adults over 1-year old were not associated with their mothers in the family group. Causes of the group splitting were summarized as breeding requirement of adult males growing up of sub-adult and anti-predator strategy of the takin. Adult males would left their groups alone to look for mating change if no any females in the group were in heat. Solitary males were seen get into groups and check females whether they were in estrus. Therefore, the adult males were regarded as the most unstable members in the animal groups in breeding season. Sub- adults over 2-year older would stop their close relationship with their mothers and became the members of social groups or mixed group. It was not sure that whether the group formed up only by sub-adults existed in the subspecies of golden takin. Probabilities of encountering predators would be predicted higher when the animal made a vertical or long distance horizon movements due to the land form of Qinling mountain ranges. Animals in groups could be able to identify predators and escaped before predators find them. Group splitting was identified in the field when takins met any threatens in the study period. Group reforming could be expected in the locations of salt resources.

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ON THE GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION TAXONOMIC STATUS OF SPECIES AND EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF SIKA DEER IN CHINA

QUO Yanshu , ZHENQ Huizhen

2000, 20(3):  168-179. 

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In early Pleistocene, sika deer was only found in north China region and Taiwan; in middle pleistocene to holocence it extended to northeast region the east of Mongolia-Xinkian region the central China region the south China region, the east of southwest region and Qinghai-Tibet region. There is only one species ( Cervus nippon) in the east Asia from early pleistocene to holocene. It is devided into nine subspecies in China (C. n. sintikuensis, C. n. taicxuanus, C. n.grayi,C. n .hortulorum,C. n .mandarinu, C. n. grassianus,C. n. sinchuanrinus, C. n . kopschi C. n . pseudxis). Sika deer whose home is on the edge of the forest has better adaptabililty. Its distribution regions are abruptly shrinking with the continuous rising of Qinghai-Tibet plateau and man’s action after ice age. Now, there are only 1500 wild sika deers in China. It is discussed evolutionary history of sika deer yet.

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HABITAT VEGETATION AND SELECTION OF WHITE-HEADED LEAF MONKEY (TRACHYPITHECUS LEUCOCEPHALUS)

HUANG Chengming, XUE Yaogui , WEI Yi, LI Youbang

2000, 20(3):  180-185. 

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The quadrat method and animal focus sampling were used to study the botanical diversity in the karst habitat and habitat selection by white-headed leaf monkey. According to the geology and vegetation, the karst habitat was divided into four parts which were the top the middle, the bottom and flat land inside hills. These four parts had their own dominant species of the plant and the Shannon-Venner diversity index and the evenness index were 6.152 and 0.8439 respectively. White-headed leaf monkey selectively used three parts of the hills with 66.45 ±5.65% on bottom, 21.15±5.49% on middle, 12.78± 6.8% on top. White-headed leaf monkey used the bottom mainly for rest and feeding, the middle mainly for moving and the top for sunbathing in winter. Therefore it is significant to protect the karst hill habitat as a whole.


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OVERWINTER OF SMALL HERBIVOROUS MAMMALS INHABITING ALPINE AREA

SU Jianping, LIU like

2000, 20(3):  186-192. 

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Discussed the wintering strategies of small herbivorous mammals inhabiting alpine area based on the data collected by the authors during 1985 1998 in the region of the Research Station of Alpine Meadow Ecosystem Acedemia Sinica. Observations were concentrated on the five most common species: Himalayan marmot ( Marmota himalayana)¡¯ plateau pika ( Ochotona curzoniae), Gansu pika (0. cansus), root vole (Microtus oeconomus). and plateau zokor (Myospalax baileyl)
Three main strategies to overwinter adopted by the species were found. Himalayan marmot was the only hibernator. So it needed not to storage food for winter and had a winter sleep from late September to the next middle April. Plateau zokor was the only subterranean rodent in non-hibernators. It usually started to store food individually for winter at the middle of September when juveniles was able to leave their mother to live separately. This activity ended in late October or early November when soils were frozen and food collection by burrowing was impossible. Root voles began to establish their food storage in late September. They stored their winter foods in underground storercums dug before so they could avoid the extreme cold exposure while using the foods. Gansu pikas exhibited haying behavior in late September. They harvested plants and cached them above ground at places with distance less than 1 meter from their burrow openings. Both root vole and gansu pika worked in herd when storing winter food. Plateau pika was found never to store food for winter.
Why did small herbivorous mammals in the alpine area adopt different wintering strategies? There are four reasons. First, high risk of predation might prevent small mammals from hibernating. Second, because fat deposits correlate to survival during hibernation and during post-hibernation activity that occurs before new food become available in the environment too small species could not adopt hibernation with the limitation of fat deposits in body. These two factors could explain why Himalayan marmot was the only hibernator. Third, lifestyle and physical conditions in environment could determine animals how to overwinter. For instance plateau zokor is a non-hibernating subterranean rodent, it lives on the underground parts of plants. If it dose not store enough food for winter it will die from starvation because foraging by burrowing in frozen soils is impossible. Fourth, animal's tolerance to cold, correlated to body size determines it's cold exposure limitations and thus it's way to overwinter. This can be used to explain the differences of wintering strategies adopted by plateau pika Gansu pika and root vole.
It can be concluded that wintering strategies of animals shaped in the long process of evolution and should be optimalized by nature selection. One can understand the profound evolution of animals by comparing their different ways to overwinter.


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FOOD HABIT OF THE PLATEAU ZOKOR

WANG Quanye, ZHANG Yanming, WEI Wanhong, BIAN jianghui

2000, 20(3):  191-199. 

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The stomach contents 144plateauzokors were collectedfrom two typed habitatsat Haibei AIpineMeadow Ecosystem Research Station in 1990.92stomach contents were examined under a microscope , and plant particles were identified by comparing them with mounts of konwn plant tisses.Records of herbaceous vegetation were obtained from sites where the zokor were trapped. The results showd that there are not difference between two type of habitats and between sex, but the frequency of hte herbage composition had the significant difference. The species of grasses were scarce in the contents and only two species of sedges occurred in the contents the most vegetation were forbs in the content. Nine of the most important plants taken in preference index were Poten ti/la anserina, Thalictrum alpinum Saussurea likiangensis. P. nivea S. Superba Ajania tenuifolia,Gueldenstaedtia himalaica, Lingularia sagitta and Oxytropis sp.


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THE BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BUFF-BREASTED RATS (RATTUS FLAVIPECTUS) IN YANGTSE VALLEY IN CHINA

ZHANG Meiwen, CHEN Anguo, WANG Yong, QUO Cong, LIU Huifen, LI Bo

2000, 20(3):  200-211. 

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The evidence indicated that the Buff-breasted rat that distributed mainly in south China and Southeast Asia is spreading to the north. Although the population density of the animal in south China is still higher than that of in north China, the population of this animal is increasing in the north China and decreasing in south China. It is suggested that the worming climate be one of the most important reasons for the spreading of the animal and the increasing of the population in north. The population of the animal decreasing in south is because of the improving of house structure.
The rats in south China inhabit both in farmer’s house and on farmland. However，the rats distributing in north China mainly inhabit in the buildings. These perhaps relate to the differences of climate between the north and the south.
The mean body weight，body length and tail length are 86.7g，142.9 mm and 157.6 mm respectively in Dongting Lake region. The body length of the animals in Dongting Lake region is generally shorter than the tail length. However, the proportion of the individuals that the tail length is shorter than the body length in Dongting Lake region is lower than that in Yunnan.
The animals breed all the year in Dongting Lake region. The breeding potential of the animal reaches the peak during April and May. The monthly mean value of rate of pregnancy and index of reproduction (litter size number of subadult + adult females) are 25. 5% and 1 .99 respectively. The mean litter size is 7. 11(range 1-17) . The monthly mean proportion of testes in scrotum is 68.0%. The animals that distribute in north China stop breeding in winter.

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MATHEMATICAL PROPERTIES OF THE RICHARDS MODEL AND ITS APPLICATION TO MAMMALIAN GROWTH

DOU Wei, WAN Xinrong

2000, 20(3):  212-216. 

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By analyzing the mathematical properties of Richards model, it reveals that the Richards model has unfixed value of inflexion point and therefore possesses well flexibility in portraying diverse mammalian growth courses. The Richards equation encompasses the Logistic, Gompertz,Spillman and the Bertalanffy equations according to the values of its additional parameter. In order to evaluate the fitness of the Richards model, some traditional growth models(i. e. Spillman Logistic, Gompertz and Bertalanffy) as well as the Richards model are used to fit 10 sets of referenced growth data of mammalia. Based on current analysis the Richards equation has remarkable fitness in depicting diverse growth courses of mammalian species which suggest it is worthy of being considered by data analysts.


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COMPARISION AMONG METHODS FOR STUDYING GENETIC DIVERSITY IN UNGULATES

ZENG Yan, JlANG Zhigang, HAN Gengxin

2000, 20(3):  217-224. 

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Many wild ungulate populations are endangered, thus conservation of the genetic diversity in those wild ungulate populations has become an important issue in conservation biology. Recently developments in molecular biology, such as quantitative genetic analysis, protein electrophoresis,RFLPs, PAPDs,small-satellite and microsatellite technology,have been applied to assay genetic diversity in animal population. Those methods differ in scopes of studying objectives and analysis costs. Thus, before carrying out research on genetic diversity,careful planning is needed for choosing a suitable method.


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PLANT CHEMICAL DEFENSES AND THE ADAPTIVE STRATEGIES OF HERBIVOROUS MAMMALS

LI Junnian, LIU Jike

2000, 20(3):  225-232. 

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The plant chemical defenses and the adaptive strategies of herbivorous mammals are the main aspects in nutritional ecology and evolutionary ecology. Plant secondary compounds could decrease the food intake digestibility and protein availability and some compounds could effect the normal reproductive performance of herbivorous manmals. Tannin is an important feeding deterrent to herbivores. Animals processed information about food through cognitive processes and affective processes in diet selection. The offspring could learn foraging information from mother in uterus and weaning and get also foraging information from experienced forager through social learning. The manmalian herbivores could reduce the influence of plant secondary compounds by increasing the food item spectrum learning of diet selection, formation of coagulation degradation of microorganism oxidation and reduction.