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30 September 2021, Volume 41 Issue 5

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Research advances and perspectives of mammalogy in China in the past 40 years

WANG Dehua, WEI Fuwen, ZHANG Zhibin, WANG Zuwang

2021, 41(5):  483-486.  DOI: 10.16829/j.slxb.150602

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It has been 40 years since the establishment of the Branch of Mammalogical Society of China Zoology Society in 1980 and the official founding of the journal Acta Theriologica Sinica in 1981. Most areas of mammalogy experienced great and healthy developments in China, especially in taxonomy and phylogeny, population ecology, physiological ecology, behavioral ecology, conservation ecology, conservation genetics, molecular evolution, and habitats assessments. Here we invited 11 review papers to reveal the main advances of these areas in the past 40 years in China and proposed some potential developmental directions for the future. Based on the well developments of these areas, some new problems and areas such as diseases of wild mammals and their transmission ecology, the roles of mammals in the ecosystem under climate changing, conservation physiology, and conservation metagenomics are the research fields that should be enhanced.

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Catalogue of mammals in China(2021)

WEI Fuwen, YANG Qisen, WU Yi, JIANG Xuelong, LIU Shaoying, LI Baoguo, YANG Guang, LI Ming, ZHOU Jiang, LI Song, HU Yibo, GE Deyan, LI Sheng, YU Wenhua, CHEN Bingyao, ZHANG Zejun, ZHOU Caiquan, WU Shibao, ZHANG Li, CHEN Zhongzheng, CHEN Shunde, DENG Huaiqing, JIANG Tinglei, ZHANG Libiao, SHI Hongyan, LU Xueli, LI Quan, LIU Zhu, CUI Yaqian, LI Yuchun

2021, 41(5):  487-501.  DOI: 10.16829/j.slxb.150595

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China is one of the countries with the highest diversity of mammalian species. Knowledge of mammalian diversity and their taxonomy is fundamental to mammalian research and is the basis of scientific conservation of wild populations. To clarify the species diversity and important taxonomic information such as the taxonomic position of mammals in China, the China Mammalogical Society organized an editorial committee consisting of taxonomists studying different taxonomic groups. Based on previous taxonomic studies and the latest morphological and genetic evidences, the editorial committee produced the latest catalogue of mammalian species in China. This catalogue includes 12 orders, 59 families, 254 genera, and 686 species. The catalogue uses the taxonomy system based on phylogeny and fully discusses the validity of species taxonomy.

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Taxonomic and systematic research progress of mammals in China

YU Wenhua, HE Kai, FAN Pengfei, CHEN Bingyao, LI Sheng, LIU Shaoying, ZHOU Jiang, YANG Qisen, LI Ming, JIANG Xuelong, YANG Guang, WU Shibao, LU Xueli, HU Yibo, LI Baoguo, LI Yuchun, JIANG Tinglei, WEI Fuwen, WU Yi

2021, 41(5):  502-524.  DOI: 10.16829/j.slxb.150535

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Rich mammalian diversity in China ranks it as one of the key groups in maintaining ecological function. Since Mr. John R. Reeves conducted the first mammalian survey in Guangdong, China, from 1829 to 1834, Chinese mammal taxonomic and systematic researches have made remarkable progress in the past 200 years. Presently, the number of mammal species in China has reached 686, representing about 10% of all mammals and making it one of the most diverse countries in mammal species in the world. As China attaches greater importance to ecological protection, the ecological environment is increasingly improved. Nevertheless, along with global climate change, increasing human activities and the emergence of major human-animal epidemics, the importance of mammal surveys and taxonomic clarification has become more apparent. Meanwhile, this traditional discipline is constantly incorporating state-of-art techniques, such as integrative taxonomy, digitization of specimens, type specimens sequencing technique, portable sequencing techniques and deep learning-based species identification, with the goals of verifying species identification, building proper taxonomic classifications, and promoting the application and transformation of taxonomic achievements to other discipline. Animal taxonomy, a traditional basic discipline, is also the basis for many branches in modern biology, such as genetics, physiology, ecology, medicine and pharmacology. However, due to distinct characteristics among disciplines, it has not received sufficient attention in recent years. It is thus necessary to value traditional taxonomy, morphology and other basic disciplines at the national level, and provide special policy and financial support on talent training and funding.

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Research advances and prespectives in ethology and behavioral ecology of the mammals in China

LI Baoguo, HOU Rong, ZHANG He, CHEN Guoliang, FANG Gu

2021, 41(5):  525-536.  DOI: 10.16829/j.slxb.150529

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Ethology and behavioral ecology study the behavioral traits, behavior patterns and behavior mechanisms of animals, as well as the behavior strategies to adapt to environmental changes. Here, we briefly review some significant achievements of these two research fields over the past forty years in China by focusing specifically on mammalian taxa. The results indicate that more advanced technologies and methods have significantly improved the ways of data collection and experimental analysis over the past two decades. Chinese scholars have published many high-quality papers in international journals and books, which has narrowed the research gap between China and the developed nations. In particular, behavioral studies on the giant panda are playing a leading global role. Some other significant research achievements include those on interspecific interactions and behavioral adaptation mechanisms of rodents, primates' social behavior and adaptation mechanism of foraging strategy, and echolocation behaviors of bats. In contrast, behavioral studies on some groups, such as carnivores, ungulates, and marine mammals, are still lacking. The increasing national support on basic research, more high-level research bases and the growing number of scientists, as well as the application of interdisciplinary and advanced techniques, will facilitate the prosperous development of ethology and behavioral ecology in China.

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Research advances and prespectives in mammal physiological ecology in China

WANG Dehua, ZHAO Zhijun, ZHANG Xueying, ZHANG Zhiqiang, XU Deli, XING Xin, YANG Shengmei, WANG Zhengkun, GAO Yunfang, YANG Ming

2021, 41(5):  537-555.  DOI: 10.16829/j.slxb.150558

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After more than 70 years of development, mammalian physiological ecology in China has made great progress in the study of physiological adaptation of animals living in different geographical environments, such as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Inner Mongolia Grassland, and the Hengduan Mountains. The main research topics include energy metabolism and body temperature regulation, hibernation physiology, water metabolism, ecological immunology, and the thermoregulatory role of gut microbiota. Some topics and areas still require more effort, such as physiological adaptation of mammals to extreme environments, large mammals physiology and conservation physiology. The new technologies need to be better integrated including the multi-omics technology, isotope technology, and remote sensing technology. This paper reviews the main advances of mammalian physiological ecology in China.

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Research advances and perspectives on mammal population ecology in China

BIAN Jianghui

2021, 41(5):  556-570.  DOI: 10.16829/j.slxb.150500

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Mammal population ecology is key component of model ecology. Charles Sutherland Elton's 1924 article on periodic fluctuations in animal populations marked the beginning of modern population ecological research. What factors regulate population fluctuation has always puzzled ecologists and many hypotheses were put forward to explain mechanism underlying population fluctuation, but there is no one hypothesis that can perfectly explain its mechanism. The study of mammal population ecology in China began in the 1950s, and has gone through 70 years of development, and has made some important achievements. In this paper, we summarize research findings and progress in rodent and other mammal populations during the past 70 years on various aspects, including pattern of population dynamics, changes in demography, effects of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, and interaction of those factors. Meanwhile, future research directions are suggested.

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Research advances and perspectives of conservation genetics of threatened mammals in China

WEI Fuwen, MA Tianxiao, HU Yibo

2021, 41(5):  571-580.  DOI: 10.16829/j.slxb.150517

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China is one of the world's mega-diverse countries. There are diverse terrestrial and marine mammals in China, including endemic and flagship species like the giant panda, snub-nosed monkey, South China tiger, Milu, and Baiji. However, habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching, pollution, and climate change imposed direct threats to mammals' survival, which resulted in the genetic diversity loss of species. Genetic diversity is the basic component of biodiversity and affects the long-term survival of species and populations. Therefore, conservation genetics was established as an important branch subject of conservation biology, aiming to investigate the population genetic variation and genetic mechanisms of species endangerment and extinction. With rapid development in research techniques and methods, great progress has been made in China in the past 40 years in the evaluation of genetic diversity and inbreeding, landscape genetics, ecological genetics, and genetic management on threatened mammals. Meanwhile, the threats to mammals' survival caused by human activities still exist. The further development of new techniques, such as high-throughput sequencing, could deepen our understanding of the genetic adaptation and endangerment processes of threatened mammals, and lead to more effective management and conservation.

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Research advances and perspectives of conservation genomics and meta-genomics of threatened mammals in China

WEI Fuwen, HUANG Guangping, FAN Huizhong, HU Yibo

2021, 41(5):  581-590.  DOI: 10.16829/j.slxb.150518

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Understanding the evolutionary processes, endangered mechanisms and adaptive evolution are key scientific issues in conservation biology. During the past decades, advances in high-throughput sequencing and multi-disciplinary crossover provide deep insights into the evolutionary history, genetic structure, adaptive evolution, and host-microbiota coevolution of endangered species. The emergence of two new branches of conservation biology, Conservation Genomics and Conservation Metagenomics, provides novel insights into wildlife conservation. In this review, we summarize the important advances in the two fields and discuss the future research directions, aiming to promote the conservation biology of threa-tened animals in China.

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Research advances and perspectives in the genetics and evolution of mammals in China

YANG Guang, TIAN Ran, XU Shixia

2021, 41(5):  591-603.  DOI: 10.16829/j.slxb.150538

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China has a rich resource of mammals, about 150 of which are endemic species. This review summarizes research on the evolutionary genetics of mammals in China for the past 60 years, including phylogenetic reconstruction, genetic diversity, population structure, adaptive evolution, and molecular mechanisms of convergent evolution. We especially focus on the significant research achievements in some key taxa such as Carnivora (giant panda and red panda), Ungulate, Chiroptera, Primates, small mammals, and marine mammals, providing useful information for the conservation of Chinese mammals. We also propose several suggestions for future studies on the evolution of Chinese mammals, including utilizing multi-omics technologies, screening new genetic markers and candidate genes or regulatory elements, integrating methods of epigenetics and evolutionary developmental biology. This review aims to help understand the taxonomy, origin, as well as the developmental and genetic mechanisms in specific phenotypes and unique adaptations of Chinese mammals, further realizing the new vision and conceptual framework of ‘Unity of Nature and Man’ in conservation biology.

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Research advances and prepectives on habitat assessment and protection of endangered mammals of China

JIANG Guangshun, LI Jingzhi

2021, 41(5):  604-613.  DOI: 10.16829/j.slxb.150501

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At present, global, species are facing increasing extinction risk at an unprecedented rate. The effective assessment and scientific protection of wildlife habitat are important prerequisites and means to prevent endangered wildlife from extinction and maintain their sustainable survivals and development. This article summarizes the current status and achievements of research progress on habitat assessment and protection from five categories of endangered wildlife in China:carnivores, ungulates, primates, small mammals, and marine mammals. This article summarizes and analyzes related acade-mic achievements in order to reveal systematic and valuable methods and technical means for the scientific protection and management of habitats. This article also offers prospects for the theoretical and technical challenges of habitat assessment and protection research. It proposes that the habitat assessment and protection research of endangered mammals in China should move towards a ‘precise’ development direction of integration, quantification, intelligence, and multi-disciplinary cross-integration applications, to provide technical support for the effective implementation of national ecological construction projects.

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Mammal specimen collection in China

WEI Fuwen

2021, 41(5):  614-616.  DOI: 10.16829/j.slxb.150603

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China is rich in mammal diversity, with 12 orders, 59 families, 254 genera and 686 species. In the past 40 years, the number of mammal specimens in Chinese museums has increased rapidly. According to the newly published catalogue of mammals in China, 19 museums were investigated and a total of 166 178 mammal specimens are preserved. The top 5 museums, which accounted for 84.9% of all preserved specimens, are the Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS); Institute of Zoology, CAS; Sichuan Academy of Forestry Sciences; Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, CAS; and China West Normal University. Among the specimens in the 19 museums, small mammals accounted for 91.5%. Large- and medium-sized mammal specimens, especially cetaceans, are relatively low. The specimen collection and preservation of these groups should be increased in the future.