Species Of Mustelidae Research Articles

Habitat Drives Body Size Evolution in Mustelidae (Mammalia: Carnivora)

Body size of organisms is often associated with physiological demands and habitat structure. Several theories and models have been proposed to explain body size trends across geographical space and evolutionary time. It is proposed that herbivores are larger due to their more voluminous digestive system, allowing a longer retention time of the digested material. Simultaneously, for carnivores, it is expected that the bigger the prey, the larger the predator. Additionally, some body size trends have been attributed to climatic variation across space and habitat structure. Bergmann’s Rule proposes that larger endotherms inhabit colder areas, once a larger body size promotes better heat retention due to reduced surface/volume ratio. Similarly, aquatic endotherms are larger than expected, due to analogous physiological demands to endotherms living in colder environments. Here we tested whether body size of the Mustelidae clade can be explained by diet, habitat structure or environmental temperature. We performed phylogenetic regressions to assess the relationships between body size and the aforementioned predictors in 53 species of Mustelidae. We found that neither diet nor temperature were related to body size evolution. However, habitat was related to body size, with semi aquatic species being larger. Mechanisms involving thermal inertia, predation pressure, better quality resources close to water and bone density are hypotheses that suggest larger body sizes evolution in semi-aquatic vertebrates. We highlight the importance of considering widely accepted ecological traits for large groups, at lower taxonomic levels, in order to expand our understanding of the maintenance of these standards on different scales.

Status and distribution of Paraguayan Mustelidae

Five species of Mustelidae are known to occur in Paraguay – Tayra Eira barbara, Lesser Grison Galictis cuja, Greater Grison Galictis vittata, Giant Otter Pteronura brasiliensis and Neotropical Otter Lontra longicaudis. However, Paraguayan data regarding the distribution and status of these species in Paraguay is not easily obtainable, and scattered amongst numerous, often obscure publications. Paraguayan literature and specimens were reviewed to compile data on the distribution and status of these species in the country and records are presented in a hierarchical manner reflecting the reliability of each report. Data on these species in Paraguay are sorely lacking and our knowledge of distribution in the country is poor. The specimen record is incomplete and severely biased towards the Chaco region. Most species are apparently widespread and fairly common in the country. Giant Otter has a more restricted distribution, mainly in the Pantanal region. The precise distribution of the Greater Grison is unclear, probably because of widespread confusion of this species with the Lesser Grison.

Molecular Dietary Analysis of Three Sympatric Mustelidae in Northeast China

Diet analysis is essential to fully understand the biology of a species and its function within the ecosystem, as well as being key in identifying food web interactions and the population dynamics of predators and prey. The understanding of the diet of small to mid-sized carnivores remains generally lacking or uninformative due to the inability for taxonomic resolution based on morphology. The yellow-throated marten (Martes flavigula), Eurasian river otter (Lutra lutra), and Siberian weasel (Mustela sibirica) are three important Mustelidae species in ecosystems of northeast China. Based on fecal DNA and a next-generation sequencing (NGS) approach, we analyzed the vertebrate prey of these three sympatric Mustelidae. Prey included 7 mammalian taxa, 10 fishes, 2 birds, and 2 amphibians, with 85% of the taxa assigned to the species level. In total, twenty-one vertebrate prey taxa were identified from seven yellow-throated martens, eight Eurasian river otters, and two Siberian weasels. Concerning identified dietary species, 10 taxa were consumed by yellow-throated martens, 14 by Eurasian river otters, and 4 by Siberian weasels. Some prey species were identified in more than one species. Amphibians and fishes were the most dominant Eurasian river otter prey categories, whereas Eurasian badger (Meles leucurus), birds, and rodents were the main yellow-throated marten prey; amphibians and rodents were largely contained in Siberian weasel prey. Among prey items, Dybowski's frog (Rana dybowskii) and Korean field mouse (Apodemus peninsulae) were identified in all three Mustelidae species but our analyses suggest potential diet preferences among Mustelidae species. Future studies should focus on understanding the trophic relationships of these three Mustelidae species, providing valuable information for their conservation planning.

ARTERIAL AND VENOUS VASCULARIZATION OF THE LUNG IN AMERICAN MINK (NEOVISON VISON)

This paper presents a comprehensive anatomic overview of normal pulmonary vascularization in an American mink (Neovison vison), with emphasis on venous and arterial peculiarities as regards its course and potential disruptions. The study is designed as macro-morphological and vascular network analysis of lungs of fifteen minks of different age and gender. Dissection is conducted along with injection corrosion method in order to clearly visualize the vascular topology, bronchial tree, arterial and venous trees, and their interconnections. The specimens exhibit consistence in the arterial branching pattern with negligible range of alterations. It was noticed that upon leaving the right ventricle of heart, pulmonary trunk divides ventrally from the site of tracheal bifurcation. The divisions were identified as left and right pulmonary arteries, which then ramified in the left and right lung, respectively. Left a. pulmonalis further divides into two major branches ramus lobi cranialis and ramus lobi caudalis, while the right a. pulmonalis gives five major branches for lobes in the right lung. Total of five pulmonary veins leave pulmonary lobes and enter left atrium of the heart. Mink has a distinct niche in biomedical research, proving as a suitable model to enhance the understandings of the various diseases. Gained insights are valuable as reference values for examination of the vasculature in other Mustelidae species, recognition of potential deviations and vascular remodeling due to respiratory diseases.

The diencephalon of two carnivore species: The feliform banded mongoose and the caniform domestic ferret.

This study provides an analysis of the cytoarchitecture, myeloarchitecture, and chemoarchitecture of the diencephalon (dorsal thalamus, ventral thalamus, and epithalamus) of the banded mongoose (Mungos mungo) and domestic ferret (Mustela putorius furo). Using architectural and immunohistochemical stains, we observe that the nuclear organization of the diencephalon is very similar in the two species, and similar to that reported in other carnivores, such as the domestic cat and dog. The same complement of putatively homologous nuclei were identified in both species, with only one variance, that being the presence of the perireticular nucleus in the domestic ferret, that was not observed in the banded mongoose. The chemoarchitecture was also mostly consistent between species, although there were a number of minor variations across a range of nuclei in the density of structures expressing the calcium-binding proteins parvalbumin, calbindin, and calretinin. Thus, despite almost 53 million years since these two species of carnivores shared a common ancestor, strong phylogenetic constraints appear to limit the potential for adaptive evolutionary plasticity within the carnivore order. Apart from the presence of the perireticular nucleus, the most notable difference between the species studied was the physical inversion of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus, as well as the lateral posterior and pulvinar nuclei in the domestic ferret compared to the banded mongoose and other carnivores, although this inversion appears to be a feature of the Mustelidae family. While no functional sequelae are suggested, this inversion is likely to result from the altricial birth of Mustelidae species.

First Draft Genome of the Sable, Martes zibellina.

Members of genus Martes provide early warning signals about forest ecosystem health and are designated as a Management Indicator Species. As one of the most widespread members in Martes, the sable (Martes zibellina) is a circumboreal small predator found throughout all taiga zoogeographical zones of Eurasia and shows distinct population differentiation and morphological variations. To support further studies on striking local adaptation and population evolution, we present the first sable genome, assembled de novo from an individual originating in the Great Khingan Mountains (China). The assembled genome is 2.42 Gb, consisting of 15,814 scaffolds with a scaffold N50 of 5.20 Mb. Searches for complete Mammalia BUSCO (Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Ortholog) gene groups found that 95.15% of the curated single-copy orthologs were assembled as complete, suggesting a high level of completeness of the genome. We totally predicted 19,413 protein-coding genes, and 0.82 Gb of repeat sequences was annotated. We also detected 1,257 olfactory receptor genes and found more functional olfactory receptor genes in sable than in other Mustelidae species, which provide a possible genetic explanation for the acute sense of smell of the sable for searching the preys under deep snow. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the ferret (Mustela putorius furo) and sea otter (Enhydra lutris) form a clade that is sister to the sable, which was dated ∼16.4 Ma. Overall, our study provided the first reference genome for research in a broad range of areas including local adaptations, population evolution, conservation, and management for sable.

The selective constraints of ecological specialization in mustelidae on mitochondrial genomes

The locomotor preference may drive the evolution of animals in a certain way, and species living in different environments might own different energy requirement style. We hypothesized that the locomotor preference and habitat variation might impose different influence on mustelidae mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA). To test this, we sampled 22 species of mustelidae, encompassing natatorial, scansorial, fossorial, and non-specialists, to determine whether the variation in locomotor specialization influence the evolution of their mitochondrial genomes. The selective constraints analyses showed that the ratio of non-synonymous/synonymous substitutions (dN/dS) in mitochondrial protein-coding genes (PCGs) was significantly higher in non-specialist group than specialist groups (natatorial, scansorial, and fossorial), which suggested that the specialist groups’ mtDNA experienced much stronger purifying selection during evolution as they need much more energy in their daily life. When comparing dN/dS of each PCG among these four groups, six protein-coding genes (ND2-3, ND5, CoxIII, ATP6, Cytb) also showed different dN/dS ratios between non-specialist and specialist groups. We also found that the ATP8 gene was positively selected in the branch of Lutra lutra. Our study thus demonstrated that the selective constraints relevant to locomotor specialization play an essential role in the evolution of mustelidae mtDNA.

Functional and Phylogenetic Aspect in Modularity of Palearctic Mustelids (Carnivora, Mustelidae) Mandible

Abstract Geometric morphometrics was used to investigate morphological integration and modularity in mustelid mandible. A set of 16 two-dimensional landmarks was digitized on the mandibles of 14 extant species of Palearctic Mustelidae (genera Enhydra, Gulo, Meles, Lutra, Martes, Mustela). The original data size-corrected data and phylogenetically independent contrasts (PICs) were analyzed. Several hypotheses were tested: two and three-modules with the masseteric fossa included in corpus or ramus of the mandible. As a result, the two-module hypothesis (subdivision into the alveolar region and the ascending ramus) with masseteric fossa included in corpus for all sets of data was supported. A clear modularity in mustelid mandible is seen at interspecific level, whereas there was large within species covariation between mandibular corpus and ramus. The allometry correction reduces estimates of covariation for the mustelid mandibles. Due to the analysis of PICs the shape changes with maximum evolutionary covariation were found: elongated, sloped backward ramus and thick corpus.

Anatomical Basis of Differences in Locomotor Behavior in Martens: A Comparison of the Forelimb Musculature Between Two Sympatric Species of Martes.

Arboreal locomotion imposes selective pressures that may affect the evolution of the locomotor apparatus. The limbs have to be mobile to reach across discontinuities, yet at the same time need to be forceful to move against gravity during climbing. However, as intermediaries between the arboreal and terrestrial environment, semi-arboreal mammals appear not extremely specialized and, thus, anatomical adaptations may be less evident than expected for arboreal climbers. Here, we present quantitative data on the muscle anatomy of the forelimbs (N = 14) of two closely related species of Mustelidae and relate the findings to their locomotor habits. The arboreal pine marten (Martes martes) and the more terrestrial stone marten (Martes foina) are the most similar sympatric carnivores in Europe, but distinctly differ in habitat selection and locomotor mode. Via dissections muscle architectural variables including muscle mass, pennation angle, and fiber length were measured and the physiological cross-sectional area and maximum isometric force were estimated for each muscle. The results reveal that the force-generating capacity of the limb flexor and retractor muscles and the excursion capability of the adductor muscles are greater in the pine marten compared to the stone marten. Since the two sympatric martens are very similar in terms of overall appearance, body size, intra-limb proportions, phylogenetic relationships and predation behavior, the differences in forelimb musculature are interpreted to reflect the greater climbing ability of the pine marten. The functional properties appear to facilitate locomotion in a three-dimensionally complex arboreal environment. Anat Rec, 301:449-472, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Selective regimes and functional anatomy in the mustelid forelimb: Diversification toward specializations for climbing, digging, and swimming.

Anatomical traits associated with locomotion often exhibit specializations for ecological niche, suggesting that locomotor specializations may constitute selective regimes acting on limb skeletal traits. To test this, I sampled 42 species of Mustelidae, encompassing climbing, digging, and swimming specialists, and determined whether trait variation reflects locomotor specialization by performing a principal components analysis on 14 forelimb traits. In addition to Brownian motion models, three Ornstein–Uhlenbeck models of selective regimes were applied to PC scores describing trait variation among mustelids: one without a priori defined phenotypic optima, one with optima based upon locomotor habit, and one with a single phenotypic optimum. PC1, which explained 43.8% of trait variance, represented a trade‐off in long bone gracility and deltoid ridge length vs. long robustness and olecranon process length and distinguished between climbing specialists and remaining mustelids. PC2, which explained 17.4% of trait variance, primarily distinguished the sea otter from other mustelids. Best fitting trait diversification models are selective regimes differentiating between scansorial and nonscansorial mustelids (PC1) and selective regimes distinguishing the sea otter and steppe polecat from remaining mustelids (PC2). Phylogenetic half‐life values relative to branch lengths suggest that, in spite of a strong rate of adaptation, there is still the influence of past trait values. However, simulations of likelihood ratios suggest that the best fitting models are not fully adequate to explain morphological diversification within extant mustelids.

Research Article Characterization of 33 microsatellite markers and development of multiplex PCR for yellow-throated marten (Martes flavigula)

The yellow-throated marten (Martes flavigula Boddaert 1785) is a medium-sized carnivore and a top predator in South Korea that is distributed throughout Western and Southeast Asia and Siberia in a wide range of habitats. In this study, we developed a panel of polymorphic microsatellite markers for M. flavigula by Illumina next-generation sequencing for investigation of population genetics. A total of 887 candidate microsatellite markers were identified and characterized from genomic sequences. By testing the markers in three individuals, we found 73 satisfactory microsatellite loci consisting of tri- or tetranucleotide repeats. We designed four multiplex panels of 33 microsatellite loci and applied them to 35 individuals from South Korea. The number of alleles and polymorphism information content per locus varied from 2 to 9 and from 0.164 to 0.841, respectively. The observed and expected heterozygosity per locus ranged from 0.143 (MF233) to 0.800 (MF339) and from 0.183 (MF233) to 0.871 (MF327) respectively. Nine of the 33 loci deviated significantly from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. We also found that at least 10 of the loci were transferrable to two other species of Mustelidae (Meles and Mustela sibirica). These markers can be applied to studies of genetic variation and population structure and can be useful for ex situ conservation and ecological monitoring by non-invasive sampling of M. flavigula populations.

Trichinella pseudospiralis an elusive nematode

Trichinella pseudospiralis is one of the three species whose larvae do not encapsulate after muscle cell differentiation, and the only one infecting both mammals and birds. More than 40 years after its discovery, the epidemiology remains, at least in part, still enigmatic. The aim of this work was to reconsider the current knowledge on the T. pseudospiralis epidemiology by collecting the information available in the literature and in the website of the International Trichinella Reference Center. Over the last decade, there was an increasing number of reports of T. pseudospiralis due to the increased use of the digestion tests. T. pseudospiralis was detected in 18 mammalian species (3 species of Dasyuridae; 2 species of Muridae; 4 species of Canidae; 3 species of Felidae; 2 species of Mustelidae; 1 species of Procyonidae; 1 species of Ursidae; and swine) including humans, and 8 avian species (3 species of Accipitridae; 1 species of Cathartidae; 1 species of Corvidae; 1 species of Tytonidae; 2 species of Strigidae) for a total of 249 isolates from Asia, America, Australia, and Europe. In the European Union, T. pseudospiralis has been documented in 19 out of 28 countries. The zoonotic role of this parasite was documented in 128 persons with trichinellosis. The number of mammals tested for Trichinella spp. by digestion has been much higher than that of birds, thus the role played by birds in the epidemiology of T. pseudospiralis still needs to be elaborated in more detail. The results may suggest that T. pseudospiralis, allowing to make up for the lower prevalence than that of the encapsulated species in the host populations, uses a wider host range.

Evolutionary status of the invasive American mink Neovison vison revealed by complete mitochondrial genome

The American mink, Neovison vison, is native to North America and listed as one of the most widely distributed invasive species into the Eurasian mainland. Even though facing serious over-hunting and habitat degradation problems, this species has successfully dispersed into most areas of northeast China in the past decades, which may have a huge impact on local species composition and structure. We determined and annotated the whole mitochondrial DNA genome of the American mink N. vison to better understand the evolutionary relationship of this invasive species with other Mustelidae distributing in China. The complete mitogenome is 16 627 bp in length, includes 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes and one control region. We built the phylogenetic tree of American mink and other 10 most closely Mustelidae species.

Phylogenetic relationship of Asian badger Meles leucurus amurensis revealed by complete mitochondrial genome

The Asian badger (Meles leucurus amurensis) is widely distributed throughout the northeast of China, and plays an important role in regulating the prey population stability of forest eco-system as mesopredators. We first determined and annotated the whole mtDNA genome of the Asian badger Meles leucurus amurensis to better understand the evolutionary relationship of this subspecies. The complete mitogenome is 16 497 bp in length, includes 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes and 1 control region. We built the phylogenetic tree of Asian badger and other 10 most closely Mustelidae species.

Phylogenetic relationship of Wolverine Gulo gulo in Mustelidae revealed by complete mitochondrial genome

The Wolverine Gulo gulo is an endangered species in China. We first obtained blood sample, extracted the sample DNA and sequenced the whole mtDNA genome of wolverine in Northeast China. We built the phylogenetic tree of wolverine and 10 other most closely related Mustelidae species. The wolverine's complete mitogenome is 16 575 bp in length, includes 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes and one control region. The phylogenetic tree indicates that Wolverine is mostly close to the genus Martes.

The spatial distribution of Mustelidae in France.

We estimated the spatial distribution of 6 Mustelidae species in France using the data collected by the French national hunting and wildlife agency under the “small carnivorous species logbooks” program. The 1500 national wildlife protection officers working for this agency spend 80% of their working time traveling in the spatial area in which they have authority. During their travels, they occasionally detect dead or living small and medium size carnivorous animals. Between 2002 and 2005, each car operated by this agency was equipped with a logbook in which officers recorded information about the detected animals (species, location, dead or alive, date). Thus, more than 30000 dead or living animals were detected during the study period. Because a large number of detected animals in a region could have been the result of a high sampling pressure there, we modeled the number of detected animals as a function of the sampling effort to allow for unbiased estimation of the species density. For dead animals -- mostly roadkill -- we supposed that the effort in a given region was proportional to the distance traveled by the officers. For living animals, we had no way to measure the sampling effort. We demonstrated that it was possible to use the whole dataset (dead and living animals) to estimate the following: (i) the relative density -- i.e., the density multiplied by an unknown constant -- of each species of interest across the different French agricultural regions, (ii) the sampling effort for living animals for each region, and (iii) the relative detection probability for various species of interest.

Comparative functional anatomy of hindlimb muscles and bones with reference to aquatic adaptation of the sea otter.

Although the sea otter (Enhydra lutris) is a complete aquatic species, spending its entire life in the ocean, it has been considered morphologically to be a semi-aquatic animal. This study aimed to clarify the unique hindlimb morphology and functional adaptations of E. lutris in comparison to other Mustelidae species. We compared muscle mass and bone measurements of five Mustelidae species: the sea otter, Eurasian river otter (Lutra lutra), American mink (Neovison vison), Japanese weasel (Mustela itatsi) and Siberian weasel (M. sibirica). In comparison with the other 4 species, E. lutris possessed significantly larger gluteus, popliteus and peroneus muscles, but smaller adductor and ischiopubic muscles. The popliteus muscle may act as a medial rotator of the crus, and the peroneus muscle may act as an abductor of the fifth toe and/or the pronator of the foot. The bundles of the gluteus superficialis muscle of E. lutris were fused with those of the tensor fasciae latae muscle and gluteofemoralis muscles, and they may play a role in femur abduction. These results suggest that E. lutris uses the abducted femur, medially rotated crus, eversion of the ankle and abducted fifth digit or extended interdigital web as a powerful propulsion generator. Therefore, we conclude that E. lutris is a complete aquatic animal, possessing differences in the proportions of the hindlimb muscles compared with those in other semi-aquatic and terrestrial mustelids.

European mustelids occupying pristine wetlands in the Danube Delta are infected with Trichinella likely derived from domesticated swine.

Abstract We analyzed 32 specimens from nine species of Mustelidae for Trichinella; six infections from two Trichinella species were observed from three host species. This provides documentation of Trichinella in Mustela erminea and Martes foina in Romania and Trichinella spiralis in a mustelid host from Europe. Trichinella spiralis continues to be a public challenge characterized by a wide host range and geographical distribution ( Pozio 2007 ). During the past 20 yr, Romania has had the most reported human cases of trichinellosis in the world ( Blaga et al. 2007 ). Transmission occurs among domesticated swine, rats, and wild mammals that feed by scavenging or predation ( Pozio 2000 ). Trichinella transmission to humans may occur by consumption of meat of livestock infected after exposure to wildlife ( Pozio et al. 2009 ).

Phylogenetic analysis of the Mustela altaica (Carnivora: Mustelidae) based on complete mitochondrial genome

The mountain weasel (Mustela altaica) belongs to family Mustelidae, which is the near threatened species in the IUCN Red List. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of M. altaica was sequenced and characterized. The genome is 16,521 bases in length (GenBank accession no. KC815122). The nucleotide sequence data of 12 heavy-strand protein-coding genes of M. altaica and other 20 Mustelidae species were used for phylogenetic analyses. Trees constructed by using Bayesian inference, maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood demonstrated that M. altaica was close to Mustela nivalis and they were sister to Mustela putorius and Mustela sibirica.

Population aspects of sexual dimorphism in Mustelidae from the example of four species (Mustela lutreola, Neovison vison, Mustela putorius, and Martes martes)

Size sexual dimorphism was studied on 695 crania of four species of the Mustelidae. According to the degree of increasing differences between sexes, the species were arranged in the following order: common marten (Martes martes), European mink (Mustela lutreola), American mink (Neovison vison), and black polecat (Mustela putorius). The value of dimorphism characterizes the ecological flexibility of species and is an integrated population characteristic. It was demonstrated that M. martes occupies a specific and relatively narrow ecological niche of the forest ecosystem and joins weak competitive relations with smaller species of Mustelidae. The level of sexual dimorphism in M. lutreola and N. vison, as well as M. putorius, reflects the tension of their interspecific relationships in a given territory. A high level of sexual dimorphism in M. putorius is caused by further divergence of the ecological niches of males and females, being a compensatory mechanism, which mitigates the consequences of toughened environmental requirements.