Northern Cambodia Research Articles

Efficacy of Two versus Three-Day Regimens of Dihydroartemisinin-Piperaquine for Uncomplicated Malaria in Military Personnel in Northern Cambodia: An Open-Label Randomized Trial

IntroductionEmerging antimalarial drug resistance in mobile populations remains a significant public health concern. We compared two regimens of dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine in military and civilians on the Thai-Cambodian border to evaluate national treatment policy.MethodsEfficacy and safety of two and three-day regimens of dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine were compared as a nested open-label evaluation within a malaria cohort study in 222 otherwise healthy volunteers (18% malaria-infected at baseline). The first 80 volunteers with slide-confirmed Plasmodium falciparum or vivax malaria were randomized 1:1 to receive either regimen (total dose 360mg dihydroartemisinin and 2880mg piperaquine) and followed weekly for up to 6 months. The primary endpoint was malaria recurrence by day 42. Volunteers with vivax infection received primaquine at study discharge with six months follow-up.ResultsEighty patients (60 vivax, 15 falciparum, and 5 mixed) were randomized to dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine. Intention-to-treat all-species efficacy at Day 42 was 85% for the two-day regimen (95% CI 69–94) and 90% for the three-day regimen (95% CI 75–97). PCR-adjusted falciparum efficacy was 75% in both groups with nearly half (45%) still parasitemic at Day 3. Plasma piperaquine levels were comparable to prior published reports, but on the day of recrudescence were below measurable in vitro piperaquine IC50 levels in all falciparum treatment failures.ConclusionsIn the brief period since introduction of dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine, there is early evidence suggesting declining efficacy relative to previous reports. Parasite IC50 levels in excess of plasma piperaquine levels seen only in treatment failures raises concern for clinically significant piperaquine resistance in Cambodia. These findings warrant improved monitoring of clinical outcomes and follow-up, given few available alternative drugs.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT01280162

Efficacy of Two versus Three-Day Regimens of Dihydroartemisinin-Piperaquine for Uncomplicated Malaria in Military Personnel in Northern Cambodia: An Open-Label Randomized Trial

Efficacy of Two versus Three-Day Regimens of Dihydroartemisinin-Piperaquine for Uncomplicated Malaria in Military Personnel in Northern Cambodia: An Open-Label Randomized Trial

Double Inequity? The Social Dimensions of Deforestation and Forest Protection in Local Communities in Northern Cambodia

In Cambodia, numerous powerful drivers of land-use change threaten the remaining natural forest and the livelihoods of local communities living on the forest periphery. In an attempt to protect remaining forests, Community Forestry (CF) and Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) were implemented in the north-western province of Oddar Meanchey. This case study examines the distribution of costs and benefits within local communities participating in the CF/REDD+ project. Qualitative interviews conducted in the communities indicate how the costs of deforestation disproportionately affect the poorest households, which are more reliant on forest products due to less land and more insecure tenure. Meanwhile, the benefits from CF/REDD+ hardly reach these vulnerable households since their access to forest resources is constrained by physical barriers and a lack of resources or information. Their ability to enjoy benefits from forest protection is likewise limited by social exclusion facilitated by prevailing power structures. Instead, benefits are biased towards the better-off households who engage in forest protection activities and decision-making. In the context of weak governance, contested tenure arrangements, high agricultural dependency, and power discrepancies, this paper analyzes and critically discusses this ‘double inequity’ of deforestation and forest protection in Cambodia, and recommendations on how to ensure more equitable distribution of costs and benefits are put forward.

Ex vivo susceptibility of Plasmodium falciparum to antimalarial drugs in western, northern, and eastern Cambodia, 2011-2012: association with molecular markers.

In 2008, dihydroartemisinin (DHA)-piperaquine (PPQ) became the first-line treatment for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in western Cambodia. Recent reports of increased treatment failure rates after DHA-PPQ therapy in this region suggest that parasite resistance to DHA, PPQ, or both is now adversely affecting treatment. While artemisinin (ART) resistance is established in western Cambodia, there is no evidence of PPQ resistance. To monitor for resistance to PPQ and other antimalarials, we measured drug susceptibilities for parasites collected in 2011 and 2012 from Pursat, Preah Vihear, and Ratanakiri, in western, northern, and eastern Cambodia, respectively. Using a SYBR green I fluorescence assay, we calculated the ex vivo 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50s) of 310 parasites to six antimalarials: chloroquine (CQ), mefloquine (MQ), quinine (QN), PPQ, artesunate (ATS), and DHA. Geometric mean IC50s (GMIC50s) for all drugs (except PPQ) were significantly higher in Pursat and Preah Vihear than in Ratanakiri (P ≤ 0.001). An increased copy number of P. falciparum mdr1 (pfmdr1), an MQ resistance marker, was more prevalent in Pursat and Preah Vihear than in Ratanakiri and was associated with higher GMIC50s for MQ, QN, ATS, and DHA. An increased copy number of a chromosome 5 region (X5r), a candidate PPQ resistance marker, was detected in Pursat but was not associated with reduced susceptibility to PPQ. The ex vivo IC50 and pfmdr1 copy number are important tools in the surveillance of multidrug-resistant (MDR) parasites in Cambodia. While MDR P. falciparum is prevalent in western and northern Cambodia, there is no evidence for PPQ resistance, suggesting that DHA-PPQ treatment failures result mainly from ART resistance.

Estimating storage properties of aquifer with magnetic resonance sounding: a field verification in northern Cambodia of the gravitational water apparent cutoff time concept

ABSTRACTMagnetic Resonance Sounding (MRS) has already showed its capability for estimating some aquifer properties, but very little work has been carried out concerning the storage properties used for calculating groundwater reserve and recharge. For unconfined aquifer, this storage property (i.e., the specific yield) is often estimated from the MRS water content. However, a recent study carried out in a poor sandstone aquifer of Northern Cambodia found that the MRS pore‐size related parameter is probably more appropriate because the MRS water content can be dominated by water which does not contribute to the specific yield. A main output of this study is that a threshold value (so‐called apparent cutoff time ACT) of the MRS decay time can be defined for discriminating gravitational water from capillary and bound waters. Since measuring such short MRS signal is quite common, a validation of this result is compulsory to avoid the misuse of the MRS water content.This paper presents an experiment that we set up to check the validity of the ACT approach. We compared two MRS carried out at the same location in a clayey‐sand layer 15 metres thick. The first MRS was carried out with a static water level located at 1.7 metres below the ground level. It revealed a layer with a water content of 3.8% and . According to the ACT approach, this short value of indicates water that is not part of the specific yield and that can not be released by pumping. Thus, we carried out a second MRS after pumping and lowering the water level to an average of 15 metres. As predicted by the ACT approach, we observed that the second MRS signal was the same as the one obtained before pumping.To cross‐check our observation, we carried out a pumping test at the same location. We found a very low value of specific yield, confirming that the main part of the MRS signal is generated by water which was not drained by the pumping. We calculated that the volume of water removed from the aquifer by the pumping was far too low to generate a measurable magnetic resonance signal.From our experiment, we conclude that the ACT approach can be successfully used to estimate the specific yield of poor aquifers, and to avoid a misuse of the MRS water content which can lead to strong overestimates of aquifer reserve and recharge.

A Preliminary Annotated Checklist of the Amphibians and Reptiles of the Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary in Northern Cambodia

A Preliminary Annotated Checklist of the Amphibians and Reptiles of the Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary in Northern Cambodia

The open-air site of Huai Hin (Northwestern Thailand): Chronological perspectives for the Hoabinhian

The Hoabinhian is well known in Southeast Asian prehistoric studies, where it has been considered both a chronological period and a cultural entity. However, recent work suggests it should more appropriately be considered a functional technocomplex. Although most often described from sites in Vietnam and Thailand, it has also been recognized in northern Sumatra and Cambodia. Here, we present a series of Hoabinhian stone tools discovered during fieldwork carried out by the Thai-French Paleosurvey at the Huai Hin site found on the eastern bank of the Salaween River near the Thai-Burmese border. Although the technological analysis of this material supplies new evidence for Hoabinhian regional variability, new dates from this open-air site also provide a useful reference point for constructing a regional chrono-cultural sequence for Southeast Asian prehistory.

Efficacy of Dihydroartemisinin-Piperaquine for Treatment of Uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax in Cambodia, 2008 to 2010

We describe here the results of antimalarial therapeutic efficacy studies conducted in Cambodia from 2008 to 2010. A total of 15 studies in four sentinel sites were conducted using dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) for the treatment of Plasmodium falciparum infection and chloroquine (CQ) and DP for the treatment of P. vivax infection. All studies were performed according to the standard World Health Organization protocol for the assessment of antimalarial treatment efficacy. Among the studies of DP for the treatment of P. falciparum, an increase in treatment failure was observed in the western provinces. In 2010, the PCR-corrected treatment failure rates for DP on day 42 were 25% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 10 to 51%) in Pailin and 10.7% (95% CI = 4 to 23%) in Pursat, while the therapeutic efficacy of DP remained high (100%) in Ratanakiri and Preah Vihear provinces, located in northern and eastern Cambodia. For the studies of P. vivax, the day 28 uncorrected treatment failure rate among patients treated with CQ ranged from 4.4 to 17.4%; DP remained 100% effective in all sites. Further study is required to investigate suspected P. falciparum resistance to piperaquine in western Cambodia; the results of in vitro and molecular studies were not found to support the therapeutic efficacy findings. The emergence of artemisinin resistance in this region has likely put additional pressure on piperaquine. Although DP appears to be an appropriate new first-line treatment for P. vivax in Cambodia, alternative treatments are urgently needed for P. falciparum-infected patients in western Cambodia.

Nature and provenance of the sandstone used for Bayon style sculptures produced during the reign of Jayavarman VII

Under Jayavarman VII (1182/83-ca.1218 CE) the Khmer empire reached its apex, leaving a heritage of major construction works and unique artistic production. The stone materials of several sculptures produced under his reign were characterized and compared to possible geological sources in northern and eastern Cambodia. The data suggest that a specific type of sandstone, rich in volcanic detritus, was deliberately selected and quarried from a Triassic sedimentary sequence exposed far from Angkor, the main political and economic center at that time.

Towards a better estimate of storage properties of aquifer with magnetic resonance sounding

Summary Providing people with fresh water is one of the greatest challenges of the century. Since most of the world’s liquid fresh water is groundwater, the knowledge of aquifer storage properties is essential. Moreover, there is a need to focus research on poor aquifers (i.e. capable of providing about 100 m 3 /day) which will play an increasing role for supplying many human communities. This paper concerns a study carried out in a clayey sandstones aquifer in Northern Cambodia. Conventional hydraulic methods used to characterize aquifers are costly, time-consuming and thus they are usually not used in most of the water projects in developing countries. Therefore, geophysical methods can be useful if they improve aquifer characterization. As compared to other non-invasive geophysical methods, magnetic resonance sounding (MRS) is selective to groundwater. MRS results are the distribution of both water content and pore-size related-parameters as a function of depth. However, relationships between the field scale MRS results and hydrogeological storage-related properties have not been well established yet. We present in this paper a comparison of MRS results with both specific yield calculated from pumping tests and effective porosity calculated from tracer tests. We found that the MRS water content is equal or higher than the specific yield and the effective porosity, thus indicating that MRS also measures capillary water in unsaturated zone and part of the bound groundwater attached to the aquifer solid matrix. We also found that the MRS pore-size parameter is linearly correlated with both the effective porosity and the specific yield, thus suggesting that the hydrogeological storage properties are mainly controlled by the size of the pores of the aquifer. Consequently, we adapted an approach used in the oil industry for differencing gravitational water from capillary water and from bound water, based on the MRS pore-size parameter. In the clayey sandstones of Cambodia, our approach named MRS apparent cutoff time approach, allowed calculating specific yield with an average error of 23% (which is far less than the previous published results), and for the first time it allowed calculating effective porosity (with an average error of 11%). We conclude that the MRS apparent cutoff time approach is useful for estimating aquifer storage properties down to 50–80 m deep, in a single day and at an affordable cost.

Ex vivo drug sensitivity profiles of Plasmodium falciparum field isolates from Cambodia and Thailand, 2005 to 2010, determined by a histidine-rich protein-2 assay

BackgroundIn vitro drug susceptibility assay of Plasmodium falciparum field isolates processed “immediate ex vivo” (IEV), without culture adaption, and tested using histidine-rich protein-2 (HRP-2) detection as an assay, is an expedient way to track drug resistance.MethodsFrom 2005 to 2010, a HRP-2 in vitro assay assessed 451 P. falciparum field isolates obtained from subjects with malaria in western and northern Cambodia, and eastern Thailand, processed IEV, for 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50) against seven anti-malarial drugs, including artesunate (AS), dihydroartemisinin (DHA), and piperaquine.ResultsIn western Cambodia, from 2006 to 2010, geometric mean (GM) IC50 values for chloroquine, mefloquine, quinine, AS, DHA, and lumefantrine increased. In northern Cambodia, from 2009–2010, GM IC50 values for most drugs approximated the highest western Cambodia GM IC50 values in 2009 or 2010.ConclusionsWestern Cambodia is associated with sustained reductions in anti-malarial drug susceptibility, including the artemisinins, with possible emergence, or spread, to northern Cambodia. This potential public health crisis supports continued in vitro drug IC50 monitoring of P. falciparum isolates at key locations in the region.

Identifying Live Bird Markets with the Potential to Act as Reservoirs of Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Virus: A Survey in Northern Viet Nam and Cambodia

Wet markets are common in many parts of the world and may promote the emergence, spread and maintenance of livestock pathogens, including zoonoses. A survey was conducted in order to assess the potential of Vietnamese and Cambodian live bird markets (LBMs) to sustain circulation of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus subtype H5N1 (HPAIV H5N1). Thirty Vietnamese and 8 Cambodian LBMs were visited, and structured interviews were conducted with the market managers and 561 Vietnamese and 84 Cambodian traders. Multivariate and cluster analysis were used to construct a typology of traders based on their poultry management practices. As a result of those practices and large poultry surplus (unsold poultry reoffered for sale the following day), some poultry traders were shown to promote conditions favorable for perpetuating HPAIV H5N1 in LBMs. More than 80% of these traders operated in LBMs located in the most densely populated areas, Ha Noi and Phnom Penh. The profiles of sellers operating at a given LBM could be reliably predicted using basic information about the location and type of market. Consequently, LBMs with the largest combination of risk factors for becoming virus reservoirs could be easily identified, potentially allowing control strategies to be appropriately targeted. These findings are of particular relevance to resource-scarce settings with extensively developed LBM systems, commonly found in South-East Asia.

MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY AND GEOCHEMISTRY OF GRANITIC ROCKS IN CAMBODIA

Granitic rocks in Cambodia are divided into two groups, i.e. ilmenite-series in southern Cambodia and magnetite-series in northern Cambodia. Both groups belong to high-K calc-alkaline series, metaluminous to slightly peraluminous and display typical features of I-type granitic rocks. The ilmenite-series granitic rocks are characterized by high SiO2 contents (70-75 wt. %) with abundance of quartz and K-feldspar, enrichment of LILEs, and strong negative anomalies of Ba, Sr, Eu (Eu/Eu*=0.1-0.5), Nb, and Ti. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns exhibit enrichment of LREE ([La/Yb]N=1.4-17.6) with flat HREE patterns and flat to concave-upward MREE patterns. These granitic rocks have high CaO+FeO+MgO+TiO2 and intermediate Al2O3/(FeO+ MgO+TiO2) with intermediate magnesium number (Mg# = 22-38) (Mg# = 100 x MgO/[MgO+Total FeO]). Geochemical features of the granitic rocks suggest partial melting of crustal igneous rocks of intermediate composition where plagioclase was a major fractionating and/or residual phase. On the other hand, the magnetite-series granitic rocks show wide range of SiO2 contents (59-70 wt. %), higher TiO2, Al2O3, CaO, and MgO contents than ilmenite-series granitic rocks, and smallnegligible negative anomalies of Sr and Eu. The high CaO+FeO+MgO+TiO2 and low Al2O3/(FeO+ MgO+TiO2) coupled with high Mg# (32-48) suggest partial melting of amphibolite-type source with presence of plagioclase. The granites of Cambodia were formed in subduction-related tectonic setting. The ilmenite-series granites range from volcanic-arc granites to syn- and postcollision granites while the magnetite-series granitic rocks belong to volcanic arc granites.

Khmer sandstone quarries of Kulen Mountain and Koh Ker: a petrographic and geochemical study

Sandstone from several ancient quarries and natural outcrops located at the eastern foothill of Kulen Mountain and in Koh Ker, northern Cambodia, has been characterized by means of petrographic analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and geochemical analysis. The samples have been collected during a series of field surveys organized jointly by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap (APSARA). The data show how the sandstone quarried from these sites is characterized by an overall petrographic and geochemical homogeneity, and is consistent with the upper terms of the Lower–Middle Jurassic Terrain Rouge Formation.This result suggests that petrography and geochemistry of sandstone belonging to the Terrain Rouge Formation might not be unambiguously characteristic of single quarry sites, but rather representative of vast portions of the sedimentary sequence.

The geomorphological characteristics of the Mekong River in northern Cambodia: A mixed bedrock–alluvial multi-channel network

The controls on the development of channel morphology of bedrock-constrained rivers are poorly known. The relative importance of lithological and structural control on channel alignment and character in comparison with the role of hydraulic erosion of the substratum is unclear. In addition, bedrock rivers often have a variable sediment fill and can be described as mixed bedrock–alluvial systems. The Mekong River in northern Cambodia is an anastomosed mixed bedrock–alluvial channel, but little and poorly researched. In this paper information has been gathered from diverse literature sources; digital data sets showing topography, hydrology, geology and land cover; past aerial photographs; and maps. Such data, together with field survey, provide a clear picture of the Mekong River in this region.The channels may be classified into three types: primary, secondary, cross channels. The varying characteristics of these three help towards understanding the evolution of the modern Mekong. Similarly the two-fold classification of the islands reveals the relationship between island inundation characteristics and the annual monsoon flood cycle. The associated riparian vegetation ecotones include a rare and unusual seasonally-inundated forest. Spatial variations in lithology and structure, when combined with maps of river networks, reveals that the channel alignments locally reflect the geological factors that cause the regional topographical gradient. Fault-line constraints on the local slopes of the channel may induce backwater effects and consequent sedimentation patterns (alluvial overprints) or alternatively, steepening of the channels with concomitant reduction in sedimentation. These structural constraints, taken together, lead to the identification of a mixed bedrock–alluvial five-fold geomorphological zonation within the study area. The general absence of paleochannels, and terraces close to the modern river, indicates that the Mekong is laterally stable with a dominating channel that downcuts. Consequently, a flood surface of limited lateral extent constrains entire floods.

Conflicting Sites of Memory in Post-Genocide Cambodia

Conflicting Sites of Memory in Post-Genocide Cambodia Brigitte Sion (bio) A new road connects the towns of Siem Reap to Along Veng, in northern Cambodia; it now takes less then two hours from the temples of Angkor to reach the last bastion of the Khmer Rouge, in what used to be a dense jungle. It is enough time for my driver, thirty-one-year-old Vann, to tell me the story of his family. “Every Cambodian family has lost relatives under the Khmer Rouge,” he says. Vann’s mother lost her husband and children in the early years of Pol Pot’s murderous regime. She remarried and gave birth to a new set of children, including Vann. “A total of ten family members died,” he sums up. Later, when Vann was in school, he was required, along with all residents of his village outside Siem Reap, to excavate the killing fields and exhume the bodily remains for cremation. “The smell was horrible,” he recalls. “I see too many bones. It scares me.” For years, Vann avoided the former mass graves. “My children don’t know what happened.” A Khmer song is playing in the car. “Old music from the 1960s,” he says by means of introduction. “The singer was killed.” We pass Along Veng and continue through the lush countryside and rice fields toward the Thai border. It takes a number of stops and questions, and a few dollars, to find the cremation site of Pol Pot, who was burned hastily in 1998 on a pile of rubbish. It is hidden behind a house, amid high weeds, junk, and garbage. A low wooden fence and a rusty corrugated-metal roof mark the spot. Next to it, a faded blue sign in Khmer and English reads, “Pol Pot was cremated here. Please help preserve this historical site. Ministry of Tourism.” There are plastic plates for offerings and small jars filled with burnt incense. As I start taking pictures of the site, Vann takes off his sandals, pulls out a lighter, and ignites an incense stick as a tribute to the spirit of the dead. I cannot help but react strongly. “Vann, what are you doing? Pol Pot was responsible for the death of ten family members, and you are paying your respect to him?” Holding the smoking incense between his joined palms, he answers, “I know, but it is a long time ago. It is time to forget.” This vignette from the summer of 2009 illustrates the divided memory of the genocide perpetrated in Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979, under the leadership of Pol Pot. Thirty years after a Marxist dictatorship, the self-proclaimed “Democratic Kampuchea,” caused the death of about 1.5 million people, or a quarter of the population, collective memory inches its way through monuments, commemorations, an international court judging Khmer Rouge cadres, new textbooks, and artistic productions. However, memorialization stands at the center of conflicted interests—the government’s politics of reconciliation, Buddhist beliefs in karma, [End Page 1] economic development, mass tourism opportunities, international law, and national historical narratives. This essay examines the performance of memory in Cambodia through the lens of various memorials and commemorative practices: the major sites of murder in Phnom Penh (Tuol Sleng prison and Choeung Ek killing fields); local repositories of victims’ remains in villages; places associated with the perpetrators such as Pol Pot’s cremation site, as well as various holidays connected to the genocide. I look at the boom in memorials, the multiple functions they have to perform, the various populations and interests they serve, the different commemorations and ceremonies, and the resulting tensions. I argue that memorialization efforts take on different shapes and espouse conflicted narratives that serve opposing agendas, in which the memory of the Khmer Rouge’s victims is not always the priority. Many remarkable scholarly works have been written about the Khmer Rouge takeover, the establishment of Democratic Kampuchea, the atrocities committed against civilians in the name of Marxist ideology, and the terrifying human death toll.1 In the last decade, a growing number of survivors published testimonies and memoirs about their personal suffering, mending their lives after the genocide...

Sport and social development: Promise and caution from an incipient Cambodian football league

One of the enduring controversies found in the literature on the role that sport plays in social development is whether this assumed relationship is weak or robust. Despite evidence both for and against the ‘sport-enhances-social-development’ model, a rapidly expanding cluster of case studies and a growing literature in a number of disciplines, there remain entire countries which have not been systematically explored and where almost no sociological research is available in English. Cambodia is one such case. Based upon qualitative methods (specifically interviews and observation) and as part of an ongoing study, this article reports on an incipient sport initiative (the Siem Reap Hotel Football League) in northern Cambodia. Emphasizing that sport is ‘contested terrain’ and may simultaneously improve and exacerbate existing social relations in any setting, our data show that any promise sport offers communities in either a micro or macro sense should be viewed through the lens of caution and circumspection.

A reappraisal of the evolution of Asian snakehead fishes (Pisces, Channidae) using molecular data from multiple genes and fossil calibration

Freshwater snakehead fishes (Channidae) provide an interesting target for phylogenetic analysis for the following reasons, their unusual biology, potential for cryptic diversity and availability of a good fossil record. Here, a multi-locus molecular phylogeny was constructed and calibrated using two fossil dates to estimate divergence times within the family. Sampling aimed to explore interspecific divergence of Channa species across Southeast Asia and intra-specific variation where species possessed natural geographical ranges that were extensive. Results contradict divergence times estimated previously independently from single locus mitochondrial data or the fossil record and suggest that after divergence from African taxa 40–50 Ma, evolution of Asian snakeheads has been heavily influenced by multiple broad scale dispersal events across India and Southeast Asia. A similar pattern of divergence within multiple clades suggests that west–east dispersal was limited for many taxa during the Miocene. Deep intra-specific divergence was inferred for C. striata, indicating that long historical periods of isolation (∼8 Ma) have not resulted in the evolution of reproductive isolation within this species. Results support suggestions that C. marulia like fishes in northern Cambodia may constitute an undescribed species, and that Indian C. diplogramma warrants taxonomic recognition as being distinct from Southeast Asian C. micropeltes, with the two taxa last sharing a common ancestor in the mid- to late-Miocene.

Dry season habitat use by critically endangered white‐shouldered ibis in northern Cambodia

AbstractWe present the first scientific study of white‐shouldered ibis Pseudibis davisoni habitat preferences in dry dipterocarp forest. Foraging sites included seasonal pools, forest understorey grasslands and fallow rice fields, with terrestrial sites used more following rainfall. Habitat and anthropogenic effects in logistic models of foraging site selection were examined by multimodel inference and model averaging. White‐shouldered ibis preferred pools with greater cover of short vegetation (<25 cm) and less of the boundary enclosed, and forest sites with greater cover of bare substrate and lower people encounter rate. At forest sites, livestock density was positively related to bare substrate extent and thus may improve suitability for foraging ibis. At pools, livestock removed tall vegetation between the early and late dry season indicating their importance in opening up foraging habitats after wet season growth. However, by the late dry season, pools with greater livestock density had less short vegetation, the habitat favoured by ibis. Conservation strategies for white‐shouldered ibis must consider a range of habitats, not just seasonal wetlands, and should incorporate extensive grazing and associated burning practises of local communities. Further understanding of the effects of these practices on vegetation, prey abundance and prey availability are therefore needed for effective conservation of this species. This will also develop our understanding of potentially beneficial anthropogenic influences in tropical environments.

Naming one of the world's rarest chelonians, the southern Batagur

Using mtDNA sequences of historical museum specimens, including the herein designated lectotype of Tetraonyx affinis Cantor 1847 and topotypic specimens of Trionyx (Tetraonyx) cuvieri Gray 1831 and Tetronyx longicollis Lesson 1834, we demonstrate that the name Batagur affinis (Cantor 1847) has to be used for a recently identified critically endangered terrapin species from Southeast Asia. Further, we provide evidence that Batagur baska (Gray 1830) historically was distributed from north-easternmost India and Bangladesh to at least the Ayeyarwady and Bago estuaries in Myanmar while B. affinis occurs in the southern Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. The taxonomic allocation of the extant and extirpated Batagur populations in the northern Malay Peninsula, Cambodia and southern Vietnam remains unclear. A museum specimen from the mid-19 th century suggests that B. baska once also occurred in the Indus Delta of southern Pakistan.