Dramatic declines in saiga antelope populations

Toxoplasmosis in nilgais (Boselaphus tragocamelus) and a saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica).

Three captive female nilgais (Boselaphus tragocamelus) either showed late-term abortion or their newborn calves died within 2 days of birth. Toxoplasma gondii DNA was demonstrated in the brain and liver of each fetus and in one of the two neonates by single-stage polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with TGR1E and by seminested PCR with B1 gene. Retrospectively, antibodies titers > or =640 to T. gon...

Calving location selection patterns of saiga antelope in Mongolia

Dramatic declines in neotropical salamander populations are an important part of the global amphibian crisis.

We document major declines of many species of salamanders at several sites in Central America and Mexico, with emphasis on the San Marcos region of Guatemala, one of the best studied and most diverse salamander communities in the Neotropics. Profound declines of several formerly abundant species, including 2 apparent extinctions, are revealed. Terrestrial microhabitat specialists at mid- to hig...

Changes in grouping patterns of saiga antelope in relationto intrinsic and environmental factors in Mongolia

1 Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA 2 Mongolia Program, Wildlife Conservation Society, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia 3 Mongolia Program Office, World Wide Fund for Nature, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia 4 USDA-WS-National Wildlife Research Center and the Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA 5 Organismal Biology and Ecology,...

The 'big spenders' of the steppe: sex-specific maternal allocation and twinning in the saiga antelope.

In polygynous mammals, males generally benefit more from extra allocation of maternal resources than females. However, limitations to sex-specific allocation are usually ignored. We propose the 'allocation constraint' hypothesis, whereby maternal resource allocation is more likely to follow life-history predictions in single sex litters than in mixed sex litters, due to limitations in prenatal ...