Evolutionary computational methods have adopted attributes of natural selection and evolution to solve problems in computer science, engineering, and other fields. The method is growing in use in zoology and ecology. Evolutionary principles may be merged with an agent-based modeling perspective to have individual animals or other agents compete. Four main categories are discussed: genetic algor...

Malignant catarrhal fever is briefly reviewed and recent findings are described. Initially the disease was observed as a disease of cattle in Europe where, although no cause could be identified, circumstantial evidence implicated sheep as a source of infection and it was thus designated 'sheep-associated' malignant catarrhal fever. Subsequently the disease was observed in Africa where it became...

Alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 (AlHV-1), carried by wildebeest asymptomatically, causes malignant catarrhal fever (WD-MCF) when cross-species transmitted to a variety of susceptible species of the Artiodactyla order. Experimentally, WD-MCF can be induced in rabbits. The lesions observed are very similar to those described in natural host species. Here, we used the rabbit model and in vivo 5-Bromo-2'...

Fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) assays are a popular means of monitoring adrenocortical activity (i.e., physiological stress response) in wildlife. Species-specific differences in glucocorticoid metabolism and excretion require assay validation, including both laboratory and biological components, before assay use in new species. We validated a commercially available radioimmunoassay (MP ...

Alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 (AlHV-1) is a gammaherpesvirus carried asymptomatically by wildebeest. Upon cross-species transmission, AlHV-1 induces malignant catarrhal fever (MCF), a fatal lymphoproliferative disease of ruminants, including cattle. The strain C500 has been cloned as an infectious, pathogenic bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) that is used to study MCF. Although AlHV-1 infection...

Pestiviruses infect a wide range of domestic, captive and free-living ruminants. Among domestic livestock, Border disease virus is a well recognised cause of an important congenital disease of sheep in virtually all sheep-rearing countries of the world. The clinical signs, pathogenesis, diagnosis, epidemiology and control of this disease are described in detail. One natural outbreak of Border d...

Migration of organisms (or cells) is typically an adaptive response to spatiotemporal variation in resources that requires individuals to detect and respond to long-range and noisy environmental gradients. Many organisms, from wildebeest to bacteria, migrate en masse in a process that can involve a vast number of individuals. Despite the ubiquity of collective migration, and the key function it...

Host-parasite dynamics can be strongly affected by seasonality and age-related host immune responses. We investigated how observed variation in the prevalence and intensity of parasite egg or oocyst shedding in four co-occurring ungulate species may reflect underlying seasonal variation in transmission and host immunity. This study was conducted July 2005-October 2006 in Etosha National Park, N...

Predators alter prey dynamics by direct killing and through the costs of antipredator responses or risk effects. Antipredator behavior includes proactive responses to long-term variation in risk (e.g., grouping patterns) and reactive responses to short-term variation in risk (e.g., intense vigilance). In a 3-year field study, we measured variation in antipredator responses and the foraging cost...