mammals are increasingly affected by ongoing trend of extinction and one fourth of the world’s existing known mammalian species are endangered. lack of proper conservation strategy can lead to non-suitable allocation of resources to larger species and ingoring smaller taxa. despite iran’s rich diversity of mammalian fauna which is predominantly comprised from smaller species (more than 150 spec...

Hibernation physiology and energy expenditure have been relatively well studied in large captive hibernators, especially rodents, but data from smaller, free-ranging hibernators are sparse. We examined variation in the hibernation patterns of free-ranging little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) using temperature-sensitive radio-transmitters. First, we aimed to test the hypothesis that age, sex and...

Hearing, a central ability in our lives, allows us to distinguish the sound of birds from mosquitos, remember our favorite piece of music, have a conversation with a friend, and be alerted by a honk while crossing a road with our child. In other species, such as bats, this sensory modality is key for survival. Many researchers have dedicated their efforts to understand the auditory system. This...

We examined small mammal (insectivores, bats and rodents) diversity in community legally protected forest remnants the Ghana-Togo Highlands of Volta Region Ghana, West Africa, a zoologically understudied area compared to neighboring Togo East, or Ghana west River. recorded 34 species: three species shrews (Soricidae Fischer, 1815), 12 rodents, one primate (Galagidae Gray, 1825) 17 (Chiroptera B...

BACKGROUND Adult individuals of many species kill unrelated conspecific infants for several adaptive reasons ranging from predation or resource competition to the prevention of misdirected parental care. Moreover, infanticide can increase the reproductive success of the aggressor by killing the offspring of competitors and thereafter mating with the victimized females. This sexually selected in...