Pasteurella spp. were isolated from feral goats and free-ranging bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis) in the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area bordering Idaho, Oregon, and Washington (USA). Biovariant 1 Pasteurella haemolytica organisms were isolated from one goat and one of two bighorn sheep found in close association. Both isolates produced leukotoxin and had identical electrophoret...

Mountain ungulates of the subfamily Caprinae, including wild sheep, goats and goat-antelopes, show remarkable interspecific diversity in habitat preferences, social organisation morphological features. We review how this relates to their mating behaviour. After introducing ecology systems evolution we investigate pairwise, sequential relationships between behaviour, level polygyny, features, di...

The genotypes for calpastatin (CAST) and calpain (CAPN) loci were determined by PCR-RFLP and PCRSSCPmethods. Blood samples were collected from 200 pure-bred Zel sheep from Shirang’s Zel sheep Breeding Station located in south-west of Golestan, Iran. Extraction of genomic DNA was performed based on the modified salting out method. Based on results, two investigated loci were polymorphic an...

The objective of the present study was to detect polymorphism in follicle stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) and beta subunit of follicle stimulating hormone (FSHβ) genes and their relation to litter size and body weight trait in Baluchi, Iran black and Arman sheep breeds. PCR-RFLP technique using ACCI and HinfI enzyme treatments employed to detection of polymorphism in FSHβ marker site but de...

Future climate change is likely to affect distributions of species, disrupt biotic interactions, and cause spatial incongruity of predator-prey habitats. Understanding the impacts of future climate change on species distribution will help in the formulation of conservation policies to reduce the risks of future biodiversity losses. Using a species distribution modeling approach by MaxEnt, we mo...

Utilization of fecundity genes such as GDF9 and BMP15 can help improve reproductive traits in sheep breeding programme. To evaluate effects of missense mutations on protein function, the polymorphisms of GDF9 and BMP15 genes were screened in twelve mehraban sheep using DNA sequencing, followed by protein structure modeling. Six single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) known as FecG mutations (G1-G...

How predators select domestic relative to wild prey is of relevance to depredation management and presents opportunities to investigate foraging theory as applied to mammalian carnivores. Domestic prey have numerous qualities that should increase their energy value to predators relative to wild prey. However, whether a predator specializes on domestic prey should also depend on the relative imp...