430 research outputs found

    The mammals of Angola

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    Scientific investigations on the mammals of Angola started over 150 years ago, but information remains scarce and scattered, with only one recent published account. Here we provide a synthesis of the mammals of Angola based on a thorough survey of primary and grey literature, as well as recent unpublished records. We present a short history of mammal research, and provide brief information on each species known to occur in the country. Particular attention is given to endemic and near endemic species. We also provide a zoogeographic outline and information on the conservation of Angolan mammals. We found confirmed records for 291 native species, most of which from the orders Rodentia (85), Chiroptera (73), Carnivora (39), and Cetartiodactyla (33). There is a large number of endemic and near endemic species, most of which are rodents or bats. The large diversity of species is favoured by the wide range of habitats with contrasting environmental conditions, while endemism tends to be associated with unique physiographic settings such as the Angolan Escarpment. The mammal fauna of Angola includes 2 Critically Endangered, 2 Endangered, 11 Vulnerable, and 14 Near-Threatened species at the global scale. There are also 12 data deficient species, most of which are endemics or near endemics to the countryinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    Panorama Phylogenetic Diversity and Distribution of Type A Influenza Virus

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    Type A influenza virus is one of important pathogens of various animals, including humans, pigs, horses, marine mammals and birds. Currently, the viral type has been classified into 16 hemagglutinin and 9 neuraminidase subtypes, but the phylogenetic diversity and distribution within the viral type largely remain unclear from the whole view.The panorama phylogenetic trees of influenza A viruses were calculated with representative sequences selected from approximately 23000 candidates available in GenBank using web servers in NCBI and the software MEGA 4.0. Lineages and sublineages were classified according to genetic distances, topology of the phylogenetic trees and distributions of the viruses in hosts, regions and time.Here, two panorama phylogenetic trees of type A influenza virus covering all the 16 hemagglutinin subtypes and 9 neuraminidase subtypes, respectively, were generated. The trees provided us whole views and some novel information to recognize influenza A viruses including that some subtypes of avian influenza viruses are more complicated than Eurasian and North American lineages as we thought in the past. They also provide us a framework to generalize the history and explore the future of the viral circulation and evolution in different kinds of hosts. In addition, a simple and comprehensive nomenclature system for the dozens of lineages and sublineages identified within the viral type was proposed, which if universally accepted, will facilitate communications on the viral evolution, ecology and epidemiology
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