From the Apennines to the Alps: recent range expansion of the crested porcupine Hystrix cristata L., 1758 (Mammalia: Rodentia: Hystricidae) in Italy

In the last few decades, the crested porcupine (Hystrix cristata L., 1758) showed a marked range expansion in Italy. Published and unpublished material was collected to reconstruct this phenomenon. Data were gathered by means of: (i) specific papers on crested porcupine distribution and more generic books and articles, (ii) expert collaboration in various Italian regions and (iii) information from the national Vertebrates mailing list. Until the 1970s, H. cristata was only present in Central and Southern Italy, mostly in the western part. Since 1978, the porcupine has been protected by Italian national law. The species first crossed the Apennines from the Tyrrhenian coast to the Marche, where the expansion to the north may have begun, and then reached the northernmost regions. An analysis of the potential distribution of the species was performed in a species distribution modeling framework (Maxent). The model suggested a high suitability of most of the Central and Southern Italian Peninsula for H. cristata, including the two major islands. Northern Italy proved suitable for the species' establishment only in some central and western areas of the Po Valley. The core areas of the Apennines and of the Alps, as well as some areas characterized by low annual rainfall, were predicted as unsuitable. Historical and social factors related to the progressive urbanization and the consequent abandonment of the traditional land use in mountain landscapes probably helped the re-expansion of forests and uncultivated fields. Three introduced populations have been detected in Sardinia, Liguria and the province of Varese. In order to make the data collected easily consultable and to give people the opportunity to contribute to a continuous updating of the distributional map of the species, a web page dedicated to H. cristata was set up, in the framework of an open-source wildlife mapping project. © 2013 Unione Zoologica Italiana

The ultrasonic treatment as a promising method of nanosized oxide CeO2−MoO3CeO_{2}-MoO_{3} composites preparation

The influence of ultrasonic treatment (UST) of oxide $CeO_{2}-MoO_{3}$ system with atomic ratio Ce/Mo = 15:85, 25:75, 50:50, and 75:25 on their properties was investigated. The prepared samples were characterized by means of XRD, ESR, $N_{2}$ adsorption, FT-IR-spectroscopy, SEM, and TEM methods. The catalytic properties of the samples in selective ethanol oxidation to acetaldehyde and their adsorption capacity relation to dye removal from water solutions were studied. The decrease of oxides particles size with nanoparticles formation as result of $CeO_{2}$ chaotic destruction and $MoO_{3}$ anisotropic deformation was established. It was shown that UST leads to an increase of the composition-specific surface area, formation of structural defects, and strong interaction between oxides nanoparticles. The change of physicochemical properties of the compositions as result of their sonochemical treatment leads to increase their catalytic and adsorption properties. The samples obtained after UST demonstrate very promising results in oxidative dehydrogenation of ethanol to acetaldehyde, and the treated composition with ratio Ce/Mo = 50:50 permits to obtain the acetaldehyde yield equal to 96% at reaction temperature $200^{\circ}C$. On the other hand, sample with Ce/Mo = 75:25 has high adsorption capacity in process of dye removal from water solution

Diet of the marsh mongoose around a non-permanent reservoir: response of a generalist opportunist forager to the absence of crabs

The diet of the marsh or water mongoose Atilax paludinosus has been well studied in coastal and inland riverine habitats, where crabs often constitute the main prey in terms of frequency of occurrence. We investigated the feeding ecology of a small number of marsh mongooses living next to a small, non-permanent reservoir (Andries Vosloo Kudu Nature Reserve, Eastern Cape), where freshwater crabs were not available. Using a combined metric of the percentage of occurrence and the percentage volume of food remains in 133 scats collected from 2006–2009,no primary prey could be detected. Amphibians, mammals, arthropods and fish all acted as secondary prey. Plants supplemented the diet, whereas birds only occurred as trace foods. There were seasonal variations in the diet, with peaks in amphibian (spring), arthropod (summer) and fish (autumn) consumption contributing to the change. Dietary diversity and niche breadth were relatively high throughout the year. This study strongly suggests that the marsh mongoose is in fact a generalist opportunist feeder. Although it consumes crabs and other aquatic prey in areas where they are particularly abundant, it can adapt to local food availability and include a significant proportion of terrestrial prey in its diet. Keywords: Atilax paludinosus, diet, scat analysis, water mongoos