“\u3ci\u3eAgrionemys kazachstanica terbishi\u3c/i\u3e” or the Two-Faced Mongolian Steppe Tortoise

Although no extant native turtle and tortoise species is known to occur in Mongolia, a new subspecies of the Central Asian tortoise was described by Chkhikvadze under the name Agrionemys kazachstanica terbishi in 2009. The description was based on a mummified tortoise kept in a museum collection. Since then the Mongolian steppe tortoise has been considered as an endemic taxon Testudo horsfieldii terbishi (Chkhikvadze, 2009) for Mongolia. However, there is no evidence for the occurrence of any wild tortoise species in Mongolia, even in the putative area of origin of the type specimen. The closest confirmed occurrence of Central Asian steppe tortoises is about 500 km away from Mongolia. Moreover, since 2010 the type specimen disappeared from the museum collection. Yet, there are several clues that the specimen in question was brought from Kazakhstan about 10 years ago to live as a pet in a yurt of a Mongolian nomadic family. Therefore, the recently described subspecies should be regarded as a “nomen dubium” and T. horsfieldii should be deleted from the faunal list of Mongolia

“\u3ci\u3eAgrionemys kazachstanica terbishi\u3c/i\u3e” or the Two-Faced Mongolian Steppe Tortoise

Although no extant native turtle and tortoise species is known to occur in Mongolia, a new subspecies of the Central Asian tortoise was described by Chkhikvadze under the name Agrionemys kazachstanica terbishi in 2009. The description was based on a mummified tortoise kept in a museum collection. Since then the Mongolian steppe tortoise has been considered as an endemic taxon Testudo horsfieldii terbishi (Chkhikvadze, 2009) for Mongolia. However, there is no evidence for the occurrence of any wild tortoise species in Mongolia, even in the putative area of origin of the type specimen. The closest confirmed occurrence of Central Asian steppe tortoises is about 500 km away from Mongolia. Moreover, since 2010 the type specimen disappeared from the museum collection. Yet, there are several clues that the specimen in question was brought from Kazakhstan about 10 years ago to live as a pet in a yurt of a Mongolian nomadic family. Therefore, the recently described subspecies should be regarded as a “nomen dubium” and T. horsfieldii should be deleted from the faunal list of Mongolia

Assessment of Non-Metric Skull Characters and Age Determination in the Asiatic Wild Ass \u3ci\u3eEquus hemionus\u3c/i\u3e: A Methodological Approach

The report presents the first information on the use of non-metric skull characters and age determination by tooth section for Asiatic wild asses. It was initiated by a collection of more than 400 skulls of the Asiatic wild ass from the Bordzongijn-Gobi 2002-2004. The methodological overview gives a first research prospect in Asiatic Wild Ass concerning the use of non-metric skull characters as a morphological tool for assessing genetic variability, determining epigenetic divergences and evaluating fluctuating asymmetry. The time course of tooth eruption and replacement in the Asiatic wild ass is described with regard to its use for age determination. To determine the age in years of the older asses tooth sections are made with a low-speed precision saw that reveal annual lines in the tooth cementum

Assessment of Non-Metric Skull Characters and Age Determination in the Asiatic Wild Ass \u3ci\u3eEquus hemionus\u3c/i\u3e: A Methodological Approach

The report presents the first information on the use of non-metric skull characters and age determination by tooth section for Asiatic wild asses. It was initiated by a collection of more than 400 skulls of the Asiatic wild ass from the Bordzongijn-Gobi 2002-2004. The methodological overview gives a first research prospect in Asiatic Wild Ass concerning the use of non-metric skull characters as a morphological tool for assessing genetic variability, determining epigenetic divergences and evaluating fluctuating asymmetry. The time course of tooth eruption and replacement in the Asiatic wild ass is described with regard to its use for age determination. To determine the age in years of the older asses tooth sections are made with a low-speed precision saw that reveal annual lines in the tooth cementum

The House Mouse \u3ci\u3eMus musculus\u3c/i\u3e in Mongolia: Taxonomy, Status, and Ecology of a Neglected Species

Although the house mouse as a common and widely distributed species is probably best-studied among small mammals, there is a lack of fundamental knowledge regarding species identity, morphology and ecology in Mongolia. Consequently, this study provides results of basic biological research on the Mongolian house mouse. A total of 172 specimens have been studied based on samples collected during the period 1962 to 2016. Using genetic and morphological markers, the taxonomic examination resulted in classification as Mus musculus musculus LINNAEUS, 1758. To characterize the Mongolian house mouse, three fur color traits and 23 metric body and skull traits were analyzed. Two obviously different morphotypes were identified: (1) light individuals with a distinct demarcation line, which occur in most parts of the country, (2) dark individuals with a diffuse demarcation line, which are mainly found in the northern part of the Selenge province. Furthermore, these morphotypes differ in five metric body and skull traits. In general, Mongolian house mice seem to be consistent with reference specimens from Eastern Europe according to metric traits, although exhibiting a shorter tail. In Mongolia Mus musculus lives hemisynanthropically. Habitat preferences are human settlements, but also in natural habitats such as oases, dunes and lakeshores. The population epigenetic analysis by using nonmetric cranial traits exposed three main populations: northcentral, southeast, and west. The latter seems to be more isolated from the other populations, probably due to the Altai Mountains as a natural barrier. The resulting epigenetic distances of the Mongolian house mice are rather low in comparison to other rodents, which indicates that house mice are quite talented in terms of dispersal. The western, southern, and eastern populations show lower values of fluctuating asymmetry (6.5 to 9.0 %), than the northern and central populations (11.5 to 13.1 %). Therefore, the latter seems to be more influenced by environmental or genetic stress factors

Attitudes towards returning wolves (Canis lupus) in Germany: Exposure, information sources and trust matter

Understanding how exposure and information affect public attitudes towards returning large carnivores in Europe is critical for human-carnivore coexistence, especially for developing efficient and de-escalating communication strategies. The ongoing recolonization of wolves (Canis lupus) in Germany provides a unique opportunity to test the role of different information sources and trust on people's attitudes towards wolves. We conducted a phone survey (n = 1250) and compared country-wide attitudes towards wolves with attitudes in a specific region where wolves initially recolonized and have been present since 2000. In particular, we investigate the relationship between information sources, trust and people's attitudes while accounting for factors like knowledge, exposure and socio-cultural determinants of respondents. We found significant differences in attitudes and knowledge about wolves as well as in the use and frequency of information sources between the two population samples. Higher knowledge, information from books and films, science-based information, and higher trust in information sources related positively with positive attitudes towards wolves. Comparatively, information from press or TV news was associated with more negative attitudes. Providing science-based information to the public and building trust in information is likely to be one measure, among others, to dampen extreme attitudes and improve people's appreciation of costs and benefits of human-carnivore coexistence. Management of conflictual situations emerging from large carnivore recolonization in Europe and beyond should consider incorporating assessments of people's use of and trust in information in addition to existing tools to pave new ways for constructive human-carnivore coexistence

Soricidenfunde (Mammalia: Insectivora) in der Mongolei

New data on the Mongolian fauna of Soricidae came in the last decades from Russian scientists, such as Ju. G. Švecov, N. I. Litvinov, and B. I. Sheftel, last not least, in cooperation with Mongolian mammalogists. We remind the reader about the publications of N. Chotochu, D. Bazardorž, and R. Samjaa with his team. Also in future, there is a lot to do for understanding the biology, ecology, and distribution of the Mongolian shrews. We have summarized the most important publications on shrews and made a grid mapping together with the results of the Mongolian-German Biological Expeditions. Up to now, the following species are known from Mongolian territory: Neomys fodiens, Crocidura suaveolens (or C. sibirica), Crocidura shantungensis as well as the Sorex-species S. roboratus, S. daphaenodon, S. isodon, S. minutissimus, S. araneus, S. caecutiens, and S. tundrensis

Emergency vaccination of rabies under limited resources – combating or containing?

BACKGROUND: Rabies is the most important viral zoonosis from a global perspective. Worldwide efforts to combat the disease by oral vaccination of reservoirs have managed to eradicate wildlife rabies in large areas of central Europe and North-America. Thus, repeated vaccination has been discontinued recently on a geographical scale. However, as rabies has not yet been eradicated globally, a serious risk of re-introduction remains. What is the best spatial design for an emergency vaccination program – particularly if resources are limited? Either, we treat a circular area around the detected case and run the risk of infected hosts leaving the limited control area, because a sufficient immunisation level has not yet been built up. Or, initially concentrate the SAME resources in order to establish a protective ring which is more distant from the infected local area, and which then holds out against the challenge of the approaching epidemic. METHODS: We developed a simulation model to contrast the two strategies for emergency vaccination. The spatial-explicit model is based on fox group home-ranges, which facilitates the simulation of rabies spread to larger areas relevant to management. We used individual-based fox groups to follow up the effects of vaccination in a detailed manner. Thus, regionally – bait distribution orientates itself to standard schemes of oral immunisation programs and locally – baits are assigned to individual foxes. RESULTS: Surprisingly, putting the controlled area ring-like around the outbreak does not outperform the circular area of the same size centred on the outbreak. Only during the very first baitings, does the ring area result in fewer breakouts. But then as rabies is eliminated within the circle area, the respective ring area fails, due to the non-controlled inner part. We attempt to take advantage of the initially fewer breakouts beyond the ring when applying a mixed strategy. Therefore, after a certain number of baitings, the area under control was increased for both strategies towards the same larger circular area. The circle-circle strategy still outperforms the ring-circle strategy and analysis of the spatial-temporal disease spread reveals why: improving control efficacy by means of a mixed strategy is impossible in the field, due to the build-up time of population immunity. CONCLUSION: For practical emergency management of a new outbreak of rabies, the ring-like application of oral vaccination is not a favourable strategy at all. Even if initial resources are substantially low and there is a serious risk of rabies cases outside the limited control area, our results suggest circular application instead of ring vaccination