Ahmed , The Logo of the Elephant Interest Group: Encounters in Marsabit and Notes on His Model and Skeleton

Ahmed , the logo of the Elephant Interest Group, was a male African elephant (Loxodonta africana) that was born about 1919, possibly in the vicinity of Marsabit National Reserve, Kenya, East Africa. The name Ahmed is of Arabic origin (pronounced Ah-med ), and it means praised. At the age of 55 Ahmed was about 3 m (10 ft) tall at the shoulder and weighed approximately 5 metric tons (about 11,000 lbs.). He had huge tusks for his size, measuring about 3 m (10 ft) each and averaging about 70 kg (150 lbs) each. Ahmed\u27s 300 pounds of ivory attracted hunters and, as a result, raised major concern for his safety among scientists and the general public. A total of 5,000 letters and cards was delivered to the East African Wildlife Society and resulted in a Presidential Decree issued by the late President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta to protect Ahmed. In addition, a team of human soldiers was assigned to watch his whereabouts around the clock. On January 17, 1974 Ahmed died, probably of natural causes, and his carcass was found almost two days later near Lake Paradise, in the Reserve. The skin was already in an advanced stage of decomposition. Ahmed was dissected on the spot by a team from the Zimmermann (1973) Limited Taxidermist, headed by Wolfgang Schenk, and the skeleton was transported to Nairobi, the capital, where it was prepared and mounted by J.C. Hillman. A fiberglas replica of the skin was made by Zimmermann\u27s team. The entire operation lasted two years and cost Kenyan Shillings 143,086 (about US $14,500). Both the skeleton and the replica are now on display at the National Museum of Kenya (NMK) in Nairobi. Ahmed is Kenya\u27s most celebrated elephant; he was and still is regarded as a national monument and remains the symbol of conservation. The NMK and the Kenyan Government should be commended for their tremendous efforts in preserving the remains of Ahmed

Palaeogenomic analysis of black rat (Rattus rattus) reveals multiple European introductions associated with human economic history

The distribution of the black rat (Rattus rattus) has been heavily influenced by its association with humans. The dispersal history of this non-native commensal rodent across Europe, however, remains poorly understood, and different introductions may have occurred during the Roman and medieval periods. Here, in order to reconstruct the population history of European black rats, we first generate a de novo genome assembly of the black rat. We then sequence 67 ancient and three modern black rat mitogenomes, and 36 ancient and three modern nuclear genomes from archaeological sites spanning the 1st-17th centuries CE in Europe and North Africa. Analyses of our newly reported sequences, together with published mitochondrial DNA sequences, confirm that black rats were introduced into the Mediterranean and Europe from Southwest Asia. Genomic analyses of the ancient rats reveal a population turnover in temperate Europe between the 6th and 10th centuries CE, coincident with an archaeologically attested decline in the black rat population. The near disappearance and re-emergence of black rats in Europe may have been the result of the breakdown of the Roman Empire, the First Plague Pandemic, and/or post-Roman climatic cooling.Peer reviewe

Time domains of the hypoxic ventilatory response in ectothermic vertebrates

Over a decade has passed since Powell et al. (Respir Physiol 112:123–134, 1998) described and defined the time domains of the hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR) in adult mammals. These time domains, however, have yet to receive much attention in other vertebrate groups. The initial, acute HVR of fish, amphibians and reptiles serves to minimize the imbalance between oxygen supply and demand. If the hypoxia is sustained, a suite of secondary adjustments occur giving rise to a more long-term balance (acclimatization) that allows the behaviors of normal life. These secondary responses can change over time as a function of the nature of the stimulus (the pattern and intensity of the hypoxic exposure). To add to the complexity of this process, hypoxia can also lead to metabolic suppression (the hypoxic metabolic response) and the magnitude of this is also time dependent. Unlike the original review of Powell et al. (Respir Physiol 112:123–134, 1998) that only considered the HVR in adult animals, we also consider relevant developmental time points where information is available. Finally, in amphibians and reptiles with incompletely divided hearts the magnitude of the ventilatory response will be modulated by hypoxia-induced changes in intra-cardiac shunting that also improve the match between O2 supply and demand, and these too change in a time-dependent fashion. While the current literature on this topic is reviewed here, it is noted that this area has received little attention. We attempt to redefine time domains in a more ‘holistic’ fashion that better accommodates research on ectotherms. If we are to distinguish between the genetic, developmental and environmental influences underlying the various ventilatory responses to hypoxia, however, we must design future experiments with time domains in mind

Coral Islands of the British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago)

The islands of the Chagos have never been connected to a continental land mass, are geologically young, low in relief, and are as remote as possible in the central Indian Ocean. The area permanently above water comprises <0.1 % of the Archipelago. These factors have led to an impoverished terrestrial flora and fauna with only a single endemic species, a moth, being discovered to date. Since the islands were first colonised in the late eighteenth Century ecological havoc has been wreaked upon the land through deforestation for lumber and to make way for coconut plantations coupled with the introduction of alien plants and animals. Coconut farming ceased in the late twentieth Century. The two anthropogenic influences still environmentally traumatising the terrestrial habitat are the unmanaged former coconut groves and the introduced invasive Black Rat Rattus rattus. Both are limiting the growth and expansion of terrestrial flora and flora in the absence of man. Despite the ravages of man for over two centuries, some, mainly rat-free islands remain havens for oceanic island biodiversity and hold flora and environmental conditions that sustain internationally important breeding populations of IUCN Red-listed sea turtles, Coconut Crab and seabirds. To date 12 islands have been identified as IUCN classified Important Bird Areas. Global threats such as sea level rise have the possibility of impacting the islands of the Chagos, however, this has not prevented plans for ecological restoration or rehabilitation of the islands from being drawn up. Under the newly created BIOT Marine Protected Area, restoration of some of the islands should be a matter of political will and funding