REDESCRIPTION OF Tarsubulura perarmata (RATZEL, 1868) FROM A WILD-CAUGHT EASTERN TARSIER (Tarsius sp.)

Tarsubulura perarmata (Rai zel, 1868) is rcdescribed on tile basis of specimens [roin the intestine of tuild caught Tarsius sp. The specimens were compared with original description of Subulura perarmata, Ratzel, 1868 and the description by Brack and Niemitz, 1984. Inglish (1958) transferred this species to Tarsubulura perarmata and a redescription of this taxon is presented in this paper.Key words: Tarsubulura perarmata, Nematode,Tarsier

Asian Primate Species Richness Correlates with Rainfall

Previous studies of meta-analyses found significantly positive correlations between primate species richness and rainfall for Africa, Madagascar and the Neotropics, with the exception of Asia, leaving the open question whether that anomaly is the result of sampling bias, biogeography, or some other factor. This study re-examines the question using modelled data, with primate species richness data from the Southeast Asian Mammals Databank and rainfall data from the Climatic Research Unit. Data processing with Geographical Information Systems resulted in 390 sample points. Reduced major axis and ordinary least squares regressions were employed to examine the relationship for six regions, including the whole study area of Southeast Asia, and the subareas of Huxley West, Huxley East, Mainland Southeast Asia, Borneo, and Sumatra. The results showed a significant positive relationship between primate species richness and mean annual rainfall for Southeast Asia (r = 0.26, P,0.001). Comparing the results for the large islands and Mainland Southeast Asia showed that Sumatra had the highest correlation (r = 0.58; P,0.05). After controlling for the major biogeographic effect associated with Huxley’s Line, our results showed that primate species richness is positively associated with mean annual rainfall in Southeast Asia. Our findings contrast to prior studies of meta-analyses that showed no relationship between rainfall and primate species richness in Asia, and thereby bring Asia into agreement with results showing significant positive correlations between rainfall and primate species richness everywhere else in the world. The inference is that previous anomalous results for Asia were result of sampling bias in the meta-analysis

Changing practice in dementia care in the community: developing and testing evidence-based interventions, from timely diagnosis to end of life (EVIDEM)

Background Dementia has an enormous impact on the lives of individuals and families, and on health and social services, and this will increase as the population ages. The needs of people with dementia and their carers for information and support are inadequately addressed at all key points in the illness trajectory. Methods The Unit is working specifically on an evaluation of the impact of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, and will develop practice guidance to enhance concordance with the Act. Phase One of the study has involved baseline interviews with practitioners across a wide range of services to establish knowledge and expectations of the Act, and to consider change processes when new policy and legislation are implemented. Findings Phase 1, involving baseline interviews with 115 practitioners, identified variable knowledge and understanding about the principles of the Act. Phase 2 is exploring everyday decision-making by people with memory problems and their carers

Expert range maps of global mammal distributions harmonised to three taxonomic authorities

AimComprehensive, global information on species' occurrences is an essential biodiversity variable and central to a range of applications in ecology, evolution, biogeography and conservation. Expert range maps often represent a species' only available distributional information and play an increasing role in conservation assessments and macroecology. We provide global range maps for the native ranges of all extant mammal species harmonised to the taxonomy of the Mammal Diversity Database (MDD) mobilised from two sources, the Handbook of the Mammals of the World (HMW) and the Illustrated Checklist of the Mammals of the World (CMW).LocationGlobal.TaxonAll extant mammal species.MethodsRange maps were digitally interpreted, georeferenced, error-checked and subsequently taxonomically aligned between the HMW (6253 species), the CMW (6431 species) and the MDD taxonomies (6362 species).ResultsRange maps can be evaluated and visualised in an online map browser at Map of Life (mol.org) and accessed for individual or batch download for non-commercial use.Main conclusionExpert maps of species' global distributions are limited in their spatial detail and temporal specificity, but form a useful basis for broad-scale characterizations and model-based integration with other data. We provide georeferenced range maps for the native ranges of all extant mammal species as shapefiles, with species-level metadata and source information packaged together in geodatabase format. Across the three taxonomic sources our maps entail, there are 1784 taxonomic name differences compared to the maps currently available on the IUCN Red List website. The expert maps provided here are harmonised to the MDD taxonomic authority and linked to a community of online tools that will enable transparent future updates and version control

Conservation Genetics of the Philippine Tarsier: Cryptic Genetic Variation Restructures Conservation Priorities for an Island Archipelago Primate

Acknowledgments We thank the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources for facilitating research, sample collection, and export permits (in particular T. M. Lim, C. Custodio, J. deLeon, and A. Tagtag) necessary for this and related research. Sampling protocols were approved by the University of Kansas Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC 158-01 to RMB) and protocols to capture, sedate, and harvest ear biopsies from wild tarsiers were approved by the Dartmouth Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC 10-11-12 and 11-06-06AT to NJD). Thanks are due to J. Quilang for assistance with data and comments on the manuscript. We thank N. Antoque, J. Cantil, and V. Yngente for assistance in the field and anonymous reviewers for comments on previous versions of the manuscript.Author Contributions Conceived and designed the experiments: RMB JAW CDS JAE MS MLD ACD. Performed the experiments: RMB MRMD LVD INA JAE NJD PSO AL MLD ACD CDS. Analyzed the data: KVO AJB CDS. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: RMB KVO AJB CDS JAE LVD GLM. Wrote the paper: RMB JAW CDS JAE MS GLM. Obtained permission and executed field surveys: RMB MRMD LVD MS INA JAE NJD PSO GLM AL MLD ACD CDS.Establishment of conservation priorities for primates is a particular concern in the island archipelagos of Southeast Asia, where rates of habitat destruction are among the highest in the world. Conservation programs require knowledge of taxonomic diversity to ensure success. The Philippine tarsier is a flagship species that promotes environmental awareness and a thriving ecotourism economy in the Philippines. However, assessment of its conservation status has been impeded by taxonomic uncertainty, a paucity of field studies, and a lack of vouchered specimens and genetic samples available for study in biodiversity repositories. Consequently, conservation priorities are unclear. In this study we use mitochondrial and nuclear DNA to empirically infer geographic partitioning of genetic variation and to identify evolutionarily distinct lineages for conservation action. The distribution of Philippine tarsier genetic diversity is neither congruent with expectations based on biogeographical patterns documented in other Philippine vertebrates, nor does it agree with the most recent Philippine tarsier taxonomic arrangement. We identify three principal evolutionary lineages that do not correspond to the currently recognized subspecies, highlight the discovery of a novel cryptic and range-restricted subcenter of genetic variation in an unanticipated part of the archipelago, and identify additional geographically structured genetic variation that should be the focus of future studies and conservation action. Conservation of this flagship species necessitates establishment of protected areas and targeted conservation programs within the range of each genetically distinct variant of the Philippine tarsier.Support for fieldwork was provided by the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (to RMB, CDS, and JAE), the National Geographic Society (NGS 8446-08 to RMB, JAW, MS and INA), funds from the Primate Action Fund (to MS), Ewha Womans University (Ewha Global Top5 Grant 2013 to MS), the David and Lucile Packard Foundation (Fellowship in Science and Engineering no. 2007-31754, to NJD), and U.S. National Science Foundation (DEB 0743491 to RMB). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Yeshttp://www.plosone.org/static/editorial#pee

The genera and Species of Tarsiidae

We revise the taxonomy of the primate family Tarsiidae. We classify extant tarsiers in 3 genera-Tarsius, Cephalopachus, and Carlito-each of which originated in the Miocene, or earlier, and each of which is allopatrically distributed within a distinct biogeographic region: Sulawesi, Sundaland, and Greater Mindanao, respectively. Within the genus Tarsius, formerly regarded as a single species, Tarsius spectrum, we recognize 8 allopatric and parapatric species, 9 if the inclusion of pumilus is warranted, and note that more are likely to be described in the near future. We restrict Tarsius tarsier, the senior taxon of the genus, to the island of Selayar, off the tip of the southwestern peninsula of Sulawesi. In doing so, it is required that we resurrect Tarsius fuscus Fischer 1804, for the population of tarsiers from the southwestern peninsula near the city of Makassar. We note that neither Cephalopachus nor Carlito has been the subject of anywhere near as much field research as has Tarsius; thus we question if the currently accepted α taxonomy for these genera is based on knowledge or ignorance

Strategi Konservasi di Pulau Sulawesi dengan Menggunakan Tarsius sebagai Flagship Spesies

We present a strategy to preserve the biodiversity of Sulawesi and nearby islands chains. Sulawesi is the primary landmass in the biogeographic zone known as Wallacea, and is listed as one of the world’s top 25 hotspots at threat for major loss of biodiversity. Sulawesi is hypothesized to be subdivided into regions of endemism. We argue that the best strategy for preserving the totality of Sulawesi biodiversity, given that the vast bulk of that biodiversity remains virtually unstudied or even unknown, is to use biogeographic data to make a comprehensive map of regions of endemism in Sulawesi and to protect primary habitat in each region. We present a hypothesis that we call the “hybrid biogeographic hypothesis” that synthesizes two previous biogeografic hypotheses, one from empirical biological data and one from geologic data. We present a map of tarsier acoustic group distributions that offers heuristic evidence that the former hypothesis is more comprehensive than either of the latter two. We note that some of these regions have multiple conservation areas, while several others have none at all and can be thought of as “hotspots within the hotspot”. Evidence indicates that an endemic taxon of tarsier inhabits nearly every known endemic region of Sulawesi and surrounding island chains, although most of these taxa are undescribed. We propose to use tarsiers as flagship species to justify new conservation areas that will preserve primary habitat in those regions that currently lack them. Tarsiers are superior to other potential flagship species because they have the requisite charisma and are distributed throughout Sulawesi in a broad variety of habitats, but they do not eat agricultural products or have other characteristics that might engender local resentment to their conservation. This plan requires naming several new taxa of tarsiers, each of which requires reference material. Existing museum populations are inadequate for these needs and new museum specimens are required. We argue that the most beneficial way for this program to proceed is to trap wild tarsiers and house them in captivity until they expire naturally, at which time they will enter the collections of the Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense. While in captivity these tarsiers will provide enormous opportunities for research, training, education, and conservation. We will encounter local resistance to conserving tarsier populations because of false perceptions among inhabitants that tarsiers eat agricultural products, and this false belief must be corrected through community education. The critical condition of habitat destruction in Sulawesi warrants immediate action