Contribution à l'étude des Siphonapteres du Sud-Est de la Péninsule lbérique

Au cours d'une mission zoologique et épidémiologique, ef fectuée du 18 septembre au 4 octobre 1972 ,dans le Sud-Est de l'Espagne, 351 micromammiféres ont été capturés et leurs ectoparasites, dont 384 Siphonaptères appartenant ä 20 espèces ou sous-espèces, récoltés. Le présent travail rapporte nos observations sur ceux-ci, qui jusqu'à présent n'avaient fait l'objet d'aucune capture dans cette région de l'Espagne.Peer reviewe

The occurrence of reptiles in Barn Owl diet in Europe

Capsule We present a review of the propensity to eat reptiles in the Barn Owl Tyto alba in Europe. Based on the analysis of 591 published studies reporting 3.07 million prey items identified in pellets, only 2402 reptiles (0.08%) were found. Reptiles were most often captured in southern parts of the European continent and on islands. A large proportion of the 1304 identified reptiles to the species level were nocturnal Gekkonidae (77.1%)

Noninvasive molecular and morphological evidences for an undiscovered population of snow vole in Southern Spain

Capturing wild animals can be time consuming and difficult or even impractical. Noninvasive sampling is potentially a cost-effective and efficient means to monitor wild animals, thereby avoiding the need of capture and disturb species in the wild. On the basis of the morphological and genetic analyses of owl pellet contents, a so far undetected European snow vole (Chionomys nivalis) population was discovered in the Sierra Segura mountain range (Southern Spain). The mtDNA sequence from the newly discovered haplotype was compared with sequences from vole populations of the Sierra Nevada and Sierra Peñalara mountain ranges (Spain) and from Churwalden (Switzerland). The nine recovered haplotypes clustered in four distinct lineages according to their geographical origin. The vole sequence from the Sierra Segura owl pellet belonged to a new haplotype, constituting a new lineage. The evolutionary divergence between sequences from the Sierra Segura and other Spanish populations was higher than that among other Spanish haplotypes. The new snow vole haplotype from this new locality duplicates the number of occurrence sites of this critically endangered species in Southern Spain, which is of great interest for further conservation and management plans of the European snow vole in the most southwestern area of its entire distribution range. © 2013 Informa UK, Ltd.Peer Reviewe

Geographic and temporal variation in the consumption of bats by European barn owls

Capsule We report a review of the occurrence of bats in the Barn Owl diet Tyto alba in Europe. Based on 802 studies reporting 4.02 million prey items identified in pellets, 4949 were bats (0.12%). We found that bat predation decreased during the last 150 years, is more frequent on islands than mainland, and is higher in eastern than western Europe and in southern than northern Europe. Although Barn Owls usually capture bats opportunistically, they can sometimes specialize on them