High hunting costs make African wild dogs vulnerable to kleptoparasitism by hyaenas
Article Abstract:
The doubly labelled water technique was used to assess the daily energy expenditures of six fully grown African wild dogs from a pack living in the southwest of the Kruger National Park, South Africa. It was estimated that the instantaneous cost of hunting was 25 times basal metabolic rate. The impact of kleptoparasitism was investigated using a model that predicts the length of time an animal must forage to obtain its daily energy needs. There is an energetic limit on hunting times, and this may be why dogs are very vulnerable to even low levels of food theft.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1998
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Sex of the last wild Spix's macaw
Article Abstract:
The last wild member of the most endangered bird, Spix's macaw, had to be sex-typed to determine whether the release of a male or female from the 31 in captivity would be necessary to make a couple. A polymerase chain reaction-based test which uses extracted DNA from moulted feathers of the bird, exhibits that a highly conserved gene (C-W) is absent in the testing sample. The innovative technique of sex-specific genetic marker separation was used to sex-type the wild Spix's macaw because only female birds have W- unique genetic markers.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1995
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Jefferson fathered slave's last child
Article Abstract:
The controversy over Thomas Jefferson's paternity of the children of his slave Sally Hemings, is long standing. Y-chromosomal DNA haplotypes from male descendants of Field Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson's paternal uncle, have been compared with those of male descendants of Sally Hemmings' first son Thomas Woodson and last son, Eston Hemings Jefferson. The findings do not support the belief that Thomas Jefferson was the father of Thomas Woodson, but do provide evidence that he was the father of Eston Hemings Jefferson.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1998
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