Oral Rabies Vaccination of Small Indian Mongooses (Urva auropunctata) with ONRAB via Ultralite Baits.

The Ontario Rabies Vaccine (ONRAB) is a human adenovirus rabies glycoprotein recombinant oral vaccine immunogenic for small Indian mongooses when delivered by direct instillation into the oral cavity. We offered Ultralite baits containing ~1.8 mL 109.5 TCID50 ONRAB oral rabies vaccine to 18 mongooses, while 6 mongooses were offered identical baits in placebo form. We collected sera from individual mongooses at days 0, 14 and 30 post vaccination (pv) and quantified rabies virus neutralizing antibodies (RVNA) using the rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test, with titers greater than or equal to 0.1 IU/mL considered positive. All study subjects were RVNA negative prior to bait offering. Bait consumption was variable: all 6 sham and 13 of 18 (72%) treatment animals consumed/punctured the baits offered. By day 30 pv, RVNA were detected among 11 of 13 (84.6%) of treatment mongooses that consumed/punctured baits, whereas sham-vaccinated mongooses remained RVNA negative throughout the study. We conclude ONRAB is immunogenic for mongooses by Ultralite bait delivery, although the bait design may need further optimization.

Rapid evolution of the primate larynx?

Tissue vibrations in the larynx produce most sounds that comprise vocal communication in mammals. Larynx morphology is thus predicted to be a key target for selection, particularly in species with highly developed vocal communication systems. Here, we present a novel database of digitally modeled scanned larynges from 55 different mammalian species, representing a wide range of body sizes in the primate and carnivoran orders. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, we demonstrate that the primate larynx has evolved more rapidly than the carnivoran larynx, resulting in a pattern of larger size and increased deviation from expected allometry with body size. These results imply fundamental differences between primates and carnivorans in the balance of selective forces that constrain larynx size and highlight an evolutionary flexibility in primates that may help explain why we have developed complex and diverse uses of the vocal organ for communication.

Species boundaries and possible hybridization between the black mongoose (Galerella nigrata) and the slender mongoose (Galerella sanguinea).

Major climatic oscillations since the mid-Miocene climatic optimum are known to have played a key role in promoting speciation events. In this study we use molecular data to elucidate the evolutionary history of Galerella nigrata and link its divergence to known major climatic events. A total of 51 samples from G. nigrata and 17 from Galerella sanguinea were used to provide the first molecular evidence that G. nigrata may be a species in its own right. Both mitochondrial cytochrome b and the nuclear ß-fibrinogen intron seven sequences of G. nigrata form distinct monophyletic clades, separate from its sister species G. sanguinea. We estimate the divergence of these two species to have occurred 3.85-4.27 million years ago, coinciding with a period of the Plio-Pleistocene that was characterised by cooling global temperatures and strong aridity in southern Africa. However, evidence for potential hybridization between the two species was documented for ten individuals using phenotypic (pelage colouration) and/or molecular (nuclear and mtDNA sequences and microsatellite loci) data. There appeared to be a bias towards unidirectional hybridization with all potential hybrids showing mtDNA haplotypes from G. nigrata. We suggest that as the desert expanded across Namibia, G. sanguinea likely retreated with the savanna, leaving some mongooses stranded on the granite inselbergs of north-western Namibia. Subsequent adaptation of these mongooses to local conditions on granite inselbergs could have led to ecological speciation. Secondary contact zones would have been re-established with subsequent global warming events. It appears that the two species have not yet undergone complete reproductive isolation.

DNA barcoding of an invasive mammal species, the small Indian mongoose (Herpestes javanicus; E. Geoffroy Saint-Hillaire 1818) in the Caribbean and Hawaiian Islands.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The use of DNA barcodes has been proposed as a promising tool for identifying species. The efficacy of this tool for invasive species requires further exploration. The species status of the small Indian mongoose, an exotic invasive in several parts of the world, has been contentious due to morphological similarity with its congeners in its natural habitat. Although the small Indian mongoose is recognized as Herpestes javanicus, this nomenclature has been used interchangeably with Herpestes auropunctatus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Here, we demonstrate the utility of using DNA barcoding approaches with mtDNA cytochrome b to discriminate between the two species and other sympatric members of the genus Herpestes (Herpestes naso, Herpestes urva, and Herpestes edwardsii). Using the diagnostic DNA positions we obtain, we can identity specimens of nonnative populations of the small Indian mongoose from the Caribbean and Hawaiian Islands to their species of origin. RESULTS: A singe diagnostic site accomplishes the identification of H. javanicus versus H. auropunctatus. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the nonnative mongoose populations from the Caribbean and Hawaiian Islands are H. auropunctatus, and not H. javanicus.

Topography of the chorda tympani nerve and the tensor tympani muscle in carnivores provides a new synapomorphy for Herpestidae (Carnivora, Mammalia).

The topographical relationship of the chorda tympani nerve (chorda tympani) to the tensor tympani muscle in the middle ear of carnivores provides new phylogenetic information. The examination of histological serial sections of 16 carnivore species representing most families revealed two distinct character states concerning the course of the chorda tympani: a hypotensoric state with the nerve running below the insertion tendon of the tensor tympani muscle, and an epitensoric state with the nerve running above the tendon. The shift from the plesiomorphic hypotensoric chorda tympani to the apomorphic epitensoric condition occurred once in carnivore phylogeny: Only in the herpestid species under study does the chorda tympani cross above the tensor tympani muscle. Therefore, we introduce the epitensoric pattern as a new synapomorphy for herpestids. Within the herpestids we find the following structural distinctions: Herpestes javanicus and Galerella sanguinea have a chorda tympani running in a sulcus directly above the insertion of the tensor tympani muscle, whereas in the eusocial herpestid species Suricata suricatta and Mungos mungo the chorda tympani lies far above the insertion of the muscle.

Molecular phylogeny of the Herpestidae (Mammalia, Carnivora) with a special emphasis on the Asian Herpestes.

Until now, phylogenetic studies of the mongooses (Carnivora, Herpestidae) have not included an exhaustive sampling of the Asian members of this family. In this study, we used mitochondrial (Cytochrome b and ND2), nuclear (beta-fibrinogen intron 7 and Transthyretin intron 1) sequences from almost all of the recognized mongoose species to produce a well-resolved phylogeny of the Herpestidae. We also performed molecular dating analyses to infer divergence dates of the different lineages within the Herpestidae. Our results confirmed the paraphyly of the Herpestes genus and other phylogenetic relationships, which previously had only been moderately supported. The Asian herpestid species were found to form a monophyletic group within the Herpestidae. Within the Asian species, a cyto-nuclear conflict was discovered between the small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus), the Indian gray mongoose (Herpestes edwardsii) and the Javan mongoose (Herpestes javanicus), which may have occurred through interspecific hybridization. This study inferred an Early Miocene origin for the Herpestidae and a Middle Miocene origin for the Asian mongooses.

The earliest modern mongoose (Carnivora, Herpestidae) from Africa (late Miocene of Chad).

We report on the earliest modern mongooses of Africa, from the late Miocene (ca. 7 Ma) of the hominid locality TM 266, Toros-Menalla, Chad. The material is based on fragmentary dentitions of three individuals. The main diagnostic feature of the Chadian species is the great development of the shear in the carnassials, which distinguishes the Chadian specimens from all extant herpestids except Herpestes and Galerella. In comparison with most extinct and extant Herpestes, the species from Toros-Menalla differs by a markedly smaller size and, depending on the species, relatively more elongated carnassials, more transversely elongated M1 and more reduced p4. On the basis of a great morphological similarity and the absence of significant differences, we assign our material to Galerella sanguinea; the Chadian finding therefore represents the earliest appearance of an extant species of Herpestidae. This record ties the first appearance of the genus to a minimum age of ca. 7 Ma, which is consistent with the estimated divergence date of 11.4 Ma known from the literature for the species of Galerella.

A systematic and population genetic approach to the rabies problem in the yellow mongoose (Cynictis penicillata).

This paper reviews recent studies on the biology, systematics and population genetics of yellow mongoose populations in terms of possible implications for the epidemiology of rabies. Based on parallel studies, the existence of three distinct subspecies of yellow mongoose may have a direct bearing on rabies epidemiology; at least subspecific affiliation should be considered as a factor to be controlled for in rabies studies of the species. A direct correlation was found to exist between population genetics, social structure (and vagility) and aspects of the epidemiology of rabies in the yellow mongoose. The high frequency of enzyme polymorphisms restricted to single populations can be understood in terms of the well developed social structure and low vagility of yellow mongooses, which in turn explains the phenomenon of rabies outbreaks being restricted to highly localized foci which may flare up over a period of several years. Further research is required to establish whether predictable population genetic differences exist between high and low rabies-prone populations.