ABSTRACT
Due to the urbanization and human invasion of the natural environments, great changes have been occurred on the food composition and feeding ecology of several animals especially those are sharing human his habitat in fields, wadis and gardens. The desert hedgehogs Paraechinus aethiopicus populations inhabiting different localities in Saudi Arabia were studied by using stomach contents analysis between February 2015 and October 2019. Precise analysis of stomach contents of 55 hedgehogs showed that the food of P. aethiopicus is highly diverse and highly influenced with effect of human on the environment including cooked rice, insects, plant materials, eggshells, worms, garbage and remnants of mammals and birds. Diet composition showed seasonal variations that are apparently associated with changes in the availability of different food items. The present results clearly showed that P. aethiopicus is an omnivorous mammal, capable of adapting to a great variety of dietary compositions in the study sites.
Devido à urbanização e invasão humana dos ambientes naturais, grandes mudanças têm ocorrido na composição alimentar e ecologia alimentar de vários animais, especialmente aqueles que estão compartilhando seu hábitat humano em campos, wadis e jardins. As populações de ouriços-do-deserto Paraechinus aethiopicus que habitam diferentes localidades na Arábia Saudita foram estudadas usando análise de conteúdo estomacal entre fevereiro de 2015 e outubro de 2019. A análise precisa do conteúdo estomacal de 55 ouriços mostrou que a alimentação de P. aethiopicus é altamente diversa e altamente influenciada com efeito de humanos no meio ambiente, incluindo arroz cozido, insetos, materiais vegetais, cascas de ovo, vermes, lixo e restos de mamíferos e pássaros. A composição da dieta apresentou variações sazonais que aparentemente estão associadas a mudanças na disponibilidade de diferentes itens alimentares. Os presentes resultados mostraram claramente que P. aethiopicus é um mamífero onívoro, capaz de se adaptar a uma grande variedade de composições dietéticas nos locais de estudo.
Subject(s)
Animals , Ecosystem , Hedgehogs , Saudi Arabia , Ecology , Feeding BehaviorABSTRACT
Due to the urbanization and human invasion of the natural environments, great changes have been occurred on the food composition and feeding ecology of several animals especially those are sharing human his habitat in fields, wadis and gardens. The desert hedgehogs Paraechinus aethiopicus populations inhabiting different localities in Saudi Arabia were studied by using stomach contents analysis between February 2015 and October 2019. Precise analysis of stomach contents of 55 hedgehogs showed that the food of P. aethiopicus is highly diverse and highly influenced with effect of human on the environment including cooked rice, insects, plant materials, eggshells, worms, garbage and remnants of mammals and birds. Diet composition showed seasonal variations that are apparently associated with changes in the availability of different food items. The present results clearly showed that P. aethiopicus is an omnivorous mammal, capable of adapting to a great variety of dietary compositions in the study sites.
Devido à urbanização e invasão humana dos ambientes naturais, grandes mudanças têm ocorrido na composição alimentar e ecologia alimentar de vários animais, especialmente aqueles que estão compartilhando seu hábitat humano em campos, wadis e jardins. As populações de ouriços-do-deserto Paraechinus aethiopicus que habitam diferentes localidades na Arábia Saudita foram estudadas usando análise de conteúdo estomacal entre fevereiro de 2015 e outubro de 2019. A análise precisa do conteúdo estomacal de 55 ouriços mostrou que a alimentação de P. aethiopicus é altamente diversa e altamente influenciada com efeito de humanos no meio ambiente, incluindo arroz cozido, insetos, materiais vegetais, cascas de ovo, vermes, lixo e restos de mamíferos e pássaros. A composição da dieta apresentou variações sazonais que aparentemente estão associadas a mudanças na disponibilidade de diferentes itens alimentares. Os presentes resultados mostraram claramente que P. aethiopicus é um mamífero onívoro, capaz de se adaptar a uma grande variedade de composições dietéticas nos locais de estudo.
Subject(s)
Animals , Feeding Behavior , Diet/veterinary , PorcupinesABSTRACT
Abstract Due to the urbanization and human invasion of the natural environments, great changes have been occurred on the food composition and feeding ecology of several animals especially those are sharing human his habitat in fields, wadis and gardens. The desert hedgehogs Paraechinus aethiopicus populations inhabiting different localities in Saudi Arabia were studied by using stomach contents analysis between February 2015 and October 2019. Precise analysis of stomach contents of 55 hedgehogs showed that the food of P. aethiopicus is highly diverse and highly influenced with effect of human on the environment including cooked rice, insects, plant materials, eggshells, worms, garbage and remnants of mammals and birds. Diet composition showed seasonal variations that are apparently associated with changes in the availability of different food items. The present results clearly showed that P. aethiopicus is an omnivorous mammal, capable of adapting to a great variety of dietary compositions in the study sites.
Resumo Devido à urbanização e invasão humana dos ambientes naturais, grandes mudanças têm ocorrido na composição alimentar e ecologia alimentar de vários animais, especialmente aqueles que estão compartilhando seu hábitat humano em campos, wadis e jardins. As populações de ouriços-do-deserto Paraechinus aethiopicus que habitam diferentes localidades na Arábia Saudita foram estudadas usando análise de conteúdo estomacal entre fevereiro de 2015 e outubro de 2019. A análise precisa do conteúdo estomacal de 55 ouriços mostrou que a alimentação de P. aethiopicus é altamente diversa e altamente influenciada com efeito de humanos no meio ambiente, incluindo arroz cozido, insetos, materiais vegetais, cascas de ovo, vermes, lixo e restos de mamíferos e pássaros. A composição da dieta apresentou variações sazonais que aparentemente estão associadas a mudanças na disponibilidade de diferentes itens alimentares. Os presentes resultados mostraram claramente que P. aethiopicus é um mamífero onívoro, capaz de se adaptar a uma grande variedade de composições dietéticas nos locais de estudo.
ABSTRACT
In this study, we conducted molecular detection and characterization of piroplasms that infect the Ethiopian or desert hedgehogs (Paraechinus aethiopicus) in Saudi Arabia. Blood samples from 112 (68 males and 44 females) desert hedgehogs from Unaizah, Central Saudi Arabia were screened for Theileria/Babesia DNA using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) employing specific primers amplifying the partial 18S small subunit rRNA gene. Theileria DNA was detected in 51 samples (45·5%), giving a prevalence of 45·5%. Theileria DNA was found in 33 (48·5%) males and 18 (40·9%) females, and there was no significant difference (P > 0·05) in the prevalence between males and females. Similarly, there was no significant difference (P > 0·05) in the prevalence between juveniles (40%) and adults (46·7%). There was a significant difference in the prevalence of Theileria in hedgehogs collected from May to September and the period from October to April (P = 0·003). Four haplotypes of Theileria sp. in hedgehogs were detected and designated as H1-H4. H1 was the predominant haplotype and found in 80·8% of the positive individuals. Partial sequences of the 18S rRNA of Theileria sp. from hedgehogs grouped with Theileria spp. that are benign. This study is the first report of the occurrence of Theileria spp. in Saudi Arabian desert hedgehogs.
Subject(s)
Babesia/classification , Babesia/genetics , Hedgehogs/parasitology , Theileria/classification , Theileria/genetics , Animals , Babesia/isolation & purification , Female , Male , Phylogeny , Polymerase Chain Reaction , RNA, Ribosomal, 18S/genetics , Saudi Arabia , Seasons , Theileria/isolation & purificationABSTRACT
Rodents and dogs are the confirmed leishmaniases reservoir hosts in Tunisia. Recently, we described hedgehog Leishmania (L.) major and L. infantum infection in an L. infantum endemic area in the North-West. In order to assess if the observation could extend to other endemic areas and to highlight the potential role of hedgehogs as reservoir host, we aimed here at investigating their Leishmania infection in different foci in Tunisia located along a North-South transect, during and outside different transmission seasons. Based on morphological criteria, 2 hedgehogs' species, Atelerix algirus and Paraechinus aethiopicus were identified. Cytologic analysis showed presence of amastigotes in 9/22 samples corresponding to 4 Atelerix algirus specimens. Also, by combining 3 PCR tests targeting repeated DNA fragments using 13A/13B, Lei70R/Lei70L and nested T2/B4-L1/L4 specific primers, all hedgehogs (Nâ¯=â¯12) showed a Leishmania infection. The infection rates were very high on spleen (91.66%), kidney (91.66%), blood (90.90%), liver (83.33%) and eye swabs (100%). Parasites were also detected in peritoneum. Three hedgehogs were found infected with L. infantum and the only Paraechinus aethiopicus specimen with L. major. A mixed L. major and L. infantum infection was identified in 8 animals, while the last one also had an L. tropica infection. Interestingly, 2 animals had skin lesions infected with L. major while all others appeared asymptomatic. There was a correlation between infected status and epidemiological profiles of the localities. Sequences and phylogeny indicated micro-heterogeneity and lack of correlation with sampling, season, or localities. We confirmed natural infection of Atelerix algirus and originally of Paraechinus aethiopicus in Tunisia. High rate of asymptomatic infection, parasitemia, proximity to transmission cycles, epidemiological patterns of infection together with hedgehogs' abundance, lifespan and lifestyle corroborate the hypothesis they constitute reservoir hosts.
Subject(s)
Endemic Diseases/veterinary , Hedgehogs/parasitology , Leishmania infantum/genetics , Leishmania major/genetics , Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous/veterinary , Leishmaniasis, Visceral/veterinary , Animals , Coinfection , DNA, Protozoan/genetics , Disease Reservoirs/parasitology , Eye/parasitology , Heart/parasitology , Kidney/parasitology , Leishmania infantum/classification , Leishmania infantum/isolation & purification , Leishmania major/classification , Leishmania major/isolation & purification , Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous/epidemiology , Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous/parasitology , Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous/transmission , Leishmaniasis, Visceral/epidemiology , Leishmaniasis, Visceral/parasitology , Leishmaniasis, Visceral/transmission , Liver/parasitology , Phylogeny , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length , Spleen/parasitology , Tunisia/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Traditional subspecies call attention to differences between geographic populations with research potential, but their value is often in need of revision. Genetic data can be useful for evaluating the taxonomic validity of historical species and subspecies designations or for identifying morphologically cryptic divergent lineages worthy of further in-depth taxonomic study. The desert hedgehog (Paraechinus aethiopicus) has a wide but fragmented distribution in arid and semi-arid habitats from the northwest to the northeast of Africa and southwestern Asia, and its taxonomy is still unclear. We used mitochondrial (cytochrome b, Cyt b, and 12S ribosomal RNA, 12S) and nuclear (breast cancer type 1 susceptibility protein, BRCA1, and apolipoprotein B, Apob) DNA sequence data to assess the degree of genetic divergence between two of its three major proposed subspecies: Arabian (P. a. dorsalis) and Northwest African (P. a. deserti); this is the first molecular evaluation of the taxonomy of P. aethiopicus. Phylogenetic analyses, comparison of interspecific and intraspecific genetic distances observed across hedgehog species, and molecular species delimitation methods (distance-based clustering and tree-based), all indicate a level of genetic differentiation between dorsalis and deserti that is compatible with their taxonomic separation. Their divergence in the studied genes were consistently comparable to, or greater than, several intrageneric and a few intergeneric distances in hedgehogs. The Cyt b net Kimura 2-parameter distance between dorsalis and deserti was 10.8±1.3%, which is about the mean between congeneric species in reviews of Cyt b distances for mammals. This study, as a test of the genetic distinctiveness of dorsalis and deserti, suggests that they represent evolutionarily significant units and flags them for future phylogeographic and taxonomic investigations.
Subject(s)
Genetic Speciation , Hedgehogs/genetics , Africa , Animals , Apolipoproteins B/genetics , BRCA1 Protein/genetics , Cytochromes b/genetics , Evolution, Molecular , Hedgehogs/classification , Phylogeny , RNA, Ribosomal/geneticsABSTRACT
Jaculus jaculus (Lesser Egyptian jerboa) and Paraechinus aethiopicus (Desert hedgehog) are small mammals which thrive in desert conditions and are found, among others, in the Arabian Peninsula. Jaculus jaculus is omnivorous while P. aethiopicus is described as being insectivorous. The study aims to describe the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) morphology of these animals which differ in diet and phylogeny. The GITs of J. jaculus (n = 8) and P. aethiopicus (n = 7) were weighed, photographed, and the length, basal surface areas, and luminal surface areas of each of the anatomically distinct gastrointestinal segments were determined. The internal aspects of each area were examined and photographed while representative histological sections of each area were processed to wax and stained using haematoxylin and eosin. Both species had a simple unilocular stomach which was confirmed as wholly glandular on histology sections. Paraechinus aethiopicus had a relatively simple GIT which lacked a caecum. The caecum of J. jaculus was elongated, terminating in a narrow cecal appendix which contained lymphoid tissue on histological examination. The internal aspect of the proximal colon of J. jaculus revealed distinct V-shaped folds. Stomach content analysis of J. jaculus revealed mostly plant and seed material and some insects, whereas P. aethiopicus samples showed plant material in addition to insects, indicating omnivorous feeding tendencies in areas where insects may be scarce.
