Southward encroachment of the derived savanna zone with its attendant denudation of the rainforest in Nigeria adversely affects the diversity and distribution of mammals, particularly murid rodents. This study was carried out to establish the identities of murid rodent populations and to compare their diversity between forest and derived savanna sites within south western Nigeria. Identification of captured specimens was carried out by multivariate statistics of body and skull measurements, and also by analysis of certain discrete characters. Six species were identified: Praomys tullbergi, Hylomyscus stella, Mastomys natalensis, Arvicanthis rufinus, Lemniscomys striatus and Lophuromys sikapusi. Forest sites possessed a higher Shannon's diversity index (1.685) than the derived savanna sites (0.978), containing a higher number of taxa and larger abundance of murid rodents. This underscores the negative impact that encroachment of the derived savanna has upon diversity of animals in areas that were once forest.
This study examined the differences in cranial and external morphology of male and female tree squirrel species (Funisciurus leucogenys) from three different locations in Savannah vegetation zone of Nigeria. The tree squirrels were collected from contracted local hunters which identify the tree squirrel. After collection and identification to the generic level, they were transferred to the laboratory in absolute ethanol. About 183 skulls were prepared (58 male and 125 female), the skull and other body parameters were measured using digital venire calliper. The results showed that the body parameters (HBL, TL, TBL, EL, HFL, and BW) of the female specimen measured were different from male and the body parameters of the specimen from one location were slightly different from another. Also, the cranial measure showed some similarities and slight differences between male and female specimen among the locations (Asejire, Ilorin, and Ogbomosho). In conclusion, the cranial and body morphology parameters of male and female tree squirrels from the three locations (Asejire, Ilorin, and Ogbomosho) showed that despite that the tree squirrels were from different locations, they were of the same genus (F. leucogeny), which indicated that locations might not have an effect on the specimen.
During the dry season (January to March) in Calabar, strongyloid eggs in cattle faeces hatched within 24 h and developed to infective larvae within 7 days on pasture. The larvae survived 6 weeks in January, 4 weeks in February, 8 weeks in March and 10 weeks in April. Rainfall rather than temperature played the major role in the development and survival of the larvae on pasture during this period. There results show that the hatching of the eggs and the development of the larvae can take place at any time of the year in Calabar.
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