Sexual dimorphism of craniological characters in the European badger, Meles meles, (Carnivora, Mustelidae) from the Western Carpathians

Bútora, Ľubomír; Lešo, Peter; Kociková, Katarína; Kropil, Rudolf; Pataky, Tibor; Svitok, Marek

doi:10.25225/fozo.v67.i3-4.a11.2018

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Male badgers had higher claw cortisol concentrations than did females in both analyses. Sex variation in cortisol has been reported in other mammals, but these are typically sexually dimorphic species with a polygynous mating system, whereas badgers exhibit little sexual size dimorphism ( Abramov and Puzachenko, 2005 ; Butora et al, 2018 ; Sugianto et al, 2019b ). In high-density populations, including Wytham Woods, badgers have a highly promiscuous and polygynandrous mating system ( Dugdale et al, 2007 ) with high rates of extra-group paternity ( Annavi et al, 2014a ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Assessing chronic stress in wild mammals using claw-derived cortisol: a validation using European badgers (Meles meles)

Fokidis

Brock

Newman

et al. 2023

Conservation Physiology

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Measuring stress experienced by wild mammals is increasingly important in the context of human-induced rapid environmental change and initiatives to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts. Glucocorticoids (GC), such as cortisol, mediate responses by promoting physiological adjustments during environmental perturbations. Measuring cortisol is a popular technique; however, this often reveals only recent short-term stress such as that incurred by restraining the animal to sample blood, corrupting the veracity of this approach. Here we present a protocol using claw cortisol, compared with hair cortisol, as a long-term stress bio-indicator, which circumvents this constraint, where claw tissue archives the individual’s GC concentration over preceding weeks. We then correlate our findings against detailed knowledge of European badger life history stressors. Based on a solid-phase extraction method, we assessed how claw cortisol concentrations related to season and badger sex, age and body-condition using a combination of generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) (n = 668 samples from 273 unique individuals) followed by finer scale mixed models for repeated measures (MMRM) (n = 152 re-captured individuals). Claw and hair cortisol assays achieved high accuracy, precision and repeatability, with similar sensitivity. The top GLMM model for claw cortisol included age, sex, season and the sex*season interaction. Overall, claw cortisol levels were significantly higher among males than females, but strongly influenced by season, where females had higher levels than males in autumn. The top fine scale MMRM model included sex, age and body condition, with claw cortisol significantly higher in males, older and thinner individuals. Hair cortisol was more variable than claw; nevertheless, there was a positive correlation after removing 34 outliers. We discuss strong support for these stress-related claw cortisol patterns from previous studies of badger biology. Given the potential of this technique, we conclude that it has broad application in conservation biology.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Assessing chronic stress in wild mammals using claw-derived cortisol: a validation using European badgers (Meles meles)

Fokidis

Brock

Newman

et al. 2023

Conservation Physiology

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“…The m1 from the badger mandible Q'18/QS4-1/P19/10 was compared to 79 m1 teeth from different species of extant and extinct Meles: current M. meles (n = 54), fossil M. meles (n = 10) M. meles atavus (n = 2), M. teihardi Qiu, Deng & Wang, 2004 (n = 1), M. chiai Teilhard de Chardin, 1940 (n = 1), M. leucurus (n = 7), M. magnus Jiangzou, Liu, Wagner & Chen, 2018 (n = 3), M. thorali (n = 1) (see Appendix 1). Even though the genus Meles has been described as highly dimorphic (Lüps and Roper 1988;Abramov & Puzachenko 2005;Bútora et al 2018), this aspect could not be analyzed in living specimens because of a lack of data. In addition, we included specimens from the genus Arctonyx F.G. Cuvier, 1825(A. albogularis (Blyth, 1853; n = 3) as an external morphological reference for comparisons.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

2D Geometric morphometrics of the first lower molar of the genus Meles Brisson, 1762 including new badger evidence from the Lower Pleistocene Quibas site (Murcia, Spain)

ROSAS¹,

Soler-Fajardo²,

GARCIA-TABERNERO³

et al. 2023

Comptes Rendus Palevol

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Badgers belong to the genus Meles Brisson, 1762, which comprise four extant species (M. anakuma Temminck, 1844, M. leucurus (Hodgson, 1847), M. canescens Blanford, 1875, and M. meles (Linnaeus, 1758)). The genus is included in the subfamily Melinae Bonaparte, 1838, a polyphyletic group of Eurasian mustelids whose evolutionary relationships need further clarification. The evolutive relationships of the genus are complex and far from being resolved. This work aims to describe a nearly 1 Ma unpublished badger mandible from the Sierra de Quibas (Murcia) and to help clarify the evolutionary patterns of Euroasiatic badgers. To this end, we used 2D geometric morphometric techniques to measure 57 landmarks and semilandmarks in 79 first lower molars (m1) of Meles, ranging from Pleistocene to extant species. Our results show evidence for differentiating between primitive badgers and living species of Meles. The new m1 of Meles from the Quibas site is more gracile (relatively narrower and longer) than the other Eurasian extinct species, and shows that this specimen can be placed in the subspecies M. meles meles (Linnaeus, 1758). Our results also show that the denomination of M. meles atavus Kormos, 1914 as a related subspecies with a primitive morphology is morphologically supported. Therefore, we conclude that the living subspecies of badger M. meles meles was already differentiated in the south of the Iberian Peninsula at around 1 Ma, but some primitive remnant populations persisted in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, for which we recognize the subspecies M. meles atavus.

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Sexual dimorphism of craniological characters in the European badger, Meles meles, (Carnivora, Mustelidae) from the Western Carpathians

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Cited by 2 publications

References 53 publications

Assessing chronic stress in wild mammals using claw-derived cortisol: a validation using European badgers (Meles meles)

Assessing chronic stress in wild mammals using claw-derived cortisol: a validation using European badgers (Meles meles)

2D Geometric morphometrics of the first lower molar of the genus Meles Brisson, 1762 including new badger evidence from the Lower Pleistocene Quibas site (Murcia, Spain)

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