A recent estimate suggests that the Scottish wildcat may be critically endangered. Nevertheless, there is still no uncontroversial method for diagnosing the Scottish wildcat. We analysed morphological differences between wild-living cats in Scotland on the basis of 20pelage characters, scoring from 1 (domestic cat) to 3 (wildcat), in combination with 40skull parameters and intestinal length. A cluster analysis, based on Principal Components derived from the scores for pelage characters, showed that the wild-living cats fell into three main groups without any a priori classification. Each group corresponds well to the traditional characteristics of wildcats, hybrids and domestic cats, respectively, and the former two each show higher levels of morphological homogeneity compared with the third group. The three groups are most significantly differentiated by seven pelage characters: (1) extent of dorsal stripe, (2) shape of tail tip, (3) distinctness of tail bands, (4) presence/absence of broken stripes and (5) spots, on flanks and hindquarters, (6) shape and number of stripes on nape and (7) on the shoulders. Most Group-1 cats (75.6%, n=74), but none of the other two groups, score more than 2 for all seven characters. All Group-3 cats (n=35) and some Group-2 cats (19.2%, n=26), but no Group-1 cats, scored 1 for one or more of the seven characters. We propose that Group-1, which is the furthest from the domestic cat in all criteria, should be used to define the Scottish wildcat. However, in practice, if a wild-living cat does not score 1 for any of the seven characters it should be treated as a wildcat in the field. These definitions provide a simple way of diagnosing a Scottish wildcat scientifically, as well as practically, which will effectively facilitate conservation action and the enforcement of protective legislation.

The concept of ecological exchangeability, together with genetic exchangeability, is central to both the Cohesion Species Concept as well as to some definitions of Evolutionarily Significant Units. While there are well-established criteria for measuring genetic exchangeability, the concept of ecological exchangeability has generated considerable confusion. We describe a procedure that uses the complementary strengths, while recognising the limitations, of both molecular genetic data and ecological experiments to determine the ecological exchangeability of local populations within a species. This is the first synthesis of a combined approach (experiments and genetics) and the first explicit discussion of testing ecological exchangeability. Although it would be ideal to find functional genes that interact to influence quantitative traits resulting in ecological differences (e.g. growth, size, fecundity), we suggest that our current knowledge of functional markers is too limited for most species to use them to differentiate adaptively different local populations. Thus, we argue that ecological experiments using whole organisms combined with neutral markers that indicate evolutionary divergence, provide the strongest case for detecting adaptive differences among local populations. Both genetic divergence and ecological experiments provide the best information for infering ecological exchangeability. This procedure can be used to decide which local populations should be preserved to maintain intraspecific variation and to determine which populations would enhance captive-breeding programs, augment endangered local populations and could best be used to re-introduce native species into historically occupied areas.

Digital maps and a dated supertree of global carnivore species were used to assess the distribution of American carnivores' phylogenetic diversity (PD, measured in millions of years) both from a geopolitical perspective (‘evolutionary heritage’ or EH) and on the basis of species' range size and conservation status. A new measure, range-weighted EH, is introduced. This measure partitions the total PD of the tree between countries based on the proportion of species' ranges within each country. Sociopolitical correlates of these measures were explored. Only 3% of the total PD in the Americas is endemic to any one country. As expected, the measures of PD are positively correlated with each other and with species richness. The USA contains the most species, the most EH and the second most range-weighted EH after Brazil. Indeed, larger and richer countries, and those with the lowest state-corruption-rate hold most EH. No significant differences were observed in the amount of PD remaining if species are removed at random, or following more plausible sequences based on IUCN conservation status and range size. Eighty percent of the American carnivores' PD would remain safe if only the set of not threatened species were to remain. Roughly the same is true if only the 50% most widespread species were to persist. Samples of wide-ranging species represent more of the entire tree than do samples of narrow-ranging species, highlighting the importance of the former for conservation strategies. We suggest that similar approaches be applied to more groups across the globe to assess which countries and areas steward the most PD, as well as which species and taxa do, in order to plan conservation actions consequently.

Achieving maximum productivity in remnant populations of black rhinoceros is crucial to the persistence of this species. It was, therefore, investigated whether the black rhino population of Pilanesberg National Park had become regulated by resource limitation 22 years after introduction in 1979. Inter-calving intervals (which are not restricted to yearly time increments, due to asynchronous reproduction) decreased with an increase in rainfall, while the percentage of male calves born increased with increasing rainfall. The percentage of reproductive cows achieving maternal success increased with increasing density until 0.085 rhinos/km2, after which it decreased. This positive relationship at low densities is largely due to changes in the female age structure and the adult female/male ratio. The age at first calving tended to increase with increasing density, while mortality was not related to rainfall or density. It is concluded that the Pilanesberg black rhino population is showing the first signs of density dependence. It is proposed that black rhino conservators should monitor the percentage of cows achieving maternal success to detect early indications of density dependent resource limitation and use this as a criteria for decisions regarding metapopulation management.

The Bahamian Andros iguana (Cyclura cychlura cychlura) is an endangered lizard threatened by habitat loss, illegal hunting, impacts from historic large-scale logging practices and predation by feral animals (e.g. cats, dogs and hogs). There is interest by local and national conservation organisations to demarcate protected areas for the iguana in the southern portion of its range. However, no life history information is available for the lizard. In order to provide data that can be applied in a science-based management strategy for the Andros iguana, we investigated seasonal variation in home-range size and habitat selection of the iguana using radio telemetry. Home ranges were the largest reported to date for free-ranging Cyclura iguanas (Fixed 95% Kernel maximums: 30.58 ha for males, 5.63 ha for females). Habitat selection using the Euclidean Distance method revealed that open pine was the only habitat type out of four where iguanas occurred more than expected by chance. However, the pair-wise comparisons of habitat types reveal that iguanas were found significantly closer to open pine and shrubland than to closed pine. We failed to uncover selection of cumulative home-range placement throughout our multi-habitat study areas. Conservation implications of the dynamic seasonal home-range fluctuations and habitat usage are discussed and recommendations are offered for establishing protected areas.

The current study investigates whether a simple measure of taxonomic diversity (Taxonomic Distinctiveness (TD)) can be used as a proxy for different measures of phylogenetic diversity (Phylogenetic Distinctiveness (PD)) in determining species of regional conservation priority, and uses extant South African Chiroptera and Carnivora as a case study. Published phylogenies for the two mammalian Orders allowed the quantification of a node-based measure that was considered to represent phylogenetic diversity (PDNODE), as well as a branch length-based measure that was considered to represent the amount of evolutionary change over time (PDBRANCH). Both the PDNODE and PDBRANCH, together with TD were included in our regional conservation priority assessment. Although no statistically significant differences were detected between the PDNODE, PDBRANCH and the TD for both the Chiroptera and Carnivora, these measures were also shown to be correlated with each other. More importantly, inclusion of either the PDNODE, PDBRANCH, or TD in our analysis did not significantly alter the species that were identified as being of regional conservation priority. Both regional priority scores for the South African Chiroptera and Carnivora and their respective rankings were broadly consistent across the three potential indicators of conservation status utilised. These results suggest that the inclusion of either the PDNODE and/or PDBRANCH in conservation prioritisation exercises may not add value to that currently provided by the TD. Consequently, this implies that in the absence of relevant PD data, the utilisation of the TD in regional conservation priority settings may provide the appropriate information on evolutionary diversity.

Percentage canopy cover data derived from Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) sensor data, validated with field measurements, provide a useful tool for delineating Myanmar's Eld's deer (Cervus eldi) habitat. The current extent and condition of remaining Eld's deer habitat is unknown, but the species prefers dry dipterocarp forest. This habitat type has widely varying canopy cover and cannot be accurately delineated with traditional remote sensing techniques. New maps based on estimates of percentage canopy cover represent the variability of dry dipterocarp forests more accurately than maps of strict classes of habitat. Over 500 field measurements of canopy cover were used to train Landsat ETM+ data that were analysed with regression-tree analysis. The resulting satellite-based estimates of canopy cover were compared with an independent set of field validation points (r=0.539, P<0.001, n=114). The satellite-based estimates also showed potential for predicting the presence of Eld's deer (r=0.636, P<0.01, n=14). The results from the predictive maps are in accordance with previous field studies demonstrating the species' preference for dense, dry dipterocarp forest. Patterns of percentage tree-canopy cover across the study area were negatively correlated with human population density (r=-0.307, P<0.001, n=223), suggesting potential further threats to Eld's deer populations if the human population continues to grow.

The present study reports the first population genetic analysis of Arapaima gigas, an important but critically over-exploited fish species of the Amazon basin. We sequenced two discontinuous mitochondrial DNA regions of 1204 base-pairs (bp) (NADH1 segment) and 1143bp (ATPase segment) from 139 individuals of A. gigas representing eight localities spanning the Amazon basin from Iquitos, Peru to Macapá, Brazil. We discovered 34 haplotypes separated by 44 segregating sites. The two most common haplotypes are shared among all populations and isolation-by-distance appears to be the most important population dynamic, although there is no significant association between geographical distance and genetic differentiation. Observed patterns of differentiation appear to be attributable largely to anthropogenic factors associated with over-exploitation. Greatest haplotypic diversity exists upstream of Manaus and in areas away from large centres of population. The female variance and inbreeding effective population sizes are approximately 150000 individuals and localities in the Amazon basin are connected by gene flow. Naturally low levels of population differentiation and relatively high between-population connectivity is encouraging for the conservation and management of A. gigas. If strategically placed biological reserves were created throughout the Amazon basin to act as sources of emigrants within a source–sink metapopulation model, we believe locally depleted populations can be re-populated and maintained by individuals immigrating from these reserves.

The number and extent of human settlements around the world are increasing as the human population grows and people move from rural to urban areas. The decline and ultimately the local extinction of many indigenous species from a range of taxonomic groups within urbanised areas is a recurring theme from cities around the world. However, determining whether a species has become extinct can be difficult because sufficient survey effort may be too costly and expert opinion may involve considerable subjective bias. In this study, we compared the results of four quantitative assessments of the probability of persistence of indigenous mammals within Melbourne, Australia. Our comparisons were methodological, taxonomic and spatial. Less than half (26) of the original 54 species that occurred in Melbourne prior to European settlement have a greater than 95% probability of being extant at the end of 2000. Mammals occurring in local government areas (LGAs) within 10km of the central business district of Melbourne were less likely to be extant, with 29% of species having a greater than 95% probability of persisting, compared to 48% in the outer LGAs. The group of species most negatively affected by urbanisation were the small, ground-dwelling mammals, with just two out of 15 species having a greater than 10% probability of persisting. All four methods gave broadly similar results, with the Bayesian approach consistently suggesting higher probabilities of species persistence. The decline in the number of species is likely to continue with the ongoing expansion of Melbourne. The greatest opportunity to conserve the maximum number of species of mammal within Melbourne is in the outer LGAs where they remain extant. We recommend that state and local governments design and adopt a comprehensive strategy for managing habitat networks that cross jurisdictional boundaries and encompass the greater Melbourne area to enhance prospects for the survival of mammals.

For selected species, conservation breeding has become integrated into recovery plans, most often through the production of offspring for reintroduction into nature. As these programs increase in size and scope, it is imperative that conservation managers retain the biological integrity of the species. This study investigated the causes of morphological changes that are known to occur in black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) maintained ex situ. In a previous study, ferrets maintained in captivity were 5–10% smaller in body size than pre-captive, in situ animals. In the present study, the authors compared nine morphological characters among ex situ animals and their in situ descendants. Within the ex situ population, cage types were compared to determine whether housing influenced morphometry. Black-footed ferrets born to reintroduced individuals quickly returned to their pre-captive size suggesting that a diminutive morphology ex situ did not have a genetic basis. Furthermore, cage type affected overall body size and shape; ulnas and tibias were as much as 9% shorter for ex situ animals. The authors hypothesise that small cage size and environmental homogeneity inhibit the mechanical stimuli necessary for long bone development. These findings have ramifications for ex situ managers who need to create artificial captive settings that promote natural physical development. In the absence of such an environment, ‘unnatural’ morphologies can result that may contribute to poor fitness or perhaps even domestication.

The Preble's meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius preblei) is listed as a threatened subspecies under the United States Endangered Species Act (US-ESA). The quantitative description of this subspecies was based on cranial measurements of only three adult specimens. It is one of twelve subspecies of Z. hudsonius and is a peripheral population at the western edge of its range. We tested the uniqueness of Z. h. preblei relative to other nearby subspecies of Z. hudsonius using a hypothesis testing approach and analyses of cranial morphometric, mtDNA sequence and nuclear microsatellite data obtained from museum specimens and archived tissues. Morphometric analysis of variance did not support the original description of Z. h. preblei as a subspecies. Principal component analysis of these data showed Z. h. preblei within the range of variation found in Z. h. campestris and Z. h. intermedius. Discriminant analysis correctly classified only 42% of Z. h. preblei skulls at jackknifed posterior probabilities >0.95 relative to Z. h. campestris. All mtDNA haplotypes found in Z. h. preblei were also found in Z. h. campestris. Simulation based estimates of current and historical gene flow (MDIV) revealed low, but non-zero, mtDNA gene flow among Z. h. preblei and several nearby subspecies. Analyses of five nuclear microsatellite loci using population pairwise FST, BAPS and STRUCTURE were consistent with morphometric and mtDNA results. These revealed low levels of genetic structure and evidence of recent gene flow and bottlenecks in Z. h. preblei. Due to a lack of clearly recognisable genetic, morphological, or adaptive differences, we synonymise Z. h. preblei and Z. h. intermedius with Z. h. campestris. We suggest that candidates for listing under the US-ESA, or similar biodiversity laws, be evaluated for genetic and/or morphological uniqueness to prevent the misallocation of resources to non-distinct taxa like Z. h. preblei.