There is increasing evidence that pathogens can play a significant role in species decline. This study of a complete free-living species reveals a cost of blood parasitism to an endangered host, the Pink Pigeon Columba mayeri, endemic to Mauritius. We investigated the prevalence and effect of infection of the blood parasite, Leucocytozoon marchouxi, in the free-living Pink Pigeon population. Ov...

The mountain peacock pheasant (Polyplectron inopinatum), the Malayan peacock pheasant (Polyplectron malacense), and the Congo peafowl (Afropavo congensis) are all listed as vulnerable to extinction under the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. Here the authors report fatal infection with a novel herpesvirus in all 3 species of birds. DNA...

Small populations of endangered species can be impacted by genetic processes such as drift and inbreeding that reduce population viability. As such, conservation genetic analyses that assess population levels of genetic variation and levels of gene flow can provide important information for managing threatened species. The São Paulo Marsh Antwren (Formicivora paludicola) is a recently-described...

Plasma diamine oxidase levels were assayed in 66 patients who presented with pregnancy complicated by threatened abortion. Levels within the normal range were associated with continuing pregnancies, whereas levels below the normal range were associated with subsequent abortion. Among those patients in whom gestation was greater than eight weeks, 66.6% of diamine oxidase levels correctly predict...

Having had a rather large experience in the treatment of these cases, and feeling that the profession, as a rule, have not very definite ideas on the subject, I am induced to place before my readers, in a very brief and practical manner, a line of treatment which has proved of service in my own practice. In the first place, I shall assume that the question of the patient being pregnant is set a...

There are eight species in the genus Gyps : Gyps africanus , G. coprotheres, and G. rueppellii in Africa; G. bengalensis , G. indicus , G. tenuirostris , G. himalayensis in Asia; G. fulvus in Europe, Africa, and Asia. The ranges of many of these species overlap, and wintering G. fulvus overlap with several resident species in Asia and Africa (Fig. 1). Gyps species share a similar feeding ecolog...

Habitat destruction and predation by invasive alien species has led to the disappearance of several island populations of Darwin's finches but to date none of the 13 recognized species have gone extinct. However, driven by rapid economic growth in the Galápagos, the effects of introduced species have accelerated and severely threatened these iconic birds. The critically endangered mangrove finc...

A new study that has identified the remaining habitat of threatened species finds nearly three times as many are on the brink of extinction than have died out in the past 500 years. The new global analysis of the most threatened habitats was carried out by an international alliance of conservation scientists who spent three years locating the last remaining sites where species labelled endanger...

Woody encroachment threatens prairie ecosystems globally, and thus understanding the mechanisms that facilitate woody encroachment is of critical importance. Coastal tallgrass prairies along the Gulf Coast of the US are currently threatened by the spread of several species of woody plants. We studied a coastal tallgrass prairie in Texas, USA, to determine if existing woody structure increased t...

Exotic species that invade remote islands, usually following human settlement, have had catastrophic effects on native biota. However, on islands it is increasingly feasible to eradicate key exotic species allowing extant native species to recover in situ or to return naturally. The practice of marooning threatened species on islands where the threat is absent, irrespective of whether the threa...