An 871 bp long fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene was used for reconstructing the phylogeny of turtles of the genus Chinemys. C. nigricans is clearly differentiated from the other two species of that genus, separated by a sequence divergence of approximately 4.3 to 5.7 %. No differences were detected between two C. megalocephala and two C. reevesii. However, considerable sequence d...

More than 10,000 Caspian seals (Phoca caspica) were reported dead in the Caspian Sea during spring and summer 2000. We performed necropsies and extensive laboratory analyses on 18 seals, as well as examination of the pattern of strandings and variation in weather in recent years, to identify the cause of mortality and potential contributory factors. The monthly stranding rate in 2000 was up to ...

Phytochemical investigations of Gleditsia fruits have revealed the presence of triterpenoidal saponins. These saponins proved to possess anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic activities. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic activities of the saponin fraction derived from the methanolic extract of Gleditsia caspica fruits. The fraction at 31...

BACKGROUND Main objective of this study was to investigate the invasive activity of the liver fluke, Pseudamphistomom truncatum against the Caspian seal (Pusa caspica) and was exemplified at the gross, light microscopy (LM) and electron microscopy (EM) levels. METHODS The study was done on a freshly dead Caspian Seal in the southern coast of Caspian Sea. The checked Caspian seal probably bein...

Understanding historical roles of species in ecosystems can be crucial for assessing long term human impacts on environments, providing context for management or restoration objectives, and making conservation evaluations of species status. In most cases limited historical abundance data impedes quantitative investigations, but harvested species may have long-term data accessible from hunting r...