The Aleutian Archipelago coastal ecosystem has undergone a dramatic change in community composition during the past two decades. Following the removal of ∼99% of the sea otters, Enhydra lutris, from the ecosystem, changes to the benthic communities resulted in widespread losses to most of the region's kelp beds and corresponding increases in the prevalence of urchin barrens. Within the urchin b...

The paper highlights some of the most important Ayurvedic medicinal plants of North Eastern India having anticancer potential. A brief review of distribution and pharmacological study (both in vivo and in vitro) of ten Ayurvedic medicinal plants of the region published by various researchers is illustrated in this paper. The medicinal plants discussed here are Enhydra Fluctuans Lour (Sanskrit: ...

The goal of this study was to characterize the beta-hemolytic streptococci cultured from southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) stranded off the coast of California (USA) and to verify identifications made using the Lancefield system. Lancefield serotyping and biochemical analysis alone was inadequate for isolate characterization. Final identification was based on sequence analysis of a po...

Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) populations experienced widespread reduction and extirpation due to the fur trade of the 18th and 19th centuries. We examined genetic variation within four microsatellite markers and the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) d-loop in one prefur trade population and compared it to five modern populations to determine potential losses in genetic variation. While mtDNA sequence var...

This study provides the first in depth assessment of Sea Otter haul-out patterns in Elkhorn Slough, California and their relationship to environmental variables. Seasonal and daily water and air temperature fluctuations are a good predictor of Sea Otter haul-out patterns but are affected by the availability of haul-out sites at different tide levels. The cost effectiveness of this choice may be...

Reliable information on historical and current population dynamics is central to understanding patterns of growth and decline in animal populations. We developed a maximum likelihood-based analysis to estimate spatial and temporal trends in age/sex-specific survival rates for the threatened southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis), using annual population censuses and the age structure of sal...

Differences in diet composition among conspecifics (dietary specialization) have been documented across a broad range of taxonomic groups and habitats, and such variation at the individual level is increasingly recognized as an important component of diversity in trophic interactions. Accurate identification of individual dietary specialization, however, requires longitudinal dietary records th...

Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) have the highest mass-specific metabolic rate of any marine mammal, which is superimposed on the inherently high costs of reproduction and lactation in adult females. These combined energetic demands have been implicated in the poor body condition and increased mortality of female sea otters nearing the end of lactation along the central California coast. However, th...

The antioxidant potential of crude methanol extract (CE) as well as chloroform (CF), ethyl acetate (EF) and n-butanol (NF) soluble fractions of Enhydra fluctuans Lour, which is widely used in indigenous system of medicine for different purposes, were studied. The antioxidant potential of extract/different fractions were evaluated using different in vitro antioxidant models. In addition, total a...