Skull shape convergence is pervasive among vertebrates. Although this is frequently inferred to indicate similar functional underpinnings, neither the specific structure-function linkages nor the selective environments in which the supposed functional adaptations arose are commonly identified and tested. We demonstrate that nonfeeding factors relating to sexual maturity and precipitation-relate...

HOX genes play a central role in the development and regulation of limb patterns. For mammals order Carnivora, limbs have evolved different forms, there are interesting cases phenotypic convergence, such as pseudothumb giant red pandas, flippers or specialized pinnipeds sea otter. However, molecular bases remain largely unclear. Here, we studied evolution HOX9 ~ 13 14 representative species Car...

BACKGROUND Canine distemper virus (CDV) is the etiological agent of one of the most infectious diseases of domestic dogs, also known as a highly prevalent viral infectious disease of carnivores and posing a conservation threat to endangered species around the world. To get a better panorama of CDV infection in different Orders, a retrospective and documental systematic review of the role of CDV...

Motivation Population trend information is an ‘essential biodiversity variable’ for monitoring change in over time. Here, we present a database of 1,122 population trends from around the world, describing changes abundance time large mammal species (n = 50) four families order Carnivora. For this subset taxa, provide approximately 21 times more than BioTIME and three Living Planet database. Mai...

Electronic supplementary material is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.0375 or via http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org. & 2016 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. Unique pattern of...