Studying the evolutionary dynamics of an alien species surviving and continuing to expand after several generations can provide fundamental information on the relevant features of clearly successful invasions. Here, we tackle this task by investigating the dynamics of the genetic diversity in invasive crested porcupine (Hystrix cristata) populations, introduced to Italy about 1500 years ago, wh...

Sets of unit vectors in N-dimensional Eucl idean vectorspace whose constituent vectors are separated one from another by atleast a fixed distance d, prescr ibed once for all and independent of N,are of interest in theory and practice; they have fondly been called“porcupine codes.” Although an elegant constructive proof of Gilbertshows that the number of vectors in a porcupin...

The high economic costs of human–wildlife conflicts (HWC) hinder long-term conservation successes, especially in developing countries. We investigated HWC by interviewing 498 respondents from 42 villages Nowshera district, Pakistan. According to respondents, six species—the common leopard (Panthera pardus), grey wolf (Canis lupus), golden jackal aureus), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), Indian porcupin...

Abstract Wildlife abundance estimation is one of the key components in conservation biology. Bayesian frameworks are widely used to adjust potential biases derived by data collected field, as they can increase precision model parameter a consequence combination previous pieces knowledge (priors) combined with field produce an a-posteriori distribution. Capture-recapture most common techniques a...

Current ecological surveys for great crested newts are time-consuming and expensive and can only be carried out within a short survey window. Additional survey methods which would facilitate the detection of rare or protected species such as the great crested newt (Triturus cristatus) would be extremely advantageous. Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis has been utilized for the detection of great...

circular- crested weirs are employed for flow measurement among their other wide applications in hydraulic engineering. they can also be used to control water level in farm ponds and reservoirs. advantages of the circular crested weirs as compared to other weirs include the stable overflow pattern, the simplicity of design and their associated lower costs. in this study, the curvilinear flow pa...

We report an unusual intoxication by tetrodotoxin (TTX). A curator of an aquarium sustained minor punctures in his finger from the spines of a porcupine fish during an autopsy of a dead porcupine fish. He developed paresthesias, numbness, paresis, dizziness and headache. The death of the fish might have caused some autolysis, leading to increased availability of TTX. In combination with direct ...

Measurement of discharge in open channels is one of the main concerns in hydraulic engineering. The structures used for this aim should be accurate, economical and easy to use. Weirs are among the oldest and most convenient hydraulic structures that have been used in both laboratory and field for flow measurement in open channels. Due to limitations of simple sharp crested weirs, recently compo...