To test whether free-living desert ungulates employ heterothermy to reduce water loss, we measured core body temperature (T(b)) of six free-living Arabian sand gazelles (Gazella subgutturosa marica), a small desert antelope (12-20 kg) that lives in the deserts of Saudi Arabia, where air temperature (T(a)) often exceeds 40 degrees C. We found that the mean daily T(b) varied by 2.6+/-0.8 degrees ...

Abstract Free-ranging domestic dogs Canis familiaris threaten wildlife species through predation, hybridization, competition for resources, and by contributing to the transmission of pathogens. The impacts predation may be problematic, but in many regions interactions free-ranging are poorly studied. To determine extent attacks on Iranian mammals, we reviewed nearly 2 decades social traditional...

Bovids represent a convenient group for studying the acoustical variation, functions and evolution of vocal communication. Among bovids, a wide spectrum of vocal adaptations and examples of parallel evolution with cervids and humans can be found (Fitch & Reby 2001; McElligott et al. 2006; Frey et al. 2007, 2008a,b). For instance, in the goitred gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa), a strong sexual di...

The distribution of Gazella bennetti in Iran is reviewed. The species is commonly said to be confined to the southeastern part of the country, but is actually widespread over suitable areas, east of the Zagros Range and south of the Alborz. In the north and west of this range, there is a hitherto undescribed subspecies, which is named and diagnosed for the first time in this paper; its similari...

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are natural phytotoxins found in thousands of plant species around the world. They are probably the most common poisonous plants affecting livestock, wildlife and humans. The disease occurs almost entirely as a consequence of chronic poisoning and in general ends fatally. In the present study, PAs poisoning was investigated in a gazelle with hepatic encephalopathy ...