Continuous and intensive exploitation of wildlife resources by early agricultural societies had major ecological consequences in the ancient Near East. In particular, hunting strategies of post-Neolithic societies involving the mass killing of wild ungulates contributed to the eventual extirpation of a number of wild species. A remarkable deposit of bones of Persian gazelle (Gazella subgutarosa...

Horns of Saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) have always been an ingredient of "Lingyangjiao", a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Persistent hunting for Saiga antelope has already threatened the survival of critical endangered populations in wild. To control the growing pressure, CITES and Chinese government have legislated for monitoring the trade of Saiga horns. However, similar ungulate horns...

Digitonthophagus gazella (F.) has been widely introduced to the New World and both natural dispersal and intentional releases continue. In this study, we compare a population of D. gazella from South Africa and from the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis. Genetic diversity was found to be high in both South Africa (H = 0.3623) and Vieque...