On the whole, the echidna’s sprawling type is more upright than in urodelans and lizards

and is closer to the parasagittal type of therians. Like therians, echidnas already employ dynamic equilibration instead of the static one. The question is posed of whether mammalian ancestors have ever walked in the manner of urodelans and lizards. “
“In the wild, European badgers, Meles meles, naturally display marked individual selleck and seasonal variation in body condition. To establish whether body condition affects their ability to produce an antioxidant defence when exposed to immunological stress, we tested the plasma antioxidant capacity of eighty-eight wild badgers using analysis of emitted light antioxidant kits, with values expressed as vitamin E analogue (VEA) equivalents. The body condition of subject animals was a key explanatory BMS907351 variable in the extent of the antioxidant responses observed. Naturally emaciated animals in the poorest body condition mounted a significantly lower antioxidant

response than that recorded for animals with more body fat. Related to natural cycles in body fat (reflecting feeding success), a significant seasonal effect was also observed, VEA equivalent values being significantly higher in autumn than in summer. In addition, animals were also assigned to one of two experimental regimes: MCE non-transported (n=18), that is, sampling at the site of capture, or sampling immediately after transport (transported n=70). Transport consisted of a ride for <10 min (around 1500 m on average) while caged, on a trailer pulled by an all-terrain quad bike; this was a necessary part of our wider studies of these badgers, but incidentally

also providing a standardized stressor. Transportation had a marginal, but non-significant, effect on antioxidant capacity, and sex had no interactive effect on the outcome of the transportation treatment, or on body-condition results. These findings are discussed in the context of seasonal corollaries with foraging ecology, giving particular consideration to changing climatic conditions and species management. “
“Environmental variation in mountainous regions can impose major differences in demography and physiology on animal populations that occupy a large elevation range. This variation can be both predictable and unpredictable. In the south-western Yukon, arctic ground squirrel (AGS) populations occur all the way from the forested valley bottoms to the alpine meadows and, in so doing, experience a wide range of predation risk, forage quality and exposure to weather variables.