Publications by authors named "Emmanuel Do Linh San"
Meerkats () and yellow mongooses () share many behavioural characteristics and are known to, on rare occasions, live in close association through displayed cooperative vigilance and shared burrow use. Here, we describe the first visual observation of tactile social behaviour through grooming between a meerkat and a yellow mongoose in the Rietvlei Nature Reserve, South Africa. We hypothesise that the close relationship between the two species in the reserve may be a response to a combination of phylogenetic ties, shared behavioural traits, and the population collapse of meerkats in the reserve that exposed a vacant social niche.
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- Animal activity patterns vary by season and species, helping with coexistence, but factors affecting small carnivores in Africa are not well understood, especially for competing species.
- The study focused on two similar genet species, the small-spotted and Cape genets, using radio tracking to analyze their activity over a year, finding both species were primarily nocturnal, with reduced activity during cold-dry seasons.
- Female genets were generally less active than males, particularly during cold-dry conditions, with Cape genets showing behavioral shifts in activity timings to avoid competition and manage offspring care.
Sub-Saharan Africa is under-represented in global biodiversity datasets, particularly regarding the impact of land use on species' population abundances. Drawing on recent advances in expert elicitation to ensure data consistency, 200 experts were convened using a modified-Delphi process to estimate 'intactness scores': the remaining proportion of an 'intact' reference population of a species group in a particular land use, on a scale from 0 (no remaining individuals) to 1 (same abundance as the reference) and, in rare cases, to 2 (populations that thrive in human-modified landscapes). The resulting bii4africa dataset contains intactness scores representing terrestrial vertebrates (tetrapods: ±5,400 amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals) and vascular plants (±45,000 forbs, graminoids, trees, shrubs) in sub-Saharan Africa across the region's major land uses (urban, cropland, rangeland, plantation, protected, etc.
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- The study investigates nest sharing behaviors in woodland dormice (Graphiurus murinus) over a year to determine if these patterns are influenced by thermoregulation or reproductive needs.
- Nest sharing occurred year-round and was not linked to temperature changes, indicating that factors beyond thermoregulation play a role.
- The findings suggest all-male and all-female groups are more common during mating season, while communal nesting happens later, likely due to high tolerance among related individuals, rather than solely for reproductive purposes.
Globally, human activities have led to the impoverishment of species assemblages and the disruption of ecosystem function. Determining whether this poses a threat to future ecosystem stability necessitates a thorough understanding of mechanisms underpinning community assembly and niche selection. Here, we tested for niche segregation within an African small carnivore community in Kibale National Park, Uganda.
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