The Mediterranean Basin is a global hotspot of biodiversity. Hotspots are said to be experiencing a major loss of habitat, but an added risk could be the decline of some species having a special role ...in ecological relationships of the system. We reviewed the role of European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) as a keystone species in the Iberian Peninsula portion of the Mediterranean hotspot. Rabbits conspicuously alter plant species composition and vegetation structure through grazing and seed dispersal, which creates open areas and preserves plant species diversity. Moreover, rabbit latrines have a demonstrable effect on soil fertility and plant growth and provide new feeding resources for many invertebrate species. Rabbit burrows provide nest sites and shelter for vertebrates and invertebrates. In addition, rabbits serve as prey for a number of predators, including the critically endangered Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) and Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti). Thus, the Mediterranean ecosystem of the Iberian Peninsula should be termed "the rabbit's ecosystem." To our knowledge, this is the first empirical support for existence of a multifunctional keystone species in a global hotspot of biodiversity. Rabbit populations have declined drastically on the Iberian Peninsula, with potential cascading effects and serious ecological and economic consequences. From this perspective, rabbit recovery is one of the biggest challenges for conservation of the Mediterranean Basin hotspot.
In recent years, the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) has experienced a significant increase in the size of its population and in its distribution. The species currently occupies areas in which it had ...been extinct for decades and new road mortality black spots have been identified. Its conservation requires an intensive risk assessment of road–deaths in potential future distribution areas. Using the MaxEnt algorithm we aimed to identify the roads where there is a greater risk of road collision for the Iberian lynx. More than 1,150 stretches of road were evaluated in Andalusia (southern Spain). Both road–related and habitat variables were included in the model. A total of 1,395 km of the 7,384 km evaluated (18.9%) were classified as high risk road. Our results could help plan future conservation strategies. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the MaxEnt algorithm has been used to provide spatially–explicit predictions about wildlife road mortality.
The wildcat (
) and the Iberian lynx (
) are important species in Spain, considered as near-threatened and endangered, respectively. Both can be infected by
, a parasite that can cause morbidity and ...mortality in transplacentally-infected or immunocompromised mammals. The data on the prevalence of this parasite in wild populations of these species in Spain are outdated. The objective of this study was to update information and evaluate the role of these felines in parasite epidemiology and the potential impact of the parasite on their conservation. Blood and fecal samples were collected from captured animals, as well as the tongue, diaphragm, and spleen, from animals killed in road accidents in central Spain. An indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) was used to detect parasite antibodies in serum, microscopy and molecular analysis were used to detect oocysts in feces, and molecular analysis was used to determine the existence of tissue cysts. Seroprevalence was 85% in wildcats and 45% in lynx, and parasite DNA was detected in the feces of one wildcat and in tissue samples from 10 wildcats and 11 Iberian lynxes. These results highlight the epidemiological importance and high risk of
infection in animals and humans in the studied areas. Considering feline susceptibility to infection, monitoring programs are needed to assess the health status of wild felines.
The use of faecal DNA, although a promising tool for the population monitoring of mammals, has not yet become a fully exploited and standard practice, mainly because low target DNA concentration, DNA ...degradation, and co-purification of inhibitors demand extra laboratory procedures to improve success and reliability. Here we evaluate a simple method that enables sampling of DNA in the field through the collection of the intestinal cells present on the surface of a scat using a swab. The swab is immediately placed in a vial containing a lysis buffer that preserves the DNA for its later extraction. DNA extracts of three species of herbivores (goat, fallow deer and white-tailed deer), two carnivores (Iberian lynx and domestic dog) and one omnivore species (brushtail possum) were characterised in terms of target and total DNA quantity, PCR inhibition and genotyping success. Direct comparison was carried out with duplicate samples preserved in 96% ethanol and extracted via a commonly used commercial DNA extraction kit for faecal material. Results from these comparisons show that swabbing the samples in situ not only simplifies field collection and sample handling in the laboratory, but generally optimises target DNA recovery, minimises co-purification of PCR inhibitors and provides good quality DNA for the species tested, especially for herbivores. This method is also less time-consuming and more cost-effective, thus providing a more convenient and efficient alternative for non-invasive genetic studies.
Lynx pardinus is one of the world’s most endangered felines inhabiting the Iberian Peninsula. The present study was performed to identify the presence of microsporidia due to the mortality increase ...in lynxes. Samples of urine (n = 124), feces (n = 52), and tissues spleen (n = 13), brain (n = 9), liver (n = 11), and kidney (n = 10) from 140 lynxes were studied. The determination of microsporidia was evaluated using Weber’s chromotrope stain and Real Time-PCR. Of the lynxes analyzed, stains showed 10.48% and 50% positivity in urine and feces samples, respectively. PCR confirmed that 7.69% and 65.38% belonged to microsporidia species. The imprints of the tissues showed positive results in the spleen (38.46%), brain (22.22%), and liver (27.27%), but negative results in the kidneys. PCR confirmed positive microsporidia results in 61.53%, 55.55%, 45.45%, and 50%, respectively. Seroprevalence against Encephalitozoon cuniculi was also studied in 138 serum samples with a positivity of 55.8%. For the first time, the results presented different species of microsporidia in the urine, feces, and tissue samples of Lynx pardinus. The high titers of anti-E. cuniculi antibodies in lynx sera confirmed the presence of microsporidia in the lynx environment. New studies are needed to establish the impact of microsporidia infection on the survival of the Iberian lynx.
The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) is a critically endangered felid that, during the last fifty years, has been subject to an intensive conservation program in an attempt to save it from extinction. ...This species is first recorded at ca. 1.7–1.6 Ma (late Villafranchian, late Early Pleistocene) in NE Iberian Peninsula, roughly coinciding with the large faunal turnover that occurred around the middle to late Villafranchian boundary. Here we describe the largest collection of L. pardinus remains available to date from the Iberian late Early Pleistocene (Epivillafranchian), including localities from the Vallparadís Section (Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula) and Cueva Victoria (Cartagena, SE Iberian Peninsula). The morphology and biometry of the studied material attests to the widespread occurrence of L. pardinus in the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula since the latest Early Pleistocene, i.e., about 0.5 million years earlier than it was generally accepted (i.e., at the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene). Based on the features observed in the large sample studied in this paper, we conclude that Lynx spelaeus is a junior synonym of L. pardinus and further propose to assign all the Epivillafranchian and younger fossil lynxes from SW Europe to the extant species L. pardinus. Due to the arrival of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) into Europe at the beginning of the Late Pleistocene, the attribution of specimens younger than MIS 5e to either this species or L. pardinus solely on morphological grounds has proven equivocal. Here we discuss the main diagnostic features of both species of European lynxes and further review their evolutionary history and paleobiogeography throughout the Pleistocene.
•We describe the largest available collection of lynx remains from the Early Pleistocene of Iberia.•We conclude that the Iberian lynx was widespread across the Iberian Peninsula since 1.0 Ma.•We review the diagnostic features of both extinct and extant European lynx species.•We conclude that Lynx spelaeus is a junior subjective synonym of Lynx pardinus.•The evolutionary history and paleogeography of European lynx species in the Pleistocene is reviewed.
El ordenamiento jurídico español dispone de herramientas suficientes para prevenir actos indiscriminados contra la población del lince ibérico a nivel administrativo y penal. A través de la Sentencia ...núm. 150/2013, de 6 de junio se realiza un análisis sobre diferentes aspectos en la imputación de aquellos hechos delictivos que tienen como objeto acabar con la vida de los linces, en los que se toma como eje principal de enjuiciamiento la prueba indiciaria.
A new cranial fossil attributable to the species Lynx pardinus (Temminck, 1827) attests to the presence of this felid in the late Early Pleistocene of the Iberian Peninsula. Certain diagnostic ...features, such as the confluence of the lacerum posterius and anterior condyloid foramina, and the long and lyre-shaped temporal ridges, allow this find to be established as the first occurrence of the Iberian lynx in Europe. The fossil described here was found in the Avenc Marcel cave (Vallirana, Barcelona, Spain) in association with many other Late Villafranchian faunal remains. The combined presence of the bovid genera Capra and Soergelia, and the rodent species Mimomys medasensis and Mimomys tornensis, allows the age of this deposit to be placed at about 1.6–1.7 Ma. Consequently, the appearance of Lynx pardinus is related here to the faunal turnover that occurred between the Middle and Late Villafranchian, considered to be one of the major changes in the European macromammal fauna. Such an early divergence is in accordance with the evolutionary split proposed by both the molecular data and with the glacial-interglacial dynamics that affected the European region during the Early Pleistocene. Under these circumstances, the Iberian lynx could have originated in isolation in the Iberian Peninsula (a recognized southern European refugium for several species), during one or more glacial episodes. In this time period, this species may also have developed a dependence on small-sized animal prey, such as the lagomorphs of the genus Prolagus and Oryctolagus, already widespread throughout the Iberian Peninsula by that point.
In the present work, several topics regarding the earliest evolutionary history of Lynx pardinus are discussed. Understanding the events that took place surrounding the origins of this lineage can shed new light on the future conservation of this extremely threatened felid.
•We describe a new cranial remain ascribable to the species Lynx pardinus.•The described neurocranium is, to date, the first occurrence of the taxon.•The Iberian lynx diverged at the Middle-Late Villafranchian faunal turnover.•Speciation can be the result of isolation during one or more glacial pulses.•Fossils of Iberian lynxes show adaptation to feed upon small-sized prey.
Iberian lynx distribution is currently restricted to the south of the Iberian Peninsula. Nevertheless, there is evidence of the presence of several small groups in the peninsular centre that have ...been forgotten by management and conservation actions. In this research, we gathered evidences of Iberian lynx presence along 21 transects located in the southwest of the Madrid province. In these transects lynx DNA was identified in 47 scats, which scientifically proves the presence of the species in that location. Using these locations (presence-only data) we built a maximum entropy model (MaxEnt) to estimate the suitability of the study area for the species. Our results show the existence of an almost continuous area that is approximately 744 km² that is suitable for the Iberian lynx. Seventy-eight percent of this area is within the Natura 2000 network and, therefore, it falls under regulations to preserve and restore habitat types, flora and fauna. This study shows the suitability of this territory has for the Iberian lynx.
In contrast to the species studied, the corpus luteum (CL) of Iberian and Eurasian lynx physiologically persists in the ovary for more than 2 years and continues to secrete progesterone. Such ...persistent CL (perCL) transition into the next cycle and are present in the ovary together with the freshly formed CL (frCL) of a new ovulation. To date, the mechanisms supporting such CL persistence are not known. We analyzed the potential receptivity of feline CL to sex steroids through mRNA measurements of progesterone receptor (PGR), progesterone receptor membrane components (PGRMC) 1 and 2, estrogen receptor (ESR) 1 and ESR2, G protein–coupled estrogen receptor 1 (GPER1), and androgen receptor (AR). All receptors were present in domestic cat CL during pregnancy and the nonpregnant luteal phase, in frCL and perCL of post-mating Iberian lynx and in perCL of pre-mating Eurasian lynx. Mass spectrometry detected the presence of PGRMC1 protein in frCL and perCL of the Iberian lynx. In both domestic cat and lynx CL, PGR, PGRMC1, and ESR1 proteins were localized in luteal cells by immunohistochemistry. The mRNA levels of PGR, PGRMC1, PGRMC2, ESR1, and AR changed significantly throughout the domestic cat luteal phase. This may indicate involvement of these receptors in the processes of formation, maintenance, and regression of feline CL. In Iberian lynx, expression of PGRMC1, PGRCM2, ESR1, GPER1, and AR was significantly higher in perCL compared with frCL, whereas ESR2 was reversed. High mRNA amounts of these receptors in perCL suggest that physiological persistence of lynx CL may be partly regulated by actions of sex steroids through their nuclear and/or membrane receptors.
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