Search Constraints
Search Results
-
2023
Journal article
Pests or prey? Micromammal species within an ancient anthropic environment at the Norse settlement site of Tuquoy (Westray, Orkney)
Micromammals, like rodents and shrews, adapt rapidly to take advantage of new food sources, habitats and ecological niches, frequently thriving in anthropogenic environments. Their remains, often retrieved during archaeological investigations, can be a valuable source of information about the past environmental conditions as well as interspecies interactions and human activity....Romaniuk, Andrzej A ; Troalen, Lore G ; Bendrey, Robin ; Herman, Jeremy S ; Owen, Olwyn …
commensalism, introductions, Orkney, micromammal, archaeology, and predation
-
2021
Journal article
Parasitic nematodes of the genus Syphacia Seurat, 1916 infecting Cricetidae in the British Isles: the enigmatic status of Syphacia nigeriana
Oxyurid nematodes ( spp.) from bank ( and field/common ( spp.) voles, from disparate geographical sites in the British Isles, were examined morphologically and genetically. The genetic signatures of 118 new isolates are provided, based primarily on the rDNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) region and for representative isolates also on... -
2020
Journal article
Genetic structure in Orkney island mice: isolation promotes morphological diversification
Following human occupation, the house mouse has colonised numerous islands, exposing the species to a wide variety of environments. Such a colonisation process, involving successive founder events and bottlenecks, may either promote random evolution or facilitate adaptation, making the relative importance of adaptive and stochastic processes in insular evolution difficult...Chevret, Pascale ; Hautier, Lionel ; Ganem, Guila ; Herman, Jeremy S ; Agret, Sylvie …
-
2020
Journal article
First record of True’s beaked whale, Mesoplodon mirus, in Britain
A female beaked whale, Family Ziphiidae, was reported as stranded on 29th January 2020 at Kearvaig Bay, Sutherland, Scotland. Examination of its skull confirms that this is the first recorded stranding of True’s beaked whale, Mesoplodon mirus, in Britain.Kitchener, Andrew C ; Georg , Hantke ; Herman, Jeremy S ; ten Doeschate, Mariel ; Brownlow, Andrew C
skull, stranding, Ziphiidae, Mesoplodon mirusy, and pathology
-
2019
Journal article
Glacial cycles drive rapid divergence of cryptic field vole species
Understanding the factors that contribute to the generation of reproductively isolated forms is a fundamental goal of evolutionary biology. Cryptic species are an especially interesting challenge to study in this context since they lack obvious morphological differentiation that provides clues to adaptive divergence that may drive reproductive isolation. Geographical isolation... -
2019
Journal article
Species identification of Late Pleistocene bat bones using collagen fingerprinting
Bats form the second most diverse mammalian order (Chiroptera), after rodents, and vary widely in their physiology and ecology. Those species that live in temperate climates are generally insectivorous and nocturnal or crepuscular, sheltering in tree hollows, caves, or buildings during the day. They are potentially valuable ecological indicators, due...Buckley, Michael ; Herman, Jeremy S
collagen, Chiroptera, ancient bats, caves, hibernation, and fingerprinting
-
Journal article
Genetic variation in field voles (Microtus agrestis) from the British Isles: selective sweeps or population bottlenecks?
The Eurasian field vole (Microtus agrestis) comprises three evolutionarily significant units (ESUs). The northern ESU is found at higher latitudes across the western Palaearctic region and includes six, largely allopatric, mitochondrial DNA lineages that were derived from population bottlenecks. One of these lineages is found in southern Britain and nearby...Herman, Jeremy S ; Stojack, Joanna ; Paupério, Joana ; Jaarola, M ; Wojcik, J M …
Y-chromosome, cytochromeb, selection, post-glacial colonization, population bottleneck, and microsatellite
-
2018
Journal article
Molecular confirmation of Hymenolepis hibernia in field mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) from St Kilda has potential to resolve a host-parasite relationship
Insular wildlife populations provide opportunities to examine biological questions in systems that are relatively closed and potentially tractable, striking examples being the long-term studies of ecology and evolution in the red deer and feral sheep populations on the Hebridean islands of Rum and St Kilda. In the case of parasitology,... -
2018
Journal article
Species identification of voles and lemmings from Late Pleistocene deposits in Pin Hole Cave (Creswell Crags, UK) using collagen fingerprinting
Microfaunal remains are commonly used as palaeoenvironmental proxies and have been proposed as a means to identify relative ages of Late Quaternary deposits through biostratigraphy (i.e., utilising ‘Mammal Assemblage Zones’). However, assemblages of faunal remains can include a diverse range of taxa which are often difficult to distinguish using morphological... -
2015
Journal article
Osteoarthritis of the temporo-mandibular joint in free-living Soay sheep on St Kilda
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common degenerative disease of synovial joints with the potential to cause pathology and welfare issues in both domestic and wild ruminants. Previous work has identified OA of the elbow joint in domestic sheep, but the prevalence of OA of the jaw and in particular the temporomandibular...Stojak, J ; McDevitt, A D ; Herman, Jeremy S ; Searle, Jeremy B ; Wojcik, J M
Radiography, Sheep, Temporo-mandibular joints, St Kilda, and Osteoarthritis