Animal Adaptations: Evolution of Forms and Functions

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Johnsingh, A. J. T. & Manjrekar, N. (eds) Mammals of South Asia (Universities Press, Hyderabad, 2015). During the study period, we recorded the walking speeds (in m/s) of the study animals in their natural habitats inside PTR, Maharashtra, to calculate the average moving speed. For each species, we averaged 14–20 observations of various walking speeds which was found to be close to 1/6th of the top running speed (Supplementary Table S2). Influence of road and traffic characteristics on AVC probability Hirt, M. R., Jetz, W., Rall, B. C. & Brose, U. A general scaling law reveals why the largest animals are not the fastest. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 1, 1116–1122 (2017). The threshold traffic volume at which AVC probability was equal to probability of successful crossing ( P h = 0.5) varied for different species. Under present traffic heterogeneity, this threshold traffic for group living animals like chital, gaur and wild pig was 300–400 vehicles/h. This threshold traffic volume was higher for sambar (700 vehicles/h), and highest for tiger and leopard (1100–1300 vehicles/h). Across all simulated scenarios, traffic volumes of 200–300 vehicles/h decreased the chances of a successful crossing by half for gaur. For chital, this traffic volume lies above 400–500 vehicles/h in traffic composed of light vehicles (H 0, H 1, H 4, H 7). This threshold volume is higher for sambar (1100 vehicles/h) in traffic composed mostly of heavy vehicles (H 3, H 5, H 6). Hourly traffic volumes above 1000 vehicles/h posed a barrier to < 50% successful traverses for tiger and leopard at most traffic heterogeneity scenarios. The threshold traffic volume for solitary species was lowest (800 vehicles/h) at scenario H 3 which comprised of only MAVs. Beyond this threshold traffic volume, higher fatalities are expected to occur. We calculated AVC probability ( P h) under different scenarios of traffic heterogeneity on 2-lane and 4-lane sections of the road using Eq. ( 1). The exposure risk in seconds i.e., the time on the road for which an animal would be vulnerable to collision as a function of road width and P h was also calculated. Influence of animal activity on AVC risk

Rytwinksi, T. & Fahrig, L. Do species life history traits explain population responses to roads? A meta-analysis. Biol. Conserv. 147, 87–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2011.11.023 (2012). The incidence of PAHs in a significant number of our day-by-day food substances represents a grave risk to humans. Human exposure to high concentrations of PAHs via food consumption may bring about injurious and harmful impacts [43]. Contaminants in food have been accounted for by numerous researchers and every one of the potential contaminants can be connected to an assortment of harmful impacts. Every adverse effect observed relies upon various components, like exposure intensity, rate or frequency, duration, route and dose, and/or concentration; subtleties of the individual like age and health status [44], [45], [46]. Most PAHs are capable of causing cancer that accounts for the significant effect of the risk characterizations. However, it is often hard to attribute a given health effect in epidemiological studies to a particular PAH compound since PAHs exist as a mixture of different PAH compounds [47]. In general, the higher molecular weight PAHs are more hydrophobic, toxic and recalcitrant [48]. At present, traffic on NH 44 may not present a barrier to movement of chital and wild pig as we frequently encounter chital and wild pig roadkill at present traffic volumes. Gaur and sambar, on the other hand, are more vulnerable to barrier effect through avoidance behaviour of roadside habitat that reflects a lower tolerance to traffic disturbance 39, 40. The present study reveals, for the first time in a tropical mammalian species, that besides aMT there also exists a diurnal rhythm in the sensitivity of the animal to exogenous MT injections. Pinealecomy and constant release of aMT and MT have been reported to cause atrophy of gonad in male European hamsters kept under long photoperiod ( Masson-Pevet et al., 1986). aMT implants have been reported to hasten recrudescence in male hamsters on short days (Turek et al., 1976). aMT implants cause testicular regression in long-day intact. male Peromyscus leucopus ( Johnston et al., 1980; Lynch et al., 1976) but do not retard testicular regression on short days ( Petterborg et al., 1981). Also varied results have been observed on the effects of photoperiod and melatonin on gonadal function of prepubertal and adult animals of Microtus and Peromyscus species. Although in the case of F. pennanti silastic capsule implants of aMT and MT lead to testicular regression in both intact and Px animals, ( Saxena, 1988) the effects of this continuous mode of MI administration under different photoperiods remains to be assessed.As in the aforementioned studies 8, 23, 37, the aim of the study is not to determine the actual number of mortalities, but to help determine high-risk roads, traffic compositions and species groups most vulnerable to collision and barrier effects. Our model defines a way to identify components of a road network most vulnerable to roadkill, and could be used to identify road network components requiring prioritised mitigation action. In the absence of data on animal movement near roads, the present approach using species traits and behaviour could help prioritise mitigation for species most vulnerable to collision with vehicles. Also, hematological profiles were normalized in the groups of mice infected and treated with effective dosages of A. boonei except for the MCV and MCHC values which did not vary significantly in the different groups of experimental mice, an indication of a typical feature of normocytic-normochromic anemia ( Menezes et al., 2004). Dyer, S. J., O’Neill, J. P., Wasel, S. M. & Boutin, S. Quantifying barrier effects of roads and seismic lines on movement of female woodland caribou in northeastern Alberta. Can. J. Zool. 80, 839–845 (2002). Rajan Saxena, Indian management academic and the Vice-Chancellor of the SVKM's NMIM deemed university in Mumbai

Bioaccumulation of these ubiquitous organic pollutants in plants and animals constitute a serious health threat. PAHs are a large category of varied organic compounds, each of them having a minimum of two fused aromatic rings containing mainly carbon and hydrogen atoms in its skeletal structure. PAH generally occur in complex mixtures, which may consist of hundreds of compounds. They are principally framed by deficient ignition or pyrolysis of organic material and during various industrial processes and food handling procedures [21], [22]. These groups of compounds have potentially hazardous effects on the environment and health, as the majority of them are carcinogenic, teratogenic and mutagenic [23], [24]. Some studies have reported the mean daily intake of the total PAH fraction to be between 4ng/kg per day (low estimate) and 10ng/kg per day (high estimate) [25].Giffney, R. A., Russell, T. & Kohen, J. L. Age of road-killed common brushtail possums ( Trichosurus vulpecula) and common ringtail possums ( Pseudocheirus peregrinus) in an urban environment. Aust. Mammal. 31, 137–142 (2009). Kusta, T., Keken, Z., Jezek, M., Hola, M. & Smid, P. The effect of traffic intensity and animal activity on probability of ungulate-vehicle collisions in the Czech Republic. Saf. Sci. 91, 105–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2016.08.002 (2017).

The Indian Roads Congress. Two-Laning of Highways Through Public Private Partnership: Manual of Specifications & Standards. Secretariat for the Committee on Infrastructure Planning Commission, Yojana Bhavan, Parliament Street, New Delhi. (2010). accessed 12 July 2019; https://niti.gov.in/planningcommission.gov.in/docs/sectors/ppp_report/reports_guidelines/Manuals%20of%20Standards%20and%20Specifications/Manual%20of%20Specifications%20&%20Standards%20for%20Two-laning%20of%20Highways.pdf This study shows that both aMT and MT are physiologically active compounds inhibiting the testicular activity of this tropical mammal. The present results indicate a sensitivity of the animal to change in lighting condition. This result further confirms the previous finding that the pineal and testes of F. pennanti are sensitive to daylength ( Haldar et al., 1990). The results also demonstrate, for the first time, that the animal can distinguish between the time of the day when MI are administered. In other words, the inhibitory effects of aMT and MT are dependent on the period of the day when they are administered. While evening injections led to inhibition of testicular activity under both long and short photoperiods, MI administration during morning hours failed to produce any significant effect on the testes of F. pennanti under short or long photoperiod. LP was stimulatory to the testes whereas SP was inhibitory to the testes of the squirrel. Our results are similar to those on adult golden hamsters ( Mesocricetus auratus) in which daily aMT injections in morning, under long days result in gonadal maintenance ( Reiter et al., 1976; Stetson et al., 1983; Tamarkin et al., 1976; Tamarkin et al., 1977). Other studies indicate that morning injections of aMT under long to short days retards gonadal regression in the same animal ( Pevet et al., 1982b; Turek et al., 1980). The annual worldwide incidence of malaria exceeds 600 million clinical cases caused by the two most common malaria species, Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax ( Mendis et al., 2001; Snow et al., 2005; Tan et al., 2011), leading to 1.1-2.7 million deaths attributable primarily to P. falciparum ( WHO, 2008). Malaria causes great suffering among people living in tropical and subtropical regions, with a disproportionate impact on infants, children and pregnant women ( Abdullah et al., 2007; Dharmadasa et al., 2012). Langevelde, F. & Jaarsma, C. F. Using traffic flow theory to model traffic mortality in mammals. Landsc. Ecol. 19, 895–907 (2004). Effect of evening injections of melatonin (aMT) and 5- methoxytryptamine (MT), for 60 continuous days, on the seminiferous tubule diameter (μm) of testis in sham-operated (S0) and pinealectomized (Px) F. pennanti exposed to natural daylength (NDL), long photoperiod (14L:10D) and short photoperiod (10L:14D) during the gonad active phase. Table 3

References

Bujoczek, M., Ciach, M. & Yosef, R. Road-kills affect avian population quality. Biol. Conserv. 144, 1036–1039. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2010.12.022 (2011). Wildlife Institute of India. Pench Tiger Reserve project: Final report. (Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2016). This observation is corroborated by a previous report on Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense stating that the gradual decline and fluctuations of WBC counts are reflectors of persistent underlying infections ( Ngotho et al., 2011).

R Studio Team. RStudio: Integrated Development for R. RStudio, PBC, Boston, MA. (2016). accessed 17 Mar 2019; https://www.rstudio.com/ Majumder, A. Prey Selection, Food Habits and Population Structure of Sympatric Carnivores: Tiger Panthera tigris tigris (L.), Leopard Panthera pardus (L.) and Dhole Cuon alpinus (Pallas) in Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh (India) (Saurashtra University, Rajkot, 2011). The antimalaria potential and insecticidal activity of A. boonei has been reported recently ( Iyiola et al., 2011; Oigiangbe et al., 2007). Percentage chemosuppression of the aqueous stem bark extracts of Alstonia boonei (De wild) in mice infected with the Chloroquine- sensitive strain of plasmodium berghei (NK-65) Thurjfell, H., Spong, G., Olsson, M. & Ericsson, G. Avoidance of high traffic levels results in lower risk of wild boar-vehicle accidents. Landsc. Urban Plan. 133, 98–104 (2015).

Résumé

Gagnon, J. W., Theimer, T. C., Dodd, N. L., Boe, S. & Schweinsburg, R. E. Traffic volume alters elk distribution and highway crossings in Arizona. J. Wildl. Manag. 71, 2318–2323. https://doi.org/10.2193/2006-224 (2006). We placed vehicle input points at the beginning of the link, and data collection points midway along the road, and specified the hourly traffic volume at each vehicle input point. The average harmonic speed of traffic flow at each traffic volume and free flow speeds of different traffic components were selected as data collection measurement attributes (outputs of the simulation). Each simulation was run for 600 s (10 min) with 20 replicates. Simulation resolution of 10 time steps/second was set to maximize speed data collection at data collection points. Species characteristics The trailer for “Animal,” starring Ranbir Kapoor and Rashmika Mandanan, has taken the internet by storm, amassing millions of views within hours of its release. Renowned for her discerning taste, Jyoti Saxena shared her admiration for the trailer, spotlighting Bobby Deol’s stunning transformation and Ranbir Kapoor’s captivating presence. Bains, M. S., Ponnu, B. & Arkatkar, S. S. Modeling of traffic flow on Indian expressways using simulation technique. Procedia Soc. Behav. Sci. 43, 475–493. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.04.121 (2012).