Torres, J., Garcia-Perea, R., Gisbert, J., and Feliu, C. 1998.
Helminth fauna of the Iberian lynx, Lynx pardinus.
Journal of Helminthology 72: 221-226.

Specimens of 12 helminth species were collected from carcasses of eight Lynx pardinus (Temminck, 1827), a carnivore endemic to the Iberian Peninsula. These species included: Brachylaima sp. (12.5%) (Trematoda); Taenia pisiformis (12.5%), T. polyacantha (25%), T. taeniaformis (25%) and Mesocestoides litteratus (37.5%) (Cestoda); Eucolueus aerophilus (12.5%), Ancylostoma tubaeforme (12.5%), Toxocara cati (37.5%), Toxascaris leonina (62.5%), Vigisospirura potekhina pothekina  (12.5%), Mastophorus muris (12.5%) and Physaloptera praeputialis (12.5%) (Nematoda). The helminth fauna in Iberian lynx is compared with that of L. canadensis and L. rufus in America, and for L. lynx in Eurasia. The potential relationships between the parasitological data and some geographical, historical and dietary factors are discussed.

Torres_et_al_1998_Helminth_fauna_of_the_Iberian_lynx.pdf

Travaini, A., Delibes, M., Ferreras, P., and Palomares, F. 1997.
Diversity, abundance or rare species as a target for the conservation of mammalian carnivores: a case study in Southern Spain.
Biodiversity and Conservation 6: 529-535

Management goals in protected areas and/or communities usually include diversity as one of the most valuable and confident criteria. Nevertheless, the use of diversity and related indices as a means of evaluating successful management practices could produce conflicting results. Here we report a case study in one of the most important European protected areas. After 6 years of intensive conservation management of the Donana National Park, the general abundance and numbers of the target single-species conservation plan (the Iberian lynx) increased, although carnivore community diversity and evenness decreased. This was a result of a disproportionate increase of an opportunistic native species, the red fox. We propose the combined use of diversity, richness and evenness indices when monitoring management practices such as those reported here.

Travaini_et_al_1997_Diversity_abundance_or_rare_species.pdf

Truyen, U., Parrish, C. R., Harder, T. C., and Kaaden, O.-R. 1995.
There is nothing permanent except change. The emergence of new virus diseases.
Veterinary Microbiology 43: 103-122.

The sudden appearance of apparently new viruses with pathogenic potential is of fundamental importance in medical microbiology and a constant threat to humans and animals. The emergence of a "new" pathogen is not an isolated event, as for instance the frequent appearance of new influenza virus strains demonstrates. Often the new virus strains co-circulate with the older strains in a susceptible population, but a replacement of the older strains has been als observed. In rare instances the new viruses can cause dramatic epidemies or pandemics, such as those observed with the human immunodeficiency virus, canine parvovirus, or most recently, with the agent of bovine spongiform encephalogathy in the United Kingdom. The mechanisms of the emergence are not always clearly understood, but an altered host range appears to be a common event. Whether a true change in host range occurs, or whether the virus adapted to the host and replicated mroe efficiently, is often unknown. This review tries to summarize the facts that are known about a wide variety of "new" viruses of mammals, such as the simian, human and feline lentiviruses, the feline coronaviruses, the feline parvoviruses, the carnivore morbilliviruses, the influenza A viruses, and the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. A particular emphasis will be put on the genetic mechanisms that might have taken place and that might have been responsible for their sudden appearance.

Truyen_et_al_1995_Emerge_of_new_virus_diseases.pdf

Tumlison, R. 1987.
Felis lynx.
Mammalian Species 269: 1-8. The American Society of Mammalogists.

Contents: Lynx taxonomy, general characters, distribution, fossil record, form, function, ontogeny and reproduction, ecology, behavior, and genetics.

Tumlison_1987_Felis_lynx_ms.pdf

Twigg, L. E., Lowe, T. J., Martin, G. R., Wheeler, A. G., Gray, G. S., Griffin, S. L., O'Reilly, C. M., Robinson, D. J., and Hubach, P. H. 2000.
Effects of surgically imposed sterility on free-ranging rabbit populations.
Journal of Applied Ecology 37: 16-39.

1. Demographic changes in response to surgically imposed female sterility were monitored in 12 free-ranging rabbit populations in south-western Australia over a 4-year period. This was part of a research programme aimed at examining the potential for virally vectored immunocontraception to limit the abundance of rabbits (e.g. using a recombinant myxoma virus) and other mammalian pests. Sterility levels were 0%, 40%, 60% and 80% of all females in year 1, with a similar proportion of female recruits sterilized surgically in subsequent years. 2. There was a significant decrease in rabbit productivity with increasing sterility level. This was overcome by increased survival of kittens and adults on the high-sterility sites, such that the base-level numbers of rabbits were maintained, and mean annual rates of increase (r) were near zero for all treatments in all years. However, in the high-sterility populations this compensation was insufficient to overcome the effects of sterility totally, and there was a marked decrease in the seasonal peaks in rabbit abundance for these treatments. 3. Survival and recruitment were dependent upon the level of sterility, and consequently the density of rabbits, with greatest survival of adult rabbits occurring on the 80% sites. Survival of sterile females was greater than that of other adults, probably because of their increased ability to maintain body condition during times of low pasture biomass (summer drought). Thus two density-dependent processes were identified: the first was operating through increased survival of juvenile rabbits, the second through increased adult survival, particularly sterilized females. 4. Because the proportional impact of immigration was greater (i.e. immigrants constituted a greater proportion of the population) and emigration was less, from the 80% sites, the effects of sterility may have been underestimated on these sites. 5. The abundance of European rabbit fleas, a vector of myxomatosis, was significantly lower on the 80% sites, but this did not appear to effect the transmission of myxoma. Myxomatosis occurred as an annual epizootic in three of four years, with >90% of rabbits on site after each epizootic testing positive for myxoma antibodies. 6. To achieve a sustained long-term reduction in rabbit abundance, 60-80% of female rabbits would need to be prevented from breeding. This could be achieved by a recombinant strain of myxoma provided the strain retained good transmissibility and all infected rabbits became sterile for life.

Twigg_et_al_2000_Effects_of_sterility_on_rabbit_populations.pdf