In 1957, Troughton described the wild dog of New Guinea, naming it Canis hallstromi. Here the description given by Troughton is expanded by the addition of morphological, molecular and behavioural information collected from both captive and wild New Guinea singing dogs subsequent to the original description. The data support Troughton's identification of this canid as a unique taxon, although further studies are needed to clarify the exact level of taxonomic differentiation of this rare and possibly highly endangered canid.

Cheetah Acinonyx jubatus home-range size and habitat use were analysed using radio-tracking data collected in the southern district of the Kruger National Park (KNP) between 1987 and 1990. Meaningful estimates of home-range size, using the 95% minimum convex polygon method, were 126 km2 for a three-male cheetah coalition, 195 km2 for a solitary male, and 150 km2 and 171 km2 for two female cheetahs. Although cheetahs used all habitats according to their availability, they did show a preference for open savanna habitat because their core or total home ranges centred on these habitats. Female cheetahs used denser woodland habitat more frequently than males, as they seemed to be influenced by the distribution of their main prey, impala Aepyceros melampus, which also preferred denser woodland habitat.

The potentially important ecology of subterranean predators of soil ecosystem engineers is poorly understood. This is especially true of caecilian amphibians (Gymnophiona) for which there are virtually no quantitative data. Results of the first field trials of permanent marking in caecilians are presented. A preliminary assessment is made of the efficacy of mark–recapture studies for estimating population size of Gegeneophis ramaswamii Taylor in 100 m2 of low intensity agriculture in Kerala, India. Over three sampling occasions spanning 58 days of the monsoon season, 114 individuals were captured, 104 marked and released, and 21 recaptured. Models estimate an open population of 60 individuals (95% confidence interval of 45.2 to 151.3), and a closed population of 236 (95% confidence interval of 174 to 351). A census interpretation of the raw capture data gives densities of about 0.31 to 0.48 m−2. Results suggest large movement in and out of the sampled area during the study. Despite caveats associated with these data, progress is made in identifying potential limitations and improvements in the methods used. This study highlights the paucity of knowledge of caecilian ecology, and the need for long-term studies to elucidate further ecological information and to monitor populations.

Scorpions use sclerotized spermatophores for sperm transfer. The family Bothriuridae has one of the most complex scorpion spermatophores, with a distinct capsule and lamella. This study evaluates the viability of hypotheses relating to the evolution of animal genitalia that attempt to explain the functional morphology observed in spermatophores and female genitalia of some members of this scorpion family. These hypotheses are: female choice (internal courtship), conflict of interests (morphologically forced insemination) and lock-and-key (interspecific mechanical incompatibility). Observations of the mating sequences of 13 bothriurid and one buthid scorpion were recorded. The histology of female atrium was analysed. The data suggest that: (1) a genital copulatory courtship (sexual stimulation through male genitalia) could be a widespread mechanism among the capsules of the studied spermatophores; the wall of the female genital atrium in Brachistosternus as well as of other genera is usually rubbed by spines, tubercles or capsular lobes of spermatophores; the female genital atrium is relatively soft, elastic and uniform among different species; (2) morphological coercion might be admissible only when capsular lobes are very well developed, as females will have difficulty in disengaging by themselves from the large lobes if they attempt to interrupt sperm transfer; this mainly occurs in Bothriurus bonariensis; (3) observations of matings among closely related species indicate that the lock-and-key hypothesis is unable to explain spermatophore morphology in the studied species; however a certain degree of mechanical incompatibility occurs during interspecific mating between two sister species (B. bonariensis and B. chacoensis) owing to differences in capsular lobes and post-insemination behaviour; (4) these hypotheses might not be directly applied to simple spermatophores of the Buthidae Zabius fuscus. The results indicate that even though one genital mechanism can be more frequent than others, they can also exist together, not only in different genera but also in a single species (e.g. simultaneous occurrence of genital sexual stimulation and genital coercion in B. bonariensis). Indirectly these data suggest that the hypotheses most frequently quoted to explain genital morphology are not mutually exclusive.

Annual censuses of the number of harbour seal Phoca vitulina pups born on Sable Island Canada showed an increasing trend during the 1980s, but a rapid decline through the 1990s from 625 pups in 1989 to only 32 by 1997. Weekly surveys of the North Beach of the island during the 1991–98 breeding seasons showed that the number of adults and juveniles also declined during the 1990s. Despite the dramatic demographic changes, maternal postpartum mass, pup birth mass, relative birth mass, lactation duration, pup weaning mass and relative weaning mass showed no significant trends during 1987–96. However, two traits did change. The age structure of parturient females increased significantly, indicating reduced recruitment to the breeding population. Mean birth date increased by 7 days during the early 1990s, suggesting nutritional stress of females and later implantation dates. This nutritional stress may in turn have been caused by increased competition from the rapidly increasing grey seal population on Sable Island. Although minimum estimates of shark-inflicted mortality can account for much of the decline, evidence suggests that food shortage arising from interspecific competition may have also played a role in causing the decline of the population through effects on fecundity and juvenile survival.

With five previously described native species, all of them endemic, and at least four introduced species, the murid rodent fauna of Seram is more diverse than that catalogued from any other Moluccan island. Here, the rodent fauna of Seram is briefly reviewed, and a newly recorded rodent from the island is described as Melomys rufescens paveli, a new subspecies of a species otherwise known from New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago. Other non-volant mammals from Seram and the nearby islands of Ambon and Buru are briefly discussed.

A new secondary sex character, here named the ‘tibial gland’, found on the forelegs of the males of a new spittlebug species, Augustohahnia dilatitibia sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Cercopidae) from New Guinea, is reported for the first time. The males of Augustohahnia dilatitibia sp. nov. are very distinct and unusual in having remarkably swollen fore tibiae with flat, bare and smooth prolateral surfaces. Scanning electron microscope observations revealed that the prolateral surface of the swollen fore tibiae is covered with numerous, very fine pores, with a density of 0.0068–0.0076 pores/μm2. The distance between the pores varies between 4.04 and 10.77μm. Each pore unit is composed of a deep cavity in which one central sponge-like, grooved disc is set. The opening of the cavity is c. 5.20–5.78 μm in diameter. The central, sponge-like disc in the cavity has a sponge-like apex with 55–65 longitudinal grooves and measures 4.34–4.55 μm in diameter. There are also one to three fine, nearly ellipsoidal pits (c. 0.35–0.48 μm wide and 0.62–0.85 μm long) on the marginal cuticle rim surrounding the central sponge-like disc. These pores are presumed to be male pheromone-producing glands. If so, this represents the first report of a possible male pheromone structure in cercopid spittlebugs. Two new species of the spittlebug genus Augustohahnia Schmidt (Hemiptera: Cercopoidea), A. dilatitibia sp. nov. and A. sanguinifrons sp. nov., both from New Guinea, are described and illustrated. A key to the four known species in Augustohahnia is provided.

Jump performance was studied in seven flea species (Xenopsylla conformis mycerini, Xenopsylla ramesis, Xenopsylla dipodilli, Parapulex chephrenis, Synosternus cleopatrae pyramidis, Nosopsyllus iranus theodori and Stenoponia tripectinata medialis). Jump length was compared among individuals, between sexes and among species, and an examination made of whether: (1) there is a consistent difference in jump performance between male and female fleas; (2) sexual dimorphism in body size affects jump performance; (3) there is a size-specific difference in jump performance among species; (4) there are morphological correlates of jumping ability among individuals, between sexes and among species. Males were smaller than females in all species and size dimorphism did not increase with increasing body size. In all species, except S. t. medialis, both absolute and size-specific jumping abilities of the males were less than those of the females. Males and females of S. t. medialis demonstrated similar jumping ability despite their body size difference. The best jumpers were S. c. pyramidis, N. i. theodori and S. t. medialis, whereas X. dipodilli as well as female X. c. mycerini and X. ramesis demonstrated the poorest ability to jump. Female:male performance ratio differed among species, being the highest in X. c. mycerini and X. ramesis, and the lowest in S. t. medialis. The proportion of the overall dimorphism in jumping ability that was owing to size differences between males and females was low, ranging from 0.10 to 0.34. No correlation between jumping ability and pleural height or length of hind coxa, femur and tibia was found in any species, except in X. dipodilli. Interspecific comparisons using size-corrected and phylogeny-controlled values did not show any relationship between jumping ability and any morphological trait. Fleas occupying habitats with a soft sandy substrate were better jumpers than those living in habitats with a hard stony substrate.

To reach adult habitats, juveniles of three species of Hawaiian gobies (fishes under 3 cm long) climb waterfalls up to 350 m high, over 10 000 times their body length. The demands of moving through such an extreme environment could constrain the range of viable locomotor mechanisms that these fishes use. Previous qualitative observations indicated that Lentipes concolor and Awaous guamensis use ‘powerbursts’ of axial undulation to climb, whereas Sicyopterus stimpsoni ‘inches up’ vertical surfaces by alternately attaching oral and pelvic suckers to the substrate. To compare these propulsive mechanisms and their physiological requirements, high-speed video footage of climbing by juveniles from these three species on an artificial waterfall were collected, and climbing kinematics and performance for the two climbing styles were quantified. Bouts of powerburst climbing by L. concolor and A. guamensis typically begin in or near direct water flow and are initiated by a single, rapid adduction of the pectoral fins. Powerburst climbing bouts are rapid (12.4±1.0 body lengths (BL) s−1), but short in duration (0.07±0.02 s) with few continuous locomotor cycles (3.8±1.3 cycles bout−1). Powerburst climbers use high amplitude undulations along the entire body, but minimum resultant velocities of these undulations are high (>6 BL s−1). This suggests that these species may hybridize terrestrial propulsive mechanisms with aquatic mechanisms. In contrast, climbing by inching in S. stimpsoni involves little axial undulation or fin movement. Sicyopterus stimpsoni typically exit the water outside of direct flow and seem to use terrestrial propulsive mechanisms. As the oral disc attaches to the substrate, it expands to almost twice its resting area, after which the posterior body is pulled upwards; once the pelvic disc attaches, the oral disc releases and the anterior body advances. Climbing bouts include several continuous cycles of disc attachment (11.0±1.4 cycles bout−1) and last several seconds at velocities of 0.21±0.01 BL s−1. Before climbing waterfalls during migration to adult habitats, S. stimpsoni undergo a non-feeding metamorphosis that leads to the development of the mouth as a secondary locomotor organ. The unusual behaviour and ontogenetic strategy of S. stimpsoni seem to be evolutionary novelties, rather than ancestral retentions, suggesting that the evolution of these features may have been closely correlated. The substantial performance and kinematic distinctions between powerburst and inching climbing indicate that considerable locomotor diversity can evolve even in the context of extreme environmental demands.

Many areas have experienced disproportionate increases in the number of conflicts between large carnivores and humans, and this is especially true in western North America where urban sprawl has encroached into regions that have historically contained large carnivores. Yet, globally there is a paucity of studies of temporal changes in behavioural and ecological parameters of carnivores associated with human-induced perturbations at the same location. We capitalized on the extent to which human population growth and its coincident food stores offer a quasi-experimental setting to test hypotheses about the impact of novel food resources. Using black bears Ursus americanus and garbage, measures of behaviour and ecology were contrasted between individuals living in urban–wildland interface (‘experimental’) and in wildland (‘control’) settings at the interface of the Sierra Nevada Range and the Great Basin Desert in the western United States. A temporal dimension was included by comparing our data to those from the same population lacking areas of human encroachment 10–15 years earlier. Specifically, an examination was made of the impacts of garbage on bear time budgets, patterns of activity, and den chronology. Individuals at urban interface areas relative to wildland conspecifics were: (1) active for significantly fewer h per day (8.5 vs 13.3 h; P<0.01); (2) shifted their activities to nocturnal periods (P<0.001); (3) entered dens significantly later and remained in them for significantly fewer days (P<0.05). Our results are contrasted with selected carnivores from sites where attendant changes in behaviour and ecology have accompanied landscape changes associated with human activity. Our findings suggest alterations in carnivore ecology may be rapid and occur within shorter periods than had been previously assumed.

The trematode fauna of Potamopyrgus antipodarum, an introduced and invasive gastropod mollusc species native to New Zealand, was studied in Mont Saint Michel Bay (France). The study revealed, for the first time in Europe, the occurrence of larval digenean species, Sanguinicola sp., a blood fluke of fish never previously recorded in this prosobranch. Phase contrast and scanning electron microscopy was used to investigate the morphology of the parasite. Hypotheses on the origin of the P. antipodarum–Sanguinicola sp. association are discussed in relation to the history of invasion of the gastropod into brackish and fresh waters and the structure of local gastropod communities.