Cavia intermedia, a rare species of cavy found exclusively on Moleques do Sul Island, Brazil, differs from other cavies in genetic and morphological characteristics and has been regarded as phylogenetically closest to Cavia magna. Here, I present morphological evidence for the likely origin of Cavia intermedia from an ancestor shared with Cavia magna: an external female genital organ similar in size and appearance to the male's penis. Masculinization of the female genitalia has been observed in Cavia magna but does not occur in Cavia aperea, which suggests a sister relationship between Cavia magna and Cavia intermedia.

1. The European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus was designated as a protected species in Spain and Portugal following sharp declines in many populations. The ongoing decline highlights the need to implement cost-effective management strategies for this staple prey and important small game species of Iberian Mediterranean ecosystems.
2. Habitat management is one strategy in general use, though little is known about its true influence on rabbit populations. The main goal of this study was to assess the frequency of use and cost-effectiveness of habitat management techniques for European rabbit populations in the Iberian Peninsula. We conducted a thorough literature review and used this information to: (i) estimate the frequency of use of habitat management techniques; (ii) evaluate the relative and absolute effectiveness of habitat management; and (iii) assess the economic implications of its application.
3. At least one habitat management technique was used on over 60% of hunting estates. The relative effectiveness (measured as the % population change before and after management) of habitat management techniques is high, although we found no relationship between high relative effectiveness and rabbit densities considered biologically and/or economically meaningful (e.g. densities able to support a breeding population of endangered predators or medium to high rabbit harvest yields). We did not find any clear relationship between the cost and the effectiveness of the habitat management techniques applied, as the most costly techniques were not the most successful ones.
4. We conclude that rabbit management strategies in the Iberian Peninsula should include improved and upscaled protocols for habitat management, in order to mitigate threats and promote the recovery of rabbit populations.

1. The extent to which vertebrate carnivores shift facultatively between predation and scavenging has recently been emphasized. Potentially, all carnivores have to do is wait until animals succumb to the debilitating effects of advancing age. However, this may be insufficient because of intense competition among other scavengers and decomposers for food. Moreover, the availability of carcasses of animals dying from causes other than predation varies seasonally, so carnivores must be adapted to exploit various sources of food through the seasonal cycle.
2. We explore how mammalian carnivores cope with seasonality in carrion supply and in prey vulnerability to predation. We focus mainly on large carnivores and ungulates, and compare especially ecological communities in northern temperate and African savanna ecosystems.
3. When carrion is scarce, carnivores can (i) take advantage of temporarily vulnerable segments of prey populations, such as newborn young, heavily pregnant females and males distracted or debilitated by reproduction, (ii) switch to carcass remains left by or stolen from other carnivores, or (iii) exploit small animals and non-animal food sources.
4. Relationships between carnivores tending towards predation or scavenging can be both competitive and facilitative. Top carnivores may provide a supply of carcasses throughout the year, which subsidizes scavengers when carrion availability from other sources is low. Alterations of seasonal patterns due to anthropogenic environmental change may enhance the role of top carnivores as buffers of anthropogenic perturbations of natural processes.
5. Megaherbivores, which are not normally regarded as prey but can provide huge carrion subsidies, may strongly influence interspecific interactions between carnivores and the proportion of food flowing towards scavenging relative to predation.
6. Relationships among carnivores based on hunting vs. scavenging strategies are flexible and subject to changes in response to circumstances. Their functional complexity is relevant for assessing the effects of global change on ecosystem function.

1. Microtus cabrerae is an Iberian endemic vole species with specific adaptations to the subhumid Mediterranean climate. Its living populations are under a regressive trend. The earliest known records of Microtus cabrerae date from the late Middle Pleistocene, and it originated from Microtus brecciensis.
2. We describe changes in the geographic distribution of Microtus cabrerae throughout its history based on its palaeontological record, and link them to environmental changes that have taken place since the appearance of Microtus cabrerae.
3. A series of successive chronological intervals comprising the recorded existence of the species was established, so that the majority of the published fossil records of Microtus cabrerae could be used for analysis. For each interval, a map with the inferred distribution of the species was created. The maps were used to establish variations in the species' distribution through time.
4. A first regression in the extent of the distribution of Microtus cabrerae took place in Marine Isotope Stage 2, when the species abandoned south-eastern France and central Spain, where it had been present since the beginning of the Late Pleistocene. This range contraction was probably due to the global decline in temperatures and rainfall that took place in this period. After a rapid recolonization of most of the previously abandoned areas at the beginning of the Holocene and a remarkable increase in records during the Neolithic, a new gradual decrease of records is observed from the Neolithic to the Roman period, intensifying from c. 2000 years ago onwards and ending with the final disappearance of the species from south-western France and north-eastern Iberia. This second decline is linked to the aridification of the Mediterranean entourage that started in the mid-Holocene and has been enhanced by human modification of the landscape. The species is shown to be sensitive to climate change.

1. Mule deer and black-tailed deer Odocoileus hemionus have exhibited marked population fluctuations throughout their range over the past century. The relative contributions of predation, forage availability and weather to observed population changes remain unclear and controversial.
2. We reviewed 48 studies on Odocoileus hemionus survival and predation from the past 30 years and quantified age-specific vital rates, population growth rates (λ) and causes of mortality. We also evaluated the effect of environmental variables on variation in vital rates and the contribution of age-specific survival to population growth.
3. Age-specific survival (ϕ) was the most frequently studied population parameter. Odocoileus hemionus have lower and more variable fawn survival than other ungulate species (ϕ_summer = 0.44, CV = 0.42; ϕ_annual = 0.29, CV = 0.67). Adult female survival conversely appeared to be high and stable throughout the geographical range of the species (ϕ_annual = 0.84, CV = 0.06). Observed low fawn survival appears to be compensated for by high fecundity rates.
4. Predation was the primary proximate cause of mortality for all age classes, and was an important source of summer fawn mortality and of mortality in multi-prey, multi-predator systems. However, predator removal studies suggest that predation is compensatory, particularly at high deer densities, and that nutrition and weather shape population dynamics.
5. We propose three models to explain local population dynamics of Odocoileus hemionus: (i) populations are limited by forage availability and weather; (ii) adult females are limited by forage availability, fawns are limited by forage availability and predation, and population growth is constrained by fecundity and fawn predation; and (iii) large changes in the abundance of predators or alternative prey change predation risk and destabilize population dynamics.
6. Future research should be focused on: the effects of age-specific survival on population growth; possible interactions between predation, forage availability and weather; and the importance of multiple predator and prey species in shaping the population dynamics of Odocoileus hemionus.

1. The Bukovina blind mole rat Spalax graecus is the westernmost representative of the genus and one of the least known European mammals. As currently understood, the species contains three isolates on both sides of the south-eastern Carpathian Mountains. Our focus was on Bukovina blind mole rats from north-eastern Romania and adjacent Ukraine, i.e. on the nominal subspecies Spalax graecus graecus Topachevskii 1976.
2. Phylogenetic reconstruction based on 1140-bp-long cytochrome b sequence revealed a sister position of Spalax graecus against the genus Nannospalax. Pairwise Kimura two-parameter genetic divergences were evidently higher between Spalax graecus and the three species of Nannospalax (mean distances ± standard errors between 0.177 ± 0.014 and 0.197 ± 0.016) than between the three species of Nannospalax (up to 0.128 ± 0.010). The two genera were separated by 178 mutational steps.
3. The Bukovina blind mole rat is so far known from 13 localities in north-eastern Romania and adjacent Ukraine.
4. The most influential environmental factors in the Spalax graecus habitat model were seasonality in precipitation, type of soil and altitude. The elevational range of suitable habitats is 39–848 m. The area occupied is estimated at 15581 km², but patches with high habitat suitability cover only 1604 km².
5. The main habitat for the Bukovina blind mole rat is likely to degrade and the conservation needs of the species will soon have to be taken into account. We recommend the inclusion of the species on Annex II or IV of the European Union's Habitats Directive on grounds of its (i) narrow endemism, (ii) small range of occupancy, (iii) small overall population size and (iv) vulnerability to changes in agricultural land use.

1. We reviewed data on the diets of mouflon (Mediterranean island populations Ovis gmelini musimon and introduced hybridized populations Ovis gmelini musimon × Ovis sp.) from 33 field studies (comprising 51 independent data points suitable for analysis) to detect general patterns in the botanical composition of the diet and identify ecological factors explaining its variation. We expected mouflon, generally classified as grazers, to include botanical entities other than grass in their diet, especially when they are forced to do so by low resource availability, and in certain seasons.
2. Diet composition was investigated based on samples of rumen content and faeces. We combined these data with environmental characteristics at each site using a co-inertia analysis.
3. As expected, grass often constituted the highest proportion in the diet (in 28 of the 51 data points) and represented on average 35% (range = 0–91%) of mouflon diet, confirming the importance of this food for the species. However, referring strictly to commonly used thresholds (>75% or >90%) shows that the classification of mouflon as grazers could be questioned. Indeed, forbs and shrubs constituted 24% (range: 0–93%) and 16% (range: 0–55%) of their diet, respectively, so that mouflon should at least be considered as variable grazers. Forbs represented a high percentage of the overall diet in the Kerguelen Archipelago, southern Indian Ocean (autumn and winter: 73%) and Teide National Park, Canary Islands, Spain (autumn and winter: 83%), whereas shrubs represented a high proportion of the overall diet in Mediterranean areas (19%).
4. Diet composition varied with spatio-temporal variation in forage availability (documented as habitat related or seasonal variation), confirming that mouflon are able to feed on a large variety of plants.
5. Further investigations concerning both digestive morphology and consequences of the inclusion of browse in the diet on population dynamics of mouflon are needed to understand the persistence of this species over a wide range of habitats despite a potential mismatch between its digestive ability and its observed diet.

• 1. 
  The eastern tropical Atlantic (ETA), extending from Mauritania south to Angola, is inhabited by at least 34 cetacean species. Knowledge of cetaceans and the human activities affecting them in the ETA is scant.
• 2. 
  Available literature was reviewed over three eras of ETA cetacean research: the whaling era (1700s–1950s); the stranding and specimen era (1950s–70s); and the modern field research era (1980s–present). Eight human activities were documented to impact ETA cetacean species: directed takes (whaling and small cetaceans); by-catch or entanglement in fishing gear; the ETA tuna purse seine fishery; overfishing; habitat loss and degradation; vessel strikes; marine ecotourism; and live captures for display. Climate change may represent a future threat.
• 3. 
  Directed takes of small cetaceans were documented in 12 ETA countries, and incidental by-catch (especially in gillnets) in at least nine countries. Additionally, unknown levels of cetacean mortality occur in ETA tuna purse seine fisheries. The use of cetaceans as ‘bushmeat’ was documented in 15 countries and involved at least 23 species. Little information could be found on cetacean mortality in Liberia, Benin, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe or the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• 4. 
  Human activities were most frequently and widely reported to impact on common bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus and Atlantic humpback dolphins Sousa teuszii, which are particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic interactions due to their nearshore occurrence.
• 5. 
  The lack of information on the scale of impacts and on cetacean abundance and population structure in the ETA currently hinders assessments of the sustainability of mortality levels.

• 1. 
  Large carnivores (LCs), such as bears (Ursidae), are commonly believed to occur near human settlements because they have a learned tolerance of humans (human habituation) and because they associate humans with accessible high-quality foods (food conditioning). Young bears and females with cubs are often overrepresented among ‘problem’ bears near settlements.
• 2. 
  We review the mechanisms underlying the occurrence of brown and black bears (Ursus arctos, Ursus americanus, Ursus thibetanus) near settlements, and consider four hypotheses designed to separate ultimate and proximate mechanisms.
• 3. 
  Increased occurrence of bears near people or settlements can be explained by (i) the human habituation hypothesis; increased use of human-derived foods can be explained by (ii) the food-conditioning hypothesis. However, both mechanisms are proximate, because they can only apply if bears have earlier experience of people and/or human-derived food.
• 4. 
  A lack of human experience can explain the increased occurrence of younger bears near people or settlements: (iii) the naivety hypothesis. This is a proximate mechanism, because movements of naive bears are typically triggered by aggression and/or competition among conspecifics.
• 5. 
  We conclude that the disproportionate occurrence of bears in certain sex, age and reproductive classes near people or settlements can only be explained by predation avoidance and/or interference competition, i.e. by (iv) the despotic distribution hypothesis. Therefore, a despotic distribution must be an ultimate mechanism causing the proximate mechanisms of habituation or conditioning. Thus, bears using settlements as predation refuges should not be considered ‘unnatural’, but rather as exhibiting an adaptive behaviour, because of the despotic distribution among conspecifics.
• 6. 
  Management of LCs includes attractant management, to counteract food conditioning, but failure to consider despotic behaviour among conspecifics may lead to treating only the symptom, e.g. habituation or conditioning. The ultimate cause of attraction to specific settlements may be identified by considering the type of bear involved; the occurrence of large solitary bears near settlements suggests attractive habitat or food shortage in remote areas, whereas subadults and females with cubs suggest lower-quality habitat.

1. Global warming and increasing human activity are altering northern ecosystems. In these strongly seasonal environments, small herbivorous mammals may have a significant role in determining the trajectory of ecosystem transitions from one state to another.
2. Arctic ground squirrels Urocitellus parryii are a key component of northern terrestrial food webs and are considered ecosystem engineers, exerting a large impact on their habitat through bioturbation.
3. We review and synthesize diverse information about current and past distribution and density of arctic ground squirrels, their physiology and ecological interactions with other species.
4. Factors that appear to affect the distribution and abundance of arctic ground squirrels include increasing temperatures, changes in flooding probability, permafrost thaw, shifting phenology, habitat change, new predators and invasive diseases. Increases in the distribution and density of arctic ground squirrels in northern latitudes and high altitudes could accelerate ecosystem change through facilitation of disturbance-tolerant species, while decreases in southern and milder climates could remove an important agent of disturbance and prey item.
5. Despite their pervasive ecological influence throughout most of their range, arctic ground squirrels are underrepresented in ecological research, based on a comparison of the number of publications about arctic ground squirrels with the number about other species of the same genus, and about other arctic herbivores.
6. The widespread distribution of arctic ground squirrels, along with their potential to exacerbate and alter trajectories of ecosystem change under global warming, makes them a valuable indicator of ecosystem change and therefore a candidate for increased monitoring.

1. Culling is widely practised as a means to reduce predation effects of terrestrial carnivores, birds and marine mammals in many parts of the world. Of marine mammals, coastal pinniped species have usually been the target of culling programs, but dolphins and a large odontocete have also been culled.
2. We reviewed the published literature on marine mammal culling programs to evaluate the extent of their efficacy as a fisheries management measure.
3. Changes in species' distributions and abundance demonstrate that culling programs can be very effective at reducing predator density.
4. Several conclusions from experimental studies of terrestrial mammals and birds may also apply to marine mammal control. Firstly, predator removal generally increases productivity and population size of target prey populations, but not always. Secondly, culling programs typically involve a large proportional reduction (>50%) in predator populations.
5. Thirdly, the effects of culling are typically dependent on continued control, and in the absence of control the population rapidly returns to pre-culling density. This underscores the need for predator removal to be a long-term management strategy. Fourthly, culling predators often has non-intuitive and unintended consequences for target species and for other predator and prey species.
6. Marine mammal culling programs rarely have measurable objectives with respect to prey populations, and their success has not been evaluated. Culling marine mammals is controversial because of the following: (i) they are high-profile charismatic megafauna; (ii) many populations are recovering from a period of over-exploitation while others remain threatened or endangered; and (iii) the scientific evidence needed to justify a cull is usually highly uncertain.
7. Marine mammal culling programs should be based on scientific analysis with stated and measurable objectives to be evaluated during planned follow-up monitoring.

1. Long-term studies on large felids are rare and yet they yield data essential to understanding the behaviour of species and the factors that facilitate their conservation.
2. We used the most extensive data set so far compiled on leopards Panthera pardus to establish baseline reproductive parameters for females and to determine the demographic and environmental factors that affect their lifetime reproductive success.
3. We used comprehensive sightings reports and photographs from ecotourism lodges in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa, to reconstruct life histories for 44 female leopards that gave birth to 172 litters over a 32-year period.
4. Leopards appeared to exhibit a birth pulse; most litters were born in the wet season, particularly in December. Mean age at first parturition (n = 26, mean ± standard error = 46 ± 2 months, range = 33–62) was older than previously recorded, possibly due to elevated intraspecific competition. Average litter size was 1.9 ± 0.1 (n = 140, range = 1–3) and declined with maternal age. Age of litters at independence (n = 52, 19 ± 1 months, range = 9–31) was inversely related to prey abundance but did not affect the likelihood of recruitment of offspring. Interbirth intervals differed following successful litters (in which at least one cub survived to independence; n = 55, 25 ± 1 months, range = 14–39) and unsuccessful litters (n = 46, 11 ± 1 months, range = 4–36), as did the time taken to replace litters.
5. Variation in lifetime reproductive success was influenced mainly by differences in cub survival, which was related to maternal age and vulnerability to infanticide. Cub survival (37%) declined as females got older, perhaps because mothers relinquished portions of their home ranges to philopatric daughters. Male leopards were responsible for many (40%) cub deaths and females appeared to adopt severalstrategies to counter the risk of infanticide, including paternity confusion and displaying a period of reduced fertility immediately after a resident male was replaced.
6. Our results suggest that the reproductive success of female leopards is regulated primarily by top-down processes. This should be taken into account in management decisions, particularly when managers are considering the implementation of invasive activities such as legal trophy hunting.

1. Bats are important ecosystems service providers, make a significant contribution to biodiversity and can be important pests and disease vectors. In spite of this, information on their migration and dispersal patterns is limited.
2. In temperate bats, migration is most evident in females. This reflects seasonal differences in their habitat requirements, and the fact that seasonally suitable sites can be geographically distant. Tropical bats mainly migrate to track variation in food availability.
3. Little direct information is available on the patterns and drivers of bat dispersal, although drivers may include mate competition and inbreeding avoidance. In many temperate species, differential energy requirements and local resource competition among the sexes drive sexual segregation in the summer: females remain philopatric to their natal region, and frequently to their natal colony, while males disperse. In contrast, many tropical Pteropodidae form single-male/multi-female groups in which local resource defence contributes to female-biased or all-offspring dispersal from the natal site.
4. Population genetic studies are the most common source of evidence used to infer the spatial dynamics of bats. As expected, migratory species tend to have less genetically structured populations over large geographical scales due to mating outside of breeding areas, weak migratory connectivity and long-distance movements. In contrast and as expected, populations of sedentary species tend to be more differentiated at smaller geographical scales.
5. Despite this general pattern, a range of factors, including historical events, dispersal capabilities, and behavioural, ecological and geographical barriers, are implicated in the genetic partitioning of bat populations, irrespective of movement patterns. These factors limit the study of bat movements using only genetic methods.
6. Combining population genetics with other methods, such as mark–recapture, tracking or stable isotope analysis, should provide more insight into the movements of these ecologically and economically important species.

1. Camera traps are automated cameras, triggered by movements, used to collect photographic evidence of the presence of animals in field research. I asked whether the use of camera traps in mammalian field research is distributed evenly and increasing equally in a range of habitats, taxa and study types. I aimed to understand where camera traps are used and for what purposes.
2. I identified the population of papers published since 1994 in which camera trap methodology was used. I then explored the population for defined habitats, taxa and study types. I tested the derived data for growth and distribution. Over 96% of the population of camera trap papers identified were focused on mammalian species.
3. Between 1994 and 2011, the use of camera traps for mammalian research increased: 73% of 414 studies were published after 2005. Over time, equipment has become more sophisticated, reliable, flexible, cost-effective and easy to deploy, and there have been other methodological advances.
4. Growth in the number of mammal-related camera trap studies was matched by an expansion in the taxa studied and in study types. The most studied taxon is the order Carnivora; forests are the most studied habitat. No single study type dominates, although there are more population density studies than any other. Camera trap studies are focused on a limited number of habitats and taxa due to their particular strengths and the characteristics of the species that they are used to investigate.
5. Developments such as infrared illumination and triggering, greater battery life, improved lenses, digital storage capacity, miniaturization, video and real-time links will enable camera traps to be used for an increasing range of habitats, taxa and study types and will reinforce their growing value in the areas in which they currently predominate.

1. Climate influences the biogeography of bats, their access to food, timing of hibernation, reproduction and development, frequency and duration of torpor and rate of energy expenditure.
2. Empirical data on the impact of climate change on bats are a cause for concern as current increases in global temperature are one fifth, or less, of those expected over the next century.
3. We review observed impacts of climate change on bats and identify risk factors allowing species-specific predictions.
4. The impact on species is reviewed in relation to six aspects, namely foraging, roosting, reproduction, biogeography, extreme weather events and indirect effects of climate change. For some aspects of species' ecology, there are insufficient data available to make accurate assessment of impacts.
5. We identify seven risk factors encompassing three broad aspects: biogeography – small range size, high latitude or high altitude range and a range occupying a geographic area likely to become water stressed; foraging niche – frugivory and species restricted to aerial hawking; dispersal ability – species with restricted dispersal behaviour.
6. We use the European and north-west African bats as a case study to assess the relative risk of climate change to individual species. Risk scores are compared with existing International Union for Conservation of Nature conservation assessments providing further insight into the conservation outlook for individual species.
7. We provide a base for Chiroptera to be incorporated into future frameworks of risk assessment and identify areas that require further research.

1. Large carnivores are a critical component of Africa's biodiversity, and their conservation requires a clear understanding of interactions between large carnivores and people.
2. By reviewing existing literature, we identify 14 key factors that influence large African carnivore conservation, including ecological (biodiversity conservation, interspecific competition, ranging behaviour, ecological resilience, prey availability, livestock predation, disease and population viability), socio-economic (people's attitudes and behaviours and human costs and benefits of coexistence with large carnivores) and political (conservation policy development and implementation, conservation strategies and land use zoning) factors.
3. We present these key factors in a model illustrating the levels of impact on large African carnivore conservation.
4. We identify the key principle that underpins each factor and its implications for both large carnivore conservation and human–carnivore conflict.
5. We provide a synthesis of the key factors and related principles in large African carnivore conservation and highlight the importance of the site-specific and species-specific context in conservation policy and implementation, formulated through an interdisciplinary and adaptive approach.

1. Dietary traits of nine extant Equus species (E. africanus, E. ferus, E. grevyi, E. hartmannae, E. hemionus, E. khur, E. kiang, E. quagga and E. zebra) were reconstructed and ranked in a continuum reflecting the relative proportions of abrasion and attrition.
2. In order to match them automatically with climatic data, localities were referenced within a 2° worldwide grid system using geographical information system software. The mesowear score was used as a proxy variable to test the covariance of diet with mean annual precipitation, evapotranspiration, mean annual climatic water balance and mean annual temperature.
3. Seven of the nine equid species presented mesowear signatures indicating a grass-dominated diet, and we found interspecific as well as intraspecific variability. Non-gramineous food components shifted the equilibrium towards the attrition-dominated end in E. africanus and E. khur, indicating an intermediate diet. Especially in E. zebra, additional sources of exogenous abrasives (grit and soil) might increase dietary abrasiveness. In E. quagga, dietary flexibility and the capability to cope with increased abrasiveness are considered keystone factors allowing its large geographical range.
4. The broad, species-specific range of climate parameters associated with the habitats was used to define the thresholds of the species' feeding niches. Our data suggest that climate as represented by the variables we used does not, in the first instance, relate to the tooth wear signature of equids.
5. We thus conclude that the tooth wear signature is more specific to the feeding strategy and should be regarded a dietary trait rather than an immediate imprint of climate. However, tooth wear can be used to infer local dietary traits and might therefore become an important tool in conservation management.

1. Ngorongoro Crater is an ecologically important protected area in Tanzania, east Africa. We review published and unpublished data on the crater's large mammal community from the first recorded visit by a European in 1892 to 2010.
2. Early estimates often exaggerated large herbivore numbers and regular scientific censuses have only been made since the 1960s. Since then, most large herbivore populations have declined, particularly wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus, which have been replaced by buffalo Syncerus caffer as the dominant herbivore in terms of biomass. The internationally important population of black rhinoceros Diceros bicornis has reduced from over 100 in the 1960s to around 30 in 2011. The lion Panthera leo population is genetically isolated, has declined since the 1960s and has consistently been held below carrying capacity.
3. Buffalo and warthogs Phacochoerus aethiopicus are relatively recent colonizers. Wild dogs Lycaon pictus were present in the 1960s but are probably now absent. Small numbers of elephants Loxodonta africana use the crater floor and cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus appear to be intermittent visitors.
4. Primary drivers of changes in herbivore populations are disease and vegetation change. Poaching has been implicated as the cause of decline in rhinoceros. Disease associated with anomalous weather conditions appears to be the main driver for population change in lions.
5. Recent scientific research on the large mammal community has largely been focused on lions and rhinoceros. The output of research on other species has not increased since the 1960s.
6. A wider dissemination of research on the crater's mammal populations would help to secure its status as an important site for conservation in the eyes of the wider scientific and conservation community.

1. The introduction of non-native species can pose environmental and economic risks, but under some conditions, introductions can serve conservation or recreational objectives. To minimize risks, introductions should be conducted following the International Union for Conservation of Nature's guidelines and should include an initial assessment and a follow-up.
2. In 1948, to reduce the predation pressure on Pyrenean chamois Rupicapra pyrenaica pyrenaica by golden eagles Aquila chrysaetos, the alpine marmot Marmota marmota was introduced to the Pyrenees in Western Europe. In successive introductions, about 500 marmots were released, but the fate of the released animals and their impacts on the environment remain largely unstudied.
3. The aim of this study was to assess the success of the introduction of the alpine marmot into the Pyrenees, 60 years after the initial release, and the potential impacts of this species on Pyrenean ecosystems.
4. We reviewed what is known about the marmot populations introduced to the Pyrenees and other populations within their native range in the Alps, particularly in terms of population structure and dynamics, habitat use and potential environmental impacts.
5. The alpine marmot is widely distributed and, apparently, well established in the Pyrenees. Population structure and demographic parameters are similar within and outside the historical distribution range of the species, and habitat suitability is one of the main reasons for the species' success in the Pyrenees. Few researchers have investigated the impacts of alpine marmots in the Pyrenees; thus, those impacts have to be inferred from those observed in the species' native range or in other species of marmot. Introduced alpine marmots are likely to impact on Pyrenean grasslands through grazing and burrowing, have the potential to alter Pyrenean food webs and could act as vectors of parasites and disease.
6. Although the introduction of the alpine marmot in the Pyrenees appears to have been successful, more needs to be known about the effects of the established populations on the environment before informed management actions can be taken in the Pyrenees.

1. Bait delivery of vaccines, toxicants or contraceptives to target wild mammals is an essential component of management strategies worldwide. Marking agents are required to enable the identification of individuals that consume the baits in order to evaluate and optimize the cost-efficacy of baiting campaigns.
2. Ethyl-iophenoxic acid (Et-IPA) is an organic iodine-containing compound that has been used increasingly since the 1980s as a bait marker. It binds to proteins in animal blood and therefore can be detected indirectly by measuring plasma or serum iodine concentration or directly by measuring plasma or serum Et-IPA concentration with liquid chromatography. Methyl-iophenoxic acid and propyl-iophenoxic acid can also be used to provide quantitative information on temporal or spatial patterns of bait consumption in a range of mammalian species. We review the suitability of Et-IPA and its analogues as bait markers in mammals.
3. The highly variable persistence of analogues and in species highlights the need for calibration testing of each compound as a marker for each species and for each proposed use before starting a bait delivery trial.
4. After absorption, the fate of IPAs (by metabolism, distribution and excretion) is variable, but most are bound to plasma proteins. Marking efficacy is therefore high.
5. The implications of exposure to IPAs for predators and humans were analyzed to evaluate its safety for delivery to wild mammals. Although it is highly unlikely that secondary exposure through ingestion could involve sufficiently large quantities to produce adverse effects, further studies are necessary to assess long-term effects after chronic exposure to these compounds.
6. IPAs can mark animal serum for long periods of time, and improvements in detection methods for them are currently being developed, so that they are a good choice for oral baiting field experiments with mammals.