Tarsubulura perarmata (Ratzel, 1868) is described from a primate Tarsius bancanus and from Tupaidae: Tupaia glis and T. minor in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur). Its biological cycle is done by the experimental infestation of crickets belonging to the genera Valanga and Oxya. The infective larvae are obtained after three weeks of development of 28 degrees C in the intermediate host. They differ from third stage larvae obtained from Subulurinae by the development of cuticular pharyngeal lobes. The early apparition of this ontogenetic character confirms the isolation of the genus Tarsubulura as compared to the general evolution of the Subuluridae.
Description of the male Pterygodermatites nycticebi (Mönnig, 1920) unknown until the present study, and a study of the cephalic and cuticular structures of the female. This rictularid has a morphological evolution comparable to that of other males of the Rictulariidae parasitic in viverrid carnivores and in primates.
Leaves of two plant species eaten by Macaca fascicularis in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore, were collected and colour-tested. Leaves matching those eaten by M. fascicularis were examined by energy-dispersive X-ray micro-analysis. The leaves of Streblus elongatus (Moraceae) and Gluta wallichii (Anacardiaceae), together forming 19.6% of the leaf diet of the macaques, contained silica. In G. wallichii, this in the base of hairs that project from the underside of the leaf, whereas S. elongatus leaves have short sharp siliceous trichomes which are densely packed on the undersurface of leaf veins. We predict from an indentation analysis that chewing on the latter species could cause dental microwear at low occlusal forces. The leaves are reportedly common in the diet of three other primate species in peninsular Malaysia and the finding could have general significance for studies of dental wear.
A survey was undertaken to investigate the prevalence of intestinal parasites from different groups of mammals housed in a zoological garden in Malaysia. A total of 197 faecal samples were collected randomly from various primates (99), hoofed mammals (70) and feline (28). It was discovered that 89.3% of feline, 54.5% of primates and 45.7% of hoofed mammals were infected with intestinal parasites. Intestinal parasites found in primates were Balantidium coli (19.2%), Cryptosporidium spp. (14.1%), hookworm (10.1%), Trichuris spp. (5.1%), Ascaris (4.0%) and Blastocystis spp. (2.0%). For hoofed mammals, hookworm had the highest prevalence (34.3%) followed by Trichuris spp. and Cryptosporidium spp. (5.7%). Meanwhile, for feline, Toxocara cati was the most prevalent (64.3%), followed by Cryptosporidium spp. (14.3%), Spirometra spp. (7.1%), and hookworm (3.6%). Animals that were infected were all asymptomatic with low parasite load. Routine monitoring of the presence of parasites in animals kept in the zoo is imperative in assisting zoo management in the formulation and implementation of preventive and control measures against the spread of infectious parasitic diseases among animals within the zoo or to humans.
The emergence of primate malaria known as Plasmodium knowlesi in humans, which is always misdiagnosed by microscopy as P. malariae, has contribute to the needs of nucleic acid based technology to be applied in detection and differentiation of malaria parasites. The target DNA sequence of the 18SrRNA gene was amplified by a nested PCR assay for detection and identification of Plasmodium species in 31 Giemsa-stained blood smears examined as P. malariae. The assay demonstrated three samples identified as positive to genus-specific primers but negative to all species-specific primers. Three cases of misdiagnosed species were detected. The samples were diagnosed as P. malariae microscopically, but detected as P. falciparum by PCR assay. Twenty five out of 31 samples were detected as P. knowlesi. None of the samples diagnosed microscopically as P. malariae were identified as P. malariae with the nested PCR assay. Over 80.6% of all malaria cases in this study showed naturally acquired P. knowlesi infections.
For several decades, primatologists have been interested in understanding how sympatric primate species are able to coexist. Most of our understanding of primate community ecology derives from the assumption that these animals interact predominantly with other primates. In this study, we investigate to what extent multiple community assembly hypotheses consistent with this assumption are supported when tested with communities of primates in isolation versus with communities of primates, birds, bats, and squirrels together. We focus on vertebrate communities on the island of Borneo, where we examine the determinants of presence or absence of species, and how these communities are structured. We test for checkerboard distributions, guild proportionality, and Fox's assembly rule for favored states, and predict that statistical signals reflecting interactions between ecologically similar species will be stronger when nonprimate taxa are included in analyses. We found strong support for checkerboard distributions in several communities, particularly when taxonomic groups were combined, and after controlling for habitat effects. We found evidence of guild proportionality in some communities, but did not find significant support for Fox's assembly rule in any of the communities examined. These results demonstrate the presence of vertebrate community structure that is ecologically determined rather than randomly generated, which is a finding consistent with the interpretation that interactions within and between these taxonomic groups may have shaped species composition in these communities. This research highlights the importance of considering the broader vertebrate communities with which primates co-occur, and so we urge primatologists to explicitly consider nonprimate taxa in the study of primate ecology.