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Human‐induced environmental change has caused widespread loss of species that support important functions for ecosystems and society. For example, vertebrate scavengers contribute to the functional health of ecosystems and provide services to agricultural landscapes by removing carcasses and associated pests. Widespread extirpation of native Australian mammals since the arrival of Europeans in Australia has removed many scavenging species from landscapes, while scavenging mammals such as European red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) have been introduced. In much of Australia, squamate reptiles are the largest native terrestrial scavengers remaining, where large native mammals are extinct and conservation management is being undertaken to remove invasive mammals. The contribution of reptiles to scavenging functions is not well understood. In this study, we investigated the ecosystem functions provided by large reptiles as scavengers to better understand how populations can be managed to support ecosystem services. We investigated the ecosystem services provided by vertebrate scavengers in Australian coastal mallee ecosystems, focusing on the heath goanna (Varanus rosenbergi), the only extant native terrestrial scavenger in the region. We carried out exclosure experiments, isolating the scavenging activity of different taxonomic groups to quantify the contribution of different taxa to scavenging services, specifically the removal of rat carcasses, and its impact on the occurrence of agriculturally damaging blowflies. We compared areas with different native and invasive scavenger communities to investigate the impact of invasive species removal and native species abundance on scavenging services. Our results indicated that vertebrate scavenging significantly contributes to carcass removal and limitation of necrophagous fly breeding in carcasses and that levels of removal are higher in areas associated with high densities of heath goannas and low densities of invasive mammals. Therefore, augmentation of heath goanna populations represents a promising management strategy to restore and maximize scavenging ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of crypsis in the evolution of color variation in an Australian lizard specie complex (Ctenophorus decresii) is studied. Findings reveal that color patterns and variation represent a balance between the need for conspicousness for signaling and the need for crypsis to avoid predation.

ABSTRACT How sociality evolves and is maintained remains a key question in evolutionary biology. Most studies to date have focused on insects, birds, and mammals but data from a wider range of taxonomic groups are essential to identify general patterns and processes. The extent of social behaviour among squamate reptiles is under-appreciated, yet they are a promising group for further studies. Living in aggregations is posited as an important step in the evolution of more complex sociality. We review data on aggregations among squamates and find evidence for some form of aggregations in 94 species across 22 families. Of these, 18 species across 7 families exhibited 'stable' aggregations that entail overlapping home ranges and stable membership in long-term (years) or seasonal aggregations. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that stable aggregations have evolved multiple times in squamates. We: ( i) identify significant gaps in our understanding; ( ii) outline key traits which should be the focus of future research; and ( iii) outline the potential for utilising reproductive skew theory to provide insights into squamate sociality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We isolated 24 novel polymorphic microsatellite markers from the tawny frogmouth, a nocturnal bird endemic to Australia, which has successfully adapted to urban environments. Initially, 454 shotgun sequencing was used to identify 733 loci with primers designed. Of these, we trialled 30 in the target species of which all amplified a product of expected size. Subsequently, all 30 of these loci were screened for variation in 25 individuals, from a single population in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Twenty-eight loci were polymorphic with observed heterozygosity ranging from 0.03 to 0.96 (mean 0.58) and the number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 18 (average of 6.5); we confirmed that 24 loci conformed to Hardy-Weinberg expectations. The 24 loci identified here will be sufficient to unequivocally identify individuals and will be useful in understanding the reproductive ecology, population genetics and the gene flow amongst localities in urban environments where this bird thrives. We isolated 24 novel polymorphic microsatellite markers from the tawny frogmouth, a nocturnal bird endemic to Australia, using 454 shotgun sequencing. We show that this suite of loci will be sufficient to unequivocally identify individuals and will be useful in understanding the reproductive ecology, population genetics and gene flow amongst tawny frogmouth populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which investigates the influence of the metal used in the construction of the leg bands for Australian Pelicans Pelecanus conspicillatus on its recovery by wildlife researchers. Topics discussed include a brief description of the aluminum leg band and the stainless steel leg band, the criteria used to determine the survivability of the leg band, the use of the chi-square statistical method in the study, and an analysis of the results.

Recognition of individual animals is crucial to being able to answer many pure and applied research questions in zoology. Marking members of species that undergo large changes in size during development can be particularly challenging. This paper describes successful methods used to mark Australian Pelicans Pelecanus conspicillatus, which show mass changes of over two orders of magnitude during development. Re-sightings until the end of 2011 were recorded for birds marked between 1990 and 2003. Comparison of re-sighting rates among the different marking techniques used, their cost, practicality of application in the field and associated animal welfare issues were taken into account when choosing the best techniques. Marking eggs with non-toxic, felt-tipped pens worked well, except under wet conditions. Custom-made "velcro" wing tags worked well for nestlings. The "velcro" tags can also be used on the leg to mark small crèche-young until they are large enough for Allflex™ cattle ear tags to be used as patagial tags. The high re-sighting rates of patagial tags on fledged pelicans (>61%) demonstrated their superior utility compared with butt-ended, stainless steel leg bands (re-sightings 1.3%). Stainless steel leg bands detached from 22/311 (7%) pelicans concurrently leg-banded and patagially-tagged. The techniques described here were used sequentially to mark individual pelicans throughout their life span. They provide practical, cost-effective and safe methods for marking individual pelicans and other similarsized birds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several lizard species in the Australian scincid genus Egernia have been reported to deposit scats in piles. We show that E. striolata, which does not produce scat piles, and E. inornata, which does not, can both discriminate their own secretions, on paper substrates, from those of unfamiliar conspecifics. This was indicated by elevated tongue flick rates and more time in contact with the unfamiliar stimulus. This was not just a response to a novel stimulus because the secretions for another species (E. stokessii) elicited lower responses. When scats were presented, only striolata demonstrated discrimination between their own scats and those of unfamiliar conspecifics. This suggests that scats could be used to produce individual signals, perhaps indicating residence status, in scat-piling species. for striolata the signal from scats became less effective as the scats became older suggesting the need to pile scats to renew the signal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]