Distribution and Diseases

What is biogeography?

What is endenism?

What is vicariance?

• Leads to speciation

What is dispersal?

• Locomotory determines the ability to disperse (size, mode of locomotion, life expecting, specialized, temp tolerance)

• Generalists usually have high dispersal while specialized tend to be low

What is faunal interchange? What are the types of faunal interchange?

• Movement of taxa among regions

  • Corridors: pathways for dispersal that offer little resistance

  • Filter Routes: only allow passage of some species

  • Sweepstake Routes: probability of successful dispersal is extremely low

What are biogeographic realms and who created them?

• First proposed by Alfred Russell Wallace (1876)

• Based on characteristic fauna

What are the characteristics of the biogeographic realms?

What is the Wallace Line?

• A deep trench in the ocean that caused a severe difference of fauna composition between Oriental and Australian (terrestrial can not cross)

What are the distribution patterns of biogeographic realms?

• Endemics

  • Neotropical, Ethiopian and Australian regions

  • Isolated for much of the Cenozoic

• Metatherians

  • Neotropical and Australian regions

  • Dispersed from South America to Australia via Antarctica

• Diversity

  • Neotropical (56), Ethiopian (58) and Oriental (49)

  • Tropical forests were conducive to formation of arboreal and volant species (primates and bats)

What is the Latitudinal Diversity Gradient?

• Tendency for species richness to decrease from the equator to the poles

What were the fauna in the early cenozoic across the faunal regions?

What are the three South American fauna groups?

What were the South American fauna in the Oligocene?

What was the Great American Interchange?

What was the diversity before and after the exchange?

What happened after the interchange and why?

• North American mammals were better competitors (more generalist)

• Climate and habit changes (NA could adapt to tropical environments, SA fauna could not compete outside of tropical environments)

What are different wildlife disease organizations?

• Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (SCWDS)

  • Research and diagnostics

  • Wildlife population, wildlife-livestock interactions, transmission to humans

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

  • Human health perspective

• USGS National Wildlife Health Center

What are terminologies for disease?

What is rabies?

• Causes an acute, fatal encephalitis in mammals

  • Severe, rapid on-set

  • Encephalitis- inflammation in the brain

• All mammals are susceptible

• Caused by a Lyssavirus

How is rabies transmitted?

• Typically from contact with saliva of infected animal, usually through bite

• Aerosol (experimentally, not practically)

• Through organ transplant

• It takes 3-12 weeks of incubation, clinical disease then death after 7 days

What are the clinical disease of rabies?

What are the wildlife hosts of rabies?

• Mostly raccoons here in Georgia

What is oral rabies vaccine for wildlife?

An edible bait distributed by government agencies to immunize wild animals and prevent the spread of rabies.

Where do bat rabies presumably occur?

• Bat rabies presumably occur most around urban areas

• It could be bias since more people can get bit and will report it more

What is the prevention procedure for rabies?

What is the procedure if exposed to rabies?

What is the hantavirus?

What are the reservoirs for hantavirus?

How is hantavirus transmitted?

• Inhalation of aerosolized virus

• Inhalation of rodent excreta (urine)

What are the clinical disease of hantavirus?

• “Flu-like” symptoms

• Pulmonary edema

  • Lungs filled with fluid, shortness of breath

• More cases in the West US due to dry, arid climates

What are the risk factors for hantavirus?

What are the prevention measures for hantavirus?

What is Baylisascaris Infection?

How is Baylisascaris Infection transmitted?

• Ingestion of embryonated eggs (raccoon scat)

• Eggs require 2-4 weeks to be embryonated environment

How is Baylisascaris Infection prevented?

• Always wear gloves when handling raccoons/scat

• Raccoon biology

  • Latrines

  • Adaptable to urban/suburban areas

• Burning eggs to kill eggs, highly resistant (70%-80% bleach to kill)

What is histoplasmosis?

What is the clinical disease for histoplasmosis?

How do you prevent histoplasmosis?

• Wear a respirator when working in areas with accumulated bird or bat feces

  • Attics, Caves, and Pigeon Roosts

• 10% bleach

What is the Black Plague?

What is the clinical disease for human cases?

What is Leprosy?

What are the tick-borne diseases?