Animal Adaptations: Evolution of Forms and Functions

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The annual worldwide incidence of malaria exceeds 600 million clinical cases caused by the two most common malaria species, Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax ( Mendis et al., 2001; Snow et al., 2005; Tan et al., 2011), leading to 1.1-2.7 million deaths attributable primarily to P. falciparum ( WHO, 2008). Malaria causes great suffering among people living in tropical and subtropical regions, with a disproportionate impact on infants, children and pregnant women ( Abdullah et al., 2007; Dharmadasa et al., 2012). Almost all animals inhabiting natural environments are exposed to changes in important climatic factors like temperature, rainfall, humidity and photoperiod. It is these factors on which they rely to cue changes in their sexual status, and an interaction between them and the sexual activity has been reported ( Pevet, 1985a, b; Pevet et al., 1987; Vivien-Roles and Pevet, 1983). The pineal gland has been shown to be involved in the long term adaptation of animal to seasonal reproduction ( Pevet, 1985b; Reiter, 1985). The MI synthesized by the pineal gland act on the hypothalamo-hypophysealgonadal axis and may exert a stimulatory, inhibitory or no effect on the gonads depending on their mode and time of administration ( Berndtson et al., 1974; Ebels et al., 1965; Hoffmann, 1981a; Peat et al., 1971; Turek et al., 1975). The pineal gland of F. pennanti, a tropical seasonal breeder, is sensitive to environmental daylength, temperature and humidity ( Haldar et al., 1988; Haldar et al., 1990). Evening injections of MI inhibit testicular activity of this rodent ( Saxena et al., 1992; Saxena, 1997). Day-night variations in plasma aMT suggest the existence of a diurnal rhythmi- city in pineal activity of this mammal ( Saxena et al., 1993). Also, hematological profiles were normalized in the groups of mice infected and treated with effective dosages of A. boonei except for the MCV and MCHC values which did not vary significantly in the different groups of experimental mice, an indication of a typical feature of normocytic-normochromic anemia ( Menezes et al., 2004).

Velmurugan, S., Errampalli, M., Ravinder, K., Sitaramanjaneyulu, K. & Gangopadhyay, S. Critical evaluation of roadway capacity of multi-lane high speed corridors under heterogeneous traffic conditions through traditional and microscopic simulation models. Journal of Indian Roads Congress (October–December 2010) 235–264 (2010). accessed 23 Mar 2019; https://www.crridom.gov.in/ We placed vehicle input points at the beginning of the link, and data collection points midway along the road, and specified the hourly traffic volume at each vehicle input point. The average harmonic speed of traffic flow at each traffic volume and free flow speeds of different traffic components were selected as data collection measurement attributes (outputs of the simulation). Each simulation was run for 600 s (10 min) with 20 replicates. Simulation resolution of 10 time steps/second was set to maximize speed data collection at data collection points. Species characteristics Majumder, A. Prey Selection, Food Habits and Population Structure of Sympatric Carnivores: Tiger Panthera tigris tigris (L.), Leopard Panthera pardus (L.) and Dhole Cuon alpinus (Pallas) in Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh (India) (Saurashtra University, Rajkot, 2011). Bains, M. S., Ponnu, B. & Arkatkar, S. S. Modeling of traffic flow on Indian expressways using simulation technique. Procedia Soc. Behav. Sci. 43, 475–493. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.04.121 (2012).Sapan Saxena, Indian author, best known for his novel Finders, Keepers (Saxena novel)& UNNS-The Captivation We demonstrated the applicability of the traversability model to determine species-specific AVC probabilities and AVC risk across different traffic heterogeneity and traffic volume scenarios. We found that slow moving animals and animals with large group sizes were at higher risk of AVC as a consequence of greater time required to traverse roads. Further, AVC probability is expected to be greater on wider roads, particularly high traffic roads with predominantly heavy vehicles. Laurance, W. F., Goosem, M. & Laurance, S. G. W. Impacts of roads and linear clearings on tropical forests. Trends Ecol. Evol. 24, 659–669. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2009.06.009 (2009). Rajan Saxena, Indian management academic and the Vice-Chancellor of the SVKM's NMIM deemed university in Mumbai

Giffney, R. A., Russell, T. & Kohen, J. L. Age of road-killed common brushtail possums ( Trichosurus vulpecula) and common ringtail possums ( Pseudocheirus peregrinus) in an urban environment. Aust. Mammal. 31, 137–142 (2009). Thurjfell, H., Spong, G., Olsson, M. & Ericsson, G. Avoidance of high traffic levels results in lower risk of wild boar-vehicle accidents. Landsc. Urban Plan. 133, 98–104 (2015). Administration of the test extract and standard drugs were done by oral intubations and lasted for 4 days at a single dose per day according to the following groupings: •Plant extracts preparation: Fresh samples of the stem bark of A. boonei were air dried in the laboratory at room temperature and pulverized to fine powder. Exactly 400 g of the fine powder obtained was percolated in 1600 mL for 72 h after which it was filtered. The filtrate collected evaporated to dryness using a temperature-regulated water bath pre-set at 40°C to yield the extract concentrate. The extract was stored at 4°C prior to use. Hematological profile of mice infected with chloroquine sensitive Plasmodium berghei, treated groups (Group B-G) compared with uninfected, experimental control group A Langevelde, F. & Jaarsma, C. F. Using traffic flow theory to model traffic mortality in mammals. Landsc. Ecol. 19, 895–907 (2004). Jaarsma, C. F., van Langevelde, F. & Botma, H. Flattened fauna and mitigation: traffic victims related to road, traffic, vehicle, and species characteristics. Transp. Res. Part D 11, 264–276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2006.05.001 (2006).

The incidence of PAHs in a significant number of our day-by-day food substances represents a grave risk to humans. Human exposure to high concentrations of PAHs via food consumption may bring about injurious and harmful impacts [43]. Contaminants in food have been accounted for by numerous researchers and every one of the potential contaminants can be connected to an assortment of harmful impacts. Every adverse effect observed relies upon various components, like exposure intensity, rate or frequency, duration, route and dose, and/or concentration; subtleties of the individual like age and health status [44], [45], [46]. Most PAHs are capable of causing cancer that accounts for the significant effect of the risk characterizations. However, it is often hard to attribute a given health effect in epidemiological studies to a particular PAH compound since PAHs exist as a mixture of different PAH compounds [47]. In general, the higher molecular weight PAHs are more hydrophobic, toxic and recalcitrant [48]. The threshold traffic volume at which AVC probability was equal to probability of successful crossing ( P h = 0.5) varied for different species. Under present traffic heterogeneity, this threshold traffic for group living animals like chital, gaur and wild pig was 300–400 vehicles/h. This threshold traffic volume was higher for sambar (700 vehicles/h), and highest for tiger and leopard (1100–1300 vehicles/h). Across all simulated scenarios, traffic volumes of 200–300 vehicles/h decreased the chances of a successful crossing by half for gaur. For chital, this traffic volume lies above 400–500 vehicles/h in traffic composed of light vehicles (H 0, H 1, H 4, H 7). This threshold volume is higher for sambar (1100 vehicles/h) in traffic composed mostly of heavy vehicles (H 3, H 5, H 6). Hourly traffic volumes above 1000 vehicles/h posed a barrier to < 50% successful traverses for tiger and leopard at most traffic heterogeneity scenarios. The threshold traffic volume for solitary species was lowest (800 vehicles/h) at scenario H 3 which comprised of only MAVs. Beyond this threshold traffic volume, higher fatalities are expected to occur. Seiler, A. Predicting locations of moose-vehicle collisions in Sweden. J. Appl. Ecol. 42, 371–382. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2005.01013.x (2005). The present study reveals, for the first time in a tropical mammalian species, that besides aMT there also exists a diurnal rhythm in the sensitivity of the animal to exogenous MT injections. Pinealecomy and constant release of aMT and MT have been reported to cause atrophy of gonad in male European hamsters kept under long photoperiod ( Masson-Pevet et al., 1986). aMT implants have been reported to hasten recrudescence in male hamsters on short days (Turek et al., 1976). aMT implants cause testicular regression in long-day intact. male Peromyscus leucopus ( Johnston et al., 1980; Lynch et al., 1976) but do not retard testicular regression on short days ( Petterborg et al., 1981). Also varied results have been observed on the effects of photoperiod and melatonin on gonadal function of prepubertal and adult animals of Microtus and Peromyscus species. Although in the case of F. pennanti silastic capsule implants of aMT and MT lead to testicular regression in both intact and Px animals, ( Saxena, 1988) the effects of this continuous mode of MI administration under different photoperiods remains to be assessed.During the study period, we recorded the walking speeds (in m/s) of the study animals in their natural habitats inside PTR, Maharashtra, to calculate the average moving speed. For each species, we averaged 14–20 observations of various walking speeds which was found to be close to 1/6th of the top running speed (Supplementary Table S2). Influence of road and traffic characteristics on AVC probability Mitigation of roadkill and barrier effects of rapidly expanding road networks requires identification of road sections that may cause animal mortalities and barriers to animal movement, and species most likely to be involved in AVCs 8. Studies that take into account road, traffic and landscape characteristics along with species presence, activity and movement characteristics 8, 25, 32 have been able to predict mortality and barrier hotspots across road networks. However, the interaction among risk factors contributing to roadkill and barrier effects to inform mitigation strategies is largely missing from such models. Moreover, mitigation for rapidly expanding road networks should also be informed by road and traffic characteristics such as road types, and projections of traffic growth 33 and traffic composition or ‘heterogeneity’ that is the proportion of different vehicle types in a traffic flow 8.

Laboratory mice: Albino mice weighing between 20-30 g were used for this study. The mice were obtained from Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria and were housed in the experimental animal house of Kogi State University, Anyigba-Nigeria and were fed with formulated feeds from vital feeds, Jos, Nigeria and water was administered ad libitum. The guide for care and use of laboratory Animals (1996) of the Institute of Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR) Commission on life Science, National Research Council was duly followed. Our framework can help inform mitigation of AVC and barrier effects in two ways: by identifying existing and proposed roads in a network that are or may become barriers to animal movement because of present and projected traffic volume, and by informing measures on existing roads with no structural mitigation measures based on traffic and animal activity. This is important for developing economies with rapidly increasing traffic loads on existing unmitigated road networks. Human risk assessment has been investigated to find out the potential hazard resulting from human exposure to poisonous substances present in various foodstuffs and environmental matrices. These investigations are generally used to help with meeting guidelines like those specified by administrative bodies like WHO and numerous others [42]. The major point of human risk evaluation is, to ensure the protection of consumers against the impacts of poisons in water or foods. Thus, it is important to guarantee that contaminants of interest in food or water don’t surpass the normal daily intake. The model assumes that traversing of roads by animals is ‘blind’ for animals in that they do not respond to the presence of vehicles (i.e. do not stop or turn around), and for drivers in that they do not respond to the presence of animals on the road by braking. Therefore, we define P h as the probability of hit of an animal that is attempting to cross the road, as we cannot account for the number of crossing attempts that translate into actual presence of animal on the road for an AVC to occur.

The untreated group of mice infected with the chloroquine sensitive strain, P. berghei recorded a significant (p<0.05) reduction in PCV, Hb, RBC, MCV and neutrophils observably from day 8-14 post infection ( Table 3, 4). While lymphocytes, WBC and platelets counts increased significantly (p<0.05) from day 8-14 postinfection in infected but untreated mice.