No abstract

The occurrence of the pentastomid Porocephalus crotali in an Indian rat snake (Ptyas mucosus) at Chennai, India is reported. The worms were found in the lungs and they were identified as females. The worms were cylindrical and annulated with a centrally located mouth surrounded by four hooks. The worms were rounded in cross section with tapering ends. Eggs were composed of two shell membranes. This is one of the new reports from rat snakes in Southern India.

Wild pigs are found to be the most prolific, very intelligent and secretive. These animals are adaptive ecological generalists and survive in wide range of habitats worldwide. The reproductive traits of wild pigs are extraordinary showing high prolificacy. Corticosteroids can exert inhibitory and facilitory effects on reproduction. In order to assess the attributable stress on reproduction a non-invasive method of assessing faecal glucocorticoid metabolites was applied in this study. Samples from wild pigs from three different regions were collected and were subjected to Enzyme Linked Imuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the effect of stress on reproduction in wild pigs. Corticosteroids may act at the level of the ovary to suppress aromatase activity and thereby reduce the elevated circulating estrogens considered by many to be responsible for hyper secretion of Lutenizing Hormone (LH). Interestingly the acute level of stress is found to be facilitory and the chronic found to be inhibitory.

Background: The sternum is one of the most important and characteristic skeletal elements in birds, highly adapted for flight and showing a diverse range of morphogenesis. The Asian koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus) is a member of the Cuckoo order of birds, found in the Indian sub-continent, China and Southeast Asia. The present study was carried out as anatomical data on the sternum of this species is scanty. Methods: Carcass of Asian koel brought to the Department of Wildlife Science, Madras Veterinary College, Chennai after the post-mortem examination was biologically macerated, cleaned, dried and morphological and morphometric studies were performed. Result: Gross morphological and morphometric data of the sternum of Asian koel was compared with other avian species. The sternum of Asian koel was large, broad, quadrilateral shaped and highly pneumatized bone with well developed sternal crest, craniolateral and caudolateral processes. These features provide protection to the viscera and facilitates superior flight.

Background: The olive ridley sea turtle also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle is a medium-sized species of turtle found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Sea Turtles are an integral part of coastal and marine ecosystems, they have also been fundamental to the culture of coastal societies for millennia. But human activities over the past 200 years have massively tipped the scales against the survival of these ancient mariners, despite its conservation status the olive ridley are considered vulnerable. The aim of the study was to collect biochemical data on olive ridley sea turtles while drawing comparisons with previous published data on sea turtles. Methods: This research work was carried out in rescued Olive Ridley Sea Turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) which were stranded or rescued during various periods of breeding season from September, 2017 to April, 2018 by Trust for Environmental and Education (TREE) foundation, Vettuvankeni, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The Clinical samples were collected from 7 sea turtles in rescue centers and examined for biochemical parameters analysis. The biochemical parameters measured were Glucose, cholesterol, Total protein, albumin and globulin, Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN), Creatinine, Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT), Calcium and Phosphorus. The statistical analyses of data were carried out by using student’s t-test. Result: The results of this study were more or less unfailing with previous studies but variations with other studies may result from values depends upon the geospatial distribution such as species, age, sex, season, sample site, nutrition and management condition. The data in this research was more specific to olive ridley sea turtles, indicating need to standardize reference values because of little know data on these turtle species, which are intended for health evaluation for free-ranging and captive/rescued sea turtles.