Factors affecting Sarcocystis infection of rats on small tropical islands
The purpose of our research was to explore the limits of rat‐python‐ Sarcocystis distribution among rats on the offshore tropical islands of Singapore, and to examine the effect of island size, insular isolation, landscape peculiarities and anthropogenic disturbance. Commensal rats ( Rattus rattus )...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1703.2004.00661.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1440-1703.2004.00661.x http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/j.1440-1703.2004.00661.x/fullpdf |
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crwiley:10.1111/j.1440-1703.2004.00661.x 2024-06-23T07:56:24+00:00 Factors affecting Sarcocystis infection of rats on small tropical islands PAPERNA, Ilan PEH, Kelvin S.‐H. MARTELLI, Paolo KOH, Lian Pin SODHI, Navjot S. 2004 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1703.2004.00661.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1440-1703.2004.00661.x http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/j.1440-1703.2004.00661.x/fullpdf en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Ecological Research volume 19, issue 5, page 475-483 ISSN 0912-3814 1440-1703 journal-article 2004 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1703.2004.00661.x 2024-06-04T06:46:16Z The purpose of our research was to explore the limits of rat‐python‐ Sarcocystis distribution among rats on the offshore tropical islands of Singapore, and to examine the effect of island size, insular isolation, landscape peculiarities and anthropogenic disturbance. Commensal rats ( Rattus rattus ) inhabited all of these islands, regardless of the island's size, proximity to the mainland, biogeographic features, and/or degree of anthropogenic interference. Rats caught on Sakijang Pelepah Island had well deliminated white bellies that are similar to those of sylvatic or feral rats. The prevalence of Sarcocystis spp. on individual islands ranged from 57 to 100%. This is consistent with the range found in forested habitats on Singapore Island. It also exhibited a similar diversity to Sarcocystis spp. and the predominance of Sarcocystis singaporensis . On Sakijang Pelepah Island, one rat (white bellied) was exceptionally heavily infected with both Sarcocystis villivilosi and Sarcocystis sulawesiensis. The muscles of the rats from nearly all of the islands contained immature sarcocysts, which implies that active transmission is taking place on these islands. This suggests that reticulated pythons ( Python reticulatus ), which are the definitive hosts of rat Sarcocystis , might have been established or frequented in all the islands of Singapore. Our study shows that the Sarcocystis infection load of the rats was negatively correlated with human disturbance, hinting that human disturbance restricts the pythons’ mobility and thus, reduces infection of Sarcocytis in the islands rats. Article in Journal/Newspaper Rattus rattus Wiley Online Library Ecological Research 19 5 475 483 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
description |
The purpose of our research was to explore the limits of rat‐python‐ Sarcocystis distribution among rats on the offshore tropical islands of Singapore, and to examine the effect of island size, insular isolation, landscape peculiarities and anthropogenic disturbance. Commensal rats ( Rattus rattus ) inhabited all of these islands, regardless of the island's size, proximity to the mainland, biogeographic features, and/or degree of anthropogenic interference. Rats caught on Sakijang Pelepah Island had well deliminated white bellies that are similar to those of sylvatic or feral rats. The prevalence of Sarcocystis spp. on individual islands ranged from 57 to 100%. This is consistent with the range found in forested habitats on Singapore Island. It also exhibited a similar diversity to Sarcocystis spp. and the predominance of Sarcocystis singaporensis . On Sakijang Pelepah Island, one rat (white bellied) was exceptionally heavily infected with both Sarcocystis villivilosi and Sarcocystis sulawesiensis. The muscles of the rats from nearly all of the islands contained immature sarcocysts, which implies that active transmission is taking place on these islands. This suggests that reticulated pythons ( Python reticulatus ), which are the definitive hosts of rat Sarcocystis , might have been established or frequented in all the islands of Singapore. Our study shows that the Sarcocystis infection load of the rats was negatively correlated with human disturbance, hinting that human disturbance restricts the pythons’ mobility and thus, reduces infection of Sarcocytis in the islands rats. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
PAPERNA, Ilan PEH, Kelvin S.‐H. MARTELLI, Paolo KOH, Lian Pin SODHI, Navjot S. |
spellingShingle |
PAPERNA, Ilan PEH, Kelvin S.‐H. MARTELLI, Paolo KOH, Lian Pin SODHI, Navjot S. Factors affecting Sarcocystis infection of rats on small tropical islands |
author_facet |
PAPERNA, Ilan PEH, Kelvin S.‐H. MARTELLI, Paolo KOH, Lian Pin SODHI, Navjot S. |
author_sort |
PAPERNA, Ilan |
title |
Factors affecting Sarcocystis infection of rats on small tropical islands |
title_short |
Factors affecting Sarcocystis infection of rats on small tropical islands |
title_full |
Factors affecting Sarcocystis infection of rats on small tropical islands |
title_fullStr |
Factors affecting Sarcocystis infection of rats on small tropical islands |
title_full_unstemmed |
Factors affecting Sarcocystis infection of rats on small tropical islands |
title_sort |
factors affecting sarcocystis infection of rats on small tropical islands |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1703.2004.00661.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1440-1703.2004.00661.x http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/j.1440-1703.2004.00661.x/fullpdf |
genre |
Rattus rattus |
genre_facet |
Rattus rattus |
op_source |
Ecological Research volume 19, issue 5, page 475-483 ISSN 0912-3814 1440-1703 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1703.2004.00661.x |
container_title |
Ecological Research |
container_volume |
19 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
475 |
op_container_end_page |
483 |
_version_ |
1802649465202409472 |