Double-brooded great tits (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Parus major</Emphasis>) in Mediterranean oak habitats: Do first broods always perform better than second broods?

Although mistimed reproduction (i.e., time-lag between peak food supply and offspring food demand) has been attributed to habitat modifications or climate change in recent avian investigations, earlier breeding parents have higher reproductive success in many habitats. Here we compare first and second broods in great tits (Parus major L.) from two Mediterranean oak habitats differing significantly in the timing (about 5 weeks), but not the amount of caterpillar supply required to rear chicks. The study indicates that both the extent of mistimed reproduction and the breeding date per se influence breeding performance in this study system. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

A new technique for ordering asymmetrical three-dimensional data sets in ecology

The aim of this paper is to tackle the problem that arises from asymmetrical data cubes formed by two crossed factors fixed by the experimenter (factor A and factor B, e.g., sites and dates) and a factor which is not controlled for (the species). The entries of this cube are densities in species. We approach this kind of data by the comparison of patterns, that is to say by analyzing first the effect of factor B on the species-factor A pattern, and second the effect of factor A on the species-factor B pattern. The analysis of patterns instead of individual responses requires a correspondence analysis. We use a method we call Foucart's correspondence analysis to coordinate the correspondence analyses of several independent matrices of species x factor A (respectively B) type, corresponding to each modality of factor B (respectively A). Such coordination makes it possible to evaluate the effect of factor B (respectively A) on the species-factor A (respectively B) pattern. The results obtained by such a procedure are much more insightful than those resulting from a classical single correspondence analysis applied to the global matrix that is obtained by simply unrolling the data cube, juxtaposing for example the individual species x factor A matrices through modalities of factor B. This is because a single global correspondence analysis combines three effects of factors in a way that cannot be determined from factorial maps (factor A, factor B, and factor A x factor B interaction) whereas the applications of Foucart's correspondence analysis clearly discriminate two different issues. Using two data sets, we illustrate that this technique proves to be particularly powerful in the analyses of ecological convergence which include several distinct data sets and in the analyses of spatiotemporal variations of species distributions.     

New data on Mustelidae (Carnivora) from Southeast Asia: Siamogale thailandica, a peculiar otter-like mustelid from the late middle Miocene Mae Moh Basin, northern Thailand

We report new dental remains of Mustelidae from the late middle Miocene of Mae Moh Basin, northern Thailand, improving the poor fossil record of the family in Southeast Asia. Siamogale thailandica is a poorly known mustelid, previously recorded from just a single tooth. Here we present over a hundred new specimens attributable to this species. S. thailandica shows a combination of primitive and convergent features of the dentition that makes its original subfamilial assignment to Lutrinae doubtful. Evidence from the dental morphology suggests that it belongs to a bunodont otter-like mustelid that evolved in convergence with “true” otters (Lutrinae) toward a semi-aquatic way of life. Autapomorphic features such as the height and the position of the m1 metaconid and the shape of the P4 lingual shelf make S. thailandica unique among Mustelidae. The morphology of this species is mostly similar to Mionictis species and Lartetictis dubia, reported in the Miocene of North America and Europe, respectively. These similarities could imply immigration events to Thailand in the early or middle Miocene. Alternately, the lineage leading to Siamogale might have deeper origins from an endemic early Miocene Southeast Asian mustelid.