A selection from Stockholm University publication database

• Carnivora

  2011. Lars Werdelin, Reihaneh Dehghani. Paleontology and Geology of Laetoli: Human Evolution in Context, 189-232

  Chapter

  This paper reviews the extensive carnivoran fauna of Laetoli on the basis of collections housed in Berlin, London, Nairobi, and Dar es Salaam. Members of the Carnivora are known from both the Lower and Upper Laetolil Beds, as well as from the Upper Ndolanya Beds. Of these, the Upper Laetolil Beds are best sampled, and the material includes a minimum of 28 species of Carnivora (four Canidae, three Mustelidae, three Viverridae, six Herpestidae, five Hyaenidae, and seven Felidae). Many of the smaller Carnivora species include complete or partial skeletons and whole, undamaged crania, suggesting rapid burial and absence of trampling and other taphonomic processes that severely affected the more fragmentary larger Carnivora. The Upper Ndolanya Beds Carnivora are preserved in a similar fashion. This stratigraphic unit includes nine to ten species (one Mustelidae, two Herpestidae, one or two Hyaenidae, and five Felidae). All of these are also known from the Upper Laetolil Beds. The Lower Laetolil Beds are less well sampled, with only four species of Carnivora (one Mustelidae, one Herpestidae, and two Hyaenidae). Of these, the mustelid and one hyenid are unique to this stratigraphic unit, while one hyenid is shared with the Upper Laetolil Beds and the herpestid with both the Upper Laetolil Beds and the Upper Ndolanya Beds. Three of the Lower Laetolil Beds Carnivora (all except the herpestid) are partial skeletons, suggesting different depositional or taphonomic conditions at that time, while the presence of an otter in the Lower Laetolil Beds indicates the presence of a large, permanent body of water in the vicinity.

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• Phylogeography of the White-tailed Mongoose (Herpestidae, Carnivora, Mammalia) - a phylogenetic study based on partial mtDNA of the control region (D-loop)

  2008. Reihaneh Dehghani (et al.). Journal of Zoology (276), 385-393

  Article

  The phylogeography of the white-tailed mongoose Ichneumia albicauda is examinedusing phylogenetic analyses based on partial sequences of the mitochondrialcontrol region. The phylogeny is used to: (1) Analyse the phylogeographic patternof I. albicauda; (2) discuss the existing delimitation of subspecies; (3) test if thecoloration of the tail tip, generally white but occasionally black in West Africanspecimens, is a species polymorphism or if it has phylogenetic significance. Ourresults suggest a north–south division within white-tailed mongoose populations,and within the northern clade, we observe an east–west subdivision. Thisphylogenetic pattern is partly in concordance with the traditional division into sixsubspecies. The white-tailed mongoose probably originated in southern Africa,from where it dispersed northwards and colonized eastern and western parts ofAfrica, as well as the Arabian Peninsula. Colour polymorphism observed inWestern populations reflects variation at the individual level.

  Read more about Phylogeography of the White-tailed Mongoose (Herpestidae, Carnivora, Mammalia) - a phylogenetic study based on partial mtDNA of the control region (D-loop)

• Phylogeography of the white-tailed mongoose (Herpestidae, Carnivora, Mammalia) based on partial sequences of the mtDNA control region (p 385-393)

  2008. Reihaneh Dehghani (et al.). Journal of Zoology (276), 385-393

  Article

  The phylogeography of the white-tailed mongoose Ichneumia albicauda is examined using phylogenetic analyses based on partial sequences of the mitochondrial control region. The phylogeny is used to: (1) Analyse the phylogeographic pattern of I. albicauda; (2) discuss the existing delimitation of subspecies; (3) test if the coloration of the tail tip, generally white but occasionally black in West African specimens, is a species polymorphism or if it has phylogenetic significance. Our results suggest a north–south division within white-tailed mongoose populations, and within the northern clade, we observe an east–west subdivision. This phylogenetic pattern is partly in concordance with the traditional division into six subspecies. The white-tailed mongoose probably originated in southern Africa, from where it dispersed northwards and colonized eastern and western parts of Africa, as well as the Arabian Peninsula. Colour polymorphism observed in Western populations reflects variation at the individual level.

  Read more about Phylogeography of the white-tailed mongoose (Herpestidae, Carnivora, Mammalia) based on partial sequences of the mtDNA control region (p 385-393)

Show all publications by Lars Werdelin at Stockholm University