Over the last two decades my colleagues and I have assembled the literature on a good percentage of most of the coccidians (Conoidasida) known, to date, to parasitise: Amphibia, four major lineages of Reptilia (Amphisbaenia, Chelonia, Crocodylia, Serpentes), and seven major orders in the Mammalia (Carnivora, Chiroptera, Lagomorpha, Insectivora, Marsupialia, Primates, Scandentia). These vertebrates, combined, comprise about 15,225 species; only about 899 (5.8%) of them have been surveyed for coccidia and 1,946 apicomplexan valid species names or other forms are recorded in the literature. Based on these compilations and other factors, I extrapolated that there yet may be an additional 31,381 new apicomplexans still to be discovered in just these 12 vertebrate groups. Extending the concept to all of the other extant vertebrates on Earth; i.e. lizards (6,300 spp.), rodents plus 12 minor orders of mammals (3,180 spp.), birds (10,000 spp.), and fishes (33,000 spp.) and, conservatively assuming only two unique apicomplexan species per each vertebrate host species, I extrapolate and extend my prediction that we may eventually find 135,000 new apicomplexans that still need discovery and to be described in and from those vertebrates that have not yet been examined for them! Even doubling that number is a significant underestimation in my opinion.
V průběhu neogénu byli s výjimkou jihoamerických vačnatých thylakosmilidů po celém světě jedinými představiteli šavlozubého ekomorfotypu již pouze šelmy barbourofelidi (Barbourofelidae) a příslušníci čeledi kočkovitých (Felidae). Někteří z nich pak dosahovali značné velikosti a mimořádně robustní stavby těla, přičemž v těchto ohledech překonávali ty největší zástupce dnešních velkých koček. Zvláště šavlozubé kočky na dlouhou dobu obsadily pozici na vrcholu potravní pyramidy, než nakonec definitivně vymizely ke konci pleistocénu ze Severní a Jižní Ameriky. Ve Starém světě však vyhynuly již o něco dříve během čtvrtohor, zřejmě následkem zesílené vzájemné konkurence s velkými kočkami, především pak se lvy a tygry., During the Neogene, with the exception of thylacosmilids, barbourofelids and felids were the only representatives of the sabre--tooth ecomorphotype worldwide. Some of them attained tremendous size and were of very robust somatic constitution, exceeding in these aspects the largest contemporary cats. Especially the sabre-tooth felids occupied the top of the trophic chain for a long time before their demise at the end of the Pleistocene in both North and South America. But in the Old World these predators disappeared somewhat earlier, probably due to the strength of mutual competition with other large felids, namely the lions and tigers., and Stanislav Knor.
Our aim was to determine biogeographical patterns in the food habits of golden jackals by first reviewing their dietary patterns at the continental scale and then analysing associations between the food items in their diets and geographical, regional productivity and land-use variables, using multivariate analyses. Our findings indicated that jackals generally consume small mammals as a staple food but shift to consume plant materials or the carcasses of larger mammals when food resources are scarce owing to changes in the regional climate and productivity, as well as anthropogenic habitat modifications. Disruption of natural food resources (specifically small mammals) due to anthropogenic landscape modifications provokes dietary shifts in golden jackals, potentially increasing their reliance on anthropogenic resources. Consequently, conservation of their habitat in combination with waste management to decrease the accessibility to anthropogenic resources is required to resolve human-jackal conflicts.