Parasitic associations of a threatened Sri Lankan rainforest rodent ...

Parasitic associations of a rainforest rodentbe averted by integrating our knowledge of parasites,pathogens and host physiology with that of ecology andsociety so as to begin to evolve towards a more maturerelationship with living nature (Soule 2002).This is the first parasitic investigation conducted on wildmurids, and more importantly on a threatened endemicrodent, in rainforests in Sri Lanka. Such studies willprovide baseline data that would be useful in conservingthese species in the wild.REFERENCESBechara, G.H., M.P.J. Szabo, J.M.B. Duarte, E.R. Matushima,M.C. Pereira, Y. Rechav, J.E. Keirans & L.J. Fielden(1998). Ticks associated with wild animals in the NhecolandiaPantanal, Brazil. Annals of the New York Academy ofSciences 916: 289-297.Bengtson, S.A., G. Brinck-Lindroth, L. Lundqvist, A. Nilsson& S. Rundgren (1986). Ectoparasites on small mammals inIceland: Origin and population characteristics of a speciespoorinsular community. Holarctic Ecology 9: 143-148.Bolen, E.G. & W.L. 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