Divergent water requirements partition exposure risk to parasites in wild equids.

ABSTRACT: For grazing herbivores, dung density in feeding areas is an important determinant of exposure risk to fecal-orally transmitted parasites. When host species share the same parasite species, a nonrandom distribution of their cumulative dung density and/or nonrandom ranging and feeding behavior may skew exposure risk and the relative selection pressure parasites impose on each host. The arid-adapted Grevy's zebra (Equus grevyi) can range more widely than the water-dependent plains zebra (Equus quagga), with which it shares the same species of gastrointestinal nematodes. We studied how the spatial distribution of zebra dung relates to ranging and feeding behavior to assess parasite exposure risk in Grevy's and plains zebras at a site inhabited by both zebra species. We found that

SUBMITTER: Tombak KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8928873 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature