Species identification of Kachuga tecta using the cytochrome b gene

A DNA technique has been established for the identification to species level of tortoises. The test on the shell of the animal was used to identify samples from the species Kachuga tecta. A total of 100 tortoise shell specimens collected from the National Council of Agriculture (COA), Taiwan, were used in this study. Primer pairs were designed to amplify partial DNA fragments of cytochrome b within the mitochondrial genome. The DNA data showed that among the 100 samples, there were four distinct haplotype DNA sequences, within which there were a total of 90 variable sites. Between haplotypes I and II, there was only 1 nucleotide difference at position 228. Between haplotypes I and III, 65 nucleotide differences were observed; haplotypes I and IV, 62 nucleotide differences; and haplotypes III and IV, 56 nucleotide differences were observed. There were 66 and 63 nucleotide differences between haplotypes II and III and haplotypes II and IV respectively. All four haplotypes were compared with the DNA sequences held at the GenBank and EMBL databases. The most similar species were K. tecta (haplotype I and II), Morenia ocellata (haplotype III) and Geoclemys hamiltonii (haplotype IV), and their respective mtDNA similarities were 99.5%, 99.3%, 89.9% and 99.5%. However, as haplotype III was only 89.9% homologous with M. ocellata, it would seem that this haplotype shows only a limited relationship with a similar species registered currently in these databases. The method established by this study is an additional method for the identification of samples protected under Convention International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and will improve the work for the preservation of the endangered species.     

The role of forensic geoscience in wildlife crime detection

The increase in both automation and precision in the analysis of geological materials has had significant impact upon forensic investigations in the last 10 years. There is however, a fundamental philosophical difference between forensic and geological enquiry. This paper presents the results of forensic geoscientific investigations of three cases of wildlife crime. Two cases involve the analysis of soils recovered after incidents of illegal badger baiting in the United Kingdom. The third case involves the illegal importation of Eleonora's Falcon (Falco eleonorae) into the United Kingdom from the Mediterranean. All three cases utilise the analysis of soils by a variety of physical, chemical and biological techniques. These involve mineral and grain size analyses, cation and anion compositions, pH, organic content and pollen analysis. The independent analysis undertaken by specialists in each of these three main fields conclude firstly, that there is a significant similarity between sediments taken at the crime site at both badger setts and with sediments recovered from various spades, shovels and clothing belonging to suspects and secondly, that the soils analysed associated with the removal of the falcon eggs in the Mediterranean contained characteristics similar in many respects to the soils of the breeding areas of F. eleonorae on the cliffs of Mallorca. The use of these independent techniques in wildlife crime detection has great potential given the ubiquitous nature of soils and sediments found in association with wildlife sites.     

Do the Post-Communist Transitions Offer Useful Lessons for the Arab Uprisings?

In January 2011, when the Arab protest movements were just beginning in Tunisia and Egypt, few experts predicted the speed and extent of their spread. Fewer still suggested that there were significant analogies to the wave of post-communist revolutions that swept through Europe and Eurasia starting in 1989. However, such comparisons have become more frequent as the uprisings have continued. This article examines whether the current uprisings and political ferment in the Arab world have enough in common with the transitions that began two decades ago in Eastern Europe to provide useful analytical and policy comparisons.     

The country and the cities

Labour migration between countries such as Indonesia and Hong Kong needs to be contextualised within the general patterns of movement throughout the Asian region. These patterns are long term, but accelerated in the late colonial period. As well as physical mobility, such patterns of movement involve cultural and even social forms of mobility. They should be seen as continuous with processes of urbanisation, particularly the formation of “urban corridors” where the distinction between “country” and “city” has increasingly become blurred.     

North‐South trade and female labour in manufacturing: An asymmetry

A simple method of measuring the impact of North‐South trade on the female intensity of manufacturing is applied to data for developed and developing countries. The results confirm that growth of exports has increased the relative demand for female labour in the South. However, there does not appear to have been a general counterpart reduction in the relative demand for female labour in Northern manufacturing, even among blue‐collar workers. There are several possible reasons for the apparent conflict between these findings and other evidence that in Northern manufacturing females have been disproportionately displaced by trade with the South.