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Spartaco Gippoliti

  • Biodiversity Journal, 8 (1): 009-010

    Spartaco Gippoliti & Aldo Oriani
    Does Leptailurus serval (Schreber, 1776) (Mammalia Felidae) occur in Western Egypt?

    ABSTRACT
    The serval cat, Leptailurus serval Schreber, 1776 (Mammalia Felidae), has never been cited from Egypt and Libya in recent time. Here we report the presence of a mounted skin (with skull inside) in a local shop inside the Shiwa Oasis (NW Egypt). The scarcely-spotted pattern exhibited by this skin adds interest to this record. We suggest to secure the specimen to a Natural History Museum and begin an ad hoc investigation in the region.

  • Biodiversity Journal, 15 (4): 773-776

    Spartaco Gippoliti
    Lost African paradises and biodiversity conservation: do not forget history!
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2024.15.4.773.776

    ABSTRACT
    The lack of a historical perspective may hinder awareness of an existing bias in our knowledge of the world’s mammalian diversity and conservation status. Sudan and South Sudan are here utilised as case-study of a huge region that was among the first to be explored by westerners and also saw the first steps of the international conservation movement. Post-colonialism instability exacerbated political and ethnical conflicts, slowing biodiversity research and moving Sudan away from the attention of international ecological research. Today there is a shy regrowth of interest for wildlife conservation in Sudan and South Sudan, and hidden historical data and natural history collections may furnish precious biodiversity information.