Abstract:This paper presents data from a study of 7 breeding sites of the Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus barbatus) in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau from 1991 to 1992 and from 2010 to 2013. The results indicate that laying date of the Bearded Vulture began in early December and lasted until late January (range 7 December to 28 January, n = 4). Mean clutch size was 1.86 and 85.71％ of nests contained two eggs (n = 14). The size of 3 eggs mearsured were 84.4 (83.1-88.3) mm in length and 68.03 (67.0-70.0) mm in width. Breeding success were 81.82％ (2010-2012, n = 22). The altitude range of nest sites was from 2 600 m to 4 575 m. The average distance between the breeding pairs was 35.84 km (25.10-47.3 km), and territorial area were 321.13 km2 (157.56-559.32 km2). The proportion of juveniles was reduced from 30.17％ to 16.67％ during the past 20 years, and that of adults was increased from 61.21％ to 70.83％(since 1990). Compared with the breeding nests of the Himalayan Griffon (Gyps himalayensis), we estimated the population size of this species was less than 1 410 breeding pairs in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (about 2 500 000 km2). The threaten factors to the Bearded Vulture are 4 major categories of more than 10 kinds: (1) persecution by hunting, including the illegal acquisition of ornamental specimens and traditional medicine by the way of shooting, poisoning bait and trapping net etc.；(2) indirect unconscious persecution, mainly the rodenticide poisoning, the second is to anti-wolf poisoning activity, included snares placed in the livestock carcass side. (3) setting up the infrastructure, such as power lines and the wind farm, road construction directly to habitat disturbance and lead to greatly increase in human disturbance to the nesting area；(4) the influence of modern production and way of life, these relate to the rapid processing of the frail livestock and complete utilization of livestock carcass(to reduce the food source), animal disease prevention and control measures may cause the effect of residual drug for the Bearded Vulture, the lack of soft nest material(wool used for lining the interior of the nest) and the waste chemical fiber textiles is used by the Bearded Vulture can affect the warm demands of egg and chick in the cold season.

Abstract:The surveys on current status of waders at 15 sites of Qinghai Lake were conducted for 14 times from 2006 to 2009, with the aim of providing scientific basis on tourism development and conservation and management. Totally 26 species were recorded, under the Charadriiformes order, 3 families, accounting for 20.2% of the total wader species. Common Redshank Tringa tetanus, Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrines, and Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa weredominant species, almost mainly distributed in Quanwan. The diversity of Heimahe and Buhahekou were higher than the other sites, which related to its habitat suitability. Compared with Bohai Bay, spring migration peak of waders at Qinghai Lake occurred in May, which approximately a month later than Bohai Bay, and fall migration started from late August and ended in October, which approximately a month earlier than Bohai Bay. Dominant species in Qinghai Lake was quite different from Bohai Bay. In recent years, with the increasing numbers of tourists and sightseeing boats and other human activities, some habitats at Luci Island and Tiebuqiahekou had slightly eutrophication, which were not suitable for the waterbirds. It is suggested that conservation and management of ecological environment should be pay attention to reduce human disturbance at Qinghai Lake.

Abstract:Lugu Lake is an important wintering site for migrating waterbirds in southwest China, and it is a famous tourism scenic area as well. To understand waterbirds community composition and dynamic change in Lugu Lake and Zhudihai Wetland about 500 m apart in the northwest in winter (from October 2013 to February 2014) monthly (except for December). The wintering waterbirds were count five and four surveys were conducted at 13 sites in Lugu Lake and at one site in Zhudihai wetland (Fig. 1). Total 27 species (see appendix) was record in Lugu Lake, including one Ranked Ⅱ national protected species, namely the common crane (Grus grus). The maximum waterbird observed there was about 22 800 individuals, which meet the standard of Ramsar wetlands. The waterbirds was dominated by coot (Fulica atra) with maximum individuals of 10 300. Total 16 species (see Appendix) was recorded in Zhudihai wetand in spite of its area being as small as 0.4 km2. The maximum birds observed was about 3 600 individuals dominated by Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) with maximum number of 2 700. Comparison with the survey data collected in 1992 in both Lugu Lake and Zhudihai wetland, five species were added and eight were lost from the bird community, resulted in the species richness reduced from original 33 to 30. However, the waterbird abundance in the two wetlands was stable. Some of the dabbling ducks and wading birds were listed in the name list of disappeared species since 1990s, which might be caused by the booming tourism near lake shore. The ever dominant species Red-crested Pochard (Netta rufina) lost about half of its wintering population in Lugu Lake compared with the data collected in 1992, which indicated the ecosystem in Lugu Lake might undergo some change. Considering the species rechness in Zhudihai wetland, we suggested it need to be intergraded in the Lugu Lake Nature Reserve system and to protect the shallow water habitat remained in Lugu Lake to stop species richness decreasing in light of the further development of tourism.

Abstract:Bird behaviour, no matter from hereditary or acquired through learning, id an adaptation to the environment condition. Total of 41 infrared-triggered cameras were set at the selected locations from 444 m to 2 133 m in altitude to record the diurnal behavior and time budget of the Cabot′s tragopan (Tragopan caboti) within their habitat range in Jiangxi Wuyishan National Nature Reserve, China from Jan. 2012 to Nov.2014. Each of the infrared-triggered camera′s was set more than 250 d. Of 23 recorded on 314 individuals of Cabot′s Tragopan, including 229 males and 85 females with a effective video of 4 447 seconds. The tragopan were active 11-13 hour during daytime and the feeding, moving and resting behaviour took 97.08% of the total active duration. The average feeding time was varied significantly with seasons (P < 0.05), while the average time for both moving and resting was not different significantly (P > 0.05, Table 1). However, the average time spent in feeding and preening was varied significantly between males and females (P < 0.05, Table 2). The feeding time of females was concentrated in the morning, but males concentrated their feeding in the evening before they slept. In the breeding season the wild Cabot′s tragopan showed a similar behavior pattern with those kept in the captivity, however, the time budget on each behavior was difference between them. The time duration spent by the birds in wild was feeding > moving > resting, while for the birds in the captivity was resting > moving > feeding. The difference in time budget between male and female was clearly, however, the mechanism behind them remained unclear and needed more work in the future. Currently, the habitat with abundant food resource and little human disturbance for Cabot′s tragopan are protected well in Jiangxi Wuyishan, and this will play a key role in conservation for the wild population of the Cabot′sTragopan′s.

Abstract:During the breeding seasons of 2010 and 2011, we studied breeding ecology and nest site selection of the Golden Bush Robin (Tarsiger chrysaeus) at Wawushan Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province. Our study area was at the virgin forest of Wawushan Plateau with the altitude about 2800 m. Altogether 26 nests were found, 17 in 2010 and 9 in 2011. The breeding success rates in 2010 and 2011 were 43.8% and 44.4%, with the hatching rates of 52.5% and 60.0%, and brood success rates over 85.7%. There was no significant difference between the clutch size, egg parameters and breeding success between the two years (Table 1). The cavity nests of the Golden Bush Robin were mostly found at the soil slopes along the walking paths (Fig. 1) with the nest parameters shown by Table 2. We measured the nest site selection parameters (such as nest height, distance to path and running water, and vegetation information) and compared them with contrastive samples along the path at a random distance; however, no significant difference was found (Table 3). The Principal Component Analysis showed that the main factors affecting the nest-site selection of the Golden Bush Robin including nest location, moss cover and arbor cover (Table 4, 5). We suggested that the construction of the walking path provided lots of suitable nesting sites for the bird. At Wawushan, the great number of tourists in May severely affected the nest sites distribution of the Golden Bush Robin. We suggested that to limit the number of tourists during the breeding period of birds.

Abstract:The nest-site selection of house sparrow (Passer domesticus) in Fukang Area, Xinjiang, Northwestern China, was investigated during the breeding season. A total of 75 house sparrow nests was found, of which all were built on trees in farmland or forest. Chinese Aspen (Populus adenopoda) and euphrates poplar (P. euphratica) are the most dominant nesting tree species. No nest was found in human structures. The principal component analysis (PCA) suggested that three main factors, including the height of nest, the coverage above the nest and the distance to the road, affected nest-site selection of house sparrow. Furthermore, there were no significant differences between the successful (n=40) and failed (n=20) nests (P > 0.05) in nest-site factors. These suggested that in the study area the nest-site selection of house sparrow has little effect on reproductive success.

Abstract:Echolocation calls geographical differences and their causes are fundamental researches and critical areas of animal ecology. It has important scientific significance in exploration speciation, biodiversity protection, and animal survival mechanism. In this study, we investigated the differences of echolocation calls structure among geographical populations of least horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus pusillus) from a relative large scale, including nine geographic populations: Hainan (Haikou), Hebei (Handan), Shandong (Mengyin), Jiangsu (Yixing), Guangxi (Guilin), Guangdong (Shaoguan, Shenzhen, Zhuhai) and Macau by t test and One-way ANOVA. Furthermore, we would explore the factors that cause the sound differences among different geographical populations by Pearson correlation. The results showed that females were slightly larger than males (FA, females: 38.12±0.26 mm, males: 36.79±0.32 mm, t=-2.75, P<0.01), and the dominant frequency of females (109.90 ± 0.31 kHz) was higher than that of males (male: 108.47 ± 0.15 kHz) (t = -4.33, P <0.01) (Table 1). The echolocation calls among different geographical populations shown a certain degree variations in pulse duration, pulse interval, frequency, and bandwidth. Forearm length and body mass of females were both negatively correlated with their dominant frequency (FA: r=-0.281, P=0.032; Mass: r=-0.371, P=0.004) (Fig 2 and Fig 3), and the rainfall and the dominant frequency were positively correlated (r=0.853, P=0.007) (Fig 4). But the echolocation calls of males have no correlations with forearm length, body mass, and rainfall. In additionally, the echolocation parameters of both males and females have no correlations with geographical distance, temperature, and humidity. These results showed that the echolocation calls varied among different geographic populations of horseshoe bat, which might be mainly effected by local habitats, such as rainfall. This variation exhibits adaptive evolution when the animals live in different habitats.

Abstract:Abstract：The paper studied the influence factors of habitat selection by the plateau zokor (Myospalax baileyi) in alpine meadow in eastern Qilian Mountain under five grazing intensity. Providing a scientific basis for control grassland pest reasonably and biodiversity protection. In the five different grazing intensity areas, including heavy grazing (Ⅰ), secondary heavy grazing (Ⅱ), moderate grazing (Ⅲ), secondary light grazing (Ⅳ), and light grazing (Ⅴ). And monitoring relative plateau zokor population density, vegetation and soil change for three consecutive years, with the increased number of new mounds per unit area for three years to represent the plateau zokor population density (Table 1).The investigation method of grassland vegatation depended on the book of grass work technical guide, vegetation coverage, height, frequency, aboveground biomass and plant roots’ biomass were measured. the relatively important value of plant species in the community based on the plants’ relative coverage, relative frequency and relative height, then according to the important value to calculate the species’ uniformity (Je), abundance (He′) and diversity index (λ). And got the soil compaction by the soil compactness meter (SC-900, USA Spectrum). The index of relative zokor population density, vegetation (coverage, height, frequency, biomass) and soil (compaction, bulk density, moisture) were measured. Using SPSS (Statistical Product and Service Solutions) software to analyze the correlation between the relative population density of zokor and the other indexs, and also analyzed the difference of all indexs in five test plots in addition to the relative population density of zokor. The results showed that the relative population density of the zokor was lowest under the moderate grazing in five grazing intensity, which means the rangeland was not the zokor favorite habitat. However, the relative population density of the zokor in light grazing and minor grazing rangeland were higher than that in heavy grazing and extreme grazing rangeland. The rangeland under light grazing fitted the zokor’ inhabitation (Fig. 1). There were the significant positive correlation between the relative population density of zokor and the root biomass (R = 0.982, P < 0.01, Fig. 2b), vegetation abundance (R = 0.921, P < 0.05, Fig. 2d), and vegetation coverage (R = 0.909, P < 0.05, Fig. 2f). Aboveground biomass (R = 0.841, Fig. 2a), evenness (R = 0.873, Fig. 2c) and diversity (R = 0.921, Fig. 2e) were positively correlated but no significant (P > 0.05). There were the significant negative correlation (P < 0.05) between the relative population density of zokor and the soil compaction (R = -0.921, Fig. 3a,), soil bulk density (R = -0.883, Fig. 3b). And the significant positive correlation (R = 0.879, P < 0.05, Fig. 3b) with the soil moisture. The date suggest that the soil compaction was maybe the key factor that influence the habitat selection of the plateau zokor and the food was a secondary factor in the grassland grazing systems.

Abstract:358 and 522 specimens of Acrossocheilus parallens were collected from July 2007 to June 2009 in the middle and upper reaches of Beijiang River and the upstream area of Liuxihe River, respectively. These specimens were used for the comparative study on reproductive characteristics of these neighboring populations. The scales were collected and used for age determination, the total length, standard length, total weight, net body weight and ovary weight were measured, and the gonadosomatic index and the fullness were calculated. The results showed that the age of reproductive population we collected in from 1 to 5 for female, and 1 to 4 for male in Beijiang River population, and the sex ratio of female to male in the reproductive population is 1:1.73. The corresponding number was 1 to 4 for female, and 1 to 3 for male in Liuxihe River population, with the sex ratio of female to male in the reproductive population is 1:1.40. For different age groups, both standard length and total weight of the reproductive population of Beijiang River were significantly larger than Liuxihe River population. The Beijiang River population have longer spawning period than the Liuxihe Population: the spawning period of A. parallens in the Beijiang River population was from January to October, mainly in March to July, while the population of Liuxihe River population was from January to August, mainly in May to July. In the spawning period, for both of female and male of Beijiang River population, the gonadosomatic indices were higher than the Liuxihe population. All of the individual absolute fecundity (F), the individual relative fecundity of standard length (FL) and the individual relative fecundity of total weight (FW) of the Beijiang River population, were significantly higher than that of the Liuxihe population. All the distinction between the populations of Beijiang River and Liuxihe River were analyzed with the nutrient status, fishing intensity, and the stream order.

Abstract:To study the histological changes of cerebellar cortex of immature Red-billed Leiothrix(Leiothrix lutea) at different days of age, brains were sampled from Red-billed Leiothrixs at 1, 5 and 9 days of age. Through H.E. and toluidine blue staining, the coronal section of the cerebellum was observed to analyze the changes of cellular and postnatal structural patterns by microscope, and all the data were dealed with one-way ANCOVA. The results are as follow：The H.E. staining shows that the cerebellar cortex of Red-billed Leiothrix at 1 day of age consisted of three layers, namely external granular layer (EGL), unclear Purkinje cell layer (PCL) and internal granular layer (IGL), the external granular layer was obvious, but the margin of Purkinje cell layer and internal granular layer was not distinct (Fig1a, 1d). At 5 and 9 days of age, a clear four-layer structure was observed, including external granular layer, molecular layer (ML), Purkinje cell layer and internal granular layer (IGL)(Fig1b ~ 1c, 1e ~ 1f). With the increase of the age, the thickness of the cortex, molecular layer and internal granular layer were significantly increased (P < 0.01). Toluidine blue staining shows clearly that the size of Purkinje cell was significantly increased with the increase of the age. At 1 day of age, the Purkinje cell was small with pyriform and the nissl body was dark-colored(Fig2a, 2d), at 5 days of age, the Purkinje cells were enlarged(Fig2b, 2e). At 9 days of age, the size of the Purkinje cell was increased and the boundary between Purkinje cell layer and internal granular layer was apparent (Fig2c, 2f). Although the thickness of external granular layer thins after a slightly increase and has no significant change (P > 0.05) (Table 1), there was a reduced proportion of the external granular layer to the cortex(Table 2). Also the index of internal granular layer to the cortex was increased(Table 2). The results showed that the histological structure of cerebellar cortex was gradually matured in Red-billed Leiothrixs after early hatching. The changes of external granular layer and internal granular layer suggested that the granular cells in internal granular layer might migrate from external granular layer.

Abstract:This study was designed to evaluate the effects of dietary yeast polysaccharide levels on nonspecific immune response of Chinese Striped-neck Turtle(Mauremys sinensis). The experimental subjects (weight=134.7 ± 19.1 g) were randomly divided into four groups and were fed as follows for 30 days: a commercial diet as control (Ⅰ) and the same diet supplemented with 800 mg/kg (Ⅱ), 1200 mg/kg(Ⅲ), 1600 mg/kg (Ⅳ) yeast polysaccharide. After 15 and 30 days, the immune organ index, number of leucocytes, serum lysozyme and complement C₃、C₄ activity were detected. The results showed that compared to the control, there was no significant differences in experimental groups for the immune organ index (P >0.05), while the number of leucocytes and lysozyme activity were significantly increased (P <0.05), and the values were highest in group Ⅲ; After 15 days, the serum C₃、C₄activity in

Abstract:In order to study the relationship between growth situation and thyroid-related hormones in Amur rat-snake (Elaphe schrenckii), Southern Amur rat-snake (E. anomala) and Keeled rat-snake (E. carinata) at captivity, we obtained the serum of these three species by drawing blood from the tail vein in the non-hibernation period of snakes in May, July and September, detected the thyrotropin-releasing hormone(TRH), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroid hormone (T4) levels and recorded their body weight, length and food intake. The data were analyzed by covariance analysis taking body weight as a covariate for multiple comparisons between groups with LSD method (ANCOVA) and Pearson correlation coefficient with SPSS STATISTICS, Version 17.0. Results were presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD) and statistical significance was declared at P < 0.05. The results showed that TRH, TSH and T4 peaks of all three species appeared in July (except for the thyroid hormone of E. anomala) (Table 2). Analysis of covariance revealed that TRH, TSH and T4 contents in three sampling time points were not significantly different in all three species (P > 0.05). Multiple comparisons between groups revealed that there existed difference in TRH, TSH and T4 contents at different sampling time points in three species (P < 0.05). Analysis of covariance revealed the difference in TRH, TSH and T4 contents of three species in the same sampling point was not significant (P > 0.05), but multiple comparisons between groups revealed that the TRH, TSH and T4 contents of E.carinata were significantly lower than those of E. schrenckii and E. anomala (except for the TRH in May) (P < 0.05); the difference between any two species of ratsnakes in TRH, TSH and T4 contents in Sep was significant (P < 0.05, Table 2). In addition, the correlation coefficient between E. schrenckii′s T4 content and food intake was 0.946, higher than in E. anomala and E. carinata (Table 3) and the feed conversion rate was 13.16% in E. schrenckii, higher than in E. anomala and E. carinata (Table 1). Summary: There is obvious difference in TRH, TSH and T4 contents in different snakes in the non-hibernation period, and there is a close correlation between T4 content, growth, food intake and feed conversion rate in snakes.

Abstract:This study investigated protease activities in different digestive organs of wild giant spiny frog (Quasipaa spinosa) in the range of pH 0.5 to 10.0 at 30℃ and reaction temperature 15 to 60℃ at optimum pH in vitro. The protease activity was measured using the Folin-phenol method. The data were statistically analyzed by One-way ANOVA and LSD. The results showed that pH could affect protease activities of esophagus, stomach and pancreas significantly (P < 0.05), and their dynamic curves of protease activities were typically unimodal with increasing pH (Fig. 1).The protease activities of esophagus, stomach, pancreas and intestine were maximal at pH 1.5, 1.5, 9.6 and 7.4, respectively. The protease activities of digestive organs showed an obvious temperature dependence (P < 0.05), and the curves were also typically unimodal (Fig. 2). The protease activities of esophagus, stomach, pancreas, foregut, hindgut and rectum attained maximum value at temperature 50℃, 50℃, 45℃, 45℃, 45℃ and 45℃, respectively. Under the conditions of 30℃ and optimal pH mentioned above, digestive organs were arranged in order of descending protease activities: pancreas, esophagus, stomach, rectum, foregut and hindgut. In conclusion, there obviously exists a regular protease distribution in digestive system of this species, and the enzymes from different organs can show maximal activities at specific pH values and temperatures.

Abstract:Objective: To study the nephrotoxicity of aristolochic acid in a zebrafish embryo model. Methods: Zebrafish embryos at 3 days post-fertilization stage were treated with aristolochic acid. Morphological changes of embryos and kidney were observed. Histological structure of kidney were further examined by tissue sections. The expression level of Nephrin was tested by qPCR to explore the podocyte function in embryo kidney treated with aristolochic acid. Results: Embryos treated with 20 μmol/L AA for 24h exhibited periocular edema and malformed kidney phenotypes. As the exposure dosages of AA increased, besides periocular edema, embryos also displayed impaired blood circulation, such as decreased heart rate and blood flow, and even blood stasis.Embryos treated with AA displayed cystic glomeruli and disorganized pronephric tubules. qPCR showed that AA treatment can significantly down-regulate the expression of nephrin in comparison with mock-control littermates(P<0.01). Conclusion: AA caused profound nephrotoxicity in histological structure and biological function of zebrafish embryos. Dysfunction of podocyte may involve in AA-induced renal impairment.

Abstract:In order to analyze the community structure of zooplankton and its influence factors in Siminghu Reservoir, the species and abundance of zooplankton and the physical-chemical factors were tracked by month from August 2012 to July 2013. 150 species of zooplankton were identified in Siminghu reservoirs, and the ranges of cell abundance and biomass were 198.0﹣7 258.0 ind/L and 0.28﹣5.64 mg/L, respectively. Analysis of variance showed that both of the abundance and biomass had a significant seasonal variation but no spatial difference, as was showed in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. Correspondence analysis was used to demonstrate the relationship between the zooplankton community and the physical-chemical factors. The result, as was displayed in Table 2 and Fig. 4, showed that water temperature, chlorophyll a, total phosphorus, euphotic layer, ammonia nitrogen and water level were the dominant factors affecting zooplankton community structure. Spatial differences existed in the dominant factors between the sample points. A decrease in the abundance and biomass and miniaturization in the size of zooplankton were found by comparing with the date from 24 years ago, which possibly resulting from top-down effect by fish predation and zooplankton fertility decline caused by the increase of cyanobacteria density and microcystin. Water quality evaluation results show that the reservoir is at a mesotrophic stage now, but has the trend of increasing to eutrophic stage.

Abstract:During the breeding season from March to July in 2012-2014, two nests (1.4% of parasitism rate, n=142) of the Mountain Tailorbird (Orthotomus cuculatus) and one nest (10%, n=10) of the Dark-necked Tailorbird (O. atrogularis) were found to be parasitized by the Plaintive Cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus) in Nonggang area, Guangxi, Southwestern China. The Mountain Tailorbird was firstly recorded as host species by Plaintive Cuckoo, and both the two tailorbird species were firstly recorded as Plaintive Cuckoo hosts in China. The egg mass and volume of the Plaintive Cuckoo were significantly larger than those of the two tailorbird hosts. Spectra analysis of egg reflectance showed that both background color and spot markings of the cuckoo eggs were much different from its two tailorbird hosts.

Abstract:Group sizes of Lasiopodomys brandtii overwintering colonies could affect colonies’ predation risks. Using the number of barrows of Brandt’s vole colony as an indicator of family group size, we studied how group sizes of Brandt’s vole’s affect the predation preference of Buteo hemilasius’s in Xilinguole typical steppe, Inner Mongolia, in the fall of 2004. The result shows that Buteo hemilasius significantly prefers to high number of group sizes of vole’s colonies. This finding indicates that the colonies with larger size result into a higher predator risk. It explains why Brandt’s vole dispersal happened during fall, Brandt’s vole colonies choose to reduce their group sizes to avoid predation risk. Such result also supports the optimum group size theory of small mammals.

Abstract:Geomagnetic field (GMF) is an important geophysical field of the planet Earth. It is the field that shields organisms from the solar wind and other cosmic rays, and plays an important role in protecting the atmosphere and hydrosphere escape from earth which are crucial to life survival to provide a mild survival habitability of our planet planet. Besides, it is widely recognized that the intensity，declination and inclination of the GMF can provide navigational reference information for animals during their migration. It has been found that a big group of birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and other animals can use the GFM for orientation and navigation. However, the magnetoreceptor which allows an organism to detect a magnetic field, the mechanisms of magnetoreception and the related neural pathway of magnetoreception is still largely unknown. In this review, we describe the three major well-known magnetoreception mechanisms and their corresponding evidence: (1) Electromagnetic-induction-based magnetoreception; (2)Photoreceptor-based magnetoreception; and(3) Magnetite-based magnetoreception.The magnetoreception neural pathways and the brain regions involved in magnetic information processing of mechanism (2) and (3) in birds will be discussed: the photoreceptor-cryptochrome in the retina which obtain the direction of the geomagnetic field can transmit the magnetic information to the brain through the visual pathway to acquire direction information; and the magnetite receptors, based on tiny particles of magnetite either in the skin of the upper beak or/and inner ear lagena of avian which transmitted the magnetic strength information to brainstem neurons through the trigeminal nerve/ lagena afferent terminations as a part of the ‘navigational map’ to obtain positional information. We also summarized the recent progresses on mammals geomagnetic navigation and raised some key scientific issues in the further researches on animal geomagnetic navigation .

Abstract:During the field investigation in Otog Front Banner of Ordos,Inner Mongolia from December 2014 to February 2015, Enicurus leschenaulti and Passer hispaniolensis were observed and this is the first discovery of these species in Inner Mongolia.This finding will provide basic data for the two species on geographical distribution.

Abstract:The House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) was found in Puer, Yunnan, China, in October, 2014. The flocks of the birds contained males and females. Those were new distributions of the House Sparrow in Yunnan.

Abstract:During a field survey in 5 and 6 April, 2015, a gull of the family Laridae was observed in Maizhokunggar, Tibet Autonomous Region. This gull was identified as juvenile of Larus hyperboreus which is a new record of birds in Tibet Autonomous Region. Environment of specimen were described in this paper. The finding of this species in Tibet will benefit us in further study on geographical distribution of L. hyperboreus.