Information on pangolin life history and ecology is becoming increasingly available in African countries through community-based surveys and camera-trapping. However, there is a paucity of information on the largely arboreal black-bellied pangolin Phataginus tetradactyla, which is categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. By targeting fallen trees or logs with camera traps we recorded the black-bellied pangolin opportunistically in Deng Deng National Park (East Region, Cameroon), a locality within the presumed distribution of the species within Cameroon. We obtained a low trapping rate of 0.063 events per 100 trap-days and the capture probability was one event recorded over 1,571 trap-days (0.0006 captures per day). Deploying camera traps that focus on fallen trees or logs could be explored as a method for detecting black-bellied pangolins.

Pangolins have long been hunted for food and for their scales, but information on local hunting strategies in African range countries and the patterns of pangolin trafficking around sourcing areas is limited. Such knowledge is vital to inform monitoring approaches and conservation interventions. We administered questionnaires to 367 people from 20 villages around two national parks in Cameroon to gain insights into local hunting practices, and trading and trafficking patterns. We found that tracking was the preferred method of hunting pangolins. Trapping was also used, and setting traps on fallen logs and near burrows improved the likelihood of catching pangolins. The white-bellied pangolin Phataginus tricuspis was the most traded species, and the giant pangolin Smutsia gigantea was the most sought after. We found no evidence of trade in the black-bellied pangolin Phataginus tetradactyla. Most respondents stated that pangolin prices had increased over the last 5 years, and scarcity of pangolins was the primary reason given for this increase. We identified a pangolin scale trafficking network operating from rural communities to neighbouring cities. Although most respondents recognized that hunting pangolins is illegal, c. 30% indicated that they were engaged in pangolin hunting.

The Jurassic to Cretaceous strata exposed in the Rollrock Section, Sverdrup Basin, Arctic Canada, represent one of the northernmost continuous outcrops spanning this poorly understood transition. The Oxfordian–Valanginian mudstones of the Rollrock Section were deposited in a shallow marine environment and, as such, provide the ideal lithology to investigate the response of high latitude dinoflagellate cyst populations to the frequent environmental perturbations of this time. Using a multivariate statistical approach, distinct palaeoecologically significant groups are identified and directly linked to time and palaeoenvironments, allowing for the reconstruction of underlying long term palaeoenvironmental trends. These palaeoenvironmental trends are identified to be driven by sequence stratigraphic cycles. For the first time, fourth order sequences are recorded from this pivotal period in the Sverdrup Basin and reveal an additional level of short term climatic events that complicate the identification of long term trends. The relationship existing between marine phytoplankton and climate is utilised to decipher the interplay of long-term and short-term climate fluctuations, distinguishing them from evolutionary trends. Two groups of dinoflagellate cysts, identified by process morphology, are recorded to act as environmental proxies. High percentages of proximochorate dinoflagellate cysts, such as Trichodinium erinaceoides, indicate more proximal, high energy, nutrient rich conditions and are dominant in fourth order transgressive systems tracts. High percentages of chorate dinoflagellate cysts, such as Oligosphaeridium complex, signify distal, low energy, nutrient depleted conditions and are dominant in fourth order highstand systems tracts.