Vladimir Dinets

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Vladimir Dinets
VladimirDinets.jpg
Vladimir Dinets with a skull of a black caiman, Puerto Francisco de Orellana, Ecuador.
Born
Moscow, Russia
Alma mater MIREA
University of Miami
Scientific career
Fields Zoology
Ethology
Conservation Biology
Behavioral Ecology
Institutions Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology
University of Tennessee
Louisiana State University
Rutgers University
Doctoral advisor Steven Green

Vladimir Dinets is an American zoologist known for his studies of Crocodilian behavior and of numerous rare animals in remote parts of the world, as well as for popular writings in English and Russian.

Contents

Education

Dinets was interested in zoology from an early age, [1] and was a winner of all-USSR Student Biology Olympics at Moscow State University. [2] However, due to his Jewish ancestry, he was unofficially banned from entering that university, [3] and obtained a master's degree in biological engineering from Moscow State Institute of Radio-engineering Electronics and Automation. Being strongly opposed to First Chechen War, Dinets emigrated to the United States in 1997, and in 2011 obtained a Ph.D from University of Miami (adviser Steven Green). [4] Dinets maintained a popular bilingual blog on LiveJournal, mostly defunct since the 2014 onset of Russo-Ukrainian War, which caused him to cut off his ties with Russia, and has a website [5] with a number of illustrated essays on biology, conservation and travel.

Work

Books

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crocodile</span> Family of large reptilian carnivores

Crocodiles or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term “crocodile” is sometimes used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia, which includes the alligators and caimans, the gharial and false gharial as well as other, extinct, taxa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crocodilia</span> Order of mostly large, predatory, semiaquatic reptiles

Crocodylia is an order of semiaquatic, predatory reptiles known as crocodilians. They first appeared during the Late Cretaceous and are the closest living relatives of birds. Crocodilians are a type of crocodylomorph pseudosuchian, a subset of archosaurs that appeared about 235 million years ago and were the only survivors of the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event. The order includes the true crocodiles, the alligators and caimans, and the gharial and false gharial. Although the term "crocodiles" is sometimes used to refer to all of these, it is less ambiguous to use "crocodilians".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alligator</span> Crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae

An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae of the order Crocodilia. The two extant species are the American alligator and the Chinese alligator. Additionally, several extinct species of alligator are known from fossil remains. Alligators first appeared during the late Eocene epoch about 37 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American alligator</span> Crocodilian native to the Southeastern United States

The American alligator, sometimes referred to as a gator, or common alligator is a large crocodilian reptile native to the Southeastern United States and a small section of northeastern Mexico. It is one of the two extant species in the genus Alligator, and is larger than the only other living alligator species, the Chinese alligator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saltwater crocodile</span> Reptile of South Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania

The saltwater crocodile is a crocodilian native to saltwater habitats, brackish wetlands and freshwater rivers from India's east coast across Southeast Asia and the Sundaic region to northern Australia and Micronesia. It has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 1996. It was hunted for its skin throughout its range up to the 1970s, and is threatened by illegal killing and habitat loss. It is regarded as dangerous to humans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mugger crocodile</span> Species of crocodile from Asia

The mugger crocodile is a medium-sized broad-snouted crocodile, also known as mugger and marsh crocodile. It is native to freshwater habitats from southern Iran to the Indian subcontinent, where it inhabits marshes, lakes, rivers and artificial ponds. It rarely reaches a body length of 5 m and is a powerful swimmer, but also walks on land in search of suitable waterbodies during the hot season. Both young and adult mugger crocodiles dig burrows to which they retreat when the ambient temperature drops below 5 °C (41 °F) or exceeds 38 °C (100 °F). Females dig holes in the sand as nesting sites and lay up to 46 eggs during the dry season. The sex of hatchlings depends on temperature during incubation. Both parents protect the young for up to one year. They feed on insects, and adults prey on fish, reptiles, birds and mammals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinese alligator</span> One of two species in genus Alligator

The Chinese alligator, also known as the Yangtze alligator, China alligator, or historically the muddy dragon, is a crocodilian endemic to China. It and the American alligator are the only living species in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. Dark gray or black in color with a fully armored body, the Chinese alligator grows to 1.5–2.1 metres (5–7 ft) in length and weighs 36–45 kilograms (80–100 lb) as an adult. It brumates in burrows in winter and is nocturnal in summer. Mating occurs in early summer, with females most commonly producing 20–30 eggs, which are smaller than those of any other crocodilian. The species is an opportunistic feeder, primarily eating fish and invertebrates. A vocal species, adults bellow during the mating season and young vocalize to communicate with their parents and other juveniles. Captive specimens have reached age 70, and wild specimens can live past 50.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nile crocodile</span> Reptile of Africa

The Nile crocodile is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the eastern, southern, and central regions of the continent, and lives in different types of aquatic environments such as lakes, rivers, swamps and marshlands. It occasionally inhabits deltas, brackish lakes and rarely also saltwater. Its range once stretched from the Nile Delta throughout the Nile River. Lake Turkana in Kenya has one of the largest undisturbed Nile crocodile populations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American crocodile</span> Species of crocodile endemic to the Neotropics

The American crocodile is a species of crocodilian found in the Neotropics. It is the most widespread of the four extant species of crocodiles from the Americas, with populations present from South Florida, the Caribbean islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and the coasts of Mexico to as far south as Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pack hunter</span> Type of predatory animal

A pack hunter or social predator is a predatory animal which hunts its prey by working together with other members of its species. Normally animals hunting in this way are closely related, and with the exceptions of chimpanzees where only males normally hunt, all individuals in a family group contribute to hunting. When hunting cooperation is across two or more species, the broader term cooperative hunting is commonly used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broad-snouted caiman</span> Species of reptile

The broad-snouted caiman is a crocodilian in the family Alligatoridae found in eastern and central South America, including the Pantanal habitat of Bolivia, Southeast Brazil, and Paraguay, as well as northern Argentina and Uruguay. Behind the black caiman, it is the second-largest caiman species; it is the third-largest alligatorid behind the American alligator and the aforementioned black caiman. Primarily, the species inhabits freshwater wetlands, including floodplains, marshes, swamps, and some mangrove forests, as well as various streams, rivers, lakes or ponds, preferring bodies of rather still or slower-moving water. They will often utilize man-made cow ponds, disused stock tanks, and canals and ditches, as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orinoco crocodile</span> Species of reptile

The Orinoco crocodile is a critically endangered crocodile. Its population is very small, and they can only be found in the Orinoco river basin in Venezuela and Colombia. Extensively hunted for their skins in the 19th and 20th centuries, it is one of the most endangered species of crocodiles. It is a very large species of crocodilian; males have been reported up to 6.8 m in the past, weighing over 900 kg (2,000 lb), but such sizes do not exist today, 5.2 m being a more widely accepted maximum size. A large male today may attain 4.2 m in length and can weigh up to 450 kg (1,000 lb), while females are substantially smaller with the largest likely to weigh around 225 kg (496 lb). Sexual dimorphism is not as profound as in other crocodilian species. The coloration is light even in adults.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pseudosuchia</span> Clade of reptiles

Pseudosuchia is one of two major divisions of Archosauria, including living crocodilians and all archosaurs more closely related to crocodilians than to birds. Pseudosuchians are also informally known as "crocodilian-line archosaurs", in contrast to the "bird-line archosaurs" or Avemetatarsalia. Despite Pseudosuchia meaning "false crocodiles", the name is a misnomer as true crocodilians are now defined as a subset of the group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arabian wolf</span> Subspecies of the gray wolf

The Arabian wolf is a subspecies of gray wolf native to the Arabian Peninsula—to the west of Bahrain, as well as Oman, southern Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. It is also found in Israel’s Negev and Arava Deserts, Jordan, Palestine, and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. It is the smallest gray wolf subspecies and a specialized xerocole (arid-adapted) animal that normally lives in smaller familial packs. Arabian wolves are omnivorous and opportunistic eaters; they consume small to medium-sized prey, from insects, reptiles and birds to rodents and small ungulates, such as young Nubian ibex and several species of gazelle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crocodile farm</span> Establishment for breeding and raising of crocodilians

A crocodile farm or alligator farm is an establishment for breeding and raising of crocodilians in order to produce crocodile and alligator meat, leather from crocodile and alligator skin, and other goods. Many species of both alligators and crocodiles are farmed internationally. In Louisiana alone, alligator farming is a $60 to $70 million industry. Most crocodile farms are located in Thailand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuban crocodile</span> Species of crocodile endemic to Cuba

The Cuban crocodile is a small-medium species of crocodile endemic to Cuba. Typical length is 2.1–2.3 m (6.9–7.5 ft) and typical weight 70–80 kg (150–180 lb). Large males can reach as much as 3.5 m (11 ft) in length and weigh more than 215 kg (474 lb). Despite its smaller size, it is a highly aggressive animal, and potentially dangerous to humans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evolution of reptiles</span> Origin and diversification of reptiles through geologic time

Reptiles arose about 320 million years ago during the Carboniferous period. Reptiles, in the traditional sense of the term, are defined as animals that have scales or scutes, lay land-based hard-shelled eggs, and possess ectothermic metabolisms. So defined, the group is paraphyletic, excluding endothermic animals like birds that are descended from early traditionally-defined reptiles. A definition in accordance with phylogenetic nomenclature, which rejects paraphyletic groups, includes birds while excluding mammals and their synapsid ancestors. So defined, Reptilia is identical to Sauropsida.

Peter Brazaitis is an American herpetologist and forensic specialist in herpetology and worked for the Wildlife Conservation Society from 1954 to 1998. He began as a reptile keeper at the Bronx Zoo, became Senior Keeper in 1967, Assistant Animal Manager in 1970, and Superintendent of Reptiles in 1972. In 1988, he transferred to the Central Park Wildlife Center as Assistant Curator of Animals and became Curator of Animals in 1990, a position he held until his retirement in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Planocraniidae</span> Extinct family of reptiles

Planocraniidae is an extinct family of eusuchian crocodyliforms known from the Paleogene of Asia, Europe and North America. The family was coined by Li in 1976, and contains three genera, Boverisuchus, Duerosuchus and Planocrania. Planocraniids were highly specialized crocodyliforms that were adapted to living on land. They had extensive body armor, long legs, and blunt claws resembling hooves, and are sometimes informally called "hoofed crocodiles".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dietary biology of the Nile crocodile</span>

Nile crocodiles are apex predators throughout their range. In the water, this species is an agile and rapid hunter relying on both movement and pressure sensors to catch any prey that presents itself inside or near the waterfront. Out of the water, however, the Nile crocodile can only rely on its limbs, as it gallops on solid ground, to chase prey. No matter where they attack prey, this and other crocodilians take practically all of their food by ambush, needing to grab their prey in a matter of seconds to succeed. They have an ectothermic metabolism, so can survive for long periods between meals—though when they do eat, they can eat up to half their body weight at a time. However, for such large animals, their stomachs are relatively small, not much larger than a basketball in an average-sized adult, so as a rule, they are anything but voracious eaters.

References

  1. Dinets V. Spontaneous development of hunting-like behavior in juvenile humans: a case study. Humanimalia8:32-40 [ permanent dead link ]
  2. Archive of Moscow State University student biological olympics (in Russian)
  3. Dinets, V. Farewell, My Empire! AVP, Moscow, 1998, 220 pp. (in Russian)
  4. Dinets, Vladimir (2011-04-12). "The Role of Habitat in Crocodilian Communication". Open Access Dissertations.
  5. Vladimir Dinets' website
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Vladimir Dinets CV". Archived from the original on 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2013-02-14.
  7. Dinets, V. Winter ecology of willow and rock ptarmigans at the northern limit of their range. Ornitologia 29: 326-327 (in Russian with English summary)
  8. "Chasing butterfly poachers". Archived from the original on 2012-12-15. Retrieved 2013-02-14.
  9. Dinets, V. Shadows around a lamp. Arguments and Facts, December 19, 2001 (in Russian)
  10. "Rodents of the Plains". Archived from the original on 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2013-02-14.
  11. Dinets, V. First Photo of a Bay Cat in the Wild. IUCN/SSC Cat News38: 5.
  12. Dinets, V. Observations of the woolly flying squirrel Eupetaurus cinereus in Pakistan. Mammalia75(3): 277-280.
  13. Dinets, Vladimir (2017). "First observations on the behavior of the flightless anomalure (Zenkerella insignis)". Zoology. 123: 121–123. Bibcode:2017Zool..123..121D. doi:10.1016/j.zool.2017.06.003. PMID   28712676.
  14. "Dinets, V. Nocturnal behavior of American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in the wild during the mating season. Herpetological Bulletin111: 4-11". Archived from the original on 2012-04-23. Retrieved 2013-02-14.
  15. Dinets, Vladimir (2011). "Effects of aquatic habitat continuity on signal composition in crocodilians". Animal Behaviour. 82 (2): 191–201. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.04.012.
  16. Dinets, V. The role of Habitat in Crocodilian Communication
  17. Dinets, Vladimir (2015). "Apparent coordination and collaboration in cooperatively hunting crocodilians". Ethology Ecology & Evolution. 27 (2): 244–250. Bibcode:2015EtEcE..27..244D. doi:10.1080/03949370.2014.915432.
  18. Dinets, V.; Brueggen, J. C.; Brueggen, J. D. (2015). "Crocodilians use tools for hunting". Ethology Ecology & Evolution. 27 (1): 74–78. Bibcode:2015EtEcE..27...74D. doi:10.1080/03949370.2013.858276.
  19. Dinets, V. Tracking the mystery animal. Vokrug Sveta 2012(2) (in Russian)
  20. Dinets, Vladimir (2013). "Crane dances as play behaviour" (PDF). Ibis. 155 (2): 424–425. doi:10.1111/ibi.12037.
  21. Dinets, Vladimir (2016). "Predation on Amphibians and Reptiles by Reintroduced Whooping Cranes (Grus americana) in Louisiana". The American Midland Naturalist. 175 (1): 134–137. doi:10.1674/amid-175-01-134-137.1.
  22. Burghardt, Gordon M.; Dinets, Vladimir; Murphy, James B. (2015). Ebensperger, L. (ed.). "Highly Repetitive Object Play in a Cichlid Fish (Tropheus duboisi)". Ethology. 121 (1): 38–44. Bibcode:2015Ethol.121...38B. doi:10.1111/eth.12312.
  23. Dinets, Vladimir (2015). "Can interrupting parent–offspring cultural transmission be beneficial? The case of Whooping Crane reintroduction". The Condor. 117 (4): 624–628. doi: 10.1650/CONDOR-15-70.1 .
  24. Dinets, V. (2015). "Trogloxeny in the Caucasian parsley frog (Pelodytes caucasicus)" (PDF). Herpetological Bulletin. 133: 31–32.
  25. Dinets, Vladimir; Eligulashvili, Beniamin (2016). "Striped Hyaenas (Hyaena hyaena) in Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) packs: cooperation, commensalism or singular aberration?" (PDF). Zoology in the Middle East. 62 (1): 85–87. doi:10.1080/09397140.2016.1144292.
  26. Dinets, Vladimir (2017). "Long-term cave roosting in the spectral bat (Vampyrum spectrum)". Mammalia. 81 (5): 529–530. doi:10.1515/mammalia-2016-0038.
  27. Dinets, Vladimir (2018). "Surface foraging in Scapanus moles". Mammalia. 82 (1): 48–53. doi:10.1515/mammalia-2016-0091.
  28. Dinets, Vladimir; Sanchez, Michael (2017). "Brown Dippers ( Cinclus pallasi ) Overwintering At −65°C in Northeastern Siberia". The Wilson Journal of Ornithology. 129 (2): 397–400. doi:10.1676/16-071.1.
  29. Dinets, Vladimir; Samaš, Peter; Croston, Rebecca; Grim, Tomáš; Hauber, Mark E. (2015). "Predicting the responses of native birds to transoceanic invasions by avian brood parasites: Responses of Native Birds to Invasions of Brood Parasites". Journal of Field Ornithology. 86 (3): 244–251. doi:10.1111/jofo.12111.
  30. OIST Science and Technology Group webpage
  31. Dinets, Vladimir (2019). "ヒガシシナアジサシThalasseus bernsteiniの日本初記録". 山階鳥類学雑誌. 50 (2): 138–140. doi:10.3312/jyio.50.138.
  32. Dinets, Vladimir; Friedman, Nicholas R.; Yoshimura, Masashi; Ogasawara, Masako; Economo, Evan P. (2020). "Acoustic Detection of an Unknown Bat Species in Okinawa". Mammal Study. 45 (4). doi:10.3106/ms2019-0077.
  33. Kisleyko, Aleksandr A.; Dinets, Vladimir; Grishchenko, Mikhail Y.; Kozlovskiy, Evgenyi E.; Khlyap, Lyudmila A. (2022). "The European Mink (Mustela lutreola) on Kunashir Island: Confirmed Survival 40 years After Introduction". Mammal Study. 47 (3). doi:10.3106/ms2021-0044.
  34. Dinets, Vladimir (2021). "Letter to Editor: Apparent Surface Feeding by Pygmy Sperm Whales (Kogia breviceps)". Aquatic Mammals. 47 (2): 111–113. doi:10.1578/AM.47.2.2021.111.
  35. Dinets, Vladimir; Asada, Keishu (2020). "Noble savages: human-independent Rattus rats in Japan". Journal of Natural History. 54 (37–38): 2391–2414. Bibcode:2020JNatH..54.2391D. doi:10.1080/00222933.2020.1845409.
  36. Dinets, Vladimir; Maikov, Michael (2022). "Long-tailed Bandicoot Rat (Nesokia bunnii) is not extinct". Zoology in the Middle East. 68 (2): 180–182. doi:10.1080/09397140.2022.2034307.
  37. OKEON Project webpage
  38. Dinets, Vladimir (2022). "First case of endothermy in semisessile animals". Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology. 337 (2): 111–114. Bibcode:2022JEZA..337..111D. doi:10.1002/jez.2547. PMC   9292955 . PMID   34570436.
  39. Rutgers University webpage
  40. Academy of Free Travel (in Russian)
  41. ABF books catalog (in Russian) [ permanent dead link ]
  42. J. Newell (ed.) The Russian Far East: A Reference Guide for Conservation and Development. ISBN   978-1880284759
  43. V. Dinets Dragon Songs: Love and Adventure among Crocodiles, Alligators, and Other Dinosaur Relations ISBN   978-1611458930
  44. V. Dinets Dragon Songs: Love and Adventure among Crocodiles, Alligators, and Other Dinosaur Relations ISBN   978-1950691999
  45. V. Dinets Peterson Field Guide to Finding Mammals in North America ISBN   978-0544373273
  46. V. Dinets Wildlife Spectacles: Mass Migrations, Mating Rituals, and Other Fascinating Animal Behaviors ISBN   978-1604696714
  47. S. M. Doody, V. Dinets, G. Burghardt. The Secret Social Lives of Reptiles ISBN   978-1421440675