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A voyage to Terra Australis: human-mediated dispersal of cats

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Ecology and Evolution, December 2015
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  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (95th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (91st percentile)

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4 news outlets
blogs
1 blog
twitter
10 X users

Citations

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24 Dimensions

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55 Mendeley
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Title
A voyage to Terra Australis: human-mediated dispersal of cats
Published in
BMC Ecology and Evolution, December 2015
DOI 10.1186/s12862-015-0542-7
Pubmed ID
Authors

K. Koch, D. Algar, J. B. Searle, M. Pfenninger, K. Schwenk

Abstract

Cats have been transported as human commensals worldwide giving rise to many feral populations. In Australia, feral cats have caused decline and extinction of native mammals, but their time of introduction and origin is unclear. Here, we investigate hypotheses of cat arrival pre- or post-European settlement, and the potential for admixture between cats of different invasion events. We analyse the genetic structure and diversity of feral cats from six locations on mainland Australia, seven Australian islands and samples from Southeast Asia and Europe using microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA data. Our results based on phylogeographic model selection are consistent with a European origin of cats in Australia. We find genetic distinctiveness of Australian mainland samples compared with Dirk Hartog Island, Flinders Island, Tasman Island and Cocos (Keeling) Island samples, and genetic similarities between some of the island populations. Historical records suggest that introduction of cats to these islands occurred at the time of European exploration and/or in connection with the pearling, whaling and sealing trades early in the 19th century. On-going influx of domestic cats into the feral cat population is apparently causing the Australian mainland populations to be genetically differentiated from those island populations, which likely are remnants of the historically introduced cat genotypes. A mainly European origin of feral cats in Australia, with possible secondary introductions from Asia following the initial establishment of cats in Australia is reasonable. The islands surrounding Australia may represent founding populations and are of particular interest. The results of the study provide an important timeframe for the impact of feral cats on native species in Australia.

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X Demographics

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 55 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Australia 2 4%
Portugal 1 2%
Unknown 52 95%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 12 22%
Researcher 11 20%
Student > Master 6 11%
Student > Bachelor 5 9%
Student > Doctoral Student 3 5%
Other 6 11%
Unknown 12 22%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 19 35%
Environmental Science 8 15%
Earth and Planetary Sciences 4 7%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 3 5%
Social Sciences 2 4%
Other 4 7%
Unknown 15 27%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 43. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 01 April 2016.
All research outputs
#954,590
of 25,371,288 outputs
Outputs from BMC Ecology and Evolution
#197
of 3,714 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#15,888
of 394,665 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Ecology and Evolution
#6
of 71 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,371,288 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 96th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,714 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 12.5. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 394,665 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 71 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 91% of its contemporaries.