101 Assessment of semen traits in servals (Leptailurus serval) and Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis)
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Servals and Canada lynx are managed by species survival plans in North American zoos, but current populations are not sustainable. Increased knowledge of their reproductive biology would benefit breeding management and development of assisted reproductive techniques. The aims of our study were to (1) evaluate effectiveness of urethral catheterization and electroejaculation (EEJ) for semen collection; (2) characterise basal seminal traits; and (3) compare effectiveness of semen cryopreservation methods. Semen was collected from 6 servals and 9 Canada lynx via a urinary catheter (3.5 Fr × 22 cm, inserted 15 cm into the urethra), followed by EEJ under dexmedetomidine-ketamine anaesthesia. To assess the effect of seasonality on lynx seminal traits, semen was collected before (late January), during (mid-February to mid-March), and after (early April) the peak breeding season. Serval and lynx semen were frozen by conventional slow freezing (i.e. in 0.25-mL straws cooled to 4°C for 2 h and frozen in LN vapor) in a soy lecithin-based (SOY) or egg yolk-based (TEY) extender with 4% glycerol and by ultra-rapid freezing (URF; direct pelleting into LN at ˜104 °C/min) in SOY medium with 0.2 M sucrose. To evaluate post-thaw sperm function in servals, heterologous IVF of domestic cat oocytes was performed, with cleavage rate assessed at 48 h post-insemination. Data were analysed by one-way or repeated-measures ANOVA. Data are mean ± standard deviation. Sperm recovery by urethral catheterization was negligible in both species, but EEJ allowed sperm collection in all males. Lynx seminal traits were similar during breeding and nonbreeding seasons. Testicular volume (4.81 ± 1.17 cm3) and sperm quality (13 ± 11 × 106 sperm/ejaculate; 49 ± 14% motility; 29 ± 12% normal morphology; 74 ± 13% acrosome integrity) were consistent with previous findings in the lynx genus. Post-thaw sperm quality in lynx has not yet been evaluated. In servals, testes volume was 6.56 ± 2.11 cm3 with good sperm quality for most males (46 ± 36 × 106 sperm/ejaculate; 75 ± 20% motility; 56 ± 36% normal morphology; 84 ± 7% acrosome integrity). Post-thaw, serval sperm acrosome integrity (31 ± 15, 21 ± 13, 24 ± 13% at 0 h for TEY, SOY, and URF, respectively; P > 0.05) and motility (40 ± 21% at 0 h, 20 ± 11% at 6 h for TEY; 24 ± 19% at 0 h, 6 ± 4% at 6 h for SOY; 21 ± 16% at 0 h, 3 ± 2% at 6 h for URF; treatment: P > 0.05; time: P < 0.05; interaction: P > 0.05) declined substantially. However, thawed sperm could fertilize domestic cat oocytes with no difference among treatments in cleavage success (53 ± 6, 47 ± 4, or 49 ± 14%; TEY, SOY, and URF, respectively; P > 0.05), indicating that standard freezing methods are effective in servals. Our findings provide zoos with valuable information about normative reproductive traits in both species. Supported by IMLS and the Roger & Kathy Gross Post-doctoral Fellowship.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".