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Feeding through the ages: revisiting the diet of meerkats
No full textWe investigated the diet and foraging behaviour of a social carnivore, the meerkat (Suricata suricatta), living in stochastic dryland, and examined seasonal, as well as age-related variation in diet. Insecta constituted the highest percentage of prey eaten (88.4%), followed by Arachnida (5.7%), Diplopoda (4.3%), and Reptilia (1.1%). Within Insecta, Coleoptera (70.4%) was the most dominant prey order in the diet, followed by Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera.
There was seasonal variation in the diet of meerkats, with the three main Coleoptera families eaten year-round, but higher consumption of Coleoptera adults in the wet season than in the dry season. We found that old adult meerkats (>24 months) consumed the most large-sized prey, while sub-adults (6–10 months) had the highest prey count of small adult Carabidae beetles. Yearlings (15–24 months) ate the highest percentage of Hepialidae caterpillars. Whether the high representation of Coleoptera in the meerkat diet reflects dietary opportunism associated with the relatively high abundance of Coleoptera, or specialisation in the diet regardless of abundance, remains to be determined.University of Zurich.Cambridge University.MAVA Foundation.Zoo Zurich.Exekias and Irene Staehelin foundations.European Research Council.European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.Human Frontier Science Program.PM202
Exploration of parental perspectives and involvement in therapeutic communication approaches for deaf and/or hard-of-hearing children at special schools in South Africa
No full textReading materials for teaching Intermediate Phase isiZulu inclusive reading comprehension: A qualitative analysis
No full textFirst articulating os coxae femur and tibia of a small adult Paranthropus robustus from Member 1 Hanging Remnant of the Swartkrans Formation South Africa
No full textVirtual Teaching and Online Learning Ecosystem: Harnessing the Power of Digital Education for Equitable Educational Experiences
No full textA thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, to the Faculty of Humanities, Wits School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2025Virtual teaching and online learning have gained momentum as a response to the pandemic, revealing its potential and piquing the attention of the higher education sector. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are now recognising the value of this mode of instructional delivery for its unique affordances beyond maintaining educational continuity, but also for its adoption during non-disruptive times. The use of virtual teaching and the advancement of technology have led HEIs to invest in virtual instructional delivery, extending learning opportunities beyond closed brick-and-mortar environments to open online education ecosystems. To provide students with ubiquitous and equitable access to education, there is a need to understand how we can harness the power of digital education in an online education ecosystem while addressing structural and systemic barriers for effective virtual teaching and online learning. This research study aims to gain this understanding and provide insights into the opportunities offered by virtual teaching and online learning in the context of digitalisation in South Africa, a developing country. Additionally, the research study presents a sustainable Virtual Teaching and Online Learning Ecosystem Framework (VTOLE-Framework) for HEI’s, specifically tailored to South Africa’s unique needs and challenges, with a focus on transforming digital education contributing to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 (quality education) and 10 (reduced inequalities). Grounded in pragmatism, this mixed methods study uses purposive sampling to gather data from 165 academic educators through an online questionnaire (containing both open-ended and closed-ended questions), supplemented by in-depth interviews with six academic educators across three HEIs (one urban, one rural, and one ODeL). Given its multifaceted nature, the research study draws on Socio-Technical Theory, Ecological Systems Theory, Transactional Distance Theory and the Community of Inquiry Framework to inform its analysis, which includes a thematic analysis of qualitative data and simple descriptive statistics and data visualisations for quantitative data. In responding to the research questions, the research study reveals six crucial aspects for facilitating equitable educational experiences in virtual teaching and online learning ecosystems (1) Harnessing the Power of Digital Education to Facilitate Virtual Teaching and Online Learning, (2) Core Elements Facilitating Virtual Teaching and Online Learning, (3) Optimising Virtual Teaching and Online Learning Environments Through Pedagogical and Student-Centred Design, (4) Higher Education Institutions Facilitating Support for Virtual Teaching and Online Learning, (5) Addressing External Macro Factors to Enhance Virtual Teaching and Online Learning Environments, and (6) Learning from the Past and Continuous Advancements to Build the Future of Virtual Teaching and Online Learning. Furthermore, in the development of the VTOLE-Framework, the key findings identified seven themes (1) Pedagogical and Student-Centred Course Design, Structure and Technology Integration, (2) Dialogue, Social Presence and Collaborative-Cognitive Learning Environment, (3) Academic Educator Professional Development and Teaching Competencies, (4) Student Efficacy, Agency and Support Cultivation, (5) Institutional Structure, Resource Availability and Education Equity, (6) Contextual Realities of National Infrastructure Readiness and Political Climate, (7) Socio-economic and Socio-cultural Context. The research study adds to the existing knowledge in the field by offering perspectives into harnessing the power of digital education while tackling structural and systemic barriers for virtual teaching and online learning in South Africa. It offers a practical solution of a VTOLE-Framework, outlining equitable access and digital inclusion for the successful implementation of virtual teaching and online learning in higher education.MMM202
Rare twin cysteine residues in the HIV1 envelope variable region 1 link to neutralization escape and breadth development
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