This dataset corresponds to surveys carried out in Asia (Western China and Kyrgyzstan) from May 1994 to August 2014, as part of Patrick Giraudoux and his crew's research expeditions. It includes: Traplines set up and small mammal captured. The corresponding collection of skulls, specimens and tissues has been donated to the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris since the 22nd of November 2022. Activity index transect walked to provide abundance estimates over a larger range than possible using trapping methods Miscellaneous supplementary files and trapline photos. Main files Traplines.txt This file is a table that describes the 787 traplines or trap clusters or circumstances by which small mammal specimens have been captured. Some traplines can have no capture. This is a point to consider when trapping success is computed joining the trapline table to the capture table. Those two tables can be joined using the field 'idLine'. For more details about sampling design, trap types, distance between two traps, etc. please refer to the articles published using those data (see references on this web page). nameStudysite, name of the survey site country, country ISO code countryName, country name province, province name idLine, trapline ID code: digits #1-2 location ID, digits #3-4 year, digits #5-6 month, digits #7-8 line number. The two latter digits can be coded on numbers 01, 02, 03... or on letters AA, AB, AC,... sLongitude, longitude of the trapline beginning (for surveys carried out before 1998 included, GPS receivers were not available: geographical coordinates are those of the nearest village, whose name is given in the field 'nameStudysite', and the position of trapline is given relative to this village (see field 'emplacementMethod' = CoordCloserVillage and 'distVillage' and 'azimuthVillage') sLatitude, latitude of the trapline beginning (for surveys carried out before 1998 included, GPS receivers were not available: geographical coordinates are those of the nearest village, whose name is given in the field 'nameStudysite', and the position of trapline is given relative to this village (see field 'emplacementMethod' = CoordCloserVillage and 'distVillage' and 'azimuthVillage') eLongitude, longitude of the trapline end eLatitude, latitude of the trapline beginning cLongitude, longitude of the trapline centroid (for surveys carried out before 1998 included, GPS receivers were not available: geographical coordinates are those of the nearest village, whose name is given in the field 'nameStudysite', and the position of trapline is given relative to this village (see field 'emplacementMethod' = CoordCloserVillage and 'distVillage' and 'azimuthVillage') cLatitude, latitude of the trapline beginning (for surveys carried out before 1998 included, GPS receivers were not available: geographical coordinates are those of the nearest village, whose name is given in the field 'nameStudysite', and the position of trapline is given relative to this village (see field 'emplacementMethod' = CoordCloserVillage and 'distVillage' and 'azimuthVillage') altitude, altitude emplacementMethod, way location is recorded: CoordCloserVillage, distance and direction of the nearest village (used on a time when GPS receivers were nor available); GPS, geographical coordinates; unknown distVillage, distance to the nearest village (in m) azimuthVillage, bearing direction to the nearest village habitat, habitat description campagneObs, month and year of the survey campagneObsBegin, date of the beginning of the survey campagneObsEnd, date of the end of the survey traptype, trap type (see e.g. Traptypes.pdf for some illustrations): INRA, INRA trap sbbt, small break back trap apporté, brought by people apporté (?), possibly brought by people BBBT, big break back trap sSherman, small Sherman trap BSHERMAN, big Sherman trap CAGE, cage trape tong, tong trap attrapé à la main, caught by hand road, found dead along a road trouvés, found assommoir, deadfall trap tong trap, tong trap bbbt, small break back trap child, brought by a child collet, snare BBBT ou jaw, big break back trap or jaw trap jaw, jaw trap remarks, remarks nbControlNights, number of control nights (traps were set up during the day and controlled every morning) nbTrapsInstal1, number of traps set up nbTrapsRecov1, number of traps recovered on first control nbTrapsRecov2, number of traps recovered on control #2 nbTrapsRecov3, number of traps recovered on control #3 nbTrapsRecov4, number of traps recovered on control #4 nbTrapsRecov5, number of traps recovered on control #5 Captures.txt This file is a table that describes the 2178 animals captured. As a table, it can be joined to the trapline table using the field 'idLine' country, country ISO code idCapture, Capture ID code: digits #1-8 trapline ID, see field 'idLine' of Traplines.txt for details, digits #9-10 capture ID in the trapline numControlNight, number of the control night dateControlNight, date of the control night labCode, code for the laboratory speciesField, species as identified in the field; for abbreviations see SpeciesNames.txt species, species as confirmed in the lab sex, M male; F female. reproducing T true; F False remarks HeadBodyLength, head-body length UterusDiameter (mm) WholeBodyWetmass, body mass (g) EarLength (mm) ToesForelegNb, number of toes (foreleg) ToesHindlegNb, number of toes (hintleg) ClawLength (mm) TailLength (mm) TailQuiffLength (mm) HindFootLength (mm) CristallineLensNb, number of crystalline lens weighed (sometimes only one could be taken) CristallineLensDrymass, dry mass of the crystalline lens weighed (one or two together according to 'CristallineLensNb' TesticleLength (mm) TesticleWidth (mm) SeminalVesicleLength (mm) SeminalVesicleWidth (mm) PlacentaScarsNb, number of placental scares EmbryosNb, number of embryos idLine, ID of the trapline where the animal was caught Parasites.txt Livers and general cavity were generally examined visually to identify macroparasites such as cestode kysts or nematodes with a particular attention for Echinococcus multilocularis metacestodes. Additionnal informations on parasites might have been reported in the field 'remarks' of Captures.txt. As a table, it can be joined to the capture table using the field 'idCapture' country, country ISO code idCapture, Capture ID code see field idCapture of Captures.txt species, parasite species name: "?" or "99" = unknown (generally a small unidentifiable white dot); "CH" = Capillaria hepatica (sometimes in full "Capillaria hepatica"); "Em" = Echinococcus multilocularis (sometimes in full "Echinococcus multilocularis"); "Taenia" ; "Taenia crassiceps"; "Taenia taeniformis" number Transects.zip Transects were used to sample open habitats such as grassland, arable fields etc., for species that leave conspicuous activity indices on the ground surface, in order to provide abundance estimates over a larger range than possible using trapping methods. For each transect, 10 paces intervals were surveyed with activity indicators identifiable to species or genus level (including foraging corridors, ground holes, earth tumuli and small mammal faeces) recorded. Except for Sary Mogol, Kyrgyzstan, where transect were walked on twenty 10-paces intervals centred on the nodes of a grid, transect routes were selected opportunistically under accessibility constraints in order to cross the largest portion of each habitat patch. They were recorded via Global Positioning System receivers with an approximate 15 m accuracy. The zip file includes the followings: Transect file descriptions.rtf, the description of the fields of each transect table Transects_Honlong_2007_09.txt, transects walked near HongLong, China, in September 2007 Transects_Narati_2006_09.txt, transects walked near Narati, China, in September 2006 Transects_Ningxia_2003_09.txt, transects walked in Ningxia, China, in September 2003 Transects_SaryMoghul_2012_2014.txt, transects walked near Sary Moghul, Kyrgyzstan, in May 2012 and August 2014 Transects_Serxu_2002_07.txt, transects walked near Serxu, China, in July 2002 Transects_Tuotuohe_2006_07.txt, transects walked on the way from Xining to Tuotuo He, China, in July 2006 Supplementary files 1MapStudyAreas.jpg Map of the main areas surveyed DNA_sequencing.txt table of the specimens whose DNA has been sequenced ind_number, Capture ID code: see field 'idCapture' in Captures.txt ID_lab, lab identification label Species_DNA, species as identified by DNA sequencing laboratory, people and/or lab who performed the analysis ID morphometry/karyotype, species as identified by morphology + karyotype Photos_traplines.zip Photos of traplines and habitats for the following surveys Honglong, CN, September 2007 Maerkang, CN, September 2005 Narati, CN, September 2006 Ningxia, CN, September 2003, July 2012 Rantang, CN, June 2004 Sary Mogol, KG, April 2008 Serxu, CN, July 2002 SpeciesNames.txt Abbreviations, latin, English, French names of species Code, code on 4 digits Nom latin, latin name Nom commun (Anglais), common name (English) Nom commun (Français), common name (French) Remark Small_mammal_measurements.pdf Method for small mammal sampling and measurements. TrapLocationCodes.txt Codes for the location of traplines Location, location name Symbol, symbol (first two digits of idLine in Traplines.txt Province, province name Trapping, remarks about sampling design Traptypes.pdf Samples of small and big break back traps, tong trap and INRA trap.

{"references": ["Giraudoux, P., Quere, J.P., Delattre, P., Bao, G., Wang, X., Shi, D., Vuitton, D., Craig, P.S., 1998. Distribution of small mammals along a deforestation gradient in south Gansu, China. Acta Theriologica 43, 349\u2013362.", "Raoul, F., Quere, J.-P., Rieffel, D., Bernard, N., Takahashi, K., Scheifler, R., Ito, A., Wang, O., Qiu, J., Yang, W., Craig, P.S., Giraudoux, P., 2006. Distribution of small mammals in a pastoral landscape of the Tibetan plateaus (Western Sichuan, China) and relationship with grazing practises. Mammalia 70, 214\u2013225. https://doi.org/10.1515/mamm.2006.042", "Giraudoux, P., Zhou, H.X., Quere, J.P., Raoul, F., Delattre, P., Volobouev, V., Deforet, T., Ito, A., Mamuti, W., Scheifler, R., Craig, P.S., 2008. Small mammal assemblages and habitat distribution in the northern Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, China: a pilot survey. Mammalia 72, 309\u2013319. https://doi.org/10.1515/mamm.2008.048", "Raoul, F., Pleydell, D., Quere, J.-P., Vaniscotte, A., Rieffel, D., Takahashi, K., Bernard, N., Wang, J., Dobigny, T., Galbreath, K.E., Giraudoux, P., 2008. Small-mammal assemblage response to deforestation and afforestation in central China. Mammalia 72, 320\u2013332. https://doi.org/10.1515/mamm.2008.045", "Vaniscotte, A., Pleydell, D.R.J., Raoul, F., Quere, J.P., Qiu, J., Qian, W., Li, T., Bernard, N., Coeurdassier, M., Delattre, P., Takahashi, K., Weidmann, J.-C., Giraudoux, P., 2009. Modelling and spatial discrimination of small mammal assemblages: An example from western Sichuan (China). Ecological Modelling 220, 1218\u20131231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2009.02.019", "Afonso, E., Knapp, J., Tete, N., Umhang, G., Rieffel, D., van Kesteren, F., Ziadinov, I., Craig, P.S., Torgerson, P.R., Giraudoux, P., 2015. Echinococcus multilocularis in Kyrgyzstan: similarity in the Asian EmsB genotypic profiles from village populations of Eastern mole voles (Ellobius tancrei) and dogs in the Alay valley. Journal of Helminthology 89, 664\u2013670. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022149x15000474", "Shenbrot, G., Bannikova, A., Giraudoux, P., Qu\u00e9r\u00e9, J.-P., Raoul, F., Lebedev, V., 2017. A new recent genus and species of three-toed jerboas (Rodentia: Dipodinae) from China: A living fossil? Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 55, 356\u2013368. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzs.12182"]}

Sample collection has been undertaken with the help of countless people who have regularly or occasionally participated. Among them (alphabetical order of the surname): Eve Afonso, Bao GenShu, Nadine Bernard, Carole Bodin, Michael Coeurdassier, Thomas Déforêt, Pierre Delattre, Kurt E. Galbreath, Patrick Giraudoux, Akira Ito, Li Li, Li TiaoYing, Li WenKe, Wulamu Mamuti, David Pleydell, Qi XinWei, Qiu Jiamen, Jean-Pierre Quéré, Francis Raoul, Dominique Rieffel, Thomas Romig, Renaud Scheifler, Kenichi Takahashi, Nicolas Tete, Amélie Vaniscotte, Wang Junli, Wang Qian, Wang XiaoMing, Torsten Wassermann, Yang Yurong, Jean-Christophe Weidmann, Wen Hao, Yang Wen, Zhou Hongxia, Iskender Ziadinov. Thanks go also to countless people who have regularly provided invaluable support and aid in villages in China and Kyrgyzstan. [The following grants contributed to the surveys but could not be entered in the "Grants" dialog box of the Zenodo system: + 1995-1997 Programme européen DG XII "Human cystic and alveolar echinococcosis in northwest China : community screening, patient treatment/follow-up and transmission studies" STD TS3-CT94-0270. [UK - France - Chine] + 1996-1997 Programme de l'Association franco-chinoise pour la recherche scientifique et technique, programme de recherche avancée franco-chinois PRA95. "Gestion du paysage et structure des peuplements de rongeurs: incidence sur la transmission de l'échinococcose alvéolaire". N° E-95-1 + 2004 Transmission ecology and eco-epidemiology of Echinococcus sp. in the Yili valley. Grant n° XJDX0202-2004-01 du Xinjiang Key Lab of fundamental research on echinococcosis, first affiliated hospital of the Xinjiang Medical University, République Populaire de Chine. + 2013 - 2014 Institut Universitaire de France + 2013 - 2014 CNRS - INEE, Groupement de Recherche International Ecosystem Health and Environmental Disease Ecology https://gdri-ehede.univ-fcomte.fr]. Special thanks to Phil S. Craig who has been at the initiative, one of the principal investigators, and the friendly companion and supporter of most of the research programmes that permitted data collection.