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The neotropical ecoregion consisting of South America, Central America, Southern Mexico, the Caribbean Islands, and Southern Florida, has long been considered an area rich in mammalian diversity and one that contains some of the world's iconic carnivores such as the Jaguar and Puma. These, and other carnivores represent the highest trophic levels w...
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Forty one jaguar skulls from Colombia were measured for 46 quantitative morphometric variables. We detected no differences between two supposed subspecies of jaguars or their gender. However, size was more important in determining individual differences than shape. Therefore, morphometric data seem to be less powerful in detecting differences among...
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... Predators, such as wild cats, represent the highest trophic levels within Neotropical areas, having significant effects on the structure and function of the ecosystems (Ruiz-Garcia & Shostell, 2013). They may affect prey communities, altering vertebrate populations and indirectly, plant communities (Terborgh et al., 2001;Terborgh et al., 2006;Preisser et al., 2007). ...
RESUMO: (Tendências sobre ecologia alimentar de Leopardus wiedii e Leopardus guttulus) Estudos sobre os hábitos alimentares fornecem informações essenciais para compreender a biologia das espécies, o comportamento alimentar dos predadores e, ainda, fornecem informações sobre a comunidade de presas em uma determinada área. No entanto, tais estudos tornam-se difíceis, especialmente, quando as espécies são de menor porte e possuem hábitos elusivos, como por exemplo, Leopardus wiedii e L. guttulus, duas espécies de felídeos neotropicais. O objetivo deste estudo foi identificar as lacunas e tendências nas publicações sobre ecologia alimentar de L. wiedii e L. guttulus, nos últimos 25 anos, através de uma análise cienciométrica. Foram compilados estudos sobre essas duas espécies, indexados em três diferentes bases de dados, resultando em 181 publicações. Destas, 16 publicações têm como tema a ecologia alimentar de L. wiedii e L. guttulus e cinco publicações não estão indexadas. Os resultados indicam que o número de publicações não apresentou uma tendência de aumento nos últimos anos e que existe uma escassez de pesquisas em vários países e biomas, onde as espécies ocorrem. Apesar de existir um baixo número de publicações sobre o tema, alguns picos de publicações contribuíram para ampliar o conhecimento de ambas as espécies e, consequentemente, das relações ecológicas com suas presas. Este trabalho contribui ao avaliar o cenário dos estudos publicados sobre a ecologia alimentar destes dois felídeos neotropicais, demonstrando as lacunas existentes e incentivando o direcionamento de futuros estudos sistematizados sobre o tema.
Where Did They Come From? The Origins of South American Fauna offers a fascinating journey into the origins of South American flora and fauna. Exploring life on the continent before and after the breakup of Gondwana, it delves into how creatures arrived in South America, be it through drifting across oceans or traversing land bridges. From birds and reptiles to mammals and fish, this book provides a comprehensive compendium of biological diversity, discussing their origins and evolutionary paths. Readers will gain insights into the mechanisms of animal dispersal, evolution, and the impact of the Great Biotic Interchange. The book also lists references for further exploration of the subject.
The book is structured into five parts:
Building South America: Covers tectonic movements, climate changes, and breaching isolation.
Shaping South America: Explores the landforms and diverse biomes across the continent.
Vertebrates within South America: Discusses unique amphibians, reptiles, fish, mammals, and birds that evolved on the continent.
Vertebrates immigrating to South America: Examines exotic reptiles, birds, and mammals that found their way to the continent. The author also lists the families of almost all genera of South American animals, while giving knowledge of their origins.
Recent Arrivals - the Great Biotic Interchange: Explores the significant interchange of various species that occurred later.
Ideal for students, biologists, and anyone curious about the natural world, this book is a captivating read that uncovers the incredible history of South American fauna and its evolutionary tapestry.
Mesoamerican jaguars (Panthera onca) have been extirpated from over 77% of their historic range, inhabiting fragmented landscapes at potentially reduced population sizes. Maintaining and restoring genetic diversity and connectivity across human-altered landscapes has become a major conservation priority; nonetheless large-scale genetic monitoring of natural populations is rare. This is the first regional conservation genetic study of jaguars to primarily use fecal samples collected in the wild across five Mesoamerican countries: Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. We genotyped 445 jaguar fecal samples and examined patterns of genetic diversity and connectivity among 115 individual jaguars using data from 12 microsatellite loci. Overall, moderate levels of genetic variation were detected (NA = 4.50 ± 1.05, AR = 3.43 ± 0.22, HE = 0.59 ± 0.04), with Mexico having the lowest genetic diversity, followed by Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and Costa Rica. Population-based gene flow measures (FST = 0.09 to 0.15, Dest = 0.09 to 0.21), principal component analysis, and Bayesian clustering applied in a hierarchical framework revealed significant genetic structure in Mesoamerican jaguars, roughly grouping individuals into four genetic clusters with varying levels of admixture. Gene flow was highest among Selva Maya jaguars (northern Guatemala and central Belize), whereas genetic differentiation among all other sampling sites was moderate. Genetic subdivision was most pronounced between Selva Maya and Honduran jaguars, suggesting limited jaguar movement between these close geographic regions and ultimately refuting the hypothesis of contemporary panmixia. To maintain a critical linkage for jaguars dispersing through the Mesoamerican landscape and ensure long-term viability of this near threatened species, we recommend continued management and maintenance of jaguar corridors. The baseline genetic data provided by this study underscores the importance of understanding levels of genetic diversity and connectivity to making informed management and conservation decisions with the goal to maintain functional connectivity across the region.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jzo.12358/full
With increasing anthropogenic impact and landscape change, terrestrial carnivore populations are becoming more fragmented. Thus, it is crucial to genetically monitor wild carnivores and quantify changes in genetic diversity and gene flow in response to these threats. This study combined the use of scat detector dogs and molecular scatology to conduct the first genetic study on wild populations of multiple Neotropical felids coexisting across a fragmented landscape in Belize, Central America. We analyzed data from 14 polymorphic microsatellite loci in 1053 scat samples collected from wild jaguars (Panthera onca), pumas (Puma concolor), and ocelots (Leopardus pardalis). We assessed levels of genetic diversity, defined potential genetic clusters, and examined gene flow for the three target species on a countrywide scale using a combination of individual- and population-based analyses. Wild felids in Belize showed moderate levels of genetic variation, with jaguars having the lowest diversity estimates (HE = 0.57 ± 0.02; AR = 3.36 ± 0.09), followed by pumas (HE = 0.57 ± 0.08; AR = 4.20 ± 0.16), and ocelots (HE = 0.63 ± 0.03; AR = 4.16 ± 0.08). We observed low to moderate levels of genetic differentiation for all three target species, with jaguars showing the lowest degree of genetic subdivision across the country, followed by ocelots and pumas. Although levels of genetic diversity and gene flow were still fairly high, we detected evidence of fine-scale genetic subdivision, indicating that levels of genetic connectivity for wild felids in Belize are likely to decrease if habitat loss and fragmentation continue at the current rate. Our study demonstrates the value of understanding fine-scale patterns of gene flow in multiple co-occurring felid species of conservation concern, which is vital for wildlife movement corridor planning and prioritizing future conservation and management efforts within human-impacted landscapes.
We analyzed 115 Saguinus leucopus, from four Colombian departments (Antioquia, Bolivar, Caldas and Tolima
), for 701 bp of the mt
COII gene and at 10 microsatellite loci to estimate gene diversity levels, possible molecular subspecies and historical demographic changes in this species. This endemic Colombian species showed an elevated gene diversity in this gene, although its geographical distribution is very restrictive and extremely threatened by habitat fragmentation. The mt
COII gene did not show any geographical structure in the distribution of the haplotypes within this species, but it did show a noteworthy population expansion throughout the history of this species. A Bayesian analysis showed that the haplotype diversification of this species began around 1.6 million years ago (MYA), whilst a haplotype network gave the beginning of this diversification at around 0.5–0.6 MYA. Forty-seven individuals out of the 115 were analyzed for 10 DNA microsatellites. The genetic diversity was relatively elevated for this kind of marker too, and comparable to that found in other Neotropical monkeys with a wider geographical distribution. Two gene pools were detected with the microsatellites, one in the northern distribution area (Antioquia) and the other in the southern distribution area (Tolima). No tests detected any bottleneck affecting this population; however, two procedures (k test and Kimmel et al. 1998 test) detected significant population expansion for the microsatellite markers, like that seen with the mt
COII gene.
