Xenarthrans—anteaters, sloths, and armadillos—have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across their full distribution ranges. The Neotropics harbor 21 species of armadillos, 10 anteaters, and 6 sloths. Our data set includes the families Chlamyphoridae (13), Dasypodidae (7), Myrmecophagidae (3), Bradypodidae (4), and Megalonychidae (2). We have no occurrence data on Dasypus pilosus (Dasypodidae). Regarding Cyclopedidae, until recently, only one species was recognized, but new genetic studies have revealed that the group is represented by seven species. In this data paper, we compiled a total of 42,528 records of 31 species, represented by occurrence and quantitative data, totaling 24,847 unique georeferenced records. The geographic range is from the southern United States, Mexico, and Caribbean countries at the northern portion of the Neotropics, to the austral distribution in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. Regarding anteaters, Myrmecophaga tridactyla has the most records (n = 5,941), and Cyclopes sp. have the fewest (n = 240). The armadillo species with the most data is Dasypus novemcinctus (n = 11,588), and the fewest data are recorded for Calyptophractus retusus (n = 33). With regard to sloth species, Bradypus variegatus has the most records (n = 962), and Bradypus pygmaeus has the fewest (n = 12). Our main objective with Neotropical Xenarthrans is to make occurrence and quantitative data available to facilitate more ecological research, particularly if we integrate the xenarthran data with other data sets of Neotropical Series that will become available very soon (i.e., Neotropical Carnivores, Neotropical Invasive Mammals, and Neotropical Hunters and Dogs). Therefore, studies on trophic cascades, hunting pressure, habitat loss, fragmentation effects, species invasion, and climate change effects will be possible with the Neotropical Xenarthrans data set. Please cite this data paper when using its data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us of how they are using these data.
Numerous species of aromobatid frogs in the genus Allobates from the Amazonian region of Brazil have been described in recent years. Herein, we describe a new Allobates from the state of Amazonas. This species is allopatric with three other species of Allobates, two of which we have described previously. The new species inhabits streams in small remnants of paleovárzea forest along margins of a small river, the Paraná do Castanho. Paleovárzeas are ancient floodplains of the Amazon River and its tributaries. Paleovárzea forests are transitional between terra firme forests, which are never flooded, and várzeas, which are seasonally flooded. Males and females of the new species are similar in size; males average 20.1 mm, females 19.8. Tadpoles have a distinct dark brown bar extending from the snout through the eye to midbody. The call of this species consists of quickly repeated groups of single notes and is unique compared to known species of Allobates. Courtship includes cephalic amplexus. Eggs are deposited on the forest floor in cup-shaped leaves in the litter. Unlike other species of Allobates, egg capsules in this species are opaque instead of clear.
Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non‐detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non‐governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer‐reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non‐detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio‐temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large‐scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data.
The Amazon forest has the highest biodiversity on earth. However, information on Amazonian vertebrate diversity is still deficient and scattered across the published, peer-reviewed and grey literature and in unpublished raw data. Camera traps are an effective non-invasive method of surveying vertebrates, applicable to different scales of time and space. In this study, we organized and standardized camera trap records from different Amazon regions to compile the most extensive dataset of inventories of mammal, bird and reptile species ever assembled for the area. The complete dataset comprises 154,123 records of 317 species (185 birds, 119 mammals and 13 reptiles) gathered from surveys from the Amazonian portion of eight countries (Brazil,
The long-term coexistence of sympatric species is dependent on segregation in at least one of three niche dimensions: space, time or feeding habits. Hunting by people can influence species' temporal and spatial patterns and consequently affect their coexistence. We tested the hypothesis that hunting influences spatial and temporal patterns of coexistence of two sympatric deer species (Mazama americana and Mazama nemorivaga) in central Amazonia. We described deer hunting patterns using data from an 18-year community-based hunting monitoring program and predicted the spatial distribution of deer hunting trips. We used camera traps to (1) estimate the habitat use patterns of each species through conditional occupancy, (2) evaluate whether these species interact and (3) assess how modelled hunting intensity affects deer habitat occupancy. We also tested the temporal overlap of activity time between both species and hunters. We did not find evidence of hunting effects on occupancy and interaction, nor of spatial segregation among the deer species. M. americana was primarily nocturnal and M. nemorivaga primarily diurnal. The overlap between species' temporal activities was relatively low, suggesting temporal niche segregation between species. Hunting activity was mainly diurnal and overlapped with M. nemorivaga active hours. However, we found that M. americana was more frequently hunted than M. nemorivaga. The probability of daytime activity was not influenced by hunting intensity. Temporal segregation, with asynchrony of activity periods, seems to be the mechanism behind the coexistence of M. americana and M. nemorivaga in Central Amazonia. The absence of hunting effects on brocket deer species in our study area suggests a low impact of harvest on both species' behaviour. This indicates that contexts of low human density and large extensions of pristine forests can enable hunted brocket deer populations to be sustained through source-sink dynamics.
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