The continental and marine territories of Uruguay are characterised by a rich convergence of multiple biogeographic ecoregions of the Neotropics, making this country a peculiar biodiversity spot. However, despite the biological significance of Uruguay for the South American subcontinent, the distribution of biodiversity patterns in this country remain poorly understood, given the severe gaps in available records of geographic species distributions. Currently, national biodiversity datasets are not openly available and, thus, a dominant proportion of the primary biodiversity data produced by researchers and institutions across Uruguay remains highly dispersed and difficult to access for the wider scientific and environmental community. In this paper, we aim to fill this gap by developing the first comprehensive, open-access database of biodiversity records for Uruguay (Biodiversidata), which is the result of a large-scale collaboration involving experts working across the entire range of taxonomic diversity found in the country. As part of the first phase of Biodiversidata, we here present a comprehensive database of tetrapod occurrence records native from Uruguay, with the latest taxonomic updates. The database provides primary biodiversity data on extant Amphibia, Reptilia, Aves and Mammalia species recorded within the country. The total number of records collated is 69,380, spanning 673 species and it is available at the Zenodo repository: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2650169. This is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically comprehensive database of Uruguayan tetrapod species available to date and it represents the first open repository for the country.

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The uneven spatial distribution of biodiversity is a defining feature of nature. In fact, the implementation of conservation actions both locally and globally has progressively been guided by the identification of biodiversity ‘hotspots’ (areas with exceptional biodiversity). However, different regions of the world differ drastically in the availability of fine-scale data on the diversity and distribution of species, thus limiting the potential to assess their local environmental priorities. Within South America—a megadiverse continent—Uruguay represents a peculiar area where multiple tropical and non-tropical eco-regions converge, creating highly heterogeneous ecosystems, but where the systematic quantification of biodiversity remains largely anecdotal. To investigate the constraints posed by the limited access to biodiversity data, we employ the most comprehensive database for tetrapod vertebrates in Uruguay (spanning 664 species) assembled to date, to identify hotspots of species-richness, endemism and threatened species for the first time. Our results reveal negligible spatial congruence among biodiversity hotspots, and that tetrapod sampling has historically concentrated in only a few areas. Collectively, our study provides a detailed account of the areas where urgent biodiversity monitoring efforts are needed to develop more accurate knowledge on biodiversity patterns, offering government and environmental bodies a critical scientific resource for future planning.

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NG thank the Postgraduate Grants from the Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación (ANII) and the Programa de Desarrollo de las Ciencias Básicas (PEDECIBA), Uruguay. GL, IGB, AS and MA are members of the Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (SNI) and PEDECIBA, Uruguay. The authors are grateful for the support of Fondo Clemente Estable (FCE_3_2020_1_162152) and the Rufford Foundation. MA contribution is supported by the PONDERFUL Horizon 2020 project (H2020-LC-CLA-2019-2). We thank the local inhabitants of the studied site for their contributions during fieldwork. All the used animal welfare protocols were authorized by the National Commission for Animal Experimentation, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural (Code 013/11).

Esta nota reporta la ocurrencia de una nueva población feral de rana toro americana, Lithobates cathesbeianus, en la localidad de Cerrillos, Departamento de Canelones, Uruguay. Esta población se encuentra dentro de un área protegida de gran importancia nacional. Se recomienda evaluar su estatus y distribución.