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SummaryThe drivers of periodic population cycling by some animal species in northern systems remain unresolved1. Mysterious disappearances of populations of the Neotropical, herdforming white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari, henceforth “WLP”) have been anecdotally documented and explained as local events resulting from migratory movements or overhunting2,3,4, or as disease outbreaks5,6, and have not been considered in the context of large-scale species-specific population dynamics. Here we present evidence that WLP disappearances represent troughs in population cycles that occur with regular periodicity and are synchronized at regional and perhaps continent-wide spatial scales. Analysis of 43 disappearance events and 88 years of commercial and subsistence harvesting data reveals boom – bust population cycles lasting from 20 to 30 years, in which a rapid population crash occurring over 1 to 5 years is followed by a period of absence of 7 to12 years and then a slow growth phase. Overhunting alone cannot explain the crashes, but as in northern systems dispersal during the growth phase appears to play a key role. This is the first documentation of population cycling in a tropical vertebrate.

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Sword-nose bats genus Lonchorhina are characterized by the most developed telic structures among representatives of the Neotropical family Phyllostomidae, including the longest noseleaf, ear pinna, and tragi in respect to their body sizes. Species in the genus Lonchorhina are usually rare in mist-netting inventories, and most of the currently recognized species are represented in museum collections by few specimens from a limited number of localities, preventing a better appreciation of its diversity. The last comprehensive study on the taxonomy of the genus was conducted almost four decades ago based upon a limited number of specimens that did not include all currently recognized species. In this work we evaluate the phenetic affinities and taxonomic placement of divergent Lonchorhina specimens recovered from the Colombian Guayana, through the analysis of both discrete and morphometric skull characters. Our analyses included 105 Lonchorhina specimens, representing the five currently recognized species, from a substantial portion of the distribution of the genus. As a result of our evaluation, we introduce a new species of sword-nose bat, representing the phyllostomid species with the largest known noseleaf and tragus (noseleaf >41.5 mm, tragus >22.3 mm). The newly introduce taxon is part of the large skull Lonchorhina (Greatest Skull Length, GSL >21.5 mm) and it is closely related in its morphology to L. marinkellei and L. inusitata from which it is easy to tell apart by its unique morphology, overall larger size (GSL media=27.31; StDev=0.5) and more massive dentition. The holotype of Lonchorhina sp. nov. was collected at an inselberg formation, adjacent to Río Mesay, Puerto Abeja in the Southwestern portion of the National Natural Park Chiribiquete, in the Colombian department of Caquetá, at 340 masl. The National Park Chiribiquete, corresponds to one of the most unexplored areas in the country, enclosing the oldest and largest series of Amazon pictograms (20.000 years bc) registered on the outcrops of the numerous tepuis, in which images of bats are of particular cultural importance, in that sense the new species is a tribute to the Karijona people who inhabited the area of Chiribiquete.Keywords: Chiribiquete, Guayana, Karijona, Sowrd-nose bat. ResumenLos murciélagos de hoja nasal de espada del género Lonchorhina se caracterizan entre los miembros de la familia Phyllostomidae por poseer las estructuras télicas más desarrolladas, incluyendo la hoja nasal, trago, y pina más largos con respecto a su tamaño corporal. Las especies del género Lonchorhina son usualmente difíciles de registrar en muestreos con redes de niebla y están representadas en colecciones científicas, por pocos individuos de algunas localidades, impidiendo una mejor apreciación de su diversidad. La última revisión del género se realizó hace casi cuatro décadas, e incluyó un número limitado de especímenes de pocas localidades, sin considerar todas las especies reconocidas en la actualidad. En este estudio se analiza la morfología y vari...

Six ungulate species inhabit the Colombian Guiana Shield, a patchily-distributed biogeographic region characterized by poor nutrient soils and by harboring the only forest in Colombia growing on a Precambrian surface. In Colombia, two protected areas are located on the Colombian Guiana Shield, the Tuparro National Natural Park (PNNT, for its Spanish initials) and the Puinawai National Natural Reserve (RNNP, for its Spanish initials), which have a large difference in the configuration and availability of native forest. These ungulates are three deer species (Odocoileus virginianus, Mazama americana and M. nemorivaga), two peccary species (Pecari tajacu and Tayassu pecari) and one tapir specie (Tapirus terrestris). The aims of this study were to estimate and compare the abundance of those six ungulate species in two protected areas located within the Guiana Shield region in Colombia and analyze the relationship with the landscape forest amount and distance to human settlements. The study sites were in PNNT where the landscape is dominated by natural savannas mixed with riparian forests, and RNNP covered by tropical forests. We estimated the relative abundance of each ungulate species using repeated presence-absence data with the occupancy model with heterogeneous detection of Royle and Nichols (2003). Presence detection was obtained from both direct observations and tracks. The direct sightings and tracks we sampled along six transects in PNNT and nine in RNNP (244.4 km at PNNT and 257 km at RNNP) and track plots of 0.25 m 2 (211 at PNNT and 297 at RNNP). The relative abundance of tapir, collared peccary (P. tajacu) and brocket deer (Mazama spp.) were different between protected areas; we found no differences in the white-lipped peccary abundance (T. pecari). Relative abundance estimation was higher at RNNP for tapirs and brocket deers. In contrast, collared peccary was more abundant in the PNNT. There was positive effect of floodplain forest area abundance of white-lipped peccary. The distance to human settlements had positive effect on collared peccary abundance and negative effect on tapir and white tailed deer (O. virginianus). The higher abundance in the RNNP for tapirs and Mazama spp., brocket deer was unrelated to the forest area, so the difference may be related to local habitat conditions. The white-lipped peccary is sensitive to the forest area in the landscape, but has also been found that riparian forests act as natural corridors. Failure to find differences in abundance can be an indicator of the high habitat quality for these species. The collared peccary has been positively associated to a moderate degree of subdivision of forest at landscape (number of patchs), which could explain the higher abundance in the PNNT. The positive relationship of white-lipped peccary with the floodplain forest coincides with the patterns observed in other Amazonian areas. Finally, the negative effect of the distance from settlements for brocket deer and tapir may be related to low hunting pressure on these species, con...

In South America, wild populations of peccaries coexist with domestic and feral pigs, with poorly understood consequences. We captured 58 collared peccaries ( Pecari tajacu) and 15 feral pigs ( Sus scrofa) in locations of Colombia where coexistence of these species is known. Blood samples were tested for antibodies against four viral agents, classical swine fever virus (CSFV), Aujeszky's disease virus (ADV), porcine circovirus (PCV-2), and vesicular stomatitis virus (New Jersey and Indiana subtypes) and two bacterial agents, Brucella spp. and six serovars of Leptospira interrogans. The prevalence of CSFV was 5% (3/58) in collared peccaries and 7% (1/15) in feral pigs. The prevalence of PCV-2 was 7% (1/15) in collared peccaries and 67% (2/3) in feral pigs. Vesicular stomatitis prevalence was 33% (8/24) in collared peccaries and 67% (4/6) in feral pigs. Leptospira prevalence was 78% (39/50) in collared peccary and 100% (8/8) in feral pigs; bratislava, grippotyphosa, icterohaemorrhagiae, and pomona were the most frequent serovars. Also, the only white-lipped peccary ( Tayassu pecari) sampled was positive for L. interrogans serovar bratislava and for vesicular stomatitis virus, New Jersey strain. No samples were positive for ADV or Brucella. The seroprevalence of antibodies against L. interrogans was similar to that observed in other studies. Icterohaemorrhagiae appears to be a common serovar among in situ and ex situ peccary populations. Positive antibodies against PVC-2 represent a novel report of exposure to this pathogen in Colombian peccaries. Our results indicate the possible transmission of various pathogens, important for pig farms, in the studied pig and peccaries.

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