Aberrant pelage color patterns such as albinism have been reported in some mammal groups including rodents, but in spite of the group’s richness, the phenomenon is relatively poorly documented in the literature. Albino specimens are reported in <2% of the species of rodents, four records of neotropical species were found (Delomys dorsalis,Heteromys anomalus,Octodon degus,Phyllotis andium). Of New World porcupines (Erethizontidae), albinism was documented only in the North American speciesErethizon dorsatum. Here we report the first albino record from the Neotropics for this group, a stump-tailed porcupine (Coendou rufescens) in northern Ecuador.
The nurse effect is a positive interaction in which one plant (the nurse) provides conditions that enhance the establishment and growth of another plant species (Callaway 1995). Increased environmental severity appeared to increase the strength of nurse effects (Brooker et al. 2008, Lortie & Callaway 2006). On the one hand, the impact of the nurse effect depends on the magnitude of the environmental changes exerted by the nurse plant. On the other hand, the impact could depend on the number of plant species in the regional pool that respond to such changes. For example, better conditions beneath the crowns of nurse plants might allow the occurrence of species that are sensitive to environmental stress and that occur infrequently in open areas. Thus, if a nurse plant modulates environmental conditions that are critical for the persistence of other plant species, it seems likely that such nurse plants would have greater effects in stressful habitats, where they cause relatively larger environmental mitigation (Badano et al. 2006, Callaway et al. 2002).
We provide insights into the diversity of small non-volant mammals (SNVMs) in the Reserva Geobotánica Pululahua, a peri-urban natural area of Quito, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Based on Sherman-like traps and pitfall traps, we recorded 21 species of SNVMs. They represent 40% of the total species reported for the entire province, and include six species that are endemic to the northwestern slope of the Ecuadorian Andes. Despite its proximity to the city of Quito (less than 5 km), Pululahua seems to have an average richness compared with other similar localities in the Ecuadorian Andes. Our results are a baseline for future conservation plans for SNVMs.
Here we report on a skull of an adult male Noctilio leporinus caught in the Guiana Shield, South America. The animal was lacking the upper left molar-row and exhibited skeletal deformations in the rostral and palatal regions. This aberration could have been the result of a traumatic avulsion of the left C1. As a consequence of its position and depth of the root, the C1 avulsion could have broken much of the surrounding alveolar process during the initial injury, with subsequent loss of the remaining teeth via periodontal inflammation and tooth decay.
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