The specimens deposited in a scientific collection are the physical evidence of living, as well as extinct, life forms. The physical state and the accuracy of the data and of the specimens stored in a collection may be assessed by the health level of the collection, which is represented by the collection profile and a health index. This paper presents a practical method for assessing a mammal collection health level. This method was designed and standardized following previous works and includes 8 levels. The method was applied to the Colección Nacional de Mamíferos (CNMA), housed at the Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, in 2011 and in 2015. The cataloged specimens were selected by a stratified random sampling in 2011 and a simple random sampling in 2015. Specimens that had not been cataloged were also assessed and selected by a stratified sampling in both years. A total of 336 specimens were evaluated in 2011 and 331 in 2015. The health index in the CNMA was 0.70 in 2015.Keywords: Biodiversity; Certification; Biological collections; Curatorial standards; Health index; Handling; Maintenance ResumenLos ejemplares albergados en las colecciones científicas constituyen evidencias físicas de formas de vida presentes así como extintas. El estado físico y la precisión de los datos de los ejemplares depositados en las colecciones científicas se pueden evaluar con un método conocido como nivel de salud, que está representado por el perfil de la colección y el índice de salud. Este artículo presenta un método práctico para evaluar el nivel de salud de una colección de mamíferos. El método fue diseñado siguiendo trabajos previos e incluye 8 niveles. El método se aplicó a la Colección Nacional de Mamíferos (CNMA) del Instituto de Biología, UNAM, en 2011 y en 2015. Los ejemplares catalogados fueron seleccionados por muestreo aleatorio estratificado en el 2011 y por un muestreo aleatorio simple en el 2015. Los ejemplares que no habían sido catalogados también se evaluaron y se seleccionaron mediante un muestreo sistemático. Se evaluaron 336 ejemplares en 2011 y 331 en 2015. El índice de salud en la CNMA fue de 0.70 en 2015.Palabras clave: Biodiversidad; Certificación; Colecciones biológicas; Estándares curatoriales; Índice de salud; Manejo; Mantenimiento V.E. Rivera-León et al. / Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 89 (2018): 402-411 403 https://doi
Two morphologically similar species of opossum from the genus Didelphis-Didelphis virginiana and Didelphis marsupialis-cooccur sympatrically in Mexico. High intraspecific variation complicates their morphological discrimination, under both field and museum conditions. This study aims to evaluate the utility and reliability of using DNA barcodes (short standardized genome fragments used for DNA-based identification) to distinguish these two species. Sequences of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (Cox1) mitochondrial gene were obtained from 12 D. marsupialis and 29 D. virginiana individuals and were compared using the neighbor-joining (NJ) algorithm with Kimura's two-parameter (K2P) model of nucleotide substitution. Average K2P distances were 1.56% within D. virginiana and 1.65% in D. marsupialis. Interspecific distances between D. virginiana and D. marsupialis varied from 7.8 to 9.3% and their barcode sequences formed distinct non-overlapping clusters on NJ trees. All sympatric specimens of both species were effectively discriminated, confirming the utility of Cox1 barcoding as a tool for taxonomic identification of these morphologically similar taxa.
Resumen. Se realizó un inventario de las especies de mamíferos que habitan en la Reserva Ecológica del Pedregal de San Ángel (REPSA). Los datos se obtuvieron a partir de registros de colecciones científi cas, de recolectas recientes en el área y de consultas en literatura especializada. Los resultados comprenden 628 registros acumulados desde 1943 y corresponden a 33 especies, agrupadas en 28 géneros, 15 familias y 6 órdenes de mamíferos. La ardilla gris (Sciurus aureogaster nigrescens) y el ratón del altiplano (Peromyscus melanophrys melanophrys) se registran por primera vez para la REPSA; asimismo, existen 2 registros que están publicados pero no listados en los inventarios previos a la reserva, el murciélago colorado, Lasiurus blossevillii teliotis, y el cuinique, Spermophilus adocetus adocetus; en las categorías de riesgo se encuentran como amenazadas 2 especies y 1 en la de protección especial, y hay 7 endémicas de México. La Reserva es uno de los últimos reductos de material genético de especies cuya localidad tipo se encuentra en la cuenca de México. El componente mastofaunístico de la zona es importante para el mantenimiento de la biodiversidad, por lo que el estudio y la protección de este ecosistema al interior de la ciudad de México debe continuarse. Palabras clave: mamíferos, ciudad de México, colecciones biológicas, inventarios, Reserva del Pedregal.
Updated information on the geographic and taxonomic representativeness of mammal specimens deposited in 28 Mexican mammal collections, the Mammal Networked Information System (MaNIS), and the Unidad de Informática para la Biodiversidad (UNIBIO) data bases were compiled in order to analyze and compare the overall current status of the specimens of Mexican mammals deposited in collections in North America. A total of 421,466 specimens deposited in 120 collections were documented, of which 233,116 were deposited in collections in the United States of America and Canada, and 188,350 in collections in Mexico. The collections with the greatest number of specimens from Mexico are the Colección Nacional de Mamíferos (CNMA 46,000), the University of Kansas (KU 44,301), and the Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas (ENCB 43,985). In Mexican collections, the states of northern Mexico are improperly represented in number of specimens (< 3,000), whereas in foreign collections, the states of central Mexico are poorly represented. The Mexican states better represented by number of specimens (> 10,000) are Baja California Sur, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Puebla and Veracruz. The orders better represented in terms of number of specimens are Rodentia and Chiroptera (234,978 and 120,956, respectively). The Mexican states with the smallest area have the greatest density of specimens collected (specimens/km 2 ), such as Distrito Federal (3.2), Tlaxcala (1.4), Colima (1.06), and Morelos (0.9). The aim of this analysis is to provide a baseline to establish appropriate strategies to complete the Nota del editor. Por considrar extensas las direcciones postales se decidio mandarlas al final de este articulo
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