On the status of Dusky-legged Guan Penelope obscura Temminck, 1815 (Aves: Cracidae) in Paraguay

Abstract

Despite repeated references to the species in Paraguay, the status of the Dusky-legged Guan Penelope obscura in the country has been the subject of much debate. In an attempt to clarify the available data, a thorough review of literature records is provided and details of new and previously unpublished records that confirm that the nominate subspecies is present in Paraguay are given. With the species limits in the obscura complex poorly defined, we provide a brief discussion of the potential importance of Paraguayan populations for the conservation of the species.

The resilient frugivorous fauna of an urban forest fragment and its potential role in vegetation enrichment

“…Like the Capuchins, Guans are heavily forest-dependent. Habitat loss, fragmentation, and illegal hunting have threatened them in many forest fragments (Smith and Derna 2015 ). As our network graph indicated, the loss of them in these green patches represents the loss of an incomparable role in seed dispersal, precluding the ecosystems’ capacity to maintain their ecological functions.…”

Morphological evidence for the taxonomic status of the Bridge’s Guan, Penelope bridgesi, with comments on the validity of P. obscura bronzina (Aves: Cracidae)

“…The only specimens mentioned by the author are deposited at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution (USNM 256875, 58994), and they lack precise information on collecting dates and localities, and were obtained at a time when Paraguay included parts of what is now Brazil and Argentina. Smith and Derna (2015) recently reviewed the records in the country and showed that museum skins attributed to P. obscura actually represent members of P. superciliaris. Recent records from Paraguay are photographs taken in the Refugio de Vida Silvestre Atinguy, in Misiones department (27°20'S, 56°41'W), claimed by the authors to be wild-origin birds.…”