A new species of Cinclodes from the Espinhaço Range, southeastern Brazil: insights into the biogeographical history of the South American highlands

Abstract

We describe Cinclodes espinhacensis (Furnariidae), a new species discovered at high elevation in the southern portion of the Espinhaço Range, in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. This new taxon is closely related to the Long‐tailed Cinclodes Cinclodes pabsti, endemic to Serra Geral, southern Brazil. We present diagnostic morphological, genetic and vocal characters that support the rank of species for this allopatric taxon. It is readily distinguishable from C. pabsti by its much darker back, chest and flanks, lower body mass, shorter tarsus‐length, lower frequency of vocalizations, and longer duration of calls. DNA sequence data estimate that the divergence time between this new species and Cinclodes pabsti occurred c. 220 000 years ago, during the late Pleistocene. This discovery illustrates remarkable biogeographical connections among the cold regions of South America. The new species has a restricted range and we suggest it meets the criteria of the IUCN Red List category of Endangered.

Influence of vegetation physiognomy, elevation and fire frequency on medium and large mammals in two protected areas of the Espinhaço Range

“…This is true for the great majority of PAs in the Espinhaço Range, which are located at higher elevations and on steeper slopes. Nevertheless, in this specific case, the bias is biologically reasonable due to the large number of endemic species in rupestrian habitats, a habitat associated with higher elevations in this mountain range (e.g., Azevedo and Silveira 2005, Oliveira and Sano 2009, Freitas et al 2012, Barata et al 2013, Pardiñas et al 2014. Our data, however, showed that this habitat does not seem to be relevant for the large mammal community in the Espinhaço.…”

“…It extends over parts of three major ecosystems: Caatinga, Cerrado and Atlantic Rainforest, the last two being recognized as global biodiversity hotspots (Myers et al 2000, Mittermeier et al 2005. This mountain range is one of the most important centers for species endemism in South America, with several new species of different taxonomic groups described recently (Azevedo and Silveira 2005, Oliveira and Sano 2009, Freitas et al 2012, Barata et al 2013, Pardiñas et al 2014) and its biological relevance has been highlighted in prioritization studies for biodiversity conservation (e.g., Drumond et al 2005, MMA 2007.…”

Phylogeny of frogs from the genus Physalaemus (Anura, Leptodactylidae) inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences

“…Physalaemus nattereri, which is the sister taxon to a clade comprising the remainder of the P. signifer Clade, is widespread in open areas from east of Paraguay and Bolivia to central and southeastern Brazil (IUCN, 2013.2), whereas the species of the P. deimaticus Group are restricted to high elevations of the Espinhaço Mountain Range (Nascimento et al, 2005; Frost, 2014), localized in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais between the Cerrado and Atlantic rainforest biomes, and the remaining species of the P. signifer Clade occur in the Atlantic rainforest(Nascimento et al, 2005). The Atlantic rainforest and the Espinhaço Mountain Range are areas of high endemism and biodiversity(Costa et al, 2000;Nogueira et al, 2011;Freitas et al, 2012).…”

Morphological divergence in a continental adaptive radiation: South American ovenbirds of the genusCinclodes

“…Cinclodes antarcticus, the single exception, inhabits the Falkland Islands and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. The other 2 species, C. pabsti and the recently discovered C. espinhacensis (Freitas et al 2012; Figure 1), form a separate, more distantly related group found in inland grasslands of southern and eastern Brazil-geographic distributions that may reflect the ancestral range of the genus (Chesser 2004, Freitas et al 2012.…”