Known from a handful of specimens: analyzing the worldwide patterns of occurrence and conservation of rodents and shrews recorded only from the type locality

Amori, Giovanni; Esposito, Guido Alari; Luiselli, Luca

doi:10.11609/jott.2405.8.3.8556-8563

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Before this study, approximately half of the species of Ctenomys (32/68) had never been evaluated or were categorized as DD. One of the main outcomes of the use of the DD category is that usually these species receive less attention in management or conservation programs than those categorized as CR, EN, or VU (Amori et al 2016). The IUCN's Red List categories are internationally utilized by governments for prioritizing conservation actions upon threatened species (Parsons 2016 and references therein).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Filling the gap in distribution ranges and conservation status in Ctenomys (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae)

Caraballo

López

Botero-Cañola

et al. 2023

Journal of Mammalogy

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South American subterranean rodents of the genus Ctenomys (Rodentia, Ctenomyidae, tuco-tuco) are one of the most diverse genera among mammals. Recently described species, new taxonomic revisions, and new distribution range delimitation made the revision of distribution areas and conservation status of these mammals mandatory. Implementing the first part of the DAMA protocol (document, assess, monitor, act), here we compile updated sets of species distribution range maps and use these and the number of collection localities to assess the conservation status of ctenomyids. We integrate potential for conservation in protected areas, and levels of habitat transformation to revise previous conservation status assessments and propose the first assessment for all Data Deficient or not evaluated species of tuco-tucos. Our results indicate that 53 (78%) of these species are threatened and that 47 (69%) have little or no overlap with protected areas, emphasizing the urgent need to conduct conservation efforts. Here, 18 of 22 species previously classified as Data Deficient resulted in them being put in an at-risk category (VU, EN, CR). In addition, nine species that have not been previously evaluated were classified as threatened, with these two groups comprising more than 47% of the known species. These results posit that the Ctenomyidae are the rodent family with the greatest number of species at risk of extinction. Finally, a total of 33 (49%) species have been reported from three or fewer localities; all considered threatened through the approach implemented in this study. These geographically restricted taxa should be given more attention in conservation programs since the richness of this genus relies on the survival of such species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Filling the gap in distribution ranges and conservation status in Ctenomys (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae)

Caraballo

López

Botero-Cañola

et al. 2023

Journal of Mammalogy

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“…In terms of habitat type, a previous study on the species of rodents and soricomorphs that are known just for a handful of specimens and from the type locality only (FETP species) showed that most species of the 2 taxa do occur in tropical forests (Amori et al 2016). In this regard, our data are fully consistent with those of Amori et al (2016), especially in consideration of the fact Figure 4 Percent distribution of the total, multi-, bi-, mono-species, and expected number of rodent genera across IUCN categories. Symbols: DD = data deficient, NT = neat threatened, LC = least concern, VU = vulnerable, EN = endangered, CR = critically endangered, EX = extinct.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Least speciose among the most speciose: Natural history correlates of monospecific and bispecific genera of Rodentia and Soricomorpha

Amori

Bissattini

Gippoliti

et al. 2017

Integrative Zoology

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Monospecific and bispecific genera are of special concern as they represent unique phylogenetic/evolutionary trajectories within larger clades. In addition, as phylogenetically older taxa are supposed to be exposed to higher rarity and extinction risk, monospecific and bispecific genera may be intrinsically more prone to extinction risks than multispecies genera, although extinction risks also depend on the ecological and biological strategy of the species. Here, the distribution across biogeographical zones and the levels of threat to 2 speciose orders of mammals (monospecific and bispecific genera of Rodentia and Soricomorpha) are investigated in order to highlight major patterns at the worldwide scale. In Rodentia, 39.7% of the genera (n = 490) were monospecific and 17.9% were bispecific. In Soricomorpha, 44.4% of the total genera (n = 45) were monospecific and 15% were bispecific. There was a positive correlation between the number of monospecific genera and the total number of genera per family. Peaks of monospecific and bispecific genera richness were observed in Neotropical, Oriental and Afrotropical regions in rodents and in the Palearctic region in soricomorphs. Range size was significantly uneven across biogeographic region in rodents (with larger ranges in Nearctic and Oriental regions and smaller ranges in the Australian region), but there was no difference across biogeographic regions in terms of range size in soricomorphs. Most of the monospecific and bispecific genera occurred in forest habitat in both taxa. The frequency distribution of the monospecific and bispecific genera across IUCN categories did not differ significantly from the expected pattern using the total rodent genera and the multispecies genera.

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“…Thus, information on these extinct taxa survives only in a few words or specimens, as information on the Great Library survives only in a few fragments of Callimachus' Pinakes (Witty 1958). For instance, hundreds of lizard and mammal species are known only from their holotype, most of which pre-date the genomic era (Amori et al 2016;Meiri et al 2018). Another famous example is the only salamander presumed extinct in North America, Plethodon ainsworthi, known only from two poorly-preserved type specimens collected in 1964 (Lazell 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding “Alexandrian” extinctions using genomic DNA from fluid-preserved museum specimens of Desmognathus salamanders

Pyron¹,

Beamer²,

Holzheuser³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Species that went extinct prior to the genomic era are typically out-of-reach for modern phylogenetic studies. We refer to these as “Alexandrian” extinctions, after the lost library of the ancient world. This is particularly limiting for conservation studies, as genetic data for such taxa may be key to understand extinction threats and risks, the causes of declines, and inform management of related, extant populations. Fortunately, continual advances in biochemistry and DNA sequencing offer increasing ability to recover DNA from historical museum specimens, including fluid-preserved natural history collections. Here, we report on success in recovering nuclear and mitochondrial data from the apparently-extinct subspecies Desmognathus fuscus carri (Neill 1951), a plethodontid salamander from spring runs in central Florida. The two specimens are 50 years old and were likely preserved in unbuffered formalin, but application of a recently derived extraction procedure yielded usable DNA and partially successful Anchored Hybrid Enrichment sequencing. These data suggest that the populations of D. f. carri from peninsular Florida are conspecific with the D. auriculatus A lineage as suggested by previous authors, but likely represented an ecogeographically distinct genetic segment that has now been lost. Genetic data from this Alexandrian extinction thus confirm the geographic extent of population declines and extirpations as well as their ecological context, suggesting a possibly disproportionate loss from sandy-bottom clearwater streams compared to blackwater swamps. Success of these methods bodes well for large-scale application to fluid-preserved natural history specimens from relevant historical populations, but the possibility of significant DNA damage and related sequencing errors in additional hurdle to overcome.

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Known from a handful of specimens: analyzing the worldwide patterns of occurrence and conservation of rodents and shrews recorded only from the type locality

Cited by 9 publications

References 11 publications

Filling the gap in distribution ranges and conservation status in Ctenomys (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae)

Filling the gap in distribution ranges and conservation status in Ctenomys (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae)

Least speciose among the most speciose: Natural history correlates of monospecific and bispecific genera of Rodentia and Soricomorpha

Understanding “Alexandrian” extinctions using genomic DNA from fluid-preserved museum specimens of Desmognathus salamanders

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