The partially submerged Impossível-Ioiô cave system located in the karst region of Chapada
Diaman... more The partially submerged Impossível-Ioiô cave system located in the karst region of Chapada Diamantina in Bahia (Brazil) has recently been the target of extensive paleontological studies. Here we provide the first report of fossil bats from this cave system, in which we recognize six species based on humeral remains: Furipterus horrens, Chrotopterus auritus, Mormoops cf. megalophylla, Pteronotus gymnonotus, Pteronotus parnellii, and Noctilio leporinus. Morphology of the humerus of these taxa is described in a comparative framework to document taxonomic assessments and provide a basis for future studies of fossil bat faunas. The relevance of the new records reported here is evaluated at a broader continental scale, as well as in contrast with the recent bat fauna of the region. The record of Noctilio leporinus stands as the first fossil occurrence of this species on the South American continent.
Platalina genovensium Thomas, 1928, the largest Lonchophyllinae, is a highly specialized phyllost... more Platalina genovensium Thomas, 1928, the largest Lonchophyllinae, is a highly specialized phyllostomid bat that feeds primarily on columnar cacti and is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN. Here we report a new record of an ectoparasite insect for Platalina, Speiseria ambigua Kessel, 1925 (Diptera: Streblidae), obtained from a bat inventory carried out in northwestern Peru. Additionally this record represents the northernmost record of Sp. ambigua in Peru.
Vampyressa melissa is a poorly known phyllostomid bat listed as vulnerable by the International U... more Vampyressa melissa is a poorly known phyllostomid bat listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Since its description in 1926, fewer than 40 V. melissa have been reported in the literature, and less than half of these may have been correctly identified. During revisionary studies of Vampyressa, we uncovered two previously unrecognized species related to V. melissa, all associated with higher elevation habitats (>1400 m), one from the Andes of Colombia (Vampyressa sinchi, new species) and the other from western Panama (Vampyressa elisabethae, new species) revealing that V. melissa, as traditionally defined, is a composite of at least three species. In this paper, we provide a restricted diagnosis for the genus Vampyressa, an emended diagnosis of V. melissa, and descriptions of the two new species. The separation of these frugivorous bats, previously identified as V. melissa, into three isolated upper-elevation species, each having restricted distributions further highlights their fragile conservation status.
Historia de la mastozoología en Latinoamérica, las Guayanas y el Caribe, Aug 2014
El Perú es uno de los países con mayor diversidad de mamíferos en el mundo. En el presente trabaj... more El Perú es uno de los países con mayor diversidad de mamíferos en el mundo. En el presente trabajo se resume la historia de la mastozoología en el Perú desde sus inicios, con la publicación de los trabajos de Johann Jacob von Tschudi acerca de la mastofauna peruana, en 1844, hasta la primera década del siglo XXI. En los últimos 25 años, la publicación de trabajos relacionados con la mastofauna peruana ha incrementado exponencialmente, en especial por la contribución de investigadores locales, gracias a esto la diversidad de especies reconocidas para el país se ha incrementado de 460 en 1995 a 508 en 2009. Alarmantemente, buena parte de esta diversidad se encuentra amenazada por la creciente pérdida de hábitats naturales debido a la deforestación, al desarrollo de cultivos intensivos, a la extracción de minerales, entre otras amenazas. El principal reto para los mastozoólogos peruanos es generar información que ayude a realizar esfuerzos de conservación dirigidos y efi cientes.
A new species of broad-nosed bat Platyrrhinus Saussure, 1860 (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae: Stenode... more A new species of broad-nosed bat Platyrrhinus Saussure, 1860 (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae: Stenodermatinae) from the Guianan Shield is described based on molecular and morphological data. Previously confused with P. helleri and P. recifinus, the new taxon is currently known from only Guyana and Suriname and is most closely related to P. recifinus from eastern Brazil and not to the two sympatric species (P. fusciventris and P. incarum) also recently recognized as distinct from P. helleri. Morphometrically the new taxon overlaps with the smaller species of the genus (P. angustirostris, P. brachycephalus, P. fusciventris, P. helleri, P. incarum, and P. matapalensis), but forms a different cluster from the larger P. recifinus. Morphologically the new taxon is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of external and craniodental characteristics. Platyrrhinus now includes 21 species making it the most speciose genus in the Neotropical family Phyllostomidae
"Morphological characters are indispensable in phylogenetic analyses for understanding the patter... more "Morphological characters are indispensable in phylogenetic analyses for understanding the pattern, process, and tempo of evolution. If characters are independent and free of systematic errors, then combining as many different kinds of characters as are available will result in the best-supported phylogenetic hypotheses. But since morphological characters are subject to natural selection for function and arise from the expression of developmental pathways, they may not be independent, a situation that may amplify any underlying homoplasy. Here, we use new dental and multi-locus genetic data from bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) to quantify saturation and similarity in morphological characters and introduce two likelihood-based approaches to identify strongly conflicting characters and integrate morphological and molecular data. We implement these methods to analyze the phylogeny of incomplete Miocene fossils in the radiation of Phyllostomidae (New World Leaf-nosed Bats), perhaps the most ecologically diverse family of living mammals. Morphological characters produced trees incongruent with molecular phylogenies, were saturated, and showed rates of change higher than most molecular substitution rates. Dental characters encoded variation similar to that in other morphological characters, while molecular characters encoded highly dissimilar variation in comparison. Saturation and high rates of change indicate randomization of phylogenetic signal in the morphological data, and extensive similarity suggests characters are nonindependent and errors are amplified. To integrate the morphological data into tree building while accounting for homoplasy,we used statistical molecular scaffolds and combined phylogenetic analyses excluding a small subset of strongly conflicting dental characters. The phylogenies revealed the Miocene nectar-feeding †Palynephyllum nests within the crown nectar-feeding South American subfamily Lonchophyllinae, while the Miocene genus †Notonycteris is sister to the extant carnivorous Vampyrum. These relationships imply new calibration points for timing of radiation of the ecologically diverse Phyllostomidae."
Pigmentation disorders, either from the complete absence (albinism), partial (leucism), or excess... more Pigmentation disorders, either from the complete absence (albinism), partial (leucism), or excess (melanism) of melanin, are rare in vertebrates. Worldwide, only a few records of these disorders had been reported for bats. Thanks to recent fieldwork and examination of
museum specimens of the collections of the AMNH and MUSM, we report five species with those conditions in Peru. In this study, we report the first cases of leucism in Artibeus anderseni, Chiroderma trinitatum, and Desmodus rotundus and partial melanism in Carollia perspicillata. Additionally, we report the first record of an albino bat
(Molossus molossus) for Peru.
The present study reports the southernmost record of Tomopeas ravus and the first capture of this... more The present study reports the southernmost record of Tomopeas ravus and the first capture of this species after more than 30 years since the last known report. This record extends the distribution of the species approximately 230 km south of the current known distributional range.
Two new species of yellow-shouldered bats Sturnira Gray, 1842 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) from C... more Two new species of yellow-shouldered bats Sturnira Gray, 1842 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) from Central America and western South America are described using molecular and morphological data. The two new species, which occur in Costa Rica and Panama and in western Ecuador, were previously confused with S. ludovici, and S. lilium and S. luisi, respectively. Sturnira now includes 22 described species, making it the most speciose genus in the Neotropical family Phyllostomidae.
The partially submerged Impossível-Ioiô cave system located in the karst region of Chapada Diaman... more The partially submerged Impossível-Ioiô cave system located in the karst region of Chapada Diamantina in Bahia (Brazil) has recently been the target of extensive paleontological studies. Here we provide the first report of fossil bats from this cave system, in which we recognize six species based on humeral remains: Furipterus horrens, Chrotopterus auritus, Mormoops cf. megalophylla, Pteronotus gymnonotus, Pteronotus parnellii, and Noctilio leporinus. Morphology of the humerus of these taxa is described in a comparative framework to document taxonomic assessments and provide a basis for future studies of fossil bat faunas. The relevance of the new records reported here is evaluated at a broader continental scale, as well as in contrast with the recent bat fauna of the region. The record of Noctilio leporinus stands as the first fossil occurrence of this species on the South American continent.
Species of Thyroptera are insectivorous foliage-roosting bats that inhabit lowland moist forests ... more Species of Thyroptera are insectivorous foliage-roosting bats that inhabit lowland moist forests (including gallery formations in savanna landscapes) from Mexico to southeastern Brazil. Although four species are currently recognized, only one or two species were previously known to occur at most localities. Recent inventory work in northeastern Peru has documented the local cooccurrence of four species of Thyroptera, one of which is here described as new. The new species (T. wynneae), which also occurs in Brazil, can easily be recognized by a combination of diagnostic morphological traits. The latter include small size, tricolored ventral pelage, long and woolly hairs between the shoulders, a uropatagium with the proximal half densely covered by long hairs, wing tips sparsely covered by long hairs, a calcar with two lappets and five tiny skin projections between the foot disk and the proximal lappet, a rostrum considerably shorter than the braincase, third lower incisors that are subequal in height to the first and second lower incisors, and third lower incisors with two well-developed accessory cusps. We illustrate the crania of all five known species of Thyroptera and provide a key based on craniodental and external characters. Unexpectedly high local diversity of these elusive bats poses a challenge for future inventory research and raises interesting questions about ecological-niche partitioning in Neotropical bat communities and the evolutionary history of thyropterids.
The monotypic bat genera Platalina and Tomopeas are rare and known from few localities throughout... more The monotypic bat genera Platalina and Tomopeas are rare and known from few localities throughout their distributions. These species have not been recorded in the northern half of their distributions for the last 4 and 3 decades, respectively, suggesting local extirpation. Here we present new records for both taxa from a 2012 expedition conducted in the northern end of their distributions. We suggest a role the oil concessions in the area can play towards the conservation of these two unusual bat species, as well as additional actions that will help to protect them.
Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV)
Biologists collect and analyze phenomic (e.g., anatomical or non-genomic) data to discover relati... more Biologists collect and analyze phenomic (e.g., anatomical or non-genomic) data to discover relationships among species in the Tree of Life. The domain is seeking to modernize this very time-consuming and largely manual process. We have developed an approach to detect and localize object parts in standardized images of bat skulls. This approach has been further developed for unannotated images by leveraging knowledge learned from a few annotated images. The key challenge is that the unlabeled images show bat skulls of “unknown” species that may have types, total numbers, and layouts of the teeth that differ from the “known” species appearing in the labeled images. Our method begins by matching the unlabeled images to the labeled ones. This allows a transfer of tooth annotations to the unlabeled images. We then learn a tree parts model on the transferred annotations, and apply this model to detect and label teeth in the unlabeled images. Our evaluation demonstrates good performance, which is close to our upper bound performance by the fully supervised model.
The Neotropical bat genus Carollia (Phyllostomidae: Carolliinae) currently includes eight species... more The Neotropical bat genus Carollia (Phyllostomidae: Carolliinae) currently includes eight species. Carollia manu was described in 2004 and is distributed in montane forests in southern Peru and Bolivia. The phylogenetic affinities of C. manu have never been assessed before. Phylogenetic analyses of cytochrome b sequences of seven of the eight known species of the genus place C. manu sister to C. subrufa. The analyses also suggest hidden diversity in the genus.
Background: The tropical Andes and Amazon are among the richest regions of endemism for mammals, ... more Background: The tropical Andes and Amazon are among the richest regions of endemism for mammals, and each has given rise to extensive in situ radiations. Various animal lineages have radiated ex situ after colonizing one of these regions from the other: Amazonian clades of dendrobatid frogs and passerine birds may have Andean
ancestry, and transitions from the Amazon to Andes may be even more common. To examine biogeographic transitions between these regions, we investigated the evolutionary history of three clades of rodents in the family Echimyidae: bamboo rats (Dactylomys-Olallamys-Kannabateomys), spiny tree-rats (Mesomys-Lonchothrix), and brushtailed rats (Isothrix). Each clade is distributed in both the Andes and Amazonia, and is more diverse in the lowlands.
We used two mitochondrial (cyt-b and 12S) and three nuclear (GHR, vWF, and RAG1) markers to reconstruct their phylogenetic relationships. Tree topologies and ancestral geographic ranges were then used to determine whether Andean forms were basal to or derived from lowland radiations.
Results: Four biogeographic transitions are identified among the generic radiations. The bamboo rat clade unambiguously originated in the Amazon ca. 9 Ma, followed by either one early transition to the Andes (Olallamys) and a later move to the Amazon (Dactylomys), or two later shifts to the Andes (one in each genus). The Andean
species of both Dactylomys and Isothrix are sister to their lowland species, raising the possibility that highland forms colonized the Amazon Basin. However, uncertainty in their reconstructed ancestral ranges obscures the origin of these transitions. The lone Andean species of Mesomys is confidently nested within the lowland radiation, thereby indicating an Amazon-to-Andes transition ca. 2 Ma.
Conclusions: Differences in the timing of these biogeographic transitions do not appear to explain the different polarities of these trees. Instead, even within the radiation of a single family, both Andean and Amazonian centers of endemism appear enriched by lineages that originated in the other region. Our survey of other South American lineages suggests a pattern of reciprocal exchange between these regions—among mammals, birds, amphibians,
and insects we found no fewer than 87 transitions between the Andes and Amazon from Miocene-Pleistocene.
Because no clear trend emerges between the timing and polarity of transitions, or in their relative frequency, we suggest that reciprocal exchange between tropical highland and lowland faunas in South America has been a continual process since ca. 12 Ma.
Tree-building with diverse data maximizes explanatory power. Application of molecular clock model... more Tree-building with diverse data maximizes explanatory power. Application of molecular clock models to ancient speciation events risks a bias against detection of fast radiations subsequent to the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) event. Contrary to Springer et al., post–K-Pg placental diversification does not require “virus-like” substitution rates. Even constraining clade ages to their model, the explosive model best explains placental evolution.
The phenotype represents a critical interface between the genome and the envi-ronment in which or... more The phenotype represents a critical interface between the genome and the envi-ronment in which organisms live and evolve. Phenotypic characters also are a rich source of biodiversity data for tree-building, and they enable scientists to reconstruct the evolu-tionary history of organisms, including most fossil taxa, for which genetic data are unavail-able. Therefore, phenotypic data are necessary for building a comprehensive Tree of Life. In contrast to recent advances in molecular sequencing, which has become faster and cheaper through recent technological advances, phenotypic data collection remains often prohibi-tively slow and expensive. The next-generation phenomics project is a collaborative, multidisciplinary effort to leverage advances in image analysis, crowdsourcing, and natural language processing to develop and implement novel approaches for discovering and scor-ing the phenome, the collection of phentotypic characters for a species. This research rep-resents a new approach to data collection that has the potential to transform phylogenetics research and to enable rapid advances in constructing the Tree of Life. Our goal is to as-semble large phenomic datasets built using new methods and to provide the public and sci-entific community with tools for phenomic data assembly that will enable rapid and auto-mated study of phenotypes across the Tree of Life.
The fossil record of bats is extensive in the Caribbean, but few fossils have previously been rep... more The fossil record of bats is extensive in the Caribbean, but few fossils have previously been reported from the Dominican Republic. In this paper, we describe new collections of fossil bats from two flooded caves in the Dominican Republic, and summarize previous finds from the Island of Hispaniola. The new collections were evaluated in the context of extant and fossil faunas of the Greater Antilles to provide information on the evolution of the bat community of Hispaniola. Eleven species were identified within the new collections, including five mormoopids (Mormoops blainvillei, †Mormoops magna, Pteronotus macleayii, P. parnellii, and P. quadridens), five phyllostomids (Brachyphylla nana, Monophyllus redmani, Phyllonycteris poeyi, Erophylla bombifrons, and Phyllops falcatus), and one natalid (Chilonatalus micropus). All of these species today inhabitant Hispaniola with the exception of †Mormoops magna, an extinct species previously known only from the Quaternary of Cuba, and Pteronotus macleayii, which is currently known only from extant populations in Cuba and Jamaica, although Quaternary fossils have also been recovered in the Bahamas. Differences between the fossil faunas and those known from the island today suggest that dispersal and extirpation events, perhaps linked to climate change or stochastic events such as hurricanes, may have played roles in structuring the modern fauna of Hispaniola.
The Yellow-shouldered bats, Genus Sturnira, are widespread, diverse, and abundant throughout the ... more The Yellow-shouldered bats, Genus Sturnira, are widespread, diverse, and abundant throughout the Neotropical Region, but little is known of their phylogeny and biogeography. We collected 4409 bp of DNA from three mitochondrial (cyt-b, ND2, D-loop) and two nuclear (RAG1, RAG2) sequences from 138 individuals representing all but two recognized species of Sturnira and five other phyllostomid bats used as outgroups. The sequence data were subjected to maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference analyses. Results overwhelmingly support the monophyly of the genus Sturnira but not continued recognition of Corvira as a subgenus; the two species (bidens and nana) allocated to that group constitute separate, basal branches on the phylogeny. A total of 21 monophyletic putatively species-level groups were recovered; pairs were separated by an average 7.09% (SD = 1.61) pairwise genetic distance in cyt-b, and three of these groups are apparently unnamed. Several well-supported clades are evident, including a complex of seven species formerly confused with S. lilium, a species that is actually limited to the Brazilian Shield. We used four calibration points to construct a time-tree for Sturnira, using BEAST. Sturnira diverged from other stenodermatines in the mid-Miocene, and by the end of that epoch (5.3 Ma), three basal lineages were present. Most living species belong to one of two clades, A and B, which appeared and diversified shortly afterwards, during the Pliocene. Both parsimony (DIVA) and likelihood (Lagrange) methods for reconstructing ancestral ranges indicate that the radiation of Sturnira is rooted in the Andes; all three basal lineages (in order, bidens, nana, and aratathomasi) have strictly or mainly Andean distributions. Only later did Sturnira colonize the Pacific lowlands (Chocó) and thence Central America. Sturnira species that are endemic to Central America appeared after the final emergence of the Panamanian landbridge ∼3 Ma. Despite its ability to fly and to colonize the Antilles overwater, this genus probably accompanied the “legions” of South American taxa that moved overland during the Great American Biotic Interchange. Its eventual colonization of the Lesser Antilles and the appearance of two endemic lineages there did not take place until the Pleistocene. Because of its continual residence and diversification in South America, Andean assemblages of Sturnira contain both basal and highly derived members of the genus.
Laelapine mites are common parasites of sigmodontine rodents in the Neotropics. However, few spec... more Laelapine mites are common parasites of sigmodontine rodents in the Neotropics. However, few species are reported from Peru as a result of the low number of mammal surveys that include ectoparasite collections. Herein we report 12 species of mites from northern Peru. From these, 8 are reported for the first time for the country, and 1 is new to science, Androlaepaps aerosus sp. nov., the latter associated exclusively with the sigmodontine Akodon aerosus. Most of the laelapine species were host specific. The new species, included in the Androlaelaps rotundus species group, resembles An. rotundus ‘‘sensu stricto’’ and An. ulysespardinasi in general appearance but is unique in the length of the hypostomal seta h3 (.58 lm), which is 3 times as long as the gnathosomal seta, and its tip reaching or over-reaching the gnathosomal setal bases; dorsal seta j2 is very long (.70 lm), almost reaching the point of j3.
The partially submerged Impossível-Ioiô cave system located in the karst region of Chapada
Diaman... more The partially submerged Impossível-Ioiô cave system located in the karst region of Chapada Diamantina in Bahia (Brazil) has recently been the target of extensive paleontological studies. Here we provide the first report of fossil bats from this cave system, in which we recognize six species based on humeral remains: Furipterus horrens, Chrotopterus auritus, Mormoops cf. megalophylla, Pteronotus gymnonotus, Pteronotus parnellii, and Noctilio leporinus. Morphology of the humerus of these taxa is described in a comparative framework to document taxonomic assessments and provide a basis for future studies of fossil bat faunas. The relevance of the new records reported here is evaluated at a broader continental scale, as well as in contrast with the recent bat fauna of the region. The record of Noctilio leporinus stands as the first fossil occurrence of this species on the South American continent.
Platalina genovensium Thomas, 1928, the largest Lonchophyllinae, is a highly specialized phyllost... more Platalina genovensium Thomas, 1928, the largest Lonchophyllinae, is a highly specialized phyllostomid bat that feeds primarily on columnar cacti and is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN. Here we report a new record of an ectoparasite insect for Platalina, Speiseria ambigua Kessel, 1925 (Diptera: Streblidae), obtained from a bat inventory carried out in northwestern Peru. Additionally this record represents the northernmost record of Sp. ambigua in Peru.
Vampyressa melissa is a poorly known phyllostomid bat listed as vulnerable by the International U... more Vampyressa melissa is a poorly known phyllostomid bat listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Since its description in 1926, fewer than 40 V. melissa have been reported in the literature, and less than half of these may have been correctly identified. During revisionary studies of Vampyressa, we uncovered two previously unrecognized species related to V. melissa, all associated with higher elevation habitats (>1400 m), one from the Andes of Colombia (Vampyressa sinchi, new species) and the other from western Panama (Vampyressa elisabethae, new species) revealing that V. melissa, as traditionally defined, is a composite of at least three species. In this paper, we provide a restricted diagnosis for the genus Vampyressa, an emended diagnosis of V. melissa, and descriptions of the two new species. The separation of these frugivorous bats, previously identified as V. melissa, into three isolated upper-elevation species, each having restricted distributions further highlights their fragile conservation status.
Historia de la mastozoología en Latinoamérica, las Guayanas y el Caribe, Aug 2014
El Perú es uno de los países con mayor diversidad de mamíferos en el mundo. En el presente trabaj... more El Perú es uno de los países con mayor diversidad de mamíferos en el mundo. En el presente trabajo se resume la historia de la mastozoología en el Perú desde sus inicios, con la publicación de los trabajos de Johann Jacob von Tschudi acerca de la mastofauna peruana, en 1844, hasta la primera década del siglo XXI. En los últimos 25 años, la publicación de trabajos relacionados con la mastofauna peruana ha incrementado exponencialmente, en especial por la contribución de investigadores locales, gracias a esto la diversidad de especies reconocidas para el país se ha incrementado de 460 en 1995 a 508 en 2009. Alarmantemente, buena parte de esta diversidad se encuentra amenazada por la creciente pérdida de hábitats naturales debido a la deforestación, al desarrollo de cultivos intensivos, a la extracción de minerales, entre otras amenazas. El principal reto para los mastozoólogos peruanos es generar información que ayude a realizar esfuerzos de conservación dirigidos y efi cientes.
A new species of broad-nosed bat Platyrrhinus Saussure, 1860 (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae: Stenode... more A new species of broad-nosed bat Platyrrhinus Saussure, 1860 (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae: Stenodermatinae) from the Guianan Shield is described based on molecular and morphological data. Previously confused with P. helleri and P. recifinus, the new taxon is currently known from only Guyana and Suriname and is most closely related to P. recifinus from eastern Brazil and not to the two sympatric species (P. fusciventris and P. incarum) also recently recognized as distinct from P. helleri. Morphometrically the new taxon overlaps with the smaller species of the genus (P. angustirostris, P. brachycephalus, P. fusciventris, P. helleri, P. incarum, and P. matapalensis), but forms a different cluster from the larger P. recifinus. Morphologically the new taxon is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of external and craniodental characteristics. Platyrrhinus now includes 21 species making it the most speciose genus in the Neotropical family Phyllostomidae
"Morphological characters are indispensable in phylogenetic analyses for understanding the patter... more "Morphological characters are indispensable in phylogenetic analyses for understanding the pattern, process, and tempo of evolution. If characters are independent and free of systematic errors, then combining as many different kinds of characters as are available will result in the best-supported phylogenetic hypotheses. But since morphological characters are subject to natural selection for function and arise from the expression of developmental pathways, they may not be independent, a situation that may amplify any underlying homoplasy. Here, we use new dental and multi-locus genetic data from bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) to quantify saturation and similarity in morphological characters and introduce two likelihood-based approaches to identify strongly conflicting characters and integrate morphological and molecular data. We implement these methods to analyze the phylogeny of incomplete Miocene fossils in the radiation of Phyllostomidae (New World Leaf-nosed Bats), perhaps the most ecologically diverse family of living mammals. Morphological characters produced trees incongruent with molecular phylogenies, were saturated, and showed rates of change higher than most molecular substitution rates. Dental characters encoded variation similar to that in other morphological characters, while molecular characters encoded highly dissimilar variation in comparison. Saturation and high rates of change indicate randomization of phylogenetic signal in the morphological data, and extensive similarity suggests characters are nonindependent and errors are amplified. To integrate the morphological data into tree building while accounting for homoplasy,we used statistical molecular scaffolds and combined phylogenetic analyses excluding a small subset of strongly conflicting dental characters. The phylogenies revealed the Miocene nectar-feeding †Palynephyllum nests within the crown nectar-feeding South American subfamily Lonchophyllinae, while the Miocene genus †Notonycteris is sister to the extant carnivorous Vampyrum. These relationships imply new calibration points for timing of radiation of the ecologically diverse Phyllostomidae."
Pigmentation disorders, either from the complete absence (albinism), partial (leucism), or excess... more Pigmentation disorders, either from the complete absence (albinism), partial (leucism), or excess (melanism) of melanin, are rare in vertebrates. Worldwide, only a few records of these disorders had been reported for bats. Thanks to recent fieldwork and examination of
museum specimens of the collections of the AMNH and MUSM, we report five species with those conditions in Peru. In this study, we report the first cases of leucism in Artibeus anderseni, Chiroderma trinitatum, and Desmodus rotundus and partial melanism in Carollia perspicillata. Additionally, we report the first record of an albino bat
(Molossus molossus) for Peru.
The present study reports the southernmost record of Tomopeas ravus and the first capture of this... more The present study reports the southernmost record of Tomopeas ravus and the first capture of this species after more than 30 years since the last known report. This record extends the distribution of the species approximately 230 km south of the current known distributional range.
Two new species of yellow-shouldered bats Sturnira Gray, 1842 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) from C... more Two new species of yellow-shouldered bats Sturnira Gray, 1842 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) from Central America and western South America are described using molecular and morphological data. The two new species, which occur in Costa Rica and Panama and in western Ecuador, were previously confused with S. ludovici, and S. lilium and S. luisi, respectively. Sturnira now includes 22 described species, making it the most speciose genus in the Neotropical family Phyllostomidae.
The partially submerged Impossível-Ioiô cave system located in the karst region of Chapada Diaman... more The partially submerged Impossível-Ioiô cave system located in the karst region of Chapada Diamantina in Bahia (Brazil) has recently been the target of extensive paleontological studies. Here we provide the first report of fossil bats from this cave system, in which we recognize six species based on humeral remains: Furipterus horrens, Chrotopterus auritus, Mormoops cf. megalophylla, Pteronotus gymnonotus, Pteronotus parnellii, and Noctilio leporinus. Morphology of the humerus of these taxa is described in a comparative framework to document taxonomic assessments and provide a basis for future studies of fossil bat faunas. The relevance of the new records reported here is evaluated at a broader continental scale, as well as in contrast with the recent bat fauna of the region. The record of Noctilio leporinus stands as the first fossil occurrence of this species on the South American continent.
Species of Thyroptera are insectivorous foliage-roosting bats that inhabit lowland moist forests ... more Species of Thyroptera are insectivorous foliage-roosting bats that inhabit lowland moist forests (including gallery formations in savanna landscapes) from Mexico to southeastern Brazil. Although four species are currently recognized, only one or two species were previously known to occur at most localities. Recent inventory work in northeastern Peru has documented the local cooccurrence of four species of Thyroptera, one of which is here described as new. The new species (T. wynneae), which also occurs in Brazil, can easily be recognized by a combination of diagnostic morphological traits. The latter include small size, tricolored ventral pelage, long and woolly hairs between the shoulders, a uropatagium with the proximal half densely covered by long hairs, wing tips sparsely covered by long hairs, a calcar with two lappets and five tiny skin projections between the foot disk and the proximal lappet, a rostrum considerably shorter than the braincase, third lower incisors that are subequal in height to the first and second lower incisors, and third lower incisors with two well-developed accessory cusps. We illustrate the crania of all five known species of Thyroptera and provide a key based on craniodental and external characters. Unexpectedly high local diversity of these elusive bats poses a challenge for future inventory research and raises interesting questions about ecological-niche partitioning in Neotropical bat communities and the evolutionary history of thyropterids.
The monotypic bat genera Platalina and Tomopeas are rare and known from few localities throughout... more The monotypic bat genera Platalina and Tomopeas are rare and known from few localities throughout their distributions. These species have not been recorded in the northern half of their distributions for the last 4 and 3 decades, respectively, suggesting local extirpation. Here we present new records for both taxa from a 2012 expedition conducted in the northern end of their distributions. We suggest a role the oil concessions in the area can play towards the conservation of these two unusual bat species, as well as additional actions that will help to protect them.
Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV)
Biologists collect and analyze phenomic (e.g., anatomical or non-genomic) data to discover relati... more Biologists collect and analyze phenomic (e.g., anatomical or non-genomic) data to discover relationships among species in the Tree of Life. The domain is seeking to modernize this very time-consuming and largely manual process. We have developed an approach to detect and localize object parts in standardized images of bat skulls. This approach has been further developed for unannotated images by leveraging knowledge learned from a few annotated images. The key challenge is that the unlabeled images show bat skulls of “unknown” species that may have types, total numbers, and layouts of the teeth that differ from the “known” species appearing in the labeled images. Our method begins by matching the unlabeled images to the labeled ones. This allows a transfer of tooth annotations to the unlabeled images. We then learn a tree parts model on the transferred annotations, and apply this model to detect and label teeth in the unlabeled images. Our evaluation demonstrates good performance, which is close to our upper bound performance by the fully supervised model.
The Neotropical bat genus Carollia (Phyllostomidae: Carolliinae) currently includes eight species... more The Neotropical bat genus Carollia (Phyllostomidae: Carolliinae) currently includes eight species. Carollia manu was described in 2004 and is distributed in montane forests in southern Peru and Bolivia. The phylogenetic affinities of C. manu have never been assessed before. Phylogenetic analyses of cytochrome b sequences of seven of the eight known species of the genus place C. manu sister to C. subrufa. The analyses also suggest hidden diversity in the genus.
Background: The tropical Andes and Amazon are among the richest regions of endemism for mammals, ... more Background: The tropical Andes and Amazon are among the richest regions of endemism for mammals, and each has given rise to extensive in situ radiations. Various animal lineages have radiated ex situ after colonizing one of these regions from the other: Amazonian clades of dendrobatid frogs and passerine birds may have Andean
ancestry, and transitions from the Amazon to Andes may be even more common. To examine biogeographic transitions between these regions, we investigated the evolutionary history of three clades of rodents in the family Echimyidae: bamboo rats (Dactylomys-Olallamys-Kannabateomys), spiny tree-rats (Mesomys-Lonchothrix), and brushtailed rats (Isothrix). Each clade is distributed in both the Andes and Amazonia, and is more diverse in the lowlands.
We used two mitochondrial (cyt-b and 12S) and three nuclear (GHR, vWF, and RAG1) markers to reconstruct their phylogenetic relationships. Tree topologies and ancestral geographic ranges were then used to determine whether Andean forms were basal to or derived from lowland radiations.
Results: Four biogeographic transitions are identified among the generic radiations. The bamboo rat clade unambiguously originated in the Amazon ca. 9 Ma, followed by either one early transition to the Andes (Olallamys) and a later move to the Amazon (Dactylomys), or two later shifts to the Andes (one in each genus). The Andean
species of both Dactylomys and Isothrix are sister to their lowland species, raising the possibility that highland forms colonized the Amazon Basin. However, uncertainty in their reconstructed ancestral ranges obscures the origin of these transitions. The lone Andean species of Mesomys is confidently nested within the lowland radiation, thereby indicating an Amazon-to-Andes transition ca. 2 Ma.
Conclusions: Differences in the timing of these biogeographic transitions do not appear to explain the different polarities of these trees. Instead, even within the radiation of a single family, both Andean and Amazonian centers of endemism appear enriched by lineages that originated in the other region. Our survey of other South American lineages suggests a pattern of reciprocal exchange between these regions—among mammals, birds, amphibians,
and insects we found no fewer than 87 transitions between the Andes and Amazon from Miocene-Pleistocene.
Because no clear trend emerges between the timing and polarity of transitions, or in their relative frequency, we suggest that reciprocal exchange between tropical highland and lowland faunas in South America has been a continual process since ca. 12 Ma.
Tree-building with diverse data maximizes explanatory power. Application of molecular clock model... more Tree-building with diverse data maximizes explanatory power. Application of molecular clock models to ancient speciation events risks a bias against detection of fast radiations subsequent to the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) event. Contrary to Springer et al., post–K-Pg placental diversification does not require “virus-like” substitution rates. Even constraining clade ages to their model, the explosive model best explains placental evolution.
The phenotype represents a critical interface between the genome and the envi-ronment in which or... more The phenotype represents a critical interface between the genome and the envi-ronment in which organisms live and evolve. Phenotypic characters also are a rich source of biodiversity data for tree-building, and they enable scientists to reconstruct the evolu-tionary history of organisms, including most fossil taxa, for which genetic data are unavail-able. Therefore, phenotypic data are necessary for building a comprehensive Tree of Life. In contrast to recent advances in molecular sequencing, which has become faster and cheaper through recent technological advances, phenotypic data collection remains often prohibi-tively slow and expensive. The next-generation phenomics project is a collaborative, multidisciplinary effort to leverage advances in image analysis, crowdsourcing, and natural language processing to develop and implement novel approaches for discovering and scor-ing the phenome, the collection of phentotypic characters for a species. This research rep-resents a new approach to data collection that has the potential to transform phylogenetics research and to enable rapid advances in constructing the Tree of Life. Our goal is to as-semble large phenomic datasets built using new methods and to provide the public and sci-entific community with tools for phenomic data assembly that will enable rapid and auto-mated study of phenotypes across the Tree of Life.
The fossil record of bats is extensive in the Caribbean, but few fossils have previously been rep... more The fossil record of bats is extensive in the Caribbean, but few fossils have previously been reported from the Dominican Republic. In this paper, we describe new collections of fossil bats from two flooded caves in the Dominican Republic, and summarize previous finds from the Island of Hispaniola. The new collections were evaluated in the context of extant and fossil faunas of the Greater Antilles to provide information on the evolution of the bat community of Hispaniola. Eleven species were identified within the new collections, including five mormoopids (Mormoops blainvillei, †Mormoops magna, Pteronotus macleayii, P. parnellii, and P. quadridens), five phyllostomids (Brachyphylla nana, Monophyllus redmani, Phyllonycteris poeyi, Erophylla bombifrons, and Phyllops falcatus), and one natalid (Chilonatalus micropus). All of these species today inhabitant Hispaniola with the exception of †Mormoops magna, an extinct species previously known only from the Quaternary of Cuba, and Pteronotus macleayii, which is currently known only from extant populations in Cuba and Jamaica, although Quaternary fossils have also been recovered in the Bahamas. Differences between the fossil faunas and those known from the island today suggest that dispersal and extirpation events, perhaps linked to climate change or stochastic events such as hurricanes, may have played roles in structuring the modern fauna of Hispaniola.
The Yellow-shouldered bats, Genus Sturnira, are widespread, diverse, and abundant throughout the ... more The Yellow-shouldered bats, Genus Sturnira, are widespread, diverse, and abundant throughout the Neotropical Region, but little is known of their phylogeny and biogeography. We collected 4409 bp of DNA from three mitochondrial (cyt-b, ND2, D-loop) and two nuclear (RAG1, RAG2) sequences from 138 individuals representing all but two recognized species of Sturnira and five other phyllostomid bats used as outgroups. The sequence data were subjected to maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference analyses. Results overwhelmingly support the monophyly of the genus Sturnira but not continued recognition of Corvira as a subgenus; the two species (bidens and nana) allocated to that group constitute separate, basal branches on the phylogeny. A total of 21 monophyletic putatively species-level groups were recovered; pairs were separated by an average 7.09% (SD = 1.61) pairwise genetic distance in cyt-b, and three of these groups are apparently unnamed. Several well-supported clades are evident, including a complex of seven species formerly confused with S. lilium, a species that is actually limited to the Brazilian Shield. We used four calibration points to construct a time-tree for Sturnira, using BEAST. Sturnira diverged from other stenodermatines in the mid-Miocene, and by the end of that epoch (5.3 Ma), three basal lineages were present. Most living species belong to one of two clades, A and B, which appeared and diversified shortly afterwards, during the Pliocene. Both parsimony (DIVA) and likelihood (Lagrange) methods for reconstructing ancestral ranges indicate that the radiation of Sturnira is rooted in the Andes; all three basal lineages (in order, bidens, nana, and aratathomasi) have strictly or mainly Andean distributions. Only later did Sturnira colonize the Pacific lowlands (Chocó) and thence Central America. Sturnira species that are endemic to Central America appeared after the final emergence of the Panamanian landbridge ∼3 Ma. Despite its ability to fly and to colonize the Antilles overwater, this genus probably accompanied the “legions” of South American taxa that moved overland during the Great American Biotic Interchange. Its eventual colonization of the Lesser Antilles and the appearance of two endemic lineages there did not take place until the Pleistocene. Because of its continual residence and diversification in South America, Andean assemblages of Sturnira contain both basal and highly derived members of the genus.
Laelapine mites are common parasites of sigmodontine rodents in the Neotropics. However, few spec... more Laelapine mites are common parasites of sigmodontine rodents in the Neotropics. However, few species are reported from Peru as a result of the low number of mammal surveys that include ectoparasite collections. Herein we report 12 species of mites from northern Peru. From these, 8 are reported for the first time for the country, and 1 is new to science, Androlaepaps aerosus sp. nov., the latter associated exclusively with the sigmodontine Akodon aerosus. Most of the laelapine species were host specific. The new species, included in the Androlaelaps rotundus species group, resembles An. rotundus ‘‘sensu stricto’’ and An. ulysespardinasi in general appearance but is unique in the length of the hypostomal seta h3 (.58 lm), which is 3 times as long as the gnathosomal seta, and its tip reaching or over-reaching the gnathosomal setal bases; dorsal seta j2 is very long (.70 lm), almost reaching the point of j3.
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Papers by Paúl M Velazco
Diamantina in Bahia (Brazil) has recently been the target of extensive paleontological
studies. Here we provide the first report of fossil bats from this cave system, in which we recognize
six species based on humeral remains: Furipterus horrens, Chrotopterus auritus, Mormoops
cf. megalophylla, Pteronotus gymnonotus, Pteronotus parnellii, and Noctilio leporinus.
Morphology of the humerus of these taxa is described in a comparative framework to document
taxonomic assessments and provide a basis for future studies of fossil bat faunas. The
relevance of the new records reported here is evaluated at a broader continental scale, as well
as in contrast with the recent bat fauna of the region. The record of Noctilio leporinus stands as
the first fossil occurrence of this species on the South American continent.
museum specimens of the collections of the AMNH and MUSM, we report five species with those conditions in Peru. In this study, we report the first cases of leucism in Artibeus anderseni, Chiroderma trinitatum, and Desmodus rotundus and partial melanism in Carollia perspicillata. Additionally, we report the first record of an albino bat
(Molossus molossus) for Peru.
ancestry, and transitions from the Amazon to Andes may be even more common. To examine biogeographic transitions between these regions, we investigated the evolutionary history of three clades of rodents in the family Echimyidae: bamboo rats (Dactylomys-Olallamys-Kannabateomys), spiny tree-rats (Mesomys-Lonchothrix), and brushtailed rats (Isothrix). Each clade is distributed in both the Andes and Amazonia, and is more diverse in the lowlands.
We used two mitochondrial (cyt-b and 12S) and three nuclear (GHR, vWF, and RAG1) markers to reconstruct their phylogenetic relationships. Tree topologies and ancestral geographic ranges were then used to determine whether Andean forms were basal to or derived from lowland radiations.
Results: Four biogeographic transitions are identified among the generic radiations. The bamboo rat clade unambiguously originated in the Amazon ca. 9 Ma, followed by either one early transition to the Andes (Olallamys) and a later move to the Amazon (Dactylomys), or two later shifts to the Andes (one in each genus). The Andean
species of both Dactylomys and Isothrix are sister to their lowland species, raising the possibility that highland forms colonized the Amazon Basin. However, uncertainty in their reconstructed ancestral ranges obscures the origin of these transitions. The lone Andean species of Mesomys is confidently nested within the lowland radiation, thereby indicating an Amazon-to-Andes transition ca. 2 Ma.
Conclusions: Differences in the timing of these biogeographic transitions do not appear to explain the different polarities of these trees. Instead, even within the radiation of a single family, both Andean and Amazonian centers of endemism appear enriched by lineages that originated in the other region. Our survey of other South American lineages suggests a pattern of reciprocal exchange between these regions—among mammals, birds, amphibians,
and insects we found no fewer than 87 transitions between the Andes and Amazon from Miocene-Pleistocene.
Because no clear trend emerges between the timing and polarity of transitions, or in their relative frequency, we suggest that reciprocal exchange between tropical highland and lowland faunas in South America has been a continual process since ca. 12 Ma.
Diamantina in Bahia (Brazil) has recently been the target of extensive paleontological
studies. Here we provide the first report of fossil bats from this cave system, in which we recognize
six species based on humeral remains: Furipterus horrens, Chrotopterus auritus, Mormoops
cf. megalophylla, Pteronotus gymnonotus, Pteronotus parnellii, and Noctilio leporinus.
Morphology of the humerus of these taxa is described in a comparative framework to document
taxonomic assessments and provide a basis for future studies of fossil bat faunas. The
relevance of the new records reported here is evaluated at a broader continental scale, as well
as in contrast with the recent bat fauna of the region. The record of Noctilio leporinus stands as
the first fossil occurrence of this species on the South American continent.
museum specimens of the collections of the AMNH and MUSM, we report five species with those conditions in Peru. In this study, we report the first cases of leucism in Artibeus anderseni, Chiroderma trinitatum, and Desmodus rotundus and partial melanism in Carollia perspicillata. Additionally, we report the first record of an albino bat
(Molossus molossus) for Peru.
ancestry, and transitions from the Amazon to Andes may be even more common. To examine biogeographic transitions between these regions, we investigated the evolutionary history of three clades of rodents in the family Echimyidae: bamboo rats (Dactylomys-Olallamys-Kannabateomys), spiny tree-rats (Mesomys-Lonchothrix), and brushtailed rats (Isothrix). Each clade is distributed in both the Andes and Amazonia, and is more diverse in the lowlands.
We used two mitochondrial (cyt-b and 12S) and three nuclear (GHR, vWF, and RAG1) markers to reconstruct their phylogenetic relationships. Tree topologies and ancestral geographic ranges were then used to determine whether Andean forms were basal to or derived from lowland radiations.
Results: Four biogeographic transitions are identified among the generic radiations. The bamboo rat clade unambiguously originated in the Amazon ca. 9 Ma, followed by either one early transition to the Andes (Olallamys) and a later move to the Amazon (Dactylomys), or two later shifts to the Andes (one in each genus). The Andean
species of both Dactylomys and Isothrix are sister to their lowland species, raising the possibility that highland forms colonized the Amazon Basin. However, uncertainty in their reconstructed ancestral ranges obscures the origin of these transitions. The lone Andean species of Mesomys is confidently nested within the lowland radiation, thereby indicating an Amazon-to-Andes transition ca. 2 Ma.
Conclusions: Differences in the timing of these biogeographic transitions do not appear to explain the different polarities of these trees. Instead, even within the radiation of a single family, both Andean and Amazonian centers of endemism appear enriched by lineages that originated in the other region. Our survey of other South American lineages suggests a pattern of reciprocal exchange between these regions—among mammals, birds, amphibians,
and insects we found no fewer than 87 transitions between the Andes and Amazon from Miocene-Pleistocene.
Because no clear trend emerges between the timing and polarity of transitions, or in their relative frequency, we suggest that reciprocal exchange between tropical highland and lowland faunas in South America has been a continual process since ca. 12 Ma.