The brazilian small mammals belong to the Rodentia and Didelphimorphia orders, including 298 spec... more The brazilian small mammals belong to the Rodentia and Didelphimorphia orders, including 298 species, or 43% of the mammal diversity of the country. The Atlantic Forest and Cerrado are among the mammal species richest biomes of Brazil. The Ouro Branco mountain, where this study was conducted, is located in the Espinhaco mountain range, a transition area between Atlantic Forest and Cerrado biomes. The intense habitat fragmentation and destruction of the Espinhaco mountain range is the great treat for the conservation of its mammalian fauna. Despite of the great importance of this area, due to the high diversity of small mammals, there are knowledge gaps related to inventories, systematic, geographic distribution and ecology for this group. In this context, our study aimed to be a contribution for the knowledge of the species composition of the Ouro Branco mountain. We also presented some information about the biology of the species and analysed the impacts that the different species ...
Despite the well‐established anatomy nomenclature for the marsupial skeleton, there are no names ... more Despite the well‐established anatomy nomenclature for the marsupial skeleton, there are no names for the epipubic bone structures. Epipubic bones are paired bones articulating with the pubis and projecting cranially in the ventral body wall, present on the pelvic girdle of cynodonts, monotremes and marsupials. These bones were commonly thought to be related to pouch support in marsupials and more recently associated with locomotion. The parts of the epipubic bones have not been named and this has impeded proper morphological analysis. We analyzed the epipubic bones of 302 skeletons comprising American and Australian marsupials, as well as 27 monotreme skeletons, and dissected 10 marsupials for myological attachments analysis. We suggest the following nomenclature for the epipubic bone structures: crest for the cranial end, shaft for the body of the bone, lateral tubercle and the medial articular process. Some markings on the epipubic bone include the oblique line, pertaining to the ...
Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate... more Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non‐detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non‐governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peerreviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non‐detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio‐temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other largescale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data.
Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become in... more Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a non-native habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In this data set, we make available occurrence and abundance data on mammal species that (1) transposed a geographical barrier and (2) were voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into the Neotropics. Our data set is composed of 73,738 historical and current georeferenced records on alien mammal species of which around 96% correspond to occurrence data on 77 species belonging to eight orders and 26 families. Data cover 26 continental countries in the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico and its frontier regions (southern Florida and coastal-central Florida in southeast USA) to Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay, and the 13 countries...
Marsupials have short gestation periods, with altricial neonates completing their development att... more Marsupials have short gestation periods, with altricial neonates completing their development attached to a teat, a condition that induces remarkable structural changes in the inguinal region of reproductive females. In this study, we analyzed the morphological variation in the inguinal region of female museum specimens of Monodelphis domestica in search for external traits reminiscent of their reproductive condition when collected. We examined 427 taxidermied skins of wild females from northeastern Brazil and classified their inguinal region by color, density of fur, shape, and the presence of spots and teats. We determined relative age based on tooth eruption and wear, to infer the chronological order of inguinal changes. These conditions were computed for each age class and for each month over 4 years for samples from two mesoregions in northeastern Brazil, identified from climatic characteristics. Four distinct morphological patterns recognized in the inguinal region of females ...
The helminth fauna and metacommunity structure of eight sympatric sigmodontine rodents were inves... more The helminth fauna and metacommunity structure of eight sympatric sigmodontine rodents were investigated at the Serra dos Órgãos National Park, an Atlantic Forest reserve located in the State of Rio de Janeiro, southeast Brazil. Rodents of the species Abrawayaomys ruschii, Akodon montensis, Blarinomys breviceps , Delomys dorsalis, Oligoryzomys flavescens, Oligoryzomys nigripes, Oxymycterus quaestor and Thaptomys nigrita were found infected with helminths. Akodon montensis presented the highest total helminth species richness, with six different species of helminths. The nematode Stilestrongylus lanfrediae was the most abundant and prevalent helminth species observed. The host-parasite network analysis showed little interactions among host species. Akodon montensis seems to act as a keystone-species in the rodent community. This species shared the nematodes Stilestrongylus aculeata with A. ruschii and Protospirura numidica criceticola with T. nigrita, and the cestode Rodentolepis ako...
Primates play an important role in ecosystem functioning and offer critical insights into human e... more Primates play an important role in ecosystem functioning and offer critical insights into human evolution, biology, behavior, and emerging infectious diseases. There are 26 primate species in the Atlantic Forests of South America, 19 of them endemic. We compiled a dataset of 5,472 georeferenced locations of 26 native and 1 introduced primate species, as hybrids in the genera Callithrix and Alouatta. The dataset includes 700 primate communities, 8,121 single species occurrences and 714 estimates of primate population sizes, covering most natural forest types of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina and some other biomes. On average, primate communities of the Atlantic Forest harbor 2±1 species (range=1‐6). However, about 40% of primate communities contain only one species. Alouatta guariba (N=2,188 records) and Sapajus nigritus (N=1,127) were the species with the most records. Callicebus barbarabrownae (N=35), Leontopithecus caissara (N=38), a...
Measures of traits are the basis of functional biological diversity. Numerous works consider mean... more Measures of traits are the basis of functional biological diversity. Numerous works consider mean species-level measures of traits while ignoring individual variance within species. However, there is a large amount of variation within species and it is increasingly apparent that it is important to consider trait variation not only between species, but also within species. Mammals are an interesting group for investigating trait-based approaches because they play diverse and important ecological functions (e.g., pollination, seed dispersal, predation, grazing) that are correlated with functional traits. Here we compile a data set comprising morphological and life history information of 279 mammal species from 39,850 individuals of 388 populations ranging from -5.83 to -29.75 decimal degrees of latitude and -34.82 to -56.73 decimal degrees of longitude in the Atlantic forest of South America. We present trait information from 16,840 individuals of 181 species of non-volant mammals (Ro...
Rhagomys rufescens is a rare, arboreal sigmodontine rodent endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Fore... more Rhagomys rufescens is a rare, arboreal sigmodontine rodent endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest biome. This species is known from eight localities in Brazil. Here we present a new report based on four individuals of this species registered in Serra do Ouro Branco, municipality of Ouro Branco (Minas Gerais, Brazil). One juvenile male, one adult male and two juvenile females were captured in pitfall traps during the rainy season, in a study of small mammal ecology. This is the first record for the Espinhaço Mountain range and the northernmost report for the species in this state, 85 km northeast of the last registered location.
rea: Rodentia Sub-Área: Ecologia Bibimys labiosus é um roedor sigmodoníneo, muito pouco conhecido... more rea: Rodentia Sub-Área: Ecologia Bibimys labiosus é um roedor sigmodoníneo, muito pouco conhecido nos aspectos de sua ecologia e biologia, devido a sua raridade em coletas. Sabe-se apenas que a espécie é cursorial e forrageia vasculhando o folhiço. Em um levantamento da mastofauna realizado no município de Ouro Branco, MG, foram coletados dois indivíduos pertencentes a esta espécie. Assim, foi realizada uma análise do conteúdo estomacal desses animais, visando contribuir para o conhecimento dos hábitos alimentares desta espécie. O conteúdo estomacal foi triado em lupa e sendo separado o material de origem animal e o de origem vegetal. A parte animal apresentou-se em quantidade muito baixa, contendo patas e fragmentos de exoesqueleto, ainda não identificados. Da parte vegetal foram feitas oito lâminas a fresco em água, quatro da amostra de cada indivíduo, sendo metade coradas com lugol (para evidenciar celulose e amido) e a outra metade corada com SUDAM III (para evidenciar substânci...
A Serra do Ouro Branco (SOB) é uma região montanhosa localizada na porção sul da Cadeia do Espinh... more A Serra do Ouro Branco (SOB) é uma região montanhosa localizada na porção sul da Cadeia do Espinhaço (CE), em uma área de transição entre as ecorregiões do Cerrado e da Mata Atlântica. A CE é a faixa orogênica contínua de maior extensão do território brasileiro e se estende do Quadrilátero Ferrífero em Minas Gerais, em sua extremidade sul, até e o limite entre os estados da Bahia e Piauí, em sua extremidade norte. O objetivo deste estudo foi inventariar os pequenos mamíferos do Parque Estadual da Serra do Ouro Branco (PESOB) e do Monumento Natural Estadual de Itatiaia, unidades de conservação presentes na Serra do Ouro Branco, criados em 2009 e compará-la com a diversidade encontrada em outras áreas da CE. As coletas deste estudo foram realizadas 4 noites por mês durante 24 meses com pitfall traps (6.624 baldes/noite) e em 4 noites em abril de 2010 usando shermans e tomahawks em 2 paióis de armazenamento de milho, 5 de cada em cada paiol (40 armadilhas/noite). Além disso, foram leva...
The brazilian small mammals belong to the Rodentia and Didelphimorphia orders, including 298 spec... more The brazilian small mammals belong to the Rodentia and Didelphimorphia orders, including 298 species, or 43% of the mammal diversity of the country. The Atlantic Forest and Cerrado are among the mammal species richest biomes of Brazil. The Ouro Branco mountain, where this study was conducted, is located in the Espinhaco mountain range, a transition area between Atlantic Forest and Cerrado biomes. The intense habitat fragmentation and destruction of the Espinhaco mountain range is the great treat for the conservation of its mammalian fauna. Despite of the great importance of this area, due to the high diversity of small mammals, there are knowledge gaps related to inventories, systematic, geographic distribution and ecology for this group. In this context, our study aimed to be a contribution for the knowledge of the species composition of the Ouro Branco mountain. We also presented some information about the biology of the species and analysed the impacts that the different species ...
Despite the well‐established anatomy nomenclature for the marsupial skeleton, there are no names ... more Despite the well‐established anatomy nomenclature for the marsupial skeleton, there are no names for the epipubic bone structures. Epipubic bones are paired bones articulating with the pubis and projecting cranially in the ventral body wall, present on the pelvic girdle of cynodonts, monotremes and marsupials. These bones were commonly thought to be related to pouch support in marsupials and more recently associated with locomotion. The parts of the epipubic bones have not been named and this has impeded proper morphological analysis. We analyzed the epipubic bones of 302 skeletons comprising American and Australian marsupials, as well as 27 monotreme skeletons, and dissected 10 marsupials for myological attachments analysis. We suggest the following nomenclature for the epipubic bone structures: crest for the cranial end, shaft for the body of the bone, lateral tubercle and the medial articular process. Some markings on the epipubic bone include the oblique line, pertaining to the ...
Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate... more Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non‐detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non‐governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peerreviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non‐detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio‐temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other largescale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data.
Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become in... more Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a non-native habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In this data set, we make available occurrence and abundance data on mammal species that (1) transposed a geographical barrier and (2) were voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into the Neotropics. Our data set is composed of 73,738 historical and current georeferenced records on alien mammal species of which around 96% correspond to occurrence data on 77 species belonging to eight orders and 26 families. Data cover 26 continental countries in the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico and its frontier regions (southern Florida and coastal-central Florida in southeast USA) to Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay, and the 13 countries...
Marsupials have short gestation periods, with altricial neonates completing their development att... more Marsupials have short gestation periods, with altricial neonates completing their development attached to a teat, a condition that induces remarkable structural changes in the inguinal region of reproductive females. In this study, we analyzed the morphological variation in the inguinal region of female museum specimens of Monodelphis domestica in search for external traits reminiscent of their reproductive condition when collected. We examined 427 taxidermied skins of wild females from northeastern Brazil and classified their inguinal region by color, density of fur, shape, and the presence of spots and teats. We determined relative age based on tooth eruption and wear, to infer the chronological order of inguinal changes. These conditions were computed for each age class and for each month over 4 years for samples from two mesoregions in northeastern Brazil, identified from climatic characteristics. Four distinct morphological patterns recognized in the inguinal region of females ...
The helminth fauna and metacommunity structure of eight sympatric sigmodontine rodents were inves... more The helminth fauna and metacommunity structure of eight sympatric sigmodontine rodents were investigated at the Serra dos Órgãos National Park, an Atlantic Forest reserve located in the State of Rio de Janeiro, southeast Brazil. Rodents of the species Abrawayaomys ruschii, Akodon montensis, Blarinomys breviceps , Delomys dorsalis, Oligoryzomys flavescens, Oligoryzomys nigripes, Oxymycterus quaestor and Thaptomys nigrita were found infected with helminths. Akodon montensis presented the highest total helminth species richness, with six different species of helminths. The nematode Stilestrongylus lanfrediae was the most abundant and prevalent helminth species observed. The host-parasite network analysis showed little interactions among host species. Akodon montensis seems to act as a keystone-species in the rodent community. This species shared the nematodes Stilestrongylus aculeata with A. ruschii and Protospirura numidica criceticola with T. nigrita, and the cestode Rodentolepis ako...
Primates play an important role in ecosystem functioning and offer critical insights into human e... more Primates play an important role in ecosystem functioning and offer critical insights into human evolution, biology, behavior, and emerging infectious diseases. There are 26 primate species in the Atlantic Forests of South America, 19 of them endemic. We compiled a dataset of 5,472 georeferenced locations of 26 native and 1 introduced primate species, as hybrids in the genera Callithrix and Alouatta. The dataset includes 700 primate communities, 8,121 single species occurrences and 714 estimates of primate population sizes, covering most natural forest types of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina and some other biomes. On average, primate communities of the Atlantic Forest harbor 2±1 species (range=1‐6). However, about 40% of primate communities contain only one species. Alouatta guariba (N=2,188 records) and Sapajus nigritus (N=1,127) were the species with the most records. Callicebus barbarabrownae (N=35), Leontopithecus caissara (N=38), a...
Measures of traits are the basis of functional biological diversity. Numerous works consider mean... more Measures of traits are the basis of functional biological diversity. Numerous works consider mean species-level measures of traits while ignoring individual variance within species. However, there is a large amount of variation within species and it is increasingly apparent that it is important to consider trait variation not only between species, but also within species. Mammals are an interesting group for investigating trait-based approaches because they play diverse and important ecological functions (e.g., pollination, seed dispersal, predation, grazing) that are correlated with functional traits. Here we compile a data set comprising morphological and life history information of 279 mammal species from 39,850 individuals of 388 populations ranging from -5.83 to -29.75 decimal degrees of latitude and -34.82 to -56.73 decimal degrees of longitude in the Atlantic forest of South America. We present trait information from 16,840 individuals of 181 species of non-volant mammals (Ro...
Rhagomys rufescens is a rare, arboreal sigmodontine rodent endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Fore... more Rhagomys rufescens is a rare, arboreal sigmodontine rodent endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest biome. This species is known from eight localities in Brazil. Here we present a new report based on four individuals of this species registered in Serra do Ouro Branco, municipality of Ouro Branco (Minas Gerais, Brazil). One juvenile male, one adult male and two juvenile females were captured in pitfall traps during the rainy season, in a study of small mammal ecology. This is the first record for the Espinhaço Mountain range and the northernmost report for the species in this state, 85 km northeast of the last registered location.
rea: Rodentia Sub-Área: Ecologia Bibimys labiosus é um roedor sigmodoníneo, muito pouco conhecido... more rea: Rodentia Sub-Área: Ecologia Bibimys labiosus é um roedor sigmodoníneo, muito pouco conhecido nos aspectos de sua ecologia e biologia, devido a sua raridade em coletas. Sabe-se apenas que a espécie é cursorial e forrageia vasculhando o folhiço. Em um levantamento da mastofauna realizado no município de Ouro Branco, MG, foram coletados dois indivíduos pertencentes a esta espécie. Assim, foi realizada uma análise do conteúdo estomacal desses animais, visando contribuir para o conhecimento dos hábitos alimentares desta espécie. O conteúdo estomacal foi triado em lupa e sendo separado o material de origem animal e o de origem vegetal. A parte animal apresentou-se em quantidade muito baixa, contendo patas e fragmentos de exoesqueleto, ainda não identificados. Da parte vegetal foram feitas oito lâminas a fresco em água, quatro da amostra de cada indivíduo, sendo metade coradas com lugol (para evidenciar celulose e amido) e a outra metade corada com SUDAM III (para evidenciar substânci...
A Serra do Ouro Branco (SOB) é uma região montanhosa localizada na porção sul da Cadeia do Espinh... more A Serra do Ouro Branco (SOB) é uma região montanhosa localizada na porção sul da Cadeia do Espinhaço (CE), em uma área de transição entre as ecorregiões do Cerrado e da Mata Atlântica. A CE é a faixa orogênica contínua de maior extensão do território brasileiro e se estende do Quadrilátero Ferrífero em Minas Gerais, em sua extremidade sul, até e o limite entre os estados da Bahia e Piauí, em sua extremidade norte. O objetivo deste estudo foi inventariar os pequenos mamíferos do Parque Estadual da Serra do Ouro Branco (PESOB) e do Monumento Natural Estadual de Itatiaia, unidades de conservação presentes na Serra do Ouro Branco, criados em 2009 e compará-la com a diversidade encontrada em outras áreas da CE. As coletas deste estudo foram realizadas 4 noites por mês durante 24 meses com pitfall traps (6.624 baldes/noite) e em 4 noites em abril de 2010 usando shermans e tomahawks em 2 paióis de armazenamento de milho, 5 de cada em cada paiol (40 armadilhas/noite). Além disso, foram leva...
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