Advanced search
Start date
Betweenand


A new species of Akodon Meyen, 1833 (Rodentia: Cricetidae) from dry forests of the Amazonia-Cerrado transition

Full text
Author(s):
Brandao, Marcus Vinicius ; Carmignotto, Ana Paula ; Percequillo, Alexandre Reis ; Christoff, Alexandre Uarth ; Mendes-Oliveira, Ana Cristina ; Geise, Lena
Total Authors: 6
Document type: Journal article
Source: Zootaxa; v. 5205, n. 5, p. 35-pg., 2022-11-10.
Abstract

Akodon is the most diverse genus of the tribe Akodontini, comprising 41 extant species. Although distributed in a wide range of environments in South America, the genus was long considered to be absent from Amazon Forest. Nonetheless, in recent decades, records of Akodon have been reported based on specimens from southern Amazonia, throughout the contact zone with Cerrado. Published data about the unique karyotype (2n=10), along with evidence of sister phylogenetic relationship (Cytb sequences) with Akodon cursor, a species from the Atlantic Forest, suggest that these specimens represent an undescribed species. Herein we hypothesize that these samples represent a new species of Akodon from Amazonia-Cerrado transitional areas. Through the analyses of 217 specimens from Mato Grosso and Para states, Brazil, as well as 336 specimens of Akodon cursor species group from the Atlantic Forest, we provide qualitative and quantitative external and craniodental data that support their distinction in comparison with other congeners. The sister relationship between this new species and A. cursor provide additional evidence of a past connection between the two largest tropical forests of South America. Moreover, the recognition of Akodon n. sp. points to the presence of the genus in the AmazoniaCerrado transition, an area currently under great anthropic pressure, highlighting the fact that we might be losing a portion of Brazilian biodiversity before even getting to know it. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 00/06642-4 - Small terrestrial mammals of the Cerrado bioma: local and regional faunistic patterns
Grantee:Ana Paula Carmignotto
Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
FAPESP's process: 19/05374-2 - Taxonomy and systematics of species of the tribe Akodontini (Rodentia: Cricetidae) from Western Brazil
Grantee:Marcus Vinicius Brandão de Oliveira
Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
FAPESP's process: 09/16009-1 - Systematics, evolution and diversification of the subfamily Sigmodontinae in South America: the tribe Oryzomyini
Grantee:Alexandre Reis Percequillo
Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants
FAPESP's process: 16/20055-2 - Systematics and biogeography of the tribe Oryzomyini (Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) in South America
Grantee:Alexandre Reis Percequillo
Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research