The common vampire bat Desmodus rotundus is a hematophagous mammal with a wide distribution range that extends from northern Mexico to northern Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. Despite numerous population-genetics studies of this species throughout its distribution range, data for Colombia are limited, no studies have comprehensively synthesized and dated the diversification process across its entire distribution. This study yielded a dataset of cytochrome b (Cytb) sequences from the western slope of the Central Cordillera and the western slopes of the Western Cordillera (mountain range) in Central Colombia. We integrated these sequences with those from Central and South America available in GenBank and reconstructed the phylogeography of the common vampire bat across its range. We observed three distinct haplotypes in Colombia, indicating evidence of ongoing connectivity between populations separated by the Western Cordillera. At the continental level, we identified seven monophyletic clades, highlighting the separation of the trans-Andean clades of Peru and southwestern Brazil from the rest, as well as the dispersal of species from south to north. In contrast to the Colombian Western Cordillera, we conclude that the Peruvian Andes constitute a geographical barrier between cis- and trans-Andean populations of D. rotundus. Furthermore, the phylogeography of D. rotundus was shaped by a close historical relationship between northwestern South America and Central America, with additional separations during the Pliocene-Pleistocene transition.
Understanding species distributions and the factors shaping them is an important topic in ecology and conservation. This study explores the spatial distribution and habitat requirements of the desert lizard Uromastyx acanthinura in desert and arid areas of southern Tunisia. From February 2016 to November 2018, repeated field surveys were conducted across 50 sampling sites to locate individuals and active burrows of U. acanthinura. For each plot, microhabitat characteristics (altitude, burrow entrance direction, mountain slopes orientation, distance to nearest road, agricultural areas, and urban areas) were recorded. The abundance of predators such as diurnal carnivores (foxes and wolves) and prey (insects), as well as plant abundance, was also noted. Generalized linear mixed models were used to identify the main drivers of U. acanthinura occurrence in Tunisia. Our results indicate that lizard occurrence is positively associated with rocky habitats located near agricultural and urban areas, and with mountain slopes oriented between southwest and southeast exposures. In addition, food availability played a key role, as both plant and insect abundance were significantly higher in occupied plots and positively correlated, indicating that the species is more likely to occur in sites with higher resource availability. These findings further indicate that habitats located near agricultural and urban areas may provide enhanced foraging opportunities for the species.
The green macaw (Ara militaris), a Neotropical species threatened by illegal trade and habitat loss, is often held in rescue centers where its geographic origin and sex are frequently unknown. In this study, molecular tools (COI gene and sex markers) were used on 70 individuals from five centers in Mexico. Phylogenetic and haplotype analyses identified three main lineages and five regionally structured haplotypes, consistent with previously defined evolutionary units. Sex was determined in 75.7% of individuals, with greater success using blood samples. These results emphasize the importance of identifying origin and sex to prevent hybridization, improve captive breeding efforts, and support genetically informed conservation and reintroduction strategies.
Studies of primate behavior have focused on animals independently of their interactions with their environment, ignoring critically important interactions with plants other than feeding. Black howler monkeys Alouatta pigra spend up to 60% of their diurnal time resting, but structure and mechanisms of monkey-plant interactions associated with resting still need to be better understood. In this study, we assessed how plant characteristics influence howler monkeys’ interactions with plants they use for feeding and diurnal resting over three seasons in southeast Mexico. Inter-individual preferences and plant feeding patterns were also examined, and we conducted phenological surveys to determine how availability influences feeding interactions. We found a high diversity of monkey-plant interactions, a nested network (when specialists can only interact with subset of the species generalists interact with) pattern invariant of seasonality, and a higher level of specialization for feeding networks compared to diurnal resting networks. We observed that monkeys preferred large trees for diurnal resting sites and repeatedly selected the same species, resulting in less specialization for resting than feeding. By using an interaction network approach, our study represents a valuable conservation tool for this endangered primate because they highlight the importance of identifying essential species for feeding and diurnal resting.
Biodiversity is dynamic, and faunistics and taxonomy are ever-evolving fields that need constant update and refinement. Thus, species lists and distribution maps may need improvement even for well-studied countries. The current view is that Palaeophilotes panoptes is absent from southern France, where only P. baton occurs. Using COI mitochondrial genetic sequences, wing morphology, phenology, and conservatively reassigned citizen-science records, we document the presence of P. panoptes in a wide area in southeastern Occitanie and delineate a largely parapatric contact with P. baton with narrow contact zones. COI data recover three geographically structured lineages (two within P. baton and one corresponding to P. panoptes). Phenology indicates strict univoltinism in P. panoptes versus a partial second generation in P. baton at low elevation, while morphology shows consistent population-level trends but no unambiguously diagnostic individual characters. The observed genetic differentiation, spatial distribution and phenological patterns seem to rely on the host-plant specialization of P. panoptes on Thymus vulgaris, while P. baton is more plastic in its trophic preferences.
