Abstract
The mammals of Paraguay are still poorly known. We report a new genus for the country, Abrawayaomys, a spiny cricetid rodent endemic for the Interior Atlantic Forest. This record extends the distribution of the genus approximately 100 km, and west of the Paraná River. This addition increases the number of mammals in Paraguay to 184 and verifies that rodents are the most diverse group of mammals in the country. We outline identifying morphological characters of Abrawayaomys and elaborate on the significance of this finding for conservation and biogeography in the region.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Andrew Maselli at the Chicago State University Microscopy Facility for his help with electron microscopy and pictures for figures at Chicago State University (CSU). We would like to thank the field crews with special thanks to Pastor E. Perez, Maria Luisa Ortiz, Julio Torres, and Lourdes Valdez. We would like to thank Damian Gonzalez for help with pictures used in this study. We thank Bruce D. Patterson, Lawrence Heaney, and Adam Ferguson for support with mammal curation at the FMNH. Partial funding was provided by Fulbright Fellowship, The Marshall Field Collection Fund of Field Museum of Natural History, the American Philosophical Society through the Lewis and Clark Exploration Fund, the Mary Rice Foundation (special thanks to Mary Rice), a Latin American Award (American Society of Mammalogists), a Texas Tech Association of Biologists Minigrant (TTUAB), the Michelle C. Knapp Memorial Scholarship (TTU), the J. Knox Jones, Jr. Memorial Endowed Scholarship (TTU) to ND. Additional, funding by a Latinamerican Doctoral Scholarship from CONICET Argentina, Collection Study Grant (AMNH, New York), and Ernst Mayr Travel Grant (MCZ – Harvard University, Cambridge) was provided to GSL when the specimen was identified. We thank the CSU CSER program for partial support.
References
Carnaval, A.C., M.J. Hickerson, C.F.B. Haddad, M.T. Rodrigues and C. Moritz. 2009. Stability predicts genetic diversity in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest hotspot. Science 323: 785–789.10.1126/science.1166955Search in Google Scholar PubMed
Cerboncini, R.A.S., T.B. Zanata, W.L. Cunha, A.M. Rorato, A.S. Calefi, M.R. Sbeghen, R. Macagnan, K.C. Abreu, M.A. Ono and F.C. Passos. 2014. Distribution extension of Abrawayaoumys ruschii Cunha and Cruz, 1979 (Rodentia: Cricetidae) with the first records in the state of Paraná, southern Brazil. CheckList 10: 660–662.Search in Google Scholar
Chiquito, E.A, G. D’Elía and A.R. Percequillo. 2014. Taxonomic review of genus Sooretamys Weksler, Percequillo and Voss (Rodentia: Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae): an integrative approach. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 171: 842–877.10.1111/zoj.12146Search in Google Scholar
Costa, L.P. and Y.L.R. Leite. 2012. Historical fragmentation shaping vertebrate diversification in the Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot. In: (B.P. Patterson and L.P. Costa, eds.) Bones, Clones, and Biomes. University of Chicago Press, Chicago IL. pp. 283–306.10.7208/chicago/9780226649214.003.0013Search in Google Scholar
Cruz, P., P. Teta, L. Palacio, A. Paviolo and M. Di Bitetti. 2019. New locality for the rare sigmodontine Abrawayaomys ruschii (Rodentia, Cricetidae) in Argentina, with comments about its regional conservation status. Notas sobre Mamíferos Sudamericanos. doi.org/10.31687/saremNMS.19.0.11.Search in Google Scholar
Cunha, F.L.S., and J.F. Cruz. 1979. Novo gênero de Cricetidae (Rodentia) de Castelo, Espírito Santo, Brasil. Boletim do Museu de Biologia Prof. Mello Leitão, Série Zoologia 96: 1–5.Search in Google Scholar
Da Ponte, E., M. Roch, P. Leinenkugel, S. Dech and C. Kuenzer. 2017. Paraguay’s Atlantic Forest cover loss – satellite-based change detection and fragmentation analysis between 2003 and 2013. Appl. Geogr. 79: 37–49.10.1016/j.apgeog.2016.12.005Search in Google Scholar
de la Sancha, N.U. 2014. Patterns of small mammal diversity in fragments of subtropical Interior Atlantic Forest in eastern Paraguay. Mammalia 78: 437–449.10.1515/mammalia-2013-0100Search in Google Scholar
de la Sancha, N.U. 2018. New discoveries in natural history museums. BioScience 68: 464–465.10.1093/biosci/biy031Search in Google Scholar
de la Sancha, N.U. and G. D’Elía. 2015. Additions to the Paraguayan mammal fauna: the first records of two marsupials (Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae) with comments on the alpha taxonomy of Cryptonanus and Philander. Mammalia 79: 343–356.10.1515/mammalia-2013-0176Search in Google Scholar
de la Sancha, N., G. D’Elía, F. Netto, P. Pérez and J. Salazar-Bravo. 2009. Discovery of Juliomys (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae) in Paraguay, a new genus of Sigmodontinae for the country’s Atlantic Forest. Mammalia 73: 162–167.10.1515/MAMM.2009.026Search in Google Scholar
de la Sancha, N.U., G. D’Elía, C.J. Tribe, P.E. Perez, L. Valdez and R.H. Pine. 2011. Rhipidomys (Rodentia, Cricetidae) from Paraguay: noteworthy new records and identity of the Paraguayan species. Mammalia 75: 269–276.10.1515/mamm.2011.022Search in Google Scholar
de la Sancha, N.U., G. D’Elía and P. Teta. 2012. Systematics of the subgenus of mouse opossums Marmosa (Micoureus) (Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae) with noteworthy records from Paraguay. Mammal. Biol. 77: 229–236.10.1016/j.mambio.2011.10.003Search in Google Scholar
de la Sancha, N.U., C.L. Higgins, S.J. Presley and R.E. Strauss. 2014. Metacommunity structure in a highly fragmented forest: has deforestation in the Atlantic Forest altered historic biogeographic patterns? Divers. Distrib. 20: 1058–1070.10.1111/ddi.12210Search in Google Scholar
de la Sancha, N.U., S.A. Boyle and B.D. Patterson. 2017a. Getting back to the basics: museum collections and satellite imagery are critical to analyzing species diversity. BioScience 67: 405–406.10.1093/biosci/bix004Search in Google Scholar
de la Sancha, N.U., C. López-González, G. D’Elía, P. Myers, L. Valdez and M.L. Ortiz. 2017b. An annotated checklist of the mammals of Paraguay. THERYA 8: 241–260.10.12933/therya-17-473Search in Google Scholar
D’Elía, G., I. Mora, P. Myers and R.D. Owen. 2008. New and noteworthy records of Rodentia (Erethizontidae, Sciuridae, and Cricetidae) from Paraguay. Zootaxa 1784: 39–57.10.11646/zootaxa.1784.1.3Search in Google Scholar
Duarte, T.S. and G. Lessa. 2015. The cuticular profile of the aristiform hair as a characteristic feature of Abrawayaomys (Rodentia: Cricetidae), Zoologia 32: 321–324.10.1590/S1984-46702015000400008Search in Google Scholar
Gil, G.G. and J.M Lobo. 2012. El uso de modelos predictivos de distribución para el diseño de muestreos de especies poco conocidas. Mastozool. Neotrop. 19: 47–62.Search in Google Scholar
Gonçalves, F. R.S. Bovendorp, G. Beca, C. Bello, R. Costa-Pereira, R.L. Muylaert, R.R. Rodarte, N. Villar, R. Souza, M.E. Graipel, J.J. Cherem, D. Faria, J. Baumgarten, M.R. Alvarez, E.M. Vieira, N. Cáceres, R. Pardini, Y.L.R. Leite, L.P. Costa, M.A.R. Mello, E. Fischer, F.C. Passos, L.H. Varzinczak, J.A. Prevedello, A.P. Cruz-Neto, F. Carvalho, A.R. Percequillo, A. Paviolo, A. Nava, J.M.B. Duarte, N.U. de la Sancha, E. Bernard, R.G. Morato, J.F. Ribeiro, R.G. Becker, G. Paise, P.S. Tomasi, F. Vélez-Garcia, G.L. Melo, J. Sponchiado, F. Cerezer, M.A.S. Barros, A.Q.S. de Souza, C.C. Dos Santos, G.A.F. Giné, P. Kerches-Rogeri, M.M. Weber, G. Ambar, L.V. Cabrera-Martinez, A. Eriksson, M. Silveira, C.F. Santos, L. Alves, E. Barbier, G.C. Rezende, G.S.T. Garbino, É.O. Rios, A. Silva, A.T.A. Nascimento, R.S. de Carvalho, A. Feijó, J. Arrabal, I. Agostini, D. Lamattina, S. Costa, E. Vanderhoeven, F.R. de Melo, P. de Oliveira Laroque, L. Jerusalinsky, M.M. Valença-Montenegro, A.B. Martins, G. Ludwig, R.B. de Azevedo, A. Anzóategui, M.X. da Silva, M. Figuerêdo Duarte Moraes, A. Vogliotti, A. Gatti, T. Püttker, C.S. Barros, T.K. Martins, A. Keuroghlian, D.P. Eaton, C.L. Neves, M.S. Nardi, C. Braga, P.R. Gonçalves, A.C. Srbek-Araujo, P. Mendes, J.A. de Oliveira, F.A.M. Soares, P.A. Rocha, P. Crawshaw, M.C. Ribeiro and M. Galetti 2018a. ATLANTIC MAMMAL TRAITS: a data set of morphological traits of mammals in the Atlantic Forest of South America. Ecology 99: 498.10.1002/ecy.2106Search in Google Scholar PubMed
Hernandez, G., S. Garcia, J. F. Vilela and N.U. De la Sancha. 2017. Ontogenetic variation of an omnivorous generalist rodent: the case of the montane akodont (Akodon montensis). J. Mammal. 98: 1741–1752.10.1093/jmammal/gyx135Search in Google Scholar
Huang, C., S. Kim, A. Altstatt, J.R.G. Townshend, P. Davis, K. Song, C.J. Tucker, O. Rodas, A. Yanosky, R. Clay and J. Musinsky. 2007. Rapid loss of Paraguay’s Atlantic Forest and the status of protected areas? A Landsat assessment. Remote Sens. Environ. 106: 460–466.10.1016/j.rse.2006.09.016Search in Google Scholar
Huang, C., S. Kim, K. Song, J.R.G. Townshend, P. Davis, A. Altstatt, O. Rodas, A. Yanosky, R. Clay, C.J. Tucker and J. Musinsky. 2009. Assessment of Paraguay’s forest cover change using Landsat observations. Global Planet. Change 67: 1–12.10.1016/j.gloplacha.2008.12.009Search in Google Scholar
Lanzone, C., C.A. Labaroni, A. Formoso, L.M. Buschiazzo, F. Da Rosa and P. Teta. 2018. Diversidad, sistemática y conservación de roedores en el extremo sudoccidental del Bosque Atlántico Interior. Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales nueva serie 20: 151–164.10.22179/REVMACN.20.566Search in Google Scholar
Leite, Y.L.R., L.P. Costa, A.C. Loss, R.G. Rocha, H. Batalha-Filho, A.C. Bastos, V.S. Quaresma, V. Fagundes, R. Paresque, M. Passamani and R. Pardini. 2016. Neotropical forest expansion during the last glacial period challenges refuge hypothesis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 113: 1008–1013.10.1073/pnas.1513062113Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central
Myers, P. 1982. Origins and affinities of the mammal fauna of Paraguay. In: (M.A. Mares and H.H. Genoways, eds.) Mammalian biology in South America. Special Publication Series, Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. pp. 85–93.Search in Google Scholar
Owen, R.D., H. Sánchez, K. Atkinson, L. McMahon and C.B. Jonsson. 2018. New and noteworthy records of rodents (Mammalia, Rodentia, Cricetidae and Echimyidae) from Paraguay. Check List 14: 721–730.10.15560/14.5.721Search in Google Scholar
Pardini, R. 2004. Effects of forest fragmentation on small mammals in an Atlantic Forest landscape. Biodivers. Conserv. 13: 2567–2586.10.1023/B:BIOC.0000048452.18878.2dSearch in Google Scholar
Pardiñas, U.F.J. 2017. Chebez’s Spiny Mouse Abrawayaomys chebezi. In: (D.E. Wilson, T.E. Jr. Lacher and R.A. Mittermeier, eds.) Handbook of the mammals of the world. Rodents II, Vol. 7. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. pp. 133.Search in Google Scholar
Pardiñas, U.F.J., P. Teta and G. D’Elía. 2009. Taxonomy and distribution of Abrawayaomys (Rodentia: Cricetidae), an Atlantic Forest endemic with the description of a new species. Zootaxa 2128: 39–60.10.11646/zootaxa.2128.1.2Search in Google Scholar
Pardiñas, U.F.J., P. Teta and G. D’Elía. 2015. Genus Abrawayaomys F. Cunha and Cruz, 1979. In: (J.L. Patton, U.F. Pardiñas and G. D’Elía, eds.) Mammals of South America, Volume 2. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. pp. 73–75.Search in Google Scholar
Pardiñas, U.F.J., P. Teta, M. Lareschi and C.A. Galliari. 2016a. New data on Abrawayaomys chebezi (Rodentia, Cricetidae), a poorly known South American sylvan rodent. Mammalia 80: 52–8.10.1515/mammalia-2014-0178Search in Google Scholar
Pardiñas, U.F.J., P. Teta, J. Salazar-Bravo, P. Myers and C.A. Galliari. 2016b. A new species of arboreal rat, genus Oecomys (Rodentia, Cricetidae) from Chaco. J. Mammal. 97: 1177–1196.10.1093/jmammal/gyw070Search in Google Scholar
Passamani, M., R.A.S., Cerboncini and J.E. Oliveira. 2011. Distribution extension of Phaenomys ferrugineus (Thomas, 1894), and new data on Abrawayaomys ruschii Cunha and Cruz, 1979 and Rhagomys rufescens (Thomas, 1886), three rare species of rodents (Rodentia: Cricetidae) in Minas Gerais, Brazil. CheckList 7: 827–831.10.15560/7.6.827Search in Google Scholar
Percequillo, A.R., C.A.C. Braga, M.V. Brandão, E.F. Abreu-Júnior, J. Gualda-Barros, G.M. Lessa, M.R.S. Pires and E. Hingst-Zaher. 2017. The genus Abrawayaomys Cunha and Cruz, 1979 (Rodentia: Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae): geographic variation and species definition. J. Mammal. 98: 438–455.10.1093/jmammal/gyw228Search in Google Scholar
Ribeiro, M.C., J.P. Metzger, A.C. Martensen, F.J. Ponzoni and M.M. Hirota. 2009. The Brazilian Atlantic Forest: how much is left, and how is the remaining forest distributed? Implications for conservation. Biol. Conserv. 142: 1141–1153.10.1016/j.biocon.2009.02.021Search in Google Scholar
Torres, J., S.D. Ríos, J. Sánchez, N.U. de la Sancha and P. Teta. 2017. los roedores. In: (S.B. Saldivar, V.B. Rojas and D.B. Giménez, eds.) Libro Rojo de los Mamíferos del Paraguay especies amenazadas de extinción. Editorial CREATIO. Asunción, Paraguay. pp. 123–125.Search in Google Scholar
Valdez, L. and G. D’Elía. 2013. Differentiation in the Atlantic Forest: phylogeography of Akodon montensis (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae) and the Carnaval–Moritz model of Pleistocene refugia. J. Mammal. 94: 911–922.10.1644/12-MAMM-A-227.1Search in Google Scholar
Ventura, K., M.J. Silva, L. Geise, Y. Leite, U.F.J. Pardinas, Y. Yonenaga-Yassuda and G. D’Elıa. 2013. The phylogenetic position of the enigmatic Atlantic Forest-endemic spiny mouse Abrawayaomys (Rodentia: Sigmodontinae). Zool. Stud. 52: 55.10.1186/1810-522X-52-55Search in Google Scholar
Weksler, M., E.M.S. Lemos, P.S. D’Andrea and C.R. Bonvicino. 2017. The Taxonomic Status of Oligoryzomys mattogrossae (Allen 1916) (Rodentia: Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae), Reservoir of Anajatuba Hantavirus. Am. Mus. Novit. 3880: 1–32.10.1206/3880.1Search in Google Scholar
©2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
