The geographic bias of mammal studies: a comparison of a half a century of research on Palearctic and Neotropical mammals

Introduction: There are no studies that specifically compare research output of Palearctic and Neotropical mammalogy; such comparison would be useful for informed decisions in conservation and management. Objective: To compare the scientific documents and citations about Palearctic and Neotropical mammals over half a century. Methods: We compared 50 years (1970-2019) of documents on 60 medium and large-sized (heavier than 1 kg) mammal species, in Scopus and the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection, considering number of documents and four citation indicators at the species level (h-index, citation rate, total citations, and citations per year). Results: We retrieved 13 274 documents in Scopus and 12 913 in WoS. We found that Palearctic mammals have 3.77 times more documents than Neotropical species in Scopus (3.91 times in WoS), and that the documents recorded 5.95 more total citations in Scopus (6.93 times more in WoS). Palearctic documents also record more yearly citations and a higher h-index in both Scopus and WoS. Scopus retrieved more articles for Neotropical species (2 782 vs. 2 631 in WoS) and had more citations (28 120 vs. 24 977 in WoS); differences for the citation indicators between regions were marker in WoS. The h-index and total citations are greatly affected by how many studies are published, i.e. the region with more production is the one with higher values. The Neotropical articles showed a greater growth rate in the last decade, decreasing the gap between both regions. Conclusion: There is a regional bias in WoS and Scopus, which retrieve more articles and citations about Palearctic mammals than about Neotropical mammals; this bias is worse in WoS and means that an urgent increase in indexed research about Neotropical species is needed to be on par with Palearctic research.

Neotropical mammals in natural history collections and research in Rome, Italy

The occurrence and the history of Neotropical mammal specimens in the collections of naturalistic museums in Rome, Italy, and their scientific utilization is here reviewed. These specimens belong to several scientific expeditions made after the discovery of the new Continent. The oldest specimens date back to the famous Museum of Athanasius Kircher at the Collegio Romano (1651) and to the Museo Zoologico della Università di Roma that was established inside the University of the Pontificial State (Archigymnasium) (1823). Many of these early specimens are now lost due to the complex history of Roman scientific museology, but some specimens are now available mainly in two institutions, the Museo Civico di Zoologia (established in 1932) and the Museo di Anatomia Comparata “Battista Grassi” of “Sapienza” University of Rome (1935). Among the numerous specimens, is noteworthy the presence of a hairy long-nosed armadillo, Dasypus pilosus, the first record in an Italian zoological collection and the 26th known specimen of this species in world museums. More recently, some Roman researchers have maintained a scientific interest for Neotropical mammals, including primates, with collaboration with South American mammalogists. A greater historical knowledge of scientific activities concerning the work of Italians researchers on Neotropical biodiversity should be pursued.

Catalog of medium and large-sized mammals from the state of Pará, Brazil, housed in the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo (MZUSP)

The Mammal Collection of the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo (MZUSP) is one of the largest collections of Neotropical mammals in Latin America, housing about 50,000 specimens. One of the most representative series in this collection comes from the Brazilian Amazon Biome. Among the Brazilian Amazon states, Pará was target of several scientific expeditions led by MZUSP researchers, becoming one of the most representative in terms of number of specimens and species richness in the collection. Here we present a list of the medium and large-sized mammal specimens from Pará state housed in the MZUSP, with comments about taxonomy, the conservation status of the species and other associated information. We found 1,910 specimens representing 79 species and nine orders of medium and large-sized mammals from Pará. Among these, 24 species are currently classified as threatened in Brazil. Furthermore, we found some areas with higher concentration of collection localities, such as at the banks of the lower Rio Tapajós and in the northeastern region of the state. The present catalog plays an important role in presenting the currently known biodiversity of medium and large-sized mammals of Pará, also acting as a primary source for systematics, ecological, conservation and biogeographic studies

DEATH OF A TAPIR ( Tapirus terrestris ) AND ITS CONSUMPTION BY SCAVENGERS IN YASUNÍ NATIONAL PARK, ECUADOR

We describe the death of a tapir (Tapirus terrestris) in a mineral lick, captured by a camera trap. We narrate the ante mortem event and the scavengers associated with the post mortem event. Six mammal species (Mazama zamora, Pecari tajacu, Dasyprocta fuliginosa, Cuniculus paca, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris and Dasypus novemcinctus) and two species of birds (Ortalis guttata and Pipile cumanensis) were registered in the ante mortem event. Three species of scavenging birds (Coragyps atratus, Cathartes melambrotus and Sarcoramphus papa) and one species of reptile (Chelonoidis denticulatus) were registered in the post mortem event. The decomposition process of T. terrestris took 13 days from its death until the body completely disappeared.Key words: Descomposition, interactions, necrophages, neotropical mammals, photo-trapping.ResumenEn esta nota se describe la muerte de un tapir (Tapirus terrestris) captada por una cámara trampa en un saladero. En ella narramos el momento ante mortem y a los carroñeros asociados con el suceso post mortem. En el acontecimiento ante mortem se registraron seis especies de mamíferos (Mazama zamora, Pecari tajacu, Dasyprocta fuliginosa, Cuniculus paca, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris and Dasypus novemcinctus) y dos especies de aves (Ortalis guttata, Pipile cumanensis). En el hecho post mortem se registraron tres especies de aves carroñeras (Coragyps atratus, Cathartes melambrotus and Sarcoramphus papa) y una especie de reptil (Chelonoidis denticulatus). El proceso de descomposición de T. terrestris tomó 13 días desde su muerte hasta que el cuerpo quedó totalmente desecho.Palabras clave: Descomposición, foto trampeo, interacciones, mamíferos neotropicales, necrófagos.

First record of albinism in the paca Cuniculus paca (Rodentia, Cuniculidae) in southeast Mexico

Even though there have been reports of anomalies in the colouration of several species of neotropical mammals, these events are considered to be rare within natural populations. Here we report the first case of albinism in the paca (Cuniculus paca). During the months of June and July 2017, we obtained several images of an adult albino male using camera traps in the region of Sierra Norte in Oaxaca, in the southeast of Mexico, in a medium subdeciduous forest.