Abstract
The Amazon region is a mosaic of distinct areas of endemism (AoE), each with its evolutionary relationships and biotic assemblages. Among them, the Tapajós AoE is one of the least sampled, and it has been identified as one of the regions with the lowest conservation value. Here we provide a checklist of small mammals based on field and molecular-based identification. We report small mammal taxa from the Tapajós River region identified at the species level and three only identified at the genus level (including lineages of the genera Oecomys, Mesomys, and Monodelphis). An intense sampling effort using complementary methods was undertaken during which specimens were sampled at twelve sampling units, six on each riverbank, then combined with molecular identification to help species identification. Most of the taxa occurring in the Tapajós region are widely found in the eastern part of the Amazon Forest, and three species are endemic. Here, we highlight the unique and important mammal assembly of the Tapajós region and its significance with conservation priorities, which had been neglected until now due to a deficit of sampling efforts. We also point out that increasing research efforts to sample small mammals in the Amazon is crucial to understanding this biome’s biodiversity patterns and biogeography.
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Sequences will be deposited at the Genbank after acceptance of the manuscript.
Data Availability
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this article and its supplementary information files. All generated sequences will available in the GenBank Nucleotide Database after manuscript acceptance.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to everyone who participated in the field work on the Tapajós River, as well as the funding agencies that made this study possible: Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Espírito Santo (FAPES), and National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). JRP was supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES, 88887.185904/2018-00), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Espírito Santo (FAPES, 125/2018). RGR was supported by a research contract (CEECIND/01087/2018) from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). LPC and ACMO were supported by CNPQ productivity grants (CNPq: 307214/2015-0 and 310184/2020-7, respectively). We would also like to thank the anonymous referees for their suggestions in an earlier version of the manuscript.
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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES, 88887.185904/2018-00), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Espírito Santo (FAPES, 125/2018), the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq, 307214/2015-0 and 310184/2020-7) and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, CEECIND/01087/2018).
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Joyce R. Prado: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft. Rita G. Rocha: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft. Heitor B. Silva: Formal analysis, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft. Ana Cristina Mendes-Oliveira: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft. Regeane C. L. Pontes: Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft. Paula Cristina R. de A. Maués: Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft. Leonora P. Costa: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft.
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do Prado, J.R., Rocha, R.G., Bissoli-Silva, H. et al. Small mammal diversity of a poorly known and threatened Amazon region, the Tapajós Area of Endemism. Biodivers Conserv 31, 2683–2697 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-022-02450-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-022-02450-5