Taxonomic revision of the tigrina Leopardus tigrinus (Schreber, 1775) species group (Carnivora, Felidae)

The tigrina Leopardus tigrinus (Schreber, 1775) is a small-sized Neotropical spotted cat found from northern Argentina and southern Brazil to Costa Rica. Four subspecies are traditionally recognized: L. t. tigrinus (Schreber, 1775) from northern Brazil, the Guianas and eastern Venezuela; L. t. pardinoides (Gray, 1867) from western Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru; L. t. guttulus (Hensel, 1872) from southern Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina; and L. t. oncillus (Thomas, 1903) from Costa Rica. We studied external and craniodental morphology in quantitative and qualitative terms from 250 specimens in order to clarify the taxonomic status of tigrina. Based on the characters analyzed in this study, we recognize three diagnosable morphogroups, each with a distinct geographic distribution: northern/northwestern/west (samples from northern Brazil, the Guianas, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, northwestern Argentina and Costa Rica), eastern (samples from northeastern and central Brazil), and southern (samples from southern Brazil, Paraguay and northeastern Argentina). Taking into account the morphologic evidence presented here, supported by biogeographic data and molecular studies available, we recognize three full species for tigrinas: L. tigrinus (including the putative subspecies L. t. pardinoides and L. t. oncillus as junior synonyms) for northern/northwestern/west group; L. emiliae (Thomas, 1914) for eastern group; and L. guttulus for southern group

HOW DO WE IDENTIFY MICRONYCTERIS (SCHIZONYCETRIS) SANBORNI SIMMONS, 1996 (CHIROPTERA, PHYLLOSTOMIDAE) RELIABLY AND WHERE WE CAN FIND THIS SPECIES IN BRAZIL?

Micronycteris is divided into four subgenera, Micronycteris, Leuconycteris, Xenoctenes, and Schizonycteris. The latter includes Micronycteris (Schizonycteris) minuta, Micronycteris (S.) schmidtorum, Micronycteris (S.) sanborni and Micronycteris (S.) yatesi. Little is known of the biology of M. (S.) sanborni, which is widely distributed in the dry forests of South America, but is known from only few sites. The scarcity of records of M. sanborni appears to be at least partly related to the difficulty of differentiating this species from the other members of the subgenus Schizonycteris. The present study identifies the key traits that distinguish this species from other Schizonycteris, reviews the geographic distribution of the species, and presents some notes on breeding patterns. Six new localities are presented for M. sanborni, and are analyzed together with those available in the literature, providing new insights into ecological and zoogeographic patterns. A number of the diagnostic features established by Simmons (1996) in the description of M. sanborni proved to have little taxonomic value, especially for the differentiation of M. minuta and M. yatesi, which it closely resembles. The primary external difference is the pure white color of the ventral pelage and the proportion of the white base (2/3-4/5) of the dorsal hair in M. sanborni, in contrast with dirty white or pale gray and a much shorter white base of the dorsal hair in the other species. A number of cranial traits are also important. The distributional data now indicate that M. sanborni occurs mainly in mesic and open areas, including disturbed habitats, in the Caatinga scrublands and the Cerrado savannas of northeastern Brazil, especially in areas with rocky outcrops. Micronycteris sanborni appears to be monoestrous, with births coinciding with the rainy season.Micronycteris está dividido em quatro subgêneros, Micronycteris, Leuconycteris, Xenoctenes e Schizonycteris. Este último inclui Micronycteris (Schizonycteris) minuta, Micronycteris (S.) schmidtorum, Micronycteris (S.) sanborni e Micronycteris (S.) yatesi. Atualmente pouco se sabe sobre a biologia de M. (S.) sanborni, a qual é amplamente distribuída pelas florestas secas da América do Sul, apesar de ser conhecida de apenas poucas localidades. A escassez de registros de M. sanborni parece está parcialmente relacionado a dificuldade de diferenciar esta espécie de outros membros do subgênero Schizonycteris. Dessa forma, o presente estudo visa identificar as características diagnósticas que distingue esta espécie dos outros Schizonycteris, revisar a distribuição geográfica dessa espécie e apresentar comentários sobre o seu padrão reprodutivo. Seis novas localidades são apresentadas aqui para M. sanborni e, juntas com as outras disponíveis na literatura, foram analisadas fornecendo novas abordagens sobre o padrão ecológico e zoogeográfico dessa espécie. Várias características diagnósticas estabelecidas por Simmones (1996) na descrição de M. sanborni mostraram-se de pouco valor taxonômico, especialmente para a diferenciação entre M. minuta e M. yatesi, das quais mais se assemelha. As principais diferenças externas são a coloração branco pura do ventre e a proporção da base branca (2/3-4/5) do pelo dorsal em M. sanborni, em contraste com a coloração branco sujo ou acinzentado e a base dorsal branca muito mais curta das outras espécies. Outras características cranianas mostraram-se também importantes para a diferenciação. Os dados de distribuição levantados indicam que M. sanborni ocorre principalmente em áreas mésicas e abertas, incluindo ambientes alterados, na Caatinga arbustiva e nas savanas do Cerrado do nordeste do Brasil, especialmente em áreas com afloramentos rochosos. Micronycteris sanborni parece ser monoéstrico, com os nascimentos coincidindo com a estação chuvosa

Uroderma magnirostrum Davis, 1968 (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae): First record from the state of Sergipe, northeastern Brazil

This study provides the first record of Uroderma magnirostrum Davis, 1968 from the state of Sergipe in the Brazilian northeast, based on the capture of two specimens, one male and one female. The morphometric data and morphological characters were consistent with those recorded for the species at other Brazilian sites. This record extends the distributional range of the species within South America approximately 220 km eastwards

An update on the distribution of the Brazilian Funnel-eared Bat, Natalus macrourus (Gervais, 1856) (Mammalia, Chiroptera), with new records from the Brazilian Northeastern

We present data on the geographic distribution, morphology, and biology of the Brazilian funnel-eared bat, Natalus (Gervais, 1856), with new records for the Brazilian state of Sergipe, filling a gap of approximately 800 km in the distribution of the species in Brazilian Northeast

Morcegos de Alagoa Grande, uma área de semiárido no Nordeste do Brasil

Bat fauna is surveyed mainly by mist-nets set in the ground level, and usually employing six hours per night of capture comprising the first peak of activity to most bat groups. Bat inventories with whole-night sampling effort (12 hours) have not been conducted so far in the northeastern of Brazil. This paper aims to report a whole-night survey of the bat assemblage from Alagoa Grande, a Caatinga site in the state of Paraíba, northeastern Brazil. Additionally, we compared the species richness and abundance between the two halves of the night, from dusk (5h p.m.) to 11h p.m., and 11h p.m. to dawn (5h a.m.). We conducted 15 nights of sampling from September/2010 to January/2011, sampling three nights per month. A total of 56 individuals belonging to 12 species were captured, with Rhynchonycteris naso and Artibeus planirostris being the most abundant species. The Chao1 richness estimator predicted an average estimated richness of 18 species. There was no significant difference in the species richness between the first and the second halves of the night. However, the second half presented a higher overall abundance and three species were exclusive to each half. Our data highlighted the importance of whole-night samplings, mainly in short surveys.Keywords: whole-night sampling, Caatinga, Chiroptera, diversity, Rhynchonycteris naso.A fauna de morcegos é principalmente amostrada usando-se redes de neblina ao nível de solo, normalmente abertas por seis horas a cada noite, registrando o primeiro pico de atividade da maioria dos grupos de morcegos. Inventários com esforços de coleta ao longo de toda a noite (12 horas) são inéditos no nordeste brasileiro. O presente artigo relata o inventário da taxocenose de morcegos de Alagoa Grande, uma área de Caatinga no estado da Paraíba, Brasil. Além disso, comparamos a riqueza e abundância de morcegos entre as duas metades da noite, do pôr-do-sol (17h) às 23h, e das 23h ao amanhecer (5h). Foram realizadas 15 noites de amostragem entre setembro/2010 e janeiro/2011, amostrando-se três noites por mês. Um total de 56 indivíduos de 12 espécies foi capturado, Rhynchonycteris naso e Artibeus planirostris foram as espécies mais abundantes. O estimador de riqueza Chao 1 previu riqueza de 18 espécies. Não houve diferença significativa de riqueza entre as metades da noite. Entretanto, a segunda metade teve maior abundância, e três espécies foram exclusivas da segunda metade. Os dados apresentados reforçam a importância de coletas ao longo de toda a noite, especialmente em inventários de curta duração.Palavras-chave: amostragem noturna completa, Caatinga, Chiroptera, diversidade, Rhynchonycteris naso

Intracellular Water Exchange for Measuring the Dry Mass, Water Mass and Changes in Chemical Composition of Living Cells

We present a method for direct non-optical quantification of dry mass, dry density and water mass of single living cells in suspension. Dry mass and dry density are obtained simultaneously by measuring a cell’s buoyant mass sequentially in an H[subscript 2]O-based fluid and a D[subscript 2]O-based fluid. Rapid exchange of intracellular H[subscript 2]O for D[subscript 2]O renders the cell’s water content neutrally buoyant in both measurements, and thus the paired measurements yield the mass and density of the cell’s dry material alone. Utilizing this same property of rapid water exchange, we also demonstrate the quantification of intracellular water mass. In a population of E. coli, we paired these measurements to estimate the percent dry weight by mass and volume. We then focused on cellular dry density – the average density of all cellular biomolecules, weighted by their relative abundances. Given that densities vary across biomolecule types (RNA, DNA, protein), we investigated whether we could detect changes in biomolecular composition in bacteria, fungi, and mammalian cells. In E. coli, and S. cerevisiae, dry density increases from stationary to exponential phase, consistent with previously known increases in the RNA/protein ratio from up-regulated ribosome production. For mammalian cells, changes in growth conditions cause substantial shifts in dry density, suggesting concurrent changes in the protein, nucleic acid and lipid content of the cell.National Cancer Institute (U.S.). Physical Sciences-Oncology Center (U54CA143874)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Center for Cell Division Process Grant P50GM6876)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Contract R01CA170592)United States. Army Research Office (Institute for Collaborate Biotechnologies Contract W911NF-09-D-0001

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016