Leucismo en Callithrix jacchus (Primates: Callitrichidae) y Sciurus aestuans (Rodentia: Sciuridae) en el noreste de Brasil

Phenotypic variation is common in vertebrates, especially if we consider geographic variations, however, mutations such as leucism, melanism, and albinism are not so common. Here, we report two cases of leucism, in common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) and Brazilian squirrel (Guerlinguetus aestuans), recorded in Atlantic Forest fragments in northeastern Brazil. These reports allow us to better understand this phenomenon, as well as ecological and physiological implications for animals, which have a significant influence on their survival.La variación fenotípica es común en los vertebrados, especialmente si consideramos las variaciones geográficas, sin embargo, mutaciones como el leucismo, el melanismo y el albinismo no son tan comunes. Aquí, reportamos dos casos de leucismo, en tití común (Callithrix jacchus) y ardilla brasileña (Guerlinguetus aestuans), registrados en fragmentos de Mata Atlántica en el noreste de Brasil. Estos registros nos permiten comprender mejor este fenómeno, así como las implicaciones ecológicas y fisiológicas para los animales, que tienen una influencia significativa en su supervivencia

NEOTROPICAL ALIEN MAMMALS: a data set of occurrence and abundance of alien mammals in the Neotropics

Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive, it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a nonnative habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat, and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In this data set, we make available occurrence and abundance data on mammal species that (1) transposed a geographical barrier and (2) were voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into the Neotropics. Our data set is composed of 73,738 historical and current georeferenced records on alien mammal species of which around 96% correspond to occurrence data on 77 species belonging to eight orders and 26 families. Data cover 26 continental countries in the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico and its frontier regions (southern Florida and coastal-central Florida in the southeast United States) to Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay, and the 13 countries of Caribbean islands. Our data set also includes neotropical species (e.g., Callithrix sp., Myocastor coypus, Nasua nasua) considered alien in particular areas of Neotropics. The most numerous species in terms of records are from Bos sp. (n = 37,782), Sus scrofa (n = 6,730), and Canis familiaris (n = 10,084); 17 species were represented by only one record (e.g., Syncerus caffer, Cervus timorensis, Cervus unicolor, Canis latrans). Primates have the highest number of species in the data set (n = 20 species), partly because of uncertainties regarding taxonomic identification of the genera Callithrix, which includes the species Callithrix aurita, Callithrix flaviceps, Callithrix geoffroyi, Callithrix jacchus, Callithrix kuhlii, Callithrix penicillata, and their hybrids. This unique data set will be a valuable source of information on invasion risk assessments, biodiversity redistribution and conservation-related research. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this data paper when using the data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us on how they are using the data