A new record of Lewis’s Woodpecker, Melanerpes lewis (Gray, 1849) (Aves, Picidae) from Chihuahua, with comments on its status in Mexico

We present a new record of Lewis’s Woodpecker, Melanerpes lewis (Gray, 1849), a rare winter visitor to northern Mexico, in a riparian-grassland corridor at La Regina, Buenaventura Municipality, Chihuahua, on 11–12 January 2014. The record represents the fourth record of this species in the state, and the first record for both the northern portion of the Chihuahua region and the Mexican ecoregion level IV “Foothills and Plains with grasslands, xerophytic scrub and conifer oak forests”. We also comment on its current status and distribution in Mexico

Impacto económico del turismo cinegético en unidades de manejo (UMA) en el Área Natural Protegida Sierra Fría, Aguascalientes, México

Objetivo: Determinar el impacto econmóico mediante el análisis costo-beneficio del turismo cinegético en Unidades de Manejo para el Aprovechamiento Sustentable de la Vida Silvestre (UMA) de tipo extractivo dentro del Área Natural Protegida Sierra Fría, en el estado de Aguascalientes. Diseño/metodologia/aproximación: Se diseñó un instrumento (cuestionario) con indicadores y variables que permitieron crear una base de datos y realizar el análisis costo-beneficio (CB). Este instrumento fue dirigido a los representantes legales de nueve UMAs extensivas (seis privadas y tres ejidales). Resultados: Como resultado, se obtuvo que la relación costo-beneficio de las UMAs privadas fue con un índice de 3.78 cerca de dos veces superior a las ejidales (2.08). Además, se obtuvo el mayor índice de 5.72 lo que muestra con los índices relativos que hay un potencial considerable de incremento a futuro en la relación costo-beneficio para las UMAs con esta actividad. Limitaciones/implicaciones: No obstante los resultados solo son aplicables a las UMAs bajo estudio, el esquema utilizado para su evaluación económica puede ser aplicado a nivel nacional, regional o local para conocer el impacto del turismo cinegético. Hallazgos/conclusiones: Se concluye que las UMAs con actividad cinegetica que fueron sujetas de estudio dentro del ANP Sierra Fria, son economicamente rentables y que por consecuencia de su manejo contribuyen a la conservación del medio ambiente y dan beneficio  a las comunidades rurales aledañas

First report of Libyostrongylus douglassii (Strongylida: Trichostrongylidae) in ostriches (Struthio camelus) from Mexico

Nematodes of the Libyostrongylus genus are hematophagous parasites found under the ostrich's proventriculus membrane: they are frequent and can cause 50% of mortality in chicks and occasionally death in adults. With the aim of determining the presence of the Libyostrongylus genus in two private collections, one located in Ayapango, State of Mexico and the other in Amacuzac, Morelos, a total of 27 fecal samples were collected between August and December of 2016. Samples were analyzed using the flotation technique. The eggs were quantified using the McMaster technique. Positive samples were cultured to obtain infective larvae and to be identified by their morphometric characteristics. Only 18 samples collected in Ayapango were positive to Libyostrongylus douglassii. This is the first time that L. douglassii is reported in Mexico

Mule deer forage availability and quality at the chihuahun desert rangelands, mexico after a severe 3-year drougth

Mule deer historic range in Mexico has declined dramatically in the last decade. Forage availability and quality at the Chihuahuan Desert may play an important role sustaining populations at the southern end of their current distribution. We evaluated forage availability and quality at the end of a three-year drought at two different localities in the Chihuahuan Desert: Old Net and Pulpit, we measured plant availability and quality, diet content and calculated diet preference indices. Vegetation at Old Net consisted primarily of both succulents (47%) and treesshrubs (42%) while Pulpit had more grasses (60%) and herbs (24%) (P<0.005). Feces collected at the Pulpit presented a high proportion of herbs (44%), while those collected at Old Net contained more trees and shrubs (53%). Preference index suggests that mule deer prefer herbs and overlook grasses, but there is no strong selection for any particular plant. Our results suggest that forage is appropriate to sustain mule deer populations, however, we found considerable variation in both localities suggesting a patchy landscape. More information regarding forage nutritional status and diet preferences can enhance our understanding on mule deer populations dynamics in the chihuahuan desert

Data from: Losing the trait without losing the signal: evolutionary shifts in communicative colour signalling

Colour signalling traits are often lost over evolutionary time, perhaps because they increase vulnerability to visual predators or lose relevance in terms of sexual selection. Here, we used spectrometric and phylogenetic comparative analyses to ask whether four independent losses of a sexually selected blue patch are spectrally similar, and whether these losses equate to a decrease in conspicuousness or to loss of a signal. We found that patches were lost in two distinct ways: either increasing reflectance primarily at very long or at very short wavelengths, and that species with additional colour elements (UV, green and pink) may be evolutionary intermediates. In addition, we found that patch spectral profiles of all species were closely-aligned with visual receptors in the receiver’s retina. We found that loss of the blue patch makes males less conspicuous in terms of chromatic conspicuousness, but more conspicuous in terms of achromatic contrast, and that sexual dimorphism often persists regardless of patch loss. Dorsal surfaces were considerably more cryptic than were ventral surfaces, and species in which male bellies were the most similar in conspicuousness to their dorsal surfaces were also the most sexually dimorphic. These results emphasise the consistent importance of sexual selection and its flexible impact on different signal components through evolutionary time

Data from: Evolving from static to dynamic signals: evolutionary compensation between two communicative signals

Signals that convey related information may impose selection on each other, creating evolutionary links between different components of the communicative repertoire. Here, we ask about the consequences of the evolutionary loss of one signal (a colour patch) on another (a motion display) in Sceloporus lizards. We present data on male lizards of four species: two pairs of sister taxa representing two independent evolutionary losses of the static colour patch (S. cozumelae and S. parvus; S. siniferus and S. merriami). Males of the two species that have undergone an evolutionary loss of blue-belly patches (S. cozumelae, S. siniferus) were less active than their blue-bellied sister taxa (S. parvus, S. merriami), consistent with the suggestion that the belly patches were lost to reduce conspicuousness of species with high predation pressure. In contrast, the headbob display appears to have become more, rather than less, conspicuous over evolutionary time. The colour patch is exhibited primarily during aggressive encounters, whereas headbob displays are multifunction signals used in several different contexts, including aggressive encounters. Males of species that have lost the colour patch produced more motion displays, and the structure of those motion displays were more similar to those produced during combat. In both evolutionary episodes, a static colour signal appears to have been replaced by dynamic motion displays that can be turned off in the presence of predators and other unwanted receivers. The predominant pattern is one of evolutionary compensation and interactions between multiple signals that convey related information

Losing the trait without losing the signal 12sp data

1. Mean Just-Noticeable-Differences (JNDs) of chromatic and achromatic ventral and dorsal conspicuousness of males and females for the 12 species; 2. Mean spectral reflectance of male and female ventral patches, male dorsal surfaces and habitat for each of the 12 species

Martins et al 2015. Raw data.

Behavioral data for four species of Sceloporus lizards