The silky anteater Cyclopes didactylus is one of the least studied xenarthrans. Its range extends from tropical Mexico south into Central and South America. The aim of this study was to determine the range of a historically isolated population of C. didactylus in coastal northeastern Brazil. Data on sightings, donations, and confiscations of C. didactylus were obtained from regional offices of the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e Recursos Renováveis (IBAMA). The silky anteater's area of distribution in the northeastern Atlantic forest seems to be larger than previously reported and includes the states of Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, and Alagoas.Cyclopes didactylus es uno de los xenartros menos estudiados. Su distribución abarca zonas tropicales de México, Centroamérica y Sudamérica. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar la extensión de una población de C. didactylus aislada históricamente en la costa noreste de Brasil. Se obtuvo información sobre avistamientos, donaciones y decomisos de C. didactylus de las oficinas regionales del Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e Recursos Renováveis (IBAMA). El área de distribución del serafín del platanar en la selva atlántica nordestina parece ser más amplia de lo conocido e incluye los estados de Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco y Alagoas.Fil: Miranda, Flávia. Wildlife Conservation Society; BrasilFil: Superina, Mariella. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; Argentin

Miranda, Flávia

Superina, Mariella

Mastozoología Neotropical

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Mastozoología Neotropical, 17(2):381-384, Mendoza, 2010©SAREM, 2010ISSN  0327-9383Versión on-line ISSN 1666-0536http://www.sarem.org.arRecibido 26 mayo 2010. Aceptado 8 agosto 2010. Editor asociado: A AbbaThe silky anteater Cyclopes didactylus (Fig. 1)is a small, poorly known xenarthran. With abody weight of approximately 300 grams, abody length of 35 cm and a tail length of 20cm, it is the smallest extant anteater. Itsexclusively arboreal and nocturnal habits mayexplain why it is one of the least studiedxenarthrans. Although its wild populations areaffected by rapid deforestation and habitat lossall over its range, the species is currently listedas Least Concern (LC) by the InternationalUnion for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN,2008).The silky anteater’s type locality, originallydescribed as “Habitat in America australi”, waslimited by Thomas (1911) to Surinam. Its rangeNEW DISTRIBUTION RECORDSOF THE SILKY ANTEATER Cyclopes didactylus(PILOSA, CYCLOPEDIDAE) IN COASTALNORTHEASTERN BRAZILFlávia Miranda1 and Mariella Superina21 Projeto Tamanduá and Wildlife Conservation Society, Alameda João de Barros 420, 07600-000Mairiporã–SP, Brazil [Correspondence: <fmiranda@wcs.org>]. 2 IMBECU, CCT CONICET –Mendoza, Casilla de Correos 855, 5500 Mendoza, ArgentinaABSTRACT: The silky anteater Cyclopes didactylus is one of the least studied xenarthrans.Its range extends from tropical Mexico south into Central and South America. The aim ofthis study was to determine the range of a historically isolated population of C. didactylus incoastal northeastern Brazil. Data on sightings, donations, and confiscations of C.didactylus were obtained from regional offices of the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambientee Recursos Renováveis (IBAMA). The silky anteater’s area of distribution in the northeast-ern Atlantic forest seems to be larger than previously reported and includes the states ofRio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, and Alagoas.RESUMEN: Nuevos registros de distribución del serafín del platanar Cyclopesdidactylus (Pilosa, Cyclopedidae) en el nordeste costero de Brasil. Cyclopes didactyluses uno de los xenartros menos estudiados. Su distribución abarca zonas tropicales deMéxico, Centroamérica y Sudamérica. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar la exten-sión de una población de C. didactylus aislada históricamente en la costa noreste deBrasil. Se obtuvo información sobre avistamientos, donaciones y decomisos de C. didactylusde las oficinas regionales del Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e Recursos Renováveis(IBAMA). El área de distribución del serafín del platanar en la selva atlántica nordestinaparece ser más amplia de lo conocido e incluye los estados de Rio Grande do Norte,Paraíba, Pernambuco y Alagoas.Key words. Atlantic Forest. Pygmy anteater. XenarthraPalabras clave. Selva atlántica. Serafín del platanar. Xenarthra382 F Miranda y M SuperinaMastozoología Neotropical, 17(2):381-384, Mendoza, 2010http://www.sarem.org.arextends from tropical Mexico south into Cen-tral and South America. It is absent from ElSalvador (Fonseca and Aguiar, 2004). In Cos-ta Rica, it seems to be restricted to Cartagoprovince (Cabrera, 1957). Within SouthAmerica, its distribution west of the Andes islimited to Ecuador, Colombia, and possiblynorthwestern Peru (Wetzel, 1985). East of theAndes, it can be found in the forests of theOrinoco and Amazon basins. According toWetzel (1985), its distribution ranges as farsouth as southeastern Bolivia, while Fonsecaand Aguiar (2004) mention that thesouthernmost record is in Alto Beni, Bolivia.The silky anteater’s low metabolic rate, lowbody temperature (around 33 °C), and reducedability to thermoregulate limit its distributionto forests below 1500 m (McNab, 1985). TheAndes therefore represent a significant barrierbetween northern and southern populations.Sporadic sightings in northeastern Brazil(Fonseca et al., 1996) suggest the existence ofan isolated population in the coastal Atlanticforest. The IUCN/SSC Anteater, Sloth andArmadillo Specialist Group lists Pernambucoas the only state in coastal northeastern Brazilwhere silky anteaters occur (Fonseca andAguiar, 2004). However, according to Wetzel(1985), their distribution in northeastern Brazilranges from the coast of Pernambuco toAlagoas. Gardner (2007) mentions museumspecimens from Paraíba, Pernambuco andAlagoas. Because all specimens listed byWetzel (1985) and Gardner (2007) are over50—and some even more than 100—years old,we considered it necessary to verify thepresence of C. didactylus in coastalnortheastern Brazil and update its area ofdistribution. A questionnaire aiming atobtaining data on sightings, donations, andconfiscations of silky anteaters over the pastfive years was sent by fax or email to theregional offices of the Instituto Brasileiro doMeio Ambiente e Recursos Renováveis(IBAMA) of the states of Ceará, Rio Grandedo Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas,Sergipe, and Bahia. All offices responded tothe survey. In addition, personal or telephoneinterviews were performed with state officersof IBAMA.Analysis of the collected informationrevealed that the current area of distributionof C. didactylus in coastal northeastern Brazilvaries from the range described in the scientificliterature (Fig. 2). Silky anteaters have beenreported from Rio Grande do Norte, wheresome specimens were received by IBAMA inthe Natal area (5° 50’ S, 35° 10’ W). Severalspecimens have been confiscated by orvoluntarily handed over to the authorities inParaíba (7° 10’ S, 35° 00’ W); most of theseanimals were directed to IBAMA and JoãoPessoa Zoo. Reports were also obtained ofsilky anteaters that have been voluntarilyhanded over to the authorities in the Atlanticforest of Pernambuco; the individualsoriginated from different areas, such as Recife(8° 00’ S, 34° 50’ W) and Igarassú (7° 50’ S,34° 50’ W). IBAMA Alagoas receives animportant number of silky anteaters due to thelarge area of this state and its conservationareas. The main sites of origin informed byFig. 1. Male silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus) fromRecife, Pernambuco, Brazil. Photograph by Flávia Mi-randa.RANGE EXTENSION OF Cyclopes didactylus 383the authorities were Boca da Mata (9° 40’ S,36° 15’ W), Marechal Deodoro (9° 50’ S, 35°50’ W), Murici (9° 25’ S, 35° 60’ W), and thecapital city Maceió (9° 40' S, 35° 45' W). Nosilky anteater was received by IBAMA Cearáover the past years, and no individuals havebeen reported from the states of Bahia andSergipe. The number of C. didactylus receivedper year by IBAMA, averaged over allnortheastern states, was two individuals/year.These animals were usually released in Atlanticforest patches.The silky anteater’s area of distribution inthe northeastern Atlantic forest seems to belarger than reported by Wetzel (1982, 1985)and Fonseca and Aguiar (2004) and includesthe states of Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba,Pernambuco, and Alagoas. This populationprobably remained separated from theAmazonian populations since the Pleistocene,when the Atlantic and Amazonian forestsretracted and were replaced by the xericCaatinga (Tabarelli et al., 2006). As aconsequence, the coastal northeasternpopulation may be sufficiently differentiatedat the genetic level to represent a separateEvolutionary Significant Unit (ESU sensuMoritz, 1994).Once abundant, the Atlantic forest ofnortheastern Brazil currently represents one ofthe most degraded areas of the biome.Deforestation for sugar cane and soybeanmonocultures has decimated and fragmentedsuitable habitat for innumerable species, someof which are threatened with extinction(Tabarelli et al., 2006). The current area ofthe coastal Atlantic forest fragments in therange states of C. didactylus amounts toapproximately 3000 km2 (Campanili andProchnow, 2006), which represents no morethan 5% of its original extent (Galindo-Lealand De Gusmão Câmara, 2003). Geneticanalyses are in progress to evaluate whetherthe population described here is indeed aseparate ESU (Miranda et al., 2009). If so,and in view that deforestation of its naturalhabitat has not halted, it is probable that thesesilky anteaters should be classified asendangered and require special protection toensure their long-term survival.Acknowledgements. We thank the authorities at IBAMAfor their collaboration, especially Antônio Leite (IBAMARN) and Dr. Julio Cesar Antunes Botelho (IBAMA AL),as well as Sergio Maia Vaz. We also wish to thank ourcolleagues Paula Lara, Vanessa Primante, LouiseMaranhão, Polly-Ana Celina, and Roberto Veloso fortheir help. Financial support was provided by the WildlifeConservation Society and the IUCN EdentateConservation Fund.LITERATURE CITEDCABRERA A. 1957. Catálogo de los Mamíferos deAmérica del Sur. Revista del Museo de CienciasNaturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”, Zoología 4(1):1-307.CAMPANILI M and M PROCHNOW. 2006. MataAtlântica - Uma rede pela floresta. Rede de ONGsda Mata Atlântica (RMA), Brasília. FONSECA GAB, G HERRMANN, YLR LEITE, RAMITTERMEIER, AB RYLANDS and JL PATTON.1996. Lista anotada dos mamíferos do Brasil. Occa-sional Papers in Conservation Biology 4:1-38.Fig. 2. Distribution of the silky anteater (Cyclopesdidactylus) in coastal northeastern Brazil. Hatched area:range according to IUCN (2008). Dotted area: rangeaccording to this study. Numbers indicate distributionrecords reported in this study. 1. Natal; 2. João Pessoa;3. Recife; 4. Igarassú; 5. Boca da Mata; 6. MarechalDeodoro; 7. Murici; 8. Maceió.384 F Miranda y M SuperinaMastozoología Neotropical, 17(2):381-384, Mendoza, 2010http://www.sarem.org.arFONSECA GAB and JM AGUIAR. 2004. The 2004Edentate Species Assessment Workshop. Edentata6:1-26.GALINDO-LEAL C and I DE GUSMAO CÂMARA(EDS). 2003. The Atlantic Forest of South America:biodiversity status, threats, and outlook. State of theHotspots. Island Press, CABS/CI, Washington, DC.GARDNER AL. 2007. Suborder Vermilingua Illiger,1811. Pp. 168-176, in: Mammals of South America(AL Gardner, ed.). The University of Chicago Press,Chicago.IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.< w w w . i u c n r e d l i s t . o r g > .Downloaded on 15 October 2008.MCNAB BK. 1985. Energetics, population biology, anddistribution of Xenarthrans, living and extinct. Pp.219–232, in: The evolution and ecology of armadil-los, sloths, and vermilinguas (GG Montgomery, ed.).Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, London.MIRANDA RF, CL CLOZATO, G KLEIN, and FRSANTOS. 2009. Population genetics of the silkyanteater (Cyclopes didactylus): great divergencebetween amazonic lineages - preliminary results. 10thInternational Mammalogical Congress, Mendoza,Argentina. August 9-14, 2009.MORITZ C. 1994. Defining ‘Evolutionarily SignificantUnits’ for conservation. Trends in Ecology andEvolution 9:373-375.TABARELLI M, CM DORES, and O LIRA. 2006.Pernambuco e Alagoas; O Pacto Murici. Pp. 162-164, in: Mata Atlântica – uma rede pela floresta (MCampanili and M Prochnow, eds.). Rede de ONGsda Mata Atlântica (RMA), Brasília.THOMAS O. 1911. The mammals of the tenth editionof Linnaeus; an attempt to fix the types of the gen-era and the exact bases and localities of the species.Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London1911:120-158.WETZEL RM. 1982. Systematics, distribution, ecologyand conservation of South American edentates. Pp.345-375, in: Mammalian biology in South America(MA Mares and HH Genoways, eds.). Special Pub-lication Series, Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology,University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.WETZEL RM. 1985. The identification and distributionof recent Xenarthra (=Edentata). Pp. 5-21, in: Theevolution and ecology of armadillos, sloths, andvermilinguas (GG Montgomery, ed.). SmithsonianInstitution Press, Washington and London.

Nuevos registros de distribución del serafín del platanar Cyclopes didactylus (Pilosa, Cyclopedidae) en el nordeste costero de Brasil

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Nuevos registros de distribución del serafín del platanar Cyclopes didactylus (Pilosa, Cyclopedidae) en el nordeste costero de Brasil

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