Discovery of the world's highest-dwelling mammal
Jay F. Storz,Marcial Quiroga-Carmona,Juan C. Opazo,Thomas Bowen,Matthew Farson,Scott J. Steppan,Guillermo D’Elía +6 more
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TLDR
A scientific mountaineering expedition to survey the high-altitude rodent fauna of Volcán Llullaillaco in the Puna de Atacama of northern Chile captures a specimen of the yellow-rumped leaf-eared mouse that represents an altitudinal world record for mammals, far surpassing all specimen-based records from the Himalayas and elsewhere in the Andes.Abstract:
Environmental limits of animal life are invariably revised upwards when the animals themselves are investigated in their natural habitats. Here we report results of a scientific mountaineering expedition to survey the high-altitude rodent fauna of Volcan Llullaillaco in the Puna de Atacama of northern Chile, an effort motivated by video documentation of mice (genus Phyllotis) at a record altitude of 6205 m. Among numerous trapping records at altitudes >5000 m, we captured a specimen of the yellow-rumped leaf-eared mouse (Phyllotis xanthopygus rupestris) on the very summit of Llullaillaco at 6739 m. This summit specimen represents an altitudinal world record for mammals, far surpassing all specimen-based records from the Himalayas and elsewhere in the Andes. This discovery suggests that we may have generally underestimated the altitudinal range limits and physiological tolerances of small mammals simply because the world’s highest summits remain relatively unexplored by biologists.read more
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Physiological Genomics of Adaptation to High-Altitude Hypoxia.
Jay F. Storz,Zachary A. Cheviron +1 more
TL;DR: Recent results are synthesized and lessons learned from studies of high-altitude adaptation that lie at the intersection of genomics and physiology are discussed.
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On the role of (and threat to) natural history museums in mammal conservation: an African small mammal perspective
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of the importance of natural history museums (NHMs) to mammal conservation, how arguments against continued collecting of physical voucher specimens is counterproductive to these efforts, and to identify additional threats to collecting with a particular focus on small mammals across Africa.
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The Phyllotis xanthopygus complex (Rodentia, Cricetidae) in central Andes, systematics and description of a new species
J. Pablo Jayat,Pablo Teta,Agustina A. Ojeda,Scott J. Steppan,Jared M. Osland,Pablo E. Ortiz,Agustina Novillo,Cecilia Lanzone,Ricardo A. Ojeda +8 more
TL;DR: This work compares the molecular phylogenetic hypothesis for populations distributed on the eastern slopes of the central Andes with morphometric evidence using univariate and multivariate analyses and names a new species as P. pehuenche, honouring the original native people that historically inhabited west‐central Andes of Argentina.
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Uncovering cryptic diversity does not end: a new species of leaf-eared mouse, genus Phyllotis (Rodentia, Cricetidae), from Central Sierras of Argentina
Pablo Teta,J. Pablo Jayat,Scott J. Steppan,Agustina A. Ojeda,Pablo E. Ortiz,Agustina Novillo,Cecilia Lanzone,Ricardo A. Ojeda +7 more
TL;DR: A new species of leaf-eared mouse of the genus Phyllotis is described in this article , which is endemic to central Argentina, occurring on rocky grasslands at elevations of 650-2,800 m a.s.
The Quintessential Naturalist: Honoring the Life and Legacy of Oliver P. Pearson - eScholarship
Abstract: Oliver P. Pearson's studies on mammalian biology remain standard reading for ecologists, physiologists, taxonomists, and biogeographers. Reflecting this, the papers gathered here continue to expand our understanding of the ecology and evolution of subterranean mammals, and of the ecology, taxonomy, and biogeography of Neotropical mammals, a group that was central to the latter half of Pearson's career.
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