
Fernanda P WerneckInstituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Adaptações da Biota Aquática da Amazônia | inpa
Fernanda P Werneck
PhD Integrative Biology
Titular Researcher at the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA)
About
152
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Introduction
Dr. Werneck is a biodiversity researcher and curator at the National Institute of Amazonian Research-INPA. Visiting Professor at Harvard University (2019), working on genomics and climate change adaptation. My research integrates ecological and evolutionary approaches to study processes generating the high Neotropical biodiversity and effects of climate change on natural populations of amphibians and reptiles, with many implications for biodiversity conservation (https://wernecklab.weebly.com/).
Publications
Publications (152)
Although the Neotropics harbour almost half of the world's butterfly species, there are few assessments regarding the potential future suitability of habitats for this important bioindicator in the region. Here, we test if butterfly species restricted to the Amazonia rainforest will be more affected by environmental change than closely related, mor...
Antipredator mechanisms are efficient ways to avoid attempted predations, and various forms exist in nature. Anurans play a crucial role in the trophic chain and show a diverse repertoire of mechanisms. However, due to the vast diversity
of anurans, little is known about the antipredator mechanism repertoire of each species. Here, we present an upd...
Morphological patterns may vary spatially in response to adaptations to regional environmental conditions. In fossorial animals, edaphic gradients potentially predict intra and interspecific morphological variation because they can limit dispersal and select morphotypes. We measured morphological traits of South American worm lizards, including thr...
Tetrapods (amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals) are model systems for global biodiversity science, but continuing data gaps, limited data standardisation, and ongoing flux in taxonomic nomenclature constrain integrative research on this group and potentially cause biased inference. We combined and harmonised taxonomic, spatial, phylogenetic, a...
Em 2021, tendo consciência da importância das coleções biológicas para a conservação e para o conhecimento da biodiversidade brasileira, o Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (MCTI) solicitou à Sociedade Brasileira de Zoologia que coordenasse o projeto “O papel das Redes de Coleções Zoológicas no aprimoramento e preenchimento de lacunas ta...
Chatogekko amazonicus is a miniaturized gecko from northern South America and is among the smallest of toe pad bearing lizards. The toe pads of C. amazonicus are miniscule, between 18% and 27% of the plantar surface area. We aimed to investigate the relationship between adhesive toe pad morphology, body size, and adhesive capabilities. Using scanni...
Aim
The impact of climate change on biodiversity is often analysed under a stable evolutionary perspective focused on whether species can currently tolerate warmer climates. However, species may adapt to changes, and particularly under conditions of low habitat fragmentation, standing adaptive genetic variation can spread across populations trackin...
Environmental heterogeneity poses a significant influence on the functional characteristics of species and communities at local scales. Environmental transition zones, such as at the savanna-forest borders, can act as regions of ecological tension when subjected to sharp variations in the microclimate. For ectothermic organisms, such as lizards, en...
Raw data and R-code for the research approach on phylogenetic multiple imputation of natural history traits for tetrapod species. In brief, the code computes the phylogenetic filters, reproduces the grid search procedure to tune XGBoost hyperparameters; compute phylogenetic multiple imputations for traits related to body length, body mass, activity...
Please, access the file through its DOI. Version 1.0.0 (19 April 2024). TetrapodTraits, the full phylogenetically coherent database we developed, is being made publicly available to support a range of research applications in ecology, evolution, and conservation and to help minimise the impacts of biassed data in this model system. The database inc...
One key research goal of evolutionary biology is to understand the origin and maintenance of genetic variation. In the Cerrado, the South American savanna located primarily in the Central Brazilian Plateau, many hypotheses have been proposed to explain how landscape features (e.g., geographic distance, river barriers, topographic compartmentalizati...
The accumulation of studies delimiting species in Amazonia has not only shed light on the patterns of its outstanding species richness but also allowed a better understanding of the processes of diversification within this immense region. Nevertheless, vast knowledge gaps remain even for prominent anuran species complexes, such as the Rhinella marg...
Em 2021, tendo consciência da importância das coleções biológicas para a conservação e para o conhecimento da biodiversidade brasileira, o Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (MCTI) solicitou à Sociedade Brasileira de Zoologia que coordenasse o projeto “O papel das Redes de Coleções Zoológicas no aprimoramento e preenchimento de lacunas ta...
Em 2021, tendo consciência da importância das coleções biológicas para a conservação e para o conhecimento da biodiversidade brasileira, o Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (MCTI) solicitou à Sociedade Brasileira de Zoologia que coordenasse o projeto “O papel das Redes de Coleções Zoológicas no aprimoramento e preenchimento de lacunas ta...
Em 2021, tendo consciência da importância das coleções biológicas para a conservação e para o conhecimento da biodiversidade brasileira, o Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (MCTI) solicitou à Sociedade Brasileira de Zoologia que coordenasse o projeto “O papel das Redes de Coleções Zoológicas no aprimoramento e preenchimento de lacunas ta...
Em 2021, tendo consciência da importância das coleções biológicas para a conservação e para o conhecimento da biodiversidade brasileira, o Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (MCTI) solicitou à Sociedade Brasileira de Zoologia que coordenasse o projeto “O papel das Redes de Coleções Zoológicas no aprimoramento e preenchimento de lacunas ta...
Em 2021, tendo consciência da importância das coleções biológicas para a conservação e para o conhecimento da biodiversidade brasileira, o Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (MCTI) solicitou à Sociedade Brasileira de Zoologia que coordenasse o projeto “O papel das Redes de Coleções Zoológicas no aprimoramento e preenchimento de lacunas ta...
Em 2021, tendo consciência da importância das coleções biológicas para a conservação e para o conhecimento da biodiversidade brasileira, o Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (MCTI) solicitou à Sociedade Brasileira de Zoologia que coordenasse o projeto “O papel das Redes de Coleções Zoológicas no aprimoramento e preenchimento de lacunas ta...
Em 2021, tendo consciência da importância das coleções biológicas para a conservação e para o conhecimento da biodiversidade brasileira, o Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (MCTI) solicitou à Sociedade Brasileira de Zoologia que coordenasse o projeto “O papel das Redes de Coleções Zoológicas no aprimoramento e preenchimento de lacunas ta...
Em 2021, tendo consciência da importância das coleções biológicas para a conservação e para o conhecimento da biodiversidade brasileira, o Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (MCTI) solicitou à Sociedade Brasileira de Zoologia que coordenasse o projeto “O papel das Redes de Coleções Zoológicas no aprimoramento e preenchimento de lacunas ta...
Em 2021, o Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (MCTI) solicitou à Sociedade Brasileira de Zoologia (SBZ) que coordenasse o projeto “O papel das Redes de Coleções Zoológicas no aprimoramento e preenchimento de lacunas taxonômicas e geográficas em bases de dados de acesso aberto” junto ao Edital Capacity Enhancement Support Programme (CESP)...
O ano de 2023 foi marcado pela ocorrência de eventos climáticos extremos que impactaram diversas regiões do Brasil e do mundo. Na Amazônia, a ocorrência da mais intensa seca histórica dos últimos 120 anos evidenciou que a maior floresta tropical do mundo e sua megabiodiversidade já sofrem os impactos das mudanças climáticas. Assim como para as popu...
Despite their limited vagility and pronounced habitat heterogeneity in the tropics, many anuran species have unexpectedly extensive geographic ranges. One prominent example of this phenomenon is Pithecopus hypochondrialis, which is found in the Cerrado, Guianan savanna, and Llanos domains, as well as isolated tracts of savanna and open habitat with...
The impact of climate change on biodiversity is often analyzed under a stable evolutionary lens, thereby overlooking the adaptive potential of species. Evolutionary rescue, a process where adaptive genetic variation spreads across populations in response to changing climates, can provide an alternative outlook. Here, we combine genomic data, niche...
Hoplocercine lizards (Enyalioides, Morunasaurus, and Hoplocercus) form a clade of ca. 20 currently recognized species. The phylogenetic relationships among hoplocercine lizards, whose members exhibit striking differences in morphology (e.g., spiny vs. non-spiny tails), have not been clearly resolved by previous molecular phylogenetic studies. We ge...
Tetrapods (amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) have become a central model system for global ecology, conservation, and biodiversity science at large. But continuing data gaps, limited data standardisation, and ongoing dynamics of taxonomic nomenclature put constraints on robust integrative research in this group and potentially causes biased...
The seasonal flood pulse in Amazonia can be considered a primary driver of community structure in floodplain environments. Although this natural periodic disturbance is part of the landscape dynamics, the seasonal inundation presents a considerable challenge to organisms that inhabit floodplain forests. The present study investigated the effect of...
The Atlantic and Amazon rainforests have a shared but unclear past, with intermittent connections resulting from historical climate change. We investigate these connections by studying the phylogeography and climatic niche of the disjunct distributed frog Lithobates palmipes. We sequenced two fragments of mitochondrial DNA from Atlantic Forest
(AtF...
The diversification processes underlying why Amazonia hosts the most species-rich vertebrate fauna on earth remain poorly understood. We studied the spatio-temporal diversification of a tree frog clade distributed throughout Amazonia (Anura: Hylidae: Osteocephalus , Tepuihyla , and Dryaderces ) and tested the hypothesis that Miocene mega wetlands l...
Determining the relative importance of dispersal and vicariance events across neotropical regions is a major goal in biogeography. These events are thought to be related to important landscape changes, notably the transition of Amazonia toward its modern hydrological configuration ca. 10 million years ago. We investigated the spatio-temporal contex...
Sampling gaps across the logistically challenging and extremely biodiverse Amazonia largely hamper our understanding of broad‑scale amphibian and reptile diversity patterns in this ecosystem.The Juruá River basin, a southwestern tributary of the Amazon River, is one of these undersampled areas, with only punctual information documented for these ve...
The formation of the Amazon drainage basin has been considered an important driver of speciation of several taxa, promoting vicariant events or reinforcement of barriers that restrict gene flow between opposite river margins. Several recent studies reported a set of miscellaneous events involving climatic fluctuations, geomorphological changes, and...
Aim: The main focus of this chapter is to provide a brief overview on global patterns of diversity and conservation of wetlands herpetofauna and discuss both ecological and morphological adaptations that facilitate life in such environments.
By treating Amazonian wetland amphibians and reptiles as our case studies, we examine their level of specif...
We describe two new species of Brazilian geckos of the genus Phyllopezus based on morphological and molecular data. The first species is currently known from a relictual Cerrado enclave—“campos rupestres”, in the mountains of the Serra do Espinhaço in the state of Bahia. The second species is known from northeastern Atlantic Forest and transitional...
Major historical landscape changes have left significant signatures on species diversification. However, how these changes have affected the build-up and maintenance of Amazonia’s megadiversity continues to be debated. Here, we addressed this issue by focusing on the evolutionary history of a pan-Amazonian toad genus that has diversified throughout...
The Atlantic Forest (AF) domain is one of the Earth’s biodiversity hotspots, known for its high levels of species diversity and endemism. Factors related to palaeoenvironmental dynamics, such as the establishment of vegetational refugia and river basins, have different impacts on biological communities and biodiversity patterns in this domain. Here...
The genus Pipa is a species-poor clade of Neotropical frogs and one of the most bizarre-looking due to many highly derived anatomical traits related to their fully aquatic lifestyle. With their African relatives, they form the Pipidae family, which has attracted much attention, especially regarding its anatomy, reproductive biology, paleontology an...
The species richness inhabiting wetlands increases in tropical regions, following the broadly recognized pattern of increase in overall species richness from high latitudes to the Equator. In tropical South America, a dynamic seasonally flooded wetland system develops on the margins of large Amazonian rivers. A unique biota occupies these river-cre...
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Integrative analyses of multiple data sources and increased coverage in genetic and taxa samp...
From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we expected that people, especially women, caring for children, elderly, people with disabilities or other family members, would be the most impacted in academia; data proved this to be the case. This issue is central to the long-standing problem of low female representation in science, since women across al...
Historical variations in climate and landscape configuration are the main aspects known to generate and maintain diversity. Taxa associated with open habitats within broader forest contexts are often overlooked in studies of Neotropical biogeography. We investigated the evolutionary and demographic history of lizards in the Cnemidophorus lemniscatu...
Amazonia comprises a mosaic of contrasting habitats, with wide environmental heterogeneity at local and regional scales. In central Amazonia, upland forest (terra firme) is the predominant forest type and seasonally flooded forests inundated by white- and black-water rivers (várzea and igapó, respectively) represent around 20% of the forested areas...
Amazonia harbours a vast biotic and ecological diversity, enabling investigation of the effects of microevolutionary processes and environmental variation on species diversification. Integrative approaches combining phenotypic and genetic variation can improve our knowledge on diversification processes in megadiverse regions. Here, we investigate t...
en Alopoglossus is a Neotropical lizard genus the taxonomy of which has extensively evolved over the past decade. Previous works suggest that many species still remain unnamed in this genus. Here, we expand the knowledge of Alopoglossus diversity in Amazonian lowlands. Molecular phylogenetic relationships, and species boundaries, were inferred base...
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is altering dynamics in academia, and people juggling remote work and domestic demands – including childcare – have felt impacts on their productivity. Female authors have faced a decrease in paper submission rates since the beginning of the pandemic period. The reasons for this decline in women’s pr...
The discipline of phylogeography has evolved rapidly in terms of the analytical toolkit used to analyze large genomic datasets. Despite substantial advances, analytical tools that could potentially address the challenges posed by increased model complexity have not been fully explored. For example, deep learning techniques are underutilized for phy...
The following list includes all recognized species of amphibians, known by vouchers or published information to occur within the political borders of Brazil (as of April 2021). Supra-generic taxonomy follows Frost (2021), as do most generic and species names. Other taxonomic decisions and species exclusions are explained below. All inclusions relat...
The outstanding species richness of Amazonia has fascinated biologists for centuries. However, the records of actual numbers and distribution of species forming its ecosystems are so incomplete that the understanding of the historical causes and regional determinants of this diversity remain speculative. Anuran clades have repeatedly been documente...
Understanding how species’ ecological niches evolve can shed light on observed large‐scale biogeographic patterns, temporal range shifts, and the potential ability for species to cope with climate changes. Here, we investigated climatic niche evolution in the Neotropical treefrog genus Pithecopus by testing for phylogenetic niche conservatism (PNC)...
Boana hobbsi is a poorly known hylid frog currently placed within the Boana punctata group. Yet, morphological, ecological and bioacoustic traits do not support this placement, with no molecular data being available to date to test this hypothesis. Based on newly collected mitochondrial DNA sequences, morphological data review and field observation...
The outstanding biodiversity of the Guiana Shield has raised many questions about its origins and evolution. Frogs of the genera Adelastes, Otophryne and Synapturanus form an ancient lineage distributed mostly across this region. These genera display strikingly disparate morphologies and life-history traits. Notably, Synapturanus is conspicuously a...
Aim: The main focus of this chapter is to provide a brief overview on global patterns of diversity and conservation of wetlands herpetofauna and discuss both ecological and morphological adaptations that facilitate life in such environments.
By treating Amazonian wetland amphibians and reptiles as our case studies, we examine their level of specifi...
The field of phylogeography has evolved rapidly in terms of the analytical toolkit to analyze the ever-increasing amounts of genomic data. Despite substantial advances, researchers have not fully explored all potential analytical tools to tackle the challenge posed by the huge size of genomic datasets. For example, deep learning techniques, such as...
Among the currently recognized species of Alopoglossus, the Amazonian Alopoglossus angulatus has the widest distribution. We here analyse variation in scutellation and morphometrics of A. angulatus by examining 785 specimens of Alopoglossus. We also analyse intra- and interspecific genetic structure and differentiation using two mitochondrial (Cytb...
Aim
We investigate the spatiotemporal context of the diversification of Allobates, a widespread genus of Amazonian frogs with high species diversity particularly in western Amazonia. We tested if that diversity originated in situ or through repeated dispersals from other Amazonian areas and if this diversification took place during or after the Peb...
Dryaderces inframaculata Boulenger, 1882, is a rare species known only from a few specimens and localities in the southeastern Amazonia rainforest. It was originally described in the genus Hyla, after ~ 130 years transferred to Osteocephalus, and more recently to Dryaderces. These taxonomic changes were based solely on the similarity of morphologic...
Adenomera simonstuarti is a poorly known species complex inhabiting western Amazonia. Here we reevaluate the species diversity within this complex based on previously documented and newly acquired molecular and phenotypic data. We also redescribe the calling pattern of the nominal species based on the original recording (Peru) and a new recording (...
While the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is altering academia dynamics, those juggling remote work and domestic demands, including childcare, have already felt the impacts on productivity. Female authors are facing a decrease in papers submission rates since the beginning of the pandemic period. The reasons for this decline in women p...
General consensus emphasizes that no single biological process can explain the patterns of species' distributions and diversification in the Neotropics. Instead, the interplay of several processes across space and time must be taken into account. Here we investigated the phylogenetic relationships and biogeographic history of tree frogs in the Dend...
Traditionally focused on Amazonian and Atlantic rainforests, studies on the origins of high Neotropical biodiversity have recently shifted to also investigate biodiversity processes in the South American dry diagonal, encompassing Chaco, Cerrado savannas and Caatinga seasonally dry tropical forests. The plateau/depression hypothesis states that rip...
The Amazon basin region, which harbors the largest river system in the world, and which is drained by the Amazon River, has experienced several geomorphological and climatic changes over time. These shifts, as we know, led to distinct signatures in the abiotic variables and the diversification patterns of its native biota. One excellent and yet sti...
Environmental temperatures influence ectotherms’ physiology and capacity to perform activities necessary for survival and reproduction. Time available to perform those activities is determined by thermal tolerances and environmental temperatures. Estimates of activity time might enhance our ability to predict suitable areas for species’ persistence...
Abstract Ecological requirements and environmental conditions can influence diversification across temporal and spatial scales. Understanding the role of ecological niche evolution under phylogenetic contexts provides insights on speciation mechanisms and possible responses to future climatic change. Large‐scale phyloclimatic studies on the megadiv...
Aim
Understanding where and why species diversity is geographically concentrated remains a challenge in biogeography and macroevolution. This is true for the Cerrado, the most biodiverse tropical savanna in the world, which has experienced profound biodiversity loss. Previous studies have focused on a single metric (species composition), neglecting...
Among the currently recognized species of Alopoglossus, the Amazonian Alopoglossus angulatus has the widest distribution. We here analyse variation in scutellation and morphometrics of A. angulatus by examining 785 specimens of Alopoglossus. We also analyse intra-and interspecific genetic structure and differentiation using two mitochondrial (Cytb...
Species diversification can be strongly influenced by geomorphological features, such as mountains, valleys and rivers. Rivers can act as hard or soft barriers to gene flow depending on their size, speed of flow, historical dynamics and regional topographical characteristics. The São Francisco River (SFR) is the largest perennial river in the Caati...
Species diversification can be strongly influenced by geomorphological features, such as mountains, valleys and rivers. Rivers can act as hard or soft barriers to gene flow depending on their size, speed of flow, historical dynamics and regional topographical characteristics. The São Francisco River (SFR) is the largest perennial river in the Caati...