Gustavo Jiménez-Uzcátegui

Gustavo Jiménez-Uzcátegui
Charles Darwin Foundation · Sciences

DVM

About

93
Publications
62,843
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1,212
Citations
Introduction
Gustavo is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM). He works with wildlife animals, principally with marine and lagoon birds to know their survival in relation with their threats as climate change, pathogens, non-infectious diseases and human interactions.
Additional affiliations
April 2001 - present
Charles Darwin Foundation
Position
  • Researcher

Publications

Publications (93)
Article
Full-text available
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is caused by the Alphainfluenzavirus influenzae species (type A, subtype H5N1), which has been detected in mammals (including humans) and marine birds in the Americas, including the Galápagos Islands. The Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata is a marine endemic species of Ecuador. Most of its breeding popula...
Article
Full-text available
In the Galapagos Islands, the main road in Santa Cruz is one of the elements involved in bird road mortality along with vehicles and the impacted species. This study reports the number of roadkilled birds found on the road from the Itabaca Channel to Puerto Ayora, and the main factors, whether avian or environmental, involved in bird roadkill morta...
Article
Full-text available
Ocular pathological conditions affecting the cornea, iris, conjunctiva, and third eyelid in each of four Flightless Cormorants Nannopterum harrisi were observed on Fernandina Island, Galápagos, in September 2014. Observations over many years, 2009–2023 (n = 313 cormorants inspected), suggest that the infection noted in 2014 was rare.
Article
Full-text available
Parasitic helminths are diverse in wild birds globally, but knowledge about helminths in Ecuadorian avifauna is still fragmentary. In the present review, records about helminths (Platy-helminthes, Nematoda, and Acanthocephala) in Ecuadorian wild birds is presented. A systematic search was carried out using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for...
Article
Full-text available
Microbial colonization plays a direct role in host health. Understanding the ecology of the resident microbial community for a given host species is thus an important step for detecting population vulnerabilities like disease. However, the idea of integrating microbiome research into conservation is still relatively new, and wild birds have receive...
Article
Galápagos Penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus), Flightless Cormorant (Phalacrocorax harrisi), and Waved Albatross (Phoebastria irrorata) are among the most vulnerable species to natural and anthropogenic factors in the Galápagos Islands. In 2017, a dedicated study was conducted to detect Chlamydiaceae on cloacal swabs collected from 59 albatrosses, 68 p...
Article
Full-text available
A major barrier to advancing ornithology is the systemic exclusion of professionals from the Global South. A recent special feature, Advances in Neotropical Ornithology, and a shortfalls analysis therein, unintentionally followed a long-standing pattern of highlighting individuals, knowledge, and views from the Global North, while largely omitting...
Preprint
Full-text available
A major barrier to advancing ornithology is the systemic exclusion of professionals from the Global South. A recent special dossier, Advances in Neotropical Ornithology, and a shortfalls analysis therein, unintentionally followed a long-standing pattern of highlighting individuals, knowledge, and views from the Global North, while largely omitting...
Article
The skull often reveals adaptation to ecological and environmental influences. Food availability affects the somatic growth of otariids, and population abundance can influence male intrasexual competition. We hypothesized there would be regional differences between Galapagos sea lion (GSL, Zalophus wollebaeki) rookeries as a result of variance in e...
Article
The Galapagos Islands are one of the most productive marine ecosystems in the world. The convergence of four ocean currents and the isolation of these islands create a variety of ecosystems that host unique biodiversity. Many of the endemic species are particularly vulnerable to disturbances in their environment, as most of them are unable to migra...
Article
Full-text available
The Galapagos Penguin Spheniscus mendiculus (GAPE), Flightless Cormorant Phalacrocorax harrisi (FLCO), and Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata (WAAL) are marine birds that are endemic to the Galapagos Islands. To provide health information for these three species, baseline data on several physiological parameters were collected non-invasively—from...
Article
Full-text available
Darwin’s finches are a classic example of adaptive radiation involving differential use of dietary resources among sympatric species. Here, we apply stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N, and δ2H) analyses of feathers to examine ecological segregation among eight Darwin’s finch species in Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos collected from live birds and museum speci...
Article
Full-text available
Stephanurus dentatus is a nematode endoparasite of swine Sus scrofa and cattle Bos taurus, both of which are feral introduced species in the Galapagos islands. In 2018 in the National Park area of Isabela Island, we collected S. dentatus in different stages of its life cycle in the muscle along the spine and legs and in the kidneys of these feral a...
Chapter
The endemic vertebrates of the Galápagos Islands evolved and adapted over thousands of years. In the last 500 years human activities have exerted great pressures on their populations, in some cases taking them to extinction. From the middle of the 20th century, protection and restoration of the species and habitats of Galápagos have been increasing...
Article
Full-text available
Captive birds in zoological settings often harbor parasites, but little information is available about the potential for free-ranging avifauna to act as a source of infection. This review summarizes the gastrointestinal parasitesfound in zoo birds globally and in seven common free-ranging avian species [mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), Eurasian blackb...
Article
Full-text available
Contamination by anthropogenic heavy metals can produce significant concentration-dependent damage to ecosystems. Therefore, we sought to determine levels of heavy metals and their possible origins by analyzing the feathers of four endangered Galapagos species: Galapagos Penguin Spheniscus mendiculus, Flightless Cormorant Phalacrocorax harrisi, Wav...
Article
Full-text available
The Galapagos Islands inspired the theory of evolution by means of natural selection; now in the Anthropocene, the Galapagos represent an important natural laboratory to understand ecosystem resilience in the face of climate extremes and enable effective socio-ecological co-evolution under climate change.
Article
Full-text available
A female Yellow-bellied Sea Snake Hydrophis platurus of 720 mm total length and 172 g was found dead at James Bay, Santiago Island in March 2018. Based on an analysis of this and other specimens of the species collected in the archipelago since 1970, we consider their probable origins as drifters on currents from coastal waters between Costa Rica a...
Article
Full-text available
We report on the status of vertebrates on Floreana Island and Gardner-by-Floreana islet, Galapagos, comparing the species that we recorded in 2010 at 29 count points and while walking between them, with records from the previous two centuries compiled from the literature. On Floreana, we recorded 33 of the 50 indigenous species that had been record...
Book
Full-text available
La Lista Roja es una herramienta para las instituciones de manejo y científicas para determinar las prioridades de conservación. La anterior versión fue realizada en 2002, en donde solo se incorporó 247 especies. La IUCN recomienda que la actualización se realice cada 5-10 años. Por lo tanto, la actualización de la Lista Roja de las Aves del Ecuado...
Book
Full-text available
La Lista Roja es una herramienta para las instituciones de manejo y científicas para determinar las prioridades de conservación. La anterior versión fue realizada en 2002, en donde solo se incorporó 247 especies. La IUCN recomienda que la actualización se realice cada 5-10 años. Por lo tanto, la actualización de la Lista Roja de las Aves del Ecuado...
Article
Full-text available
A maximum age of at least 17.7 years was recorded for a Galápagos Penguin Spheniscus mendiculus on Isabela Island during studies up until 2018. This individual was first captured as an adult of at least two years of age, as indicated by its plumage. In addition, we present records of other penguins, not quite as old, that were first captured as chi...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction: Threats that affect the avian diversity on the Galápagos Islands are increasing. We evaluated threats such as climate change and severe weather, human intrusions and disturbance, biological resource use, invasive and other problematic species, genes and diseases, pollution, geological events and loss of genetic diversity in relation w...
Article
Full-text available
The Galápagos Penguin Spheniscus mendiculus, Flightless Cormorant Phalacrocorax harrisi, and Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata are endemic to Islas Galápagos. They are known to feed on different prey (including crustaceans, cephalopods, and/or several species of epipelagic and benthic fish), in accordance with different foraging strategies. In t...
Article
Full-text available
The Galápagos Penguin Spheniscus mendiculus, Flightless Cormorant Phalacrocorax harrisi, and Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata are endemic to Islas Galápagos. They are known to feed on different prey (including crustaceans, cephalopods, and/or several species of epipelagic and benthic fish), in accordance with different foraging strategies. In t...
Article
Full-text available
We examined population differentiation across a substantial portion of the range of the brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) to assess (1) the genetic distinctness of the Galápagos subspecies (P. o. urinator) and (2) genetic differentiation between subspecies that inhabit the coasts of North and Central America (P. o. californicus and P. o. carol...
Technical Report
Full-text available
Red List of the Birds of Galapagos, Ecuador
Article
Full-text available
Penguins are the most threatened group of seabirds after albatrosses. Despite being regularly captured in fishing gear, the threat to penguins, as a group, has not yet been assessed. We reviewed both published and grey literature to identify the fishing gear types that penguins are most frequently recorded in, the most impacted species and, for the...
Article
Full-text available
Background Chemical signals are widely used in the animal kingdom, enabling communication in various social contexts, including mate selection and the establishment of dominance. Femoral glands, which produce and release waxy secretions into the environment, are organs of central importance in lizard chemical communication. The Galápagos marine igu...
Data
Descriptive statistics showing male behavioural data and chemical profile. Chemical distance matrix. Mantel correlation between chemical distance and genetic distance.
Data
Results of the principal component analysis (PCA), showing the factor loadings of each principal component (PC) for the lipophilic compounds.
Data
Sampled populations of A. cristatus and their coordinates.
Data
PERMANOVA pairwise comparisons of lipid profiles across populations.
Data
Descriptive statistics showing male behavioural data and chemical profile.
Article
Full-text available
Heavy metals are a threat to wildlife, and they have yet to be analyzed in seabirds from the Galápagos Archipelago. To gauge their prevalence in Galápagos seabird species, we collected and analyzed feather samples from Galapagos Penguins Spheniscus mendiculus, Flightless Cormorants Phalacrocorax harrisi, and Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata in...
Article
Marine iguanas are among the most highly emblematic taxa of the Galápagos archipelago but have paradoxically received little attention from taxonomists. Amblyrhynchus is currently considered as a monotypic genus with a total of seven subspecies, A. cristatus cristatus, A. c. nanus, A. c. venustissimus, A. c. albemarlensis, A. c. hassi, A. c. merten...
Article
Full-text available
Birds are characterized by a constant body temperature, a pulmonary respiratory system, beaks, bodies covered in feathers, two legs, and two wings. Their reproduction is oviparous.Of the 178 species recorded in Galapagos, 56 are endemic and native. At present, no birds are known to be extinct in the Archipelago, but extinctions have occurred locall...
Article
Full-text available
Using a fecal flotation technique, we detected three genera of endoparasites in the critically endangered Waved Albatross (Phoebastria irrorata) of Galápagos. These genera were Contracaecum, Tetrabothrius, and Cardiocephaloides. Juvenile albatrosses were more likely to be infected than adults, but we found no effect of sex or mass on infection prob...
Article
Haemosporidian parasites in the genus Plasmodium were recently detected through molecular screening in the Galapagos Penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus). We summarized results of an archipelago‐wide screen of 3726 endemic birds representing 22 species for Plasmodium spp. through a combination of molecular and microscopy techniques. Three additional Pla...
Article
Full-text available
To determine the proximate consequences of the limited breeding distribution of the critically endangered Waved Albatross (Phoebastria irrorata), we present continuous breeding season GPS tracks highlighting differences in behaviour, destinations, and distances travelled between three distinct colonies: two in Galapagos and one closer to the South...
Article
Full-text available
This Checklist of Galapagos Reptiles includes a total of all 56 taxa reported from the Galapagos Islands. For each name, detailed information is provided: its Galapagos distribution in islands groups or bioregions generated from the specimen records, comments about the taxonomy (especially synonyms), the origin (native and introduced), taxon status...
Chapter
Full-text available
Biodiversity inventories are an essential part of conservation science. Ecologist cannot afford to ignore poorly known species groups, assuming that understanding the ecology of few emblematic species is sufficient to preserve biodiversity of complex ecosystems. The Galapagos Islands as one of the best studied tropical archipelagos is a prime examp...
Article
Full-text available
El Cucuve de Floreana Mimus trifasciatus es una de las cuatro especies endémicas de cucuves en Galápagos, el cual está en Peligro Crítico según la lista roja de la UICN. Esta especie habita en los islotes Gardner-por-Floreana y Champion, ambos cerca de la isla Floreana. En los censos realizados entre 2003–08, el índice poblacional tuvo variaciones...
Article
Some species of coccinellids exude a fluid that contains an alkaloid which can be toxic to vertebrates that ingest them. Because of this, before introducing Rodolia cardinalis to the Galapagos Islands as a biological control agent for the invasive scale insect, Icerya purchasi, it was considered necessary to determine whether it is toxic to birds....
Article
Full-text available
The role of disease in regulating populations is controversial, partly owing to the absence of good disease records in historic wildlife populations. We examined birds collected in the Galapagos Islands between 1891 and 1906 that are currently held at the California Academy of Sciences and the Zoologisches Staatssammlung Muenchen, including 3973 sp...
Article
Full-text available
This Checklist of Galapagos Mammals includes a total of all 59 taxa reported from the Galapagos Islands. For each name, detailed information is provided: its Galapagos distribution in islands groups or bioregions generated from the specimen records, comments about the taxonomy (especially synonyms), the origin (native and introduced), taxon status...
Article
Full-text available
This Checklist of Galapagos Amphibians includes a total of all 2 taxa reported from the Galapagos Islands. For each name, detailed information is provided: its Galapagos distribution in islands groups or bioregions generated from the specimen records, comments about the taxonomy (especially synonyms), the origin (native and introduced), taxon statu...
Article
Full-text available
Necropsy findings were reviewed from wild birds submitted to the Charles Darwin Research Station, Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos Archipelago between 2004 and 2006. One hundred and ninety cases from 27 different species were submitted, and 178 of these cases were evaluated grossly or histologically. Trauma and trauma-related deaths (n=141) dominated n...
Article
Full-text available
El Niño Southern Oscillation events have been associated with large fluctuations in seabird and landbird populations of the Galápagos Islands. We reveal different effects of climatic variation on the abundance and distribution of a waterbird, as illustrated by the flamingos Phoenicopterus ruber living in saline coastal lagoons of the arid Galápagos...
Article
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Understanding the demography of the Critically Endangered waved albatross Phoebastria irrorata is crucial for effective policy responses to recent threats, most notably fishery mortality. Using current vital rates data and a stochastic matrix model, we confirm the conclusion of Awkerman et al. (2006) that the population growth rate (λ) was less tha...
Article
Full-text available
La avifauna de Galápagos tiene un 50% de endemismo a nivel de especies y subespecies, típico de archipiélagos aislados. Muchas aves de Galápagos están amenazadas de extinción. Aunque varias especies se reconocen como amenazadas por UICN14, otras no son reconocidas. En Galápagos, la lista de aves amenazadas incluye 16 especies, subespecies y/o pobla...