H. Mauricio Ortega-Andrade

Universidad Regional Amazónica IKIAM · Research

Understanding the relationship between functional traits and fragmentation is crucial for promoting biodiversity and ecosystem function. Orchid bees (Euglossini) are important pollinators in Neotropical forests, but how body size may be associated with fragmentation and its influence on community organisation remains unexplored. We systematically s...

Chytridiomycosis is a fungal disease responsible for massive amphibian die-offs worldwide , caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Potential symbiotic relationships between frogs and the bacteria residing on their skin-referred to as skin-bacteria-may inhibit Bd growth, aiding in resistance to this lethal disease. This research h...

Amphibians are the most threatened major group of vertebrates worldwide and yet they are lagging behind other taxa in genomic resources that could aid in their conservation management. Here, we provide a status update on genomics technologies, how they have been used in amphibian research, and an outlook on how these approaches could inform future...

Ceratophryidae is a family of frogs containing twelve extant species distributed in South America. Several studies have been carried out concerning the systematics, morphology, karyotypes, and behaviour within this monophyletic family. However, little is known about the historical biogeography and the divergence in time of this group. Here, we pres...

As the most threatened vertebrate class on earth, amphibians are at the forefront of the biodiversity crisis, with the recognition of global amphibian declines and extinctions dating back several decades now. The current Amphibian Conservation Action Plan is adopting two strategies to address the goal of the amelioration of the amphibian crisis: th...

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is a lethal fungal species that parasitizes vertebrates and is associated with the worldwide decline of amphibian populations. The development of sensitive, rapid detection methods, particularly DNA-based techniques, is critical for effective management strategies. This study evaluates the efficacy of DNA extract...

Habitat loss and fragmentation are critical threats to biodiversity decline as they decrease the species occurrence and dispersal probability between natural habitats. Thus, promoting habitat connectivity supports species dispersal and accessibility to vital resources within the landscape, and contributes to long term population persistence. Howeve...

Rainforests play a practical role in keeping our planet healthy by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing the oxygen that humans depend on for survival. Absorption of carbon dioxide also helps to stabilize the climate of Earth. In addition, rainforests help to maintain the world water cycle by adding water to the atmosphere through the process of t...

Systematic assessments of species extinction risk at regular intervals are necessary for informing conservation action1,2. Ongoing developments in taxonomy, threatening processes and research further underscore the need for reassessment3,4. Here we report the findings of the second Global Amphibian Assessment, evaluating 8,011 species for the Inter...

Systematic assessments of species extinction risk at regular intervals are necessary for informing conservation action1,2. Ongoing developments in taxonomy, threatening processes and research further underscore the need for reassessment3,4. Here we report the findings of the second Global Amphibian Assessment, evaluating 8,011 species for the Inter...

Traditional knowledge, much like scientific knowledge, is the product of observation and reflection from the relationship between people and their habitat. This paper documents the first inventory of native names and ethnozoological information of snakes in the language of the Shiwiar-Chicham (SC) and Kichwa (KW), for those territories located in t...

Background The development of anthropogenic activities has generated a decline in aquatic fauna populations, and amphibians have been the most affected. The decline of batrachofauna is concerning, as 41% of all species worldwide are endangered. For this reason, rapid, efficient, and non-invasive biodiversity monitoring techniques are needed, and en...

Aim The most popular sources of information on species distributions are the expert‐derived maps and georeferenced occurrences, mainly those compiled by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). These sources have been constantly used with biogeographical and conservation goals. However, their degree of accuracy in representing geographi...

The Cordillera del Cóndor (CC) mountain range, located parallel to the Eastern Andes and bordering both Ecuador and Peru, is a discontinuous formation whose elevation spans 190–3200 m a.s.l., with unique geology and vegetation, and a wide variety of climates. Here, based on a thorough revision of databases, the scientific literature and on field wo...

The amerophidian snake radiation is a Late Cretaceous superfamily that encompasses two families: Aniliidae, pipe snakes, and Tropidophiidae, dwarf boas. We describe a new dwarf boa snake species, from the Tropidophiidae family, from the cloud forest in northeastern Ecuador. Tropidophis cacuangoae sp. nov. can be diagnosed from its congeners based o...

The Tropical Montane Cloud Forests (TMCF) of South America are ecosystems facing rapid changes due to global warming. Herein, we used species climatic niche models to reconstruct the climatic boundaries of TMCF and to predict range shifts in climate change scenarios. Thirty-two species from three taxonomic groups (plants, birds, and amphibians) wer...

Fieldwork in premontane and lowland Amazonian forest (385–1,075 m above sea level) in and around the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve in southeastern Peru led us to describe two new species of the genus Pristimantis. We used integrative evidence from several external morphological characters, morphometric and molecular data, geographic distributions, an...

We report the rediscovery of Laura’s Glassfrog, Nymphargus laurae Cisneros-Heredia & McDiarmid, 2007, based on two specimens collected at the Colonso-Chalupas Biological Reserve, province of Napo, Ecuador. The species was described and known from a single male specimen collected in 1955 at Loreto, north-eastern Andean foothills of Ecuador. Limited...

Habitat loss and fragmentation caused by deforestation are important anthropogenic drivers of changes in biodiversity in the Amazon rainforest, and has reached its highest rate in recent decades. However, the magnitude and direction of the effects on species composition and distribution have yet to be fully understood. We evaluated the responses of...

Ecuador is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, but faces severe pressures and threats to its natural ecosystems. Numerous species have declined and require to be objectively evaluated and quantified, as a step towards the development of conservation strategies. Herein, we present an updated National Red List Assessment for amphibian...

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is a fungus that parasites vertebrates, and is associated with population declines worldwide in endemic amphibian species. As such, it is one of several invasive species which pose a serious threat to a variety of vertebrate hosts, in casu : amphibians. Detection of such invasive species is generally based on DNA...

Ecuador is well-known as one of the most biodiverse countries, but this species richness is being threatened by invasive alien species. The early detection of these invasive species is crucial for their fast and successful eradication and for limiting their effects on aquatic communities. Therefore, a Belgian VLIR-UOS project was started that aims...

Chytridiomycosis is a catastrophic disease currently decimating worldwide amphibian populations, caused by the panzootic chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Massive species decline to extinction catalyzes radical changes in ecosystems globally, including the largest continuous rainforest ecosystem on Earth, the Amazon rainforest. Innovat...

We describe a new species of dendrobatid frog, Leucostethus bilsa sp. nov., using molecular, morphological, and acoustic evidence. We also comment on the taxonomic status of four similar Hyloxalus and Colostethus. We provide an updated phylogeny of Leucostethus that corroborates previous hypotheses of relationships of nine species. Phylogenetic ana...

El sábado 24 de agosto de 2019, a las 11:30 am, caminando en una zona periurbana aproximadamente a 60 m de la entrada a la estación Darwin, en Puerto Ayora, Isla Santa Cruz; se observó y fotografió a un chipe amarillo o chipe manglero de Galápagos (Setophaga petechia aurea) que volaba en el dosel de un árbol en un solar de una casa. Originalmente s...

En la actualidad, existe cada vez un mayor interés por conocer y aplicar modelos de nichos ecológicos para la solución de diversos problemas biológicos, lo que ha resultado en un incremento en el número de estudios que aplican este enfoque. Sin embargo, a la par también están sucediéndose avances teóricos y metodológicos vertiginosos en este campo,...

Alexander von Humboldt conducted his best‑known work on the slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes. He did this by applying his own characteristic brand of multidisciplinary scientific approach. This consisted of thorough data collection while synthesizing and visualizing the data in innovative formats. Also important for his scientific success in South Am...

Alexander von Humboldt is often regarded as the "Father of Biogeography". Although the very concept that any discipline has a founder may be disputed, von Humboldt´s contributions are, without a doubt, enormous, integrative and global. His lucid writing was widely read, he built up a huge network of correspondents, he assisted many young researcher...

Future predictions developed with Climate Change Models describe changes in precipitation patterns, temperature and changes in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, generating a geographic shift of the Ecological Niche and causing threats to species diversity. The intent of this work is to identify priority conservation areas, usin...

Problems associated with delimiting species are particularly pronounced in taxa with high species-level diversity, as occurs in Pristi ti frogs. Herein, we resurrect Pristimantis brevicrus, nov. comb., from the synonymy of P. altamazonicus, a widespread species in the upper Amazon Basin, based on morphological, acoustic and genetic evidence. Both s...

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009;...

Ecnomiohyla tuberculosa is an Amazonian hylid of uncertain phylogenetic position. Herein DNA sequences of mitochondrial and nuclear genes are used to determine its phylogenetic relationships. New sequences and external morphology of Trachycephalus typhonius are also analyzed to assess the status of Ecuadorian and Peruvian populations. The phylogeny...

Examined material

Majority rule consensus for maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis based on Pyron (2014) matrix for genes 12S and 16S rRNA with additional sequences of Amazonian Tepuihyla

Pluralistic approaches to taxonomy facilitate a more complete appraisal of biodiversity, especially the diversification of cryptic species. Although species delimitation has traditionally been based primarily on morphological differences, the integration of new methods allows diverse lines of evidence to solve the problem. Robber frogs (Pristimanti...

La biodiversidad a nivel mundial está en crisis, con una acelerada pérdida de la diversidad genética, de especies y ecosistemas a escala global. Esto es cierto para los anfibios, siendo la cuenca Amazónica una de las regiones más diversas y amenazadas a nivel global. En sistemática, la especie es la unidad de análisis y punto de partida para estudi...

A pesar de que su presencia ha sido confirmada en varias localidades de la Cordillera Central en los Andes, la distribución de la danta de montaña (Tapirus pinchaque; <200 kg; EN) ha sido poco estudiada en Colombia. Por ello, se han estimado las áreas potenciales de distribución actual y bajo escenarios de cambio climático futuros, considerando el...

In Ecuador, Tapirus pinchaque is considered to be critically endangered. Although the species has been registered in several localities, its geographic distribution remains unclear, and the effects of climate change and current land uses on this species are largely unknown. We modeled the ecological niche of T. pinchaque using MaxEnt, in order to a...

Duellman and Mendelson (1995) described several species of amphibians from northern Departamento Loreto, in Amazonian Peru. Among them, Pristimantis luscombei was described based on few adult specimens (3 males, one female), which included a series of subadults and juveniles. Pristimantis luscombei was considered a medium sized species (26.1 mm in...

We studied a population of the endangered glassfrog, Cochranella mache, at Bilsa Biological Station, northwestern Ecuador, from 2008 and 2009. We present information on annual abundance patterns, behavioral ecology, habitat use and a species distribution model performed with MaxEnt. We evaluate the importance of the National System of Protected Are...

We describe a new species of the hylid frog genus Dendropsophus from Amazonian Ecuador. The new species, Dendrop-sophus shiwiarum sp. nov., appears to be part of the D. microcephalus species group. Dendropsophus shiwiarum differs from its congeners by a combination of: (1) tympanic membrane non-differentiated and annulus evident only ventrally, (2)...

We describe a new species of Pristimantis from evergreen lowland forest in the Amazon Basin of Ecuador. We observed all specimens to be active at night, located over leaves of shrubs in both primary forest and in the edge of forest clearings. The new species is tentatively assigned to Pristimantis (Pristimantis) frater group based on its small size...

Entre los años 2006 y 2007, en un pequeño humedal de la localidad de San Francisco del Cabo al noroccidente de Ecuador, monitoreamos mensualmente una población de la rana arborícola Agalychnis spurrelli. Nuestros objetivos fueron: (1) determinar el tamaño poblacional y las fluctuaciones anuales de la población, (2) evaluar la distribución espacial...

Throughout 2006 and 2007, at a small swamp in San Francisco del Cabo, northwestern Ecuador, monthly field expeditions were done to monitor a population of the leaf frog Agalychnis spurrelli with the following aims: (1) to determine population size and annual fluctuation; (2) to determine spatial distributional patterns and microhabitat resource par...

Teratohyla sornozai fue recientemente descrita [1] sobre la base de especímenes colectados en tres localidades en las provincias de Esmeraldas, Imbabura y Pichincha, noroccidente del Ecuador. En la descripción original [1], T sornozai se diferenció de Rulyrana orejuela [2] por la forma del hocico (proyectado de perfil en T sornozai, truncado de per...

Presentamos nueva información que extiende la distribución latitudinal y altitudinal de cinco especies de ranas de cristal recientemente descritas y poco conocidas de la región oriental de Ecuador. Incluimos datos novedosos sobre su tamaño corporal e historia natural. Se discute información sobre la diversidad y biogeografía de ranas centrolenidas...

En este capítulo tratamos de presentar al lector, biólogo y aficionado a la herpetología, la posibilidad de determinar la identidad de las especies de herpetofauna reportados para el Chocó de la provincia de Esmeraldas.

The Bilsa Biological Station is located on the Mache-Chindul mountains and protects some of the last rainforestremnants in the province of Esmeraldas, northwestern Ecuador. Since 2004, we have been inventorying the amphibiansand reptiles of Bilsa. We found 109 species of herpetofauna (37 amphibians and 72 reptiles), representing 8 % and 18% of the...

The Upper Amazon Basin is located closer to Andes along the Equator, at eastern lowlands of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, which receives one of the highest levels of rainfall within all lowland Amazonia (Vigle 2008). These environmental conditions seem to favor the presence of the highest known species richness and complex herpetological communities...

Anfibios y reptiles de los bosques tropicales del Chocó de la provincia de Esmeraldas, Ecuador

We describe a new species of Glassfrog of the family Centrolenidae. This new taxon, Terarohyla sornozai sp. nov., is diagnosed by having a protruding snout in lateral profile, uniform green dorsal colouration in life, concealed prepollex, extensive webbing between the outer fingers, fully webbed toes, and small body size. It inhabits the Non-Season...

Amphibians are one of the most threatened animal groups. In the Family Centrolenidae c. 50% of the species are declining and threatened with extinction. One of these is the glassfrog Cochranella mache, endemic to seasonal evergreen forests of the West Ecuadorian region and restricted to highly fragmented forest of < 100 km2 in the Cordillera Mache-...

Agalychnis spurrelli Boulenger, 1913 is the earliest available name for a hylid species of Phyllomedusin frogs that inhabit the lowland and pre-montane tropical forests on the Pacific coast, from southern Costa Rica to central-western Ecuador. I present data that support the placement of Agalychnis litodryas Duellman & Trueb, 1967 as a junior synon...

The amphibian diversity in the Chocoan tropical rain forests of Ecuador is far from being thoroughly documented. Although Neotropical equatorial forests might be the most amphibian-diverse in the world (Duellman 1978; 2005; Lynch 2005; Ron 2001–2006), few studies have been directed towards understanding the richness of the Ecuadorian Chocó. This is...

An assessment of the diversity of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) was carried out in the central part of the Cutucú Range, Ecuadorian Amazon. The composition and distribution of dung beetles in 10 sites, located from 500 to 2000 meters above sea level (masl), were determined through 11 samplings campaigns. Every sampling was done setting, d...