M. Alejandra Camacho

Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador | PUCE · Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas

The taxonomic status of the Neotropical bat genus Trachops is reevaluated through an integrated study that incorporates morphological, morphometric, and molecular data across its extensive geographic range. Our research, which included previously unexamined geographical regions, revealed substantial insights into the diversity within Trachops. Gene...

INTRODUCCIÓN. Existe escaso interés en elegir carreras científicas, originado probablemente desde la adolescencia. Las expectativas acerca del trabajo futuro son clave en la elección vocacional, por lo cual es necesario explorar la posible conexión entre ambos fenómenos. OBJETIVO. El objetivo del estudio fue determinar las principales expectativas...

Cyttarops alecto Thomas, 1913 is one of the rarest Neotropical bat species found in biological collections. Here we report the first record of C. alecto for Ecuador, which represents a new genus and species of Emballonuridae for the country. This record is based on an adult male specimen from Yasuní National Park, Orellana, Northeastern Ecuador, wh...

The taxonomic status of the neotropical bat genus Trachops has been reevaluated through an integrated study that incorporates morphological, morphometric, and molecular data across its extensive geographic range. Our research, which included previously unexamined regions, revealed substantial insights into the diversity within Trachops. The results...

In Ecuador, studies of parasitic bat flies are scarce and biased towards the family Streblidae: reports indicate the existence of 50 species, five of them on the western lowlands. In this study, in addition to Streblidae, we include information of the family Nycteribiidae that has not been studied in Ecuador. Both families are associated with bats...

Desde hace algunos años, investigadores de la Abilene Christian University y del Museo de Zoología de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador hemos realizado estudios de campo sistemáticos enfocados en caracterizar la diversidad de pequeños mamíferos en distintas zonas de la Cordillera de los Andes del Ecuador. En 2021 estudiamos la diversid...

The lesser yellow-shouldered bat, Sturnira nana, is a member of the most diverse genus of the New World leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae). This species was considered endemic to Peru until 2009 when researchers captured a series of individuals in the Cordillera del Cóndor of southeastern Ecuador and identified them as S. nana. To assess the taxonomi...

Este trabajo tuvo como objetivo explorar los intereses y opiniones sobre ciencia y tecnología y la influencia del género en estudiantes ecuatorianos. Para ello, se aplicó el cuestionario Relevancia de la Educación Científica (ROSE, por sus siglas en inglés) a una muestra de 1054 estudiantes de entre 16 y 18 años de segundo y tercer años de bachille...

El estudio de animales silvestres debería seguir lineamientos éticos y técnicos que sean aprobados por especialistas para garantizar el uso de buenas prácticas, el bienestar de los animales silvestres y la seguridad de los investigadores. Como iniciativa de la Asociación Ecuatoriana de Mastozoología (AEM) y su Comité de Bioética, desarrollamos los...

Classically, molecular phylogenetic trees of Phyllostomidae have been inferred using a combination of a few mitochondrial and nuclear markers. However, there is still uncertainty in the relationships, especially among deep clades within the family. In this study, we provide newly sequenced complete mitochondrial genomes from 26 bat species, includi...

In 2012, we conducted a mammal survey in the cloud forest of the Otonga Forest Preserve on the western slope of the Andes in Cotopaxi Province, Ecuador. We used Sherman traps, Tomahawk traps, pitfall traps, and mist nets to collect mammal specimens at 2,070 m in elevation. We collected 148 specimens representing 19 species from the survey area. The...

Aim: Comprehensive, global information on species' occurrences is an essential biodiversity variable and central to a range of applications in ecology, evolution, biogeography and conservation. Expert range maps often represent a species' only available distributional information and play an increasing role in conservation assessments and macroeco...

Dada la importancia de establecer medidas claras para el uso y manejo responsable de mamíferos silvestres, que aseguren su bienestar y el de los ecosistemas que habitan, el Comité de Bioética de la Asociación Ecuatoriana de Mastozoología (CBeAEM) desarrolló los “Lineamientos para el uso y manejo de mamíferos silvestres en investigaciones en Ecuador...

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic reveals a major gap in global biosecurity infrastructure: a lack of publicly available biological samples representative across space, time, and taxonomic diversity. The shortfall, in this case for vertebrates, prevents accurate and rapid identification and monitoring of emer...

We know relatively little about the non-breeding period of most migratory birds. Decades of research on Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus) have focused on their breeding ecology, whereas their non-breeding ecology is limited to broad patterns of distribution and migratory stopover ecology. For nearly 50 years, the US Breeding Bird Survey record...

Quimsacocha National Recreation Area is located on the western slope of the Andes in Azuay Province, southern Ecuador. All sampling locations were in the high paramo and high Andean forests (3,572 to 3,865 m). The habitats include paramo, bogs, riparian, patches of elfin forests, and secondary cloud forest. We set Sherman, pitfall, and camera traps...

The Stripe-headed Round-eared bat, Tonatia saurophila, includes three subspecies: Tonatia saurophila saurophila (known only from subfossil records in Jamaica), Tonatia saurophila bakeri (distributed from southeastern Mexico to northern Colombia, Venezuela west and north of the Cordillera de Mérida, and northwestern Ecuador), and Tonatia saurophila...

El presente documento es una versión adaptada para primates y modificada de los “Procedimientos de registro de datos, preparación y preservación de especímenes mastozoológicos”, de la sección de Mamíferos del Museo de Zoología de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (QCAZ).

We present a revision of distribution of Micronycteris schmidtorum in Northern South America reporting fourteen new localities of the species for Colombia and Ecuador on both sides of the Andes. We present the first records of the species for Ecuador, the first record for the biogeographic region of El Chocó, and fill the gap in Amazonian localitie...

We present a revision of distribution of Micronycteris schmidtorum in Northern South America reporting fourteen new localities of the species for Colombia and Ecuador on both sides of the Andes. We present the first records of the species for Ecuador, the first record for the biogeographic region of El Chocó, and fill the gap in Amazonian localitie...

Yacuri National Park, located on the South American continental divide in Loja Province, Ecuador, was surveyed for mammals during four field trips (2009, 2014, 2015, and 2016). All sampling locations were along the western slope of the Andes (3,077−3,454 m) and included: páramo bogs, primary forests, lower páramo, páramo lagoon, a secondary forest,...

Biologists and economists collaborated to estimate the monetary value of the Mammal collection of the Museo de Zoología at PUCE in Quito. We analyzed the direct and indirect costs associated with collecting, preparing, and transporting mammal specimens during four 20-day trips. We determined that the average cost per specimen was $74.70. However, b...

On line compilation and review of the Ecuadorian mammals. <https://bioweb.bio/faunaweb/mammaliaweb/>

Mormoops megalophylla is a cave-dwelling bat distributed from southern United States across Central America to northern Peru. Its conservation status at a global level is of Least Concern, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species; in Ecuador, however, it is included under the Vulnerable category due to the threats faced by the only two...

Sturnira is the most speciose genus of New World leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae). We name Sturnira adrianae, new species. This taxon is born polytypic, divided into a larger subspecies (S. a. adrianae) widespread in the mountains of northern and western Venezuela, and northern Colombia, and a smaller subspecies (S. a. caripana) endemic to the moun...

Herein we present a geographical review to the genus Glyphonycteris in Ecuador. We confirm the first record for G. sylvestris for the country, which extends its range about 680 km southwest of the nearest previously known record. This first record belongs to an individual captured in Sangay National Park, Morona Santiago province, eastern slopes of...

The Yasuni Round-eared bat, Lophostoma yasuni, was described in 2004 by morphological analysis of the holotype, the only specimen attributed to this taxon to date. A molecular analysis using cytochrome-b sequences and a new morphological analysis that includes the holotype of L. yasuni and two specimens of L. carrikeri from near the type locality o...

Herein we confirm the occurrence of Lophostoma carrikeri in Ecuador. One adult female was collected in Orellana province on 17 September 2012 at Boanamo, Waorani Ethnic Reserve, and another on 5 May 2013 at Yasuni Research Station, Yasuni National Park. These records extend the distributional range of the species about 570 km northwest of the neare...

In Ecuador, Thyroptera tricolor is distributed on the northern coastal region, in Amazonia, and in the foothillsof the Andes between 50 to 1,800 m of altitude. We reported a capture of a non-breeding female at El Descanso, Los RíosProvince, in the central coastal region of Ecuador. With this record, we have extended the geographical distribution of...

The QCAZ has a mammalian collection of about 10,200 specimens, from which approximately 8,000 were evaluated by applying the Collection Health Index (CHI). This index is a numerical coding system that determines the curatorial status of the collection based on evaluation units, and reviews the data associated with the specimens. This index was chos...

La colección de mamíferos del QCAZ presenta sesgos relacionados con el esfuerzo de muestreo que indican una tendencia a realizar colecciones en zonas de fácil acceso. Se encontraron diferencias altamente significativas entre la cantidad de registros colectados en el Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas y fuera de éste. Además, 20 de las 35 áreas de...