Rudolf von May

Rudolf von May
California State University, Channel Islands | CSUCI · Department of Biology

Ph.D.

About

111
Publications
81,241
Reads
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1,742
Citations
Introduction
Research interests: ecology and evolution; integrative biology; community ecology; wildlife conservation; systematics of amphibians and reptiles.
Additional affiliations
September 2015 - July 2019
University of Michigan
Position
  • PostDoc Position
April 2013 - April 2015
San Francisco State University
Position
  • PostDoc Position
December 2011 - June 2015
University of California, Berkeley
Position
  • PostDoc Position

Publications

Publications (111)
Article
Full-text available
Critical thermal limits are thought to be correlated with the elevational distribution of species living in tropical montane regions, but with upper limits being relatively invariant compared to lower limits. To test this hypothesis, we examined the variation of thermal physiological traits in a group of terrestrial breeding frogs (Craugastoridae)...
Article
Full-text available
The loss of hearing structures and loss of advertisement calls in many terrestrial breeding frogs (Strabomantidae) living at high elevations in South America are common and intriguing phenomena. The Andean frog genus Phrynopus Peters, 1873 has undergone an evolutionary radiation in which most species lack the tympanic membrane and tympanic annulus,...
Article
Full-text available
Amazonian bamboo forests dominated by large woody bamboo plants in the genus Guadua cover approximately 180,000 km 2 and represent a key resource for many organisms. In southwestern Amazonia, native bamboo forests differ in structure, biodiversity, and growth dynamics from other forest types in the region. However, with the exception of a few speci...
Article
Full-text available
Until recently, it was assumed that the pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) was not widely distributed in warm ecosystems such as lowland tropical rainforests because high environmental temperatures limit its growth. However, several studies have documented Bd infection in lowland rainforest amphibians over the past decade. In add...
Article
Full-text available
Climate change is affecting biodiversity and ecosystem function worldwide, and the lowland tropics are of special concern because organisms living in this region experience temperatures that are close to their upper thermal limits. However, it remains unclear how and whether tropical lowland species will be able to cope with the predicted pace of c...
Chapter
Full-text available
Amphibian ecology and distribution are strongly correlated with climate. Regional patterns of amphibian biodiversity are intimately linked to temperature, evapotranspiration rate, and clines in humidity. While amphibians are and will continue to be adversely affected by recent and projected changes in climate, research suggests that adaptation may...
Article
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We revise the taxonomy of the frog genus Noblella on the basis of a molecular phylogeny. Previous studies recognized that Noblella is non-monophyletic, with one clade distributed from southeastern Peru to northeastern Bolivia and adjacent areas in Brazil and another clade distributed from northern Peru to Ecuador and southeastern Colombia. The lack...
Book
Full-text available
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...
Preprint
Host-associated bacteria vary in their host breadth, which can impact ecological interactions. By colonizing diverse hosts, host generalists can have disproportionate ecological impacts. For bacteria, host generalism may advantageous, particularly when the availability of specific hosts is variable. It is unclear how much the ability to evolve gene...
Article
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ARTICLE Ongoing harlequin toad declines suggest the amphibian extinction crisis is still an emergency Biodiversity loss is extreme in amphibians. Despite ongoing conservation action, it is difficult to determine where we stand in overcoming their extinction crisis. Among the most threatened amphibians are the 131 Neotropical harlequin toads. Many o...
Article
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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...
Article
Full-text available
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...
Preprint
Full-text available
Anthropogenic biodiversity loss is extreme in amphibians. Despite ongoing conservation action, it is difficult to determine where we stand in overcoming their extinction crisis 1,2. Extinction risk is not equally distributed across amphibians 3-5. Among the most threatened amphibians are the 131 Neotropical harlequin toads (Atelopus), many of which...
Article
Full-text available
Microbes participate in ecological communities, much like multicellular organisms. However, microbial communities lack the centuries of observation and theory describing and predicting ecological processes available for multicellular organisms. Here, we examine early bacterial community assembly in the water-filled internodes of Amazonian bamboos f...
Article
Full-text available
This report presents new and updated distributional data of the Tropical House Gecko, Hemidactylus mabouia, in South America, based on 17 specimens collected between 2008 and 2019 at several localities in Peru. The updated distributional data presented here, based on georeferenced records, suggests that H. mabouia has experienced a geographic range...
Article
Full-text available
Meeting international commitments to protect 17% of terrestrial ecosystems worldwide will require >3 million square kilometers of new protected areas and strategies to create those areas in a way that respects local communities and land use. In 2000–2016, biological and social scientists worked to increase the protected proportion of Peru’s largest...
Article
Full-text available
The arboreal toad Rhinella yanachaga is an endemic species of the cloud forest of central Peru, and is categorized as Endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The core habitat of this species is within the Yanachaga-Chemillén National Park, but the status of its populations remains unknown. Obtaining quantitative...
Article
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Unrelated species often evolve similar phenotypic solutions to the same environmental problem, a phenomenon known as convergent evolution. But how do these common traits arise? We address this question from a physiological perspective by assessing how convergence of an elaborate gestural display in frogs (foot-flagging) is linked to changes in the...
Article
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Book review: Reptiles of the Galapagos: Life on the Enchanted Islands. (A. Arteaga, L. Bustamante, J. Vieira, W. Tapia, and J. M. Guayasamin. 2019. Tropical Herping, Quito, Ecuador. ISBN 9789942365484. 208 p.) Located approximately 1,000 km off the Pacific coast of Ecuador, the Galapagos Archipelago contains 20 main islands and dozens of smaller is...
Article
Meeting international commitments to protect 17% of terrestrial ecosystems worldwide will require >3 million square kilometers of new protected areas and strategies to create those areas in a way that respects local communities and land use. In 2000–2016, biological and social scientists worked to increase the protected proportion of Peru’s largest...
Article
Full-text available
We examine the phylogenetic relationships among salamanders of the genus Bolitoglossa (Eladinea) distributed in the Amazonian basin of northern Peru and southern Ecuador and assess species diversity based on morphological and phylogenetic analyses. We infer a molecular phylogeny using sequences from two mitochondrial (Cytb, 16S) and two nuclear gen...
Article
Full-text available
We propose to erect a new genus of terrestrial-breeding frogs of the Terrarana clade to accommodate three species from the Province La Convención, Department of Cusco, Peru previously assigned to Bryophryne: B. flammiventris, B. gymnotis, and B. mancoinca. We examined types and specimens of most species, reviewed morphological and bioacoustic chara...
Article
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We describe a new terrestrial genus of the family Gymnophthalmidae, subfamily Cercosaurinae, from central Peru on the basis of genetic and morphological characters. The monotypic Wilsonosaura gen. n. can be distinguished morphologically from all other genera of Cercosaurinae except of Proctoporus by having lower palpebral disc semi-transparent and...
Article
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We describe two new species of poison frog from central and southern Peru that have been referred to as Ameerega picta, A. hahneli, or A. altamazonica throughout the past thirty years. Our phylogenies generated with genomic data provide strong support that the two new species are successive sisters to two described taxa, A. rubriventris and A. alta...
Article
Full-text available
The lowland rainforests of the Amazon basin harbor some of the most species-rich reptile communities on Earth. However, there is considerable heterogeneity among climatically-similar sites across the Amazon basin, and faunal surveys for southwestern Amazonia in particular have revealed lower species diversity relative to sites in the northwestern a...
Article
Full-text available
Outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases are becoming more frequent as climate changes wildlife communities at unprecedented rates, driving population declines and raising concerns for species conservation. One critical disease is the global pandemic of chytridiomycosis in frogs, which can be caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendroba...
Article
The Amazonian poison frog genus Ameerega is one of the largest yet most understudied of the brightly colored genera in the anuran family Dendrobatidae, with 30 described species ranging throughout tropical South America. Phylogenetic analyses of Ameerega are highly discordant, lacking consistency due to variation in data types and methods, and ofte...
Preprint
Full-text available
Protocol for extracting DNA from amphibian skin swabs using the Qiagen DNeasy blood and Tissue Kit.
Preprint
Full-text available
Protocol for extracting DNA from amphibian skin swabs using the Qiagen DNeasy blood and Tissue Kit.
Preprint
Procedure for multilocus sequence typing (MLST) from amphibian skin swabs using Sanger sequencing.
Preprint
Method for quantitative (real-time) PCR using TaqMan reagents
Article
Full-text available
We describe and name a new species of Noblella Barbour, 1930 (Strabomantidae) from southern Peru. Key diagnostic characteristics of the new species include the presence of a short, oblique fold-like tubercle on the ventral part of the tarsal region, two phalanges on finger IV, and an evident tympanum. The elevational distribution of the new species...
Article
Full-text available
We present an updated map and a list of individual geo-referenced records for Neotropical water snakes in the genus Hydrops Wagler, 1830 (Serpentes, Colubridae, Dipsadinae, Hidropsini) in South America. Our database also includes new records of H. triangularis from southern Peru (extending the known geographic distribution of this species) and nort...
Article
Full-text available
Ecological interactions such as those involving arthropod predators and parasitoids and their prey or hosts provide evidence for selective pressures influencing small vertebrate populations, and are key to understanding the many connections that shape food webs in tropical rainforests. Here, we document 15 predator-prey interactions involving diffe...
Article
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Euspondylus excelsum was described from 8 specimens from the Region Huánuco in central Peru. We obtained an adult female from the Region Junín and a subadult male (photo vouchers only) from the Region Madre de Dios. Our new records of E. excelsum extend the range of this species by 592 km to the south and increase the previously known elevational r...
Article
Full-text available
Assessments of extinction risk are required to inform conservation action, but the usefulness of assessments is undermined if they are not current. Ameerega planipaleae , a poison frog endemic to the cloud forests of central Peru, was last assessed in 2004. We therefore sought to provide updated data to inform the reassessment of this species. Base...
Article
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Chapter
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This document provides updated information on the conservation status of amphibians in Peru. We discuss present and future threats to amphibian biodiversity, and review the possible causes of observed amphibian population declines in the country. We also outline suggested actions to promote the conservation of amphibians in Peru.
Data
Database (raw data) Database containing the following information: Family, family membership; SpN, name of species or morphospecies; Site, name of study site (each site contained one patch per habitat); Habitat, forest type (b, bamboo; tf, terra firme); Full_Site_Name, site name and habitat name; Trap, number of pitfall trap; Season, season (w, wet...
Data
Supplementary materials including some raw data
Article
Full-text available
We describe a new species of Phrynopus from the upper montane forests and high Andean grasslands (puna) of the Pui Pui Protected Forest and its close surroundings (Región Junín, central Peru) and compare it morphologically and genetically with other species of Phrynopus. Phrynopusintisp. n. is known from four localities outside and two localities i...
Article
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Phrynopus montium (Shreve, 1938) was described from Cascas, Junín Department, Peru, at an undetermined elevation between 3000 and 4000 m a.s.l. in the Cordillera Central. With the exception of the type specimens used in the original description, no additional sightings of P. montium had been reported for 76 years. Additionally, its coloration in li...
Article
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We describe three new species of Pristimantis from the upper montane forests and high Andean grasslands of the Pui Pui Protected Forest and its close surroundings (Región Junín, central Peru) and compare them morphologically and genetically with other taxonomically and biogeographically relevant species of Pristimantis. All three new species have t...
Article
Full-text available
We describe a new species of Pristimantis from upper montane forests and high Andean grasslands of the Pui Pui Protected Forest and its close surroundings, Región Junín, central Peru. The description of the new species is based on 34 specimens found at elevations between 3400 and 3936 m a.s.l. Pristimantis attenboroughi sp. n. is characterized by a...
Research
Full-text available
Parque Nacional Yanachaga-Chemillén, Pasco, Perú Anfibios del bosque de nubes y su zona de amortiguamiento
Article
Full-text available
We provide information of the distribution, habitat, and conservation status of the harlequin frog Atelopus seminiferus, a poorly known species from northern Peru. Multiple individuals of A. seminiferus were detected inside the Alto Mayo Protected Forest, San Martin region, 87‒98 km northwest from the type locality. Additionally, we used skin swab...
Article
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We describe and name a new species of poison-dart frog from the Amazonian slopes of the Andes in Manu Province, Madre de Dios Department, Peru; specifically within the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve and the buffer zone of Manu National Park. Ameerega shihuemoy sp. nov. is supported by a unique combination of characters: black dorsum with cream to ligh...
Article
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The harlequin frog Atelopus epikeisthos Lötters, Schulte & Duellman, 2004 was described based on a single individual collected in 1989 in the Cordillera Central, Amazonas region, Peru. We report the second known individual of A. epikeisthos, found in Bongará Province, Amazonas Region, 60 km NNW from the type locality. Considering the elevation of t...
Article
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We describe a new species of Pristimantis from the humid sub-montane forest of the Region Cusco in Peru. Pristimantis pluvialis sp. n. was collected in the Kosnipata and Entoro valleys at elevations from 740 to 1110 m a.s.l., near the borders of Manu National Park and within the Huachiperi Haramba Queros Conservation Concession. The new species can...
Article
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The structure and underlying functions of the majority of the world’s tropical forests have been disrupted by human impacts, but the potential biodiversity and conservation value of regenerating forests is still debated. One review suggests that on average, regenerating tropical forests hold 57% (±2.6%) of primary forest species richness, raising d...