Andean non-volant small mammals: A dataset of community assemblages of non-volant small mammals from the high Andes.

Information from diversity inventories was used to study patterns of biodiversity and species distribution, to identify potential priority areas for conservation, and to guide future sampling efforts. In this context, we compiled information on non-volant small mammal communities from the high Andes (>2000 m). Here, we present an open source dataset containing information on diversity (species composition, number of individuals captured), inventory design (type of traps, sampling efforts), and environment (habitat) for both unpublished and published information. This study covers 630 mammalian communities, geographically distributed throughout the Andes in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile. We compiled a total of 26,412 individual records belonging to 240 species; the order with greatest number of records was Rodentia (n = 25,319, 96.06%), followed by Didelphimorphia (n = 373, 1.42%), Eulipotyphla (n = 358, 1.36%) and Paucituberculata, (n = 307, 1.16%). Andean non-volant small mammal communities harbor a range from 1 to 17 species, with 93.06% of sites being composed of one to five species, 27.78% of sites with species richness varying from 6 to 10 species, and 4.17% sites composed of more than 10 species. Multiple sampling methods were used to survey non-volant small mammals; the most representative methods were snap-traps and Sherman traps, or a combination of both, in more than 81% of the studies. This data paper represents the first large dataset of faunal species inventories for the Andes. There are no copyright restrictions associated with the use of this dataset. Please cite this data paper when its data are used total or partially in research or teaching.

On certain Peruvian type localities of birds (Aves) in Mlíkovský (2009).

According to the ICZN (1999), the type locality is where the specimen used as holotype, syntype or lectotype was collected (Art. 76). As such, the type locality is a source of information about the habitat and geographical occurrence of a taxon. Topotypes, specimens collected within the type locality of a species or subspecies, have been used in comparison with other specimens to corroborate the identity of the latter (e.g. Tautz et al. 2003; Vuataz et al. 2011). Other studies have used type localities in reporting apparent extinctions (e.g. Williams 2015), or degradation of the taxon's habitat (e.g. Wirth 2018). Thus, type localities have information value for scientific collections, and may be of special conservation concern.

A new species of long-tailed mouse, genus Oligoryzomys Bangs, 1900 (Rodentia: Cricetidae), from the Bolivian Yungas.

Andean long-tailed mice of the genus Oligoryzomys have a complex and instable taxonomic history. Recent studies, in addition to circumscribe O. destructor to populations from southern Peru up to the north, and O. brendae to those from Argentina and southern Bolivia, have identified a candidate species in northern Bolivia. Herein, we assessed the status of the mentioned candidate species by morphologically comparing it with O. brendae, its sister group; with O. destructor, which is morphologically similar and distributed parapatrically; and with O. flavescens occidentalis, which is geographically codistributed. Additionally, we compared it with Oryzomys chaparensis, a poorly known form, currently placed in the synonymy of O. microtis, whose type locality is near the known distribution of the Bolivian candidate species. Results show that the assessed form is morphologically diagnosable. This fact together with its phylogenetic distinction allows us to hypothesize that it represents a new species that is named and described here.

Revision of Neacomys spinosus (Thomas, 1882) (Rodentia: Cricetidae) with emphasis on Peruvian populations and the description of a new species.

The large spiny mouse Neacomys spinosus (Thomas, 1882) has been considered the widest ranging species of the genus, occurring in southern Colombia, eastern Peru, western Brazil and northern Bolivia. The morphological variation between subspecies and populations of N. spinosus has been noted; nonetheless, this variation has not been assessed in a morphological or molecular context. Here, we present a taxonomic revision of Neacomys spinosus s.l. using qualitative and quantitative morphological analyses. These analyses were complemented with molecular analysis to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships among species of Neacomys, based on sequences of the cytochrome b gene. Our results reveal that N. spinosus s.l. is a monophyletic group, and morphological and molecular evidence to differentiate three taxa: N. spinosus s.s., an endemic species from mountain cloud forests in Peru; N. amoenus s.l. from the Cerrado between Bolivia and Brazil to the Amazonia between Ecuador and northern Peru, and Neacomys sp. nov. from mountain cloud forests from southern Peru to Bolivia. Also, our molecular results indicate that Neacomys is still far from being completely known. For instance, there are three candidate species pending of taxonomic revision. Finally, we propose three species groups within Neacomys: "paracou", "tenuipes" and "spinosus", and discuss biogeographical scenarios of the genus within South America.