Simplifying the Centrolene buckleyi complex (Amphibia: Anura: Centrolenidae): a taxonomic review and description of two new species.

Centrolenidae is a Neotropical family widely distributed in Central and South America, with its species richness concentrated in the tropical Andes. Several taxonomic problems have been identified within this family, mostly related to species with broad geographic distributions. In this study, we assessed and redefined the species boundaries of the Centrolene buckleyi species complex, and formally described two new species from the Andes of Ecuador. These new taxa are recognized by a combination of morphometric, osteological, acoustic, and genetic data. Following IUCN criteria, we propose that the two new species should to be considered as Endangered (EN), mainly because of their small distributions and habitat loss. The C. buckleyi complex provides insights into the biogeography of closely related Andean species. As in other glassfrogs, speciation in Centrolene seems to be mediated by the linearity of the Andes, where gene flow can be restricted by topography and, also, local extinctions.

Path for recovery: an ecological overview of the Jambato Harlequin Toad (Bufonidae: Atelopus ignescens) in its last known locality, Angamarca Valley, Ecuador.

The Jambato Harlequin toad (Atelopus ignescens), a formerly abundant species in the Andes of Ecuador, faced a dramatic population decline in the 1980s, with its last recorded sighting in 1988. The species was considered Extinct by the IUCN until 2016, when a fortuitous discovery of one Jambato by a local boy reignited hope. In this study, we present findings from an investigation conducted in the Angamarca parish, focusing on distribution, abundance, habitat preferences, ecology, disease susceptibility, and dietary habits of the species. In one year we identified 71 individuals at different stages of development in various habitats, with a significant presence in agricultural mosaic areas and locations near water sources used for crop irrigation, demonstrating the persistence of the species in a complex landscape, with considerable human intervention. The dietary analysis based on fecal samples indicated a diverse prey selection, primarily comprising arthropods such as Acari, Coleoptera, and ants. Amphibian declines have been associated with diseases and climate change; notably, our study confirmed the presence of the pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), but, surprisingly, none of the infected Jambatos displayed visible signs of illness. When analyzing climatic patterns, we found that there are climatic differences between historical localities and Angamarca; the temporal analysis also exposes a generalized warming trend. Finally, in collaboration with the local community, we developed a series of management recommendations for terrestrial and aquatic environments occupied by the Jambato.

Unveiling the evolutionary relationships and the high cryptic diversity in Andean rainfrogs (Craugastoridae: Pristimantis myersi group).

Background: Pristimantis is the most diverse genus of terrestrial frogs. Historically, it has been divided into several phenetic groups in order to facilitate species identification. However, in light of phylogenetic analysis, many of these groups have been shown to be non-monophyletic, denoting a high degree of morphological convergence and limited number of diagnostic traits. In this study, we focus on the Pristimantis myersi group, an assemblage of small rainfrogs distributed throughout the Andes of Ecuador and Colombia, whose external morphology is highly conserved, and its species diversity and evolutionary relationships largely unknown. Methods: We inferred a new phylogenetic hypothesis for the frog genus Pristimantis, including all available sequences of the mtDNA 16S rRNA, as well as new DNA sequences from 175 specimens. Our sampling included 19 of the 24 species currently recognized as part of the Pristimantis myersi group. Results: Our new evolutionary hypothesis recovered the P. myersi group as non-monophyletic and composed of 16 species. Therefore, we exclude P. albujai, P. bicantus, P. sambalan, and P. nelsongalloi in order to preserve the monophyly of the group. We discovered at least eight candidate species, most of them hidden under the names of P. leoni, P. hectus, P. festae, P. gladiator, and P. ocreatus. Discussion: Our results reveal the occurrence of a high level of cryptic diversity to the species level within the P. myersi group and highlight the need to redefine some of its species and reassess their conservation status. We suggest that the conservation status of six species within the group need to be re-evaluated because they exhibit smaller distributions than previously thought; these species are: P. festae, P. gladiator, P. hectus, P. leoni, P. ocreatus, and P. pyrrhomerus. Finally, given that the Pristimantis myersi group, as defined in this work, is monophyletic and morphologically diagnosable, and that Trachyphrynus is an available name for the clade containing P. myersi, we implement Trachyphrynus as a formal subgenus name for the Pristimantis myersi group.

Two new species of terrestrial frogs of the Pristimantisgladiator complex (Anura, Strabomantidae) from the Ecuadorian Andes, with insights on their biogeography and skull morphology.

The explosive diversity of rainfrogs (Pristimantis spp) reaches its highest levels in the mountains of the Tropical Andes, with remarkable cryptic species mainly in unexplored areas of Ecuador. Based on phylogenetics, morphometric traits, skull osteology and bioacoustics, we describe two new species of Pristimantis, previously confused with Pristimantisgladiator, that belong to the subgenus Trachyphrynus traditionally known as the Pristimantismyersi species group. The two new taxa are closely related, but have allopatric distributions. We discuss the importance of the Quijos and Pastaza River valleys in the diversification along Amazonian slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes.

COVID-19 Risk Perceptions and Health Behaviors in Puerto Rico.

Preventative health behaviors were encouraged for all at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as the pandemic continued after 2020, some people stopped implementing all measures. It is unknown if people living in Puerto Rico continued to perform preventive health behaviors throughout the pandemic. The purpose of this study was to explore if the risk perceptions of COVID-19 were associated with preventative health behaviors among Puerto Ricans during the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample from Puerto Rico (N = 285) was recruited from January to March 2021 to participate in a cross-sectional, online survey about health behaviors and risk perceptions of COVID-19. Demographics were reported, and a multivariate logistic regression explored the relationships between health behaviors (e.g., handwashing, staying at home, and not allowing visitors) and fear of COVID-19 (outcome variable) and risk of becoming infected with COVID-19 (outcome variable). Those who reported that they washed their hands more often than usual were more likely (adjusted odds ratios = 6.93) to indicate that they were afraid of COVID-19 compared with those who were not performing this behavior. Also, those who reported not leaving their home as much and who did not receive visitors into their house as much as they did before the pandemic were 2.49 and 2.89 times as likely to report being afraid of the virus, respectively, as their counterparts. Although fear may not effectively change all behaviors, it may encourage Puerto Rican adults to practice healthy behaviors that will prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Two new glassfrogs (Centrolenidae: Hyalinobatrachium) from Ecuador, with comments on the endangered biodiversity of the Andes.

Background: The Tropical Andes is the world's most biodiverse hotspot. This region contains >1,000 amphibian species, more than half of which are endemic. Herein we describe two new glassfrog species (Centrolenidae: Hyalinobatrachium) that we discovered within relatively unexplored and isolated localities of the Ecuadorian Andes. Methods: We employed morphological, acoustic, and molecular methods to test the hypothesis that Hyalinobatrachium mashpi sp. nov and H. nouns sp. nov. are species new to science. Following standard methods, we generated mitochondrial sequences (16S) of 37 individuals in the genus Hyalinobatrachium. We inferred the phylogenetic relationships of the two new species in comparison to all other glassfrogs using Maximum Likelihood. In addition to describing the call of H. mashpi sp. nov., we performed a discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) with the advertisement call characteristics of several congeners. Results: Based on an integrative taxonomy approach, we describe two new species. Morphological traits and the inferred phylogeny unambiguously place the new taxa in the genus Hyalinobatrachium. Both species are distinguished from other glassfrogs mainly by their dorsal coloration (i.e., dorsum lime green with small light yellow spots, head usually with interorbital bar) and transparent pericardium (i.e., the heart is visible through the ventral skin). The new species exhibit a high morphological similarity (i.e., cryptic) and occur within relatively close geographical proximity (closest aerial distance = 18.9 km); however, their uncorrected p distance for the mitochondrial gene 16S is 4.6-4.7%, a value that greatly exceeds the genetic distance between closely related species of centrolenid frogs. The DAPC revealed that the advertisement call of H. mashpi sp. nov. is acoustically distinct. Discussion: Our findings are congruent with several previous studies that report a high degree of endemism in the Toisán mountain range, which appears to be isolated from the main Andean cordillera for some amphibian groups. We recommend that both H. mashpi sp. nov. and H. nouns sp. nov. be listed as Endangered, following IUCN criteria. These new species provide another example of cryptic diversity in the Andes-further evidence that the region fosters much more biodiversity than we have the resources to catalog. Threatened by mining and other exploitative industries, these glassfrogs and many other yet-to-be-discovered Andean species highlight the dire need for effective conservation measures-especially in northwestern Ecuador.

Strong differentiation between amphibian communities on two adjacent mountains in the Upper Rio Pastaza watershed of Ecuador, with descriptions of two new species of terrestrial frogs.

We present the results of herpetological surveys in two adjacent mountains where the EcoMinga Foundation protects the cloud forest in the Upper Rio Pastaza watershed, in the Llanganates Sangay Ecological Corridor in Ecuador. A rapid assessment of the amphibian communities of the study sites reveals a diverse and heterogeneous composition, dominated by terrestrial frogs from the genus Pristimantis. We also identify a cryptic diversity with a significant number of candidate new species. We describe two new species of terrestrial frogs of the genus Pristimantis. Pristimantismaryanneae sp. nov. is characterised by not having tympanum externally visible and having 2-3 subconical tubercles in the upper eyelid; and Pristimantisburtoniorum sp. nov. is characterised by the presence of red colouration in hidden surfaces of the hind-limbs, tubercles on the upper eyelid, interorbital tubercle and a row of rounded tubercles along the snout to the tip and a pale red venter with dark brown mottled pattern. Our samples from the two Reserves do not share species between them, so the proportion of shared species seems to be relatively low. In addition, we highlight the importance of updating the knowledge of amphibians that are restricted to this important conservation region and comment about the threats and composition of the amphibian communities on the eastern slopes of the Upper Rio Pastaza watershed.

Avances en el Estudio de la Diversidad Bacteriana Oral Asociada a Caries Dental Mediante el Estudio Genómico / Advances in the Study of Oral Bacterial Diversity Associated with Dental Caries by Genomic Study

La caries es una enfermedad infecciosa, transmisible y multifactorial, que conduce a la pérdida de minerales reversible o irreversible de los tejidos duros susceptibles del diente, por acción de productos ácidos provenientes de la fermentación de los hidratos de carbono de la dieta por la actividad metabólica del biofilm adherido a la superficie dentaria. Aunque tradicionalmente se ha considerado al Streptococcus mutans como el responsable de la enfermedad, actualmente otras bacterias, denominadas no mutans, se han asociado con el inicio, progresión y actividad de la enfermedad en esmalte, dentina y cemento radicular. Para profundizar el estudio de la diversidad bacteriana oral asociada a caries dental se han aplicado diversas metodologías, dentro de las cuales destaca el estudio del metagenoma oral. Este nos permite estudiar comunidades bacterianas completas mediante el análisis del DNA, en un determinado ambiente sin necesidad de aislar y cultivar las especies, entregando información sobre la diversidad taxonómica y filogenética de estas comunidades. Existen diferentes métodos de análisis de la diversidad bactariana, entre los que tenemos el análisis del ARNr 16S mediante electroforésis, PCR, microarreglos, secuenciamiento de última generación, entre otros. El estudio del metagenoma oral ha permitido identificar especies que no han podido ser aisladas por métodos convencionales, además de identificar su presencia o ausencia en las distintas etapas del desarrollo de la enfermedad de caries dental, permitiendo un mejor conocimiento del desarrollo de esta patología. El estudio basado en el metagenoma ha dado a conocer una diversidad microbiana oral inesperada, dando información relevante para la actualización de los conocimientos y así identificar nuevos objetivos terapéuticos. El propósito de esta revisión bibliográfica es exponer los principales resultados que ha aportado el estudio del metagenoma sobre la diversidad microbiana, aplicado específicamente a la comunidad bacteriana oral.

Dental caries is an infectious, transmissible and multifactorial disease, which leads towards a reversible and irreversible loss of minerals found in hard tissues of a tooth, caused by acids from carbohydrates fermentation due to metabolic activity of the biofilm attached to the tooth surface. Although Streptococcus mutans has been thought to be responsible for tooth decay, another bacterium named no mutans has been linked to the beginning, progression and activity of the disease in the enamel, dentine and cement. One of the methodologies put into practice to deepen the study of oral bacteria diversity related to carious cavities is oral metagenome. This methodology allows the study of whole bacterial groups by the analysis of DNA in a particular environment without the need of isolating and cultivating species, providing information about the taxonomical and phylogenetic diversity of these groups. There are different methods to study the bacterial diversity, including 16 S rRNA analysis through electrophoresis, PCR, microarrays, next generation sequence (NGS). The metagenome tool permits to recognize species that have not been able to be isolated by conventional methods. As well as identify its presence or absence in the different stages of the dental caries development, which allows a better understanding of development of the disease. The metagenome-based study has revealed an unexpected oral microbial diversity, giving information relevant to the updating of knowledge and identifies new therapeutic targets. The purpose of this review is to present the main results has brought the study of the metagenome on microbial diversity, applied specifically to the oral bacterial community in health and caries disease.