Non-volant small mammals (Rodentia and Didelphimorphia) diversity in an isolated area of the Serra da Mantiqueira, Minas Gerais state, Brazil

Cibele Rodrigues Bonvicino,Michel Barros Faria,Rayque De Oliveira Lanes

doi:10.46357/bcnaturais.v15i3.203

Abstract

The southeastern Atlantic Forest of the Zona da Mata Mineira is located in the extreme north of Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The Serra da Mantiqueira, is a mountainous region with a high diversity of small non-volant mammal species, several of which are rare species or endemic lineages. The presence of cryptic species in small mammals makes the karyotype an excellent tool for identification and detection of new lineages. We analyzed the karyotype of 14 species: 11 rodents – Abrawayaomys ruschii, Akodon cursor, Blarinomys breviceps, Delomys sublineatus, Juliomys ossitenuis, Oligoryzomys nigripes, Oligoryzomys flavescens, Oxymycterus dasytrichus, Rhipidomys tribei, Sooretamys angouya, and Thaptomys nigrita; and three marsupials – Monodelphis scalops, Philander quica, and Marmosops incanus. We described for the first time the fundamental autosomal number and the morphology of sex chromosomes of Abrawayaomys ruschii, a rare sigmodontine species, and described a new karyotype for Blarinomys. The revision of published karyotypes of the species herein studied enabled the expansion of the geographic distribution of Oligoryzomys nigripes and Delomys sublineatus.

Highlights

Within the Neotropics the Atlantic Forest, South America, is considering a hotspot region with several endemic mammalian species
MATERIAL AND METHODS The study area is located in the municipality of Alto Jequitibá, Minas Gerais state, in the Atlantic Forest biome (Figure 1), and included two protected areas, classified as Reserva Particular de Patrimônio Natural (RPPN) category, in the Fazenda Harmonia
We identified the specimens based on morphologic characters (Gardner, 2008 [2007]; Patton et al, 2015), and they were deposited in the mammal collection of the Museu de Zoologia Newton Baião de Azevedo (MZNB), Carangola, Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Summary

Introduction

Within the Neotropics the Atlantic Forest, South America, is considering a hotspot region with several endemic mammalian species. The Serra da Mantiqueira originated in the Paleocene, resulting in a complex of mountains with wide altitudinal variation (Almeida & Carneiro, 1998), and its importance is highlighted in studies of the biogeographical history of different groups of small mammals (Costa, L. et al, 2000; Costa, B. et al, 2011; Faria et al, 2016; Leite, 2003). These studies point to the importance of this mountain range in the diversification of fauna in the region

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion