Abstract
espanolSe ha calculado que, en los ultimos 500 anos, se han extinguido 21 mamiferos en el Centro de Endemismo Pernambuco. En el presente estudio, realizamos un examen critico de los datos aportados en las publicaciones cientificas historicas y recientes, y concluimos que el numero real de mamiferos extintos es de siete, lo que indica que la cifra anterior de 21 especies extintas es una sobrestimacion de aproximadamente 30%. Nuestra lista difiere de las publicaciones previas en que incluye especies aun existentes (n = 5) y excluye otras que nunca habian sido registradas en el Centro de Endemismo Pernambuco (n = 8). Asimismo, senalamos que, al elaborar listas de fauna extinta a escala regional, es necesario adoptar un planteamiento mas riguroso en relacion con los registros historicos y recientes, dado que las identificaciones erroneas y las suposiciones falsas podrian conducir a la perdida de credibilidad ante las partes interesadas y, en ultima instancia, ser negativas para la conservacion de especies. EnglishIn the last 500 years, there have been an estimated 21 mammal extinctions in the Pernambuco Endemism Center. We critically reviewed the published historical and recent literature records and concluded that the actual number of mammal species extinction was seven, indicating that the previous figure of 21 species lost is an overestimation of approximately 30%. Our checklist differs from previous publications by including species that are still extant (n = 5), and removing species that have never been recorded in the Pernambuco Endemism Center (n = 8). We point out that a more rigorous approach towards historical and recent records is needed when producing lists of regionally extinct fauna, given that the implications of misidentifications and false assumptions can potentially lead to loss of credibility by stakeholders and ultimately have a negative effect on species conservation.
Highlights
Reconsidering mammal extinctions in the Pernambuco Endemism Center of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest: a critique
If, for example, jaguars (Panthera onca) are confirmedly extinct in the Centro de Endemismo de Pernambuco (CEPE), this means a total decrease in their former geographic range of ~56,000 km2, which was the original size of the CEPE
What's more, if we consider them extinct in both the CEPE and in the Bahia Endemism Center (CEBA) (Canale et al, 2012), this means a total decrease of almost 90,000 km2 in the species' former geographic range
Summary
In reply to the critique made by Garbino et al (2018) to our article (Mendes Pontes et al, 2016) we here critically review their arguments regarding three issues. On the unquestionable validity of the old literature and paintings of the 16th and 17th century's first colonists of the Atlantic coast of northeastern Brazil, when analysing the composition of the former mammalian fauna in the CEPE (Gandavo, 1980; Salvador, 1975; Marcgraf and Piso, 1942; Falcão, 1964; Brandão, 1980; Vasconcelos, 1981; Marcgraf, 1995): Garbino et al (2018) sometimes accept (e.g. the case of the blond capuchin, Sapajus flavius), sometimes refute (e.g. the case of the deer, Mazama spp.), and sometimes seem not to have had access to these above mentioned invaluable references (e.g. the case of the bush dog, Speothos venaticus) Such historical materials are invaluable testimonies of the original condition that these highly skilled and observant 16th and 17th century colonists/artists/naturalists found in the Atlantic coast of northeastern Brazil, in what are the states of modern–day Pernambuco, Paraíba, Alagoas, and Rio Grande do Norte. All the other references to the CEPE is via extrapolation (see Mendes Pontes et al, 2016)
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