Abstract
The goal of conservation biology should be related to the preservation of species and also to the evolutionary and ecological processes that were responsible to form them and that are still acting. We review the conservation status of the species of tuco-tuco (Ctenomys torquatus, C. lami, C. minutus, and C. flamarioni) from southern Brazil, and relate these data to the geological history of a particular area in that region, the Coastal Plain of the States of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina. The implications of the data on these species from the Southeastern Brazil are also discussed in relation to the evolution and risk of extinction of these subterranean rodents.
Highlights
Research on species extinctions reveals an accelerating decay of contemporary biodiversity
The first forms of Ctenomys are recorded to the end of the Pliocene, in central Argentina (Reig and Kiblisky, 1969; Vucetich et al, 1999; Verzi, 2002)
We review the conservation status of tuco-tucos in southern Brazil, and relate these data to the geological history of a particular area, the Coastal Plain of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina
Summary
Research on species extinctions reveals an accelerating decay of contemporary biodiversity. The first forms of Ctenomys are recorded to the end of the Pliocene, in central Argentina (Reig and Kiblisky, 1969; Vucetich et al, 1999; Verzi, 2002) Their adaptation to the fossorial habitat, with small physical and ecological variations, allowed the genus to explosively radiate and occupy many different environments. Their geographic distribution extends from the extreme south of the Neotropical region to southern Peru, including the entire Patagonian region, with a wide latitudinal variation, from sea level to 4,000 m in the Andean region (Reig et al, 1990). The implications of the data on these species for the evolution and risk of extinction of each of these rodents are discussed
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