Fleas of mammals and patterns of distributional congruence in northwestern Argentina: A preliminary biogeographic analysis

LÓPEZ BERRIZBEITIA, M. FERNANDA; ACOSTA-GUTIÉRREZ, ROXANA; DÍAZ, M. MÓNICA

Heliyon

Elsevier

Año: 2020 vol. 6

2405-8440

In few groups of parasites have the patterns of distribution been studied using quantitative methods, even though,the study of these organisms indirectly provides information on the biogeographic history of their hosts, and inturn, the history of the hosts allows elucidation of speciation events of the parasites. Our objective was toquantitatively identify distributional congruence patterns of native fleas in northwestern Argentina. We analyzed159 georeferenced distributional records of 47 species and six subspecies of fleas in northwestern Argentina usingNDM/VNDM software. We found eight consensus areas, defined by 17 species and two subspecies, included in sixpatterns of distributional congruence (PDCs) with endemic and non-endemic fleas. The PDCs with the greatestvalues of endemicity (E) were mainly associated with Monte and Yungas Forests areas. All patterns indicatedstrong tendency of the Yungas Forests as a possible endemism area. Our results indicate that distributionalcongruence centers are generally located in Yungas Forests areas and highlight the importance of these areas inconservation and historical biology. This new information will allow delimitation of areas in the region at a moredetailed resolution in the future.