Diversity and Conservation of Neotropical mammals

OJEDA RICARDO

Encyclopedia of Biodiversity

ACADEMIC PRESS

Lugar: Waltham, MA; Año: 2013; p. 582 - 594

The Neotropical Region is one of the major biogeographic divisions for both plants and animals on Earth. It spans from central Mexico and the Caribbean islands to southern South America. This chapter provides an overview of the current state of our knowledge regarding the mammals of the Neotropical Region, including relevant geological events, evolution, biogeographic patterns, and large-scale assessment of threats, conservation status and prospects. Keywords: Great American Interchange; Mammal diversity; Neartic-Neotropical Transition; Neotropical conservation; Neotropical mammals; Neotropical Region; South American mammals; Threats to mammals. Glossary: Adaptive radiation: The evolution of ecological and phenotypic diversity within a rapidly multiplying lineage; Ecoregion: A large unit of land or water containing a distinct assemblage of natural communities and species;Endemic: Any taxon (e.g. species, genus, family, order) confined to a particular region; GABI: The Great American Biotic Interchange was the major exchange of land mammals between South and North America after the formation of the Isthmus of Panama, about 2.7 million years ago; Rapoport effect: A pattern where the size of a species? geographic range increases towards higher latitudes (Ojeda, R.A. 2013. In: Levin S.A. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, second edition, Volume 2, pp. 582-594. Waltham, MA: Academic Press)