A forest-specialist carnivore in the middle of the desert?Comments on Anabalon et al. 2019

Moreira-Arce, D. ; Silva-Rodríguez, E.A. ; Napolitano, C. ; D’Elía, G. ; Cabello, J. ; Millán, Javier ; Hidalgo-Hermoso, Ezequiel ; Farías, Ariel A.

Resumen: We present comments on an article recently published in Ecology and Evolution (“High-resolution melting of the cytochrome B gene in fecal DNA: A powerful approach for fox species identification of the Lycalopex genus in Chile”) by Anabalon et al. that reported the presence of Darwin''s fox (Lycalopex fulvipes), a temperate forest specialist, in the hyperarid Atacama Desert of northern Chile. We argue that this putative record lacks ecological support in light of ongoing research on this endangered species, and contains numerous methodological flaws and omissions related to the molecular identification of the species. Based on these issues, we suggest the scientific community and conservation decision-makers disregard the alleged presence of the Darwin''s fox in the Atacama Desert.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6132

Año: 2020

Publicado en: Ecology and Evolution 10, 8 (2020), 3825-3830
ISSN: 2045-7758

Factor impacto JCR: 2.912 (2020)

Categ. JCR: EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY rank: 25 / 50 = 0.5 (2020) - Q2 - T2
Categ. JCR: ECOLOGY rank: 70 / 166 = 0.422 (2020) - Q2 - T2

Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 1.17 - Ecology (Q1) - Nature and Landscape Conservation (Q1) - Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics (Q1)

Tipo y forma: (Published version)