{"id":516173,"date":"2024-07-31T14:20:29","date_gmt":"2024-07-31T17:20:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=516173"},"modified":"2024-07-31T14:29:16","modified_gmt":"2024-07-31T17:29:16","slug":"wildcats-from-the-andes-and-central-america-differ-to-those-found-in-brazil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wildcats-from-the-andes-and-central-america-differ-to-those-found-in-brazil\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildcats from the Andes and Central America differ to those found in Brazil"},"content":{"rendered":"

At first glance, oncillas may appear indistinguishable from one another. But not to Tadeu de Oliveira, a biologist at the State University of Maranh\u00e3o (UEMA). Having examined thousands of images and videos captured by camera traps, and having observed these creatures both in the wild and in captivity, Oliveira\u2014along with fellow UEMA researcher Lester Fox-Rosales and 40 other coauthors\u2014has recently redefined the conceptual and geographical boundaries of the species Leopardus tigrinus<\/em> based on morphological, ecological, and geographical patterns, in a paper published in January in Scientific Reports<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Initially described in 1777 based on a specimen collected in French Guiana, over the centuries the species has been classified into four subspecies: Leopardus tigrinus tigrinus<\/em>, L. t. pardinoides<\/em>, L. t. oncilla<\/em> and L. t. guttulus<\/em>. In 2013, the southern tiger cat was distinguished as a separate species, L. guttulus<\/em>, through the genetic research of Tatiane Trigo, a geneticist who demonstrated the absence of genetic exchange with other species. Trigo conducted her research as a postdoctoral fellow at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) under the guidance of Thales de Freitas, from the same institution, and Eduardo Eizirik, from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUC-RS).<\/p>\n

The current taxonomic classifications are based on limited available data, which are often incomplete or tentative. Oliveira explains that a unique aspect of his approach is what he humorously refers to as his \u201cbrain algorithm,\u201d which, he claims, is better trained than image recognition software. By considering factors such as the animal\u2019s size, ear shape, tail morphology, spot patterns (rosettes), and overall appearance, Oliveira is able to distinguish between different oncilla types at a glance.<\/p>\n

A key moment in Oliveira\u2019s oncilla research came in 2011 when American ecologist Rebecca Zug, then a PhD candidate studying the Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus<\/em>), shared hundreds of photos of felines captured by her camera traps. \u201cI spent the night poring over the images and realized that they weren\u2019t the same species I was familiar with,\u201d recalls Oliveira. Zug, currently affiliated with the University of San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador, is a coauthor of the Scientific Reports<\/em> article.<\/p>\n

Subsequent research led to a taxonomic reorganization of the L. tigrinus <\/em>complex and the recognition of a separate species. Andean populations, previously classified as L. t. pardinoides<\/em>, were found to be markedly distinct from their counterparts\u2014even having two teats whereas other tigrinus <\/em>subspecies have four. Living in the mist-shrouded forests of the Andes, hence their common name, \u201cclouded tiger cats,\u201d these populations have been redesignated as L. pardinoides<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Adding to the findings from live animal studies is a wealth of genomic data produced by Jonas Lescroart, a Belgian geneticist pursuing a joint PhD between PUC-RS and the University of Antwerp under the guidance of respectively Eizirik and evolutionary biologist Hannes Svardal. In a December article in Molecular Biology and Evolution<\/em>, he showed that L. pardinoides<\/em> is closely related to the Central American oncilla<\/em>. \u201cGenomic, morphological, and ecological data all tell the same story,\u201d says Lescroart. \u201cFrom a genetic perspective, there\u2019s no doubt that the Andean oncilla constitutes a distinct species.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBiogeographic data could shed light on the evolutionary history of these felines, as their current distribution offers a credible narrative of how the different species radiated across South America from a common ancestor in Central America,\u201d Lescroart adds. According to his research, the southern and northern oncillas diverged from a common ancestor approximately 1.46 million years ago, while the Andean oncilla branched off from this lineage about 2.39 million years ago. The separation between populations of L. pardinoides<\/em> from Central America and those in the northern Andes is a more recent event, occurring between 61,000 and 453,000 years ago.<\/p>\n

Genetically placing the population from the Guiana Shield (a geological formation in the northern Amazon, including Amap\u00e1) remains a challenge due to sparse sampling in this region. This sampling gap, as termed by biologist Fabio Nascimento, a researcher at the Museum of Zoology (MZ) at USP, also posed a challenge in his earlier work several years ago. In 2017, Nascimento and biologist Anderson Feij\u00f3, then a PhD student at the Federal University of Para\u00edba, collaborated on a taxonomic review published in the journal Pap\u00e9is Avulsos de Zoologia<\/em>. \u201cWe relied on available material from museum collections, primarily consisting of skins, skulls, and skeletons, to examine morphological variation and the taxonomy of the L. tigrinus<\/em> complex,\u201d Nascimento says.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n \n \n \n <\/picture>Alexandre Affonso \/ Revista Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span><\/div>
\n

Boundaries and horizons<\/strong>
\n\u201cIn our taxonomic work, we have to use what\u2019s available,\u201d explains Nascimento. He and his colleagues\u2019 research has led them to recognize guttulus<\/em> as a separate species, with L. tigrinus<\/em> distributed across the Guianas, northwestern and western South America, and Central America (Costa Rica). They also revalidated L. emiliae <\/em>as a distinct taxon for the population in Northeast Brazil and Amap\u00e1. Oliveira disagrees with this distinction, seeing it as a result of inadequate data. Nascimento views the proposed species delimitations as hypotheses pending DNA studies to clarify the evolution of these felines. \u201cWith more evidence and the use of different methodologies, we will be able to determine which hypotheses will be supported or refuted,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Oliveira believes it is important to move from science to action. \u201cL. tigrinus<\/em> and L. guttulus<\/em> are the only Brazilian felines globally threatened with extinction; protecting them has become a life mission.\u201d Nascimento is involved in the Tiger Cat Conservation Initiative (TCCI), an NGO that advances programs such as vaccination campaigns to counter diseases from domestic dogs that affect wild cats. He also plans to revise the distribution map of the tigrinus complex for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. \u201cI created the current map, and it\u2019s entirely inaccurate: the distribution area is 80% smaller.\u201d The new species divisions are expected to directly impact the boundaries of protected areas, which must now accommodate each separate feline lineage.<\/p>\n

Scientific articles<\/strong>
\nOLIVEIRA, T. G. de et al<\/em>. Ecological modeling, biogeography, and phenotypic analyses setting the tiger cats\u2019 hyperdimensional niches reveal a new species<\/a>. Scientific Reports<\/strong>. Vol. 14, 2395. Jan. 29, 2024.
\nLESCROART, J. et al<\/em>. Extensive phylogenomic discordance and the complex evolutionary history of the neotropical cat genus Leopardus<\/a>. Molecular Biology and Evolution<\/strong>. Vol. 40, no. 12, msad255. Dec. 2023.
\nTRIGO, T. C. et al.<\/em> Molecular data reveal complex hybridization and a cryptic species of Neotropical wild cat<\/a>. Current Biology<\/strong>. Vol. 23, no. 24, pp. 2528\u201333. Dec. 16, 2013.
\nNASCIMENTO, F. O. do & FEIJ\u00d3, A. Taxonomic revision of the Tigrina leopardus tigrinus (schreber, 1775) species group (Carnivora, Felidae)<\/a>. Pap\u00e9is Avulsos de Zoologia<\/strong>. Vol. 57, no. 19 pp. 231\u201364. June 13, 2017.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Complex that includes Leopardus tigrinus<\/em> and L. guttulus<\/em> gains new species, L. pardinoides<\/em>, all in danger of extinction","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":516178,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[209,231,266],"coauthors":[1601],"class_list":["post-516173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","tag-biology","tag-evolution","tag-zoology"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516173"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":527079,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516173\/revisions\/527079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516173"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=516173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}