Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 17 February 2020 | 12(2): 15276–15278
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5392.12.2.15276-15278
#5392 | Received 06 September 2019 | Final
received 03 December 2019 | Finally accepted 28 January 2020
Filling a gap in Andean Cat Leopardus jacobita (Cornalia, 1865) (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) distribution
range: new record in La Rioja province, Argentina
Cintia Gisele Tellaeche
1, María de las Mercedes Guerisoli 2,
Constanza Napolitano 3, Dante Luis Di Nucci 4 & Juan
Ignacio Reppucci 5
1 Alianza Gato Andino; Centro de
Estudios Territoriales Ambientales y Sociales (CETAS), Universidad Nacional de
Jujuy, Alberdi 47, San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina.
2 Grupo de Genética y Ecología
en Conservación y Biodiversidad, División Mastozoología, Museo Argentino de
Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”, Av. Angel
Gallardo 470, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
3 Departamento de Ciencias
Biológicas y Biodiversidad, Universidad de Los Lagos, Av. Fuchslocher
1305, Osorno, Chile; Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad (IEB), Santiago,
Chile; Alianza Gato Andino.
4 Fundación de Historia Natural
Félix de Azara - Hidalgo 775, 7mo piso, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires,
Argentina.
5 Alianza Gato Andino; Consejo
Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Administración de
Parques Nacionales-Delegación Noroeste (APN-DRNOA), Santa Fé
23, Salta, Argentina.
1 cintiatellaeche@gmail.com, 2
mariadelasmercedesguerisoli@gmail.com, 3 constanza.napolitano@ulagos.cl,
4 dinuccidante@gmail.com,
5 juanreppucci@gmail.com
(corresponding author)
Editor: Angie Appel,
Wild Cat Network, Bad Marienberg, Germany. Date of publication: 17 February
2020 (online & print)
Citation: Tellaeche, C.G., M. de las Mercedes Guerisoli, C. Napolitano, D.L. Di Nucci & J.I. Reppucci (2020). Filling a gap
in Andean Cat Leopardus jacobita
(Cornalia, 1865) (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae)
distribution range: new record in La Rioja province, Argentina. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(2): 15276–15278. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5392.12.2.15276–15278
Copyright: © Tellaeche
et al. 2020. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: Andean Cat Global Genetics Project (Andean Cat Alliance), Wildlife Conservation
Network.
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: We thank the Andean Cat Global
Genetics Project (Andean Cat Alliance), Wildlife Conservation Network and
CONICYT Proyecto PAI 77190064.
The Andean Cat Leopardus
jacobita is one of the least known felids in
South America (AGA 2011; Hunter 2015).
Its distribution is restricted to arid regions of the High Andes of
Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru and a portion of the Patagonian steppe in
Argentina. It is classified as
Endangered by the IUCN (Villalba et al. 2016). Main threats for this species, evaluated and
categorized by the Andean Cat Alliance (2011), are habitat loss and
degradation, opportunistic and traditional hunting and reduction of prey
populations.
In 1998, all our understanding of Andean Cat
was based on only 18 museum specimens.
During the last 20 years, knowledge about the species has increased
greatly. Andean Cat diet, distribution,
habitat use, population density, activity patterns, genetic structure and some
other aspects have been studied in several areas across its range. Many aspects of its ecology and biology,
however, remain unknown (Walker et al. 2007; Napolitano et al. 2008; Lucherini et al. 2009; Reppucci
et al. 2011). Basic knowledge on the
distribution of the species has improved in the past few years because of new
data. In 2006, a new record expanded the
range 500km south, and four years later, another record expanded it another
150km south to a new ecoregion (Patagonian steppe) 80km east of the Andes (Sorli et al. 2006; Novaro et al.
2010). This last record at 650m updated
the known elevation range for the Andean Cat, which was until then thought to
be above 3,500m (Lucherini & Vidal 2003). We have gained a more complete understanding
of Andean Cat distribution, but some questions remain unanswered. Particularly in Argentina, there is a large region
in the province of La Rioja where no records have been found, and despite
sampling efforts in the neighbouring province of San
Juan, only one record was found; these provinces provide a large amount of
suitable habitat for Andean Cats (Marino et al. 2011).
Genetic diversity across the currently known
distribution has been studied. The
Andean Cat populations have low genetic diversity, and two evolutionarily
significant units (ESU) have been suggested for Argentina (Cossíos
et al. 2012). The two ESU are separated
by a large gap in the distribution range between 260S and 350S,
which corresponds to the mentioned area with suitable habitat, but no records
in La Rioja province. Genetic
information was not obtained from the only sample collected in San Juan
province.
Here we present the first Andean Cat record
for La Rioja province in northwestern Argentina (Image 1), from a pelt found in
General Felipe Varela Department in the west of La Rioja Province (Figure 1) in
an area called Las Cuevas (29.220S, 68.710W) at an
elevation of approximately 1,815m. The
animal was poached in retaliation for alleged harm to domestic goats, and the
pelt was kept as ornament in Villa Unión City.
We collected a sample from the skin and conducted genetic analysis as
described in Cossíos et al. (2012) to confirm that it
was an Andean Cat. Using multi-locus genotype data, further analysis is
currently ongoing to assign this specimen to a known genetic population and
ESU, and to integrate this new data into the overall genetic structure analysis
within known Andean Cat populations.
This record is particularly important because
it fills an extensive gap in the distribution range of the species and will
also provide relevant genetic information for a better understanding of the
relationship between the two currently identified evolutionarily significant
units.
For
figure & image - - click here
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