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Burgin CJ, Zijlstra JS, Becker MA, Handika H, Alston JM, Widness J, Liphardt S, Huckaby DG, Upham NS. How many mammal species are there now? Updates and trends in taxonomic, nomenclatural, and geographic knowledge. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2025:2025.02.27.640393. [PMID: 40093142 PMCID: PMC11908242 DOI: 10.1101/2025.02.27.640393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2025]
Abstract
The Mammal Diversity Database (MDD) is an open-access resource providing up-to-date taxonomic, nomenclatural, and geographic data for global mammal species. Since its launch in 2018, the MDD has transformed the traditionally static process of updating mammalian taxonomy into regular online releases reflecting the latest published research. To build on this foundation, we here present version 2.0 of the MDD (MDD2), which catalogues 6,759 living and recently extinct mammal species, representing net increases of 4.1% and 24.8% over MDD version 1.0 and Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition (MSW3), respectively. Additionally, we identify a net increase of 68.8% (+2,754; 3,149 splits + de novo, 395 lumps) species since 1980 at a rate of ~65 species/year based on past totals from 14 mammalian compendia, leading to projections of ~7,084 species by 2030 and ~8,382 by 2050 if these trends continue. Key updates in MDD2 include: (i) codings of US state, country, continent, and biogeographic realm geographic categories for each species; (ii) a comprehensive nomenclatural dataset for 50,230 valid and synonymous species-rank names, curated with type locality and specimen information for the first time; and (iii) integration between the MDD and the databases Hesperomys and Batnames for greater data accuracy and completeness. These updates bridge critical gaps in the taxonomic and nomenclatural information needed for ongoing revisions and assessments of mammalian species diversity. Using these data, we evaluate temporal and geographic trends over the past 267 years, identifying four major time periods of change in mammalian taxonomy and nomenclature: (i) the initial monographic description of traditionally charismatic species (1758-1880); (ii) the peak of descriptive taxonomy, describing subspecies, and publishing in journals (1881-1939); (iii) the shift toward revisionary taxonomy and polytypic species (1940-1999); and (iv) the current technology-driven period of integrative revisionary taxonomy (2000-present). Geographically, new species recognition since MSW3 has been concentrated in equatorial, mountainous, and island regions, highlighting areas of high mammal endemism (e.g., Madagascar, Philippines, Andes, East Africa, Himalayas, Atlantic Forests). However, gaps in 21st century taxonomic activity are identified in West and Central Africa, India, and some parts of Indonesia. Currently lagging conservation assessments are alarming, with 25% of the MDD2-recognized mammal species allocated to the 'understudied' conservation threat categories of Data Deficient (11%) or Not Evaluated (14%), underscoring the need for greater taxonomic integration with conservation organizations. Governance advancements in MDD2 include the establishment of external taxonomic subcommittees to guide data collection and curation, a rewritten website that improves access and scalability, a cross-platform application that provides offline access, and new partnerships to continue linking MDD data to global biodiversity infrastructure. By providing up-to-date mammalian taxonomic and nomenclatural data-including links to the text of original name descriptions, type localities, and type specimen collections-the MDD provides an integrative resource for mammalogists and conservationists to more easily track the status of their study organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Connor J. Burgin
- Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Castetter Hall, 219 Yale Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM, USA 87106
| | | | - Madeleine A. Becker
- Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation, 1500 Remount Rd., Front Royal, VA, USA 22630
- Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, 3001 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC, USA 20008
- College of Science, George Mason University, 4400 University Dr., Fairfax, VA, USA 22030
| | - Heru Handika
- Museum of Natural Science and Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA 70803
| | - Jesse M. Alston
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, 1064 E. Lowell St., Tucson, AZ, USA 85721
| | - Jane Widness
- Department of Anthropology, Yale University, 10 Sachem St, New Haven, CT USA
| | - Schuyler Liphardt
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA 59812
| | - David G. Huckaby
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA, USA, 90840-3702
| | - Nathan S. Upham
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, 777 E. University Dr., Tempe, AZ, USA 85287
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Salazar-Hamm PS, Johnson WL, Nofchissey RA, Salazar JR, Gonzalez P, Goodfellow SM, Dunnum JL, Bradfute SB, Armién B, Cook JA, Domman DB, Dinwiddie DL. Choclo virus (CHOV) recovered from deep metatranscriptomics of archived frozen tissues in natural history biorepositories. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2024; 18:e0011672. [PMID: 38215158 PMCID: PMC10810438 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0011672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2023] [Revised: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 01/14/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hantaviruses are negative-stranded RNA viruses that can sometimes cause severe disease in humans; however, they are maintained in mammalian host populations without causing harm. In Panama, sigmodontine rodents serve as hosts to transmissible hantaviruses. Due to natural and anthropogenic forces, these rodent populations are having increased contact with humans. METHODS We extracted RNA and performed Illumina deep metatranscriptomic sequencing on Orthohantavirus seropositive museum tissues from rodents. We acquired sequence reads mapping to Choclo virus (CHOV, Orthohantavirus chocloense) from heart and kidney tissue of a two-decade old frozen museum sample from a Costa Rican pygmy rice rat (Oligoryzomys costaricensis) collected in Panama. Reads mapped to the CHOV reference were assembled and then validated by visualization of the mapped reads against the assembly. RESULTS We recovered a 91% complete consensus sequence from a reference-guided assembly to CHOV with an average of 16X coverage. The S and M segments used in our phylogenetic analyses were nearly complete (98% and 99%, respectively). There were 1,199 ambiguous base calls of which 93% were present in the L segment. Our assembled genome varied 1.1% from the CHOV reference sequence resulting in eight nonsynonymous mutations. Further analysis of all publicly available partial S segment sequences support a clear relationship between CHOV clinical cases and O. costaricensis acquired strains. CONCLUSIONS Viruses occurring at extremely low abundances can be recovered from deep metatranscriptomics of archival tissues housed in research natural history museum biorepositories. Our efforts resulted in the second CHOV genome publicly available. This genomic data is important for future surveillance and diagnostic tools as well as understanding the evolution and pathogenicity of CHOV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paris S. Salazar-Hamm
- Clinical and Translational Science Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America
- Center for Global Health, Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America
- Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - William L. Johnson
- Department of Pediatrics, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Robert A. Nofchissey
- Center for Global Health, Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Jacqueline R. Salazar
- Department of Research in Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Gorgas Memorial Institute of Health Studies, Panama City, Panama
| | - Publio Gonzalez
- Department of Research in Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Gorgas Memorial Institute of Health Studies, Panama City, Panama
| | - Samuel M. Goodfellow
- Center for Global Health, Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Jonathan L. Dunnum
- Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America
- Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Steven B. Bradfute
- Center for Global Health, Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Blas Armién
- Department of Research in Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Gorgas Memorial Institute of Health Studies, Panama City, Panama
- Sistema Nacional de Investigación (SNI), Secretaria Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovacion (SENACYT), Panama City, Panama
| | - Joseph A. Cook
- Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America
- Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Daryl B. Domman
- Clinical and Translational Science Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America
- Center for Global Health, Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Darrell L. Dinwiddie
- Department of Pediatrics, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America
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Cruz GLT, Winck GR, D'Andrea PS, Krempser E, Vidal MM, Andreazzi CS. Integrating databases for spatial analysis of parasite-host associations and the novel Brazilian dataset. Sci Data 2023; 10:757. [PMID: 37919263 PMCID: PMC10622529 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-023-02636-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Incomplete information on parasites, their associated hosts, and their precise geographical location hampers the ability to predict disease emergence in Brazil, a continental-sized country characterised by significant regional disparities. Here, we demonstrate how the NCBI Nucleotide and GBIF databases can be used as complementary databases to study spatially georeferenced parasite-host associations. We also provide a comprehensive dataset of parasites associated with mammal species that occur in Brazil, the Brazilian Mammal Parasite Occurrence Data (BMPO). This dataset integrates wild mammal species' morphological and life-history traits, zoonotic parasite status, and zoonotic microparasite transmission modes. Through meta-networks, comprising interconnected host species linked by shared zoonotic microparasites, we elucidate patterns of zoonotic microparasite dissemination. This approach contributes to wild animal and zoonoses surveillance, identifying and targeting host species accountable for disproportionate levels of parasite sharing within distinct biomes. Moreover, our novel dataset contributes to the refinement of models concerning disease emergence and parasite distribution among host species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriella L T Cruz
- Laboratório de Biologia e Parasitologia de Mamíferos Silvestres Reservatórios (LABPMR), Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Biodiversidade e Saúde, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (IOC), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
- Pró-Reitoria de Pós-Graduação, Pesquisa e Inovação (PROPGPI), Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Unirio), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Gisele R Winck
- Laboratório de Biologia e Parasitologia de Mamíferos Silvestres Reservatórios (LABPMR), Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Paulo S D'Andrea
- Laboratório de Biologia e Parasitologia de Mamíferos Silvestres Reservatórios (LABPMR), Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Eduardo Krempser
- Plataforma Institucional Biodiversidade e Saúde Silvestre (PIBSS), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Mariana M Vidal
- Laboratório de Biologia e Parasitologia de Mamíferos Silvestres Reservatórios (LABPMR), Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Cecilia S Andreazzi
- Laboratório de Biologia e Parasitologia de Mamíferos Silvestres Reservatórios (LABPMR), Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
- International Platform for Science, Technology and Innovation in Health (PICTIS), Ílhavo, Portugal.
- Departamento de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
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