Records of melanistic Tamandua tetradactyla (Pilosa, Myrmecophagidae) from Ecuador

By

Ríos-Alvear, Gorky
Cadena-Ortiz, Héctor

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2019-10-25

Original Publication

Neotropical Biology and Conservation

Volume

14

Series / Issue

Issue: 3

Pages

339--347

Subjects

Cerro Plateado Biological Reserve , color variation , mamíferos neotropicais , Neotropical Mammals , Parque Nacional Podocarpus , Podocarpus National Park , Reserva Biológica Cerro Plateado , variação de coloração , Vermilingua , Xenarthra

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Brazil Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/neotropical.14.e37714

 

Abstract

In Ecuador, the presence of melanistic individuals of Southern Tamandua Tamandua tetradactyla Linnaeus (1758) has been recognized but there has not been a formal report written about it. Neither has there been one on the observations or the collected specimens in museums. We present six records of melanism in Tamandua tetradactyla from southern Ecuador and discuss other records in wildlife and from museum collections. Half of the records are recent photographic ones (2018), and the other three are museum specimens collected between 2009 and 2016. Our report of melanistic individuals suggests that dark coloration varieties are frequent mutations in the region. This report can be useful to promote conservation initiatives, based on the Southern Tamandua as a potential flagship-species.