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| Schneider’s marmosets Mico schneideri sp. n. recorded at the type locality: Paranaíta, left margin of the Teles Pires River, Mato Grosso State, Brazil. (a) Adult female; (b) adult male. Mico schneideri Costa-Araújo, Silva-Jr., Boubli, Rossi, Hrbek & Farias, in Costa-Araújo, Silva-Jr, Boubli, ... et Hrbek, 2021 Photos: Diego Silva. |
Abstract
Amazonia has the richest primate fauna in the world. Nonetheless, the diversity and distribution of Amazonian primates remain little known and the scarcity of baseline data challenges their conservation. These challenges are especially acute in the Amazonian arc of deforestation, the 2500 km long southern edge of the Amazonian biome that is rapidly being deforested and converted to agricultural and pastoral landscapes. Amazonian marmosets of the genus Mico are little known endemics of this region and therefore a priority for research and conservation efforts. However, even nascent conservation efforts are hampered by taxonomic uncertainties in this group, such as the existence of a potentially new species from the Juruena–Teles Pires interfluve hidden within the M. emiliae epithet. Here we test if these marmosets belong to a distinct species using new morphological, phylogenomic, and geographic distribution data analysed within an integrative taxonomic framework. We discovered a new, pseudo-cryptic Mico species hidden within the epithet M. emiliae, here described and named after Horacio Schneider, the pioneer of molecular phylogenetics of Neotropical primates. We also clarify the distribution, evolutionary and morphological relationships of four other Mico species, bridging Linnean, Wallacean, and Darwinian shortfalls in the conservation of primates in the Amazonian arc of deforestation.
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| Two of the four lineages retrieved in genus Mico, based on morphological synapomorphies (data not shown) and phylogenomic analyses. (a) Mico emiliae lineage; (b) Mico schneideri sp. n. lineage. Illustrations: Stephen Nash. |
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| Schneider’s marmosets Mico schneideri sp. n. recorded at the type locality: Paranaíta, left margin of the Teles Pires River, Mato Grosso State, Brazil. (a) Adult female; (b) adult male. Photos: Diego Silva. |
Order Primates Linnaeus, 1758
Family Callitrichidae Gray, 1821
Genus Mico Lesson, 1840
Mico schneideri sp. n. Costa-Araújo, Silva-Jr., Boubli, Rossi, Hrbek & Farias
Diagnosis. Uniform lead colour on saddle and rump, and underparts cream-silvery with orange hues.
Etymology. The new species is named in honour of Professor Horacio Schneider, a pioneer, and a major contributor to the phylogenetic studies of Neotropical Primates, who humbly accepted to have this species named in his honour.
Suggested vernacular names. Schneider’s marmoset (English);
sagui-de-Schneider (Portuguese).
Rodrigo Costa-Araújo, José S. Silva-Jr., Jean P. Boubli, Rogério V. Rossi, Gustavo R. Canale, Fabiano R. Melo, Fabrício Bertuol, Felipe E. Silva, Diego A. Silva, Stephen D. Nash, Iracilda Sampaio, Izeni P. Farias and Tomas Hrbek. 2021. An Integrative Analysis Uncovers A New, Pseudo-cryptic Species of Amazonian Marmoset (Primates: Callitrichidae: Mico) from the Arc of Deforestation. Scientific Reports. 11: 15665. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-93943-w
