Freshwater fish diversity in the western Amazon basin shaped by Andean uplift since the Late Cretaceous.

South America is home to the highest freshwater fish biodiversity on Earth, and the hotspot of species richness is located in the western Amazon basin. The location of this hotspot is enigmatic, as it is inconsistent with the pattern observed in river systems across the world of increasing species richness towards a river's mouth. Here we investigate the role of river capture events caused by Andean mountain building and repeated episodes of flooding in western Amazonia in shaping the modern-day richness pattern of freshwater fishes in South America, and in Amazonia in particular. To this end, we combine a reconstruction of river networks since 80 Ma with a mechanistic model simulating dispersal, allopatric speciation and extinction over the dynamic landscape of rivers and lakes. We show that Andean mountain building and consequent numerous small river capture events in western Amazonia caused freshwater habitats to be highly dynamic, leading to high diversification rates and exceptional richness. The history of marine incursions and lakes, including the Miocene Pebas mega-wetland system in western Amazonia, played a secondary role.

Fauna de besouros bioluminescentes (Coleoptera: Elateroidea: Lampyridae; Phengodidae, Elateridae) nos municípios de Campinas, Sorocaba-Votorantim e Rio Claro-Limeira (SP, Brasil): biodiversidade e influência da urbanização / Bioluminescent beetles (Coleoptera: Elateroidea: Lampyridae, Phengodidae, Elateridae) in the municipalities of Campinas, Sorocaba-Votorantim and Rio Claro-Limeira (SP, Brazil): biodiversity and influence of urban sprawl

O Brasil abriga a maior biodiversidade de besouros bioluminescentes do mundo. Apesar disto, levantamentos faunísticos regionais e estudos sobre o efeito da urbanização na biodiversidade de vaga-lumes são inexistentes. Este tipo de estudo pode ser especialmente importante para selecionar novos bioindicadores de ambientes noturnos. A biodiversidade de espécies bioluminescentes de Elateroidea em três grandes áreas urbanas no Estado de São Paulo: os municípios de Campinas, Sorocaba-Votorantim e Rio Claro-Limeira foi catalogada. Em Campinas, a ocorrência de espécies tem sido monitorada durante os últimos 20 anos. Foi registrada a ocorrência de 26 espécies em Campinas, 21 em Sorocaba e 19 em Rio Claro, sendo estas encontradas principalmente em áreas de Mata Atlântica, crescimentos secundários, brejos e campos. Apesar de vaga-lumes lampirídeos serem encontrados em todos os habitats, elaterídeos e fengodídeos ocorreram encontrados preferencialmente em áreas florestadas. A expansão urbana, em especial a iluminação artificial tem impacto evidente na biodiversidade deste grupo de insetos. Os lampirídeos Aspisoma lineatum Gyllendal, 1817 (Lampyrinae: Cratomorphini) e Bicellonychia lividipennis Motschulsky, 1854 (Photurinae) são as espécies mais frequentes em areas urbanizadas, ao passo que várias outras espécies de lampirídeos, elaterídeos e fengodídeos são as mais incomuns nestas áreas. Estes estudos oferecem subsídios para o uso deste grupo de vaga-lumes como potenciais bioindicadores noturnos.

Brazil hosts the richest biodiversity of bioluminescent beetles in the world. However, no surveys on the regional biodiversity have been made. Furthermore, studies on the effect of urbanization on bioluminescent beetle's biodiversity are still missing. Such kind of studies could be especially helpful to select new night environment bioindicators. Bioluminescent species of the Elateroidea superfamily occurring in three large and expanding urban areas in São Paulo State: Campinas, Sorocaba-Votorantim and Rio Claro-Limeira municipalities, were catalogued. In Campinas, the occurrence of bioluminescent beetles in different sites has been monitored during the past 20 years. There were 26 species in Campinas, 21 in Sorocaba-Votorantim and 19 in Rio Claro-Limeira, occurring mainly in conserved remnants of Atlantic Rain-forest, secondary growths, marshes and open fields. Whereas fireflies (Lampyridae) are found in almost all habitats, click beetles (Elateridae) and railroadworms (Phengodidae) occur predominantly in woody environments. Urban sprawl has an evident impact on the biodiversity of this selected group of beetles, and special attention should be given to the effect of artificial night lighting in the occurrence of these beetles. The lampyrids Aspisoma lineatum Gyllenhal, 1817 (Lampyrinae: Cratomorphini) and Bicellonychia lividipennis Motschulsky 1854 (Photurinae) are the most common species in urbanized areas, whereas many other species of lampyrids, elaterids and phengodids are rarely found in such environments. These studies offer insights on the potential use of a selected group of luminescent beetles found in this region as nocturnal environment bioindicators.