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Global-scope scientific journals have played an important role in upholding a colonial legacy of north-south inequities in ornithology, and they now have a key role to play in increasing equity in scientific publishing. We explore common barriers faced by ornithologists in the Neotropics (Latin America and the Caribbean) and suggest priority actions that Ornithological Applications, Ornithology, and other global-scope ornithological journals can take to increase equity in publication and research uptake. Among the most important problems, we identified (1) restrictive (and north-biased) criteria for assessing research “importance” and “novelty,” (2) the high publication costs of the Author Pay (Gold) Open Access model, (3) language hegemony, (4) under-representation of ornithologists from the Neotropics on editorial boards and as lead authors on invited articles, and (5) lack of attention to ethics of collaboration and citation. We recommend that Ornithological Applications, Ornithology, and other global-scope ornithological journals (1) adjust their criteria for publication with the aim to publish all scientifically robust and ethically rigorous ornithology research submitted by first authors based in the Neotropics, including negative results and articles on basic biology; (2) maintain or create options for free or low-cost publication; (3) offer the option of a submission and review process in Spanish (and possibly other languages in the future); (4) increase the representation of ornithologists based in the Neotropics (especially women and those belonging to other marginalized groups) in core editorial teams and on editorial boards; and (5) introduce structured reflexivity statements, in which authors declare how local scientists were involved in the research and how equity was promoted in the collaboration that resulted in the manuscript. For these changes to be broadly effective in the long term, ornithologists across the Global South, and Indigenous, Brown, and Black ornithologists globally, should play lead roles in designing, implementing, and assessing the effectiveness of journal policies and programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The canid genus Lycalopex comprises six recently diversified South American species whose evolutionary relationships have been remarkably challenging to resolve. We analyzed 6000 bp of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from 55 Lycalopex individuals (L. sechurae = 4, L. culpaeus = 7, L.griseus = 8, L.gymnocercus = 17, L.vetulus = 13 and L. fulvipes = 6), and nine specimens from the closely related species Cerdocyon thous, Chrysocyon brachyurus and Speothos venaticus, to reconstruct their phylogenetic relationships, estimate the support for species-level monophyly, and date their divergences. In addition, we also sequenced seven nuclear segments from the same taxa. Three different phylogenetic approaches converged on the same mitochondrial topology with strong support for most nodes. All species were confirmed to be monophyletic for mtDNA, except for one intriguing case in which two L. vetulus individuals carried L. gymnocercus haplotypes, potentially implying a case of interspecies admixture. L. vetulus was the first species to diverge (ca. 1.2 Mya), followed by L. sechurae and then L. gymnocercus. The most internal group comprised L. griseus and the sister-species L. culpaeus and L. fulvipes, which diverged around 430,000 years ago in southern Argentina or Chile. The analysis of nuclear markers revealed several examples of intra-specific variation coupled with lack of species monophyly, consistent with pervasive incomplete lineage sorting and/or hybridization in this recent radiation. Our results provide robust mitochondrial resolution of this challenging radiation, and illustrate the difficulty of attaining similar success with traditional nuclear markers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tropical Andes in South America stand at the top of the world's list of endemism hotspots, due to their high species richness per unit area. Thus, our study focuses on the Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) of the Utcubamba River (PER-84), one of the 96 KBAs, with an extension of 35,534 hectares. This area is located in northwest Peru, within the hotspot of the tropical Andes. The study area is well known as the waterfalls valley, which holds the world's third highest waterfall "Gocta", an outstanding national and international tourist attraction. Nevertheless, despite its great ecological and tourist value, research reports are deficient in the area. Therefore, we conducted a biological inventory in 2019 during the wet season, with the aim of recording and identifying species of tetrapod fauna, as well as promoting actions for their conservation. Based on field assessments, the following number of species was recorded: amphibians (14), reptiles (6), birds (229), and mammals (20). Interestingly, for the first time, two species of amphibians (Gastrotheca aguaruna and Gastrotheca spectabilis) and two reptiles (Dipsas palmeri and Tachymenis affinis) have been recorded; furthermore, the following several endemic species have been observed: amphibians (3), reptiles (2), birds (3) and mammals (1) that have not yet been reported for the ACB, which have not yet been reported for the KBA. This finding, in fact, increases the number of species of endemism in this part of Peruvian territory. Consequently, this study aims to be the basis for promoting further research to discover new species for science and to propose strategies for their conservation over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]