PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Arielli Fabrício Machado
AU  - Camila Duarte Ritter
AU  - Cleuton Lima Miranda
AU  - Maria João Ramos Pereira
AU  - Leandro Duarte
TI  - Potential mammalian species for investigating the past connections between Amazonia and the Atlantic Forest
AID  - 10.1101/2020.12.24.424335
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.12.24.424335
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/12/24/2020.12.24.424335.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/12/24/2020.12.24.424335.full
AB  - Much evidence suggests that Amazonia and the Atlantic Forest were connected through at least three dispersion routes in the past: the northeast route, the central route, and the southeast-northwest route. According to previous studies, the southeast-northwest route would have been the most frequently used. However, few studies have assessed the use of these routes based on multiple species. Here we present a compilation of potential mammal species that could have dispersed between the two forest regions to investigate these connections. We evaluate the geographic distributions of mammals occurring in both Amazonia and the Atlantic Forest and the likely connective routes between these forests. We classified the species per habitat occupancy (strict forest specialists, species that prefer forest, or generalists) and compiled the genetic data available for each species to evaluate their potential for phylogeographic studies focusing on genetic exchange between the two forest regions. We found 127 mammalian species occurring in both Amazonia and the Atlantic Forest for which significant genetic data was available. Hence, highlighting their potential for phylogeographic studies investigating the past connections between the two forests. Differently from what was previously proposed, the northeast route showed evidence of past use by more mammal species than the remaining two routes. The central route would have been the second most important in terms of species. Our results show the potential of using mammal species to investigate and bring new insights about the past connections between Amazonia and the Atlantic Forest.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.