A forest-specialist carnivore in the middle of the desert?Comments on Anabalon et al. 2019

Darío Moreira-Arce*, Eduardo A. Silva-Rodríguez, Constanza Napolitano, Guillermo D’Elía, Javier Cabello, Javier Millán, Ezequiel Hidalgo-Hermoso, Ariel A. Farías

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalLetterpeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present comments on an article recently published in Ecology and Evolution (“High-resolution melting of the cytochrome B gene in fecal DNA: A powerful approach for fox species identification of the Lycalopex genus in Chile”) by Anabalon et al. that reported the presence of Darwin's fox (Lycalopex fulvipes), a temperate forest specialist, in the hyperarid Atacama Desert of northern Chile. We argue that this putative record lacks ecological support in light of ongoing research on this endangered species, and contains numerous methodological flaws and omissions related to the molecular identification of the species. Based on these issues, we suggest the scientific community and conservation decision-makers disregard the alleged presence of the Darwin's fox in the Atacama Desert.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3825-3830
Number of pages6
JournalEcology and Evolution
Volume10
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Ecology
  • Nature and Landscape Conservation

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