Survey of Paraguayan Mammals and Their Ectoparasites

小行星9400926 虽然巴拉圭位于温带和亚热带之间的交界处，受到大西洋雨林、潘塔纳尔、塞拉多和干湿查科的影响，但其小型哺乳动物（有袋类、bts、啮齿类和xenarthrans）和相关的寄生节肢动物区系鲜为人知，即使是南美国家。 此外，其生境破碎化和恶化的速度可能与亚马逊低地的许多地区一样高或更高。 将在24个地点对小型哺乳动物及其体外寄生虫进行密集和全面的调查，这些地点共同代表了广泛的生境多样性，并特别考虑到濒危或受威胁地区。 两年的野外收集应产生10，000个哺乳动物标本和相关的节肢动物。 随后的分析可以利用一种侧重于“完整标本”的设计，并在许多物种达到其分布极限的地区进行人口密集型采样。 “完整标本”需要收集每个个体的多个独立数据集，包括形态学（肌肉学、生殖道、头骨和颅后骨骼）、核型、遗传学（蛋白质等位酶、核和线粒体DNA）、生态学和外寄生虫信息。 因此，一些综合分析有关的社区生态学，地理学，系统学和进化可以进行小型哺乳动物及其体外寄生虫。

9400926 Owen Although Paraguay occurs at an interface between temperate and subtropical elements, with influences derived from Atlantic Rainforest, Pantanal, Cerrado, and Wet and Dry Chaco, its small mammal (marsupials, bts, rodents, and xenarthrans) and associated parasitic arthropod faunae are poorly known, even for a South American country. Moreover, its rate of habitat fragmentation and deterioration may be as high or higher than that in many areas of lowland Amazonia. An intensive and comprehensive survey of small mammals and their ectoparasites will be conducted at 24 sites, which together represent a broad diversity of habitats and give special consideration to endangered or threatened areas. Two years of field collection should produce 10,000 mammal specimens and associated arthropods. Subsequent analyses can take advantage of a design that focuses on the "complete specimen" and population-intensive sampling in areas where numerous species reach their distributional limits. The "complete specimen" entails collection of multiple independent data sets fro each individual that comprise morphological (myological, reproductive tract, skull and post cranial skeleton), karyotypic, genetic (protein allozymes, nuclear and extranucler DNA), ecological, and ectoparasitic information. As a result, a number of comprehensive analyses related to community ecology, biogeography, systematics, and evolution can be performed for both small mammals and their ectoparasites.