2021-2022 Grant in Aid of Research

Summary and Analysis of Mammals Collected During the Andrews University Department of Biology Expeditions to Peru in the 1960s.

Kieran Taylor 

Peru is an incredibly biodiverse country with numerous endemic species (found nowhere else in the world). An especially diverse area of the country is the eastern slopes of the Andes mountain range. Here, the mountains create tropical forests and together with the elevation gradient, the area has created abundant niches for animals and plants to speciate into. Mammals are especially diverse in Peru, particularly in the two habitat types of the Yungas and Selva Baja (which are the main two habitat types in the tropical forests on the eastern slopes of the Andes). Pacheco et. al (2009) documented 509 mammal species in Peru, with 211 found in the Yungas and 292 in the Selva Baja habitat types. One area in central Peru on the eastern slopes of the Andes which is composed mostly of these two habitat types is the province of Oxapampa. This area of Peru has been classified as having high irreplaceability and vulnerability; additionally, it is inadequately covered by protected areas (Bax & Francesconi, 2019; Rodríguez & Young, 2000; Swenson et al., 2012; Young & León, 2000). Historically, a dozen small scale expeditions have been conducted to Oxapampa but, to our knowledge, the approximately 2,200 mammal specimens collected by the Biology Department at Andrews University during the 1960s in Oxapampa represent the largest sample of mammals collected in the region. It is therefore critical that these specimens be properly identified and catalogued so that knowledge of these specimens can be incorporated into the scientific literature. In addition, I will compare the locations of species collected during these expeditions with their published range maps in order to draw important biogeographical and conservation implications.