Publications by authors named "Pablo A Martinez"

Article Synopsis
  • Snakebite envenoming is a major global public health issue, especially in Brazil, where Bothrops snakes cause most incidents, leading to complications and fatalities.
  • A study from 2015-2021 analyzed data from various Brazilian municipalities to discover factors influencing snakebite incidence, utilizing Species Distribution Models and examining variables like precipitation, temperatures, and land use.
  • Results showed that higher snakebite rates were primarily in northern Brazil, with increased incidents linked to extensive forests, historical forest loss, higher temperatures, and precipitation, suggesting a correlation with snake activity and human interactions.
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Background: Climate change is expected to have profound effects on the distribution of venomous snake species, including reductions in biodiversity and changes in patterns of envenomation of humans and domestic animals. We estimated the effect of future climate change on the distribution of venomous snake species and potential knock-on effects on biodiversity and public health.

Methods: We built species distribution models based on the geographical distribution of 209 medically relevant venomous snake species (WHO categories 1 and 2) and present climatic variables, and used these models to project the potential distribution of species in 2070.

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  • Incomplete species inventories in Antarctica hinder ecological research and conservation efforts, with notable gaps in understanding species interactions, population dynamics, and overall biodiversity.
  • A new living database called terrANTALife has been developed, compiling and revising inventories of eukaryotic species in Antarctic terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, including significant contributions from various groups of microorganisms.
  • The comprehensive checklists now include 470 animal species, 306 plant species, 997 fungal species, and 434 protists, marking a significant step toward understanding and preserving Antarctic biodiversity.
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  • Climate change is altering the distribution of venomous marine gastropods, particularly Conus geographus and C. textile, which can pose health risks to humans and offer potential pharmaceutical benefits.
  • The study utilized Species Distribution Models (SDMs) to predict how these species may be affected by climate change in the Indo-Pacific region for the years 2050 and 2090, highlighting the importance of factors like Temperature and Primary Productivity.
  • Projections indicate that while Southeast Asia and Micronesia will remain suitable for both species, C. geographus may thrive more, increasing human envenomation risks, whereas C. textile may decline, leading to a loss of its pharmacological potential.
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  • Grasses (Poaceae) are highly invasive worldwide, with about 19% classified as invasive and nearly 38% as naturalized, indicating significant invasion success across many tribes.
  • The likelihood of a grass species becoming invasive is linked to its evolutionary traits and diversification rates, suggesting that some ancestral characteristics may predispose them to success in new environments.
  • Different biogeographic regions show varying levels of invasive grasses, with the temperate Palearctic having the highest ratio of invasives, highlighting the need for targeted management strategies based on evolutionary patterns.
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Great environmental changes may affect the survival capability of a variety of organisms. Testudinidae is the most diverse family of terrestrial chelonians within the whole order (Testudines). Interestingly, however, the number of extinct species overcome the extant ones.

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The climatic changes of the next decades will modify human and livestock interactions with venomous animals; Some venomous species will disappear in the coming decades; Other venomous species will shift their distributions or increase their geographic ranges invading new countries that may not have specific antivenoms.

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Body size and shape fundamentally determine organismal energy requirements by modulating heat and mass exchange with the environment and the costs of locomotion, thermoregulation, and maintenance. Ecologists have long used the physical linkage between morphology and energy balance to explain why the body size and shape of many organisms vary across climatic gradients, e.g.

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Article Synopsis
  • Continental mountain areas, while only covering less than 15% of the Earth's surface, hold over 80% of terrestrial diversity, prompting research into the reasons behind this phenomenon.
  • A study on amphibians revealed that families with higher speciation rates are more likely to be found in mountainous regions, indicating that topographically complex areas promote faster speciation.
  • Findings suggest that not only speciation is influenced by mountain environments, but also factors like low extinction and high colonization rates play a role in maintaining high biodiversity, underscoring the importance of these regions for conservation efforts.
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Objective: To identify areas that present a higher risk of exposure to accidents with scorpions in Brazil.

Methods: We used techniques of spatial prioritisation to determine the most vulnerable localities to envenomation by four scorpion species. Our prioritisation integrated ecological niche models with health investment, antivenin availability, access to health care facilities and metrics of human impact data.

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Article Synopsis
  • The origin of morphological diversity in organisms is largely influenced by environmental factors and developmental processes.
  • Interactions between size and shape, particularly in frogs (anurans), show that larger individuals often develop in habitats with high water stress.
  • Our study found that increased hydric stress leads to more spherical body shapes in Arboranae, especially in smaller frogs, as an adaptation for conserving water in challenging environments.
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Evolutionary rate explanations for latitudinal diversity gradients predict faster speciation and diversification rates in richer, older and more stable tropical regions (climatic stability hypothesis). Numerous modern lineages have emerged in high latitudes, however, suggesting that climatic oscillations can drive population divergence, at least among extratropical species (glacial refugia hypothesis). This conflicting evidence suggests that geographical patterns of evolutionary rates are more complicated than previously thought.

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Knowledge of the oribatid mite community from Patagonian steppe is scarce compared with other environments, such as the Andean-Patagonian forest. In the present research we identified oribatid mites under different environmental conditions: two Patagonian steppe types (grass and shrub), two soil characteristics (bare and covered soil) and two different seasons (autumn and spring). A total of 42 species/morphospecies were found, 13 were new records for Chubut and one was a new record for Argentina.

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Geographical gradients of body size express climate-driven constraints on animals, but whether they exist and what causes them in ectotherms remains contentious. For amphibians, the water conservation hypothesis posits that larger bodies reduce evaporative water loss (EWL) along dehydrating gradients. To address this hypothesis mechanistically, we build on well-established biophysical equations of water exchange in anurans to propose a state-transition model that predicts an increase of either body size or resistance to EWL as alternative specialization along dehydrating gradients.

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An integrative approach was used, combining morphological and molecular analyses, to provide the first report of Lysmata lipkei and L. vittata in Sergipe State, Brazil, and confirm that both species are invasive of the Atlantic Ocean. Lysmata shrimps were sampled in the estuary region of the Vaza-Barris river, Sergipe State, northeastern Brazil, and identified as L.

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Geometric morphometrics were used to analyse ontogenetic trajectories in representatives of the Characiformes, Cichliformes, Cyprinodontiformes, Siluriformes, and Tetraodontiformes. It was not possible to differentiate any allometric growth patterns across groups, indicating that a phylogenetically conserved developmental pattern is widespread throughout Teleostei.

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Chagas disease represents one of the major health issue in Latin America. Epidemiological control is focused on disease vectors, so studies on the ecology of triatomine vectors constitute a central strategy. Recently, research at large spatial scale has been produced, and authors commonly rely on the assumption that geographical regions presenting good environmental conditions for most vector species are also those with high risk of infection.

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The temporal pattern of co-occurrence of human beings and venomous species (scorpions, spiders, snakes) is changing. Thus, the temporal pattern of areas with risk of accidents with such species tends to become dynamic in time. We analyze the areas of occurrence of species of Tityus in Argentina and assess the impact of global climate change on their area of distribution by the construction of risk maps.

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Historically, studies aimed at prospecting and analyzing paleontological and neontological data to investigate species distribution have developed separately. Research at the interface between paleontology and biogeography has shown a unidirectional bias, mostly focusing on how paleontological information can aid biogeography to understand species distribution through time. However, the modern suit of techniques of ecological biogeography, particularly species distribution models (SDM), can be instrumental for paleontologists as well, improving the biogeography-paleontology interchange.

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Spatial patterns of genetic variation can help understand how environmental factors either permit or restrict gene flow and create opportunities for regional adaptations. Organisms from harsh environments such as the Brazilian semiarid Caatinga biome may reveal how severe climate conditions may affect patterns of genetic variation. Herein we combine information from mitochondrial DNA with physical and environmental features to study the association between different aspects of the Caatinga landscape and spatial genetic variation in the whiptail lizard Ameivula ocellifera.

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Herein we review the genus Physobates Hammer, 1962 and redescribe P. spinipes Hammer 1962 based on material collected in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After a morphological comparison among species of Tegoribatidae genera, we propose a new junior synonym, Paraphysobates Mahunka, 1985.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Carangidae, a diverse family of marine fish, typically exhibits a stable chromosome count of 48 acrocentric chromosomes, leading to the belief that this is the ancestral karyotype for the group.
  • - Research using phylogenetic methods confirmed that the 2n = 48 chromosome count is likely ancestral for Carangidae, but basal lineages show highly variable numbers of fundamental numbers (FNs) indicating differing evolutionary paths.
  • - Findings suggest a trend of reduced genome size associated with an increase in acrocentric chromosome numbers, challenging the notion that the 2n = 48 karyotype is the ancestral state for all marine fishes, highlighting the need for careful interpretation in evolutionary studies. *
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Mechanisms of accumulation based on typical centromeric drive or of chromosomes carrying pericentric inversions are adjusted to the general karyotype differentiation in the principal Actinopterygii orders. Here, we show that meiotic drive in fish is also supported by preferential establishment of sex chromosome systems and B chromosomes in orders with predominantly bi-brachial chromosomes. The mosaic of trends acting at an infra-familiar level in fish could be explained as the interaction of the directional process of meiotic drive as background, modulated on a smaller scale by adaptive factors or specific karyotypic properties of each group, as proposed for the orthoselection model.

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