Biogeographic regionalization of the Neotropical region: New map and shapefile.

We provide a map and shapefile of the 57 biogeographic provinces of the Neotropical region. Recognition of these provinces is based on their endemic species, but their delimitation on the map is based on ecoregions combining climatic, geological, and biotic criteria. These provinces belong to the Antillean, Brazilian and Chacoan subregions, and the Mexican and South American transition zones.

Toward a biogeographic regionalization of the Nearctic region: Area nomenclature and digital map.

We provide a preliminary nomenclatural proposal and a digital map of the Nearctic region, based on published regionalizations, especially Dice (1943), and applying the International Code of Area Nomenclature. The Nearctic region is comprised of three subregions (one of them with two dominions), one transition zone and 29 provinces. The Arctic subregion, in northern North America and Greenland, includes the Eskimoan, Hudsonian, Aleutian and Sitkan provinces.

Bioclimatic characterization of the world areas of Endemism identified for Mammals.

Areas of endemism (AoE) are identified by the congruence of two or more geographic distribution areas. They represent patterns of distribution resulting from ecological and evolutionary processes and constitute the basic units of biogeographic regionalizations; however, they are not usually environmentally characterized. The 54 world areas of endemism identified for terrestrial mammals were bioclimatically characterized by climate and biome type, using two diversity indices.

Mexican biogeographic provinces: Map and shapefiles.

We provide a map of the 14 biogeographic provinces of Mexico based on the ecoregions recognized for the country, which combine climatic, geological and biotic criteria. These provinces belong to the Nearctic region (Californian, Baja Californian, Sonoran, Chihuahuan Desert and Tamaulipas provinces), Neotropical region (Pacific Lowlands, Balsas Basin, Veracruzan and Yucatán Peninsula provinces) and the Mexican transition zone (Sierra Madre Occidental, Sierra Madre Oriental, Transmexican Volcanic Belt, Sierra Madre del Sur and Chiapas Highlands provinces). In order to facilitate future biogeographic analyses, we provide a file of the biogeographical regionalisation of Mexico by converting the map into a polygon shapefile and a raster file with all provinces.

[Geographic data for Neotropical bats (Chiroptera)].

The global effort to digitize biodiversity occurrence data from collections, museums and other institutions has stimulated the development of important tools to improve the knowledge and conservation of biodiversity. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) enables and opens access to biodiversity data of 321 million of records, from 379 host institutions. Neotropical bats are a highly diverse and specialized group, and the geographic information about them is increasing since few years ago, but there are a few reports about this topic.

Cladistic biogeographic analysis suggests an early Caribbean diversification in Mexico.

The Great American Biotic Interchange has been the predominant paradigm for explaining biotic diversification in the Nearctic/Neotropical overlap or Mexican Transition Zone, which is commonly explained by the collision of the North and South American continental plates, which began in the Oligocene and fused both landmasses. In the most far-reaching cladistic biogeographical analysis of the area to date, evidence has been found supporting the existence of a remnant Caribbean region extending from eastern Mexico to southeastern USA, a hypothesis that challenges current views of the Great American Biotic Interchange and the Mexican Transition Zone. We show herein that an older terrane, which has drifted to the present day positions of Yucatan and Cuba, may be biogeographically linked to an early 'Gondwanan' biota of the Paleocene (ca.