Laboratories
Terrestrial Zoology Laboratory
Office: Darwin, DW105
Phone: (+593 2) 297-1700, ext. 2086
E-mail: epenaherrera@usfq.edu.ec
Web: Laboratory of Terrestrial Zoology
Approach
We focus on the study of the diversity of terrestrial animals of the Neotropics, their evolution, natural history, ecology, and conservation. Research areas of interest include taxonomy, systematics, and natural history; space-time distribution and biogeography; ecology and physiology; and the analysis of the direct and indirect effects of the anthropogenic activities regarding the long-term conservation of species and their habitats. The research focuses mainly on terrestrial animals (birds, reptiles, amphibians, spiders, and insects). It uses taxonomic, phylogenetic, and biogeographic approaches and techniques, as well as the application of citizen science, geographic information systems, and environmental modeling.
Projects
- Perception and regulation of Temperature of Amphibians of the Andes
- Physiology and pathologies of birds
- Description of the glandular structure of paramo frogs
- Diversity, ecology, and conservation of Glass Frogs (Amphibia: Centrolenidae) of South America
- Taxonomy, Biogeography, and Conservation of Amphibians & Reptiles
- Taxonomy and conservation of land frogs in the Ecuadorian paramos, foothills, and lowlands
- Activity patterns of medium and large mammals in the eastern foothills of the Ecuadorian central Andes
- Diversity and natural history of spiders in Ecuador
- Detection and classification of invasive insects (ladybugs, beetles) through a pattern recognition and machine learning techniques
- Use of genetic barcodes to characterize the biodiversity of mosquitoes and ants in Ecuador
- Ectoparasites (Insecta: Diptera) of bats in Ecuador
- Description of a new species of large-headed fly (Diptera: Acroceridae)
- Diversity, natural history, biogeography, and conservation of the birds of Ecuador
- Study of biodiversity in urban and rural areas
- Impact of habitat changes on the biological diversity of the northern tropical Andes
- Mapping and Prioritization of Ecosystem Services in Continental Ecuador
- Stress in birds in urban-rural matrices in the tropical Andes
- Land birds from San Cristobal Island, Galapagos: Natural history, distribution, and population situation
- Snakes and geckos from the San Cristobal and Española islands, Galapagos
- Diversity, natural history, invasion biology and urban-rural-natural ecology of the terrestrial invertebrates of Galapagos
- Physiological and molecular stress in amphibians of the high tropical Andes
- Development of a platform for medical bio-inspiration based on biodiversity
- Political Ecology and Violence in the Galapagos Islands
- The sensitivity of the test of reproductive hormones in feces on the sexual characterization of the birds
- Measurement of anthropogenic impacts on birds in the Galapagos Islands using a molecular approach
Publications
| Year | Title | Authors | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Activity patterns of tayra (Eira barbara) across their distribution | Álvaro José Villafañe-Trujillo, Joseph M Kolowski, Michael V Cove, Emilia Patricia Medici, Bart J Harmsen, Rebbeca J Foster, Mircea G Hidalgo-Mihart, Santiago Espinosa, Gorky Ríos-Alvear, Carolina Reyes-Puig, Juan Pablo Reyes-Puig, Xavier Marina da Silva, Agustín Paviolo, Paula Cruz, Carlos Alberto López-González | Download |
| 2020 | Successful xenotransfusion from a domestic dog (Canis familiaris) to an Andean fox (Lycalopex culpaeus) | Eduardo Alfonso Díaz, Carolina Saenz, Erika Latorre, Diego Francisco Cisneros-Heredia, Ivette Dueñas | Download |
| 2020 | Glassfrogs of Ecuador: Diversity, Evolution, and Conservation | Juan M Guayasamin, Diego F Cisneros-Heredia, Roy W McDiarmid, Paula Peña, Carl R Hutter | Download |
| 2020 | New records of four reptile species (Lepidosauria, Squamata) from the province of Guayas, southwestern Ecuador | Keyko Cruz-Garcia, Diego F Cisneros-Heredia, Juan C Sanchez-Nivicela, Luis Amador | Download |
| 2020 | Two extremely rare new species of fossorial salamanders of the genus Oedipina (Plethodontidae) from northwestern Ecuador | Carolina Reyes-Puig, David B Wake, Ramachandran Kotharambath, Jeffrey W Streicher, Claudia Koch, Diego F Cisneros-Heredia, Mario H Yanez-Muñoz, Santiago Ron | Download |
| 2020 | A new species of Noblella (Amphibia: Strabomantidae) from the Río Manduriacu Reserve on the Pacific slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes | Carolina Reyes-Puig, Ross J Maynard, Scott J Trageser, Jose Vieira, Paul S Hamilton, Ryan Lynch, Jaime Culebras, Sebastian Kohn, Jorge Brito, Juan M Guayasamin | Download |
| 2020 | Phylogenetic relationships of the subgenus Hypodictyon (Anura: Strabomantidae: Pristimantis) with the description of three new species from the Choco region | Carolina Reyes-Puig, Mario H Yanez-Munoz, Jhael A Ortega, Santiago R Ron | Download |
| 2020 | A new species of crab-eating rat of the genus Ichthyomys, from Ecuador (Rodentia, Cricetidae, Sigmodontinae) | Javier Fernández de Córdova, Carlos Nivelo-Villavicencio, Carolina Reyes-Puig, Ulyses FJ Pardiñas, Jorge Brito | Download |
| 2020 | Invasion history of Harmonia axyridis (Pallas, 1773)(Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) in Ecuador | Diego F Cisneros-Heredia, Emilia Peñaherrera-Romero | Download |
| 2019 | A new species of terrestrial frog Pristimantis (Strabomantidae) from the upper basin of the Pastaza River, Ecuador | Carolina Reyes-Puig, Juan Pablo Reyes-Puig, Daniel A Velarde-Garcéz, Nicolás Dávalos, Emilio Mancero, María José Navarrete, Mario H Yánez-Muñoz, Diego F Cisneros-Heredia, Santiago R Ron | Download |
| 2019 | Monitoreo del tapir de montaña (Tapirus pinchaque) en el bosque nublado de la Reserva Natural Chamanapamba | Carolina P Reyes Puig, Gorki D Rios Alvear | Download |
| 2019 | A new species of terrestrial frog of the genus Noblella Barbour, 1930 (Amphibia: Strabomantidae) from the Llanganates-Sangay Ecological Corridor, Tungurahua, Ecuador | Juan Pablo Reyes-Puig, Carolina Reyes-Puig, Santiago Ron, Jhael A Ortega, Juan M Guayasamin, Mindee Goodrum, Fausto Recalde, Jose J Vieira, Claudia Koch, Mario H Yánez-Muñoz | Download |
| 2019 | Rediscovery of the Endangered Carchi Andean Toad, Rhaebo colomai (Hoogmoed, 1985), in Ecuador, with Comments on Its Conservation Status and Extinction | Carolina Reyes-Puig, Gabriela B Bittencourt-Silva, María Torres-Sánchez, Mark Wilkinson, Jeffrey W Streicher, Simon T Maddock, Ramachandran Kotharambath, Hendrik Müller, Francesca Nicole Angiolani Larrera, Diego Amieda-Reinoso, Santiago R Ron, Diego Francisco Cisneros-Heredia | Download |
| 2019 | A new giant Pristimantis (Anura, Craugastoridae) from the paramos of the Podocarpus National Park, southern Ecuador | Mario H Yánez-Muñoz, David Veintimilla-Yánez, Diego Batallas, Diego F Cisneros-Heredia | Download |
| 2019 | Diversidad insospechada en los Andes de Ecuador: filogenia del grupo “cinereus” de Thomasomys y descripción de una nueva especie (Rodentia, Cricetidae) | Jorge Brito, Nicolás Tinoco, Jenny Curay, Rocío Vargas, Carolina Reyes-Puig, Víctor Romero, Ulyses FJ Pardiñas | Download |
| 2019 | Lista roja de las aves del Ecuador | JF Freile, T Santander, G Jimenez-Uzcátegui, L Carrasco, D Cisneros-Heredia, EA Guevara, M Sánchez-Nivicela, BA Tinoco | Download |
| 2019 | Francisco Campos-Rivadeneira and Roberto Levi-Castillo: Their lives and contributions to the study of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in Ecuador | Giovani Marcelo Ramón, Rodolfo Pérez, Pablo Jarrín | Download |
| 2019 | A new glassfrog (Centrolenidae) from the Chocó-Andean Río Manduriacu Reserve, Ecuador, endangered by mining | Juan M Guayasamin, Diego F Cisneros-Heredia, José Vieira, Sebastián Kohn, Gabriela Gavilanes, Ryan L Lynch, Paul S Hamilton, Ross J Maynard | Download |
| 2019 | Memorias de la VI Reunión Ecuatoriana de Ornitología | Juan Freile, Esteban Guevara, Diego Cisneros-Heredia, Xavier Amigo, Tatiana Santander | Download |
| 2019 | Argia mauffrayi n. sp. from Ecuador (Odonata: Coenagrionidae) | Rosser W Garrison, Giovanni M Ramón Cabrera | Download |
| 2019 | World scientists warning of a climate emergency | William J Ripple, Christopher Wolf, Thomas M Newsome, Phoebe Barnard, William R Moomaw, Diego Cisneros-Heredia +257 scientist signatories | Download |
| 2019 | Atlas of Brazilian snakes: verified point-locality maps to mitigate the Wallacean shortfall in a megadiverse snake fauna | Cristiano C Nogueira, Antonio JS Argolo, Vanesa Arzamendia, Josué A Azevedo, Fausto E Barbo, Renato S Bérnils, Bruna E Bolochio, Marcio Borges-Martins, Marcela Brasil-Godinho, Henrique Braz, Marcus A Buononato, Diego F Cisneros-Heredia, Guarino R Colli, Henrique C Costa, Francisco L Franco, Alejandro Giraudo, Rodrigo C Gonzalez, Thaís Guedes, Marinus S Hoogmoed, Otavio AV Marques, Giovanna G Montingelli, Paulo Passos, Ana LC Prudente, Gilson A Rivas, Paola M Sanchez, Filipe C Serrano, Nelson J Silva Jr, Christine Strüssmann, João Paulo S Vieira-Alencar, Hussam Zaher, Ricardo J Sawaya, Marcio Martins | Download |
| 2018 | Patterns, biases and prospects in the distribution and diversity of Neotropical snakes | Thaís B Guedes, Ricardo J Sawaya, Alexander Zizka, Shawn Laffan, Soren Faurby, R Alexander Pyron, Renato S Bernils, Martin Jansen, Paulo Passos, Ana LC Prudente, Diego F Cisneros‐Heredia, Henrique B Braz, Cristiano de C Nogueira, Alexandre Antonelli | Download |
| 2018 | The hitchhiker wave: Non-native small terrestrial vertebrates in the Galapagos | Diego F Cisneros-Heredia | Download |
| 2018 | New elevational records of Phyllodactylus leoni Torres-Carvajal et al., 2013 from the southwestern slopes of the Andes in Ecuador (Reptilia, Sauria, Phyllodactylidae) | Gorki Danilo Ríos-Alvear, Pedro Gualoto, Carolina Pilar Reyes-Puig | Download |
| 2018 | Ranas terrestres en los ecosistemas surandinos de Ecuador IV: Una nueva especie de Pristimantis (Anura: Strabomantidae) de los páramos sur del Parque Nacional Sangay | Salomon Ramirez Jaramillo, Carolina Pilar Reyes-Puig, Diego Batallas, Mario Humberto Yánez-Muñoz | Download |
| 2018 | New records and estimation of the potential distribution of the Stump-Tailed Porcupine Coendou rufescens | Carlos Narváez-Romero, Carolina Reyes-Puig, Darwin Valle, Brito Jorge | Download |
| 2018 | A new cryptic species of Anolis lizard from northwestern South America (Iguanidae, Dactyloinae) | Mario Yanez, Carolina Reyes-Puig, Juan Reyes-Puig, Julián A Velasco, Fernando Ayala-Varela, Omar Torres-Carvajal | Download |
| 2018 | A new species of Pristimantis (Anura, Craugastoridae) from the Cajas Massif, southern Ecuador | Juan C Sánchez-Nivicela, Elvis Celi-Piedra, Valentina Posse-Sarmiento, Verónica L Urgiles, Mario Yánez-Muñoz, Diego F Cisneros-Heredia | Download |
| 2018 | Systematics of South American snail-eating snakes (Serpentes, Dipsadini), with the description of five new species from Ecuador and Peru | Alejandro Arteaga, David Salazar-Valenzuela, Konrad Mebert, Nicolás Peñafiel, Gabriela Aguiar, Juan C Sánchez-Nivicela, R Alexander Pyron, Timothy J Colston, Diego F Cisneros-Heredia, Mario H Yánez-Muñoz, Pablo J Venegas, Juan M Guayasamin, Omar Torres-Carvajal | Download |
| 2018 | Sistemática de los saurios Anadia Gray, 1845 (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) de Ecuador: límite de especies, distribución geográfica y descripción de una especie nueva | Raquel Betancourt, Carolina Reyes-Puig, Simón E Lobos, Mario H Yánez-Muñoz, Omar Torres-Carvajal | Download |
| 2018 | Predation of the teiid lizard Dicrodon guttulatum Dumeril and Bibron, 1839 by the pitviper Porthidium arcosae Schatti and Kramer, 1993 | Nicole Acosta-Vásconez, Martín Carrera, Emilia Peñaherrera, Diego F Cisneros-Heredia | Download |
Team Work
- Diego F. Cisneros-Heredia, Director/Researcher
- Carolina Reyes-Puig, Researcher
- Giovani Ramón, Researcher
- Emilia Peñaherrera, Research Assistant
- Andrés León-Reyes, Researcher Associate
- David Brito, Researcher Associate
- Juan Carlos Sánchez, Researcher Associate
- Mariela Dominguez, Researcher Associate
- Mateo Dávila, Researcher Associate
OUR VISION
To be a reference center in the study of biodiversity of terrestrial fauna and natural heritage, and use its experience to spread knowledge and translate it into research, development, management, conservation and interpretation products of high scientific and social relevance. Also, to contribute to the conservation of tropical diversity, capacity building of researchers and students, the connection with society, the impact on public policies and perceptions, and the development of interdisciplinary collaborative actions in the different areas of conservation and socio-environmental development.
OUR MISSION
To develop research programs, academic training and scientific dissemination on the diversity of terrestrial fauna and natural heritage, the conservation of wildlife and its habitats; the proper management of natural resources and environmental services; environment-society relations, human ecology and political ecology, within the framework of the Liberal Arts and with a comprehensive humanist view.
