GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION AND ECOLOGICAL MODELING OF TRYPANOSOMA (TRYPANOSOMATIDAE) INFECTIONS IN SOUTH AMERICAN FROGS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56238/revgeov16n5-291Keywords:
Ecological Niche Modeling, MaxEnt, Anuran Parasites, Climatic SuitabilityAbstract
Trypanosomatids of the genus Trypanosoma include species widely distributed in vertebrates, but their occurrence in neotropical anurans remains poorly explored. In this study, we conducted a systematic review of the available literature on Trypanosoma infections in anurans from South America and compiled georeferenced records to characterize their known distribution. Furthermore, we employed ecological niche modeling (MaxEnt) to estimate areas of climatic suitability favorable to the parasite's occurrence on the continent. Our results show that records are concentrated mainly in Brazil, involving approximately 30 anuran species belonging to multiple families, while large areas of South America remain unsampled. The model showed satisfactory performance (AUC = 0.75) and indicated that the Cerrado region and transition zones with the Amazon and Pantanal have a higher climatic probability of occurrence, mainly influenced by average annual temperature, annual precipitation, and precipitation seasonality. The overlap between highly suitable areas and occurrence points reinforces the role of climatic variables as predictors of the parasite's distribution. Our results reveal a still underestimated diversity of Trypanosoma in Neotropical amphibians and highlight the need to expand sampling efforts and incorporate integrated approaches for the taxonomic and ecological characterization of these parasites.
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