Animal Diversity and Biogeography of the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin

Abstract

Includes index. This volume investigates the contemporary fauna that inhabit the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin. Divided into 15 chapters, it addresses and describes their diversity, taxonomic and biogeogaphic affinities, and ecological characteristics. The Cuatro Ciénegas Valley is a unique oasis in the south-central region of the State of Coahuila, part of the Sonoran Desert, in Mexico. Several clues, specially derived from the study of the microbiota, suggest a very ancient origin of the valley and its permanence through time. This condition had promoted a high level of endemism and led to unique interactions between the resident species. The fauna of the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin, a unique assemblage of species, habitats and evolutionary histories -- Helminth community structure of some freshwater fishes of the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin: patterns and processes -- Abundance and diversity of the soil microarthropod fauna from the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin -- Scorpion (Arachnida: Scorpiones) from the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin -- The spiders of the Churince region, Cuatro Ciénegas Basin: A comparison with other desert areas of North America -- Crustaceans from the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin: diversity, origin and endemism -- Spatial and temporal patterns of diversity of the Lepidopter (Papilionoidea sensu lato) in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin -- Diversity and resource use patterns of bees and flies that visit flowers in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin -- Odonata of the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin -- Diversity and community structure of ants in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin, Coahuila, Mexico -- Prostigmatid mites (Arachnida: Acariformes: Prostigmata) parasitic on amphibians and reptiles in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin -- Systematics of the fish from the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin -- Diversity of amphibians and reptiles in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin -- The birds of the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin, a wetland within the Chihuahuan Desert -- Evaluating the hypothesis of Plesitocene refugia for mammals in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin -- Index.