3 Amazonian enigmas

 

3 enigmas of the Amazon

    The Amazon rainforest, in addition to being the largest in the world, crossing several countries, is also one of the most diverse, full of creatures and beings of all shapes and sizes living hidden in its impenetrable and green jungle.

Most of the Amazonian biodiversity is still undescribed, leading to new discoveries for researchers every year, and among these we have one specifically, the illustrious Dutch biologist Marc van Roosmalen, who has done tireless I have been working for decades to study the Amazon rainforest.

This researcher, despite the challenges, has been showing the world the beings that live and what happens there, describing several species of monkey, and even the pygmy tapir.

[Photo by Roosmalen]

But just as it has discovered several species, there are at least 3 of these, which have not been able to be verified despite the evidence, below we will see these 3 cases:

The giant peccary

   With the proposed scientific name pecari Maximus, it is a hypothetical species of giant pecari, discovered in Brazil in 2003, known by locals as caitetu munde, which means "large peccary that lives in pairs" since its description its validity was questioned.

In 2003, genetic material of this species had been obtained, as well as a recording, which would serve as a slight description, although the recording is currently lost medium but here is a screenshot that is somewhere around this one:

However, in 2011, a team of scientists led by Jaime Góngora analyzed all the morphological and ecological evidence used, they compared them with the DNA of the single specimen of P. maximus. The result was that the morphological and ecological data used to define P. maximus appear to be deficient and inconclusive, and phylogenetic analyzes showed that the only sample of the supposed new species is grouped within the South American P. tajacu lineage, and closely related to Brazilian specimens of that species.

Currently the IUCN considers this possible species as unrecognized or as having insufficient data to be classified..

The arboricola giant anteater

    With the scientific name myrmecophaga.sp, it is a supposed taxon of anteater that would live in the Amazon rainforest of central-northern Brazil.

It was described in the first decades of the 21st century, by Roosmalen, who announced the existence of this species of the genus Myrmecophaga, This taxon does not yet have a formal description, but according to van Roosmalen himself, this new species has the peculiarity of climbing trees, for this using their hind legs to climb, just as ground sloths did.

[Illustrative image ]

By 2002, it had not yet been possible to acquire biological material of any specimen that would allow a publication respecting the standards imposed by the code of zoological nomenclature, although he knew of its existence not only from indigenous stories but also from personal observations, even managing to capture it on video in its natural environment, the Amazon rainforest of north-central Brazil, sadly the video is now lost media

It is curious but if it existed, it would be a better point in favor of understanding the close evolutionary relationship between sloths and anteaters.

The pygmy manatee

   Proposed name Trichechus pygmaeus, it is a possible species of manatee that lives in the freshwater areas of the Amazon, although currently its range is supposedly restricted to a tributary of the Aripuanã River.

According to Roosmalen, who proposed it, it is a new species, the manatee lives in shallow waters, with currents, and feeds on different species of aquatic plants than the Amazon manatee, which prefers deeper waters with less current and the plants found in this environment, as indicated by the dwarf manatee migrates upstream during the rainy season when the river floods the shallow backwaters and headwaters area

This species has been much debated, it was not proposed until 2015 in Biodiversity Journal and because of its reduced range, it has been suggested that the dwarf manatee should be considered a critically endangered species but since it has been recognized by the IUCN, its status and existence are uncertain, despite this there are a couple of photographs roaming the web, I'll leave some here:

I clarify that the photos are also controversial, they are supposed to be of the species but there are those who disagree and believe that they are mutated Amazonian manatees or photographed babies.

The truth is that everything about these species is a mystery, but they must all be real, let's hope one day these unknowns will be resolved.

[[Links to readings]]

https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecari_maximus

https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oso_hormiguero_gigante_arbor%C3%ADcola

https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichechus_pygmaeus