We are excited to share the news that the special issue on Aquatic Mammals of Central America has been published by the Revista de Biologia Tropical. The special issue includes 15 contributions represented by country as follows: Belize = 1, Guatemala = 4, El Salvador = 1, Nicaragua = 1, Costa Rica = 3, Panama = 4, and one regional paper that includes Central America, Mexico, and the United States. Of these 15 publications, 13 involved Central American researchers as primary authors or co-authors, and 12 were lead-authored by women. You can access the special issue in the following link:

https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.2023

The list of articles and corresponding links are included below.

Happy reading!

Ester Quintana-Rizzo, Ph.D. and Laura May-Collado, Ph.D.

Laura J. May-Collado, Ester Quintana-Rizzo

Prologue: Thirty Years of Aquatic Mammal Research in Central America

https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/57294/57778

Heat loss or heat uptake? Skin temperature in Antillean manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus, Sirenia: Trichechidae) in Belize

Nicola Erdsack, Jamal A. Galves, James E. Powell

https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.57272

Long-term spatiotemporal distribution, abundance, and priority areas for manatees and calves (Trichechus manatus Sirenia: Trichechidae) in Guatemala

Ester Quintana-Rizzo, Oscar Machuca-Coronado, Heidy Amely Garcia

https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.57273

Characteristics and spatial identification of Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus Sirenia: Trichechidae) strandings in Guatemala

Oscar Machuca-Coronado, Ester Quintana-Rizzo, Tannia Sandoval, M. Fabiola Corona-Figueroa, Heidy Amely Garcia

https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.57274

Initial characterization of mitochondrial DNA control region haplotypes of the Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus, Sirenia:Trichechidae) in Guatemala

Grecia Mendez, Susan Carney, Heidy Amelia Garcia, Ester Quintana-Rizzo

https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.57278

Southern Hemisphere humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) (Artiodactyla: Balaenopteridae) singing activity at Caño Island Biological Reserve, Costa Rica before, during, and after COVID-19 lockdowns

Laura J. May-Collado, Sawyer Bottoms, Grace Durant, Jose David Palacios-Alfaro, Juan Jose Alvarado

https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.57280

First song description of the humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae (Balaenopteridae: Artiodactyla), breeding off Nicaragua

Joelle De Weerdt, Divna Djokic, Renata S. Sousa-Lima, Federica Pace

https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.57281

Migratory destinations of endangered humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae (Cetartiodactyla: Balaenopteridae), from El Salvador

Nicola Ransome, Melvin G. Castaneda, Ted Cheeseman, John Calambokidis, Fred Sharpe

https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.57283

Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera edeni brydei, Artiodactyla: Balaenopteridae) aggregation area in the Gulf of Chiriqui, Panama

Kristin Rasmussen, Daniel M. Palacios

https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.57284

False killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens Cetacea: Delphinidae) along the Pacific coast of Central America and Mexico: Long-term movements, association patterns and assessment of fishery interactions

Annie B. Douglas, Frank Garita Alpízar, Alejandro Acevedo-Gutiérrez, Sabre D. Mahaffy, Kristin Rasmussen, Ester Quintana-Rizzo, Joëlle De Weerdt, Daniel M. Palacios, Damián Martínez-Fernández, Camila Lazcano-Pacheco, Christian Daniel Ortega Ortiz, Nicola Ransome, Astrid Frisch-Jordán, Francisco Villegas-Zurita, John Calambokidis, Robin W. Baird

https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.57189

More pieces for the puzzle: novel information on the genetic diversity and population structure of Steno bredanensis (Artiodactyla: Delphinidae) in Central America and the Caribbean Sea

Dalia C. Barragán-Barrera, Camilo A. Correa-Cárdenas, María Alejandra Duarte-Fajardo, Lissette Trejos Lasso, Betzi Pérez-Ortega, Shakira G. Quiñones-Lebrón, Antonio A. Mignucci-Giannoni, José Julio Casas, Roberto Santamaria Valverde, Nohelia Farías-Curtidor, Susana Caballero

https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.57285

First mercury and stable isotope assessment from an unusual mass stranding of rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis) (Artiodactyla: Delphinidae) in Azuero peninsula, Pacific coast of Panama

Dalia-C. Barragán-Barrera, Lissette Trejos-Lasso, Betzi Pérez-Ortega, José-Julio Casas, Roberto Santamaria-Valverde

https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.57188

Population size and demographic parameters of pantropical spotted dolphin (Stenella attenuata graffmani) (Cetartiodactyla: Delphinidae) in Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica

Lenin Oviedo Correa, David Herra-Miranda, Juan Diego Pacheco-Polanco

https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.57287

Killer whales, Orcinus orca (Artiodactyla: Delphinidae) in Guatemala: sighting records, photographic match, and interaction with Bryde’s whales, Balaenoptera edeni (Artiodactyla: Balaenoptera)

Jenniffer Ortiz-Wolford, Julio C. Romero, Andrea A. Cabrera

https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.57288

Mitochondrial DNA supports the low genetic diversity of Tursiops truncatus (Artiodactyla: Delphinidae) in Bocas del Toro, Panama and exhibits new Caribbean haplotypes

María Alejandra Duarte-Fajardo, Dalia C. Barragán-Barrera, Camilo A. Correa-Cárdenas, Betzi Pérez-Ortega, Nohelia Farías-Curtidor, Susana Caballero

https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.57291

Lobomycosis-like disease in bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus (Artiodactyla: Delphinidae) from Costa Rica Pacific waters

Juan Diego Pacheco-Polanco, David Herra-Miranda, Lenin Oviedo Correa

https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.57292