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Created by Kate Eldred February 2001, with funding from the US Global Change Research Program |
The Neotropical Lowlands Research Program focuses study on key groups
of organisms in order to understand the functioning of lowland ecosystems in
tropical Latin America. We examine the relationships, distributions, and
diversities of several types of organisms, each of which provides a differing
view of the processes and patterns involved. Each Smithsonian researcher works in partnership with Latin American colleagues in countries where field work is being conducted. The scientific results from the program are of two major categories: scientific reports and monographs; and Neotropical Lowland Research Program co-sponsored symposia and workshop meetings. Although the researchers are from different departments at the National Museum of Natural History, they work together on this program, applying their special expertise to the project. Landmark discoveries and observations include the following: Amphibians 
demonstrated that speciation is not always accompanied by advertisement
call differentiation in the genus Leptodactylus. It has been generally
accepted that advertisement calls are equal to or superior to morphology
for understanding and defining species. This new evidence indicates that
calls may mask cryptic species, rather than reveal them as thought previously--
demonstrated that speciation is not always accompanied by advertisement
call differentiation in the genus Leptodactylus. It has been generally
accepted that advertisement calls are equal to or superior to morphology
for understanding and defining species. This new evidence indicates that
calls may mask cryptic species, rather than reveal them as thought previously Archeology
established the existence of humans
in Amazonia at least 13,000 years ago, instead of 11,000, the usually
accepted date for their arrival.
linked mega-Nino events to the disbursement
and resettlement of human populations in the Amazon region explaining
the puzzling genetic and linguistic diversity in the region Fish
completed reanalysis of the Prochilodontidae,
the economically most important group of fishes in South American freshwaters.
demonstrated that the history of
certain groups of freshwater fishes in South America extends back to the
breakup of Gondwanaland.
found that specialized, patchily
distributed habitats (refugia) in South American rivers include numerous
previously unrecognized fish species.
program stimulated research and
education in freshwater fish in Brazil.Insects
collected some 2.5 million canopy
insects and their relatives, half of which or more are new to science.
first to estimate that the world
housed 30 million species of insects and their relatives, a 30-fold increase
over the common perception of the time. This prediction in the early 1980's,
using real field data, rather than Catalogue counts, fueled the debate
about how many species there are in the world-a debate which rages today
and is at the core of managing and protecting earth's resources.
predictions of global diversity
roused the scientific and conservation world to hold the National Forum
on BioDiversity in Washington in 1986, where the word "biodiversity" was
coined. For further information contact: |
