The records from citizen science of an “endemic” agouti are not thoroughly evaluated nor examined
Of 181 georeferenced records analysed, 80.11% were incorrectly placed-many located in the Atlantic Ocean rather than on Roatán-with a mean distance was 8.15 km (SD = 20.9 km), although the distribution was highly skewed due to a few extreme misplaced records. Furthermore, potential confusion between D. ruatanica and D. punctata was noted, likely due to morphological similarities and photographic limitations. These findings highlight the importance of careful precise geolocation and species identification when using citizen science data for conservation purposes, especially for insular endemics. Improved validation protocols and expert oversight are necessary to enhance the reliability of such records in biodiversity monitoring.
Authors
- Pablo Teta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8694-0498)
- Alexandre Schiavetti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8429-7646)
- Manfredo Alejandro Turcios-Casco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3198-3834)
Institutions
- Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (BR)
- Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum (AR)
- Honduras Foundation for Agricultural Research (HN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- BMC Research Notes
- Published
- 2025-09-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-025-07404-y
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.68
Funders
- Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico