The identification of divergence in reproductive traits may substantially improve integrative approaches to understand species limits within clades that are suspected to contain cryptic diversity. The frog Allobates femoralis has been regarded as a pan-Amazonian species, and widely used as a model for addressing evolutionary issues regarding patterns of intraspecific diversification, social organisation, and animal communication. Recent accumulation of genetic, morphological, and bioacoustic data gathered from different localities strongly supports the idea that it represents a species complex, but field behavioural observations related to courtship and mating are surprisingly scarce. Here, we provide a description of several aspects of the reproductive biology of A. femoralis from a Central Amazon site, and compare our results with the few published reports for the species. This study demonstrated that, besides the known divergence in the number of notes of the A. femoralis call, there are both quantitative and qualitative differences regarding reproductive traits between two populations of this taxon. The most striking difference was the observation of cephalic amplexus in the population from the Reserva Ducke, Brazil, which contrasts with the absence of any kind of body contact between A. femoralis pairs during mating interactions at the Panguana Biological Station, Peru. In addition, we report for the first time a set of visual components of the courtship behaviour, such as throat display, limb lifting, circling, and leg stretching. Behavioural differences can lead to a pre-zygotic isolation, thus representing a first step in the speciation process through differential sexual preferences. Hence, our finding of divergence in a set of traits probably related to mate recognition and choice is surprising within populations assigned to a single clade, and highlights the importance of considering behavioural traits in order to disentangle the evolutionary forces driving the diversification of A. femoralis.

Xenarthrans—anteaters, sloths, and armadillos—have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across their full distribution ranges. The Neotropics harbor 21 species of armadillos, 10 anteaters, and 6 sloths. Our data set includes the families Chlamyphoridae (13), Dasypodidae (7), Myrmecophagidae (3), Bradypodidae (4), and Megalonychidae (2). We have no occurrence data on Dasypus pilosus (Dasypodidae). Regarding Cyclopedidae, until recently, only one species was recognized, but new genetic studies have revealed that the group is represented by seven species. In this data paper, we compiled a total of 42,528 records of 31 species, represented by occurrence and quantitative data, totaling 24,847 unique georeferenced records. The geographic range is from the southern United States, Mexico, and Caribbean countries at the northern portion of the Neotropics, to the austral distribution in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. Regarding anteaters, Myrmecophaga tridactyla has the most records (n = 5,941), and Cyclopes sp. have the fewest (n = 240). The armadillo species with the most data is Dasypus novemcinctus (n = 11,588), and the fewest data are recorded for Calyptophractus retusus (n = 33). With regard to sloth species, Bradypus variegatus has the most records (n = 962), and Bradypus pygmaeus has the fewest (n = 12). Our main objective with Neotropical Xenarthrans is to make occurrence and quantitative data available to facilitate more ecological research, particularly if we integrate the xenarthran data with other data sets of Neotropical Series that will become available very soon (i.e., Neotropical Carnivores, Neotropical Invasive Mammals, and Neotropical Hunters and Dogs). Therefore, studies on trophic cascades, hunting pressure, habitat loss, fragmentation effects, species invasion, and climate change effects will be possible with the Neotropical Xenarthrans data set. Please cite this data paper when using its data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us of how they are using these data.

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non‐detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non‐governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer‐reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non‐detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio‐temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large‐scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data.

The Amazon forest has the highest biodiversity on Earth. However, information on Amazonian vertebrate diversity is still deficient and scattered across the published, peer‐reviewed, and gray literature and in unpublished raw data. Camera traps are an effective non‐invasive method of surveying vertebrates, applicable to different scales of time and space. In this study, we organized and standardized camera trap records from different Amazon regions to compile the most extensive data set of inventories of mammal, bird, and reptile species ever assembled for the area. The complete data set comprises 154,123 records of 317 species (185 birds, 119 mammals, and 13 reptiles) gathered from surveys from the Amazonian portion of eight countries (Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela). The most frequently recorded species per taxa were: mammals: Cuniculus paca (11,907 records); birds: Pauxi tuberosa (3713 records); and reptiles: Tupinambis teguixin (716 records). The information detailed in this data paper opens up opportunities for new ecological studies at different spatial and temporal scales, allowing for a more accurate evaluation of the effects of habitat loss, fragmentation, climate change, and other human‐mediated defaunation processes in one of the most important and threatened tropical environments in the world. The data set is not copyright restricted; please cite this data paper when using its data in publications and we also request that researchers and educators inform us of how they are using these data.

Assessing population dynamics is key for advising conservation strategies for carnivores, yet long‐term demography remains rare. Jaguars ( Panthera onca ) have lost 52% of their historical distribution, and even in the Amazon, their largest continuous habitat, we lack knowledge on critical vital rates including survival, recruitment, and population trends. Through monitoring spanning 17 years, we provide the longest jaguar study to date and the first open‐population assessment in an Amazon flood‐pulse ecosystem increasingly exposed to extreme climatic events. We evaluated the effect of flood pulses on jaguar demography in the Amazon using spatially explicit open‐population capture–recapture models applied to a dataset from the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve, the first community‐based management reserve in Brazil. We also contextualized these estimates with those reported across 10 ecoregions. We found that recruitment was lower for females (0.15) than males (0.26), while apparent survival was constant (0.76). Session‐specific densities (3.21–15.15 ind./100 km ² ) ranked among the highest reported for jaguars across their distribution. However, open‐population models indicated that female density decreased by 77% between 2005 and 2022 and the observed population growth rate showed a declining trend (mean = 0.97). Synthesis and applications. Our results provide the first estimates of recruitment and apparent survival for Amazonian jaguars, key parameters for guiding conservation. We show that seasonal wetlands—the Amazonian floodplain forest and reported estimates from Pantanal and the Llanos—harbour the highest jaguar densities across the species' range. However, the high density in Mamirauá may conceal underlying vulnerability. Long‐term dynamics indicated a demographic shift: male influx increased, while female numbers declined. We suggest that this pattern reflects reduced reproductive output, potentially driven by increased infanticide following male immigration associated with local male‐biased hunting. These findings highlight the need to move beyond abundance‐based assessments and incorporate demographic dynamics into conservation planning. Strengthening community‐based management, particularly by safeguarding breeding females, is critical to long‐term population viability. Amazonian floodplains face increasing threats from extreme climate events, yet are still overlooked in large‐scale conservation planning, underscoring the urgency of addressing anthropogenic and climate‐driven threats to these high density but vulnerable populations. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal's blog .