More than half of the studied species inhabit tropical forests, while the remaining taxa are mostly found in open to brushy, arid-semiarid to temperate habitats such as deserts, grasslands, and scrublands. Over a total of 121 species for which we can calculate or infer their distributional ranges, 94 species (i.e., 77.5%) occupy less than 1% of the total South American surface. All these areas are found at or close to the Andes, suggesting that, at least partially, our lack of knowledge of some species could be related to the high diversity of the Andean fauna that in turn remains poorly studied. The highest species richness values (i.e., S ≥ 8) correspond to three main areas: (1) western Colombia, (2) Central Ecuador, and (3) north-western Argentina. Individual distributional maps for each species were superimposed on a map of South America divided into hexagonal cells of 1 degree of size. First, we compiled a systematic list including all rodent species distributed in South America that are categorized by the IUCN as DD. In this contribution, we analyze the situation of the DD South American rodents, a diverse array of non-charismatic and poorly known species. Unfortunately, for most policy-makers this category is uninformative, limiting the chances to enact conservation measures or to support additional scientific investigation on these species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) defines as “Data Deficient” (DD) those species for which there is inadequate information on its distribution and/or population status to make a direct, or indirect, assessment of its risk of extinction. Guillermo D’Elía, in Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences, 2021 Abstract
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