All chapters were written by a group of experts who have directly worked in the Cuatro Ciénegas Valley.Presents an updated account of the animal diversity found in the Cuatro Ciénegas Valley.The high levels of endemism, biogeographic affinities, and main ecological roles of the studied groups of animals are discussed. Close to 1,000 species are recorded, including new species, new records and exotic species.The conservation status of all the major groups of animals is analyzed.

Autorentext
Fernando Alvarez obtained his B.Sc. degree in Biology from the School of Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City. He subsequently completed his MSc degree at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana and his PhD at the University of Maryland at College Park, Maryland, USA. In 1993 he was hired by the Institute of Biology, UNAM, where he is now a full Professor and became Curator of Crustacea. He has published 121 papers on the biology of Crustacea, mainly in systematics, ecology and evolution; he has written 29 book chapters and 8 books. He is currently Editor in Chief of Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad, has been awarded level III in the National Researchers System of Mexico (SNI) and is a regular member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences.
Margarita Ojeda received her BSc degree in Biology from the School of Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City in 1983, and then her MSc degree and PhD from the same university in 1990. She has published papers describing species of oribatid mites from Mexico, and on different topics such as the ecology and the role of the soil fauna. Since 2013, she has been an associated researcher at the National Acarology Collection of the Biology Institute at UNAM, and collaborates in different activities and projects concerning several groups of mites.

Klappentext
This volume investigates the contemporary fauna that inhabit the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin. Divided into 15 chapters, it addresses and describes their diversity, taxonomic and biogeogaphic affinities, and ecological characteristics.
The Cuatro Ciénegas Valley is a unique oasis in the south-central region of the State of Coahuila, part of the Sonoran Desert, in Mexico. Several clues, specially derived from the study of the microbiota, suggest a very ancient origin of the valley and its permanence through time. This condition had promoted a high level of endemism and led to unique interactions between the resident species.

Inhalt
Chapter 1 - An overview of the fauna of the Cuatro Ciénegas Valley Fernando Alvarez & Margarita Ojeda (UNAM, MX)

Chapter 2 - Helminth community structure of some freshwater fishes in Cuatro Ciénegas: Patterns and Processes
Gerardo Pérez-Ponce de Léon & Rogelio Aguilar-Aguilar (UNAM, MX)

Chapter 3 - Soil microarthropods
Margarita Ojeda (UNAM, MX)

Chapter 4 - Scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones) from the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin
Oscar Francké (UNAM, MX)

Chapter 5 - Spiders
Pablo Corcuera (UAM, MX), María Luisa Jiménez (CIBNOR, MX) & Marco Antonio Desales (UAEM, MX)

Chapter 6 - Water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidiae)
Gerardo Rivas & María Marcia Ramírez-Sánchez (UNAM, MX)

Chapter 7 - Crustaceans
Fernando Alvarez & José Luis Villalobos (UNAM, MX)

Chapter 8 - Molluscs
Evan Carson (US Fish and Wildlife Service, USA)

Chapter 9 - The diversity of Lepidoptera (Papilionoidea sensu stricto) in the Cuatro Ciénegas Valley: spatial and temporal patterns
Marysol Trujano-Ortega, Jessica Hernández-Jerónimo, Moisés Armando Luis-Martínez, Uri Omar García-Vázquez & Omar Ávalos-Hernández (UNAM, MX)

Chapter 10 - Diversity and resource use patterns of bees and flies that visit flowers in the Cuatro Ciénegas Valley
Omar Ávalos-Hernández, Marysol Trujano-Ortega, Uri Omar García-Vázquez & Olivia Yánez-Ordóñez (UNAM, MX)

Chapter 11 - Dragonflies and damselflies (Insecta: Odonata)
Enrique Gónzalez-Soriano (UNAM, MX)

Chapter 12 - Diversity and ecology of ants in Cuatro Ciénegas, Coahuila
Milan Janda, Pablo Corcuera-Del Rio, Madai Rosas-Mejia, Mario Aguilar-Mendez & Miguel Vásquez-Bolaños (UNAM, UAdeG, UAG, MX)

Chapter 13 -Systematics of the fishes of Cuatro Ciénegas
Héctor Espinosa, Christian Lambarri (UNAM, MX), Mauricio de la Maza (Pronatura Noreste, UNAM, MX) & Evan Carson (US Fish and Wildlife Service, USA)

Chapter 14 - Diversity and biogeophaphical affinity of amphibians and reptiles of Cuatro Ciénegas ValleyUri Omar García-Vázquez, Marysol Trujano-Ortega (UNAM, MX), Arturo Contreras-Arquieta (Acuario y Herpetario W. L. Minckley, MX) & Omar Ávalos-Hernández (UNAM, MX)
Chapter 15 - Birds
Pablo Corcuera (UAM, MX), Adolfo Navarro (UNAM, MX), Luis Antonio Sánchez-González (UNAM, MX) & Omar Suárez-García (UNAM, MX)

Chapter 16 - Patters of distribution and endemism in the mammals of the Cuatro Ciénegas Valley, CoahuilaNiza Gámez & Gabriela Castellanos-Morales (UNAM, MX)