During Paleogene the Neotropical region was mainly covered by rainforests and ancient Amazon (AM) and Atlantic Forest (AF) were continuous and interconnected. The Andean uplift and drastic climate changes along the Eocene/Miocene resulted in the formation of a drier area separating AM from AF. However, multiple evidences have indicated recurrent connections between Neotropical rainforests during Quaternary. In this study we predict biogeographical connections between Neotropical Forests during the last glacial maximum (LGM-21 ka) and establish the climatic conditions that favored such connections. We tested if the general climatic conditions suitable to both Amazon (AM) and AF were uniform across current Cerrado and Caatinga areas or did subsets of these climatic spaces have independent spatial displacements connecting specific regions of AM and AF. For these, 50 occurrence points equidistant in the climatic space were sampled along the western and eastern AM and northern and southern AF and used to built ecological niche models (ENM) for each region. Potential distributions were predicted for the current and the LGM climatic scenarios using an ensemble approach. The ENMs detected the disjunct distribution of the two Neotropical rainforests in the present and showed three Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (main connections during LGM: (1) climate suitable to western AM were detected along the northern coast of Brazil, overlapping the putative distribution of northern AF; (2) climates suitable to southern AF, northern AF and western AM were detected along the area now occupied by southern limits of the Caatinga and (3) the climate suitable to southern AF was found at the south limits of the eastern AM. Our findings suggest that subsets of both AM and AF may be considered distinct biogeographical units as implied by different responses to climate changes.

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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.

A delimitação geográfica de um bioma engloba questões que envolvem fatores ambientais, como clima e características da vegetação, além de aspectos políticos. Consequentemente, variações na delimitação de um bioma são recorrentes. A Mata Atlântica é um dos mais importantes hotspots de biodiversidade do mundo e historicamente diversas delimitações territoriais foram propostas para esse bioma. Aqui tivemos como objetivo 1) discutir as quatro principais delimitações e 2) com base nos limites existentes, discutir sua união (Limite Integrativo) e intersecção (Limite Consensual). Os principais limites apresentam áreas consensuais e integrativas de 1,01 e 1,62 milhão km 2 , respectivamente. Cinco regiões de divergência devem ser cuidadosamente avaliadas. Finalmente, sugerimos um debate sobre o uso de limites em estudos ecológicos e sua aplicação em estudos sobre conservação da biodiversidade. Palavras-chave: biogeografia histórica; bioma; distribuição geográfica; floresta tropical; hotspot de biodiversidade. A NOTE ON THE TERRITORIAL LIMITS OF THE ATLANTIC FOREST. The geographic delimitation of a biome encompasses questions that involve environmental factors such as climate and vegetation characteristics as well as political aspects. Consequently, variation on biome delimitation is recurrent. The Atlantic Forest is one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in the world, and historically several territorial delimitations have been proposed for this biome. Here we aim to 1) discuss the four main delimitations and 2) based on the existing limits, discuss their union (Integrative limit) and intersection (Consensual limit). The main limits present consensual and integrative areas of 1.01 and 1.62 million km 2 , respectively. Five regions of divergence must be carefully evaluated. Finally, we suggest a debate about the use of limits in ecological studies and their application in biodiversity conservation studies.

Butterflies are one of the best‐known insect groups, and they have been the subject of numerous studies in ecology and evolution, especially in the tropics. Much attention has been given to the fruit‐feeding butterfly guild in biodiversity conservation studies, due to the relative ease with which taxa may be identified and specimens sampled using bait traps. However, there remain many uncertainties about the macroecological and biogeographical patterns of butterflies in tropical ecosystems. In the present study, we gathered information about fruit‐feeding butterfly species in local communities from the Atlantic Forests of South America. The ATLANTIC BUTTERFLIES data set, which is part of ATLANTIC SERIES data papers, results from a compilation of 145 unpublished inventories and 64 other references, including articles, theses, and book chapters published from 1949 to 2018. In total, the data set contains 7,062 records (presence) of 279 species of fruit‐feeding butterflies identified with taxonomic certainty, from 122 study locations. The Satyrini is the tribe with highest number of species (45%) and records (30%), followed by Brassolini, with 13% of species and 12.5% of records. The 10 most common species correspond to 14.2% of all records. This data set represents a major effort to compile inventories of fruit‐feeding butterfly communities, filling a knowledge gap about the diversity and distribution of these butterflies in the Atlantic Forest. We hope that the present data set can provide guidelines for future studies and planning of new inventories of fruit‐feeding butterflies in this biome. The information presented here also has potential use in studies across a great variety of spatial scales, from local and landscape levels to macroecological research and biogeographical research. We expect that such studies be very important for the better implementation of conservation initiatives, and for understanding the multiple ecological processes that involve fruit‐feeding butterflies as biological indicators. No copyright restrictions apply to the use of this data set. Please cite this Data paper when using the current data in publications or teaching events.