THERYA, 2017, Vol. 8 (2): 131-144 DOI: 10.12933/therya-17-478 ISSN 2007-3364 Estimating the potential distribution and conservation priorities of Chironectes minimus (Zimmermann, 1780) (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae) DAVID A. PRIETO-TORRES 1, 2, 3* AND GONZALO PINILLA-BUITRAGO 2, 4, 5 1 Eje BioCiencias, Centro de Modelado Científico de la Universidad del Zulia (CMC-LUZ), Facultad Experimental de Ciencias. Calle 65 con Av. Universidad, sector Grado de Oro, Estado Zulia, Maracaibo 4004, Venezuela. E-mail:
[email protected] (DAPT) 2 Red de Biología Evolutiva, Laboratorio de Bioclimatología, Instituto de Ecología, A.C. Carretera antigua a Coatepec 351, CP. 91070, Xalapa. Veracruz, México. E-mail:
[email protected] (GEPB) 3 Museo de Biología de la Universidad del Zulia (MBLUZ), Facultad Experimental de Ciencias. Calle 65 con Av. Universidad, sector Grado de Oro, Estado Zulia, Maracaibo 4004, Venezuela. 4 Grupo de Mastozoología Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Calle 26, Bogotá 111321. Distrito Capital, Colombia. 5 Grupo en Conservación y Manejo de Vida Silvestre, Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Calle 26, Bogotá 111321. Distrito Capital, Colombia. * Corresponding author The water opossum (Chironectes minimus) is an elusive and solitary Neotropical semi-aquatic species, whose population dynamics cannot be studied using traditional methods to capture small mammals. Therefore, some aspects of its distribution, habitat requirements, and abun- dance are mostly unknown; which makes a proper determination of its conservation status difficult. Considering that new techniques known as species distribution models (SDMs) allow us to estimate the suitable areas and the most important variables for the distribution of a species, we compiled water opossum occurrences and modeled its potential distribution on a continental scale.