Organization profile
Organization profile
The invertebrate division of the QCAZ Zoology Museum preserves a collection of more than 2,000,000 specimens, making it one of the most comprehensive scientifically endorsed references on Ecuadorian fauna. Around 20 people, including teachers, researchers, technicians, and students, work on the collection, preparation, preservation, and study of invertebrates. They carry out inventories, taxonomic identifications, studies on ecology, conservation, evolutionary genetics, biogeography, river ecology, physiology, forensics, ecological modeling, and integrated agricultural pest management. These studies are made available to the community through publications and constitute basic tools for the development of sustainable environmental policies, forest and aquatic ecosystem conservation plans, and biological pest control.
UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Our work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 2 Zero Hunger -
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation -
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities -
SDG 13 Climate Action -
SDG 15 Life on Land -
SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Profiles
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Rafael Enrique Cárdenas Muñoz, PhD
- Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences
- Laboratorio de Datos para la Ecología y Conservación
- Invertebrate Zoology - QCAZ Museum I
- Biological Sciences
- PUCE Quito
Person: Researcher, Academic, Research Group Coordinator
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María Fernanda Checa Villafuerte, PhD
- Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences
- Laboratorio de Datos para la Ecología y Conservación
- Centro NATURA
- Invertebrate Zoology - QCAZ Museum I
- Biological Sciences
- PUCE Quito
Person: Researcher, Academic, Research Group Coordinator
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Caecilians maintain a functional long-wavelength-sensitive cone opsin gene despite signatures of relaxed selection and more than 200 million years of fossoriality
Navarrete Méndez, M. J., Amini, S. S., Santos, J. C., Saal, J., Wake, M. H., Ron, S. R. & Tarvin, R. D., 24 Sep 2025, In: Evolution; international journal of organic evolution. 79, 12, p. 2756-2775 20 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Two new species of the spider genus Loxosceles (Araneae, Sicariidae) from the Ecuadorian Andes
Dupérré, N., Harms, D., Crespo-Pérez, V. & Tapia, E., 10 Jan 2024, In: Evolutionary Systematics. 8, 1, p. 1-14 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access1 Link opens in a new tab Scopus citations -
Catalog of the invertebrate type specimens hosted at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador and Escuela Politécnica Nacional natural history collections
Salazar-Buenaño, F., Guevara, D., Barragán, A., Carvajal, V. & Donoso, D. A., 5 Jul 2023, In: ZooKeys. 2023, 1169, p. 15-45 31 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access