Liotyphlops Peters, 1881 is an anomalepidid blindsnake genus that encompasses 12 species, widely distributed in Central and South America. In this study, we evaluate the taxonomic status of ...Liotyphlops sousai Santos & Reis, 2018, a species described based on a single specimen from the Atlantic Rainforest of southern Brazil, and after analyzing evidences based upon molecular systematics, external morphology and osteology, we propose its synonymy with Liotyphlops beui (Amaral, 1924), a common and widely distributed Anomalepidid species. We also provide comments and recommendations on the taxonomy of Liotyphlops, assessing the risks associated with describing a new species based on small type series.
We examined substrate temperature preferences of the South American hognose snake (Xenodon dorbignyi) in the field and in the laboratory. Individuals captured in the field were placed in a thermal ...gradient chamber, where they preferred temperatures averaging 32.8 ?C and avoided substrate temperatures below 10.5 ?C and above 37.5?C. The mean body temperatures of snakes exposed to the thermal gradient was 23.4 ?C, which was similar to field measurements. Gravid females had higher temperatures than males. In the experimental chamber, X. dorbignyi remained above ground even when exposed to extremely high or low temperatures. Our results corroborate the hypothesis that X. dorbignyi is a thermal generalist that uses a broad range of substrate temperatures, representing an adaptation to the large variation in daily temperatures in sand dunes with few shelters above ground. References: 23 references open in new window Opening the references page in a new window requires javascript to be enabled in your browser. Articles that cite this article?
The ecology and distribution of most baleen whales are poorly known in Brazilian waters, despite the history of whaling and the recent increase in the research effort. Although stranding data ...presents some caveats, it is useful to understand patterns of distribution and occurrence and to detect population trends. In this scenario, data from 25 years of a monitoring marine mammal stranding program were used to evaluate the composition and spatial-temporal patterns of Balaenoptera whales in southern Brazil. A stretch of 270 km on the coast of Rio Grande do Sul State (from 29°20’S to 31°21’S) was surveyed year-round between 1993 and 2018. Whales were identified, measured and sex determined whenever possible. Molecular identification through mtDNA analysis was obtained for 22 individuals and confirmed field identification in 17 cases. Forty-eight whales of four species were recorded: common minke whale B. acutorostrata n = 27, Antarctic minke whale B. bonaerensis n = 1, Bryde’s whale B. brydei n = 13, fin whale B. physalus n = 1. In addition, six whales were not identified at species level due to advanced decomposition. The larger number of strandings of common minke and Bryde’s whales may be related to their greater abundance and/or more coastal distribution. Both species were recorded year-round, but strandings of common minke and Bryde’s whales occurred mostly during winter/spring (77.77%) and spring/summer (66.66%), respectively. Although Bryde’s whales appear to remain in southern Brazilian waters during the entire year, the results suggest the existence of seasonal inshore-offshore movements. Moreover, the greater number of strandings of juveniles of common minke whales compared to adults (ratio 1.86:1) and their occurrence in different seasons suggest that some immature individuals may not leave this region, as previously pointed out by other studies. This long-term survey brings new evidence of the importance of this region in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean for some Balaenoptera species.
Este relato apresenta reflexões sobre uma experiência interdisciplinar que envolveu idealização, planejamento, organização, realização e divulgação de um evento científico virtual como requisito da ...disciplina Seminários Avançados de Pesquisa 1, oferecida pelo Programa de Pós-graduação em Informação e Comunicação em Saúde desenvolvido pelo Instituto de Comunicação e Informação Científica e Tecnológica em Saúde, uma das unidades técnico-científicas da Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Os doutorandos da turma de 2020 promoveram o webinário “Para além dos limites da saúde: cuidado em perspectiva interdisciplinar", como parte da formação acadêmica, e este relato é produto científico daquele evento. Além do desenvolvimento de habilidades e atitudes, essa experiência representou um aprendizado pessoal, intangível e emocional do cuidado para além dos limites da saúde, e também ético sobre as “coisas negligenciadas” e acerca da força dos consensos diante de um cenário complexo marcado por uma pandemia causada pelo vírus SARS-CoV-2, a pandemia de covid-19.
The White-tipped Plantcutter Phytotoma rutila has only one documented record for Brazil, that occurred in 1974 in the extreme west of Rio Grande do Sul. We report herein a second record - one ...individual photographed in April 2009 at a dunefield in the municipality of Capão da Canoa, northern coast of Rio Grande do Sul, about 700 km from the previous one. This new record corroborates the status of vagrant for this species in Brazil.
The snake Phalotris lemniscatus is a polymorphic species regarding color, which varies between light shades with a yellow predominance (pale yellow-brown) to darker shades with a red predominance ...(red-dark). Pale yellow-brown individuals are more frequent in coastal populations while there is a tendency of increasing the frequency of red-dark morphs in inland areas. Considering the variation in substrate color along the species distribution (light/sandy on the coast to reddish and dark/argillaceous in inland areas), we raise the hypothesis that the predation rate of each morph would be lower in sites were its crypsis potential is higher. If correct, this hypothesis would reinforce the idea that the predation risk is one of the factors influencing the spatial structuring in morph frequency distributions in populations of P. lemniscatus. To test this hypothesis, we performed a field experiment using plasticine P. lemniscatus artificial models that represent two morphs: red-dark and pale yellow-brown. The models were distributed in three localities where the following substrate types predominate: light (Coastal Site), intermediary (Lowland Site) and reddish dark (Highland Site). Our predictions were corroborated only at the coastal site, where the less cryptic morph was the most preyed one. We verified that there is a regional variation in the predation risk on different morphs. Thus, the possibility that the selective pressure by predators is a relevant element in the structuring of the frequencies of different morph populations of this species cannot be completely excluded. Keywords. Behavior, Brazil, coral-pattern, mimetism, phenotype, snake.
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