Anomalous colour in Neotropical mammals: a review with new records for Didelphis sp. (Didelphidae, Didelphimorphia) and Arctocephalus australis (Otariidae, Carnivora)

Anomalous colourations occur in many tropical vertebrates. However, they are considered rare in wild populations, with very few records for the majority of animal taxa. We report two new cases of anomalous colouration in mammals. Additionally, we compiled all published cases about anomalous pigmentation registered in Neotropical mammals, throughout a comprehensive review of peer reviewed articles between 1950 and 2010. Every record was classified as albinism, leucism, piebaldism or eventually as undetermined pigmentation. As results, we report the new record of a leucistic specimen of opossum (Didelphis sp.) in southern Brazil, as well as a specimen of South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis) with piebaldism in Uruguay. We also found 31 scientific articles resulting in 23 records of albinism, 12 of leucism, 71 of piebaldism and 92 records classified as undetermined pigmentation. Anomalous colouration is apparently rare in small terrestrial mammals, but it is much more common in cetaceans and michrochiropterans. Out of these 198 records, 149 occurred in cetaceans and 30 in bats. The results related to cetaceans suggest that males and females with anomolous pigmentation are reproductively successful and as a consequence their frequencies are becoming higher in natural populations. In bats, this result can be related to the fact these animals orient themselves primarily through echolocation, and their refuges provide protection against light and predation. It is possible that anomalous colouration occurs more frequently in other Neotropical mammal orders, which were not formally reported. Therefore, we encourage researchers to publish these events in order to better understand this phenomenon that has a significant influence on animal survival.

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Population and reproductive traits of a freshwater amphipod (Crustacea, Peracarida, Hyalellidae) from northwest of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Biota Neotropica ◽

10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2019-0872 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Daniela da Silva Castiglioni ◽

Marcio Limberger ◽

Vanessa da Silva Castro ◽

Francieli Ubessi

Keyword(s):

No Reduction ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Reproductive Traits ◽

Bimodal Distribution ◽

Southern Brazil ◽

Natural Pond ◽

Males And Females ◽

The Mean ◽

Anthropic Influence ◽

Almost All

Abstract The study of population and reproductive traits provides information about the ecological structure of natural populations. This study aimed to characterize dynamics and reproductive traits of Hyalella palmeirensis from a natural pond from southern Brazil. The amphipods were sampled monthly (August 2012 to July 2013) by a person with the aid of a hand net for 20 minutes. Ovigerous females and pre-copulatory pairs were individualized in the field. A total of 12,325 individuals were sampled, being 1,421 males, 6,983 females (including 215 ovigerous females) and 3,921 juveniles. Paired and unpaired males were significantly greater in size than females. There was a positive correlation between body size (CL) of paired males and females. Males and females showed bimodal distribution. Total sex ratio favored females, and these were more frequent in almost all months. Ovigerous females and precopulatory pairs were found throughout the year, but with high frequency in winter and autumn, respectively, characterizing a seasonal reproduction. Juveniles were sampled throughout the year, with greater intensity in the spring. The mean fecundity was 19.6 ± 4.34 eggs. No reduction in the number of eggs was observed during embryonic development. The results observed in H. palmeirensis demonstrate that this species has a population and reproductive dynamics very similar to other species of Hyalella already analyzed in southern Brazil. Moreover, it can be seen that although the H. palmeirensis occurs in an environment with anthropic influence (soy cultivation,) the population is managing to remain in the area, with reproduction and recruitment in most months of year.

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New taxa and combinations in Neotropical Delphacini (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea)

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4281.1.26 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4281 (1) ◽

pp. 280 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

ANA M. MARINO DE REMES LENICOV ◽

M. EUGENIA BRENTASSI

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Host Plant ◽

New Taxa ◽

New Records ◽

New South ◽

South American ◽

South American Species ◽

Plant Associations ◽

Males And Females ◽

A New Species

A new South American genus of Delphacini (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Delphacidae), Neodelphax n. gen., is described. It includes a new species, N. sakakibarai sp. n., which is described herein, and two species that are removed from the genus Dicranotropis. All of them are illustrated. Supplementary descriptions of female N. fuscoterminata (Berg) comb. n. and N. acheron (Fennah) comb. n., including some new records and host plant associations are added. A preliminary key for males and females of South American species of Neodelphax with representative illustrations is also provided.

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Trace metal concentration in liver, kidney and heart in South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis) from Southern Brazil

Marine Pollution Bulletin ◽

10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.07.026 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 58 (12) ◽

pp. 1948-1952 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

B. Baraj ◽

L.F. Niencheski ◽

H. Windom ◽

L. Hermanns

Keyword(s):

Trace Metal ◽

Metal Concentration ◽

Trace Metal Concentration ◽

South American ◽

Southern Brazil ◽

Fur Seal

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Parturition process in an amphibian mammal species: new evidences in South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis)

Animal Biology ◽

10.1163/15707563-00002484 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 66 (1) ◽

pp. 21-29 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Valentina Franco-Trecu ◽

Mateo D. García-Olazábal ◽

Bettina Tassino ◽

Jorge Acevedo

Keyword(s):

Total Duration ◽

Breech Presentation ◽

Detailed Examination ◽

Recent Common Ancestor ◽

South American ◽

Mammal Species ◽

Aquatic Life ◽

Terrestrial Mammals ◽

Most Recent Common Ancestor ◽

Fur Seal

In mammals, the transition from a terrestrial to an aquatic environment has implied a great number of adaptations. While in terrestrial mammals the presentation of the foetus at birth is typically cephalic, in strictly aquatic mammals as cetaceans and sirenians the presentation of the foetus is mainly breech. The order Pinnipedia is the most recently evolved group of marine mammals and has an amphibian lifestyle. We document, for the first time, the parturition process in the largest breeding colony of the South American fur seal Arctocephalus australis in Uruguay and compare our results with the scarce information available for other species. The analysis of the parturition processes shows that the cephalic/breech birth ratio was 1. In this species, the presentation of the foetus did not affect the total duration of the parturition process, but the cephalic presentation implied a significantly lower duration of the stage 1 of birth, a trend that is also observed in other Otariid species. Phylogenetic reconstructions suggest that O. flavescens and E. jubatus are older than the Arctocephalus genus, having their most recent common ancestor dated between 5-5.8 mybp. Within the Arctocephalus genus, A. australis would be the most recent species (0.7 mybp). In this light, the skewed ratios of breech presentation in older otariids species may suggest a convergent adaptation toward the aquatic life. We hope this finding will promote an increase of studies aiming for a more detailed examination on the adaptive processes involved in the selection of both types of fetal presentations, and their potential effect on the survival of the pup.

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A new species of the spider genus Wirada (Araneae, Theridiidae) from Mexico, with taxonomic notes on the genus and a key to the species

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4457.3.13 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4457 (3) ◽

pp. 495

Author(s):

EMMANUEL F. CAMPUZANO ◽

GUILLERMO IBARRA-NÚÑEZ

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Southeastern Brazil ◽

Phylogenetic Study ◽

South American ◽

Southern Brazil ◽

South American Species ◽

Males And Females ◽

A New Species

Wirada Keyserling, 1886 is one of the smallest genera of Theridiidae with only five South American species (World Spider Catalog 2018). Keyserling (1886) described first Wirada punctata (male) from Peru. Simon (1895) described W. rugithorax and W. tovarensis (males) from Venezuela, but Levi (1963) synonymized W. rugithorax with W. punctata. Later, Levi (1967) described W. tijuca (male) from southeastern Brazil, and lately Lise et al. (2009) described W. sigillata Lise, Silva & Bertocello, 2009 and W. araucaria Lise, Silva & Bertocello, 2009 (males and females) from southern Brazil. Simon (1894) placed Wirada in its group Histogonieae, and stated it is close to Pholcommateae. Until now, none species of Wirada has been included in any phylogenetic study of Theridiidae, only Agnarsson (2004) when commented the Pholcommatinae said “Based on the synapomorphies of the group it is likely that ... Wirada belong to this subfamily.” Recently, this genus was reported (as Wirada sp1) from two localities in Mexico (Ibarra et al. 2011; Álvarez-Padilla 2015; Rivera-Quiroz et al. 2016) and subsequent samplings on three other sites from Chiapas (Campuzano et al. 2016) exposed more specimens. After examining these specimens, we found they do not match any of the known species and therefore we propose a new species. We also include taxonomic and biological notes about the genus and a key to the species.

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Genetic analysis of medfly populations in an area of sterile insect technique applications

Journal of Pest Science ◽

10.1007/s10340-021-01337-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Rubén Sancho ◽

Ana Guillem-Amat ◽

Elena López-Errasquín ◽

Lucas Sánchez ◽

Félix Ortego ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Markers ◽

Sterile Insect Technique ◽

Ceratitis Capitata ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Fruit Fly ◽

Wild Populations ◽

Genetic Sexing ◽

Environmental Implications ◽

Genetic Sexing Strains

AbstractThe sterile insect technique (SIT) is widely used in integrated pest management programs for the control of the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata. The genetic interactions between the released individuals from the genetic sexing strains (GSS), used for SIT applications worldwide, and wild individuals have not been studied. Under the hypothesis that a number of Vienna GSS individuals released to the field might not be completely sterile and may produce viable offspring, we have analyzed medfly Spanish field populations to evaluate the presence of Vienna strain genetic markers. To this goal, we have used contrasted nuclear and mitochondrial genetic markers, and two novel sets of nuclear polymorphisms with the potential to be markers to discriminate between Vienna and wild individuals. Nuclear Vienna markers located on the 5th chromosome of Vienna males have been found in 2.2% (19 from 875) of the Spanish wild medfly females captured at the area where SIT is applied. In addition, a female-inherited mitochondrial Vienna marker has been found in two from the 19 females showing nuclear Vienna markers. The detection of several of these markers in single individuals represents evidence of the introgression of Vienna strain into natural populations. However, alternative explanations as their presence at low frequency in wild populations in the studied areas cannot be fully discarded. The undesired release of non-fully sterile irradiated GSS individuals into the field and their interactions with wild flies, and the potential environmental implications should be taken into account in the application of the SIT.

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Genetic diversity and kinship relationships in one of the largest South American fur seal ( Arctocephalus australis ) populations of the Pacific Ocean

Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.1002/ece3.7683 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Josefina Gutiérrez ◽

Mauricio Seguel ◽

Pablo Saenz‐Agudelo ◽

Gerardo Acosta‐Jamett ◽

Claudio Verdugo

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Pacific Ocean ◽

South American ◽

The Pacific ◽

Fur Seal ◽

The Pacific Ocean

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No sex differences in learning in wild bumblebees

Behavioral Ecology ◽

10.1093/beheco/arab013 ◽

2021 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Felicity Muth ◽

Amber D Tripodi ◽

Rene Bonilla ◽

James P Strange ◽

Anne S Leonard

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Associative Learning ◽

Sierra Nevada ◽

Comparative Cognition ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Interspecific Variation ◽

Learning Task ◽

Learning Ability ◽

Learning Performance ◽

Males And Females

Abstract Females and males often face different sources of selection, resulting in dimorphism in morphological, physiological, and even cognitive traits. Sex differences are often studied in respect to spatial cognition, yet the different ecological roles of males and females might shape cognition in multiple ways. For example, in dietary generalist bumblebees (Bombus), the ability to learn associations is critical to female workers, who face informationally rich foraging scenarios as they collect nectar and pollen from thousands of flowers over a period of weeks to months to feed the colony. While male bumblebees likely need to learn associations as well, they only forage for themselves while searching for potential mates. It is thus less clear whether foraging males would benefit from the same associative learning performance as foraging females. In this system, as in others, cognitive performance is typically studied in lab-reared animals under captive conditions, which may not be representative of patterns in the wild. In the first test of sex and species differences in cognition using wild bumblebees, we compared the performance of Bombus vancouverensis nearcticus (formerly bifarius) and Bombus vosnesenskii of both sexes on an associative learning task at Sierra Nevada (CA) field sites. Across both species, we found that males and females did not differ in their ability to learn, although males were slower to respond to the sucrose reward. These results offer the first evidence from natural populations that male bumblebees may be equally as able to learn associations as females, supporting findings from captive colonies of commercial bees. The observed interspecific variation in learning ability opens the door to using the Bombus system to test hypotheses about comparative cognition.

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