103 butterflies (Papilionoidea) from Ilha Grande and Ilha da Marambaia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Here we show a list of 103 butterflies (Papilionoidea) found at Ilha Grande and Ilha da Marambaia, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. To our knowledge, this is the first butterfly inventory conducted in these islands. The species richness, the collecting methods utilized, endemism, and the mimicry rings found in the islands are discussed. Moreover, we emphasize the importance and the utilization of butterflies as suitable models to assess community ecology patterns.

Synopsis of the terrestrial and freshwater gastropod fauna of southern Bahia, Brazil

The terrestrial and freshwater malacofauna of southern Bahia is little known, especially in comparison to the well-studied eastern portion of the state covered by remnants of Atlantic Forest. We present here a synopsis of all gastropod species known from the central southern region of Bahia state, known as ‘Centro-Sul Baiano’, focusing on four municipalities: Condeúba, Cordeiros, Mortugaba, and Piripá. The list herein contains data from the literature, historical material deposited in museum collections, and two recent expeditions undertaken in the region. The survey resulted in 21 species of gastropods, with nearly 700 voucher specimens (mostly freshwater) deposited in the collection of the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo (São Paulo, Brazil). Circa 30% of the species are non-indigenous; previously, the only known exotic in the region was Melanoides tuberculata (Müller, 1774). The family Achatinidae was the most diverse group in number of native species, while the typically diverse superfamily Orthalicoidea was represented by only two species.

Giovanni da Empoli (1483-1518): um mercador florentino na Ásia portuguesa e as primeiras aves-do-paraíso vistas na Europa

Para os autores contemporâneos, as aves-do-paraíso (Passeriformes, Paradisaeidae) só teriam chegado à Europa em 6 de setembro de 1522, data de ancoragem em San Lúcar de Barrameda do único navio remanescente da esquadra de Fernão de Magalhães. Por conseguinte, parece ter passado totalmente despercebido que o mercador florentino Giovanni da Empoli desembarcou em Lisboa com um desses pássaros no dia 22 de agosto de 1514 – de fato oito anos antes. Descrita por Empoli em uma carta autografada composta na capital portuguesa a 19 de outubro de 1514, essa ave-do-paraíso fora adquirida em Malaca e seria enviada como presente para Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, que assumira o trono pontifício em 9 de março de 1513 como Leão X. O mesmo documento relata que o rei Dom Manuel também possuía uma ave-do-paraíso, sinal de que esses pássaros talvez já participassem do comércio de animais exóticos e seus produtos conduzido pelos portugueses pouco depois da viagem de Vasco da Gama. De qualquer forma, tal descoberta abre espaço para uma inesperada revisão da trajetória das aves-do-paraíso na Europa e fomenta a busca de novas fontes textuais e iconográficas.

The Brazilian entomologist Messias Carrera (1907-1994): Biobibliographical profile

The present article focuses on the life trajectory and the bibliographic production of the entomologist and science communicator Messias Carrera (1907-1994), presenting aspects of his personal profile, academic training and professional development. His role as a researcher in the Zoology Department of Secretaria de Agricultura, Indústria e Comércio do Estado de São Paulo, currently Museu de Zoologia of the Universidade de São Paulo, is emphasized, having worked mainly in the taxonomy of insects of the order Diptera and in science communication between the 1930s and 1990s. Carrera was a science researcher and communicator ahead of his time. His intellectual production, limited to the scientific, technological and “humanistic” spheres, adds important advances to the relative areas of knowledge.

Morphology, Pandemic, and 3D

The COVID‑19 pandemic imposes the biggest restrictions on access to morphological information housed in scientific collections, compromising the progress of scientific research. Even though it is not the first event to impose restrictions on access, it is undoubtedly the most global in range. Based on this, we discuss the barriers to access information and we show 3D technology as an important tool to create routes to mitigate the effects of future restrictions. In a global sphere, there are initiatives of inter-institutional integration and international networks focused on facilitating and disseminate the implementation of digitization tools and techniques to facilitate access to diverse biological information. Notwithstanding, when we speak in 3D technology in Latin American countries, as is well noted in Brazil, this type of progress is lacking, with only isolated initiatives from some laboratories and research centers that implement 3D digitization tools, but often as experimental uses. Moreover, recent events, such as the Museu Naciona fire and the mobility restriction imposed by the COVID‑19 pandemic, reinforce the need and urgency to discuss the virtualization of natural history collections in the national territory. In this sense, we recommend photogrammetry as a more accessible and versatile technology, which could be quickly implemented in curatorial procedures. We, also, have defined criteria to establish priorities for virtualizing the collection. The virtualization of the type specimens is an inevitable and necessary task to ensure their access and expansion of their safe preservation, as established by the ICZN, and should therefore be considered as a high priority, followed by reference specimens, which are frequently accessed. Finally, to ensure Latin America advances to levels similar to those observed in other continents, it is important to establish a collaborative network of museums and other research institutions.

The ichthyofauna of the Rio Carinhanha basin, one of the main tributaries of the Rio São Francisco

The ichthyofauna of the Rio São Francisco basin is relatively well-documented. However, most of this knowledge is concentrated at the upper stretch of its catchment area. In this study, we compile a list of species encompassing almost the entire length of the Rio Carinhanha, an important tributary from upper-middle section of the Rio São Francisco, including a comprehensive diversity of environments. A total of 99 species from 8 orders and 27 families were recorded. Five species are considered non-native, six classifieds as long distance migrants, and three as vulnerable. The orders with the greatest richness of native species were Characiformes and Siluriformes. Characidae was the most represented family, followed by Loricariidae. The main river channels were the richest environments sampled, followed by floodplain lagoons, veredas, and streams. The Carinhanha basin has important lotic remnants, thus it has several migratory fish populations as well as endangered species. This study demonstrates the importance of cataloguing the still poorly explored tributaries of the upper-middle section of the Rio São Francisco basin.

Tardigrades Research in Brazil: an overview and updated checklist

Tardigrades are microscopic animals, commonly referred to as “water bears”, and comprise the phylum Tardigrada. They are found in diverse habitats in terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments worldwide. In this paper, it is presented a brief history of the study of tardigrades in Brazil and an updated species checklist of Brazilian tardigrades. Since the first report in 1913, the number of tardigrades records has increased, reflecting advances in the understanding the diversity of tardigrades in Brazil. A total of 100 species known from Brazil are listed, being 30 in marine and 70 in terrestrial and freshwater environments. The records are concentrated in Southeast (47.1%) and Northeast (41.3%) regions. Despite the advances, further research and sampling of new areas is still needed, besides reanalysis and confirmation of old records. Brazil, with its vast territory, extensive continental shelf and great diversity of biomes, has great potential to expand our knowledge of tardigrades fauna.

From 1900 to 2000: History of Earthworm taxonomy in the North and Northeast of Brazil and its current distribution in Brazilian Biomes

One of the initial milestones for earthworm taxonomy was the work of Michaelsen (1900), “Das Tierreich Oligochaeta”. During this period only two exotic species of the genus Amynthas were recorded for the North and Northeast of Brazil. A century has passed and little is known about the taxonomy of earthworms in these two regions and the distribution of these organisms in Brazilian Biomes. The Brazilian territory is divided into six large biomes, Amazonian, Caatinga, Cerrado, Atlantic Forest, Pampa, and Wetlands. Little is known about the distribution of earthworms in these environments. This article provides a review of the literature on the progress of taxonomy in northern and northeastern Brazil over a century and provides the current distribution of earthworms in Brazilian biomes. In the first four decades the taxonomy has advanced at a slow pace, with only 19 new species recorded. With the beginning of Gilberto Righi’s work, earthworm taxonomy has advanced significantly. After Righi’s death in 1999, taxonomy in the North and Northeast has only begun breathing again within the past two years, in which the description of nine new species and two new genera have appeared. There are currently 174 species distributed in thirteen of the sixteen states that make up the North and Northeast regions of Brazil. Regarding distribution, the Amazon, Mata Atlantica and Cerrado biomes stand out for being the most diverse in genera and species, while the Caatinga, Pampa and Pantanal biomes are less diversified. In addition, the Caatinga and Pampa are the only biomes having more exotic species than native species.

Popper as a process: revisiting the appropriation of the Popperian philosophy by the cladists during the “systematics wars”

The philosophy of Karl Popper was strongly used by the cladists in their battle against evolutionary and numerical taxonomy. It became known as “Systematics Wars” by David Hull. His historical account in Science as a Process, described the outcome of that era that end up with the victory of cladistics. Claiming it as hypothetico-deductivist, and falsificationist, cladists have transformed and distorted Popper, that almost nothing of these ideas survived scrutiny. One of the Hull’s conclusion was that the success of cladistics was largely due to their ability to maintain social cohesion and intellectual orthodoxy during the years of the Systematic Wars. In this paper, I will provide a concise historical development about the appropriation of Popper’s ideas that were used by systematics, both as a defense and as a critic, trying to make clear the interpretations of these authors in relation to Popper and their research program. Using David Hull’s General Theory of Selection Processes, I will argue that these facts were, partially, to a heavy adherence to Popper’s philosophy.

Observações sobre fauna e flora na “Relação da Viagem, que fez o Conde da Azambuja da cidade de S. Paulo para a Villa do Cuyabá no anno de 1751” (cod‑546 da Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal)

Antônio Rolim de Moura, Conde de Azambuja (1709‑1792), foi nomeado em 1748 por seu primo, o rei de Portugal, D. João V, Governador da Capitania de Mato Grosso. Chegou ao Brasil (Recife) em abril de 1749, dirigindo-se em junho ao Rio de Janeiro. No início de 1750 chegou a São Paulo. De 1º de abril a 1º de maio desse ano fez uma viagem a Parati, no estado do Rio de Janeiro. Regressando à cidade de São Paulo ocupou-se com os preparativos para a aventurosa viagem fluvial até Cuiabá (Mato Grosso). Embarcou a 5 de agosto, chegando em Cuiabá aos 12 de janeiro de 1751. Ainda nesse ano escreveu o relato de sua viagem, dirigido a D. João V, narrando os perigos e vicissitudes da empresa e tecendo comentários sobre as regiões percorridas, animais, plantas e índios. Esse manuscrito (cod‑546), atualmente na Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, é aqui transcrito e comentado.