F. Andreone, I. Ansaloni, E. Bellia, A. Benocci, Carlotta Betto, G. Bianchi, G. Boano, Antonio Borzatti de Loewestern, Rino Brancato, N. Bressi, Stefano Bulla, M. Capula, V. Caputo Barucchi, P. Carlino, Umberto Chalvien, Marta Coloberti, P. Crucitti, Maria Chiara Deflorian, G. Doria, S. Farina, Valeria Franceschini, S. Guioli, R. Improta, L. Lapini, L. Latella, G. Manganelli, S. Mazzotti, Marta Meneghini, P. Nicolosi, A. Nistri, N. Novarini, E. Razzetti, G. Repetto, Roberta Salmaso, G. Salza, S. Scali, G. Scillitani, A. Sforzi, R. Sindaco, G. Stancher, M. Valle, Giannantonio Zanata Santi, M. Zuffi, G. Tessa
Natural history museums are irreplaceable tools to study and preserve the biological diversity around the globe and among the primary actors in the recognition of species and the logical repositories for their type specimens. In this paper we surveyed the consistency of the preserved specimens of amphibians and reptiles housed in the major Italian scientific collections, and verified the presence of threatened species according to the IUCN Red List, including the Extinct (EX), Extinct in the Wild (EW), Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), and Vulnerable (VU) categories. Altogether, we analyzed 39 Italian zoological collections. We confirmed the presence of one extinct reptile (Chioninia coctei) and five extinct or extinct in the wild amphibian species (Atelopus longirostris, Nectophrynoides asperginis, Pseudophilautus leucorhinus, P. nasutus, and P. variabilis). Seven CR amphibians, fourteen CR reptile species and the extinct skink C. coctei are shared by more than one institution. Museums which host the highest number of threatened and extinct amphibian species are respectively Turin (17 CR and 1 EX), Florence (13 CR and 1 EX), and Trento (15 CR and 1 EW), while for reptiles the richest museums are those from Genoa (15 CR and 1 EX), Florence (11 CR and 1 EX), and Pisa (7 CR). Finally, we discussed the utility of natural history museums and the strategies to follow for the implementation of their functionality.
{"title":"Threatened and extinct amphibians and reptiles in Italian natural history collections are useful conservation tools","authors":"F. Andreone, I. Ansaloni, E. Bellia, A. Benocci, Carlotta Betto, G. Bianchi, G. Boano, Antonio Borzatti de Loewestern, Rino Brancato, N. Bressi, Stefano Bulla, M. Capula, V. Caputo Barucchi, P. Carlino, Umberto Chalvien, Marta Coloberti, P. Crucitti, Maria Chiara Deflorian, G. Doria, S. Farina, Valeria Franceschini, S. Guioli, R. Improta, L. Lapini, L. Latella, G. Manganelli, S. Mazzotti, Marta Meneghini, P. Nicolosi, A. Nistri, N. Novarini, E. Razzetti, G. Repetto, Roberta Salmaso, G. Salza, S. Scali, G. Scillitani, A. Sforzi, R. Sindaco, G. Stancher, M. Valle, Giannantonio Zanata Santi, M. Zuffi, G. Tessa","doi":"10.36253/a_h-12349","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-12349","url":null,"abstract":"Natural history museums are irreplaceable tools to study and preserve the biological diversity around the globe and among the primary actors in the recognition of species and the logical repositories for their type specimens. In this paper we surveyed the consistency of the preserved specimens of amphibians and reptiles housed in the major Italian scientific collections, and verified the presence of threatened species according to the IUCN Red List, including the Extinct (EX), Extinct in the Wild (EW), Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), and Vulnerable (VU) categories. Altogether, we analyzed 39 Italian zoological collections. We confirmed the presence of one extinct reptile (Chioninia coctei) and five extinct or extinct in the wild amphibian species (Atelopus longirostris, Nectophrynoides asperginis, Pseudophilautus leucorhinus, P. nasutus, and P. variabilis). Seven CR amphibians, fourteen CR reptile species and the extinct skink C. coctei are shared by more than one institution. Museums which host the highest number of threatened and extinct amphibian species are respectively Turin (17 CR and 1 EX), Florence (13 CR and 1 EX), and Trento (15 CR and 1 EW), while for reptiles the richest museums are those from Genoa (15 CR and 1 EX), Florence (11 CR and 1 EX), and Pisa (7 CR). Finally, we discussed the utility of natural history museums and the strategies to follow for the implementation of their functionality.","PeriodicalId":50896,"journal":{"name":"Acta Herpetologica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42120882","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jalal Mouadi, P. Pafilis, Abderrafea Elbahi, Zahra Okba, H. Elouizgani, E. E. El Mouden, M. Aourir
Gut passage time (GPT), a key factor in digestive procedure, is of pivotal importance for digestion. Several parameters may affect GPT, such as temperature, length of gastrointestinal tract and body size. Here, we examine the influence of prey weight and prey species on GPT in the endemic diurnal gecko Quedenfeldtia moerens, from the Anti-Atlas Mountains in central Morocco. We used two prey species, house crickets (Acheta domesticus, AD) and mealworms (Tenebrio molitor, TM). Lizards were fed with the larval stage of TM and nymphs of AD. The influence of prey weight and prey species was tested at a constant temperature. We used three weight classes of each prey species to test the influence of prey weight on GPT. Our results showed that prey species affected GPT in a distinct way: mealworms induced a longer gut passage time compared to house crickets. Moreover, GPT increased with the increasing weight of prey for both prey species. Our finding demonstrates that the effect of prey species and prey weight affect digestion and thus should be better clarified in future studies.
{"title":"The effect of weight and prey species on gut passage time in an endemic gecko Quedenfeldtia moerens (Chabanaud, 1916) from Morocco","authors":"Jalal Mouadi, P. Pafilis, Abderrafea Elbahi, Zahra Okba, H. Elouizgani, E. E. El Mouden, M. Aourir","doi":"10.36253/a_h-12326","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-12326","url":null,"abstract":"Gut passage time (GPT), a key factor in digestive procedure, is of pivotal importance for digestion. Several parameters may affect GPT, such as temperature, length of gastrointestinal tract and body size. Here, we examine the influence of prey weight and prey species on GPT in the endemic diurnal gecko Quedenfeldtia moerens, from the Anti-Atlas Mountains in central Morocco. We used two prey species, house crickets (Acheta domesticus, AD) and mealworms (Tenebrio molitor, TM). Lizards were fed with the larval stage of TM and nymphs of AD. The influence of prey weight and prey species was tested at a constant temperature. We used three weight classes of each prey species to test the influence of prey weight on GPT. Our results showed that prey species affected GPT in a distinct way: mealworms induced a longer gut passage time compared to house crickets. Moreover, GPT increased with the increasing weight of prey for both prey species. Our finding demonstrates that the effect of prey species and prey weight affect digestion and thus should be better clarified in future studies. ","PeriodicalId":50896,"journal":{"name":"Acta Herpetologica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43320851","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Meadow lizard (Darevskia praticola s.l.) is one of the more poorly-studied lizard species in Europe, and no detailed data on its diet is available. We investigated a total of 180 faecal samples of D. praticola s.l. from two locations in Bulgaria, and conducted a comparison between sex and age groups (adult males, adult females, and immatures). In addition, the correlations between the consumed prey and the available resources were also analysed. Food selectivity was analysed by comparing the faecal samples with pit-fall trap samples on the basis of abundance of prey items from particular operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Results indicate that the diet of the Meadow lizard contains mainly arthropods (insects and spiders) and the most abundant prey items belong to Araneae, Auchenorrhyncha, and Coleoptera. According to the used electivity indices none of the OTUs are highly preferred by D. praticola s.l., but Formicidae are the most avoided OTU for all sex/age groups. Differences in food preferences can be found between adults and immatures, while differences among males and females seem to be insignificant. The lack of clear differentiation between males and females could be a result of their similar size and locomotor ability. In conclusion, our results reveal that Darevskia praticola s.l. is a generalist and it shows no food specialization due to its narrow spatial niche.
{"title":"A contribution to the knowledge on the diet and food preferences of Darevskia praticola (Reptilia: Lacertidae)","authors":"E. Vacheva, B. Naumov","doi":"10.36253/a_h-12179","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-12179","url":null,"abstract":"The Meadow lizard (Darevskia praticola s.l.) is one of the more poorly-studied lizard species in Europe, and no detailed data on its diet is available. We investigated a total of 180 faecal samples of D. praticola s.l. from two locations in Bulgaria, and conducted a comparison between sex and age groups (adult males, adult females, and immatures). In addition, the correlations between the consumed prey and the available resources were also analysed. Food selectivity was analysed by comparing the faecal samples with pit-fall trap samples on the basis of abundance of prey items from particular operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Results indicate that the diet of the Meadow lizard contains mainly arthropods (insects and spiders) and the most abundant prey items belong to Araneae, Auchenorrhyncha, and Coleoptera. According to the used electivity indices none of the OTUs are highly preferred by D. praticola s.l., but Formicidae are the most avoided OTU for all sex/age groups. Differences in food preferences can be found between adults and immatures, while differences among males and females seem to be insignificant. The lack of clear differentiation between males and females could be a result of their similar size and locomotor ability. In conclusion, our results reveal that Darevskia praticola s.l. is a generalist and it shows no food specialization due to its narrow spatial niche.","PeriodicalId":50896,"journal":{"name":"Acta Herpetologica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47661696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Mangiacotti, Pietro Lo Cascio, C. Corti, M. Biaggini, M. Carretero, P. Lymberakis
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{"title":"XI International Symposium on the Mediterranean Lacertid Lizards","authors":"M. Mangiacotti, Pietro Lo Cascio, C. Corti, M. Biaggini, M. Carretero, P. Lymberakis","doi":"10.36253/a_h-13069","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-13069","url":null,"abstract":"<jats:p>None</jats:p>","PeriodicalId":50896,"journal":{"name":"Acta Herpetologica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49394482","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
H. Y. Li, Man Jun Shang, Jie Guo, Bo Jun Chen, Pengli Chen, T. Yu
Environmental stress is generally regarded as an important evolutionary force for promoting the differentiation of shape, structure and function of animal organs closely related to survival and reproduction. Geographical variation of temperature and corresponding change in intensity of male-male competition might drive inter-population differences in directional testes asymmetry (DTA). Here, we investigated inter-population variation in DTA of the brown frog (Rana kukunoris) at seven different altitudes on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. We found that the size of right testes increased with temperature, but not left testes. We also found that male age, body mass or body condition, and testis mass had not effect on DTA, suggesting that heavier or older R. kukunoris males or those with larger testes had not stronger DTA. The operational sex ratio did not affect DTA, but there was a positive correlation between DTA and temperature, suggesting that differences in the length of activity period and resources availability across locations may affect the energy budget of this frog, resulting in a gradual change in reproduction energy parallel to increasing temperature.
{"title":"The directional testes asymmetry increases with temperature in seven plateau brown frog (Rana kukunoris) populations","authors":"H. Y. Li, Man Jun Shang, Jie Guo, Bo Jun Chen, Pengli Chen, T. Yu","doi":"10.36253/a_h-12187","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-12187","url":null,"abstract":"Environmental stress is generally regarded as an important evolutionary force for promoting the differentiation of shape, structure and function of animal organs closely related to survival and reproduction. Geographical variation of temperature and corresponding change in intensity of male-male competition might drive inter-population differences in directional testes asymmetry (DTA). Here, we investigated inter-population variation in DTA of the brown frog (Rana kukunoris) at seven different altitudes on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. We found that the size of right testes increased with temperature, but not left testes. We also found that male age, body mass or body condition, and testis mass had not effect on DTA, suggesting that heavier or older R. kukunoris males or those with larger testes had not stronger DTA. The operational sex ratio did not affect DTA, but there was a positive correlation between DTA and temperature, suggesting that differences in the length of activity period and resources availability across locations may affect the energy budget of this frog, resulting in a gradual change in reproduction energy parallel to increasing temperature.","PeriodicalId":50896,"journal":{"name":"Acta Herpetologica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43569656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ana Glaucia da Silva Martins, R. Rebouças, I. Santos, Adão Henrique Rosa Domingos, L. F. Toledo
Anuran larvae in aquatic environments are important prey items for several vertebrate and invertebrate species. Besides avoiding predation, there are some strategies that may reduce the physical damage in those tadpoles that survive the predation attempt. For example, the injured tadpole tail can regrow after a predator bite, but few studies have examined the consequences of such injury. We examined the consequences of three levels of injury to the tail and how this influenced development and feeding behavior of tadpoles of the Neotropical elegant treefrog, Dendropsophus elegans. We collected spawns and kept them in the laboratory until tadpoles reached Gosner’s stages 28 to 35. Then, they were separated in four experimental groups: individuals with tail trimmed in 30, 50 or 70 % of its length, and a control group, with no tail removing. We counted the days until metamorphosis, calculated the Scaled Mass Index (SMI) through weight and length of newly-metamorphosed, and evaluated the feeding frequency to evaluate the influence of tail amputation on them. We found that the time until metamorphosis was positively related to the extent of the amputation, but SMI and feeding behavior were not influenced. As the time to metamorphose is related to the survivorship chances of individuals: i.e., if the aquatic environment is with high density of predators, it would be advantageous to rapidly metamorphose out of the water. However, tail injury delays the metamorphose process, which could influence the survival of the individual.
{"title":"Influence of tail injury on the development of Neotropical elegant treefrog tadpoles","authors":"Ana Glaucia da Silva Martins, R. Rebouças, I. Santos, Adão Henrique Rosa Domingos, L. F. Toledo","doi":"10.36253/a_h-11453","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-11453","url":null,"abstract":"Anuran larvae in aquatic environments are important prey items for several vertebrate and invertebrate species. Besides avoiding predation, there are some strategies that may reduce the physical damage in those tadpoles that survive the predation attempt. For example, the injured tadpole tail can regrow after a predator bite, but few studies have examined the consequences of such injury. We examined the consequences of three levels of injury to the tail and how this influenced development and feeding behavior of tadpoles of the Neotropical elegant treefrog, Dendropsophus elegans. We collected spawns and kept them in the laboratory until tadpoles reached Gosner’s stages 28 to 35. Then, they were separated in four experimental groups: individuals with tail trimmed in 30, 50 or 70 % of its length, and a control group, with no tail removing. We counted the days until metamorphosis, calculated the Scaled Mass Index (SMI) through weight and length of newly-metamorphosed, and evaluated the feeding frequency to evaluate the influence of tail amputation on them. We found that the time until metamorphosis was positively related to the extent of the amputation, but SMI and feeding behavior were not influenced. As the time to metamorphose is related to the survivorship chances of individuals: i.e., if the aquatic environment is with high density of predators, it would be advantageous to rapidly metamorphose out of the water. However, tail injury delays the metamorphose process, which could influence the survival of the individual.","PeriodicalId":50896,"journal":{"name":"Acta Herpetologica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42451011","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Blasi, S. Hochscheid, R. Bardelli, Chiara Bruno, C. Melodia, Perla Salzeri, Paolo De Rosa, P. Madonia
The Aeolian Archipelago (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) hosts important foraging/overwintering habitats for Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta), although nesting sites have never been documented. This study reports the data of two nesting events occurred in summer 2019 at Stromboli and Lipari islands. A hatchling success of 20.69 % (18 hatchlings from 87 eggs) was recorded at Stromboli, while a complete hatchling unsuccess characterised the Lipari nest, where 111 eggs were deposited. Data acquired during the monitoring of the nests suggest that combined factors, mainly temperature, beach morphology, and sand composition, could be the causes for the low success of these nesting events.
{"title":"First report on two loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) nests in the Aeolian Archipelago (Southern Italy)","authors":"M. Blasi, S. Hochscheid, R. Bardelli, Chiara Bruno, C. Melodia, Perla Salzeri, Paolo De Rosa, P. Madonia","doi":"10.36253/a_h-10188","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-10188","url":null,"abstract":"The Aeolian Archipelago (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) hosts important foraging/overwintering habitats for Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta), although nesting sites have never been documented. This study reports the data of two nesting events occurred in summer 2019 at Stromboli and Lipari islands. A hatchling success of 20.69 % (18 hatchlings from 87 eggs) was recorded at Stromboli, while a complete hatchling unsuccess characterised the Lipari nest, where 111 eggs were deposited. Data acquired during the monitoring of the nests suggest that combined factors, mainly temperature, beach morphology, and sand composition, could be the causes for the low success of these nesting events.","PeriodicalId":50896,"journal":{"name":"Acta Herpetologica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42515695","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aposematism is a visual communication system in which bright and contrasted coloured prey warn predators about their unprofitability. The Northern Spectacled Salamander Salamandrina perspicillata, a small terrestrial salamander endemic to Italy, displays a uniform dark dorsal colouration and a contrasted ventral side in which a bright red colour is displayed by coiling the tail over the body. In amphibians, this behaviour, known as “Unkenreflex”, is usually considered to be aposematic. In this study, we used realistic plasticine replicas to test this aposematic hypothesis in the Northern Spectacled Salamander. Of the 199 clay models placed in a natural habitat, 165 (83%) were recovered and 39 (24%) showed some sign of predation. The head of the models was more attacked than expected by chance (P = 0.042), suggesting that potential predators were perceiving models as real prey. However, there were no differences in the proportion of dorsal (18/83 = 22%), and ventral (21/82 = 26%) models attacked by predators. Therefore, contrary to expectations our experiment did not support the aposematic hypothesis. However, predation experiments with clay models have limitations and our results should be considered as preliminary, deserving further research to better understand the Northern Spectacled salamander prey-predator system.
{"title":"Is the Northern Spectacled Salamander Salamandrina perspicillata aposematic? A preliminary test with clay models","authors":"G. Barbieri, Andrea Costa, S. Salvidio","doi":"10.36253/a_h-10229","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-10229","url":null,"abstract":"Aposematism is a visual communication system in which bright and contrasted coloured prey warn predators about their unprofitability. The Northern Spectacled Salamander Salamandrina perspicillata, a small terrestrial salamander endemic to Italy, displays a uniform dark dorsal colouration and a contrasted ventral side in which a bright red colour is displayed by coiling the tail over the body. In amphibians, this behaviour, known as “Unkenreflex”, is usually considered to be aposematic. In this study, we used realistic plasticine replicas to test this aposematic hypothesis in the Northern Spectacled Salamander. Of the 199 clay models placed in a natural habitat, 165 (83%) were recovered and 39 (24%) showed some sign of predation. The head of the models was more attacked than expected by chance (P = 0.042), suggesting that potential predators were perceiving models as real prey. However, there were no differences in the proportion of dorsal (18/83 = 22%), and ventral (21/82 = 26%) models attacked by predators. Therefore, contrary to expectations our experiment did not support the aposematic hypothesis. However, predation experiments with clay models have limitations and our results should be considered as preliminary, deserving further research to better understand the Northern Spectacled salamander prey-predator system.","PeriodicalId":50896,"journal":{"name":"Acta Herpetologica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49331656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
P. Mascarenhas-Junior, Luis Antonio Bassetti, Juliana Manso Sayão
Bone histology is an important tool for the interpretation of life patterns in animals of the past and extant fauna. The crocodylians have been studied as important inferential models for morphophysiological characteristics. We aimed to characterize the osteohistology of captive Caiman latirostris, identifying its microanatomy related to growth rates, ontogeny, and environmental conditions. We analyzed five pairs of humeri (proximal elements of the appendicular skeleton) and ribs (axial skeleton) of females’ caiman. Ribs showed, in general, woven-fibered tissues, with low vascularization and parallel-fibered bone and many resorption and erosion cavities. It presented lines of arrested growth (LAGs) in three individuals, without skeletochronological compatibility. Humeri showed a gradient of woven-fibered to parallel-fibered and lamellar-zonal bone as the individuals aging. We observed compacted coarse cancellous bone (CCCB) and a higher number of LAGs in older specimens. Ribs remodel faster than humerus, showing an intra-individual histovariability. The humeri indicated an evident growth pattern with different ontogeny stages and growth rates in different ages. Fast-growing tissues are uncommon in crocodylians, but basal metabolism and optimal growth conditions can lead to this. Bone histology of C. latirostris shows patterns that can be used as inferential models for extant and extinct groups, but we encourage further studies for a better understanding, under different environmental conditions, such as temperature and food availability.
{"title":"Bone histology of Broad-snouted Caiman Caiman latirostris (Crocodylia: Alligatoridae) as tool for morphophysiological inferences in Crocodylia","authors":"P. Mascarenhas-Junior, Luis Antonio Bassetti, Juliana Manso Sayão","doi":"10.36253/a_h-10079","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-10079","url":null,"abstract":"Bone histology is an important tool for the interpretation of life patterns in animals of the past and extant fauna. The crocodylians have been studied as important inferential models for morphophysiological characteristics. We aimed to characterize the osteohistology of captive Caiman latirostris, identifying its microanatomy related to growth rates, ontogeny, and environmental conditions. We analyzed five pairs of humeri (proximal elements of the appendicular skeleton) and ribs (axial skeleton) of females’ caiman. Ribs showed, in general, woven-fibered tissues, with low vascularization and parallel-fibered bone and many resorption and erosion cavities. It presented lines of arrested growth (LAGs) in three individuals, without skeletochronological compatibility. Humeri showed a gradient of woven-fibered to parallel-fibered and lamellar-zonal bone as the individuals aging. We observed compacted coarse cancellous bone (CCCB) and a higher number of LAGs in older specimens. Ribs remodel faster than humerus, showing an intra-individual histovariability. The humeri indicated an evident growth pattern with different ontogeny stages and growth rates in different ages. Fast-growing tissues are uncommon in crocodylians, but basal metabolism and optimal growth conditions can lead to this. Bone histology of C. latirostris shows patterns that can be used as inferential models for extant and extinct groups, but we encourage further studies for a better understanding, under different environmental conditions, such as temperature and food availability.","PeriodicalId":50896,"journal":{"name":"Acta Herpetologica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46099147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
L. C. Rameh-de-Albuquerque, A. P. Zanotti, D. S. Souza, G. Diniz, P. Mascarenhas-Junior, E. M. Santos, J. Correia
Hematological studies in crocodilians are important tools in the evolutionary diagnosis and control of sicknesses, such as anaemia, malnutrition, dehydration, inflammation, and parasitism, among others. We aimed to obtain reference intervals for the hemogram of Caiman latirostris in wild populations that inhabit Recife’s Metropolitan Region, Pernambuco. We obtained blood samples from 42 caimans, from different sexes (22 males and 20 females) and ages classes (eight hatchlings, 24 subadults and 10 adults) in two areas of Atlantic Rainforest domain. We found that hematological parameters were included within the reference intervals for other crocodilian species. It was possible to observe differences between the areas for the mean corpuscular volume values, suggesting a possible difference between adult and juvenile individuals in the two study areas. When comparing sexes, there was no significant difference between the study parameters, but it was possible to observe differences in the mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin and hemoglobin in the Estação Ecológica de Tapacurá region. Although small differences have been observed between the two populations, we can infer that the hematological parameters are similar. We can use this information to evaluate animal’s health in nature and for comparations with captive individuals, allowing the establishment of ideal maintenance conditions and assisting in the identification of possible pathologies.
鳄鱼的血液学研究是进化诊断和控制疾病的重要工具,如贫血、营养不良、脱水、炎症和寄生虫等。我们旨在获得居住在伯南布哥累西腓大都会区的野生种群中的Caiman latirostris血象的参考区间。我们从大西洋雨林地区两个地区的42只凯门鳄身上采集了血液样本,它们来自不同性别(22只雄性和20只雌性)和年龄类别(8只幼仔、24只亚成年和10只成年)。我们发现血液学参数包括在其他鳄鱼物种的参考区间内。可以观察到平均红细胞体积值在两个区域之间的差异,这表明两个研究区域中成人和青少年之间可能存在差异。在比较性别时,研究参数之间没有显著差异,但可以观察到Estação Ecológica de Tapacurá地区平均红细胞体积、平均红细胞血红蛋白和血红蛋白的差异。尽管在两个群体之间观察到了微小的差异,但我们可以推断血液学参数是相似的。我们可以利用这些信息来评估动物在自然界中的健康状况,并与圈养个体进行比较,从而建立理想的维持条件,并帮助识别可能的病理。
{"title":"Hematological values of wild Caiman latirostris (Daudin, 1802) in the Atlantic Rainforest in Pernambuco, Brazil","authors":"L. C. Rameh-de-Albuquerque, A. P. Zanotti, D. S. Souza, G. Diniz, P. Mascarenhas-Junior, E. M. Santos, J. Correia","doi":"10.36253/a_h-11339","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-11339","url":null,"abstract":"Hematological studies in crocodilians are important tools in the evolutionary diagnosis and control of sicknesses, such as anaemia, malnutrition, dehydration, inflammation, and parasitism, among others. We aimed to obtain reference intervals for the hemogram of Caiman latirostris in wild populations that inhabit Recife’s Metropolitan Region, Pernambuco. We obtained blood samples from 42 caimans, from different sexes (22 males and 20 females) and ages classes (eight hatchlings, 24 subadults and 10 adults) in two areas of Atlantic Rainforest domain. We found that hematological parameters were included within the reference intervals for other crocodilian species. It was possible to observe differences between the areas for the mean corpuscular volume values, suggesting a possible difference between adult and juvenile individuals in the two study areas. When comparing sexes, there was no significant difference between the study parameters, but it was possible to observe differences in the mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin and hemoglobin in the Estação Ecológica de Tapacurá region. Although small differences have been observed between the two populations, we can infer that the hematological parameters are similar. We can use this information to evaluate animal’s health in nature and for comparations with captive individuals, allowing the establishment of ideal maintenance conditions and assisting in the identification of possible pathologies.","PeriodicalId":50896,"journal":{"name":"Acta Herpetologica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43135506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}