First record of petrified Permian pecopterids from the Parana Basin, Brazil (Corumbatai Formation, Passa Dois Group, northeastern State of São Paulo): Morphology, anatomy and paleoecological implications

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

The analgesic effect of crotoxin on neuropathic pain is mediated by central muscarinic receptors and 5-lipoxygenase-derived mediators

Crotoxin (CTX). a neurotoxin isolated from the venom of the South American rattlesnake Crotalus durissus terrificus. induces analgesia. In this study, we evaluated the antinociceptive effect of CTX in a model of neuropathic pain induced by rat sciatic nerve transection. Hyperalgesia was detected 2 h after nerve transection and persisted for 64 days. Immersion of proximal and distal nerve stumps in CTX solution (0.01 mM for 10 s), immediately after nerve transection, blocked hyperalgesia. The antinociceptive effect of CTX was long-lasting, since it was detected 2 h after treatment and persisted for 64 days. CTX also delayed, but did not block, neurectomy-induced neuroma formation. The effect of CTX was blocked by zileuton (100 mg/kg, p.o.) and atropine (10 mg/kg. i.p.), and reduced by yohimbine (2 mg/kg, i.p.) and methysergide (5 mg/kg, i.p.). on the other hand. indomethacin (4 mg/kg, i.v.). naloxone (1 mg/kg, i.p.). and N-methyl atropine (30 mg/kg, i.p.) did not interfere with the effect of CTX. These results indicate that CTX induces a long-lasting antinociceptive effect in neuropathic pain, which is mediated by activation of central muscarinic receptors and partially, by activation of alpha-adrenoceptors and 5-HT receptors. Eicosanoids derived from the lipoxygenase pathway modulate the action of crotoxin. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A comparative study of the extracutaneous pigmentary system in three anuran amphibian species evaluated during the breeding season.

The present investigation examined the extracutaneous pigmentation pattern of three species of anuran amphibians, Dendropsophus nanus, Physalaemus cuvieri, and Rhinella schneideri, during the course of their breeding seasons. Pigmentation intensity in the different organs was graded on a 4-category scale, in which category 0 refers to organs without pigment and category 3 refers to intensely pigmented organs, with 2 intermediate stages of progressively stronger pigmentation. Rhinella schneideri showed testicular pigmentation, with intra-specific variation (categories 0 and 1). In P. cuvieri the pigmentation in the lungs varied in time: all the animals showed pigmentation (category 1) at the beginning of the breeding season, and as the season progressed the absence of pigments became the most common pattern. In the liver of the first animals collected, the pigment intensity was high (category 2) with many iridophores present, but in the last specimens collected no iridophores were found. The variation in D. nanus occurred in the kidneys, where animals collected at the beginning of the season did not show pigmentation. Renal veins displayed few melanocytes (category 1); animals collected at the end of the season showed more pigmentation in the kidneys (category 2), whereas in the renal veins the intensity remained the same. The changes observed in the extracutaneous pigment system in some organs, during the reproductive period, may be due to physiological alterations or may represent a species-specific characteristic.

The advertisement call of Dendropsophus nahdereri (Anura, Hylidae, Dendropsophini).

The Dendropsophus marmoratus group is composed of eight species known for their explosive breeding habits and morphologically characterized by a bark-like dorsum, warty skin around the lower lips and an extremely large vocal sac. Within this group, D. nahdereri is the only species with distribution restricted to the southern region of Brazil. Apart from the original description and its tadpole, nothing else is known about this species. Using a mechanistic definition of note, we describe the advertisement call of D. nahdereri, which is similar to the advertisement calls of other species of the group and frequently has "final pulseclusters" as defined in the text.

The Rondonian-San Ignacio Province in the SW Amazonian Craton: An overview

The Rondonian-San Ignacio Province (1.56-1.30 Ga) is a composite orogen created through successive accretion of arcs, ocean basin closure and final oblique microcontinent-continent collision. The effects of the collision are well preserved mostly in the Paragua Terrane (Bolivia and Mato Grosso regions) and in the Alto Guapore Belt and the Rio Negro-Juruena Province (Rondonia region), considering that the province was affected by later collision-related deformation and metamorphism during the Sunsas Orogeny (1.25-1.00 Ga). The Rondonian-San Ignacio Province comprises: (1) the Jauru Terrane (1.78-1.42 Ga) that hosts Paleoproterozoic basement (1.78-1.72 Ga), and the Cachoeirinha (1.56-1.52 Ga) and the Santa Helena (1.48-1.42 Ga) accretionary orogens, both developed in an Andean-type magmatic arc; (2) the Paragua Terrane (1.74-1.32 Ga) that hosts pre-San Ignacio units (>1640 Ma: Chiquitania Gneiss Complex, San Ignacio Schist Group and Lomas Manechis Granulitic Complex) and the Pensamiento Granitoid Complex (1.37-1.34 Ga) developed in an Andean-type magmatic arc; (3) the Rio Alegre Terrane (1.51-1.38 Ga) that includes units generated in a mid-ocean ridge and an intra-oceanic magmatic arc environments; and (4) the Alto Guapore Belt (<1.42-1.34 Ga) that hosts units developed in passive marginal basin and intra-oceanic arc settings. The collisional stage (1.34-1.32 Ga) is characterized by deformation, high-grade metamorphism, and partial melting during the metamorphic peak, which affected primarily the Chiquitania Gneiss Complex and Lomas Manechis Granulitic Complex in the Paragua Terrane, and the Colorado Complex and the Nova Mamore Metamorphic Suite in the Alto Guapore Belt. The Paragua Block is here considered as a crustal fragment probably displaced from its Rio Negro-Juruena crustal counterpart between 1.50 and 1.40 Ga. This period is characterized by extensive A-type and intra-plate granite magmatism represented by the Rio Crespo Intrusive Suite (ca. 1.50 Ga), Santo Antonio Intrusive Suite (1.40-1.36 Ga), and the Teotonio Intrusive Suite (1.38 Ga). Magmatism of these types also occur at the end of the Rondonian-San Ignacio Orogeny, and are represented by the Alto Candeias Intrusive Suite (1.34-1.36 Ga), and the Sao Lourenco-Caripunas Intrusive Suite (1.31-1.30 Ga). The cratonization of the province occurred between 1.30 and 1.25 Ga. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Moenkhausia celibela: a new species from the Amazon basin, Brazil (Characiformes: Characidae)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Acoustic repertory of Hypsiboas exastis (Caramaschi and Rodgrigues, 2003) (Amphibia, Hylidae).

Advertisement, territorial, and distress calls of Hypsiboas exastis, a species of the Hypsiboas faker group, are described for the first time. Acoustic records were obtained of one specimen found at the Municipality of Urucuca, state of Bahia, Brazilian eastern cost. We compared the advertisement calls of H. exastis with those of H. lundii and H. pardalis (the closest related species) and suggested a closer similarity with H. lundii.

Evaluation of survey methods for sampling anuran species richness in the neotropics.

Species richness is central to ecological theory, with practical applications in conservation, environmental management and monitoring. Several techniques are available for measuring species richness and composition of amphibians in breeding pools, but the relative efficacy of these methods for sampling high-diversity Neotropical amphibian fauna is poorly understood. I evaluated seven studies from south and south-eastern Brazil to compare the relative and combined effectiveness of two methods for measuring species richness at anuran breeding pools: acoustic surveys with visual encounter of adults and dipnet surveys of larvae. I also compared the relative efficacy of each survey method in detecting species with different reproductive modes. Results showed that both survey methods underestimated the number of species when used separately; however, a close approximation of the actual number of species in each breeding pool was obtained when the methods were combined. There was no difference between survey methods in detecting species with different reproductive modes. These results indicate that researchers should employ multiple survey methods that target both adult and larval life history stages in order to accurately assess anuran species richness at breeding pools in the Neotropics.

Leaiid conchostracans from the uppermost Permian strata of the Parana Basin, Brazil: Chronostratigraphic and paleobiogeographic implications

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Isolation and characterization of ten microsatellite loci from the Patagonian notothenioid fish Eleginops maclovinus

Eleginops maclovinus, the Patagonian blennie, is a notothenioid (Perciformes) endemic to South American temperate and sub-Antarctic waters. Here, we report ten polymorphic microsatellite loci isolated from a dinucleotide-enriched E. maclovinus genomic library. Among 48 individuals, the number of alleles per locus ranged from eight to 41, and the observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.688 to 0.938 and from 0.695 to 0.968, respectively. No locus significantly deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, and no significant linkage disequilibrium between pairs of loci was found. These polymorphic microsatellite loci will be useful for investigating genetic population structure and connectivity among natural populations.

Infestación natural de Lonchaeidae (Diptera) en variedades de melocotón

Se estudió la ocurrencia de Lonchaeidae en variedades de melocotón, conducidos sobre los patrones ‘Okinawa’ y Umê: Tropical, Ouromel 3, Jóia 4, Régis, Talismã, Aurora 2, Aurora 1, Dourado 2 y Doçura 2. Se colectaron muestras de 30 frutos por planta en el Banco de Germoplasma en Presidente Prudente, Brasil. Se obtuvieron 633 especímenes de Lonchaeidae; 394 de ellos en frutos de variedades sobre ‘Okinawa’ y 239 sobre Umê. Se capturaron especies como Neosilba zadolicha, N. inesperata, N. pendula, N. certa y Neosilba spp. (hembras). N. zadolicha y N. inesperata, se observaron en 77,78% de las muestras de las variedades sobre ‘Okinawa’. Sobre el patrón Umê la mayor incidencia fue de N. zadolicha , N. inesperata y N. pendula (55,6%, 33,3% y 33,3% respectivamente). Las variedades Ouromel 3, Talismã, Doçura 2 y Aurora 2 presentaron mayores infestaciones por Lonchaeidae. N. certa tuvo una menor incidencia y sólo se observó en la variedad Doçura 2 sobre ‘Okinawa’. Plantas con mayor número de frutos presentaron mayor incidencia de moscas por fruto; sin embargo, no hubo correlación entre peso del fruto y número de moscas. No se observó diferencia para peso del fruto y número de moscas por fruto entre los dos patrones, ‘Okinawa’ y Umê. Melocotones crecidos en los patrones ‘Okinawa’ y Umê en Presidente Prudente están infestados por especies de Lonchaeidae que presentan preferencia independientemente del peso de los frutos. El aporte de este trabajo al conocimiento de la comunidad de especies de Lonchaeidae ofrece una base para su control.

Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) within various phytophysiognomies of a Cerrado reserve in UberlA cent ndia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Hyolith-dominated shell beds from the Lampazar Formation in NW Argentina: patterns and processes of origin in the Late Cambrian (Furongian) seas of western Gondwana.

Late Cambrian (Furongian) shell beds in the Salta Province of NW Argentina are unique because of the presence of abundant hyolith skeletal remains within them. Hyolith shell beds are located in the mid-upper part of the Lampazar Formation at the Angosto de La Quesera locality, and are the first recorded accumulations of this type in the lower Palaeozoic of the South American Andean Basin. The shell beds are of the order of several mm thick, and are laterally persistent within outcrop scale, with a few metres of lateral development. Two types of hyolith shell beds are recognised: Type 1 is a storm-dominated, event concentration, represented by dispersed to densely packed accumulations of well preserved hyolith and gastropod shells (Strepsodiscus austrinus). Hyolith conchs are current oriented with the long axes parallel to unidirectional flow on the sandstones surfaces. Type 2 shell beds are background, composite concentrations, of poorly preserved, comminuted debris of hyolith shells with associated gastropod and trilobite sclerites (dominated by Parabolina, Beltella and Leiostegium). The genesis of both shell beds was controlled primarily by physical processes, such as storms and current and/or wave agitation. The thickness, simple internal fabric and geometry shown by both accumulations are typical of Cambrian-style shell-beds.

Neoproterozoic tectonic and magmatic episodes in the NW sector of Borborema Province, NE Brazil, during assembly of Western Gondwana

The Medio Coreau domain of NE Brazil is located along the northwest margin of Borborema Province, the western branch of a Brasiliano/Pan-African collisional belt that formed during the assembly of Western Gondwana. The early Paleoproterozoic basement of the Medio Coreau domain is composed of migmatitic gneisses and juvenile granulites, overlain by late Paleoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic rocks intruded by syn- to post-tectonic Brasiliano granitoids. According to integrated structural and geochronological data (U-Pb zircon and monazite ages), the Neoproterozoic tectonic evolution of the Medio Coreau is characterized by low-angle thrusting and transcurrent deformation. U-Pb geochronological data from plutons intruded during this compressional regime indicate the collisional evolution began at approximately 622 Ma and continued until about 591 Ma. The continuation of convergence until approximately 560 Ma resulted in the formation of NE-SW and E-W shear zones within the Borborema Province and adjoining West African provinces. The final stage of the ductile tectonism was characterized by uplift and high-angle fault generation between approximately 560 and 545 Ma. The last tectonic event was an extensional phase, resulting in the formation of the Jaibaras graben and intrusion of post-orogenic granites at around 532 Ma. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cooling of pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus) embryos at various stages of development for 6 or 10 hours

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)