Osteologia craniana de Micrastur semitorquatus Vieillot, 1817 (Falconiformes: Falconidae)

Micrastur semitorquatus, popularly known as Collared Forest-Falcon is an inhabitant of the rainforests of the Neotropical Region. Studies on the cranial osteology are scarce in the literature. To increase the knowledge about the anatomy of this species its cranial osteology was described and compared with other species of birds of prey. Three specimens of M. semitorquatus were examined at the Bird Division of the osteological collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (USNM), Washington, DC (USNM: 245788, USNM 013493 and USNM 289773). Although the relationship between the form of a structure and its function is not fully established, many of the adaptations of the skull of M. semitorquatus may be related to this lifestyle and behavior, such as narrowing of the interorbital width, the robustness of pila supranasalis coupled with the prokinesis of the skull, a process developed post-orbital, and palatine expansion. In addition, the cranial osteology of M. semitorquatus can provide useful characters for cladistic analysis, sustaining the hypothesis of phylogenetic relationships with other species of the same genus or the same family.

Osteologia craniana comparada de Caracara cheriway (Jacquin, 1784) e Caracara plancus (Miller, 1777) (AVES: FALCONIDAE)

The Caracara genus (Aves: Falconidae) is composed by species C. cheriway, ("Crested Caracara"), and C. plancus (Southern Caracara). This study aimed to describe in detail and compared the cranial osteology of C. cheriway and C. plancus, identifying osteological cranial characters for a future systematic work. The two common characters of Caracara species are: the projection of rostro parasphenoid reaches 50% of the distance from the occipital condyle to the pterygoid; the upper maxilla has about 4/9 of the total length of theskull, the symphysial portion of mandible occupies about 1/7 of its total length, the proximal portion of lacrimal bone ends in a rounded shape and has about 1/4 of the width of the distal portion. The unique characters of C. cheriway are: the interorbital width is about 1/2 of the parietal region, shows a frontal bone prominence; presence of lacrimal process of frontal bone; the proximal portion of the lacrimal bone reaches 1/5 of the distance from the orbital arc to the jugal bone; the distance between the distal portions of two lacrimal bones reach 5/6 of the parietal width, the ratio between the interorbital diameter and parietal region ranges from 2 times; the zygomatic process occupies about 40% of the distance between its origin in the skull and jugal bone. The unique characters of C. plancus are: the interorbital width is approximately 4/7 of the parietal width; show a rostral medial concavity; the proximal portion of the lacrimal bone is about 1/4 of the width of the distal; the proximal portion of the lacrimal bone reaches 1/7 of the distance from the orbital arc to the jugal bone; the distance between the distal portions of two lacrimal bones reaches 6/7 of the width parietal one; the ratio between the interorbital diameter and parietal region varies 1, 75 times, the zygomatic process occupies about 35% of the distance between its origin in the skull and jugal bone.

Predation of Platyrrhinus lineatus (E. Geoffroy, 1810) (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) by Cyanocorax chrysops (Vieillot, 1818) (Passeriformes: Corvidae).

The predation on vertebrates by birds, including bats, is very common in some families (Accipitridae, Falconidae, Tytonidae, Strigidae), constituting their main diet. For other families (except those that feed strictly on fish), it is occasional and sometimes a matter of opportunity. Here we recorded the predation on a bat (Platyrrhinus lineatus) by the neotropical bird plush-crested jay (Cyanocorax chrysops). on July 26, 2009, around 11:00 am, we recorded an individual of C. chrysops taking part of a P. lineatus on its beak. This record occurred on Jacarezinho Farm (Valparaiso [long dash] SP). The prey species identification was done by visual observation, considering the bat size and its external morphology, especially by the presence of the white dorsal bright stripe. Probably, Platyrrhinus lineatus behavior, which involves living together or in couples on tree canopies, made the capture by the plush-crested jay easier. This is a new record for the diet of C. chrysops and highlights the necessity of additional studies related to birds diet in the Neotropics, even the more conspicuous ones.

Sexagem molecular em aves: contribuições à conservação biológica e á divulgação científica

Pós-graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Genética) - IBB

Comparative analysis of the cranial osteology and evolutionary traits of micrastur gilvicollis, micrastur ruficollis and micrastur semitorquatus (aves: falconiformes)

The cranial osteology of Micrastur gilvicollis (Vieillot, 1817), Micrastur ruficollis (Vieillot, 1817) and Micrastur semitorquatus (Vieillot, 1817) is comparatively and meticulously described to characterize each of the species and to determine which traits the species have in common and which are distinct. These traits will be used a posteriori for phylogenetic analysis. Our results indicate that M. gilvicollis and M. ruficollis are closely related, as they share a large number of traits, including a lacrimal bone with a distal portion that is approximately half as long as the proximal portion and a parasphenoid rostrum that covers 50% of the distance between the occipital condyle and pterygoid. Similarly, M. gilvicollis and M. semitorquatus both have a partially fused craniofacial flexion zone. In both M. ruficollis and M. semitorquatus, the symphyseal region of the mandible is 1/5 the total length of the mandible. The diagnostic traits for each of these species are as follows: a) in M. gilvicollis, the interorbital distance is 1/3 the length of the parietal, and the zygomatic process stretches 1/5 of the distance from the orbital arch to the jugal arch; b) in M. ruficollis, the interorbital distance is 2/5 of the length of the parietal and the zygomatic process extends 1/4 of the distance from the orbital arch to the jugal arch; and c) in M. semitorquatus, the interorbital distance is 3/7 the length of the parietal and the distal portion of the lacrimal is 1/3 the length of the proximal portion. Among the three species, M. gilvicolis and M. ruficollis share the most traits, which leads us to infer that these species are more closely related to one another than they are to M. semitorquatus. Phylogenetic analysis performed a posteriori may confirm the relationship between these three species.