ABSTRACT This study aimed to estimate the parameters of length-weight relationship, sex ratio, and diet of three freshwater fish species that inhabit streams in the Pomba River basin (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Fishes were sampled with seine nets (2.0 × 1.20 m, 2 mm mesh size) and dip nets (0.46 × 0.33 m, 2 mm mesh size) from October to December 2018. Measurements were taken for total length (TL - 0.1 cm precision) and total weight (TW - 0.01 g precision). Growth model parameters were estimated. This study provides new length-weight relationship data for Deuterodon intermedius (Eigenmann, 1908), Australoheros paraibae Ottoni & Costa, 2008, and Hypostomus punctatus Valenciennes, 1840. All of them ingested a wide variety of food items, including plant material like algae, animal material such as terrestrial and aquatic insects, and undefined matter such as detritus or mud. The three species showed a higher number of females. Our study provides basic information for functional diversity studies, as well as for future investigations associated with the evaluation of anthropic impacts, either occasional or chronic, on the fish assemblage structure of the Pomba River basin.

ABSTRACT Birds’ seasonal altitudinal movements in Brazil are poorly understood. The main source of information and has fostered interest since the 1980s. However, most of the available information is anecdotal, sources are repeatedly cited, and the information provided is quite superficial and speculative. Through bibliographic searches, we found 107 studies, 83 (77%) of which we consider valid, and only 63 (59%) were peer-reviewed. Most studies were carried out in southern and southeastern Brazil. Only 11 studies explicitly addressed seasonal altitudinal movements. Surprisingly, none of the studies simultaneously comprised a full year of study, standardized sampling methods, and encompassed the entire altitudinal range through which the birds might have moved. As a consequence, the quality of the data is questionable, and the expression “altitudinal migration” is unlikely to be accurate and has never been unequivocally demonstrated for birds in Brazil. Mention of “altitudinal migration” was found for 68 bird species, but these must be more clearly defined and appropriately tested.

ABSTRACT Brazil is home to many mountain ranges which harbor diverse avifauna. However, studies on the altitudinal distribution of Brazilian birds are still few and many have never been published, hampering both the dissemination of basic information and conservation actions. Here we present a critical review of ornithological studies undertaken in Brazilian mountain ranges, and propose a classification of geographic scope, altitudinal gradient, and methodology. Since 1922, 184 ornithological studies included altitude in some way in Brazil, encompassing a variety of research topics and species. About a quarter of these studies were never published in peer-reviewed journals, and 39% do not provide basic data on elevation nor link the bird species with sampling plots, thus limiting their applicability. The majority of studies are concentrated (83%) in southern and southeastern Brazil, especially in the Serra do Mar range, and so most data are associated with the Atlantic Forest. Gaps remain in other regions, such as Amazonia (Pantepui region). Most studies either did not sample the entire elevation gradient, were not standardized, lacked explicit hypothesis, or did not account for a seasonal sampling embracing the four seasons of the year, so interpretation of the observed patterns remains difficult. With this compilation, we organize the available information and point to future altitudinal research on birds, in addition to highlighting the importance of preserving habitats along altitudinal gradients in the mountainous regions in Brazil.

ABSTRACT The true identity of the “Chauve-Souris Onzieme ou Chauve-Souris Cannelle” of Azara (1801) and the “LXXXII Murcielago Acanelado” of Azara (1802) has never been clarified. Though it has historically been associated with the Red Myotis, Myotis ruber (É. Geoffroy St.-Hilaire, 1806), there are clear inconsistencies with that species. Unusual features of the description such as the position of the attachment of the wing membrane to the limbs confirm that the species described by Azara belongs to the Myotis simus Thomas, 1901 group. Two members of that group occur in Paraguay, from where Azara described his specimen: Myotis cf. simus and the recently described Myotis midastacus Moratelli & Wilson, 2014. Measurements and collection locality slightly favour its identity as the former, but it is not possible to conclusively state which of these species Azara had in his possession.

ABSTRACT Tamandua Gray, 1825 contains two species of anteaters: Tamandua mexicana (Saussure, 1860), which occurs in southern Mexico, throughout Central America and south to the west of the Andes in South America, and Tamandua tetradactyla (Linnaeus, 1758), widely distributed in South America, from Venezuela to northern Argentina, as well as Trinidad and Tobago. Historically, different coloration patterns have been attributed to the coat of Tamandua, with T. mexicana typically showing a partial or complete dark “vest” on the dorsal portion of the body, whereas T. tetradactyla can show a complete, partial, or absent vest and a coat varying from golden, pale yellow and pale gray to brown or black. These different coat colors are sometimes treated as inherent characteristics of subspecies of Tamandua. Here, we review color variation in Tamandua and describe six chromatic disorders for the genus: albinism, leucism, “brown” variation, melanism (partial and total), xanthochromism (partial and total) and, for the first time for anteaters, erythrism. In addition, we detail the morphological expression and geographic distribution of these anomalies in populations of Tamandua from Central and South America.

ABSTRACT The giant river prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de Man, 1879), is a species of great commercial importance. It is farmed under different conditions that translate to a great range of light environments, which impact their behavior and productivity. We present the first study employing both visual modeling and beha vioral data to evaluate the ontogenetic changes in color preferences of juveniles and adults of M. rosenbergii. We offered ten shelters of different colors to juveniles and adults and registered their preferences. Our results show that shelter preference changed with ontogeny: juveniles chose shelters based on chromaticity (preference for blue), while adults based their decisions on brightness (preference for dark grey). This preference adults show for dark colors is probably associated with light avoidance behavior. We recommend providing blue shelters for juveniles and dark shelters for adults.

ABSTRACT Intergroup conflicts are energetically more costly than intra-group disputes, and thus typically occur in contexts in which the energetic returns are relatively high. In anthropogenic environments, provisioned resources tend to be rich in energy and highly agglomerated. While females are expected to defend provisioned resources, the adult males, in turn, are expected to defend the females. Based on this premise, the present study focused on an urban forest in the city of Goiânia (Goiás, Brazil), which is inhabited by two groups of bearded capuchins. Behavioral data were collected using instantaneous scan sampling and all-events records to document intergroup conflicts and define their context. We used a backward logistic regression and stepwise linear regression to analyze the participation of the individuals in the conflicts. Conflicts were more frequent in the context of provisioning, although the number of neither females nor males involved in the conflict varied significantly between contexts. The females did avoid participating in conflicts involving adult males, however, to minimize the risk of being attacked by them. The adult males participated more in the presence of other adult males, which is partly consistent with the hypothesis of the defense of reproductive partners. The conflicts were not more intense in the context of provisioned resources, which contrasted with expectations. The hierarchical relationship between the two study groups, and the fact that the groups were derived from the same social unit, may have contributed to a reduction in the intensity of the conflicts.

ABSTRACT The importance of amphibian bioacoustics is widely documented in ecological, taxonomical and evolutionary studies, as calls might act as a primary mechanism of reproductive isolation. The influence of air temperature and male size on the variation of the advertisement calls in anurans is widely recognized but still insufficiently analyzed in Brazilian species. Our goals were to (1) describe the advertisement call of Aplastodiscus albosignatus (Lutz & Lutz, 1938), (2) test the influence of temperature and body size on its acoustic signals and (3) evaluate the variation of within and between-male acoustic signals. Advertisement calls of A. albosignatus consist of an unpulsed note with four harmonics. In most cases, the dominant frequency is the third harmonic but, in some calls, it was the minimum frequency (first harmonic). The average duration of calls was 0.191 s, the interval between calls was 2.08 s and the repetition rate was 33 calls per minute. On average, the minimum frequency was 550.15 Hz, the maximum frequency was 3531.70 Hz and the third harmonic was 2498.9 Hz. To evaluate the effect of air temperature, and body size on the variation of call parameters, we performed generalized linear models. The most explanatory model for spectral parameters was temperature plus body size. Concerning temporal variables, the best model that explains the variation in call duration was body size, while for the interval between calls was air temperature. The maximum frequency and the frequency of the third harmonic had little variation in the calls of both the same male and different males. Thus, these parameters were considered important in species recognition.

ABSTRACT We present new records for 42 species of longhorn beetles (Cerambycinae) in the Amazon Region, including the first report of Tomopteropsis cerdai Peñaherrera-Leiva & Tavakilian, 2003 in Brazil (Rondônia). New state records are provided for Amapá (one species), Amazonas (six species), Pará (one species), Rondônia (seven species), Roraima (13 species), and Acre (17 species). The new records expand the known distribution of the species and illustrate the important role played by inventories like the thematic network “Biodiversidade de Insetos na Amazônia” (Rede BIA) in helping us understand the biodiversity of the Amazon region.

ABSTRACT Soosiulus belterrensis sp. nov. is described and illustrated from the Amazon Forest of the state of Pará, northern Brazil. Both the male and female terminalia are treated in detail, in addition to color features. With the addition of this new taxon, the diverse Neotropical genus Soosiulus Young, 1977 now comprises 28 species. The new species is the first one proposed for Soosiulus after the original generic description. It appears to be included in a complex with eleven other Soosiulus species, all of them sharing a very similar color pattern. Among the members of this putative complex, the aedeagus of S. belterrensis sp. nov. is most similar to those of S. hastatus Young, 1977 and S. ruber Young, 1977, due to the presence of a pair of conspicuous dorsoapical processes. However, in S. hastatus and S. ruber the aedeagus has also a retrorse ventroapical process originated from a lobe; both process and lobe are not present in the new species. In addition, the female sternite VII in S. hastatus and S. ruber is convex posteriorly, whereas it has a distinct median emargination in the new species.

ABSTRACT An up-to-date list of exclusively cave-dwelling gastropod species recorded in Brazil is presented including updated taxonomy, detailed geographic information, and illustration of types. The list includes 18 cave-exclusive (troglobitic) gastropods encompassing 15 land and three freshwater species, with the status of further species pending additional studies. Their unusual morphology and diversity are discussed, as well as their conservation status and prospects in the current Brazilian environmental and political scenario.

ABSTRACT The Anthropocene brought an accelerated risk of extinction for species across the globe. However, extinction proneness is not even across groups. Past and current events show large-sized mammals at greater extinction risk than smaller ones. For practical reasons, conservation actions tend to focus on the species level; therefore, well-founded species limits are pivotal. Since 2005, the number of known mammal species is about 20% higher but largely due to taxonomic discoveries in small-sized taxa. Here we review the recent taxonomic advances on medium- and large-sized mammals (MLM) from the Neotropics, and discuss misperceptions concerning the taxonomy stability in this group and how this may hinder proper conservation actions. We advocate that apparent taxonomic inertia toward large-sized mammals is partly related to limited systematic inquiry rather than representing an accurate knowledge of their diversity. Fortunately, this scenario has slowly changed in recent years. Linked to integrative analyses that took place during the 21st century, the Neotropical region represents a major example of recent growth in MLM diversity. Taxonomic novelties were found in eight orders of MLM and occurred across taxonomic ranks, from family to subspecies. Most changes comprise subspecies or synonyms elevated to full species, but new taxa of Artiodactyla, Carnivora, Lagomorpha, Pilosa, Primates, Perissodactyla, and large rodents have also been discovered. Recent reshuffles in MLM classification clearly illustrate the risk that bias in taxonomy studies can bring to conservation. Considering the new findings, some species previously labeled as “least concern” for conservation, stand now in some level of threat. This appraisal challenges the misperception of MLM as well-known and shows that taxonomy is a conservation issue.

ABSTRACT Wind energy is an important electricity source. Even though it is cleaner than other energy sources in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, gathering energy from the wind has impact on organisms that fly, including bats. Understanding whether and how bat activity patterns are affected by environmental variables may be useful when trying to mitigate these impacts, for example bat mortality from collisions with wind turbines. Northeastern Brazil concentrates one of the world’s largest wind potentials and has thousands of wind turbines in operation. In spite of this scenario, there is a lack of basic information, such as the presence of bat species and their activity patterns in those wind farms. We used passive acoustic monitoring to assess species richness and species composition and obtain data on activity patterns of insectivorous bats in four wind farm complexes in northeastern Brazil. We also investigated the possible correlation between environmental variables (wind speed and direction, air temperature and humidity, and percentage of moon illumination) and bat activity. The acoustic monitoring carried out for 30 nights produced approximately 120,000 bat passes of 29 sonotypes and four families. Environmental variables may influence bat activity, but in a site-specific way, i.e., although the environmental conditions of wind-energy complexes were similar, there was not an activity pattern common to all. Considering such specificities, we strongly recommend long-term specific on-site monitoring in each wind complex, avoiding generalizations for the environmental licensing of wind energy in Brazil.

ABSTRACT Megaspiridae include land snails with a tall spire. They occur in Brazil, New Guinea and Australia. Megaspira Lea, 1839 is distributed through the central and southeast regions of Brazil There is controversy regarding the number of species in the genus, and their taxonomic status. The characters used to identify Megaspira include a large cylindrical shell and internal armature in the columella. The goal of the present study is to describe a new species for the genus, based on shell morphology, microsculpture and the inner anatomy. These anatomic characters had not been described before for any of the included species. The material was collected at the Jararaca trail, Ilha Grande (Angra dos Reis, state of Rio de Janeiro). Seven linear measurements were taken from the shells. Megaspira adenticulata sp. nov. differs from the other species of the genus by not having apertural lamella in the shell aperture or in the columella in adult specimens. Also, the shell does not have light brown spots, as observed in other species of Megaspira. The shell has a mean of 16 whorls and height of 27 mm. It is smaller in average size than the shell of other described species. The new species was found under leaf litter, especially near rocks and in shallow soil.

ABSTRACT Limnichidae are currently a moderately diverse beetle family with a sparse fossil record. Here we describe a new limnichid genus and species, Anomocephalobus liuhaoi Li, Jäch & Cai gen. et sp. nov., from the mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar. Anomocephalobus gen. nov. is tentatively assigned to the extant subfamily Cephalobyrrhinae, based on its transverse metacoxae, 5-segmented protarsi, and absence of grooves on the ventral surface for reception of legs, though its oval body shape is somewhat deviating from extant Cephalobyrrhinae. The generic placement of the recently described Erichia cretacea Yu, Ślipiński, Ren & Pang, 2018 is also discussed.