Caroline Leuchtenberger

• PhD
• Professor at Instituto Federal Farroupilha

The giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) is a social species that defends territories along water bodies. Although some researchers have visually monitored otters during long periods at night, no nocturnal activity of the species has been recorded and giant otters are currently believed to be strictly diurnal. In this study, we present information...

Este libro representa el resultado de un Ejercicio de Establecimiento de Priori- dades en el Área de Distribución (RWPS, por sus siglas en inglés), para evaluar la distribu- ción y el estado de conservación de la nutria gigante (Pteronura brasiliensis) en toda su área de distribución. Para este ejercicio, se realizó un taller presencial, en 2018, e...

This book represents the result of a Range-Wide Priority Setting (RWPS) Exercise applied to assess the distribution and conservation status of the giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) across its range. For this exercise, an in-person workshop was held in 2018 in Puerto Maldonado, Peru, bringing together a group of specialists to organize all availa...

Este livro representa o resultado de um exercício de Definição de Prioridades ao Longo da Distribuição aplicado para avaliar a distribuição e estado de conservação da ariranha (Pteronura brasiliensis) em toda sua distribuição. Para esse exercício, uma oficina presencial foi realizada em 2018 em Puerto Maldonado, Peru, reunindo um grupo de especiali...

Camera traps became the main observational method of a myriad of species over large areas. Data sets from camera traps can be used to describe the patterns and monitor the occupancy, abundance, and richness of wildlife, essential information for conservation in times of rapid climate and land‐cover changes. Habitat loss and poaching are responsible...

A male of Pteronura brasiliensis (Carnivora: Mustelidae) was found dead on the banks of the Rio Negro, in the Pantanal wetlands of Mato Grosso do Sul state, Aquidauana municipality. Two ticks found attached to its skin were morphologically identified as a second-instar nymph of Ornithodoros rostratus (Argasidae) and a male of Amblyomma sculptum (Ix...

The giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) is a semiaquatic carnivore and a top predator in the trophic chain, considered a sentinel of freshwater ecosystems. Ticks are common ectoparasites of worldwide distribution and potential vectors of diseases. In this study, we report the ectoparasitism by ticks on a giant otter carcass found during monitoring...

Giant otters are territorial semi-aquatic mammals. It is common to find several individuals exhibiting wounds and scars due to intraspecific conflicts. Myiasis is a parasitic infestation on living tissues of vertebrates caused by dipterous larvae, that usually develops in freshly open wounds and can seriously threaten the host’s health. Ectoparasit...

Pantanal is a large floodplain well adapted to seasonal water deficits. However, severe dry conditions have been observed since 2019 and seems to be threatening the survival of giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis). In this study we described a diagnosis based on the inspection of giant otters living under severe drought in the Brazilian Pantanal,...

Abstract.Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecologicalhealth and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carni-vores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide managementand conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Ne...

Giant otters Pteronura brasiliensis are semiaquatic mammals that mainly eat fish, the abundance of which is affected by seasonal flooding and habitat structure. The piscivorous habits of giant otters lead to negative human perception and conflicts with fisheries. We compared giant otter feeding habits between seasons and habitats in the Southern Pa...

The giant otter, Pteronura brasiliensis, (Zimmermann, 1780), is a semiaquatic carnivore that feeds mainly on fish. Mercury has high toxicity and high potential for bioaccumulation in tissues and biomagnification in organisms through food chains. Thus, as a top predator in the trophic chain, the giant otter has the potential to accumulate mercury by...

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropica...

Xenarthrans—anteaters, sloths, and armadillos—have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across...

Xenarthrans—anteaters, sloths, and armadillos—have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across...

Between July 2014 and April 2015, we conducted weekly inventories of the circadian activity patterns of mammals in Passo Novo locality, municipality of Alegrete, southern Brazil. The vegetation is comprised by a grassy-woody steppe (grassland). We used two camera traps alternately located on one of four 1 km transects, each separated by 1 km. We cl...

is considered locally threatened in some parts of its range mainly because of hunting pressure and habitat loss. The species is widely distributed in South and Central America. Agouti’s distribution in Brazil is broad, although there is no information on its occurrence in the Northeast region and in the western part of Rio Grande do Sul state. The...

Acoustic variation can convey identity information, facilitate social interactions among individuals and may be useful in identifying sex and group affiliation of senders. Giant otters live in highly cohesive groups with exclusive territories along water bodies defended by the entire group by means of acoustic and chemical signals. Snorts are harsh...

Circadian use of time is an important, but often neglected, part of an animal's niche. We compared the activity patterns of the Neotropical otter Lontra longicaudis in two different areas in Brazil using camera traps placed at the entrance of holts. We obtained 58 independent photos in the Atlantic Forest (273 camera trap-days) and 46 photos in Pan...

Group-living in carnivores is mostly associated with cooperative hunting and anti-predator defense. Giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis) live in monogamous and cooperative breeding groups, where mechanisms other than cooperative foraging may be driving group maintenance in the species. We herein describe three interactions between giant otters and...

The giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) is listed as vulnerable in Brazil, is included in Appendix I of CITES and is classified as endangered by the IUCN. In Brazil, few viable populations persist outside the Amazon basin and the Pantanal wetland. Furthermore, there is limited information on the distribution and abundance of the existing populatio...

Territoriality carries costs and benefits, which are commonly affected by the spatial and tempo- ral abundance and predictability of food, and by intruder pressure. Giant otters ( Pteronura bra- siliensis ) live in groups that defend territories along river channels during the dry season using chemical signals, loud vocalizations and agonistic enco...

According to the "social intelligence hypothesis," species with complex social interactions have more sophisticated communication systems. Giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis) live in groups with complex social interactions. It is likely that the vocal communication of giant otters is more sophisticated than previous studies suggest. The objective...

Ariranhas, Pteronura brasiliensis, são sociais, vivendo em grupos monogâmicos sob cooperação reprodutiva, o que restringe o tamanho populacional efetivo da espécie aos casais dominantes. Indivíduos tornam-se maduros a partir de dois anos de vida, sendo que fêmeas na natureza reproduzem até os 11 anos de idade aproximadamente e os machos podem repro...

Giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis) live in groups that seem to abandon their territories during the flooding season. We studied the spatial ecology of giant otter groups during dry and wet seasons in the Vermelho and Miranda rivers in the Brazilian Pantanal. We monitored visually or by radiotelemetry 10 giant otter groups monthly from June 2009...

The Serra de Maracaju stands out in the orography of Mato Grosso do Sul as a watershed between the Upper Paraguay and Upper Parana river basins. In this study, we report on the occurrence of 413 species of birds based on historical records and field data collected by us. The records of species such as Aburria nattereri, Ictinia mississippiensis, Sp...

Justificativa Lontra longicaudis possui ampla distribuição no Brasil, ocorrendo em quase todas as regiões onde os corpos d'água são propícios, como rios, riachos, lagoas e em áreas costeiras com disponibilidade de água doce. Apesar disso, considerando-se que a taxa de desmatamento no Brasil é de cerca de 1% ao ano, estima-se um declínio populaciona...

Pteronura brasiliensis feeds mainly on fish and uses communal latrines for territorial marking. The aim of this study was to identify the vertebrate species associated with latrines of giant otters and which species use the feces as a food resource. From December 2010 to June 2011, we positioned camera traps in front of 21 latrines of six different...

As water along dirt roads in the Pantanal floodplains diminishes, aquatic fauna becomes restricted to shallow pools. At the end of the 2009 dry season, we filmed giant otters living in pools predating on yacare caimans. Such predation has not been recorded in giant otters inhabiting the Pantanal. Individual otters captured sub-adult caimans. The ot...

http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-7925.2008v21n3p15 Cyathea atrovirens (Langsd. & Fisch.) Domin é uma samambaia arborescente que no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul ocorre desde o nível do mar até áreas com aproximadamente 300m de altitude. Monitoramos uma população de C. atrovirens formada por 10 indivíduos, atingida por uma queimada, no município de Cam...

Recebido em 21.VIII.2006. Aceito em 22.I.2009. RESUMO – Foi realizado um levantamento da riqueza de pteridófitas encontradas em dois fragmentos de Floresta Estacional Decidual, situados na Região do Vale do Taquari, Rio Grande do Sul. Nas duas áreas estudadas, foram registradas 56 espécies, 36 gêneros e 15 famílias. No remanescente situado no inter...

Most of the information available about the reproduction of Panthera onca comes from animals in captivity or sightings by hunters and little is known about the reproductive behavior of this species in the gild. In this paper, we describe the courtship behavior observed between a pair of jaguars (Panthera onca) on the banks of the Rio Vermelho, in t...

A vistar um animal silvestre atropelado é um cenário comum a quem trafega por muitas rodovias brasileiras. No entan-to, o atropelamento de animais silvestres é uma das prin-cipais ameaças a muitas espécies da fauna brasileira. O núme-ro de animais mortos todos os anos em nossas rodovias ultra-passa os milhares e, até então, nada se tem feito para m...

Giant otters live in social groups, consisting of a mating pair and one or two litters. Groups are territorial and mark their territories often with scent-marks. Our objectives were to evaluate the frequencies of marking and over-marking according to the social status of the individuals and to define the different postures used during the marking....

A survey was carried out on the richness of ferns occurring in two fragments of Seasonal Deciduous Forest, located in the Taquari River Valley, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. In both areas, a total of 56 species, 36 genera and 15 families of ferns were observed. In the Roca Sales forest fragment, 48 species were observed while, 32 species were encounte...

Cyathea atrovirens (Langsd. & Fisch.) Domin is a tree fern that occurs in the state of Rio Grande do Sul from sea level to an altitude of 300m. We monitored a population of 10 individuals of C. atrovirens affected by burning in the municipality of Campo Bom, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The objective of this study was to analyze the responses of a Cy...

Giant otters live in family groups, formed by an alpha couple and their offspring of different ages. The objectives of this research were to investigate the association between individuals, the fidelity of groups to their territories and to investigate if there were changes in the numbers of individuals and groups, and the size and distribution of...

The South American silver catfish (Rhamdia quelen) is a widely distributed species in Central and South America in areas east of the Andes between Venezuela and the northern parts of Argentina. The bottom dwelling species occurs in lakes and reservoirs as well as in rivers. Between June 2000 and December 2001, sixteen silver catfish were tracked du...