Fernanda Battistella Passos Nunes

• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
• Universitário

A 5‐year‐old female capybara, conditioned ex situ before mating, was monitored by ultrasound to establish prenatal growth and assess fetal echo‐biometric variables. The records were taken twice weekly until delivery (i.e., 5 months). The measurements included gestational sac width (GSW), gestational sac height (GSH), gestational sac length (GSL), c...

Morphological studies concerning salivary glands have emerged as an exciting tool to understand feeding habits. In this sense, this study aimed to describe capybara salivary glands morphology to understand potential morphological associations to this species feeding habits. Macroscopic dissections and microscopic analyses were performed on eight sp...

This study evaluated two surgical sterilization techniques in free-ranging female capybaras (n = 21). The first group underwent uterine horn ligature (HL; n = 11), while the second was subjected to partial salpingectomy (S; n = 10). We assessed total operative time, incision length, the ease of identifying reproductive structures, the adequacy of e...

This study explores a novel surgical method for population control in pregnant capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) within areas endemic to Brazilian spotted fever (BSF), a disease caused by the bacterium Rickettsia rickettsii and transmitted by the Amblyomma sp. tick. The proposed technique involves fetus removal and sterilization through a cesar...

Training is a management practice that should be used to facilitate routine care and management of animals. If well planned, training promotes human-animal interactions and enables the completion of veterinary procedures required for effective health assessment with lower stress levels. Hence, it is indicated whenever ancillary tests are needed. A...

The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is currently the largest known representative of the Rodentia order. It is an important herbivorous animal from the zootechnical point of view, found in different countries in South America, mainly in Brazil, where it can be found in all its States. The study of the anatomy of the lumbosacral plexus and medu...

How organisms search for and obtain food is a determinant of their survival. It has been hypothesized that organisms facing food limitations might expand their dietary niche compared with optimal foraging conditions. Nonetheless, some organisms may reduce their dietary niche due to limiting resources. Here, we show the resource use plasticity of ca...

Capybaras are the largest rodents cohabiting with humans within urban and peri-urban green areas and are known by their prolificity. Surgical contraception has been recommended by official organizations as a way to control capybara populations in areas of zoonotic disease transmission, but little data are available concerning surgical anatomy. To o...

Glycoside hydrolase family 5 (GH5) harbors diverse substrate specificities and modes of action, exhibiting notable molecular adaptations to cope with the stereochemical complexity imposed by glycosides and carbohydrates such as cellulose, xyloglucan, mixed-linkage β-glucan, laminarin, (hetero)xylan, (hetero)mannan, galactan, chitosan, N-glycan, rut...

Capybaras are the primary hosts of Amblyomma sculptum tick, vectors of Rickettsia rickettsia bacteria, and the zoonotic agent of Brazilian Spotted Fever (BSF). In this context, contraceptive methods have been suggested for population control in order to reduce the number of free-ranging capybaras cohabiting with humans in urban and rural areas and...

Groups of capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) are currently frequent inhabitants of urban areas. The species participates in the transmission cycle of Brazilian spotted fever (BSF), a zoonosis that is caused by the bacteria R. rickettsii and transmitted by vector ticks. This has led to discussions on strategies to decrease the presence of this ro...

The bacterium Rickettsia rickettsii causes Brazilian spotted fever (BSF), a highly lethal disease that is transmitted by Amblyomma sculptum ticks in areas where capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) are the tick's major hosts. In this study, we evaluated the expansion of a capybara population in a residential park in São Paulo state, and the implic...

Capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) are the largest rodents found in South America. The aim of the present study was to investigate the occurrence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii and anti-Neospora caninum antibodies in 170 free-living capybaras in a residential park area in Itu Municipality, São Paulo State, Brazil. Serum samples were tested by indirec...

Brazilian spotted fever (BSF), caused by the bacterium Rickettsia rickettsii, is the deadliest spotted fever of the world. In most of the BSF-endemic areas, capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) are the principal host for the tick Amblyomma cajennense, which is the main vector of BSF. In 2012, a BSF case was confirmed in a child that was bitten by...