Larissa Rosa de Oliveira

Recent advances in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology have made them a popular and accessible tool for wildlife research. Despite their popularity, there are some concerns about their potential negative impacts due to the possibility of causing disturbance to the species being monitored. We assessed the potential behavioral disturbance of low...

Long‐term systematic records of cetacean strandings are valuable indicators of temporal responses of specific cetacean populations and communities to natural or anthropogenic pressures. They also help guide management objectives and conservation actions. Generalized additive models (GAMs) were used to analyse 10 years of systematic and opportunisti...

1. The main issue affecting the conservation of most pinniped species has been identified as interactions with fisheries and aquaculture. In South American waters in particular, this problem has not been well evaluated. Consequently, there is an urgent need for research and conservation measures to address the problem, particularly for species of c...

Assessing environmental changes in Southern Ocean ecosystems is difficult due to its remoteness and data sparsity. Monitoring marine predators that respond rapidly to environmental variation may enable us to track anthropogenic effects on ecosystems. Yet, many long-term datasets of marine predators are incomplete because they are spatially constrai...

We report the first known occurrence of South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens) twins on the South American coast. In January 2021 a female pregnant with dizygotic male and female fetuses was found dead in southern Brazil. The timing of the stranding event suggests that the pregnancy was near-term. However, the total body length and weight of f...

The canid genus Lycalopex comprises six recently diversified South American species whose evolutionary relationships have been remarkably challenging to resolve. We analyzed 6000 bp of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from 55 Lycalopex individuals (L. sechurae = 4, L. culpaeus = 7, L.griseus = 8, L.gymnocercus = 17, L.vetulus = 13 and L. fulvipes = 6), an...

Sub-Antarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus tropicalis, are widely distributed in the southern hemisphere, breeding on islands north of the Antarctic Convergence in the South Atlantic, South Indian, and Southwestern Pacific Oceans. At their breeding grounds, sub-Antarctic fur seals feed on a variety of fish, cephalopods, crustaceans, and occasionally, o...

Southern right whales (SRW) are capital breeders that use stored energy reserves to sustain themselves and their calves on nursery areas. With successful calving events declining in some SRW populations, it has been hypothesized that nutritional stress in adult females causes reproductive failure or death of calves shortly after birth. Here we comp...

Two minke whale species are recognized, the Antarctic minke (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) and the cosmopolitan common minke (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) whales. The latter is divided into three subspecies: North Pacific (NP) B. a. scammoni, North Atlantic (NA) B. a. acutorostrata, and the Southern Hemisphere ‘dwarf’ minke whales B. a. unnamed subsp. G...

The phylogeny and systematics of fur seals and sea lions (Otariidae) have long been studied with diverse data types, including an increasing amount of molecular data. However, only a few phylogenetic relationships have reached acceptance because of strong gene-tree species tree discordance. Divergence times estimates in the group also vary largely...

Large carnivores such as pumas are often killed in conflicts with humans because they prey on domestic livestock. Habitat loss, partly driven by the increasing use of traditional pasture systems, makes livestock vulneracle to puma attacks. The aim of this study was describe the conflict between local farmers and pumas in a mosais of Protected Areas...

The South American fur seal is distributed on both sides of South America along the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans mostly in sympatry with the South American sea lion. However, there is gap of distribution between 43°S and 29°S in the Pacific coast of approximately 1600 km. The total population was estimated at 320,000 individuals, and the species is...

The South American sea lion is distributed almost continuously from Zorritos, Peru, on the Pacific Ocean to Torres, Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean. The total population was estimated at 445,000 individuals, and the species is considered as Least Concern in the IUCN Red List. Two evolutionarily significant units were recognized based on molecular dat...

Stranded cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) are frequently used to obtain data on species occurrence and demographic trends. Accurate species-level identification of these individuals is crucial, but often challenging or impossible when relying solely on morphological features (e.g., for highly decayed specimens). To aid in the development...

RESUMO A análise de isótopos estáveis (AIE) fornece informações sobre a produtividade do oceano e aspectos ecológicos de baleias relacionados ao uso do habitat e ecologia alimentar, estrutura de estoque, fi siologia e evolução. Foram revisados estudos publicados usando a AIE em baleias em todo o mundo entre novembro de 1979 e junho de 2017. Foram a...

Abstract We present estimates of the seasonal and spatial occupation by pinnipeds of the Wildlife Refuge of Ilha dos Lobos (WRIL), based on aerial photographic censuses. Twenty aerial photographic censuses were analysed between July 2010 and November 2018. To assess monthly differences in the numbers of pinnipeds in the WRIL we used a Generalized L...

Conflicts with fisheries are the major threat to South American sea lions (Otaria flavescens). The understanding of the gap between perceived economic impact by the fishermen and actual impact on the activity is crucial to avoid retaliations to the species. This is the first study conducted in Brazil that simultaneously assessed these both aspects...

A bstract The phylogeny and systematics of fur seals and sea lions (Otariidae) have long been studied with diverse data types, including an increasing amount of molecular data. However, only a few phylogenetic relationships have reached acceptance pointing at strong gene-tree species tree discordance. Divergence times in the group also vary largely...

The effective size of a population (Ne), which determines its level of neutral variability, is a key evolutionary parameter. Ne can substantially depart from census sizes of present-day breeding populations (NC) as a result of past demographic changes, variation in life-history traits and selection at linked sites. Using genome-wide data we estimat...

Energy demand created by the present model of economic growth has transformed the natural landscape. Changes in megadiverse environments should be accompanied by studies that describe and predict the effects of these changes on ecosystems, underpinning the avoidance or at least the reduction of impacts and species conservation. Wind farm impacts on...

The present study aims to describe the ontogenetic changes in the skull of the loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta by focusing on the stages of development in the western South Atlantic Ocean. Our hypothesis is based on the premise that changes in feeding habits will reflect changes in the shape and/or size of the skull. The existence of changes in...

As species recover from exploitation, continued assessments of connectivity and population structure are warranted to provide information for conservation and management. This is particularly true in species with high dispersal capacity, such as migratory whales, where patterns of connectivity could change rapidly. Here we build on a previous long-...

Marine mammals and humans are apex predators and both may compete for fish in ecosystems under continuous fishing pressure. We assessed the degree of trophic overlap between prey species found in the diet of 5 marine mammals (39 specimens of sea lion Otaria flavescens, 61 fur seals Arctocephalus australis, 76 franciscana dolphins Pontoporia blainvi...

Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. In cetaceans, T. gondii infection is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Despite the worldwide range and broad cetacean host record of T. gondii infection, there is limited information on toxoplasmosis in cetaceans from the Southern hemisphere. We investigat...

The upwelling hypothesis has been proposed to explain reduced or lack of population structure in seabird species specialized in food resources available at cold-water upwellings. However, population genetic structure may be challenging to detect in species with large population sizes, since variation in allele frequencies are more robust under gene...

Microsatellites analyzed for Humboldt penguins: Range of fragment size in base pairs (bp) (S), annealing temperature (AT), total number of alleles (Na), expected (He) and observed heterozygosity (Ho), Chi-Square from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE), probability from HWE (p). (DOCX)

Hardy-Weinberg test to each locus from colonies of Humboldt penguin at Pacific coast. (DOCX)

Discriminant function DAPC from Humboldt penguin, based on 10 microsatellites. (DOCX)

Pairwise RST based on genotypes of 10 microsatellite loci (below) and Nm based on RST (above) for Humboldt penguins. Significant values (P<0.05) are in bold. Population reference: CHI (Chiloé), PUP (Pupuya), ALG (Algarrobo), CAC (Cachagua), TIL (Tilgo), PAJ (Pajaros), CHO (Choros), CHA (Chañaral), GRA (Isla Grande), AZU (Pan de Azucar), PSJ (Punta...

Sex ratio of Humboldt penguin for each colony at Pacific coast. Population reference: CHI (Chiloé), PUP (Pupuya), ALG (Algarrobo), CAC (Cachagua), TIL (Tilgo), PAJ (Pajaros), CHO (Choros), CHA (Chañaral), GRA (Isla Grande), AZU (Pan de Azucar), PSJ (Punta San Juan). (DOCX)

Frequency of migrant male and female from first generation among colonies, and in gray proportion of philopatric rate. CAC (Cachagua), TIL (Tilgo), PAJ (Pajaros), CHO (Choros), CHA (Chañaral), GRA (Isla Grande), AZU (Pan de Azucar), PSJ (Punta San Juan). (DOCX)

Skyline plot of Humboldt penguin from Pacific coast to D-loop mtDNA and RAG1 nDNA. (DOCX)

Bottleneck summary results from SMM, IAM and TPM mutation model through Wilcoxon test, mean heterozygosity (He); mean k. Population reference: CHI (Chiloé), PUP (Pupuya), ALG (Algarrobo), CAC (Cachagua), TIL (Tilgo), PAJ (Pajaros), CHO (Choros), CHA (Chañaral), GRA (Isla Grande), AZU (Pan de Azucar), PSJ (Punta San Juan). (DOCX)

Results delta K´Evano implemented by Haverst web. (DOCX)

MicrossatelitesHumboldtPenguindataset- complete microsatellites data set for Humboldt penguin. (TXT)

Pairwise ϕST based on mtDNA (below) and RAG1 (above) for Humboldt penguins. Significant values (P<0.05) are in bold. Population reference: CHI (Chiloé), PUP (Pupuya), ALG (Algarrobo), CAC (Cachagua), TIL (Tilgo), PAJ (Pajaros), CHO (Choros), CHA (Chañaral), GRA (Isla Grande), AZU (Pan de Azucar), PSJ (Punta San Juan). (DOCX)

Number of migrants of Humboldt penguin estimated based on RST from 9 microsatellites. Population reference: CHI (Chiloé), PUP (Pupuya), ALG (Algarrobo), CAC (Cachagua), TIL (Tilgo), PAJ (Pajaros), CHO (Choros), CHA (Chañaral), GRA (Isla Grande), AZU (Pan de Azucar), PSJ (Punta San Juan). (DOCX)

Bayesian STRUCTURE of the Humboldt penguin, delta K = 2 and K = 3, using admixture and no-admixture model. (DOCX)

We assessed the level of genetic variability and population structure of the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in the tropical and subtropical portions of the southwestern Atlantic Ocean and compared the results with previous morphological findings. We analyzed 109 samples of common bottlenose dolphins that were sequenced for control r...

The occurrence of pinnipeds in areas distant from their reproductive sites is a well-known phenomenon, which could be influenced by oceanographic anomalies in a changing environment. In the present paper, we present an extra-limital record in deep pelagic waters of a young fur seal (Arctocephalus sp.) in the North Atlantic Ocean. The individual was...

Southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) population structure can be viewed as a migratory network of winter calving/socialising and summer feeding grounds. Here we investigate the position of the Chile-Peru wintering ground (n = 1) and the South Georgia feeding ground (n = 15) in the broader migratory network, using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and...

The systematics and phylogeny of Otariidae have been extensively studied for over two centuries. Yet, several relationships, in particular, the monophyly within Arctocephalus, remain unclear. Recent molecular phylogenies only used few concatenated mitochondrial or nuclear genes. Here we reconstructed the Otariidae phylogeny based on whole-genome se...

In the last decades, an increasing fishing effort and a decreasing trend in fish catches have been observed in southern Brazil. Considering that marine mammals and fisheries usually compete for the same resources, it is reasonable to presume that the feeding ecology of these predators is affected by the current scenario. To evaluate this hypothesis...

Elasmobranchs, the group of cartilaginous fishes that include sharks and rays, are especially vulnerable to overfishing due to low fecundity and late sexual maturation. A significant number of elasmobranch species are currently overexploited or threatened by fisheries activities. Additionally, several recent reports have indicated that there has be...

The stomach content of a male, immature dwarf minke whale ( Balaenoptera acutorostrata subsp.) stranded in September of 2008 in southern Brazil revealed a large consumption of the Argentine shortfin squid ( Illex argentinus ), probably in multiple feeding events. Stable isotopes signals from kidney and liver samples of the whale are consistent with...

Spatial subdivision, local extinction and recolonization influence the genetic variation of natural populations. Different levels of population structure can be identified in nature, from panmictic populations, in which high gene flow homogenizes diversity across localities, to metapopulations, where combinations of moderate to high levels of popul...

Human-wildlife interaction is one of the major challenges for managers and conservationists in the current century. Coexistence between humans and wildlife is possible and can be beneficial to both people and wildlife. Conflict, on the other hand, is a major driver of wildlife decline and extinction. Wildlife conservation will only be possible with...

For receiving the full version of the book (or my Chapter) call me over RG mailing or by regular e-mail: a_koval54@ukr.net Thanks for your's interest, Andrey Kovalchuk

In this paper, we examined the ingestion of marine debris (MD) in South American fur seals (SAFS), Arctocephalus australis, found dead in coastal beaches of northern Argentina and southern Brazil. Seven percent of 133 SAFS analyzed presented marine debris in their stomach (n = 10), with no differences between sampling countries (Brazil n = 7, Argen...

The South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens) is widely distributed along the southern Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South America with a history of significant commercial exploitation. We aimed to evaluate the population genetic structure and the evolutionary history of South American sea lion along its distribution by analyses of mitochondrial...

List of individuals that bear each mitochondrial DNA control region haplotype, and the respective GenBank number. Absolute frequency in the sample and geographic distribution of haplotypes for South American sea lion. (DOCX)

List of individuals that bear each mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b haplotype. Absolute frequency in the sample and geographic distribution of haplotypes for South American sea lion. (DOCX)

Extended Bayesian skyline plot showing the effective population size fluctuation of South American sea lions populations throughout time based on the mtDNA control region. Internal dashed lines are median estimates and thin lines and coloured areas are the 95% Central Posterior Density (CPD) intervals. Nef, effective female population size (log sca...

Extended Bayesian skyline plot showing the effective population size fluctuation of South American sea lions populations throughout time based on the mtDNA control region. Internal black dashed lines are median estimates and thin lines are the 95% CPD intervals. Thin green lines are the individual population trajectories. Nef, effective female popu...

Species and access number of sequences downloaded from GenBank used to estimate the Bayesian phylogeny (Fig 3). (DOCX)

Genetic diversity of South American sea lions for each locus per clustered localities and for the species as whole. (A) Number of alleles, (E) = exclusive alleles, (Ho) observed heterozygosity, (He) expected heterozygosity.* Loci that deviated from HW equilibrium after Bonferroni correction. (DOCX)

Plots from STRUCTURE HARVESTER performed with Evanno’s method. (A) Highest value of (ΔK) = 79.20 on K = 2. (B) Mean of estimated Ln probability of data (± sd) averaging ten runs from K = 1 to K = 10. (TIF)

STRUCTURE bar plot from the test for migrants or hybrids between oceans using the sampling locations (in this case the ocean basin) and the USEPOPINFO model. Each bar is one individual and each colour represents the assignment probability of the individual to belong to that genetic cluster. (TIF)

Predators may modify their diets as a result of both anthropogenic and natural environmental changes. Stable isotope ratios of nitrogen and carbon in bone collagen have been used to reconstruct the foraging ecology of South American fur seals (Arctocephalus australis) in the southwestern South Atlantic Ocean since the Middle Holocene, a region inha...

Age is one of the most important life history parameters required to understand the dynamics of mammalian populations. Growth Layers Groups (GLGs) are incremental units of calcified tissue in the teeth (dentine and cementum), which represent a pattern of cyclical deposition that can be counted. However, the estimation of absolute age in GLGs demand...

The São Pedro and São Paulo Archipelago (SPSPA) (00°56’N, 29°22’W) lies approximately 1010km northeast off the coast of Rio Grande do Norte State in Brazilian waters. Recently, through photo-identification and group size analysis, around 20-30 individual bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, from SPSPA were recognized as a resident, and potentia...

The South American fur seals (SAFS) have a disjunct distribution that encompasses at least two evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) along the South America, the Peruvian and Uruguayan ESUs. The precise data on spatial limits of this species is unknown, mainly in the southernmost colonies in the continent. The influence of limiting factors on its...

Historically, the taxonomic status of the bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops, has been confusing. Over 20 nominal species have been described in, or transferred to, the genus, but most them have been synonymized under T. truncatus, the type species of the genus. Here, we review the taxonomic status of Tursiops gephyreus Lahille, 1908, from the southwest...

Geographic distribution is basic information on the biology for any species. However, the precise data on spatial limits of species are unavailable for most taxa, but knowledge of such data is essential for their conservation and monitoring. We report the northernmost records of Inia araguaiaensis, a newly described river dolphin that occurs in the...

Sigmodontinae is a very rich clade of rodents that is widespread throughout the Neotropics. The arboreal mice Juliomys comprise a poorly known branch, with incomplete information about species richness, phylogenetic position, and geographic distribution. Based on a sample from the Atlantic Forest of Southern Brazil, we name and describe a new speci...

We analysed the fishermen’s perceptions on the South American sea lions (Otaria flavescens) and its interactions with the local fishery close to the Wildlife Refuge of Ilha dos Lobos, a marine protected area in southern Brazil. Sea lions prey upon the same resources targeted by the fishermen. They repeatedly hunt on the nets and consequently damage...