Marcio Martins

University of São Paulo | USP · Department of Ecology (IB)

Understanding the mechanisms that affect habitat use by vertebrates is critical for understanding how species are distributed across landscapes and how they cope with habitat change. The Brazilian Savanna (the Cerrado) has vegetation ranging from grassland to woodland savannas and harbors a rich and diverse amphibian fauna impacted by accelerated h...

Viviparity has evolved more times in squamates than in any other vertebrate group; therefore, squamates offer an excellent model system in which to study the patterns, drivers and implications of reproductive mode evolution. Based on current species distributions, we examined three selective forces hypothesized to drive the evolution of squamate vi...

The continuous decline in biodiversity despite global efforts to create new protected areas calls into question the effectiveness of these areas in conserving biodiversity. Numerous habitats are absent from the global protected area network, and certain taxonomic groups are not being included in conservation planning. Here, we analyzed the level of...

Anurans are a diverse group of vertebrates that occur in several different habitats. Such diversity is accompanied by a diverse range of reproductive behav-iors and different types of amplexus (the mating “hug”). Cases of misdirected amplexus are often reported; when a male clasps a nonviable mate which can be individuals of other species, dead ind...

Beyond providing critical information to biologists, species distributions are useful for naturalists, curious citizens, and applied disciplines including conservation planning and medical intervention. Venomous snakes are one group that highlight the importance of having accurate information given their cosmopolitan distribution and medical signif...

Comprehensive assessments of species’ extinction risks have documented the extinction crisis and underpinned strategies for reducing those risks. Global assessments reveal that, among tetrapods, 40.7% of amphibians, 25.4% of mammals and 13.6% of birds are threatened with extinction. Because global assessments have been lacking, reptiles have been o...

Comprehensive assessments of species’ extinction risks have documented the extinction crisis and underpinned strategies for reducing those risks. Global assessments reveal that, among tetrapods, 40.7% of amphibians, 25.4% of mammals and 13.6% of birds are threatened with extinction. Because global assessments have been lacking, reptiles have been o...

We present novel data on the behavioral thermal tolerances of 53 species of amphibians and reptiles of the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado savannas of South America, to improve the understanding of their thermal ecology and physiology. Our results indicate that lizards have higher voluntary thermal maximum values (VTMax , temperatures tolerated by indi...

Studies on reproductive biology have largely contributed to the understanding of snake ecology. However, detailed reproductive data are scarce for many groups, particularly blind snakes. Here, we describe the reproductive biology of Trilepida koppesi (Leptotyphlopidae), a widely distributed species in the savannas of south-central Brazil. We descri...

Amphibians are one of the most species‐rich vertebrate taxa, with diverse and complex reproductive behaviors. Even though mate recognition plays a vital role in reproductive success, unusual amplexus with non‐suitable mates (misdirected amplexus) have been reported to occur in the wild. Misdirected amplexus may decrease fitness thus likely having e...

Amphibians and reptiles are ectothermic animals and thus depend on environmental temperatures to maintain their physiological functions. Despite being poorly documented, data on thermal behavioral thresholds to avoid overheating in their habitats is essential to improve the understanding of their thermal ecology and physiology. Herein we provide a...

Years of fire suppression, decreases in herbivores, and global climate change have led to shifts in savannas worldwide. Natural open vegetation such as grasslands and shrublands is increasing in wood density, but the effects for small mammals are not well understood. While most of the mammal studies from the Brazilian Cerrado are concentrated in th...

The emergence of the diagonal of open/dry vegetations, including Chaco, Cerrado and Caatinga, is suggested to have acted as a dispersal barrier for terrestrial organisms by fragmenting a single large forest that existed in South America into the present Atlantic and Amazon forests. Here we tested the hypothesis that the expansion of the South Ameri...

Currently, around 1,188 species of amphibians and 795 reptiles are known for Brazil. Of these, approximately 100 amphibians and 110 reptile species are endemic to the Cerrado. The Santa Bárbara Ecological Station represents one of the last remnants of the biome in the state of São Paulo and has several typical vegetation types, which house a repres...

The natural history of a cerrado snake community in a protected area in southeastern Brazil (Santa Bárbara Ecological Station; SBES) is described. A visual guide and an identification key are also provided to assist researchers and local people in identifying snakes in that region. Sampling was performed through pitfall traps, time-constrained sear...

Informações sobre a história natural das espécies têm sido essenciais para estudos em várias áreas do conhecimento biológico. Entretanto, nas últimas décadas, muitas vezes os estudos de história natural têm sido menosprezados frente às abordagens mais recentes que envolvem testes de hipóteses e técnicas sofisticadas. Esse texto visa mostrar a grand...

In ecological communities, interactions between consumers and resources lead to the emergence of ecological networks and a fundamental problem to solve is to understand which factors shape network structure. Empirical and theoretical studies on ecological networks suggest predator body size is a key factor structuring patterns of interaction. Becau...

Industrial pollution is a significant global threat to biodiversity, but its consequences on rainforest ecosystems remain poorly understood. Amphibians are especially susceptible to pollutants released on natural environments due to their aquatic-terrestrial life cycle. Here, we explored the association of severe historical air, water, and soil pol...

en The chytrid fungus (Bd) is one of the main causes of recent amphibian population declines and extinctions. However, one possible disease transmission pathway remained unexplored: the insect‐borne transport between hosts. We found Bd DNA on specialized blood‐sucking midges, which could indicate the transport of alive zoospores between amphibian h...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239485.].

In this study, we evaluate the role of local and regional factors in shaping the anuran assemblages in the Cerrado biome by contributing to the knowledge on the diversity patterns of different Cerrado vegetation types in southeastern Brazil. We measured richness and abundance of ground dwelling frogs in a gradient of vegetation structural complexit...

Citation: Fiorillo BF, Maciel JH, Martins M (2021) Composition and natural history of a snake community from the southern Cerrado, southeastern Brazil. ZooKeys 1056: 95-147.

Environmental temperatures are a major constraint on ectotherm abundance, influencing their distribution and natural history. Comparing thermal tolerances with environmental temperatures is a simple way to estimate thermal constraints on species distributions. We investigate the potential effects of behavioral thermal tolerance (i. e. Voluntary The...

Xenodon mattogrossensis is a neotropical snake restricted to the central part of South America, in the Pantanal wetlands and a few neighbouring areas. The available information about this species in the literature is restricted to geographical distribution, morphological variation and anecdotal information on habitat use. Here we present data on di...

Approximately 140 snake species are known to occur in the Atlantic Forest with nearly half being endemic to this ecoregion. However, the Atlantic forest is one of the most threatened tropical ecoregions, with only 16% of its original area remaining as forest. This extensive habitat loss must have had a negative effect on its snake fauna. Indeed, 53...

Approximately 140 snake species are known to occur in the Atlantic Forest with nearly half being endemic to this ecoregion. However, the Atlantic forest is one of the most threatened tropical ecoregions, with only 16% of its original area remaining as forest. This extensive habitat loss must have had a negative effect on its snake fauna. Indeed, 53...

The Tzabcan Rattlesnake (Crotalus tzabcan) is a highly secretive species that is difficult to observe and follow in the field and any information that can be generated is essential to gain a better understanding of its biology and ecology. Crotalus tzabcan is a large and heavy-bodied species, with a maximum snout-vent length of 1,667 mm and a total...

Environmental temperatures are a major constraint on ectotherm abundance and diversity, influencing their distribution and natural history. Comparing thermal tolerances with environmental temperatures is a simple way to estimate thermal constraints on species distributions. We investigate the potential effects of thermal tolerance on anuran local (...

The Tzabcan rattlesnake (Crotalus tzabcan) is endemic to the Yucatán Peninsula and is part of the C. durissus complex. Although relatively widespread, it is rather an uncommon species; therefore, little is known about its natural history. Herein, we describe the diet of C. tzabcan on the basis of data from field encounters, museum specimens, and pu...

Industrial pollution is a significant global threat to biodiversity, but its consequences on rainforest ecosystems remains poorly understood. Amphibians are especially susceptible to pollutants released on natural environments due to their aquatic-terrestrial life cycle. Here, we explored the effects of severe historical air, water and soil industr...

Although savannas are fire-adapted ecosystems, prescribing fire for biodiversity conservation remains controversial at least in some regions where savannas occur. Faced with uncertainty, many decision makers and even scientists are still reluctant to prescribe fire for conservation purposes in fire-prone ecosystems, invoking the precautionary princ...

Accurate and detailed species distribution maps are fundamental for documenting and interpreting biological diversity. For snakes, an ecologically diverse group of reptiles, syntheses and detailed data on distribution patterns remain scarce. We present the first comprehensive collection of detailed, voucher-based, point-locality, range maps for all...

Rare species tend to be especially sensitive to habitat disturbance, making them important conservation targets. Thus, rarity patterns might be an important guide to conservation efforts. Rabinowitz's approach defines rarity using a combination of geographical range, habitat specificity, and local abundance, and is frequently used in conservation p...

Islands and Snakes contains 13 chapters describing ecological systems with foci on snakes and their ecological roles on islands around the world. Each chapter is written by one or more authors who is an authority on that particular system. Summaries of research on the various islands are written in a narrative manner that includes science as well a...

Snakebites by aglyphous or opisthoglyphous snakes are common in Brazil. We report a case of snakebite by the opisthoglyphous Erythrolamprus aesculapii. The victim presented with pain, edema, and bleeding at the bite site, along with erythema, similar to a Bothrops envenomation. In this type of snakebite, if the snake is not brought to the hospital,...

1.Foraging modes (ambush vs. active foraging) are often correlated with a suite of morphological, physiological, behavioral and ecological traits known as the adaptive syndrome or syndrome hypothesis. In snakes, an ecological correlate often reported in the literature is that ambush‐hunting snakes have a higher relative meal size compared to active...

A new species of the lizard genus Stenocercus Duméril & Bibron, 1837 is described based on six specimens from Serra da Canastra, Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. Similar to S. tricristatus (Duméril, 1851), S. dumerilii (Steindachner, 1867), S. quinarius Nogueira & Rodrigues, 2006, and S. squarrosus Nogueira & Rodrigues, 2006, the new species has...

Conservation status of Agalychnis granulosa

Aim: Variation in body size across animal species underlies most ecological and evolutionary processes shaping local‐ and large‐scale patterns of biodiversity. For well over a century, climatic factors have been regarded as primary sources of natural selection on animal body size, and hypotheses such as Bergmann's rule (the increase of body size wi...

Snakes of the tribe Dipsadini feed mostly on annelids, slugs, and snails. Some species that feed exclusively on snails are able to de-shell their prey prior ingestion. On the basis of dissection of preserved specimens from museums, we report the dietary habits of three species of Sibynomorphus from Brazil. Eighteen to 26% of the snakes had stomach...

A avaliação dos répteis brasileiros foi coordenada pelo Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação de Répteis e Anfíbios (RAN), que avaliou todas as espécies continentais de Testudines (tartarugas, cágados e jabutis - 31 espécies), Crocodylia (jacarés - 6 espécies) e Squamata (lagartos, serpentes e anfisbênias - 690 espécies), e pelo Centro Nacional...

Feeding specialization is a recurrent issue in the evolution of snakes and is sometimes associated to morphological and/or behavioral adaptations that improve snake performance to exploit a particular food type. Despite its importance for animal fitness, the role of physiological traits has been much less studied than morphological and behavioral t...

Beginning in November 2018, Brazilian legislation regulating access to genetic heritage and associated traditional knowledge will cause a bureaucratic collapse of Biodiversity research in Brazil. Law number 13.123/2015 and Decree 8772/2016 impose severe barriers to basic and applied research, and to international cooperation by introducing mandator...

Threatened Brazilian Amphibians

Report on Threatened Brazilian Amphibians

Report on Brazilian threatened amphibians

Conservation status of threatened Brazilian amphibians

Conservation status of threatened Brazilian amphibians