Maria Joana Ferreira da Silva

• PhD of Biosciences
• PostDoc Position at Cardiff University

The western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) is classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with an 80% decrease decline between 1990 and 2014. A major threat to its survival is the illegal trade in live chimpanzees (ITLC), a highly organized criminal activity with national and international s...

The Sanje mangabey ( Cercocebus sanjei ) is an Endangered (IUCN) primate endemic to the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania. Two populations, both inhabiting montane forest fragments, have been identified. The phylogenetic position of the Sanje mangabey relative to other Cercocebus species remains unclear and this knowledge gap has important conservation...

Campbell’s ( Cercopithecus campbelli ) and green monkeys ( Chlorocebus sabaeus ) are sympatric medium-sized West African guenons (tribe Cercopithecini) that are generally understudied in most of their distribution. Both species are ecological generalists and are globally considered non-threatened, but populations are decreasing locally. National co...

Effective population size (Ne) is a key concept in evolutionary and conservation biology. The western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) is a Critically Endangered taxon. In Guinea-Bissau, chimpanzees are mainly threatened by habitat loss, hunting and diseases. Guinea-Bissau is considered a key area for its conservation. Genetic tools have not yet...

Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is considered one of the largest global illegal industries that negatively impacts biodiversity and sustainable development worldwide. DNA barcoding coupled with high-throughput sequencing has been shown to be useful in identifying taxa affected by IWT and has been routinely used during the last decades. However, for co...

Investigating primates’ behavioral variation at the inter-population level is important for the understanding of the evolutionary processes leading to species-specific patterns. The study of behavioral diversity among populations also contributes to improving’ primate conservation efforts. Dispersal patterns tend to be similar among close phylogene...

The green monkey Chlorocebus sabaeus, L. 1766, native to West Africa, was introduced to the Cabo Verde Archipelago in the 16th century. Historical sources suggest that, due to the importance of Cabo Verde as a commercial entrepôt in the Atlantic slave trade, establishing the precise place of origin of this introduced species is challenging. Non-inv...

Conservation funding is currently limited; cost-effective conservation solutions are essential. We suggest that the thousands of field stations worldwide can play key roles at the frontline of biodiversity conservation and have high intrinsic value. We assessed field stations’ conservation return on investment and explored the impact of COVID-19. W...

Guinea‐Bissau, an important regional biodiversity hotspot in West Africa, faces the challenge of raising awareness among the general public about the significance of natural resources for rural communities' survival and the need for biodiversity conservation. This knowledge gap hinders conservation efforts as initiatives are deemed irrelevant or un...

Food distribution and abundance can affect intra- and inter-dietary variation in non-human primates, influencing feeding ecology and altering behaviour. Natural and/or human-induced actions can influence the dynamics between primates and the environment, with associated impacts on socio-ecology and demography. This relationship in anthropogenic lan...

The lesser spot-nosed monkey (Cercopithecus petaurista) is a widely distributed West African guenon, which is generally considered less vulnerable to local extinctions than many sympatric primate species. Guinea-Bissau harbours the westernmost populations of the species, which is thought to be very rare or even extinct on the mainland, but to have...

Y chromosome markers can shed light on male-specific population dynamics but for many species no such markers have been discovered and are available yet, despite the potential for recovering Y-linked loci from available genome sequences. Here, we investigated how effective available bioinformatic tools are in recovering informative Y chromosome mic...

The Miocene was a key time in the evolution of African ecosystems witnessing the origin of the African apes and the isolation of eastern coastal forests through an expanding arid corridor. Until recently, however, Miocene sites from the southeastern regions of the continent were unknown. Here, we report the first Miocene fossil teeth from the shoul...

O projeto Os bijagós, os seus costumes de gestão tradicional de mamíferos insulares e implicações para a conservação de primatas não-humanos pretende avaliar a influência das características socioculturais dos bijagós na diversidade genética, fluxo genético e história de colonização de espécies de primatas insulares, focando-se no macaco de nariz-b...

The News for nature/ PRIMACTION (2019-2022) project aimed to increase the visibility of Guinea-Bissau environmental-related themes in the media to improve the knowledge of the society on the importance of biodiversity. News for Nature collaborated with media agents such as training journalists and media students, well-established professionals and...

The Guinea baboon (Papio papio) is a Near Threatened primate endemic to West Africa. During the last 30 years, the species has been disappearing due to habitat loss and hunting. Current research and conservation efforts are mostly restricted to the central/southern areas of the species' geographic range. A significant gap of knowledge exists on the...

In tropical forests, anthropogenic activities are major drivers of the destruction and degradation of natural habitats, causing severe biodiversity loss. African colobine monkeys (Colobinae) are mainly folivore and strictly arboreal primates that require large forests to subsist, being among the most vulnerable of all nonhuman primates. The Western...

The analyses of the stable isotope ratios of carbon (δ¹³C), nitrogen (δ¹⁵N), and oxygen (δ¹⁸O) in animal tissues are powerful tools for reconstructing the feeding behavior of individual animals and characterizing trophic interactions in food webs. Of these biomaterials, tooth enamel is the hardest, most mineralized vertebrate tissue and therefore l...

Detailed knowledge about biodiversity distribution is critical for monitoring the biological effects of global change processes. Biodiversity knowledge gaps hamper the monitoring of conservation trends and they are especially evident in the desert biome. Mauritania constitutes a remarkable example on how remoteness and regional insecurity affect cu...

Background Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique hosts a large population of baboons, numbering over 200 troops. Gorongosa baboons have been tentatively identified as part of Papio ursinus on the basis of previous limited morphological analysis and a handful of mitochondrial DNA sequences. However, a recent morphological and morphometric analysis o...

O babuíno da Guiné (Papio papio), que é simultaneamente a espécie de babuínos mais ameaçada e a menos investigada, foi reportado como estando a diminuir na Guiné-Bissau devido à intensa pressão exercida pelas atividades antropogénicas. Es-tes resultados motivaram investigação dirigida à biologia, ecologia, evolução, parasitologia e conservação das...

The Miocene is a key time in the evolution of African mammals and their ecosystems witnessing the origin of the African apes and the isolation of eastern coastal forests through an expanding biogeographic arid corridor. Until recently, however, Miocene sites from the southeastern regions of the continent were unknown. Here we report discovery of th...

Article impact statement: If not carefully assessed, landscape changes could negatively affect dryland-adapted imperiled biodiversity in the Sahel. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Guinea-Bissau (GB) is a regional stronghold for primate conservation. Ten primates occur in the country, including the Western chimpanzee ( Pan troglodytes verus ) and two colobus monkeys ( Colobus polykomos and Piliocolobus badius temminckii ). Primate meat is consumed at households and bushmeat-dedicated establishments, locally named "Abafatório"...

Abstract: Illegal hunting and trade threaten the high biodiversity of Guinea-Bissau (GB) in West Africa, particularly for nonhuman primates (NHP). Primate carcasses are sold at bushmeat markets and at restaurants and the primate pet trade is active. Traditional medicine practitioners also use NHP body-parts further promoting the commerce of NHP ski...

The West-African sooty mangabey (Cercocebus atys) is threatened by habitat loss, hunting for meat consumption, and mortality during crop-foraging events. The species' overall demographic trend is unknown. Presence and distribution in Guinea-Bissau, a country neighbored by Senegal and Republic of Guinea, was confirmed in 1946 but the species was dec...

Abstracts of the 7th Iberian Congress of Primatology 8th Congress of the Portuguese Primatology Association 12th Congress of the Spanish Primatology Association Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, October 9-11, 2019

7th Iberian Congress of Primatology “Empathy, Education and Conservation: Primates in a Shared World” 8th Congress of the Portuguese Primatology Association 12th Congress of the Spanish Primatology Association Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, October 9-11, 2019

Baboons, members of the genus Papio, comprise six closely related species distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa and southwest Arabia. The species exhibit more ecological flexibility and a wider range of social systems than many other primates. This article summarizes our current knowledge of the natural history of baboons and highlights directi...

Baboons, members of the genus Papio, comprise six closely related species distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa and southwest Arabia. The species exhibit more ecological flexibility and a wider range of social systems than many other primates. This article summarizes our current knowledge of the natural history of baboons and highlights directi...

Estimar a área de ocorrência geográfica de primatas não-hu-manos é fulcral para a sua conservação. O uso de técnicas não-invasivas de identificação molecular permite confirmar a presença de espécies de difícil observação direta e/ou raras. O macaco verde (Chlorocebus sabaeus), o macaco mona (Cercopithecus campbelli) e o macaco petaurista (Cercopith...

Supplementary Material

Raw craniofacial landmark data comprising papio specimens from Gorongosa National Park and the comparative dataset from Dunn et al. 2013. 3D Mesh at: http://www.morphosource.org/Detail/MediaDetail/Show/media_id/40022

Most authors recognize six baboon species: hamadryas (Papio hamadryas), Guinea (Papio papio), olive (Papio anubis), yellow (Papio cynocephalus), chacma (Papio ursinus), and Kinda (Papio kindae). However, there is still debate regarding the taxonomic status, phylogenetic relationships, and the amount of gene flow occurring between species. Here, we...

Our closest relatives, the nonhuman primates, have been greatly affected during the Anthropocene and are now among the world's most threatened taxa. Primate conservation genetics aims at mitigating extinction risk by attending to genetic processes and preserving the species' adaptive potential. Primates are particularly susceptible to extinction by...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194189.].

First fossil sites from the Urema Rift, central Mozambique, and their paleoenvironmental and paleoecological contexts

The East African Rift System (EARS) has played a central role in our understanding of human origins and vertebrate evolution in the late Cenozoic of Africa. However, the distribution of fossil sites along the rift is highly biased towards its northern extent, and the types of paleoenvironments are primarily restricted to fluvial and lacustrine sett...

We report a Microsporum audouinii infection in a female juvenile chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) presenting generalized dermatitis compatible with dermatophytosis. Dermatophyte was identified by macro‐ and microscopic characterization of skin and scales cultures in Mycosel Agar. The topical treatment applied was effective, having the potential for der...

Dispersal is a demographic process that can potentially counterbalance the negative impacts of anthropogenic habitat fragmentation. However, mechanisms of dispersal may become modified in populations living in human-dominated habitats. Here, we investigated dispersal in Guinea baboons (Papio papio) in areas with contrasting levels of anthropogenic...

Sex-determination protocol. (PDF)

Sex-specific genetic structure. (PDF)

Description of PCRs protocols and genotyping process. (PDF)

Spatial autocorrelation analyses conducted at 66 and 26 km. (PDF)

Sampling sites and genotypes analysed. (PDF)

Description of sub-sets of samples used to test sex-bias in dispersal. (PDF)

A major puzzle in human origins research is the question of where, when, and under what environmental conditions our lineage originated in Africa, but answers are hampered by the scarcity of Mio-Pliocene paleontological sites. To help fill these gaps, the Paleo-Primate Project Gorongosa, a multidisciplinary research initiative on human origins, was...

Increasing conflicts and social insecurity are expected to accelerate biodiversity decline and escalate illegal wildlife killing. Sahara‐Sahel megafauna has experienced recent continuous decline due to unsustainable hunting pressure. Here, we provide the best available data on distribution and population trends of threatened, large vertebrates, to...

Non-human primates are among the world’s most threatened taxa and are especially sensitive to extinction by anthropogenic disturbance. Conservation genetics aims to mitigate extinction by genetic processes and conserve species’ adaptive potential. Primate populations often become reduced and fragmented as a result of deforestation and hunting. In s...

Aim Identification of priority conservation areas and evaluation of coverage of the current protected areas are urgently needed to halt the biodiversity loss. Identifying regions combining similar environmental traits (climate regions) and species assemblages (biogroups) is needed for conserving the biodiversity patterns and processes. We identify...

Behavior is influenced by genes but can also shape the genetic structure of natural populations. Investigating this link is of great importance because behavioral processes can alter the genetic diversity on which selection acts. Gene flow is one of the main determinants of the genetic structure of a population and dispersal is the behavior that me...

Guinea baboons are heavily hunted for bushmeat consumption in Guinea-Bissau. We investigated whether hunting-driven mortality has affected population structure in this generalist primate using two genetic markers. Sampling was conducted in protected areas separated by anthropogenic landscape features. We predicted significant genetic differentiatio...

Hunting for bushmeat consumption is a major threat to wild populations. Assessing trade at markets pro-vides a commonly used measure of its intensity and impact. However, most carcasses arrive at markets already processed, which can pose serious challenges to its identification. We aimed to estimate the bias induced by incorrect species identificat...

Like many primate species in West Africa, habitat loss and intensive hunting are threatening the poorly studied Guinea Baboon (Papio papio). These factors contributed to a significant population contraction during the last 30 years. Our study presents genetic diversity estimates for the Guinea Baboon based on a 391 base pair fragment of the mitocho...

Western black-and-white colobus and Temmink's red colobus are two forest-dependent African primates with similar ecological requirements, often found in sympatry. Their most striking difference lies in their social system: black-and-white colobus live in small groups with mainly male-mediated dispersal but where females can also disperse, whereas r...

Western black-and-white colobus and Temmink's red colobus are two forest-dependent African primates with similar ecological requirements, often found in sympatry. Their most striking difference lies in their social system: black-and-white colobus live in small groups with mainly male-mediated dispersal but where females can also disperse, whereas r...

Here I am, in the middle of this forest, and I can't see the primates? How can I learn more about the species I am studying?" This question can be answered with the help of recent advances in non-invasive molecular genetics.

In Guinea-Bissau (GB) the Guinea baboon (Papio hamadryas papio) is threatened by hunting pressure. Along with local extinctions, these practices may be inducing long-term genetic changes and disrupting underlying social structure. In this study, the bushmeat trade in GB was evaluated for the first time and the effect of hunting practices on the gen...

36.513 km 2 , which corresponds to 33 individuals (Sousa, 2009). However, the exact number of individuals and communities for the whole CNP and the rest of the country remains unclear; with the aid of a molecular census, however, it will be possible to infer its effective population size (Sá et al., 2009). Anthropogenic disturbances such as habitat...

36.513 km 2 , which corresponds to 33 individuals (Sousa, 2009). However, the exact number of individuals and communities for the whole CNP and the rest of the country remains unclear; with the aid of a molecular census, however, it will be possible to infer its effective population size (Sá et al., 2009). Anthropogenic disturbances such as habitat...

This paper reports on the use and trade of Chimpanzee body parts in Guinea-Bissau for traditional practices (e.g. for nutritional, medicinal or ritual purposes, or “animistic myths”). Informal interviews were conducted and observations made with a view to providing insight into how these human traditions and myths might pose an additional threat.

Guinea baboons are heavily hunted for bush-meat consumption in Guinea-Bissau. We investigated whether hunting-driven mortality has affected population structure in this generalist primate using two genetic markers. Sampling was conducted in protected areas separated by anthropogenic landscape features. We predicted significant genetic differentiati...

The illegal commerce of non-human primates body parts for traditional medicine or ornamental purposes can pose serious threats to wild populations. The impact assessment of illegal trade has been hampered by the difficult determination of the origin of these items, in particular if illegal transnational routes exist. In September 2008, in the bigge...

The human-wildlife conflict has been reducing the Cape Peninsula Chacma baboon population (Papio ursinus) at South Africa to a critical level. Currently, there are only 250 adult individuals left distributed by ten different troops and only one social group is not provisioned by some source of unnatural food. Several measures have been proposed to...