Priscila Santos Carvalho

São Paulo State University | Unesp

As many new evolutionary lineages are being discovered and formally named, sequencing topotypes when holotypes are not available becomes essential for taxonomy. This study uses a DNA-taxonomy approach to sequence new populations of the Ischnocnema verrucosa species complex (Brazilian Wart Frogs) from different locations, including, for the first ti...

Species identification plays a significant role in biodiversity conservation. As many species remain unrecognized, particularly in neotropical hotspots like the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (AF), novel molecular techniques are being widely employed to bridge this gap. In this study, we used DNA barcoding and phylogenetic tools to identify a new popula...

Although rivers are known to promote diversification and shape phylogeographic patterns, they can also be permeable and facilitate the dispersal of species. Using multiple molecular methodological approaches, we conducted a phylogeographic investigation of two semiaquatic snake species with continental distributions across South America, testing ho...

Here we report two cases of defensive behavior known as "stiff-legged", unprecedented for the species Rhinella bergi and R. mirandaribeiroi. We registered the behavior at localities in Mato Grosso do Sul and Minas Gerais states, Brazil. With our records, there are now five species from open areas that exhibit this behavior. We assume that the speci...

Studying species interactions in nature often requires elaborated logistics and intense fieldwork. The difficulties in such task might hinder our ability to answer questions on how biotic interactions change with the environment. Fortunately, a workaround to this problem lies within scientific collections. For some animals, the inspection of preser...

Snake envenomation is considered a public health problem in tropical countries, where they occur in a high incidence. The present study reports the snake envenomation that occurred in Mato Grosso do Sul state (Brazil) between 2007 and 2017. Epidemiological data were obtained from the online platform of the Notification Disease Information System an...

A new species of frog of the genus Odontophrynus is described from grassland of the subtropical regions of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay based on morphological, osteological, bioacoustical, cytogenetic, and molecular evidence. The new species is characterized by having medium size; rostral and eye-nostril glandular warts well developed; several l...

Defensive behavior is an important mechanism for the survival of organisms, and understand- ing the different strategies improves our knowledge regarding prey-predator relationships. Herein, based on field observation, we describe a sequence of behaviors displayed by the South American pond snake Pseudoeryx plicatilis from the Pantanal floodplains...

Background Studies with integrative approaches (based on different lines of evidence) are fundamental for understanding the diversity of organisms. Different data sources can improve the understanding of the taxonomy and evolution of snakes. We used this integrative approach to verify the taxonomic status of Hydrodynastes gigas (Duméril, Bibron & D...

The crab-eating raccoon is considered one of the less studied Neotropical carnivores, once its nocturnal and inconspicuous habit difficult observations about its behavior. This species is considered a frugivorous-omnivorous species, with opportunistic habits, feeding since fruits and invertebrates to other mammals and lizards. Herein, we provide a...

Herein, we provide the first comprehensive amphibian checklist for the State of Tocantins, North of Brazil, based on field sampling, literature data, and specimens deposited in zoological collections. We performed field surveys from 2012 to 2019 in 12 Tocantins municipalities, totaling 376 days of sampling effort. We analyzed 25 papers from the lit...

Anurans emit a variety of acoustic signals in different behavioral contexts during the breeding season. The release call is a signal produced by the frog when it is inappropriately clasped by another frog. In the family Phyllomedusidae, this call type is known only for Pithecophus ayeaye. Here we describe the release call of four species: Phyllomed...

The Cerrado biome harbours one of the highest levels of squamate species richness globally. In the past few years, several new localities have been sampled, providing important data regarding snake diversity within this biome. Few reptile and/or snake inventories have been performed in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, and none have been car...

Vocalization is the most common type of communication among anurans. Within vocal repertoire anurans produce the advertisement and release calls, and both are useful for taxonomic approaches. Scinax eurydice is a hylid tree frog, endemic from Atlantic Forest. Its advertisement call is known only from a population in its southern distribution, State...