Nélio B. Barros’s research while affiliated with University of Miami and other places

... Humpback whales feed on a variety of prey species (Laerm et al., 1997), suggesting that their feeding patterns are not solely dependent on the presence of one species. However, their feeding behavior may be influenced by where the prey is located in the water column (Hazen et al., 2009). ...

Reference:

A Preliminary Study on Humpback Whales Lunge Feeding in the New York Bight, United States

... The diet of Guiana dolphins is composed of diverse prey items (Table 2.2), including teleost fishes, cephalopods (squids and octopuses) and crustaceans (shrimps). Fishes are generally the dominant prey in terms of importance (Borobia & Barros, 1989;Daura-Jorge et al., 2011;Di Beneditto & Ramos, 2004;Di Beneditto & Siciliano, 2007;Gurjão et al., 2003;Lopes et al., 2012), with dolphins consuming at least 101 teleost fish species distributed in 35 families. Fishes preyed upon were mostly small (less than 20 cm), but also reached more than 1 m. ...

Reference:

Guiana dolphin Sotalia guianensis (Van Bénéden, 1864)

... hemorrhage, hemoperitoneum, and pulmonary hemorrhage and edema (animal no. 19). Animal no.11 (advanced autolysis) presented multifocal hematomas in the head, nuchal region, dorsum, right lateral flank and peduncle, and right flipper; distal amputation of the right flipper; and three deep, linear and parallel cutaneous lacerations, highly supportive of a propeller cut (vessel strike), in the left flank, caudally to the flipper and cranially to the dorsal fin. ...

Reference:

Pathology and causes of death in stranded humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) from Brazil

... At the molecular level, Duffield et al. (2003) provided evidence for species-level differences in the molecular weight of both hemoglobin and myoglobin values for specimens stranded in the USA. Chivers et al. (2005) investigated concordance between morphologically based species identification markers and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers and their geographic variability, unexpectedly identifying two allopatric K. sima clades in the process. ...

Reference:

Pygmy Sperm Whale Kogia breviceps (de Blainville, 1838)

... Age estimates at sexual maturation are important for predicting population dynamics and recovery (Schwacke et al., 2022). In bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), growth models have established sexual dimorphism with adult males being larger than females (Read et al., 1993;Stolen et al., 2002), and multiple phases of growth, including a rapid increase around the age of sexual maturity (Mcfee et al., 2010). Consequently, total straight length can be roughly used as an indicator of categorical age class (calf<200cm vs subadult 200-240cm vs adult >240cm); however it is less useful for estimating chronological age, particularly following sexual maturity when growth rate approaches zero (Mcfee and Hopkins-Murphy, 2002). ...

Reference:

How to estimate age of old bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus); by tooth or pectoral flipper?