AVES DE CERRO CANAJAGUA, PROVINCIA DE LOS SANTOS, PANAMÁ

Between October 2002 and April 2003 birds inventories were made in Cerro Canajagua, Los Santos province. The purpose of this work is to provide general information about the avifauna of this locality, its conservation status, and its relationship with the characteristics of the landscape. The methods included the use of ornithological netting and widespread searches in three types of habitats (open area, forest edge, and forest). The major birds in conservation were determined according to four instances (protected by Law, CITES, list of fauna about conservation importance, and North American Breeding Birds Survey, BBS). Records of 109 species were obtained, 93 residents and 18 migratory from the Northern Hemisphere. 33 species conservation importance of were identified, some of them considered for more than one instance. Among them, 25 are protected by Law, 25 are included in the appendices of CITES, five species are in the lists of important fauna, and five migratory species show significant declining of their population in the last decades. Despite the great destruction of the natural habitats of Cerro Canajagua, it is still useful for a great variety of birds to inhabit, which together with other values, it supports its status as protected area. Nevertheless, the pressures that threat to destroy the biodiversity of the area still persist, from which a great amount of wild species and persons of that region of Azuero depend.  Entre octubre de 2002 y abril de 2003, se hicieron inventarios de aves en Cerro Canajagua, provincia de Los Santos. El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar información general sobre la avifauna de esta localidad, su estado de conservación y su relación con las características del paisaje. Los métodos incluyeron el uso de redes ornitológicas y búsquedas generalizadas en tres tipos de hábitat (área abierta, borde de bosque y bosque). Las aves importantes en conservación fueron determinadas según cuatro instancias (protegidas por ley, CITES, lista de fauna de importancia en conservación y Censo Norteamericano de Aves Anidantes o el BBS). Se obtuvieron registros de 109 especies, 93 residentes y 18 migratorias del Hemisferio Norte. Se identificaron 33 especies de importancia en conservación, algunas de ellas consideradas por más de una instancia. Entre ellas, 25 están protegidas por ley, 25 están incluidas en los apéndices de CITES, cinco especies están en los listados de fauna de importancia y cinco especies migratorias muestran declinaciones significativas de sus poblaciones en las últimas décadas. A pesar de la gran alteración y destrucción de los hábitat naturales de Cerro Canajagua, todavía sirve para que habite una considerable variedad de aves, lo que junto a otros valores, sustentan su estatus como área protegida. Sin embargo, aun persisten las presiones que amenazan con destruir la biodiversidad del área, de la cual depende una considerable cantidad especies silvestres y personas de esa región de Azuero

Shark-cetacean trophic interactions during the late Pliocene in the Central Eastern Pacific (Panama)

We provide a description of the remains of a fossil whale from western Panama. The record consists of appendicular remains of a mysticete, which has been assigned to Balaenopteridae. These remains, found in the sediments of the late Pliocene Burica Formation, represent the first record of a marine mammal in the Neogene sedimentary succession of the Burica Peninsula. Two different types of shark bite marks, serrated and deep-unserrated, found on the radius and phalanges suggest scavenging by at least two white shark (Carcharodon) individuals. The deep, unserrated marks were possibly caused by continual biting by sharks. Both the morphology of the shark bite marks and their relative location on the whale limb bones constitute evidence of shark-cetacean trophic interaction. Although the specimen lacks diagnostic features that would allow a species-level identification, it does provide new information on the vertebrate fauna of a very poorly prospected Central Eastern Pacific exposure, thus opening an opportunity for exploring the marine fauna during a critical episode in Earth history, the Plio-Pleistocene transition. Dirley Cortés. Redpath Museum, McGill University, 859 Sherbrooke St. W., Montreal QC H3A 0C4, Canada. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa-Ancón 0843-03092, Panamá, Panamá. [email protected] Carlos De Gracia. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa-Ancón 0843-03092, Panamá, Panamá. [email protected] Jorge D. Carrillo-Briceño. Paläontologisches Institut und Museum, Karl-Schmid-Strasse 4, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa-Ancón 0843-03092, Panamá, Panamá. [email protected] Gabriel Aguirre-Fernández. Paläontologisches Institut und Museum, Karl-Schmid-Strasse 4, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland. [email protected] Carlos Jaramillo. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa-Ancón 0843–03092, Panamá, Panamá. ISEM, U. Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France. [email protected] Aldo Benites-Palomino. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa-Ancón 0843-03092, Panamá, Panamá. Departamento de Paleontología de Vertebrados, Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Avenida Arenales 1256, Lima 14, Perú. [email protected] Joaquín Enrique Atencio-Araúz. Colegio Punta Burica, Chiriquí Province, Panamá. [email protected] Keywords: Mysticeti; shark bite marks; Neogene; late Pliocene; Central America; trophic interactio

O-chromosome lethal frequencies in Serbian and Montenegrin Drosophila subobscura populations

Lethal chromosomal frequencies were obtained from three Drosophila subobscura samples from the Mt. Avala (Serbia) population in September 2003 (0.218), June 2004 (0.204) and September 2004 (0.250). These values and those from other Balkan populations studied previously (Petnica, Kamariste, Zanjic and Djerdap) were used to analyze the possible effect of population, year, month and altitude above sea level on lethal chromosomal frequencies. According to ANOVAS no effect were observed. Furthermore, the lethal frequencies of the Balkan populations did not vary according to latitude. This is probably due to the relative proximity and high gene flow between these populations. From a joint study of all the Palearctic D. subobscura populations so far analyzed, it can be deduced that the Balkan populations are located in the central area of the species distribution. Finally, it seems that lethal chromosomal frequencies are a consequence of the genetic structure of the populations

Molecular evidence to suggest the origin of a colonization: Drosophila subobscura in America

Abstract The recent colonization of America by Drosophila subobscura represents a great opportunity for evolutionary biology studies. Knowledge of the populations from which the colonization started would provide an understanding of how genetic composition changed during adaptation to the new environment. Thus, a 793 nucleotide fragment of the Odh (Octanol dehydrogenase) gene was sequenced in 66 chromosomal lines from Barcelona (western Mediterranean) and in 66 from Mt. Parnes (Greece, eastern Mediterranean). No sequence of Odh fragment in Barcelona or Mt. Parnes was identical to any of those previously detected in America. However, an Odh sequence from Barcelona differed in only one nucleotide from another found in American populations. In both cases, the chromosomal lines presented the same inversion: O7, and the Odh gene was located within this inversion. This evidence suggests a possible western Mediterranean origin for the colonization. Finally, the molecular and inversion data indicate that the colonization was not characterized by multiple reintroductions