New records and distribution extensions of three species of Mesoclemmys Gray, 1863 (Testudines: Chelidae) in Mato Grosso state, Brazil, with observations on terrestrial movements

Distribution patterns of most of the 20 Neotropical freshwater turtles belonging to the family Chelidae are usually based on few locality records. We here report on vouchered records of three species of the chelid genus Mesoclemmys in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. Presence of M. vanderhaegei is confirmed for the Amazon River Basin, and M. gibba and M. raniceps are recorded in Mato Grosso for the first time

Feeding habits of Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei (Testudines: Chelidae)

We studied the feeding habits of Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei in small water bodies in the central region of the Brazilian Cerrado. We captured 80 individuals, 79 of which [41 (52%) females, 27 males (34%), 11 (14%) juveniles] had stomach contents for analysis. We identified 64 food item categories. The turtles were eating more animal than plant material, aquatic invertebrates being the most conspicuous diet item found. Plant material was more abundant in females and rare in the diet of juveniles. Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei proved to be an omnivorous and opportunistic chelonian, feeding on a wide range of food items. Although there are differences in the consumption of food items among sexes and age categories, the most consumed food categories were common in all water bodies sampled

New locality records, geographical distribution, and morphological variation in Cercosaura parkeri (Ruibal, 1952) (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) from western Brazil

The presence of the gymnophthalmid lizard Cercosaura parkeri (Ruibal, 1952) in western Brazil is confirmed, based on vouchered records for localities in the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. Morphological variation in a series of 20 males and 17 females is also presented

First record of Amblyomma rotundatum Koch, 1844 (Acari: Ixodidae) parasitizing Paleosuchus palpebrosus Cuvier, 1807 (Reptilia:Crocodylidae), in the western border of Pantanal, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

This is the first record of Amblyomma rotundatum parasitizing Paleosuchus palpebrosus. This record was made during a herpetofaunal study carried out in high elevation habitats that are under protection in the mountain range "Serra do Amolar", located in the western border of Brazilian Pantanal, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul

Macroscopia do aparelho digestório do cágado sul-americano Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei (Bour, 1973)

Ainda há poucas descrições anatômicas a cerca do trato digestório de representantes da ordem Testudines, especialmente sobre o cágado-de-Vanderhaegei, Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei. A ocorrência desta espécie abrange as bacias dos rios Paraguai, Paraná e Amazônica. Estudos sobre a sua ecologia e morfologia ainda são pouco explorados, dessa forma, o aparelho digestório foi caracterizado macroscopicamente pela dissecção desse sistema em dez espécimes. A boca possui comprimento orocaudal ligeiramente maior que o laterolateral. Os lábios são formados por placas córneas. A língua é macia e está totalmente fixada ao assoalho da cavidade oral. O esôfago possui luz ampla e paredes delgadas na região cervical, tornando-se gradativamente mais estreito e de paredes espessas caudalmente. O estômago apresenta forma semelhante à letra "U" e podem ser distinguidas as regiões do cárdia, do corpo e do piloro, com mucosa totalmente pregueada. Na transição deste para o intestino delgado o esfíncter pilórico é conspícuo. O intestino apresenta-se disposto entre o delgado e grosso, sendo o primeiro constituído pelo duodeno e jejuno, não sendo possível identificar macroscopicamente o íleo. Da mesma forma, não se observa o ceco como primeiro segmento do intestino grosso, sendo este formado pelo cólon, que se abre em um pequeno compartimento pigmentado da cloaca. O fígado apresenta variação no padrão de lobação, no entanto, a presença dos lobos hepáticos direito e esquerdo é constante nos espécimes analisados. O pâncreas é facilmente observado em sintopia com o duodeno. Nesta análise, o trato digestório de Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei apresenta padrão semelhante ao de outras espécies de quelônios pesquisados da família Chelidae.There are few anatomical descriptions about the testudines's gastrointestinal tract, especially when concerned to the Vanderhaege's turtle, Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei. The geographical range of this species extends throughout the Paraguai, Paraná and Amazon river basins. Studies about its ecology and morphology are still little exploited, thus, the gastrointestinal apparatus was macroscopic characterized through the dissection of ten specimens. The mouth's oral-aboral length is wider than its oral-tail length. The lips are formed by keratinized structures. The tongue is soft and fixed to the floor of the oral cavity. The cervical esophagus is broad and has thin walls, becoming narrower and thicker in its caudal portion. The stomach's shape resembles the "U" letter. It has a creased mucosa and is divided in a cardiac, a main body, and a pyloric region. The gut is presented as the small and large intestine. The duodenum and jejunum are easily identified. The ileum, on the opposite, is unidentifiable macroscopically, as well as the caecum, the first segment of the large intestine. The colon, the posterior segment, opens itself into a cloaca. The liver presents individual variation regarding lobation pattern. However, the presence of both liver lobes, left and right, is a constant finding during the observation. The pancreas is easily seen running distally along the duodenum. In this analysis, it was verified that the digestive tract in Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei is similar to the tract of other chelids previously studied

New records and distribution extension of Acanthochelys macrocephala (Rhodin, Mittermeier & McMorris 1984) in midwestern Brazil

The big-headed Pantanal swamp turtle Acanthochelys macrocephala (Rhodin, Mittermeier & McMorris, 1984) is a rare and poorly studied medium-sized freshwater turtle (Rhodin et al., 2021), whose individuals can explore a wide variety of habitat types. Acanthochelys macrocephala has a geographical distribution restricted to central South America. In Brazil, records are restricted to the Upper Paraguay river basin, throughout the Pantanal wetlands or nearby Chaco areas. These records were limited until now to four municipalities of Mato Grosso do Sul and two municipalities of Mato Grosso. Some of the records we provided here constitute the first occurrence of the species for the municipalities of Barão de Melgaço, Nossa Senhora do Livramento, Cuiabá, and Acorizal, and increase from two to six the number of municipalities where the species is currently known in Mato Grosso (previously known for Poconé and Cáceres - the latter being the species type locality).Asociación Herpetológica Argentin

Bothrops Snakebites in Dogs

Background: Snakebites occur frequently among humans and animals. In Brazil, about 23,000 cases of snakebite involving humans were recorded in 2016, 11% of them caused by venomous snakes. In the region of Cuiabá, capital of Mato Grosso, the highest occurrence is of snakes of the genus Bothrops (81%), followed by Crotalus (4%). Bothrops venom has proteolytic, coagulant and hemorrhagic effects, whereas Crotalus venom is neurotoxic, myotoxic and nephrotoxic. This paper reports on three cases of Bothrops snakebites in dogs treated at the Veterinary Hospital of the Federal University of Mato Grosso in 2017.Cases: Three dogs were treated showing clinical signs of snakebite, possibly by Bothrops, since their owners reported that these are the snakes most frequently found where they live. This information is consistent with the known geographic distribution of snakes of the genus Bothrops in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. In the first report (Case 11), the patient was bitten on two different occasions in a five-month interval, and died presumably due to anaphylactic shock caused by the venom injected by a second snakebite (Case 12). In both episodes, the animal presented a swollen face and neck, dyspnea and eye bleeding, and these signs were more severe in the second episode. Case 2 was a dog with severe neck and chest swelling and pain. The owner of this dog reported that he had taken his dog for a walk in the countryside, along with the dog of Case 1, and had returned home with both dogs about three hours before the consultation. Case 3 was a Rottweiler living at a small family farm located 67 km from Cuiabá. The animal presented with slight swelling and pain in the left forelimb, and puncture wounds on the lower limb. Neutrophilic leukocytosis was observed in cases 1 and 3.  In addition, Case 12 (the second episode of Case 1) presented with thrombocytopenia and increased prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time. The dog of Case 2 presented no hematological or biochemical alteration. All the dogs received antivenom serum and supportive care.Discussion: Based on the clinical signs of local swelling with bleeding and absence of neurological signs, the snakebites were attributed to the genus Bothrops. In Case 12, blood clotting tests showed non-coagulation. The greater severity of Case 1, which culminated in death, was attributed to anaphylaxis due to prior exposure or the larger amount of venom than that injected in Case 2, since the two injuries were inflicted in the same environment on the same day, probably by the same snake. Neutrophilic leukocytosis may be indicative of an inflammatory reaction, while thrombocytopenia and clotting changes are associated with the hemorrhagic activity of Bothrops venom. Death by snakebite is directly linked to the amount of venom injected, the envenomation site, and the time between the bite and the beginning of treatment. This explains the moderate signs presented by Cases 2 and 3, whose injuries were inflicted on the neck and forelimb, unlike the dog of Case 1, which was bitten on the head on two occasions. It was concluded that Bothrops venom causes systemic and local alterations characterized by pain, swelling, necrosis and bleeding. Early access to antivenom treatment is essential to neutralize clinical signs and prevent worsening of systemic poisoning. The determining factor in snakebite deaths is the amount of injected venom and the time elapsed between the injury and the beginning of treatment

Museums and cradles of diversity are geographically coincident for narrowly distributed Neotropical snakes

Factors driving the spatial configuration of centres of endemism have long been a topic of broad interest and debate. Due to different eco-evolutionary processes, these highly biodiverse areas may harbour different amounts of ancient and recently diverged organisms (paleo- and neo-endemism, respectively). Patterns of endemism still need to be measured at distinct phylogenetic levels for most clades and, consequently, little is known about the distribution, the age and the causes of such patterns. Here we tested for the presence of centres with high phylogenetic endemism (PE) in the highly diverse Neotropical snakes, testing the age of these patterns (paleo- or neo-endemism), and the presence of PE centres with distinct phylogenetic composition. We then tested whether PE is predicted by topography, by climate (seasonality, stability, buffering and relictualness), or biome size. We found that most areas of high PE for Neotropical snakes present a combination of both ancient and recently diverged diversity, which is distributed mostly in the Caribbean region, Central America, the Andes, the Atlantic Forest and on scattered highlands in central Brazil. Turnover of lineages is higher across Central America, resulting in more phylogenetically distinct PE centres compared to South America, which presents a more phylogenetically uniform snake fauna. Finally, we found that elevational range (topographic roughness) is the main predictor of PE, especially for paleo-endemism, whereas low paleo-endemism levels coincide with areas of high climatic seasonality. Our study highlights the importance of mountain systems to both ancient and recent narrowly distributed diversity. Mountains are both museums and cradles of snake diversity in the Neotropics, which has important implications for conservation in this region.Fil: Azevedo, Josué Anderson Rêgo. University Goteborg; Suecia. Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre; SueciaFil: Guedes, Thaís B.. University Goteborg; Suecia. Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre; Suecia. Universidade Estadual do Maranhão. Centro de Estudos Superiores de Caxias. Programa de Pós-graduação em Biodiversidade, Ambiente e Saúde; PortugalFil: Nogueira, Cristiano de Campos. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Passos, Paulo. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Sawaya, Ricardo. Universidad Federal do Abc; BrasilFil: Prudente, Ana. Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi; BrasilFil: Barbo, Fausto Erritto. Governo do Estado de Sao Paulo. Secretaria da Saude. Instituto Butantan; BrasilFil: Strüssmann, Christine. Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul; BrasilFil: Franco, Francisco L.. Governo do Estado de Sao Paulo. Secretaria da Saude. Instituto Butantan; BrasilFil: Arzamendia, Vanesa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto Nacional de Limnología. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto Nacional de Limnología; ArgentinaFil: Giraudo, Alejandro Raul. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto Nacional de Limnología. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto Nacional de Limnología; ArgentinaFil: Argolo, Antonio. Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz; BrasilFil: Jansen, Martin. Senckenberg Research Institute and Nature Museum; AlemaniaFil: Zaher, Hussam. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Tonini, Joao Filipe Riva. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle; Francia. Sorbonne University; Francia. Harvard University; Estados UnidosFil: Faurby, Søren. University Goteborg; SueciaFil: Antonelli, Alexandre. University Goteborg; Sueci

The karyotype of three Brazilian Terrarana frogs (Amphibia, Anura) with evidence of a new Barycholos species

A recent substantial rearrangement of the 882 described eleutherodactyline frog species has considerably improved the understanding of their systematics. Nevertheless, many taxonomic aspects of the South American eleutherodactyline species remain unknown and require further investigation using morphological, cytogenetic and molecular approaches. In this work, the karyotypes of the Brazilian species Ischnocnema juipoca (Atibaia and Campos do Jordão, SP), Barycholos cf. ternetzi (Uberlândia, MG, and Porto Nacional, TO), and Pristimantis crepitans (Chapada dos Guimarães and São Vicente, MT) were analyzed using Giemsa staining, Ag-NOR labeling, and C-banding techniques. All individuals had a diploid number of 22 chromosomes, but the Fundamental Numbers were different among species. The herein described low chromosome number of Pristimantis crepitans is unique within this genus, suggesting that cytogenetically this species is not closely related either to its congeneric species or to Ischnocnema. In addition, karyotype differences, mainly in the NOR position, clearly distinguished the two Barycholos populations, besides indicating the existence of a so far undescribed species in this genus. A taxonomic review could clarify the systematic position of P. crepitans and verify the hypothetic new Barycholos species