A tiny new species of Platypelis from the Marojejy National Park in northeastern Madagascar (Amphibia: Microhylidae)

We describe a tiny new frog species of the genus Platypelis (Anura: Microhylidae: Cophylinae) from Marojejy National Park, northeastern Madagascar. Platypelis ravus sp. nov. differs from all other known Platypelis and Cophyla species by its small size (17-19 mm snout-vent length) and a combination of other morphological and bioacoustic characters. The new species seems to be most closely related to P. milloti with which it shares the principal colour pattern, but exhibits a yellow rather than red posterior venter. Uncorrected pairwise sequence divergence in a 16S rRNA gene fragment to all other known species of the genus (except P. cowanii for which no genetic data is available) is greater than 6%. We suggest the inclusion of the new species in the IUCN threat category “Data Deficient”

The advertisement call, breeding biology, description of the tadpole and taxonomic status of Bufo dombensis, a little-known dwarf toad from southern Africa

Males of Bufo dombensis were observed calling late at night at Ongongo Waterfall in north-western Namibia. The analyzed advertisement calls differ distinctly from those of B. vertebralis, B. hoeschi and B. fenoulheti, indicating that all these taxa are separate valid species. Tadpoles raised from a breeding pair found at Ongongo showed the typical oral characters of southern African Bufo (1:1+1/3 keratodont formula, broad mental gap in oral papillae) but differed by some characters from tadpoles of other sympatric Bufo species

Correlates of eye colour and pattern in mantellid frogs

With more than 250 species, the Mantellidae is the most species-rich family of frogs in Madagascar. These frogs are highly diversified in morphology, ecology and natural history. Based on a molecular phylogeny of 248 mantellids, we here examine the distribution of three characters reflecting the diversity of eye colouration and two characters of head colouration along the mantellid tree, and their correlation with the general ecology and habitat use of these frogs. We use Bayesian stochastic character mapping, character association tests and concentrated changes tests of correlated evolution of these variables. We confirm previously formulated hypotheses of eye colour pattern being significantly correlated with ecology and habits, with three main character associations: many tree frogs of the genus Boophis have a bright coloured iris, often with annular elements and a blue-coloured iris periphery (sclera); terrestrial leaf-litter dwellers have an iris horizontally divided into an upper light and lower dark part; and diurnal, terrestrial and aposematic Mantella frogs have a uniformly black iris. Furthermore, the presence of a frenal streak and a dark tympanic patch were associated with each other, with horizontally divided iris colour, and with terrestrial habits. Our study is restricted to the mantellid radiation, and the performed tests detect the simultaneous distribution of independent character states in a tree, rather than providing a measure for phylogenetic independent correlation of these character states. The concentrated changes tests suggest that the evolutionary origin of a bright iris might indeed be correlated to arboreal habits. Yet, rather than testing hypotheses of adaptive evolution of eye colour in anurans, our study serves to formulate hypotheses of convergence more precisely and thus to open perspectives for their further testing in a comparative framework along the anuran tree of life. For instance, a brightly coloured iris and sclera might serve mate recognition or as aposematic defensive strategy especially in tree frogs, and a horizontally divided iris colour might constitute a disruptive defensive strategy in frogs inhabiting the leaf litter stratum

Factores de riesgo de complicaciones intrahospitalarias en pacientes con infarto cerebral agudo: cohorte retrospectiva en un hospital de referencia nacional de Perú

Objetivo: Determinar los factores de riesgo para complicaciones intrahospitalarias. Métodos: Realizamos un estudio de cohorte retrospectivo que incluyó a 192 pacientes con infarto cerebral agudo en un hospital de referencia nacional en Perú de enero a septiembre de 2021. La información demográfica, clínica y paraclínica se registró a partir de las historias clínicas. Se definió como complicación intrahospitalaria todo aquel problema médico durante la estancia hospitalaria sea del tipo infeccioso, neurológico, tromboembólico, inamovilidad o miscelánea. Estimamos los factores de riesgo para presentar alguna complicación intrahospitalaria por medio de riesgo relativo e intervalos de confianza del 95% utilizando modelos de regresión con familia de Poisson y varianza robusta para el modelo bivariado y multivariado, ajustando por edad, sexo y factores de riesgo de ictus. Además, se realizaron análisis secundarios por los tipos de complicaciones intrahospitalarias más frecuentes. Resultados: Ocurrió al menos una complicación intrahospitalaria en el 32,3% de los pacientes. Las complicaciones más frecuentes fueron infecciosas en un 22,4%, seguidas de un 17,7% de complicaciones neurológicas, siendo mucho menos frecuentes otras complicaciones, como tromboembolismo, inmovilidad y misceláneas. Se reportó una tasa de mortalidad intrahospitalaria del 6.2%. El análisis de regresión mostró que la gravedad del accidente cerebrovascular (RR = 1,76; IC del 95 %: 1,09-2,86) fue un factor de riesgo y la albúmina superior a 3,5 mg/dL (RR=0,53; IC95%: 0,36-0,79) fue un factor protector para la presencia de complicación intrahospitalaria. La Hb (RR=0,86; IC 95%, 0,73-0,99) fue un factor protector para la presencia de complicación neurológica y el antecedente de medicación previa por enfermedad cardiovascular fue un factor de riesgo para presentar complicación infecciosa (RR=2,79; IC 95%, 1,16- 6,71). Conclusiones: Se observó una baja tasa de mortalidad intrahospitalaria y de complicaciones intrahospitalarias, entre las que destacaron las complicaciones infecciosas y neurológicas. Estos resultados pueden servir como punto de partida para establecer sistemas de atención al ictus que consideren flujos diferenciados considerando la presencia de estos factores en los pacientes con infarto cerebral agudo para la prevención de complicaciones intrahospitalarias

The Andaman day gecko paradox: an ancient endemic without pronounced phylogeographic structure

The Andaman day gecko (Phelsuma andamanensis) is endemic to the Andaman Archipelago, located ~ 6000 km away from Madagascar where the genus Phelsuma likely evolved. We complemented existing phylogenetic data with additional markers to show that this species consistently branches off early in the evolution of the genus Phelsuma, and this early origin led us to hypothesize that island populations within the Andaman Archipelago could have further diversified. We sampled the Andaman day gecko from all major islands in the Andamans, developed new microsatellite markers and amplified mitochondrial markers to study population diversification. We detected high allelic diversity in microsatellites, but surprisingly poor geographical structuring. This study demonstrates that the Andaman day gecko has a panmictic population (K = 1), but with weak signals for two clusters that we name ‘North’ (North Andaman, Middle Andaman, Interview, Baratang, Neil, and Long Islands) and ‘South’ (Havelock, South Andaman, Little Andaman Islands). The mitochondrial COI gene uncovered wide haplotype sharing across islands with the presence of several private haplotypes (except for the Little Andaman Island, which only had an exclusive private haplotype) signalling ongoing admixture. This species differs from two other Andaman endemic geckos for which we provide comparative mitochondrial data, where haplotypes show a distinct phylogeographic structure. Testing population history scenarios for the Andaman day gecko using Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) supports two possible scenarios but fails to tease apart whether admixture or divergence produced the two weak clusters. Both scenarios agree that admixture and/or divergence prior to the onset of the last glacial maximum shaped the genetic diversity and structure detected in this study. ABC supports population expansion, possibly explained by anthropogenic food subsidies via plantations of cash crops, potentially coupled with human mediated dispersal resulting in the observed panmictic population. The Andaman day gecko may thus be a rare example of an island endemic reptile benefiting from habitat modification and increased movement in its native range

Leaping towards a saltatorial lifestyle? An unusually long-legged new species of Rhombophryne (Anura, Microhylidae) from the Sorata massif in northern Madagascar

The Madagascar-endemic microhylid genus Rhombophryne consists of a range of partly or completely fossorial frog species. They lead a poorly known, secretive lifestyle, and may be more diverse than previously thought. We describe a new species from the high altitude forests of the Sorata massif in north Madagascar with unusual characteristics for this genus; R. longicrus sp. n. has long, slender legs, unlike most of its fossorial or semi-fossorial congeners. The new species is closely related to R. minuta, a much smaller frog from the Marojejy massif to the southeast of Sorata with similarly long legs. We discuss the morphology of these species relative to the rest of the genus, and argue that it suggests adaptation away from burrowing and toward a more saltatorial locomotion and an accordingly more terrestrial lifestyle. If this is the case, then these frogs represent yet more ecological diversity within the already diverse Cophylinae. We recommend an IUCN Red List status of Endangered B1ab(iii) for R. longicrus sp. n., because it is known only from a single site in a forested area of roughly 250 km2, which is not yet incorporated into any protected area.Field research was conducted under permit No. 265/12/MEF/SG/DGF/DCB.SAP/SCB (dated 18 Oct. 2012), exportation of specimens under permit No. 163N-EA12/MG12 (dated 17 Dec. 2012), (both issued by the Direction Générale des Forêts de Madagascar), and funded by the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund (project 11253064) and BIOPAT.Peer reviewe

The integrative future of taxonomy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Taxonomy is the biological discipline that identifies, describes, classifies and names extant and extinct species and other taxa. Nowadays, species taxonomy is confronted with the challenge to fully incorporate new theory, methods and data from disciplines that study the origin, limits and evolution of species.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Integrative taxonomy has been proposed as a framework to bring together these conceptual and methodological developments. Here we review perspectives for an integrative taxonomy that directly bear on what species are, how they can be discovered, and how much diversity is on Earth.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We conclude that taxonomy needs to be pluralistic to improve species discovery and description, and to develop novel protocols to produce the much-needed inventory of life in a reasonable time. To cope with the large number of candidate species revealed by molecular studies of eukaryotes, we propose a classification scheme for those units that will facilitate the subsequent assembly of data sets for the formal description of new species under the Linnaean system, and will ultimately integrate the activities of taxonomists and molecular biologists.</p

The world's richest tadpole communities show functional redundancy and low functional diversity: ecological data on Madagascar's stream-dwelling amphibian larvae

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Functional diversity illustrates the range of ecological functions in a community. It allows revealing the appearance of functional redundancy in communities and processes of community assembly. Functional redundancy illustrates the overlap in ecological functions of community members which may be an indicator of community resilience. We evaluated patterns of species richness, functional diversity and functional redundancy on tadpole communities in rainforest streams in Madagascar. This habitat harbours the world's most species-rich stream tadpole communities which are due to their occurrence in primary habitat of particular interest for functional diversity studies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Species richness of tadpole communities is largely determined by characteristics of the larval habitat (stream structure), not by adult habitat (forest structure). Species richness is positively correlated with a size-velocity gradient of the streams, i.e. communities follow a classical species-area relationship. While widely observed for other taxa, this is an unusual pattern for anuran larvae which usually is expected to be hump-shaped. Along the species richness gradient, we quantified functional diversity of all communities considering the similarity and dissimilarity of species in 18 traits related to habitat use and foraging. Especially species-rich communities were characterised by an overlap of species function, i.e. by functional redundancy. By comparing the functional diversity of the observed communities with functional diversity of random assemblages, we found no differences at low species richness level, whereas observed species-rich communities have lower functional diversity than respective random assemblages.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We found functional redundancy being a feature of communities also in primary habitat, what has not been shown before using such a continuous measure. The observed species richness dependent pattern of low functional diversity indicates that communities with low species richness accumulate functional traits randomly, whereas species in species-rich communities are more similar to each other than predicted by random assemblages and therefore exhibit an accumulation of stream-specific functional traits. Beyond a certain species richness level, therefore, stream-specific environmental filters exert influence whereas interspecific competition between species does not influence trait assemblage at any species richness level.</p

a video-based research

UID/EAT/00693/2013 PD/BD/114489/2016Performing Arts for Infancy has been a topic of growing interest to families and different agents involved in artistic programming throughout the world. Aligned with this trend, research on the benefits of these practices on children development has increased in the past few years. Nevertheless, this field of study has yet a wide range of issues to explore. Since the age group addressed has not yet acquired verbal communication, it seems important to find innovative and alternative ways of exploring non-verbal communication. For this purpose, LAMCI (Laboratório de Música e Comunicação na Infância) has been developing a project based on professional musical productions for young audiences by Companhia de Música Teatral. This research is grounded on concepts such as “communicative musicality” by Colwyn Trevarthen, “audiation” by Edwin Gordon or “engagement” by Edward Tronick. This project aims to report the narrative composed by infants, parents and artists during live musical-theatrical performances; and to extract the main features of musical behavior between the different parties. The research is based on selected video material from different performances created by Companhia de Música Teatral, such as BebéPlimPlim, Zyg, AliBaBach. This selection is focused on the behaviors emerging during these productions, namely between parents and infants, infants and artists, and parents, infants and artists. All video materials were colected by three researchers using previously team-defined concepts and categories of behavior. The outcomes of this work will be available as an open source that consist on video tools, providing a platform for artists, caregivers, child psychologists and infant specialists to deepen their understanding of children behavior. The goal of this paper is to review the concepts created by the authors mentioned, connecting them to the observations gathered from the selected video materials. Discussing such concepts throught video materials, contributes to a wider vision of the field, that can also bring implications for further practice, discovering new paths related to performing arts for infancy.publishersversionpublishe