Leptospirosis is a zoonosis of worldwide distribution in which the agent can infect several animal species and accidentally humans. In view of the limited number of studies on anti-Leptospira antibodies in wild animal species, especially those living in aquatic environments, we sought in this study to investigate the presence of these antibodies in the spot-legged turtle (Rhinoclemmys punctularia) maintained in captivity in the Rodrigues Alves Botanical Garden-Amazon Zoobotanical Park, located in Belém, Pará State, Brazil. Serum samples were collected from 31 turtles, and identification of anti-Leptospira antibodies was performed using the microscopic agglutination test, using a collection of 31 live antigens which represent 19 serogroups of Leptospira. Among the analyzed samples, 54.83% (17/31) were observed to be reactive, and co-agglutination was detected in a further six samples which were not accounted for in the frequency of serogroups. The most frequently detected serogroups were Tarassovi 72.72% (8/11), Celledoni 18.18% (2/11), and Pomona 9.09% (1/11)], with titers ranging from 200 to 400, being this the first study to report infection of these serogroups in this species of chelonios. The animals were kept in water tanks, which probably favored the transport of the agent and allowed its transmission to the spot-legged turtle. We thus confirmed presence of anti-Leptospira antibodies in chelonians maintained in the Rodrigues Alves Botanical Garden.

We describe anti-Leptospira spp. agglutinin in yellow-spotted river turtles (Podocnemis unifilis)in the Amazon region. Ninety-eight serum samples from individuals housed at the Bosque Rodrigues Alves Zoobotanical Garden of Amazonia, Belém, PA, Brazil, were subject to the microscopic agglutination test (MAT) using 19 different Leptospira spp. antigen serogroups. Thirty-four of the 98 samples (35%) were reactive, with titers ranging from 100 to 3200, and eight 8 reactive samples (23.5%) co-agglutinated under two or more serovars.The most common serogroup was Hebdomadis (26.9%, 7/26), followed by Semaranga (23%, 6/26), Shermani (19.2%, 5/26), Djasiman (11.5%, 3/26), and Australis (7.7%, 2/26); Bataviae, Javanica, and Sejroewere represented by a single sample each (3.9%). The presence of turtles reactive to anti-Leptospira spp. antibodies implies exposure to the pathogen.

Brazil is classified as one of the richest countries in biodiversity worldwide (Mittermeier et al., 2005). The Xenarthra superorder is one of the oldest groups within the Brazilian fauna (Rezende et al., 2010). The group is divided into two orders, namely Cingulata, consisting of armadillos, and Pilosa, consisting of the sloths and anteaters. Pilosa xenarthrans have peculiar anatomical and physiological characteristics marked by low metabolism, low body temperature, and morphological adaptations to the most diverse types of niches (Cubas et al., 2007).Bradypus variegatus is a species popularly known as common sloth or brown-throated sloth, with a Brazilian geographical distribution (Mares & Genoways, 1982). It has long, thick and wavy hair, differentiated in the region of the face, the colour of which varies from pale brown to grey with whitish spots (Eisenberg et al., 2001).Information about the anatomy of these animals remains scarce, and multiple aspects remain unknown about their particularities,

Bradypus variegatus, vulgarmente conhecida como preguiça comum, pertence a um grupo individualizado de mamíferos, com peculiaridades morfológicas e biológicas já descritas, porém, pouco se sabe sobre questões estruturais do seu trato digestório, incluindo a morfologia do esôfago. Diferindo dos mamíferos em geral quanto ao trajeto completo do órgão, o esfíncter esofágico cranial localiza-se dorsalmente à laringe, desviando à esquerda da traqueia, mantendo-se adjacente a ela, ainda no antímero esquerdo, ao longo da porção cervical. No tórax, seguiu pelo mediastino, atravessou transversalmente o diafragma através do hiato esofágico, alcançando o estômago. Histologicamente, apresentou o mesmo padrão tecidual ao longo das três porções, destacando-se a presença de três camadas musculares, adensando na porção torácica, e na adventícia cercada pela cadeia nervosa simpática, adjacente à região cárdica. Essas características histológicas conferem ao esôfago dessa espécie arquitetura peculiar, que pode explicar o comportamento de deglutição destes indivíduos frente aos seus hábitos posturais.

Choloepus didactylus has reduced metabolism and difficulty in thermoregulation owing to its low body mass, and there are few studies related to the vascularization of abdominal and thoracic organs in this species. Therefore, we macroscopically described the arteries that comprise the aortic arch, thoracic aorta, and abdominal aorta. Six specimens were used, and their arterial systems filled with red latex before fixation in 10% formaldehyde, and fragments of the rete mirabile were processed for histological analysis using light and scanning electron microscopy. In these species, the aortic arch had two branches: the brachiocephalic trunk and left subclavian artery. The initial portion of the abdominal aorta presented four different ramifications, besides to the peculiarities of the adrenal, renal, and iliac arteries. Microscopy of the rete mirabile revealed a muscular artery surrounded by smaller muscular arteries, veins, nerves, and lymphatic tissue joined by connective tissue. Thus, the data obtained have clinical and surgical importance, with applicability in procedures involving vascularization of the thoracic and abdominal organs. We suggest that the rete mirabile is an efficient thermoregulatory structure because it allows the accumulation of blood and the countercurrent heat exchange, as there is no blood mixing.