The fossorial snake Apostolepis kikoi Santos et al., 2018 is known only from its type locality, in Chapada dos Guimarães, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Here, we present the first records of this species after its description, expanding its distribution to transition areas between the Amazon and Cerrado biomes, in the southwestern portion of Mato Grosso. The new record expands the known distribution of A. kikoi by 297 km west from the type locality. In addition, we provide data on morphological variation by comparing our sample with the type series.
A dieta de uma espécie representa um dos principais elementos na compreensão das condições ambientais no qual ela está inserida. Em áreas úmidas, como o Pantanal, há uma carência de estudos de história natural para a maior parte das espécies. Assim, apresentamos aqui a dieta e partição de recurso entre machos e fêmeas de Leptodactylus podicipinus na região do Pantanal Norte. Os espécimes foram coletados em áreas de vegetação ripária às margens do rio Paraguai no município de Cáceres/MT. Os indivíduos foram coletados no período de estiagem, utilizando-se de armadilhas de interceptação e queda. O conteúdo estomacal de 69 indivíduos de L. podicipinus (24 fêmeas e 45 machos) foi triado e identificado ao nível taxonômico de ordem. Apesar da ligeira diferença de tamanho entre machos e fêmeas, esta não foi significativa. Foram encontradas 171 presas na dieta de L. podicipinus, distribuídas em 10 categorias. Em análise quantitativa, a ordem mais representativa foi Isoptera, seguida de Coleoptera. Todavia, Coleoptera foi a mais frequente nos estômagos E também se sobressaiu nos valores de volume e IVI. Leptodactylus podicipinus apresenta-se como oportunista, onde os itens alimentares mais comuns foram Coleoptera, Isoptera, Hymenoptera e Orthoptera, sendo esta última a ordem mais representativa para as fêmeas. Machos e fêmeas diferiram em alguns componentes da dieta, com os machos apresentando-se mais generalistas. No entanto, as diferenças possivelmente ocorreram em função da disponibilidade de presas e do uso diferenciado de micro-habitats por machos e fêmeas.
Elachistocleis corumbaensis was documented in 2017 in the central region of the Brazilian Pantanal and no other record of the species has since been reported. In this study, we report on the extension of the geographic range of E. corumbaensis based on 4 new records found in the riparian forests of the Paraguay River, in the state of Mato Grosso. Of these, 1 specimen was collected in a protected area in the Pantanal. We also report on the presence of this species in the ecotones between the Pantanal, Cerrado, and Amazonia, which suggests that E. corumbaensis is associated with seasonally flooded forests but more widely distributed in western Brazil than previously reported.
The tegus are generalists lizards that use large amounts of prey in its diet, providing environmental services as a biological controller and seed disperser, which reveals how important diet studies are to understand ecological relationships related to a particular species. So the objective of this study was to analyze diet and food ontogeny of T. matipu, investigating changes in the pattern and composition of food items in different age classes and how the species shares its intraspecific niche. The captured specimens had the contents of their digestive tracts were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. Our results indicate that T. matipu is a generalist lizard, consuming many food items, which fruits are the most important item in its diet. However, the species uses food resources in different importance proportions, according to its age class. Fruit consumption tends to increase and arthropods consumption decline as the age class increase. Thus, T. matipu performs an intraspecific sharing of feeding niche between the age classes and constitutes potential seed dispersers in its populations distributed along the Upper Course of the Paraguai River.
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