Navegando por Assunto "Turtle"

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Artigo
MESOCLEMMYS RANICEPS (Amazon Toad-headed Turtle). PHENOTYPIC CHANGE.
(Herpetological Review, 2025-09) Fabio Cunha; TIAGO LUCENA DA SILVA; Victor Silva Vasconcelos
For nearly two decades, the question of the validity of Mesoclemmys heliostemma in relation to that of Mesoclemmys raniceps has been a source of uncertainty. M. heliostemma was (likely incorrectly) “revalidated”. A notable publication described a range extension of the two taxa in sympatry, with the color morph “M. heliostemma” on the right margin of the Jutaí River and M. raniceps on the left margin of the Jutaí River, both in the Municipality of Jutaí, Amazonas, Brazil. We present a series of images of juvenile animals exhibiting the morph color “M. heliostemma” phenotype. We provide a temporal series of a M. raniceps hatchling that displays vibrant yellow-orange facial stripes in the dorsolateral region of the head, starting at the base of the neck and extending to the tip of the snout, similar to the paratype RMNH 31998 of morph color “M. heliostemma”.
Artigo
Molecular detection of hemogregarines and haemosporidians in Brazilian free-living testudines.
(International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife, 2018-04) de Oliveira, Juliana Paula; André, Marcos Rogério; Alves Júnior, José Roberto Ferreira; Lustosa, Ana Paula Gomes; Werther, Karin
Morphological and molecular techniques were used to investigate the presence of hemogregarines and haemosporidians in biological samples of free-living Geoffroy's side-necked turtles (Phrynops geoffroanus) and Giant Amazon turtles (Podocnemis expansa) from Brazil. No evolutionary form of haemosporidians or hemogregarines were observed in the blood smears of 83 P. geoffroanus samples, and there were no meronts in the histological sections of 31 necropsied P. geoffroanus samples. All DNA samples extracted from P. geoffroanus tissues and blood aliquots were negative in haemosporidian PCR assays (based on the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene) and hemogregarine PCR assays (based on the 18S rRNA gene). In the analysis of blood smears of all seven Podocnemis expansa evaluated, gametocytes of hemogregarines were observed. The seven P. expansa were negative in the haemosporidian PCR assays. Moreover, hemogregarine DNA was detected in blood samples from all of the sampled P. expansa. The phylogenetic maximum likelihood inference and probabilistic Bayesian inference revealed five closely related genotypes that formed a monophyletic group. There was also a sister group to the lineage that consisted of Haemogregarina spp. of freshwater turtles from Canada, Italy, Mozambique, Kenya, Gabon, Vietnam, and China. The findings suggest that free-living P. expansa were parasitized by a new genotype or even a possible new species of the genus Haemogregarina. Haemosporidians and hemogregarines are not frequently found in P. geoffroanus in the studied region under the local conditions of that period.