Capivara

Sapajus libidinosus members of the Pedra Furada group, living in the Serra da Capivara National Park, use stone tools in a wider variety of behaviors than any other living animal, except humans. To rescue the evolutionary history of the Caatinga S. libidinosus and identify factors that may have contributed to the emergence and maintenance of their tool-use culture, we conducted fieldwork seasons to obtain biological samples of these capuchin monkeys. UsingCYTBsequences, we show a discrete but constant population growth from the beginning of the Holocene to the present, overlapping the emergence of the Caatinga biome...

This study identifies gastrointestinal parasites in the feces of Pecari tajacu (caititu) and Sus scrofa domesticus (domestic pig) in southeastern Piauí, Brazil. The region covers 2 protected areas, Serra da Capivara National Park and Serra das Confusões National Park, and surrounding communities. Fecal samples from 64 animals, 42 from domestic swine and 22 from caititu, collected between 1985 and 2013, were analyzed by optical microscopy. Helminths and/or protozoa were found in 64% of the domestic pig samples and 27% of the caititu samples, totaling 18 morphospecies: Nematoda, Spirurida (2 morphospecies), Trichostrongyloidea, Eimeriidae, Aspidodera sp...

Indicator species are frequently used to monitor restoration areas. However, species of conservation concern are usually absent in highly fragmented landscapes, making the selection of indicator species a challenging task. Here, we select indicator species of birds and mammals to be used for the evaluation of restoration sites in a highly fragmented landscape, the Capivara-Taquaruçu Dams region located in north Paraná, Brazil. By using the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI), we show that the Capivara-Taquaruçu Dams landscape has low IBI values and bird richness when compared with two other landscapes in the north of Paraná...

The aim of this study was to observe how abiotic and biotic factors in a tropical region influence the rate of monogenean parasitism in Nile tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus ) that are farmed in net cages. A total of 240 sexually reversed fish were analyzed, and 20 from each culture stage were collected during each sampling month. Overall, 60 fish were sampled in April (autumn), 60 in August (winter), 60 in November (spring), and 60 in February (summer). Fish were collected from a commercial fish farm located in Capivara Reservoir in the lower Paranapanema River region of Paraná, Brazil...

UNLABELLED: Terrestriality was an essential factor in human evolution. Hominins' extensive use of the ground allowed exploring a new range of environments and their objects, including new resources and potential tool raw materials. Capuchin monkeys are primarily arboreal primates but are also the most prolific tool users among platyrrhines, customarily using stone tools on the ground due to physical limitations and material availability. OBJECTIVES: Our goals were to (1) measure the terrestriality levels of a group of capuchin monkeys and (2) test the hypothesis that terrestriality has a positive effect on the stone tool use variability because the increased time on the ground would offer more opportunities to interact with the available stones, leading to more innovations of tool use behaviors...

Using microscopy and/or immunodiagnosis, the authors analyzed 284 fecal samples from the Brazilian rock cavy, Kerodon rupestris, that were collected between 1984 and 2015 in Serra da Capivara National Park for the presence of helminths and protozoa. Fourteen morphospecies of helminth eggs of the following taxa were found: Trematoda, Nematoda, Strongylidae, Lagochilascaris sp., Strongylida, Trichuris (2 species), Oxyuridae (3 species), Ancylostomatidae (2 species), and Ascarididae (2 species), along with 3 protozoan taxa: Coccidia, Cryptosporidium sp...

The biological variation of the earliest skeletons of South America has been intensely debated for the last two centuries. One of the major research constraints has been the limited number of available samples dating to the early Holocene. We here present the first direct radiocarbon-date for the early Holocene human skeleton from Toca dos Coqueiros (Serra da Capivara, Brazil), also known as "Zuzu" (8640 ± 30 BP; 9526-9681 cal years BP). We performed craniometric analyses using exclusively samples from Brazil, to revisit the sex of the skeleton, and to discuss the evolutionary processes involved in the occupation of the continent...

Age delimitation integrated with aeromagnetometric and aerogammaspectrometric survey advances the understanding of ophiolite evolution in the Brasiliano Orogen. We focused on the Bossoroca ophiolite, because oceanic crustal and mantle rocks contain zircon in metasomatic chloritite. A metadiorite and a metavolcanoclastic rock were also studied to delimit relationship between ophiolite and island-arc infrastructure and superstructure. Zircon crystals were dated by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy...

Fish eggs are often excluded from identification analysis since at this stage of development there are few morphological characters. The correct identification of eggs can provide important information about spawning areas of species. The current work aimed to identify fish eggs in the Tibagi and Cinzas Rivers using the DNA barcode to obtain information on richness and diversity, adding to the existing data in the area. Of the 928 sequences analyzed using the BOLD Systems database, 99.78% were able to be identified at a specific level, demonstrating a high success rate for egg identification...

PURPOSE: A skeleton named Iuzu has been unearthed from an exceptional middle Holocene burial in Toca dos Coqueiros site, in Serra da Capivara National Park (UNESCO World Heritage Site, Piauí State, Brazil). During a bioarchaeological analysis of its remains, we discovered that Iuzu was suffering from rare vertebral malformations. A double foramen transversaria, the agenesis of a foramen on the atlas and the hypoplasia of the transverse process of the axis have been highlighted. We aimed to deduce the clinical consequences of the malformation on the patient's health...

A new species of Nothobrya Arlé is described and illustrated. The specimens were collected in Serra da Capivara National Park and its vicinities, Caatinga Biome, Piauí State, Brazil, from soil and leaf litter samples. Nothobrya sertaneja sp. nov. differs from the two previously described species of the genus, N. arlei Silveira Mendonça and N. schubarti Arlé, by antennae with 4-5 antennomeres (6 in N. arlei and N. schubarti); metatrochanteral organ with 7-13 spine-like chaetae (15 in N. arlei and 3-4 in N...

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to survey the knowledge and use of mammals by the residents of the rural community of Capivara in the municipality of Solânea (Paraíba State, Northeast Brazil) and to propose a new method of using the use value as a tool for data analysis in ethnozoological surveys. METHODS: The uses attributed to mammals were recorded through semi-structured interviews conducted with the breadwinners (men and women) living in the community. The species were identified through guided tours, by descriptions made by the interviewees, and using specimens donated by them, as well as by comparison with the pertinent scientific literature (morphological and ecological)...

The human archaeological record changes over time. Finding such change in other animals requires similar evidence, namely, a long-term sequence of material culture. Here, we apply archaeological excavation, dating and analytical techniques to a wild capuchin monkey (Sapajus libidinosus) site in Serra da Capivara National Park, Brazil. We identify monkey stone tools between 2,400 and 3,000 years old and, on the basis of metric and damage patterns, demonstrate that capuchin food processing changed between ~2,400 and 300 years ago, and between ~100 years ago and the present day...

The golden mussel, Limnoperna fortunei a highly invasive species in Brazil, has generated productive, economical, and biological impacts. To evaluate genetic structure and variability of L. fortunei populations present in fish farms in the reservoirs of Canoas I (CANFF), Rosana (ROSFF), and Capivara (CAPFF) (Paranapanema River, Paraná, Brazil), eight microsatellite loci were amplified. Five of those eight loci resulted in 38 alleles. The observed heterozygosity (Ho) was lower than the expected heterozygosity (He) in all populations, with a deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE)...

In this second part of the study about Brazilian Pseudochironomini Sæther (Diptera: Chironomidae: Chironominae), seven new species are described and illustrated. Three species belong to the genus Pseudochironomus; they are: Pseudochironomus capivara sp. n., Pseudochironomus ariquemis sp. n. and Pseudochironomus boraceia sp. n. all are described from males, the first as pupa, the second as larva and pupa also. Four species belong to Riethia: Riethia cauame sp. n., Riethia fazzari sp. n., Riethia galilei sp...

Capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.) are proficient tool users, and the use of stone tools occurs in several populations, mostly to crack open encased foods. Two well-studied Brazilian populations of Sapajus libidinosus inhabit Fazenda Boa Vista and Serra da Capivara National Park and present different behavioral sets regarding tool use. Serra das Confusões National Park (SCoNP) lies between those sites, but little is known about the capuchin monkey population that lives there. To begin unraveling the capuchin behavior in this area, we conducted a brief survey for tool use sites...

Capuchin monkeys at Serra da Capivara National Park (SCNP) usually forage on the ground for roots and fossorial arthropods, digging primarily with their hands but also using stone tools to loosen the soil and aid the digging process. Here we describe the stone tools used for digging by two groups of capuchins on SCNP. Both groups used tools while digging three main food resources: Thiloa glaucocarpa tubers, Ocotea sp roots, and trapdoor spiders. One explanation for the occurrence of tool use in primates is the "necessity hypothesis", which states that the main function of tool use is to obtain fallback food...

Understanding the processes that influence species diversity is still a challenge in ecological studies. However, there are two main theories to discuss this topic, the niche theory and the neutral theory. Our objective was to understand the importance of environmental and spatial processes in structuring bird communities within the hydrological seasons in dry forest areas in northeastern Brazil. The study was conducted in two National Parks, the Serra da Capivara and Serra das Confusões National Parks, where 36 areas were sampled in different seasons (dry, dry/rainy transition, rainy, rainy/dry transition), in 2012 and 2013...

Female wild bearded capuchins (Sapajus libidinosus) living at Serra da Capivara National Park (SCNP) that use stone and stick tools during foraging occasionally toss or throw stones at the male during courtship. We report similar behaviors in a different population that uses stones as tools in foraging. We video-recorded the sexual behavior of four females (27 days during nine proceptive periods) belonging to a group of wild capuchins living in Fazenda Boa Vista (FBV), 320 km from SCNP. Three females used stones or branches when they solicited the alpha male (79 episodes)...

Wild capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) at Serra da Capivara National Park, Brazil, regularly use stone tools to break open cashew nuts (Anacardium spp.). Here we examine 2 approaches used by the capuchins to position the kidney-shaped cashew nuts on an anvil before striking with a stone tool. Lateral positioning involves placing the nut on its flatter, more stable side, therefore requiring less attention from the monkey during placement. However, the less stable and never previously described arched position, in which the nut is balanced with its curved side uppermost, requires less force to crack the outer shell...