At the heart of the Amazon rainforest, near the confluence of the Rio Negro and Amazone, lies the metropole Manaus. Nicknamed the Paris of the Tropics, Manaus is home to over two million people and functions as the economical hub of the northern part of Brazil. Incidentally, it is also the last refuge of the... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: Plasticity in resource use explains the persistence of the largest living rodent in anthropized environments
Plasticity in resource use explains the persistence of the largest living rodent in anthropized environments M Magioli, HR Luz, FB Costa, HR Benatti, U Piovezan, FBP Nunes, B Lopes, MZ Moreira, MB Labruna, KMPMB Ferraz Abstract How organisms search for and obtain food is a determinant of their survival. It has been hypothesized that organisms... Continue Reading →
Urban Observation of the Week: White-eyed Parakeets Feast on a Building in São Paulo
https://twitter.com/brown_birds/status/1276523670530224128?s=20 I was recently browsing through Twitter and came across this fantastic tweet by Rafael Marcondes showing a flock of white-eyed parakeets (Psittacara leucophthalmus) gathering on a building in the Tatuapé neighborhood of São Paulo. Maisa Infante wrote the original post and explains that the parakeets eat the clay off the building's facade. White-eyed Parakeets... Continue Reading →
Metropolitan Lagartixas: Lizards Thriving in Tropical Brazilian City
From Anoles to Indian Agamids to Australian Water Dragons to Western Fence Lizards, lizards from diverse branches of the squamate tree are proving themselves in urban environments. Add one more species to this growing list of urban lizards: Brazilian lagartixas, Tropidurus hispidus. In a recent paper, Antonio de Andrade examined the abundance and habitat use of... Continue Reading →
Urban Rodent Control has Big Genetic Impacts for Rats in Brazil
Most people – both researchers and residents alike – are quickly coming to appreciate that wildlife are increasingly common in cities, and here to stay. Some species are generally considered a welcomed part of the tapestry of an urban environment (think peregrine falcons). Rats clearly fall on the other extreme of the spectrum, maligned for... Continue Reading →