Fabio Schunck

Development of novel polymorphic microsatellite markers for four bird species exploited by the illegal wildlife trade in Brazil

Paroaria dominicana, Saltator similis, Sporophila frontalis and Cyanoloxia brissonii are bird species severely exploited by the illegal wildlife trade in Brazil. As part of an effort to characterize the genetic populations within each species to infer the most likely population of origin of seized animals, four microsatellite enriched genomic libraries were constructed and cross amplification of selected primers was tested for all four species. Eight polymorphic loci were selected for P. dominicana with mean observed and expected heterozigosities (mean Ho and He) of 0.750 and 0.768 respectively. Nine were selected for S. similis with mean Ho and He of 0.688 and 0.760. Seven for C. brissonii with mean Ho and He of 0.805 and 0.811. Three loci for S. frontalis with mean Ho and He of 0.851 and 0.903. These markers will be useful for population studies and for the development of paternity tests to be used by commercial breeders.

New records of the enigmatic Clytoctantes atrogularis (Thamnophilidae) in Amazonian Brazil, with remarks on plumage, natural history, and distribution

ABSTRACT Clytoctantes atrogularis Lanyon, Stotz and Willard, 1990 (Thamnophilidae) is one of the most mysterious and poorly known birds of the Neotropics. Endemic to Amazonian Brazil, it was known only from the holotype and two sight records at the type locality in Rondônia, and a sighting of a pair with a recording on the Sucunduri River in Amazonas. Here we review the distribution and report five new records in the states of Mato Grosso, Amazonas, and Rondônia, considerably increasing the known range of the species. We present the first detailed descriptions of males, for which the plumage was previously unknown. The records presented herein were made in terra firme forest with understories dominated by Lepidocaryum palms and also with sparse Guadua spp. of bamboo, demonstrating that the bird species occurs in habitats other than those previously described. Stomach contents of six individuals included mostly ants and their eggs, possibly obtained by opening stems of Guadua spp. The high rate of deforestation that characterizes a large part of the range of C. atrogularis could be causing declines in local populations.