Sérgio Roberto Posso

Análise comparativa da assembléia de aves em dois remanescentes florestais no interior do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil

Qualitative and quantitative survey of bird community were performed in two distinct semideciduous forest in the interior of the State of Sao Paulo from July 2004 to July 2005. Point Counts were used for the quantitative survey followed by diversity and frequence of ocurrence indexes of the bird assemblage. The qualitative survey registered a total of 181 species of birds at Fazenda Rio das Pedras (FRP, Itapetininga, 350 ha) and 126 at Fazenda Santa Maria II (FSM II, Buri, 260 ha). The qualitative survey registered 73 species in 998 contacts and 64 species en 1019 contacts, respectively, for FRP and FSM II. The ponctual index of abundance (IPA) varied from 0.01 (one contact) to 1.32 (132 contacts) at FRP and from 0.01 (one contact) to 0.97 (97 contacts) at FSM II. The general diversity index for FRP was H’ = 2.85 and H’ = 3.04 at FSM II. Both areas presented an evenness index of E = 0.91. The bird community in both patched of forest showed the same pattern found in other different forest fragments of relative size studies by many distinct authors. In both localities, insectivorus (53% at FSM e 50% at FRP) and frugivorus (23% na FSM e 26% na FRP) birds were the most representative. Among the former, Tyrannidae and Thamnophilidae were predominant, respectively, at FSM and FRP. In both places understory insectivorous birds were dominant (53% at FSM and 51,4% at FRP), followed by understory frugivorus at FSM (50%) and by canopy frugivorus (52,6%) at FRP. The importance of bird community in forest remmants in linked to managing and conservation of wild natural forested in Stade of Sao Paulo.

Análise filogenética e implicações sistemáticas e evolutivas nos Cuculiformes (Aves) com base na osteologia, comportamento e ecologia

Despite of many recent cladistic studies the classification of the order Cuculiformes is still controversial. Thus, we performed the most extensive cladistic analysis of the cuckoos, inferred based on 250 characters of the osteology, behavior and ecology. The resulting analysis provided 18 equally parsimonious trees (768 steps, CI = 0.4779, RI = 0.8080 and CRI = 0.3861). According to the topology of the strict consensus cladogram: a) the monophyly of Cuculiformes order is corroborated; b) the order is divided in two groups: a) Coua/Carpococcyx and b) others cuckoos (Neomorphidae, (Crotophagidae, (Tapera/Dromoccoccyx, (Cuculidae))), being the systematic position of Centropus ambiguous between these two groups; c) the terrestrial cuckoos are considered basal and a paraphyletic group and the arboreal cuckoos are derived and monophyletic; d) brood parasitism evolved twice in the cuckoos (in Tapera/Dromoccoccyx and in Cuculidae).

Skull and mandible formation in the cuckoo (Aves, Cuculidae): contributions to the nomenclature in avian osteology and systematics.

The study of the contributions of different bones to the formation of the skeleton in birds is necessary: (1) to establish homologies in comparative anatomy; (2) to delimit each bone structure correctly, mainly in relation to the skull and mandible where the bones are fused to each other in adults; and (3) to standardize nomenclature in avian osteology. In this paper at least one young specimen belonging to each sub-family of Cuculidae was examined in order to identify each bone in terms of boundaries and contributions to skull and mandible formation. These cuckoos specimens were also compared with adults and young of turacos and hoatzin. The results show little variation of skull and jaw among the young cuckoos studied compared with the variations among adult specimens. However, it provides new suggestions for the boundaries and nomenclature of certain osseous structures in the skull and mandible of birds, specifically fissura zona flexoria craniofacialis, prominetia frontoparietalis, crista temporalis transversa, processus squamosalis, fossa laterosphenoidalis, tuberculum laterosphenoidale and processus retroangularis. This study also provides more reliable homologies for use in cladistic analysis and above all it contributes to the phylogenetic position of Cuculidae within Neognathae, specifically the skull formation suggest that turacos and hoatzin are more similar to each other than either is to the cuckoos.

CRANIAL OSTEOLOGY OF CYCLARHIS GUJANENSIS (AVES: VIREONIDAE)

O pitiguari (Cyclarhis gujanensis) e um pequeno vireonideo com uma ampla variedade de presas, capaz inclusive de dilacerar presas maiores, como lagartos, morcegos e aves. No entanto, sao escassos os estudos sobre morfologia craniana desta especie, e, motivados pela sua maneira particular de alimentacao, objetivou-se descrever a osteologia craniana para contribuir com os conhecimentos anatomicos dessa especie, alem de discutir alguns aspectos morfofuncionais relacionados a sua alimentacao. A fossa temporal e ampla, porem pouco profunda, ja o osso palatino apresentou fossas profundas. Os processos do osso quadrado sao longos e espessos. O os pterygoideum e robusto e a maxila superior e fortemente inclinada (140°) em relacao ao crânio. A extremidade rostral da ranfoteca e curvada acentuadamente, com formato concavo em sua porcao ventral para se encaixar com a mandibula (forma de pinca). A mandibula possui, alem de fossas amplas e profundas, um processo medial bastante desenvolvido, que provavelmente da suporte aos musculos que movimentam as maxilas. Tais caracteristicas peculiares na osteologia craniana de C. gujanensis, poderiam explicar parcialmente o seu habito alimentar diferenciado quando comparado com outros Vireonidae. Porem, novos estudos, com abordagens funcionais, cinese craniana e analises da forca das fibras musculares da mandibula sao necessarios para comprovar as afirmacoes mencionadas acima.