Luciano M. Verdade. A. Lavorenti. F. Michelotti. M.C. Rangel. L. Cullon &

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Luciano M. Verdade. A. Lavorenti. F. Michelotti. M.C. Rangel. L. Cullon &"

Miles Freeman
5 years ago
Views:

1 Preliminary Notes on Westing Biology of the Broad-nosed Caiman (Caima UP-) in SSo Paulo. Brazil Luciano M. Verdade. A. Lavorenti. F. Michelotti. M.C. Rangel. L. Cullon & M M. Ernandes CIZRAS / ESALQ University of SSa Paula Caixa Postal 09 Piracicaba

2 f'reliminai y notes on nesting Biology of the broad-nosed caiman [ La hti~~-~stii:] in 5% Pado, Brazil Luc~ano M. 'SY'erdade, A. Lavaretiti, F. Michelotti, t4:c. Ratlgel.. L. Cuilen & M. t4. E rnandes There are mat-t$a reporks of st-~ocestull crocodilians captive propagaticcn. Broad-nosed caiman specifically has.also been reported to have been succesfl-~lly reproduced in captivity [Roil::ha e Sika & Zuquirn Antas, 1981 ; At-~crtlimous.. 19%; i YY I i' ~dholzer et al., 1986: Larriera and i;'erda~rfe &. Lavorenti, 199i3). However, its large d~stribution zone clen~anljz rirare ~ntorri~aticrn on its nesting t3ir~logy to increase its captive propagatican. w. Materials & Methods '8.:t/e repcarted 17 t-bests of taroad-nosed caiman in c.2ptivit!,j irr 1330 PauSo State t:orr-i 1986 to Nirie CI~' these nests were located in the facilities of ESALQ 1 Llt-ri*v.ersity id SSo Paulcl, six in Ziiil~, and two in other institutions.

3 Results h Discussion The nun-rber of reported nests can be cot-rsidered small compared to studies conducted witti other crocodilians [\tdilkirrson, 1984 and Cart~crrreau Pc Chattreck.. 19YO]. However, this paper represents the maior report for this species in Brazil. Generally, the nest n-iaterials followed the mound-nest pattern described in the literature [Greer, 1970; Martin, 1977 and Ferguson, The nest sizes presented in Table, 1 shor+l that there is r~cr signiiicant difference between nests that have soil as a content, and those that do not. As- a result, we can infer that nests are built up with a relatively constant size. Soil, at least in captivity, can be used only to complete the "norn-ral" nest size. The tact that soil as a content was fsund only where there was apparently not enough amount of leaves and dehris seems to corroborate this idea. Larriera [personal cornmi-mication] has been finding two basic nestit-rg sites it-r the Argentinean "pampas": savantla-nest and forest- nest. The latter usually presents soil as one of the main contents, probably also due to the smaller ofter of leaves and debris on the forest ground than on the savanna ground. Table 2 shows some other results on nesting Eiulogy. Ttie neqs were located around 2 meters far from the water pond in awrage, ranging from O to 7 meters. The inc~rhation period ranged from 73 to 93 days [77.5 in average). The clutch size ranged from 1 S to in average] with a relatively low rate cri alive hatchlings per nest: 7.33 ranging from 0 to 31. The mean egg weight was g each, ranging from 60 to 82.2 g. The eggs maior diameter measured 6.73 cm, ranging from E; to 7.5 cm, while the minor diameter measured 4.28 cm, ranging from 3.4 to 4.5 cm. The hatchlings weighted 47.G1 g in average, ranging frorn 36 to 639 each, arid measured crn tcital length, ranging from 21.3 to 27 cm. T he dams weighted kg in average, ranging from 15 to 59.7 kg, and measured 88.83cm mean snout-vent: length, ranging from 70 to 11 0 cm. The sires weighted kg in a*~-erage, ranging ircsrn 30 to 64 k:.g and rneasured crn mean snout-vent length, ranging horn 90 to 1 DY cm.

4 The nezting period started in late October and finished in mid February with a pick in January, while the hatctiit-~g period started in early February arid ended in middle April, with a peak in March [Fig. 1 :I. Almost all of the females [94.4%] exibited materrral behavior during iricubatiori period, hut contrary lo the observations of ItVidholzer et sl.(1 9861, no male had beet-i seen tcr exhibit nest protective behavior. Acknowledgements Fundo Mundial para a Natureza - WWF, Process No. G !nstitutc! be Pesqulsas e Eztubor Florestais -!PEF Fut3dai;So de E:3tudciis Agririos "Luiz de Queircrz" - FEALQ Funda~Zo de Anlparo Pesq~nisa no Estado de Sdo Paulo - FAPESP

5 Literature Cited Anonrrnous Nasceu a prirneira ninhada de jacarb do CIZBAS. Jornal de Rra4cat.a 9 de maio de 19W p 74 Carbaneau. DA. & Chabreck. R.H Population size. composiliorl and recruitmenl ol American alligators in frest~water marsh. p In: Proc. 10th Work. Meet. Croc. Spec. Group. Vol. 1. IUCN - The World Conservation Union. Gland, Switzerland. p Ferguson. M.W.J. 19s. Reproductive biology and srnbryology of the cracodilians. p. 3 s 491. In: Cians. C.; Billett. F. & tvtaderson. P.F.A. [Eds]. Biology of the Reptilia. Development A. Vol. 14. John Wiley. New York. p Gtear. A.E Evolutionary and systematic signlicnnccr of oroo6biliao nestinu habits Nature 227(52571: Larriera. A Reproducci6rs en ca~tiverio del yacare corl rniras a utla explotac~ln cornaraal. Rev. Arg. Prod Anirn. 8(5).42%432. Martin. J.M.R Habitos nidioalas en cocodrilos. Revta Parq Barcelona Rocha a Silva. R. & Zuquim Antas. P.T Reprodugf o em cativeiro de uirottriz (Oaudirt). o jacar6-de-papo-amareicr, no Jardirn ZooISgico do Rio rfe Jansiro. Rev. Bras. Biol. 41 (4):Sg%885. Vcrdade, L.M & Lavorenti. A. 1W. Preliminary notes on the status and conr9rvation of A - - I iri tho State of Sau Paulo. Brazil: diredons of We captive breedrfrg, reintroduction and management program. p In: Roc. 1W-i Wcrk Meet Ctoa Spe~. Group. Vol. 2. IGCN - The World Conservation Union, Gland, Switzerland. y Widholzer. F.L.. Borne, 3. & Tesche. T. 1$86. Breeding the broad-nosed caiman C=aiman Jatirodrip in captivity. Internationat zoo Yearbook : Wilkinson, P.M. 1984(?). Nesting ecology ol the American alligator in coastal South Clarolina. S.C. W~ldlife and Marine Resourcas Dept.. Charleston, S.C., USA. p ,

6 -- I able 1 : Nest sires Height (cm) Length (an) Width (cm).. Nests, Nests withsoil :;.(Nests without soil :.: (samples A & B j 11.: (sample A) :;: (sample B) ::. mean... CV% 1:. mean CV%?.: mean , CAP% Chi-square Test: X P.- - Height 1.581, 20:, Length % W~dth % ---- Table 2: Nesting behavior of broadnosed caiman in captivity h Sfo Paulo State. Brazil (Petiod: ) A Distance from the water (m) ( "I Incubation period (days) I 77.5 ( 3.01 ( No. of eggs per nest ( 32.2 ( I8 1 Sue of eggs - length (cm) ( i 3.4 ( - width(cm) I ( Weight of eggs (g] No. of hatchlings per nest I 7-33 ( ,931 a 1 Size of hatchlings ( 4.66 I Wetght of hatchlings (g) I J ( 36 1 Wei~ht of dams (kg) 1, l5 I Weight of sires (kg) Snout-vent lenglh of dams (m)( ( ( Snout-vent length of sires (cm) 1 95, I 6.0s I El-- N: Sample size sd: Standard deviation CV%: Coeficient of variation mean sd CV% minor major N ( 16 nests 93 i 90 egg= nests eggs eggs eggs nests hatch hatch ( 65 dams 64 ( 15 dams 110 ( 13 sires ICE sires

M.C. Rangel. C.Z. Salem & A. Lavorenti CIZRAS / ESALQ. Piracicaba SP BRAZIL

Ultrasound' Evaluation of the Follicle Development in Adult Female Broad-nosed Caiman (w m) Miriam H. Vac. L.M. Verdade". C.F. Meirelles. R.E. Larsen. F. Michelotti, M.C. Rangel. C.Z. Salem & A. Lavorenti