The amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) causes chytridiomycosis, a disease among the main causes of amphibian declines worldwide. However, Bd studies on Neotropical amphibians from temperate areas are scarce. We present a comprehensive survey of Bd in Uruguay, in temperate central eastern South America, carried out between 2006 and 2014.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntending to increase the knowledge about cytogenetics of Physalaemus and the sparsely studied P. gracilis group, we analyzed the karyotypes of P. carrizorum, P.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA new species of frog (Anura: Leptodactylidae) from the South American Gran Chaco, morphologically similar and previously confused with the widespread , is described through the use of multiple sources of evidence (molecular, external morphology, coloration, osteology, bioacoustics, and behavior). The phylogenetic analysis with partial sequences of mitochondrial rDNA genes (12S and 16S) recovered the new species within the group, being highly divergent (>3% genetic distance in 16S). The new species was recovered as sister taxa of , from which it is distinguished by tympanum coloration, cephalic index, dorsum and legs coloration, and some osteological differences in nasals and prevomers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe genus Scinax currently includes more than 120 species, recovered in two major clades, the S. catharinae and the S. ruber clades.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHistology is often underappreciated for the detection of the amphibian pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, the cause of the potentially lethal skin disease chytridiomycosis. We evaluated the sensitivity of histology to detect chytrids in 20 wild specimens of 2 frog species from Uruguay that were clinically normal, but confirmed by PCR to be infected by B. dendrobatidis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmphibian parasites of the Order Dermocystida (Ichthyosporea) are widespread pathogens known mainly from Europe and North America, which cause primarily a disease of skin and subcutaneous tissue in their hosts. The taxonomy of these organisms has been problematic given their conserved morphology, similar clinical disease and pathology. Currently recognized taxa belong to the three closely related genera, Amphibiocystidium, Amphibiothecum, and Rhinosporidium, whereas species of Dermocystidium and Sphaerothecum destruens include fish parasites.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpargana are plerocercoid larvae of cestode tapeworms of the genus Spirometra, Family Diphyllobothriidae, parasitic to frogs, reptiles, birds and mammals. This parasitic disease in humans can be transmitted through the use and consumption of amphibians and reptiles. The available knowledge about Spirometra in South America is scarce, and there are only a few reports on the occurrence of sparganum in amphibians and reptiles, many of them published in old papers not easily available to researchers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report infection by Ichthyophonus sp. in a South American amphibian, the hylid frog Hypsiboas pulchellus in Uruguay. This frog had a large subcutaneous mass over the urostyle and dorsal musculature comprised of parasitic cysts with mild granulomatous inflammation but otherwise appeared healthy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe present gross and histologic evidence of coinfection in amphibians by fungal-like parasites of the order Dermocystidia (Amphibiocystidium sp.) and the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. The condition was observed in frogs Hypsiboas pulchellus (Hylidae) from Uruguay in 2009 to 2012.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe main goal of this manuscript is the reevaluation of the taxonomic status of the teiid lizard Contomastix charrua, known only from Cabo Polonio, a small coastal rocky outcrop in southeastern Uruguay. This species was erected on the basis of the presence of a second pair of ceratobranchials and longer cornua in the hyoid bone, in addition to a reduced expression of the pattern of coloration as compared with C. lacertoides.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmphibian chytridiomycosis caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is reported in Uruguayan native amphibians for the first time. Histological evidence of infection was observed in tadpoles of Hypsiboas pulchellus, Odontophrynus maisuma, Physalaemus henselii, and Scinax squalirostris. The effects of chytridiomycosis on these species are still unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF