A 28-year-old male harpy eagle ( Harpia harpyja ) with a history of anorexia, hyporexia, lethargy, and progressive weight loss was found dead and submitted for post-mortem examination. Gross findings include dark brown discolouration of testes and lungs; the testes were bilaterally enlarged, glistening brown-grey to blackish in appearance, firm, smooth, and multilobulated. The lungs contained a mass with similar features to the testicles, irregularly shaped with multiple nodules. Histology of testis showed round, polygonal and pleomorphic cells, containing melanin pigments and a typical eosinophilic vacuole in their cytoplasm and with severe pleomorphism. An immunohistochemistry panel with Melan-A, vimentin, CK AE1/AE/3, MUM-1 and CD-68 were performed, yielding a positive reaction for Melan-A and vimentin. The morphology of the tumour cells, the presence of melanin pigment and the immunoreactivity for Melan-A and vimentin by the cells led to a diagnosis of rhabdoid melanoma. This is the first case of this pathology in the testis with lung metastasis in a harpy eagle.

Se registra por primera vez al género Morchella Dill. ex Pers. (Ascomycota, Pezizales), único representante de la familia Morchellaceae para la micobiota Colombiana. El ascocarpo fue recolectado en un bosque muy húmedo premontano, en la vereda Santa Helena, municipio de Gachalá, departamento de Cundinamarca. El espécimen es descrito e ilustrado con fotografías y se aporta información sobre su distribución, ecología y sustrato de crecimiento. La identidad taxonómica del ejemplar es discutida de acuerdo al concepto morfológico tradicional establecido en la literatura micológica. Con este reporte, en Colombia el orden Pezizales queda constituido por 17 especies contenidas en 12 géneros y 7 familias.

No abstract

An osteoma is an infrequent tumor documented in avian species. An adult female Peach-Faced Lovebird (Agapornis roseicollis) with a history of previous trauma was examined due to the presence of bilateral hard and yellowish-white masses in the radio-cubital humerus junction. Histopathological dermal examination revealed a non-neoplastic process of mesenchymal origin, characterized by the formation of well-differentiated trabecular bone, multiple areas of medullary bone and loose connective tissue and coagulation of the necrosis foci. Based on the histological findings and the medical history, the masses were diagnosed as bilateral secondary osteoma cutis. To our knowledge, this is the first report of this pathology with an acute course in this exotic pet bird. The previous trauma could be the initiating cause.

Summary The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of adding β-mercaptoethanol (βME) to culture medium of bovine in vitro-produced (IVP) embryos prior to or after vitrification on embryo development and cryotolerance. In Experiment I, Day-7 IVP blastocysts were vitrified and, after warming, cultured in medium containing 0, 50 or 100 μM βME for 72 h. Embryos cultured in 100 μM βME attained higher hatching rates (66.7%) than those culture in 0 (47.7%) and 50 (52.4%) μM βME. In Experiment II, IVP embryos were in vitro-cultured (IVC) to the blastocyst stage in 0 (control) or 100 μM βME, followed by vitrification. After warming, embryos were cultured for 72 h (post-warming culture, PWC) in 0 (control) or 100 μM βME, in a 2 × 2 factorial design: (i) CTRL–CTRL, control IVC and control PWC; (ii) CTRL–βME, control IVC and βME-supplemented PWC; (iii) βME–CTRL, βME-supplemented IVC and control PWC; or (iv) βME–βME, βME-supplemented IVC and βME-supplemented PWC. βME during IVC reduced embryo development (28.0% vs. 43.8%) but, following vitrification, higher re-expansion rates were seen in βME–CTRL (84.0%) and βME–βME (87.5%) than in CTRL–CTRL (71.0%) and CTRL–βME (73.1%). Hatching rates were higher in CTRL–βME (58.1%) and βME–βME (63.8%) than in CTRL–CTRL (36.6%) and βME–CTRL (42.0%). Total cell number in hatched blastocysts was higher in βME–βME (181.2 ± 7.4 cells) than CTRL–CTRL (139.0 ± 9.9 cells). Adding βME to the IVC medium reduced development but increased cryotolerance, whereas adding βME to the PWC medium improved embryo survival, hatching rates, and total cell numbers.