Molecular phylogenetic studies are very scarce for the Mugilidae family; the present analysis using DNA sequences of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA and cytochrome b genes is the first study involving Brazilian mugilids. The results corroborate the monophyly of Mugil and are elucidative for the taxonomy of Brazilian mugilids. Mugil curema is clearly divided into two genetically distinct taxa, M. curema type I being closer related to Mugil hospes and the true M. curema (type II) grouping significantly with M. incilis. The results also suggest that Mugil liza and Mugil platanus should be treated as a single species or even populations of Mugil cephalus.

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non‐detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non‐governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer‐reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non‐detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio‐temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large‐scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data.

Eighteen enzymatic loci were analysed in Aedes aegypti populations from four neighbourhoods in the city of Manaus. The analyses showed that the Downtown population was the most polymorphic (p = 55.6%) with higher observed and expected mean heterozygosities (H o = 0.152 ± 0.052; H e = 0.174 ± 0.052, respectively). The least variability was detected in the Coroado and Cidade Nova populations, both with polymorphism of 44.4%. The latter population presented the least observed heterozygosity (H o = 0.109 ± 0.037). Wright's F statistics showed that the mean value of F is was higher than that of F st (F is = 0.164 > F st = 0.048), and from analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) it was found that 95.12% of the variability is found within populations indicating a certain intra-population differentiation possibly of the microgeographic structure resulting from some barrier in the random coupling. Although the four populations were similar genetically (D = 0.003 to 0.016), the 4.88% differentiation was significant.

Four populations of Aedes aegypti from Manaus were studied, using allozymes and RAPD loci, to determine intra-and interpopulation genetic variability and differentiation and to compare genetic structure parameters assessed with both markers. Five RAPD primers produced 52 polymorphic fragments, whereas only seven of 18 isozyme loci were polymorphic. The population from Praça 14 was the most polymorphic (P= 94.23% and P= 55.6%); while those from Coroado (P= 82.69% and P= 44.40%) and from Cidade Nova (P= 84.61% and P= 44.40%) were the least polymorphic, for both RAPD and isozymes respectively. The observed heterozygosity was higher between populations (Ho= 0.33-0.38) as assessed by RAPD. Wright's F statistics showed an F is value higher than F st (F is = 0.164 > F st = 0.048). AMOVA indicated that 95.12% of the genetic variability is intrapopulational. Even so, both of the genetic markers evaluated showed a relatively high gene flow ((N m = 15.15), and possibly are still random couplings, although the F is value was not low. The genetic distance between populations was similarly low for both markers: RAPD (0.012-0.016) and Isozymes (0.003-0.016). These results show that as assessed by both markers, the populations are genetically similar, and that isozymes (codominant) are the most efficient to detect the population genetic structure. Although isozymes revealed less genetic diversity than RAPDs, the estimated levels of genetic distance were identical.

Background: Cervical cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer affecting women globally. In Brazil, it is the third most frequent type of cancer in women and HPV is present in approximately 90% of cases. Evidence suggests that variants of HPV 16 can interfere biologically and etiologically during the development of cervical cancer. Methods: Cervix tumor fragments were collected, their DNA was extracted, and nested PCR was used to detect HPV. Positive samples were sequenced to determine the viral genotype. To characterize the HPV 16 strains, positive samples PCR was used to amplify the LCR and E6 regions of the HPV 16 virus. Results: Data from 120 patients with cervical cancer were analyzed. Most women were between 41 and 54 years of age, had schooling until primary school, a family income between 1 and 2 times the minimum wage and were married/in a consensual union. There was no statistically significant association between HPV or socio-demographic variables and risk factors for cervical cancer (P < 0.05). HPV was present in 88 women (73%). The most prevalent types were HPV 16 (53.4%), HPV 18 (13.8%), HPV 35 (6.9%) and HPV 45 (5.7%). Of the 47 HPV 16 positive cases, variant A (49%) was present in 23 samples, followed by variant D in 20 cases (43%), and variants B and C in 2 cases each (4%). The most prevalent histological type of HPV 16 tumors was squamous cell carcinoma, followed by adenocarcinoma. There was a statistically significant association between HPV 16 variants and the tumors' histological types (P < 0.001).