Regarding such an important issue as our origin, as well as the origin of all biological diversity, it is surprising to realize that evolution still faces drawbacks in keeping its deserved notability as a unifying theory in biology. This does not happen because evolutionism lacks validity as a scientific theory, but rather because of several misconceptions regarding evolutionary biology that were and continue to be found in elementary and secondary education. Furthermore, mistaken evolutionary ideas also affect some philosophical and social issues. The aim of the present study was to evaluate knowledge about evolution among freshman students from distinct majoring areas at Universidade Estadual do Centro-Oeste do Paraná (UNI-CENTRO), Brazil. The research was carried out based on a ten-question questionnaire about evolution with distinct levels of difficulty, comprising the most observed misconceptions. In this study, 231 students attending classes in biological sciences (morning and evening schedule), exact sciences (agronomy, physics, chemistry, and math), and human sciences (history, geography, and pedagogy) were interviewed. The total average of right answers was 48.8%, and the highest average per course obtained was 58.7% from the students attending biological sciences (evening schedule). Although evolutionary biology and ecology are supposed to represent teaching guide issues according to the recommendations of the National Curricular Parameters for the Secondary School, the data obtained suggest that the evidence for evolution, the role of natural selection and random events, as well as the sources of variation, must be better focused at schools.

Cytogenetic data have provided important clues that the Astyanax fasciatus populations from the Upper Paran´a River basin could be a part of a more diverse fish group, usually included on the same taxa. Samples collected in Cachoeira de Emas, SP, in Mogi-Guac xu River basin, show two major cytotypes presenting 2n ¼ 46 and 2n ¼ 48 chromosomes, with distinct karyotypic formula, despite the fact that the molecular data suggested some degree of gene flow between these cytotypes. Cytogenetic and morphometric analyses were performed in this species, aiming to contribute to the understanding of the natural history from such fish group. Two allopatric populations with distinct standard cytotypes were analysed, and the data obtained suggest the separation into two groups.

The creationist movements in Brazil, although considered weak, are on the increase. The Brazilian legislation neither imposes any objection in teaching evolution nor obliges the teaching of creationism as an alternative to evolution in science classes. Furthermore, it allows the optional teaching of religion at schools. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the knowledge regarding biological evolution in freshman students from a Brazilian university. Such knowledge was related to sociocultural factors such as their parental education level, the type of high school the student graduated from (private or public school), their philosophical/religious position as well as the acceptance of creationism as an alternative to evolution. Among those factors, the latter two showed significant differences, in which the higher averages belonged both to the atheistic students and to those who do not accept creationism as an alternative to evolution.

<span>Micross&aacute;telites, marcadores moleculares que consistem de sequ&ecirc;ncias de nucleot&iacute;deos repetidos em tandem, s&atilde;o amplamente usados em estudos gen&eacute;ticos e populacionais. Uma desvantagem desse marcador &eacute; a respeito da prospec&ccedil;&atilde;o dos primers para os loci desejados, que s&atilde;o caras e trabalhosas. Uma alternativa vi&aacute;vel &eacute; utilizar loci previamente isolados de esp&eacute;cies proximamente relacionadas, chamada amplifica&ccedil;&atilde;o cruzada. No presente estudo, primers isolados de&nbsp;</span><em>Astyanax mexicanus</em><span>&nbsp;foram testados em cinco esp&eacute;cies do g&ecirc;nero&nbsp;</span><em>Astyanax.</em><span>&nbsp;As rea&ccedil;&otilde;es de PCR seguiram protocolo previamente descrito. Apenas o loci Ast1 amplificou em todas as esp&eacute;cies, e mostrou-se polim&oacute;rfico em pelo menos uma esp&eacute;cie,&nbsp;</span><em>A. hastatus.</em><span>&nbsp;Demais aspectos espec&iacute;ficos e potenciais aplica&ccedil;&otilde;es s&atilde;o discutidos.</span>

Ornamental fish culture is important as an economic activity and for biodiversity conservation as well. The species of the genus Trichogaster (Perciformes, Osphronemidae), popularly known as three-spot gourami, are among the several commercial species raised around the world. In the present work, eight specimens of Thrichogaster trichopterus from aquarium trade facilities were analyzed. The karyotype was composed of 23 pairs of subtelo/acrocentric chromosomes. Fluorescent in situ hybridization allowed identifying the 18S ribosomal gene at telomeric region on long arms of the largest acrocentric pair. On the other hand, the 5S rRNA gene is located at a proximal region on a pair of medium-sized chromosomes. Such information is extremely useful in face of the risks of introduction and the development of ornamental fish trade, once many fish species can be identified only by genetic studies.

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<p>A ictiofauna da Bacia do Rio Parana&iacute;ba &eacute; muito rica, com registros de 114 esp&eacute;cies, distribu&iacute;das em nove ordens. Por outro lado, ainda &eacute; pouco estudada, principalmente em seu trecho superior. Este trabalho trata-se de um levantamento parcial que tem como objetivo caracterizar a diversidade ictiofaun&iacute;stica do primeiro trecho da bacia do alto Parana&iacute;ba durante a esta&ccedil;&atilde;o chuvosa. Este primeiro trecho do rio Parana&iacute;ba &eacute; caracterizado pela forte presen&ccedil;a agr&iacute;cola. Tr&ecirc;s pontos de coleta foram amostrados desde regi&atilde;o pr&oacute;xima &agrave; nascente no munic&iacute;pio de Rio Parana&iacute;ba, at&eacute; o munic&iacute;pio de Patos de Minas. Foram utilizadas amostragens direta e aleat&oacute;ria. Em amostragem direta, foi utilizado um conjunto de 10 redes de espera por cerca de 10h e no m&eacute;todo de amostragem aleat&oacute;rio utilizaram-se tarrafas, redes de arrasto e peneiras. Foram capturados 78 esp&eacute;cimes distribu&iacute;dos em oito fam&iacute;lias, 10 g&ecirc;neros e 12 esp&eacute;cies. As fam&iacute;lias com maior n&uacute;mero de esp&eacute;cies foram Characidae (Characiformes) e Heptapteridae (Siluriformes).</p>

<p>A ictiofauna da Bacia do Rio Parana&iacute;ba &eacute; muito rica, com registros de 114 esp&eacute;cies, distribu&iacute;das em nove ordens. Por outro lado, ainda &eacute; pouco estudada, principalmente em seu trecho superior. Este trabalho trata-se de um levantamento parcial que tem como objetivo caracterizar a diversidade ictiofaun&iacute;stica do primeiro trecho da bacia do alto Parana&iacute;ba durante a esta&ccedil;&atilde;o chuvosa. Este primeiro trecho do rio Parana&iacute;ba &eacute; caracterizado pela forte presen&ccedil;a agr&iacute;cola. Tr&ecirc;s pontos de coleta foram amostrados desde regi&atilde;o pr&oacute;xima &agrave; nascente no munic&iacute;pio de Rio Parana&iacute;ba, at&eacute; o munic&iacute;pio de Patos de Minas. Foram utilizadas amostragens direta e aleat&oacute;ria. Em amostragem direta, foi utilizado um conjunto de 10 redes de espera por cerca de 10h e no m&eacute;todo de amostragem aleat&oacute;rio utilizaram-se tarrafas, redes de arrasto e peneiras. Foram capturados 78 esp&eacute;cimes distribu&iacute;dos em oito fam&iacute;lias, 10 g&ecirc;neros e 12 esp&eacute;cies. As fam&iacute;lias com maior n&uacute;mero de esp&eacute;cies foram Characidae (Characiformes) e Heptapteridae (Siluriformes).</p>