Occurrence of leucism in Eira barbara (Carnivora, Mustelidae) in Brazil

Abstract

The occurrence of anomalous coloration (albinism, leucism and melanism) in mammals is a rare phenomenon in nature, but this phenomenon has been reported for several species of mammals. In this study, we report on the occurrence of leucism in Eira barbara by examining three road-killed individuals and two sightings of live animals in Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural Santuário do Caraça, southeastern Brazil. In addition, we examined tayra specimens housed in mammal collections from Brazil and USA. The animals found dead and those sighted had a whitish yellow fur on the body and head, resulting in lighter coloration than the coloring pattern commonly observed in tayras. Despite these lighter color pattern, the specimens showed parts of soft tissue, such as iris and the skin, with pigmentation very similar to that present in individuals with the typical color pattern. This set of factors indicates the specimens recorded were in fact leucistic and not albino. Among the specimens examined in the scientific collections, we found nine individuals from different localities that presented the whitish yellow color pattern. Some studies attribute the higher frequency of cases of leucism due to small populations and / or with some mechanism of reproductive isolation. Thus, analysis of the genetic variability of populations containing individuals with such characteristics should be considered. On the other hand, the occurrence of polymorphic color phenotype in tayras indicates that hypotheses related to the fixation of recessive characteristics, or on possible environmental adaptive advantages of these phenotypes can be tested.

Occurrence of tayras (Eira barbara Linnaeus, 1758) with anomalous coloration in Cerrado remnants in the state of São Paulo, Brazil

“…Nevertheless, tayras with normal coloration have browner body extremities than the observable in these two individuals, as shown in Figure 3. Anomalous colour phenotypes have been already identified in tayras across different landscapes and areas of occurrence, mainly in Brazil (Talamoni et al 2017). Although hypopigmentation in tayras have been detected in the Amazon, the Atlantic Forest and in a transitional area between Cerrado and Ombrophyllous Forests (Presley 2000, Trolle 2003, Reis et al 2005, Tortato & Althoff 2007, Sobroza et al 2016, Aximoff & Rosa 2016, our records are the first ones for the Cerrado region in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.…”

“…Studies of animal coat coloration can provide useful information on their ecology, however, reports of hypopigmentation in tayras lack the ecological implications of this phenotype (Talamoni et al 2017). For instance, the possibility that tayras with partial or total lack of pigmentation are more susceptible to predation, due to its outstanding coloration at different environments, has never been tested nor assessed.…”

“…The tayra is one of the most common medium sized carnivores in Neotropical forests (Emmons & Feer 1997), being broadly distributed from central Mexico to northern Argentina (Presley 2000). Throughout its distribution, tayras with anomalous coloration have been identified in Guyana (Presley 2000), Bolivia (Tarifa et al 2001) and Brazil (Trolle 2003, Reis et al 2005, Tortato & Althoff 2007, Sobroza et al 2016, Aximoff & Rosa 2016, Talamoni et al 2017. The subspecies that occurs in most of Brazil, Eira barbara barbara, presents a dark brown body coat with a grey head and a whitish spot at the base of the neck extending to the chest (Presley 2000).…”

“…More recently, in the southeast region of Brazil, one record of an albino tayra was made in the Atlantic Forest of the Itatiaia National Park, Rio de Janeiro state (Aximoff & Rosa 2016), and some records of leucistic tayras were made at the Private Reserve of Natural Heritage Santuário do Caraça, in Minas Gerais state, a transition zone between Cerrado (i.e. brazilian savanna) and Atlantic Forest (Talamoni et al 2017). In this report, we present new records of anomalous coloration in tayras for the southern limits of the Brazilian Cerrado and the first record for the state of São Paulo.…”

Leucismo em Callithrix penicillata (É. Geoffroy, 1812) (Primates: Cebidae) em uma área urbana

“…Os moradores fornecem diariamente alimentação aos saguis, que habituados a presença dessas pessoas descem durante os eventos de interação do extrato arbóreo até as partes mais baixas, permitindo a observação e o registro fotográfico dos animais. Apesar de ser incomum o registro de leucismo, o fenômeno tem ocorrido com frequência em diversas espécies de mamíferos como lobos-marinhos-do-sul, quatis, gambás, primatas, morcegos e irara (Abreu et al, 2013;Silva-Caballero et al, 2014;Valle et al, 2014;Aximoff & Vaz, 2016;Biassi et al, 2017;Talamoni et al, 2017), e é capaz de fornecer evidências indiretas da variabilidade genética de uma população.…”