Morphometric patterns of skull bones as indicators of age in Pontoporia blainvillei (Gervais & d'Orbigny, 1844)

• Grant number: 13/21131-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2014
• End date: December 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Anatomy
• Principal Investigator: Renata de Britto Mari
• Grantee: Augusto Cesar Maçolla Bazan
• Host Institution: Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus Experimental do Litoral Paulista. São Vicente , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Among the more than 50 species of marine mammals sighted along the Brazilian coast is porpoise (Pontoporia blainvillei), small cetaceans, found from the coast of Espírito Santo to Argentina, being common in the south-central coast of São Paulo. Currently the Porpoises are among aquatic mammals, like endangered and insufficient data. Studies of living cetaceans are complicated by the dependence of oportunistically or the infeasibility of captive breeding. Work with specimens found stranded along the coast are performed over due and has provided important information about the species. The main studies are related to external morphology and use of substrates for studies of age determination and growth pattern. The age determination in cetaceans is performed by counting the Growth Layer Group (GLG 's), which consist in layers of calcium deposition, they can be analyzed teeth (Odontoceti) or even on the bulla (Mysticeti). The purpose of this work is to establish a parameter estimation of age from fixed measurements of the skull bones of P. blainvillei in order to serve as a useful and practical tool to be applied stranded found in animals with advanced stages of decomposition.