Genetic variability, kinship relationships and sex ratio in Touit melanonotus (Aves, Psittaciformes, Psittacidae), an endemic and endangered bird, and implications for its conservation

• Grant number: 22/10252-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2022
• End date: October 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Luís Fábio Silveira
• Grantee: Marina Vivianne Carcassola
• Host Institution: Museu de Zoologia (MZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/23548-2 - Evaluation, recovering and conservation of endangered animal species from the Pernambuco Centre of Endemism, AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

The brown-backed Parrot, Touit melanonotus (Wied-Neuwied, 1820) (Psittaciformes, Psittacidae), is one of the three endangered species of the Touit genus, which in turn comprises eight species. Considered as threatened with extinction in the "Vulnerable" category both in the list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and in the list published by the Ministry of the Environment (MMA), the species is rare and endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, being one of the lesser known species of the entire Family. It is distributed mainly through the coastal Atlantic Forest, occurring from the South of Bahia to Santa Catarina, as well as in the East of Minas Gerais. It is estimated that there are less than 10,000 mature individuals in the wild, with less than 1,000 of them in each subpopulation and facing population decline. The causes of such decline and rarity are not well known, but are suspected to be due to habitat loss. The genus Touit is among the least known of the Family, and Touit melanonotus is one of the least known of all Neotropical birds, and the first photographs of the species in the wild, reliable recordings of vocalization and some aspects of its natural history were briefly described in the last 20 years. Nothing is known about its genetic aspects. The objective of this research is to describe for the first time in the literature the genetic diversity of a population of 29 dead individuals found in São Paulo and sent to the Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo. Parameters such as kinship relationships, inbreeding, genetic variability, effective population size, sexing and detection of contemporary and historical population bottlenecks will be inferred. In addition, the implications of the results obtained for the conservation of the species will be analyzed.