Citizen science has established itself as an important approach to the co-production of knowledge and public participation in scientific research. Combined with digital technologies and online tools, the approach has been celebrated as a path toward the democratization of science. However, only a few studies have investigated the role digital technologies play in shaping interactions between people and nature. Additionally, the role of context in shaping online and face-to-face participation in citizen science projects has yet to receive much attention. This article takes a citizen science initiative in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest in the state of São Paulo as an illustrative case of the emergence of unanticipated consequences of digital technologies. The emergence of a socio-material practice of animal identification through a popular instant-messaging app is described, allowing a better understanding of the role of digital technologies and the context framing citizen participation in challenging environments.

Este estudo apresenta o levantamento de répteis da região do Campus Lagoa do Sino da Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), compreendendo os municípios de Angatuba, Buri e Campina do Monte Alegre. Os registros provêm de dados secundários, obtidos na literatura, e de dados primários acumulados entre março de 2017 e setembro de 2019 através de busca ativa (BA), encontros ocasionais (EO), registros feitos por terceiros (RT) e armadilhas aquáticas do tipo covo (AC). Um total de 62 espécies foram registradas (38 através de dados primários), distribuídas entre as Ordens Crocodylia (1), Squamata (58) e Testudines (3). As espécies mais comuns foram as serpentes Boa constrictor, Dipsas mikanii e Crotalus durissus. A riqueza registrada até agora na área de estudo corresponde a 29,2% das 212 espécies de répteis conhecidas para o Estado de São Paulo, mas os estimadores de riqueza sugerem que esta riqueza pode ser ainda maior.

Here we report two cases of defensive behavior known as “stiff-legged”, unprecedented for the species Rhinella bergi and R. mirandaribeiroi. We registered the behavior at localities in Mato Grosso do Sul and Minas Gerais states, Brazil. With our records, there are now five species from open areas that exhibit this behavior. We assume that the species that inhabit these areas exhibit this avoiding predation behavior simulating a dead body on the ground, behavior known as “death feigning”, unlike forest species, which use this strategy to camouflage themselves between the leaves.

Mountainous regions play a crucial role in shaping genetic differentiation among organisms. Climate change and topographical complexity are considered the most important processes influencing the diversification of these areas. In this study, we used Boana polytaenia treefrog species to assess how such biogeographical factors shaped its evolutionary history in the highly biodiverse Brazilian Atlantic Forest Mountain range, Serra do Mar and Serra da Mantiqueira. We investigated whether the patterns of genetic diversity of B. polytaenia along the mountains regions of the Southern Atlantic Forest were related to Pleistocene climate changes. Our dataset included mitochondrial and nuclear loci sequences from B. polytaenia, which we used to assess the genealogical relationships of lineages, population structure, lineages validation, changes in effective population sizes over time, time of divergence of lineages, climatic suitability through time with ecological niche modeling and whether niches of lineages are more or less similar than expected. The species exhibited two well-structured clades in each of the mountain chains, Serra da Mantiqueira and Serra do Mar. However, there was a lack of niche similarity and non-reciprocal geographic predictions for species distribution between the clades. Divergence between the clades occurred during the Pliocene/Pleistocene transition. We found contrasting responses to cooler periods on climatic suitability of lineages, with the expansion of suitable areas for B. polytaenia Serra da Mantiqueira Clade and retractions of climatically suitable areas for B. polytaenia Serra do Mar Clade. Despite clear differentiation, the sharing of nuclear haplotypes indicates retention of ancestral polymorphism, complicating the resolution of phylogenetic relationships in this species. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the presence of more than one evolutionary unit in this dataset. Finally, Pleistocene climate changes influenced spatial distribution, leading to genetic variation in B. polytaenia species.

Anurans play a central role in food webs, being prey for different vertebrates, like snakes, mammals, fishes, and birds. The snakes from the tribe Tachymenini are known for their preference for preying on anurans, even different animals eventually being part of their diet. Data about Dryophylax chaquensis diet is resumed mainly by field observations and only anurans are known as its prey. Herein we report a field observation from Brazilian Pantanal of Dryophylax chaquensis regurgitating two anurans, Elachistocleis matogrosso and Boana raniceps. This is the first report of a Boana raniceps as prey of D. chaquensis, and the second record for Elachistocleis matogrosso. These present records confirm the bathracophagy preference of D. chaquensis and highlight the opportunistic habit of preying on frogs that are more abundant now. Los anfibios juegan un papel central en las redes tróficas, siendo presas de diferentes vertebrados como serpientes, mamíferos, peces y aves. Las serpientes del tribo Tachymenini son conocidas por su preferencia en la predación de anuros, aun cuando otros animales pueden eventualmente ser parte de su dieta. La dieta de Dryophylax chaquensis es conocida principalmente por observaciones directas y solo se conocen anfibios como presa. Aquí reportamos algunas observaciones de campo de Dryophylax chaquensis regurgitando dos anuros, Elachistocleis matogrosso y Boana raniceps. Nuestras observaciones confirman los hábitos batracofagicos de D. chaquensis y destacan su dieta oportunista, cazando los anfibios que son más abundantes en determinados momentos.