The agouti, a rodent that is geographically distributed throughout South America, is greatly valued for its meat. This paper describes the arterial vascularization of the base of the agouti’s brain, characterizing behavior, and arterial origin and distribution. Ten animals from the Center for the Multiplication of Wild Animals (CEMAS/UFERSA) were used and the study was approved by SISBIO (report number 32413- 1) and the Ethics Committee on Animal Use (CEUA/UFERSA) (protocol 02/2010). After euthanasia, the animals were incised in the thoracic cavity by an injection of red-stained Neoprene latex 650 and the skulls were subsequently opened. The brains were extracted from the skulls for ventral surface analysis and then fixed in an aqueous 10% formaldehyde solution. The agouti’s arterial vascularization of the brain has two main components, namely the carotid and vertebrobasilar systems. The agouti’s carotid system accounts for vascularization of almost the entire forebrain, while the vertebrobasilar system accounts for vascularization of almost the entire posterior brain (medulla oblongata, pyramid, trapezoid body, cerebellum, bridge, and part of the third caudal section of the forebrain) through the caudal cerebral arteries originating from the terminal branches of the basilar artery. The main arteries on the brain surface include the basilar artery, which is unique, and the arterial pairs, specifically the vertebral arteries, cerebellar caudal arteries, trigeminal artery, rostral cerebellar artery, basilar terminal branch artery, cerebral caudal artery, communicating caudal branch of the cerebral carotid artery, cerebral carotid artery, communicating branch rostral cerebral carotid artery, choroidal rostral artery, medial branch of the communicating branch rostral artery, internal ophthalmic artery, middle cerebral artery, and rostral cerebral artery.

Open Access Agricultural Journals published by Institute of Agricultural Economics and Information

The red-rumped agouti is a small-sized wild rodent, belonging to the Dasyproctidae family, with great zootechnical potential, and it adapts well to captivity. In order to contribute to the species biology, this study describes the origin of the nerves forming the lumbosacral plexus. Twelve animals (six males and six females) were used, from previous experiments. The animals were fixed in a 10% formaldehyde aqueous solution and eviscerated after 72 hours. Then, the major and minor psoas muscles were retracted, exposing the nerves forming the plexus. Cotton soaked with 20-volume hydrogen peroxide was placed on these nerves, remaining for 12 hours straight for bleaching and subsequent dissection. The topographical relations of the lumbosacral plexus were grouped into tables and arranged in terms of simple percentage. In 7 cases (58.34%), the lumbosacral plexus in the red-rumped agouti stemmed from the ventral roots of the last 4 lumbar nerves and the first 3 sacral nerves (Type I – L4-S3), in 4 animals (33.33%) it stemmed from L5-S3 (Type II), and in 1 case (8.33%) it stemmed from L5-S4 (Type III). The nerves participating of the lumbosacral plexus in the red-rumped agouti were: lateral femoral cutaneous, genitofemoral, femoral, obturator, sciatic, cranial gluteal, caudal gluteal, and pudendal nerve. The origin of the lumbosacral plexus and the spinal nerves making up this plexus in red-rumped agoutis were similar to that described in other rodents, such as rock cavy, lowland paca and spix's yellow-toothed cavy.

Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is an infectious disease caused by Chelonid alphaherpesvirus 5 (ChHV5). Nevertheless, its clinical manifestations are considered multifactorial. Due to its relevance, FP is currently monitored in sea turtle populations in the United States, Australia, Caribbean, and Brazil. Between 2000 and 2020, the TAMAR Project/ TAMAR Project Foundation analyzed the prevalence of FP in nine states and oceanic islands along the Brazilian coast, including Fernando de Noronha Archipelago (FNA), a historically FP-free area. A total of 4,435 green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) were monitored from 2010 to 2016. Additionally, in 2012 and 2014, 43 FP-free skin samples were analyzed for ChHV5 using a qualitative PCR for the UL30 polymerase (pol) sequence. In 2015, a bilateral ocular nodule characterized as an FP tumor was reported in one of the monitored individuals undergoing rehabilitation. Tissue samples were collected following surgical removal of the tumor. Characterization of a 454 bp UL30 polymerase gene revealed a ChHV5 sequence previously reported in other areas of the Atlantic Brazilian coast. In the years following this finding from January 2017 to March 2020, a total of 360 C. mydas were monitored in the same area and no FP tumors were detected. This is the first report of FP and the first detection of ChHV5 in FNA, a finding of great concern considering this site’s historical absence of FP occurrence. This study highlights the importance of monitoring this disease in historically FP-free areas of the Brazilian Atlantic coast.