Variabilidade fenotípica e genética de Kinosternon scorpioides (Linnaeus, 1766)

Abstract

The Kinosternon scorpioides species is a small freshwater chelonian distributed throughout the Americas, and in Brazil mainly in the north and northeast regions. With the average goal of morphological and genetic changes in Brazil and Colombia, used as traditional and geometric morphometric techniques, in addition to molecular analyzes (mitochondrial and nuclear DNA). All samples sampled have phenotypic characteristics typical of the species, color, organization and quantity of chemical plates. Linear morphometry indicates that there is a statistical difference between sex, with males being narrower and shorter in relation to females, while geometric morphometry shows shape variation for each sex. In relation to the evaluation between the variations, from the geometric morphometry, these are organized in groups, selected according to the sampled geographic regions, those that are close to each other and share or even format. The genetic study indicates that Brazilians are different from Colombians, with an average genetic diversity of 3% (mtDNA). This variation was accompanied by the results of the microsatellites, with the FSt fixation index and initial coefficient, in addition to revealing what these statistics are structured, with low inbreeding rates. The results are important for the knowledge of the Brazilian species K. scorpioides, and other subsidiary studies on conservation and conservation.