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International audience; Currently, marsupials (modern members of the Metatheria clade) are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical areas of South America, but poorly represented in the fossil record of these regions. Except for the species-rich fossiliferous localities of La Venta in Colombia, additional Miocene metatherians from tropical, equatorial South America are sparsely reported in Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, and Venezuela. Here, we introduce new metatherian remains recovered from the late middle Miocene locality of TAR-31, San Martín Department, Peru, which has been assigned to the Laventan South American Land Mammal Age (~13 Ma) by mammalian biostratigraphy. Three metatherian taxa are recognized at TAR-31: the didelphid didelphimorph ‘Thylamys’ cf. ‘T.’ colombianus, and the paucituberculatans aff. Palaeothentes and Pitheculites ipururensis sp. nov. This assemblage and the presence of a cebid primate at TAR-31 suggests predominantly humid and warm tropical conditions, with the occurrence of both forests and drier habitats in the surroundings. Comparisons with other Miocene metatherian assemblages at low and mid latitudes of South America clearly confirm close relationships between TAR-31 and La Venta (agreeing with observations based on monkeys and rodents), as well as, to a lesser extent, with Acre River local faunas and Madre de Dios (MD-67) in Brazil and Peru, respectively. The current results support the hypothesis that Western Amazonia was a single and consistent biogeographical region for land mammals over middle Miocene times, at the western edge of the Pebas Mega-Wetland System, and highlight the role of the Amazonian region concerning marsupial Neogene radiation. U-Pb analysis made on detrital zircon grains from TAR-31 gave a maximum depositional age of 17.4 ± 0.12 Ma (i.e., 4 Ma older than the biostratigraphical age), with a mixed detrital source likely comprising Precambrian (Western Amazon Craton), Neoproterozoic (Neoproterozoic mobile belts), and Phanerozoic rocks (Andes).

The Verde River basin covers several municipalities that belong to the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Its source begins at about 500 m of elevation, as does its main tributary, the São Domingos River. Dozens of smaller tributaries flow into the Verde River before it joins the Paraná River at an altitude of 260 m. Sedimentary rocks, such as sandstone, dominate the local geology; however, igneous rocks, such as basalt, are also found. The weather is governed by two seasons, dry (April-September) and wet (October-March).The Verde River has undergone anthropogenic changes due to cattle farming, agriculture and, in the last decade, due to dams. Currently, there are three hydroelectric dams in the middle of the basin (Verde 4A, Verde4 and São Domingos) that compartmentalize the habitat and block the migratory paths of the local ichthyofauna.This study analyzes the relationship between the local geochemistry, indicated by the isotopic ratio in water samples (N=52), and the isotopic ratio in fish otoliths (aragonite structure) in hundreds of specimens of different species. Isotopic analysis of otoliths is recognized in scientific literature as a tool that can provide information about the geographic range of fish in their environment.The chemical analyses were performed using LA-ICP mass spectrometers (Neptune XT HR-Thermo) in the raster mode setting to track strontium levels from the core to the edge of each otolith. The 87Sr/86Sr ratio in the water samples was always higher than 0.71; however, some sections of the basin have exceeded the isotopic ratio with values over 0.72, for example, the very first segment of the upper Verde River (0.7260), the upper and lower São Domingos River (0.7272), the Verde River after receiving water from São Domingos River, and most tributaries of the lower Verde River basin. Both the Paraná River and the middle Verde River, upstream of the São Domingos reservoir, had 87Sr/86Sr ratios of below 0.72, the latter section being where we caught most of the fish.The results for 87Sr/86Sr obtained on the edge of the otolith showed consistent correspondence to the values in the water of the sites where the fish were captured. This indicates that the isotopic proportions of strontium obtained in otoliths all the way from the core to the edge must be related to the environments in which the animals grew up, which is the basis for tracing the individual spatial range. Supported by this correlation, we are now analyzing the potential, the previous (in the fish lifespan scale) and the current migratory and dispersal paths for the ichthyofauna. Considering all points, we expect that our results will contribute to a better understanding and management of the regional migratory ichthyofauna in the future.

PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DO PESSOAL DE ENSINO SUPERIOR CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO PROGRAMA DE SUPORTE À PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO DE INSTITUIÇÕES COMUNITÁRIAS DE ENSINO PARTICULARES A presença de metais-traço nos cigarros oferece uma fonte de informação potencial do ponto de vista forense e criminológico, na determinação e classificação de marcas de tabaco, com o intuito de diferenciar as marcas legalizadas das contrabandeadas. Por isso, neste trabalho, almejou-se desenvolver e validar métodos para determinação metais e semimetais presentes nos cigarros, com o intuito de avaliar a viabilidade de discriminação entre as diferentes marcas, analisando as amostras após o processo de calcinação e dissolução ácida. Estes métodos englobam as análises químicas por técnicas espectrométricas (CV-AAS, ICP-OES e DRC-ICP-MS) e posterior interpretação de dados por ACP (Análise dos Componentes Principais) e AAH (Análise de Agrupamento Hierárquico). As concentrações de metais e semimetais (As, Ba, B, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Hg, Ni, Sr e Zn) foram estudadas para dez diferentes marcas de cigarros, obtidas em tabacarias e lojas locais, representando as marcas mais consumidas no país. A utilização da ACP indicou a presença de quatro componentes principais que, em conjunto, explicavam mais de 80 por cento da variabilidade dos dados amostrais. Esses resultados comprovaram a existência de diferenças significativas entre as marcas de tabaco em seus conteúdos elementares, possibilitando a diferenciação entre marcas ilegais e marcas legalizadas e o agrupamento das marcas legalizadas de acordo com as empresas de tabaco as quais pertencem, sendo corroborado pela AAH, feita pelo método da distância média de ligação (UPGMA). Os teores de umidade, cinzas totais e pH de cada marca também foram determinados, no entanto não contribuíram efetivamente para a diferenciação entre as marcas estudadas. A AAH foi utilizada para a interpretação de possíveis similaridades entre os elementos, e em conjunto com o teste de correlação linear de Pearson, indicou similaridades entre os elementos Ba e Sr . Agrupamentos entre Fe e Zn com o Sr e Co com o Mn também foram detectados. The presence of trace metals in cigarettes offers potential source of information from a forensic and criminological point of view, which deals with the determination and classification of tobacco brands, with the aim of differentiating legal brands from smuggled brands. Therefore, this work aimed to develop and validate methods for determining the metallic content present in cigarettes, in order to assess the feasibility of discrimination between different brands, analyzing cigarettes after the process of calcination and acid digestion. These methods include chemical analysis by spectrometric techniques (CV-AAS, ICP-OES and DRC-ICPMS) and subsequent data interpretation by PCA (Principal Component Analysis) and HCA (Hierarchical Cluster Analysis). The concentration of metals and semimetals (As, Ba, B, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Hg Ni, Sr and Zn) were studied for ten different brands of cigarettes, obtained in tobacconists and local stores, representing the brands most consumed in the country. The analysis of PCA indicated the presence of four principal components that together explained more than 80 percent of the variability of the sample data. These results proved the existence of significant differences between tobacco brands in their elemental content, allowing the differentiation between illegal brands and legalized brands and the grouping of legal brands according to the tobacco companies to which they belong, being corroborated by the HCA performed by the average link distance method (UPGMA). The moisture content, total ash and pH of each brand were also determined, however they did not contribute effectively to the differentiation between the brands studied. The HCA used for the interpretation of possible similarities between the elements, and interpreted together with Pearson s linear correlation test indicated similarities between the elements Ba, Sr, in addition to indicating the proximity between the Mn and the Cd. Clusters between Fe and Zn with Sr and Co with Mn were also detected.