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O conceito de Evolução Biológica, baseado na Seleção Natural, é considerado um guia articulador dos conteúdos da Biologia, além de contribuir para a construção do pensamento crítico dos alunos, devido ao seu caráter controverso. Entretanto, o seu ensino em sala de aula enfrenta obstáculos, como a falta de tempo, escassez de recursos didáticos e o conhecimento prévio dos alunos. Tendo em vista minimizar as dificuldades em se trabalhar o tema em sala de aula, objetivou-se nesse trabalho avaliar a eficácia da intervenção utilizando um protocolo de ensino de Evolução Biológica no Ensino Médio baseado nos cinco princípios fundamentais de Charles Darwin, por meio de instrumentos para o ensino. O projeto foi aplicado no Instituto Federal do Espírito Santo – Campus Santa Teresa, com duas turmas da terceira série do Ensino Médio. As informações dos jogos, site e vídeo serviram de base para trabalhar as premissas do protocolo e como fundamento para os conceitos do livro didático. Para a obtenção de dados, os alunos desenvolveram relatórios ao final de cada etapa, que foram analisados a partir do método pedagógico de categorização de conteúdos, quadros e gráfico. Verificou-se que o uso de uma metodologia alternativa mais dinâmica, estruturada nas premissas de Darwin, permitiu maior entendimento sobre a Evolução e despertou maior atenção dos discentes, colaborando para o desenvolvimento das aulas. Portanto, conclui-se que a proposta metodológica surge como uma alternativa eficaz quanto à articulação dos conceitos da Biologia à luz da Evolução, facilitando o trabalho do professor e potencializando a aprendizagem do aluno.

We present herein the first record of Euryzygomatomys spinosus (G. Fischer, 1814) in the Brazilian Cerrado, based on two adult male specimens collected in a “campo limpo” (dry grassland) area at Sempre Vivas National Park, state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil, in June and August 2014. This taxon was previously known only from the Brazilian Pampas, Paraguayan Chaco Humedo and Atlantic Forest of southeastern and southern Brazil, northeastern Argentina and southern Paraguay. Our records increased the species geographic range 250 km northward, into the Cerrado ecoregion.

We report the discovery of a new species of Coendou (Rodentia, Erethizontidae), here designated Coendou speratus sp. nov. This small porcupine, locally known as coandumirim, is found in the Pernambuco Endemism Centre in the Atlantic coast of northeastern Brazil north of the São Francisco river, one of the most important known biodiversity hotspots. The geographic range of C. speratus overlaps with that of the larger, widespread C. prehensilis, but not with that of C. insidiosus from the southeastern Atlantic forest, nor with that of C. nycthemera, an eastern Amazonian species. Coendou speratus is a small-bodied, long-tailed species that appears to be completely spiny because it lacks long dorsal fur. The dorsal quills have conspicuously brownish red tips that contrast with the blackish dorsal background color. The new species is overall similar to C. nycthemera, but the dorsal body quills are typically tricolored in the former and bicolored in the latter. The new species is externally very distinct from C. insidiosus, especially because the latter has bicolored dorsal quills that are almost completely hidden beneath longer and homogeneous pale or dark hairs.

The Brazilian porcupine was one of several species described and illustrated by the 17 th -century naturalist Georg Marcgrave, whose text was among the primary references upon which Linnaeus based his Hystrix prehensilis. As currently understood, Coendou prehensilis is a wide-ranging polytypic taxon that has never been revised and may represent a complex of closely related species. Given that no name-bearing type specimen of C. prehensilis is believed to be extant, and in order to avoid ambiguous application of this name, we designate a specimen collected at the type locality in Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil, as the neotype for Hystrix prehensilis Linnaeus. The geographic distribution of mitochondrial DNA haplotypes suggests that specimens from west-central Brazil previously identified as “Coendou prehensilis” belong to a different species, but only a comprehensive taxonomic revision of the genus will shed light on species limits and the geographic ranges of C. prehensilis and other congeneric forms.

In Description, section Skull, on page 426, line 27: "fossa ?-shaped" should read "fossa V-shaped".

We report the discovery of a new species of Coendou (Rodentia, Erethizontidae), here designated Coendou speratus sp. nov. This small porcupine, locally known as coandumirim, is found in the Pernambuco Endemism Centre in the Atlantic coast of northeastern Brazil north of the Sao Francisco river, one of the most important known biodiversity hotspots. The geographic range of C. speratus overlaps with that of the larger, widespread C. prehensilis, but not with that of C. insidiosus from the southeastern Atlantic forest, nor with that of C. nycthemera, an eastern Amazonian species. Coendou speratus is a small-bodied, long-tailed species that appears to be completely spiny because it lacks long dorsal fur. The dorsal quills have conspicuously brownish red tips that contrast with the blackish dorsal background color. The new species is overall similar to C. nycthemera, but the dorsal body quills are typically tricolored in the former and bicolored in the latter. The new species is externally very distinct from C. insidiosus, especially because the latter has bicolored dorsal quills that are almost completely hidden beneath longer and homogeneous pale or dark hairs.