Estudo observacional de afecções da superordem Xenarthra de vida livre e cativeiro no Brasil

Abstract

The Xenarthra superorder is composed by two orders, Cingulata (armadillos) and Pilosa (sloths and anteater). There is little information concerning anatomic pathology of these animals in the literature, thus this work aimed to describe the pathology of Xenarthra from wildlife and captivity in Brazil, through an observational study. We used 141 animals from five states (São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Mato Grosso do Sul and Amazonas) from different sources, containing 32 captive and 109 free living animals. 44 animals were killed by runovers and 10 by burns. Other diseases and significant changes are related to metabolic disorders (iron storage, mineralization and taurine deficiency), protozoan and metazoan parasites, infectious diseases such as candidiasis, sporotrichosis, clostridiosis and a suspected distemper, and proliferative disorders including three cases of squamous cell carcinoma. A significant amount of these findings have not yet been described in Xenarthra. Concluding, lesions described herein may serve as reference for wildlife forensics; and as a contribution to the improvement of conservation efforts of these species.