Alves et al.

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2014, 10:30

http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/10/1/30 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
AND ETHNOMEDICINE

RESEARCH Open Access

Students’ attitudes toward and knowledge about

snakes in the semiarid region of Northeastern
Brazil
Rômulo RN Alves1*, Vanessa N Silva1, Dilma MBM Trovão1, José V Oliveira1, José S Mourão1, Thelma LP Dias1,
Ângelo GC Alves2, Reinaldo FP Lucena3, Raynner RD Barboza4, Paulo FGP Montenegro4, Washington LS Vieira4
and Wedson MS Souto4

Abstract
Background: Humans in various cultures have feared snakes, provoking an aversion and persecution that hinders
conservation efforts for these reptiles. Such fact suggests that conservation strategies for snakes should consider the
interactions and perceptions of the local population towards these animals. The aim of this study was to investigate
students' perception of snakes and if attitudes and knowledge may differ according to gender and local residence
(urban or rural).
Methods: Data was collected in the second half of 2012 and consisted of questionnaires applied to 108
students in the Basic Education School in the municipality of Sumé, located in the semiarid region of
Northeastern Brazil.
Results: The male respondents recognized more species than female did. Part of the students affirmed to have a fear
of snakes, especially women. Nearly half of respondents (49%) showed negative behaviour towards these animals,
reflecting the influence of potential risk and myths associated with snakes, and supported by a limited knowledge
about these animals and their ecological and utilitarian role. We find that the rural students recognized significantly
more species than the urban students.
Conclusions: Our results point to the need for educational interventions in order to increase knowledge about the
positive aspects associated with snakes, seeking to minimize the influence of myths and beliefs that contribute to a
strong aversion to snakes by the locals. Conservation strategies should therefore engage students but also teachers,
who are key individuals in the process.
Keywords: Ethnoherpetology, Ethnozoology, Conservation, Snakes

Introduction or indirectly associated to anthropogenic activities. This

Because of overexploitation by humans combined with scenario represents a challenge in the quest for ways to
loss of suitable habitat, conflicts with people, invasions exploit animal resources while at the same time minimiz-
by exotic species and disease and other causes, many ing the impact on animal species [1] and is evident that
species of animals are now considered to be endangered conservationists must understand not only the ecological,
in the wild [1]. Practically all threats which affect the ani- but also the cultural and economic interactions that link
mal species included in the IUCN Red List [2] are direct ecological and social systems into a common regional sys-
tem, as well as understand the feedback that govern these
interactions [3-6].
Conservation of biodiversity not only requires effective
* Correspondence: romulo_nobrega@yahoo.com.br
1
Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Av. das measures, such as the establishment of protected areas,
Baraúnas, 351/Campus Universitário, Bodocongó, 58109-753 Campina legal regulations for the use of natural resources, and the
Grande-PB, Brasil control of introduced species [7], but also requires the
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article

© 2014 Alves et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain
Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article,
unless otherwise stated.
Alves et al. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2014, 10:30 Page 2 of 8
http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/10/1/30

dissemination of public information and education about Methods

native organisms, their value and the consequences of hu- Study area
man activities on local biodiversity [1,7-9]. Achievements of Field research was conducted in an educational institu-
conservation projects could improve if communication and tion located in the municipality of Sumé (07° 40′18 ″S
biodiversity education are incorporated into the compo- and 36° 52′48″ W), Paraiba State, Northeastern Brazil
nents of their design [10,11]. (Figure 1). The municipality has an area of 867 Km2 and
In the semiarid region of Brazil, the human population about 17,085 inhabitants. Information was gathered by the
develops strong relationships with the local faunistic re- Agricultural School of Basic Education Department Evaldo
sources [12-18]. Many species interact with human com- Gonçalves de Queiroz, which assists students from 6th to
munities and are hunted because of their utility (e.g., use as 9th grade and residents of both rural (morning group) and
food, pets, and medicinal purposes) or because their con- urban area (afternoon group).
flicting relationships with the human population [12,16].
When we consider the animals involved in conflicts, snakes Data collection
stand out [16]. The main reason for those conflicts relies Data collection occurred in the second half of 2012. The
on the fact that snakes eventually attack livestock and rep- information was obtained via a questionnaire to students
resent risks to human lives [13,16,19]. In addition, in this of the Primary school (n = 108), aged between 11 and
region, snakes inspire many myths, proverbs, and stories 1 years old. Among the respondents, 56 were female and
generated from the relationships with humans and passed 52 male. A total of 80 students reside in a rural and 28
down from generation to generation through oral tradi- in urban areas. Respondents’ level of education was as
tions, thus, influencing how local people relate to these an- follows: 7th grade (n = 40), 8th grade (n = 40) and 9th grade
imals [16,20]. Moreover, these stories causing negative (n = 28).
attitudes, thus these animals are associated with in fear and Before conducting the student interviews, visits were
loathing by people in the community. made, as well as, a formal permission request to the school
Because of this fear and negative perception, many in order to carry out the work. The objectives of the re-
people have very low interest in snakes and often per- search were explained. Additionally, the consent form was
petuate inaccurate myths [16,21]. This dislike is dangerous presented and the school directors granted permission. Fol-
for both people and snakes because frightened people lowing this, visits were completed to the school classrooms
make irrational decisions that often result in snake death and the consent form was given to the students to be taken
and/or an increased risk of a snakebite [16,22]. Snake per- to their parents so they could authorize the students’ par-
secution confounds conservation efforts. Even in some ticipation in the study. Only after those procedures were
relatively undisturbed natural areas, snake numbers and complete, were data collected. The research was approved
diversity may be depressed because local people kill snakes by the Ethics Committee of the State University of Paraiba
[23]. In this context, it becomes evident that conservation (Protocol CAAE - 0026.0.133.000-10).
strategies directed toward snakes should consider the in- A questionnaire followed by visual stimuli [26] was pre-
teractions and perceptions of the local population towards sented to the students. This stimulus consisted of a board
these animals [16]. The ethnobiological approach is one with pictures of different snake species that occur in the
way to investigate and establish relationships between the surveyed area. The inclusion of species arranged on the
local and scientific knowledge in the school environment board was based on a zoological inventory carried out in
[24,25]. Fazenda Almas, a conservation area of biodiversity consid-
In view of this scenario, the present study is the first ered a Private Natural Reserve of National Patrimony
to investigate, from an ethnozoological perspective, the (PNRNP) [27], which is situated between the municipal-
attitudes and knowledge of students about snakes in the ities of Sumé (where the survey was conducted) and São
semiarid region of Northeastern Brazil, aiming to provide José dos Cordeiros (Paraiba State, Brazil). The photos
baseline data for local conservation activities. The study placed on the board were taken from a hunting herpeto-
focuses on the following questions: What is the students’ fauna catalogue of Caatinga semiarid, published by Alves
perception of snakes? Does this perception vary by their et al. [16]. Besides the native species, images of three alien
residence (urban or rural), gender and age of students? If species and amphisbaenids (group of reptiles with similar
students perceive snakes as dangerous and negative, how morphology to snakes) were included as a control group.
does this influence a conservation perspective? And what The survey questionnaire was related to the recognition
positive aspects of snakes are also recognized? Addition- of the species, their possible importance or usefulness and
ally, the conservation implications associated with percep- whether the species was considered dangerous or not.
tion of snakes are discussed, seeking to contribute to the Additionally, some questions about perception and atti-
conservation of the herpetofauna in the semiarid region of tudes towards snakes complemented the questionnaire
Northeastern Brazil. (see Additional file 1).
Alves et al. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2014, 10:30 Page 3 of 8
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Figure 1 Map showing the studied area.

Data analysis criterion used to recognize these animals, which are lo-
We used descriptive statistics for non-parametric data cally named cobra, even not belonging to the Ophidia
analysis. In order to verify the influence of gender and suborder, a group that includes serpents in general. All
the location of respondents (urban or rural) in the num- snake species listed on the board (n = 27) were recognized
ber of recognized species, we used the Mann–Whitney by students; some of them were recognized by a larger
U test [28]. To verify the influence of the interviewees’ age number of students, especially Micrurus ibiboboca (rec-
in relation to the number of recognized species, we used ognized by 96 students, 88.9%), Boa constrictor (n = 75;
Kendall π correlation [29]; to assess whether the students’ 71.3%), Crotalus durissus (n = 65; 60.2%), Philodryas
education levels (7th, 8th and 9th grades of Primary school) olferssii (n = 62; 57.4%) and Oxyrhopus trigeminus (n = 54;
influenced species recognition we used the Kruskal-Wallis 50%). Even the exotic species were recognized by a signifi-
H test [30]. The Mann–Whitney U test was also used to cant number of students: Naja siamensis (n = 50; 46.3%),
verify whether the respondents’ gender influences the per- Python molurus (n = 35; 32.4%) and Elaphe guttata (n = 13;
ception of fear of snakes. For all tests, we used a signifi- 12.0%). The recognition of the presented species is not sur-
cance level of 5% (p <0.05). Data were analyzed with SPSS© prising, since most species are native to the study region,
software version 20 [31]. allowing the possibility of contact or visualization of these
snakes during everyday activities by the students themselves
Results and discussion or by other people. Concerning exotic species, recognition
The name “snakes” was the term used by all students may be related to the influence of the media (TV, internet),
interviewed to appoint all animals present on the board, making it possible that these species can be viewed by stu-
including serpents (native or exotic) and amphisbae- dents in movies, documentaries and internet sites, even
nians, revealing that serpentiform morphology is the main though they do not occur in Brazil. This shows that the
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“local” knowledge or “traditional” knowledge may have a re- Moreover, when we consider the age group and number
lationship to exogenous information, and even with scien- of recognized snake species, we can see a slightly positive
tific knowledge [32]. correlation (Kendall τ = 0.17, p <0.05), showing that age of
It is clearly noticed that the recognition of snake spe- the respondents did not strongly influence animal recogni-
cies is influenced by factors such as the size, color- tion. These results differ from previous studies that showed
pattern and poisonous potential, since the three snakes that age influences the perception of animals [33,39,40]. It
species known to a larger number of students were: M. should be emphasized, however, that in the present study,
ibiboboca (venomous snake with characteristic color- the results may be related to the slight variation in the re-
pattern), B. constrictor (the largest snake species that oc- spondents’ age in our sample (11–19 years, with average of
curs in Northeast semiarid region) and C. durissus (one 13.6), which makes it difficult to discuss this parameter ac-
of the most venomous snakes that occurs in the region). curately. The same situation was verified when considering
Even when the students recognize the species pictured the level of education, which did not affect the recognition
on the boards, discrepancies were found between the of the number of snake species (Kruskal-Wallis H(2) = 0.46;
vernacular names given. For instance, eight respondents p > 0.05).
called the species B. constrictor rattlesnake “cascavel,” al- Most students (72.3%) distinguish between venomous
though this is a common name given to C. durissus. In a and non-venomous species, an acknowledgment that may
way, that divergence between vernacular names is not reflect information obtained from school. This situation
unexpected since the folk denominations of snakes may differs from what has been recorded in ethnozoological re-
vary between different locations [16]. searches in many localities of Northeast semiarid [16] and
In general, female respondents recognize fewer species Brazil [19,41,42], where there is a widespread perception
than male respondents (average of 5.7 and 8.3 species, that most snakes species are considered poisonous, regard-
respectively) (Table 1). Such difference is statistically less of whether or not they have this characteristic. This is
significant (Mann–Whitney U test = 893, n (women) = the same perception of a considerable part of interviewed
56, n (men) = 52, p <0.05)), and confirms previous stud- students (n = 31, 28.7%), who affirmed not distinguish be-
ies which showed that the perception of animal varies tween venomous and non-venomous species. Among the
with gender [33-35]. Farias and Alves [36], for instance, 21 snake species that occur in the surveyed area and were
describe a case in which girls knew less about birds than presented to the students, only three are poisonous and
boys do, and both group studied at a public school in most dangerous: rattlesnake “cascavel” (Crotalus durissus),
the Metropolitan Region of Recife, Northeast Brazil. Caatinga Lancehead “jararaca” (Bothropoides erythromelas)
Kellert and Berry [33] point out that gender influences and real coral snake (Micrurus ibiboboca). Although most
almost all dimensions of attitudes and knowledge about of the students recognize that most species are not poison-
animals, and suggest that men and women have different ous, they are considered aggressive and dangerous, a fact
emotional and cognitive orientations toward animals. that presents a serious conservation problem as it stimu-
Lindemann‐Matthies [37] showed that males generally lates the indiscriminate serpents kill, regardless of whether
like wild and exotic animals whilst females rather prefer or not they are poisonous. It should be highlighted that
pets. Kellert and Berry [33] found that women were only a marginal number of local species are being pointed
more humane about animals than men, but they were also out as responsible for human deaths in Northeastern
more negative in attitudes toward some animals than Brazil [43], in the surveyed area, as well as in other areas
were men. Similar sex differences were also documented of Northeast semiarid [16] and Brazil [19,41,42].
relating to humans’ fears of large carnivores; with fe- The aversion to snakes also extends to the amphis-
males expressing a greater fear to phobic animals than baenians, which are popularly known as serpents due
males [38]. to their serpentiform morphology. Respondents recog-
In the surveyed area, the highest perception of snakes nize and classify these animals as snakes, naming them
by boys may be related to the fact that the majority of mostly as “two headed snakes.” This kind of perception
respondents live in rural areas, where in general, the contributes to the development of a negative behaviour
dominant role of men is with pastoral activities and sub- regarding these animals. A similar situation was re-
sistence agriculture, where it is common to encounter ported by Pinto et al. [44], who completed ethnozoolo-
snakes, while women take care of household chores, where gical research in the Minas Gerais State and found
the possibility of encountering these animals is minimal. In that, besides snakes, amphisbaenians and lizards of the
fact, comparing the total snakes recognized by students of genus Ophiodes and Heterodactylus are also arbitrarily
urban and rural areas, we find that the rural students recog- killed by locals due to classify them as serpents. This
nized significantly more species than the urban students shows a strong connection between knowledge and be-
(Mann–Whitney U test = 797, n (rural) = 80, n (urban) = 28, haviour, an important aspect in ethnoecological studies
p = 0.02). in general [45].
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Table 1 Number of students who recognized the species presented on boards

Species present on board images Students (n /%) Male (n) Female (n)
Native species
Micrurus ibiboca - (Merrem 1820) 96 (89%) 47 49
Boa constrictor - (Linnaeus 1758) 75 (69%) 42 33
Crotalus durissus - (Linaeus 1758) 65 (60%) 38 27
Philodryas olfersii –(Lichtenstein 1823) 62 (57%) 35 27
Oxyrhopus trigemenus -(Duméril, Bibron & Duméril 1854) 54 (50%) 30 24
Boiruna sertaneja - (Zaher 1996) 41 (38%) 24 17
Leptophis ahaetulla- (Linnaeus 1758) 40 (37%) 22 18
Oxybelis aeneus- (Wagler 1824) 39 (36%) 27 12
Liophis viridis- (Gunther 1862) 32 (30%) 16 16
Corallus hortulanus- (Linnaenus 1754) 25 (23%) 16 9
Bothropoides erythomela- (Amaral 1923) 23 (21%) 11 12
Leptodeira annulata- (Linnaeus 1758) 18 (17%) 11 7
Liophis poecilogyrus- (Wied 1825) 16 (15%) 8 8
Epictia borapeliotes- (Vanzolini 1996) 16 (15%) 10 6
Pseudoboa nigra- (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril 1854) 11 (10%) 6 5
Thamndynas teshypoconia- (Cope 1860) 11 (10%) 6 5
Apostepis cearensis- (Gomes 1815) 10 (9%) 7 2
Epicrates assisi- (Machado 1945) 9 (8%) 5 4
Philodryas nattereri- (Steindachner 1870) 7 (6%) 3 4
Pseudoboa nigra- (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril 1854) 3 (3%) 2 1
Xenodon merremii- (Wagler 1824) 2 (2%) 2 0
Thamnodynastes sertanejo- (Bailey, Thomas & Silva-Jr 2005) 2 (2%) 2 0
Exotic species
Naja siamensis Laurenti 1768 50 (46%) 30 20
Python molurus (Linnaeus 1758) 35 (32%) 20 15
Elaphe guttata Conant & Collins 1991 13 (12%) 8 5
Amphisbaenas
Amphisbaena alba- (Linnaeus 1758) 65 (60%) 40 25
Amphisbaena cf lumbricalis- (Vanzolini 1996) 17 (16%) 12 5
Amphisbaena vermicularis- (Wagler 1824) 11 (10%) 8 3

Most respondents (n = 66; 61.1%) affirmed that they were negative perception in relation to these animals is common
fearful of snakes. Such aversion is more frequent among in the Northeast [16].
women (n = 49; 74%), while 32.7% (n = 17) of men also Snakes have been feared by humans of many cultures,
have this perception (Mann–Whitney U = 684, n (men) = 52, particularly due the fact that many snakes are deadly
n (women) = 56, p <0.05; ΣRwomen = 3824, ΣRmen = 2062), venomous [50]. In the surveyed area, the lethal potential
showing a trend reported in other studies which pointed of the serpents certainly contributes to the spread of the
out that gender differentiates knowledge of and attitudes fear of these animals [16]. However, most species occur-
toward animals [7,33,46]. Similar to our results, Prokop ring in the semiarid region are not poisonous, meaning
et al. [47], in research on students’ attitudes regarding that many snake accidents may not result in the victims’
snakes, verified that fear of snakes is higher in women than death. This reality, though, is ignored by much of the
in men. Likewise, this situation was also reported in rela- population who cannot distinguish between venomous
tion to other animals such as spiders [48] and bats [48,49]. and non-venomous species, and thus, consider all these
It is noteworthy that regardless of gender, there is a great animals as dangerous and harmful [16]. This same ap-
aversion to snakes, which is not surprising as the people’s proach was observed among part of the interviewed
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students who demonstrate uncertainty on the differenti- Table 2 Examples of ecological importance utility value
ation between species that are venomous and those that of snakes according to respondents
are not, although the majority of respondents (n = 77) Importance No. of citations
agreed that not all snakes are poisonous. Important for nature 8
Importantly, the fear of snakes is not only related with It is part of the food chain, controlling the 5
real risks that some species represent, but also to the populations of other animals
legends, beliefs, fables, myths and other cultural aspects Prevent the growth of pests such as rats 2
linked to these animals [1,16,19,51,52]. Among the most Eat other snakes and other poisonous animals 13
relevant cultural features, religious beliefs and practices
Utility value of snakes
have long influenced the interaction between serpents
and people [53,54], and in the Northeast semiarid region it “The poison serves to make medicine” 13
is no different [16,52]. In this region, Catholicism is among Used as food 2
the most widespread religions, and as well as other expres- “The rattle can be used for some stuff” 2
sions of Christian faith, it has influenced the attitudes to- Used in folk medicine 3
wards the local wildlife [55,56]. In this scenario, biblical As pet 1
passages such as in the book of Genesis, in which a serpent
Total 21
deceives Eve, the first woman created by God, so that she
eats the fruit of the forbidden tree in order to have the dis-
cernment of good and evil, can contribute to the bad repu- the poison works as a “medicine.” The first statement,
tation of snakes and is one of the reasons there is such an despite being identified as a positive aspect, reveals the
aversion to these animals in the region [52]. These negative antipathy that local people have on all kind of snakes.
perceptions of snakes are widespread in largely ophiopho- The second statement, which imparts medicinal value
bic Judeo-Christian societies, which condemn snakes for to snakes, is supported by the medical literature that
their perceived treachery against humans as represented by recognizes that reptiles have been used as sources of drugs
Adam and Eve in biblical times [57-59]. In addition, there for modern medical practices [60,61]. Reptiles’ venoms are
are several other myths and tales not related to religion complex mixtures of bioactive molecules [62]. Moreover,
that contribute to the persecution of snakes in the Brazilian the venom of snakes belonging to the families Viperidae
semiarid region [16,52]. It is important to stress, how- and Elapidae contain analgesic substances that are stron-
ever, that not every animal culturally associated with ger than morphine and have been used to treat terminal
evil is hunted indiscriminately, as pointed by Marques cancer patients [63].
[55] and Farias et al. [56].
Assuming eventual encounters with snakes, almost half Final considerations and implications for conservation
of the students (n = 53, 49%) responded in such a way that The present study provides evidence that snakes are per-
indicates that they would kill the animal; 22 of affirmed ceived by many of the students as being harmful and
they would do it by themselves and 31 stated they would dangerous, and most students face a major aversion to
call someone to accomplish this task. Among others re- snakes. These perceptions encourage negative attitudes,
spondents, 48 would choose to let the snake live and 5 especially related to the attempt to kill whenever a snake
would make the snake go back to the bushes. It is notice- is found. These negative attitudes reflect the influences of
able that the part of respondents have negative attitudes a potential threat and some myths associated with snakes.
towards these animals, which reflects common practices in It is also due to limited knowledge about these animals
the Northeast semiarid region where snakes are frequently and their ecological and utilitarian role. Similar situations
killed during daily activities of local people, regardless of occurs not only in Brazil but is spread in different loca-
species [16]. Two respondents did not answer this ques- tions worldwide, making snakes among the most disliked
tion. It is interesting that there was a development of nega- animals; they trigger very strong levels of fear and destruc-
tive attitudes (as is common in the Brazilian semiarid tive behaviours [47,64-67].
region), but also positive, which may be a result of the On the other hand, a significant portion of students
close contact with scientific information disseminated in admitted positive aspects about snakes, highlighting their
books, television programs and internet sites [32]. ecological and economical role. This positive perception is
Positive aspects related to snakes were mentioned by important from a conservationist perspective and should
32 students, of which attributed some importance or be encouraged, seeking to minimize the influence of myths
utility of any value to these animals (Table 2). Thirteen and beliefs that contribute to a strong hatred for these
students cited at least two main aspects of importance animals. Conservation strategies should therefore en-
of these animals: a) some species are important once they gage students but also teachers, who are key individuals
feed on other snakes and other poisonous animals, and b) in the process.
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RRNA, VNS, DMBMT, JVO, JSM, TLPD, AGCA, RFPL, RRDB, PFGPM, WLSV and 17. Souto WMS, Mourão JS, Barboza RRD, Mendonca LET, Lucena RFP,
WMSS–Writing of the manuscript, literature survey and interpretation, and Confessor MVA, Vieira WLS, Montenegro PFGP, Lopez LCS, Alves RRN:
analysis of taxonomic aspects; VNS, RRNA–Ethnozoological data. All authors Medicinal animals used in ethnoveterinary practices of the’Cariri
read and approved the final manuscript. Paraibano’, NE Brazil. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 2011, 7(1):30.
18. Souto WMS, Mourão JS, Barboza RRD, Alves RRN: Parallels between
Acknowledgments zootherapeutic practices in ethnoveterinary and human complementary
The authors would like to acknowledge to CNPq/Edital Universal program medicine in NE Brazil. J Ethnopharmacol 2011, 134(3):753–767.
(476460/2012-3) for financial support. The first author would like to 19. Alves RRN, Vieira KS, Santana GG, Vieira WLS, Almeida WO, Souto WMS,
acknowledge to CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Montenegro PFGP, Pezzuti JCB: A review on human attitudes towards
Tecnológico) for providing a research fellowship. Special thanks are due to reptiles in Brazil. Environ Monit Assess 2012, 184(11):6877–6901.
all interviewees, who kindly shared their knowledge with us. 20. Fernandes-Ferreira H, Cruz RL, Borges-Nojosa DM, Alves RRN: Folklore
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Grande-PB, Brasil. 2Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal Rural de Southeastern Brazil. Biota Neotrop 2010, 10(4):133–141.
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