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News from Latin America

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 8-Oct-2025 07:11 ET (8-Oct-2025 11:11 GMT/UTC)

Study reveals mechanism used by tegu lizard to raise own temperature

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Salvator merianae, a giant tegu lizard endemic to South America, regulates its own body temperature during the mating season without relying on external heat and without shivering. Experiments conducted by researchers at São Paulo State University pointed to rising levels and activity of mitochondria in skeletal muscle as the basis for this endothermic ability.

Journal: Acta Physiologica
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Common tree in São Paulo (Brazil) tolerates extreme drought and can help mitigate adverse effects of climate change

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study conducted at the University of São Paulo shows that Tipuana tipu grows faster at higher temperatures and can contribute to the city’s resilience.

Journal: Urban Climate
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Pixels to pasture: how AI can help farmers predict their pasture

The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers from the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT have paved the way for farmers (from small-holders to big ranchers) information about the quantity and quality of their grazing pastures, right there on their smartphone.

Journal: Remote Sensing Applications Society and Environment

Treatment with smoke can favor seed germination in the Cerrado

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The study investigated the effect of two concentrations of smoke on seeds of 44 species typical of the Brazilian savanna-like biome. The results could be used in management and restoration strategies.

Journal: Plant Ecology
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

New discoveries regarding tomato hormones can increase total yield

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) and colleagues in other countries conducted a study showing that strigolactones – substances hitherto associated only with plant development – can directly influence flowering and fruiting.The discovery could have a significant impact on tomato crop yields.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Study identifies protein that affects health of gut microbiota and response to bacterial infection

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Mice that did not produce interleukin 22 binding protein (IL-22BP) had stronger defenses, according to an article published in PNAS. Understanding the protein’s role in intestinal health can pave the way to novel therapeutic strategies.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Timber plantations near urbanized areas support the movement of small and medium-sized terrestrial mammals between patches of natural forest

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers studied commercial timber plantations dominated by non-native trees like teak and acacia in Central Panama to assess their role as habitats and corridors for native wildlife. Using camera traps, they found 16 terrestrial mammal species, mostly small or medium-sized and nocturnal, using these plantations, but large mammals of conservation concern were not detected. The study highlights the potential of timber plantations to support biodiversity and connectivity in human-impacted landscapes but emphasizes the limitations of non-native monoculture plantations, advocating for plantations of diverse species to enhance wildlife conservation efforts.

Journal: Biotropica
Funder: Argos Panamá S.A

Between pasture and forest: The crusade to protect the jaguar in Panama

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Fundacion Yaguara Panama not only leads the protection of the largest feline in the Americas in cattle ranching areas of the country, but also promotes gender equality by actively involving women in key roles in the project, both at the scientific and community levels.

Combination of drugs produces promising results in combating cancer and will be clinically trialed in Europe

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Brazilian researchers innovated by stimulating tumor cells so much that they became stressed and could survive only by behaving like healthy cells. The results of the study were so promising that the researchers plan to hold clinical trials with patients, to be conducted in the Netherlands before the end of 2024.

Journal: Cancer Discovery
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Important region of marine ecosystem in Southwest Atlantic is shallower than expected, study finds

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the Federal University of São Paulo determined for the first time the vertical limits of the subtropical ocean region off the South American coast. They found that the upper limit of the mesotrophic zone, previously assumed to be 30 meters below the surface, was in fact in much shallower waters.

Journal: Marine Environmental Research
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

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