Study of metallic elements in eggshell of Caiman latirostris: preliminary results

JAZMIN BAUSO; PAMELA ML LEIVA; MELINA S. SIMONCINI; ALEJANDRO LARRIERA; MARIA CULZONI; CARLOS I. PIÑA

CHETUMAL

Congreso; XXV Working Meeting CSG-UICN; 2022

CSG

Deforestation and other changes in land use are the main reasons why manhas drastically modified the wildlife habitat, being the agricultural activity the mostcontributing one due to the use (often indiscriminate) of agrochemicals, fertilizersand external antiparasitic chemicals, which have had multiple impacts. Recently, inArgentina, agricultural activity has increased exponentially, and livestock farmingwas concentrated in intensive systems due to the global demand for resources,particularly food, as a result of demographic expansion. This leads to the dispersionof various contaminants, such as heavy metals associated with the use of pesticidesand fertilizers. The objective of this study was to determine and compare levels ofheavy metals (whose origin may be related to anthropogenic activities), present inthe eggshells of Caiman latirostris in different reproductive seasons, in the provinceof Santa Fe (Argentina). For this purpose, we collected C. latirostris eggs in siteswith different degrees of anthropization. Then, they were taken to the laboratoryfor processing and analysis, to determine the concentration of metallic elements.We detected heavy metals such as copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn), being Zn theone found in greater proportion followed by Cu and Pb. It should be noted that in2014 Pb was not found, while it was detected in recent samples (2020), suggesting thatthe increase in anthropogenic activities has caused the presence of new metallicelements highly toxic to animals. This study provided valuable information related tothe presence of heavy metals in the eggshells of C. latirostris, very useful to monitorpossible contamination in their habitats due to the presence of metallic elements.