Interviews
Interviews for TV Universitario and TV Paranaíba (Uberlândia, MG, Brazil), and for several international magazines about the description of the first case of paternal care in a solitary spider species. In the spider Manogea porracea (Araneidae), the male takes care of the offspring in the absence of the female. The father renew the silk threads of the nursery web when they break, preventing the fertilized eggs within the egg sacs and the spiderlings from falling to the ground and being attacked by other predators. He also actively protects the offspring from predation by other araneophagic spider species that invade the webs to steal prey and eventually attack eggs.
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MOURA, R. R.; VASCONCELLOS-NETO, J.; GONZAGA, M. O. (2017). Extended male care in Manogea porracea (Araneae: Araneidae): The exceptional case of a spider with amphisexual care. ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR, 123:01-09.
Interview for Agência FAPESP (São Paulo, SP) and other media on paternal care of adopted progeny in the spider Manogea porracea (Araneidae). The male protects the egg sacs and spiderlings against predators (which are other species of spiders that invade the M. porracea's web) even when he did not fertilized the eggs. Therefore, the male cannot distinguish between his offspring and the offspring of other males, taking care of any egg sac found on the web. As the title of the article says: "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise". This is an excerpt from the poem "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College", wrote by the English poet Thomas Gray (1716-1771).
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MOURA, R. R.; OLIVEIRA, I. D.; VASCONCELLOS-NETO, J.; GONZAGA, M. O. (2020). 'Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise': Indiscriminate male care in a neotropical spider. ETHOLOGY, 00:01-08.
Rios de Ciência
Participation in the episode "Aranhas" (spiders) of the "Biologismo" podcast where we talked about who the spiders are, what they do, where they live, why they are beautiful and why fear them is unfair. It was a sensational experience, very fun and with great content for dissemination and scientific education. You can listen to these and other cool episodes on Spotify or on the Biologism website:
Coffee with Professors is an initiative to publicize the Biological Sciences course at the State University of Minas Gerais (UEMG), Ituiutaba Campus, MG, Brazil. In this conversation, me and Prof. Dr. David Teixeira Guidoti talked about the university, our experiences throughout academic training and answered questions from students and other participants in the live. The live was broadcasted on the course's Instagram channel: @biouemg.
I gave this lecture on Darwin's Day (02/12/2021) at an event organized by the Ecology Group at the University of International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusophony (UNILAB), Brazil. Much of this talk was based on an article I wrote for Ciência Hoje magazine with my collaborators.
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MOURA, R. R.; BARTOLETI, L. F. M.; BRITO, V. L. G. (2016). Novas Fronteiras da Teoria da Evolução. CIÊNCIA HOJE, 58:44-49.