Knowledge of phylogenetic relationships among organisms is essential for anchoring evolutionary studies. Phylogenomic studies use large amounts of genetic data in analyses, which is particularly important for highly phenotypically variable taxa that are difficult to distinguish from one another without the use of genetic data, due to the abundance of homoplasy in morphological characters typically used in morphological classification. Use of genome-scale molecular data has thus become the gold standard for identifying these phylogenetic relationships, specifically in comparison to past studies based on fewer genes. Greater quantities of genetic data, in addition to finer taxon sampling, may lead to different conclusions about phylogenetic relationships among organisms compared to previous studies, necessitating new analyses on organisms when new discoveries of populations and new sources of genetic data arise. Ranitomeya poison frogs (Amphibia: Dendrobatidae) are an Amazonian lineage of dendrobatid frogs consisting of 16 species possessing remarkable diversity in color pattern, range size, and parental care behavior. I present the first phylogeny based on genomic data for all species in Ranitomeya, using maximum likelihood and multi-species coalescent methods. I used ultraconserved elements (UCEs), a genome-scale nuclear marker, as my source of molecular data to construct the tree. I also present divergence time estimations using the MCMCTree program. My results indicate several differences from previous analyses in terms of interspecific relationships. Notably, I find R. toraro and R. defleri constitute different species groups, and recover R. uakarii as paraphyletic. I also designate former populations of R. fantastica from Isla Pongo, Peru and Tarapoto as R. summersi, and transfer the French Guianan R. amazonica populations to R. variabilis. My study clarifies both interspecific and intraspecific relationships within Ranitomeya, and provides key insights into phylogeny that pave the way for future studies testing hypotheses on color pattern evolution and historical biogeography.

Orientador: Claudio Oliveira / Resumo: A família Serrasalmidae é endêmica da região Neotropical, amplamente distribuída na América do Sul, e possui 97 espécies válidas distribuídas em 16 gêneros recentes e um fóssil. Embora a monofilia de Serrasalmidae seja bem estabelecida, assim como dos três clados que a compõe, várias relações entre os subgrupos são ainda conflitantes, há confusão sobre as posições dos gêneros dentro destes clados e restam dúvidas sobre a monofilia, composição e validade dos gêneros e espécies. Ainda, a imprecisão da descrição de muitas das espécies e seus atuais status taxonômicos dificultam o entendimento e o estudo para diversas áreas. Sendo assim, o presente trabalho visou elucidar as relações filogenéticas da família através de análises filogenômicas utilizando elementos ultraconservados (UCEs) e delimitar espécies de Catoprion e Pygocentrus através de análises integrativas, morfológicas e moleculares. Os resultados corroboram a monofilia da família, bem como dos três clados principais: (1) Colossoma, Mylossoma e Piaractus, (2) o “clado Myleus” formado por Acnodon, Myleus, Mylesinus, Myloplus, Ossubtus, Tometes e Utiaritichthys e (3) o “clado piranha”, composto por Catoprion, Metynnis, Pristobrycon, Pygocentrus, Pygopristis e Serrasalmus. As relações dentro do clado “Colossoma+Mylossoma+Piaractus” são bem suportadas, com Piaractus irmão do clado Colossoma e Mylossoma, sendo este clado grupo irmão de todos os outros serrasalmídeos. O “clado Myleus” apresenta gêneros não-monofiléticos, como... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Serrasalmidae is an endemic Neotropical fish family, broadly distributed in South America, with 97 valid species allocated in 16 extant genera and one fossil. Even though the monophyly of the family is well stablished, as the formation of three major clades composing it, several aspects of relationships between subgroups are discordant among authors and are observed conflicts in the interrelationships and monophyly of some genera, and in the validity of some species. Furthermore, the imprecision of the species description and its current taxonomic status make it difficult the understanding and study for several areas. Thus, the present study aimed to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships within the family through a phylogenomic analysis using ultraconserved elements (UCEs) and to delimit species of Catoprion and Pygocentrus through morphological and molecular integrative analysis. The results corroborate the monophyly of family as well as the three main clades: (1) Colossoma, Mylossoma and Piaractus, (2) the “Myleus clade” composed by Acnodon, Myleus, Mylesinus, Myloplus, Ossubtus, Tometes and Utiaritichthys, and (3) the “piranha clade", composed by Catoprion, Metynnis, Pristobrycon, Pygocentrus, Pygopristis and Serrasalmus. The relationships within the “Colossoma+Mylossoma+Piaractus” clade are well supported, with Colossoma and Mylossoma as sister group of Piaractus, and this clade sister to all other Serrasalmids. The “Myleus clade” contains several non-monophyletic gene... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

<p>The rapid development of Internet technologies has led to the emergence of new communication means. E-mail has become a new powerful tool used by millions with the main purpose of exchanging information. Considering its large scope, marketers have been using the e-mail as an important direct marketing force and it has become a popular choice for many companies. The e-mail has therefore constituted a new form of on-line marketing coined “E-mail marketing”. However, the increasing use of the e-mail marketing has been adversely affected by the appearance of non-traditional marketing communication media such as unsolicited commercial e-mails (UCEs). The main reasons behind the alarming growth of the UCEs are those explained by the low-cost structure of the e-mail and, thus, a small number of responses are required for generating a profit (Moustakas <em>et al.</em>, 2006; p.45; Shenoy, 2008; p.32). This unsolicited medium used for reaching consumers has evolved from mere nuisance to actual threat (Mendleson, 2010; p.38), which has brought a new complexity into consumers’ daily lives. This in its turn calls for examination of consumer’s perception about the unsolicited commercial e-mails.</p><p> </p><p>Hence, the aim of this thesis is to examine consumer’s perceptions about the mentioned unsolicited marketing communication medium. This will provide increased awareness of the profound implications that the UCEs have on e-commerce and the e-mail marketing on the whole and, particularly, on Internet user groups such as companies, e-mail service providers and policy makers. The study was conducted with a positivistic position and followed a deductive approach, taking known theories as point of departure. The theories presented are mainly concerned with: privacy, ethical and legislation issues; consumer’s reactions and motives behind the opening of the e-mail; the impact of the UCEs on the brand image and overall implications of the UCEs.</p><p> </p><p>A self-completion questionnaire was used as method of data collection. The results indicate that the UCEs are perceived as slightly unethical and neither intrusive nor nonintrusive by the respondents. There is also no clear perceived protection by the anti-spam law, which claims the need for improvement of the policy makers’ work. The results also reveal that the most common consumer’s reaction is to disregard and delete the UCEs, although a small but considerable percentage of the consumers respond. The findings show that the different contents of the UCEs are perceived with low levels of interest by the respondents. Also, the motives behind the opening of the UCEs by the respondents are distributed nearly equal: the credibility of the sender, simply the curiosity and the attractiveness of the subject line. This study reveals a fairly negative perceived image of the companies advertised by the UCEs, which proves the associated cost of sending the UCEs. Furthermore, it has been found that the respondents are concerned about sharing their e-mail addresses with e-companies because of the UCEs and that the latter hinder the accessibility to solicited commercial e-mails in the e-mail inboxes. The e-mail service providers have been also affected since a quarter of the respondents have changed them as a consequence of receiving the UCEs. Thus, the results of this thesis show the adverse implications of the UCEs on electronic commerce, e-mail marketing and on Internet user groups.</p>

The rapid development of Internet technologies has led to the emergence of new communication means. E-mail has become a new powerful tool used by millions with the main purpose of exchanging information. Considering its large scope, marketers have been using the e-mail as an important direct marketing force and it has become a popular choice for many companies. The e-mail has therefore constituted a new form of on-line marketing coined “E-mail marketing”. However, the increasing use of the e-mail marketing has been adversely affected by the appearance of non-traditional marketing communication media such as unsolicited commercial e-mails (UCEs). The main reasons behind the alarming growth of the UCEs are those explained by the low-cost structure of the e-mail and, thus, a small number of responses are required for generating a profit (Moustakas et al., 2006; p.45; Shenoy, 2008; p.32). This unsolicited medium used for reaching consumers has evolved from mere nuisance to actual threat (Mendleson, 2010; p.38), which has brought a new complexity into consumers’ daily lives. This in its turn calls for examination of consumer’s perception about the unsolicited commercial e-mails.   Hence, the aim of this thesis is to examine consumer’s perceptions about the mentioned unsolicited marketing communication medium. This will provide increased awareness of the profound implications that the UCEs have on e-commerce and the e-mail marketing on the whole and, particularly, on Internet user groups such as companies, e-mail service providers and policy makers. The study was conducted with a positivistic position and followed a deductive approach, taking known theories as point of departure. The theories presented are mainly concerned with: privacy, ethical and legislation issues; consumer’s reactions and motives behind the opening of the e-mail; the impact of the UCEs on the brand image and overall implications of the UCEs.   A self-completion questionnaire was used as method of data collection. The results indicate that the UCEs are perceived as slightly unethical and neither intrusive nor nonintrusive by the respondents. There is also no clear perceived protection by the anti-spam law, which claims the need for improvement of the policy makers’ work. The results also reveal that the most common consumer’s reaction is to disregard and delete the UCEs, although a small but considerable percentage of the consumers respond. The findings show that the different contents of the UCEs are perceived with low levels of interest by the respondents. Also, the motives behind the opening of the UCEs by the respondents are distributed nearly equal: the credibility of the sender, simply the curiosity and the attractiveness of the subject line. This study reveals a fairly negative perceived image of the companies advertised by the UCEs, which proves the associated cost of sending the UCEs. Furthermore, it has been found that the respondents are concerned about sharing their e-mail addresses with e-companies because of the UCEs and that the latter hinder the accessibility to solicited commercial e-mails in the e-mail inboxes. The e-mail service providers have been also affected since a quarter of the respondents have changed them as a consequence of receiving the UCEs. Thus, the results of this thesis show the adverse implications of the UCEs on electronic commerce, e-mail marketing and on Internet user groups.