Amazon River dolphin love fetishes: From folklore to molecular forensics

Laboratorio de Evolucao e Genetica Animal, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

Laboratorio de Evolucao e Genetica Animal, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil and Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, San Juan, PR 00931, Puerto Rico E?mail: hrbek@uprrp.edu

Laboratorio de Mamiferos Aquaticos (LMA), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

Laboratorio de Evolucao e Genetica Animal, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

Laboratorio de Evolucao e Genetica Animal, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

Laboratorio de Evolucao e Genetica Animal, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil and Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, San Juan, PR 00931, Puerto Rico E?mail: hrbek@uprrp.edu

Laboratorio de Mamiferos Aquaticos (LMA), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

Laboratorio de Evolucao e Genetica Animal, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

Conventional folklore that is amazonian a host of supernatural beings considered to protect its woodlands and streams. Probably the most effective and more popular of the beings may be the Amazon River dolphin Inia geoffrensis, or boto. The boto is typically seen as a mischievous and being that is tempestuous both feared and respected. Probably the most sensational folklore concerning botos is at dusk into handsome Caucasian men, who are skilled at dancing and seducing young women that they transform themselves. Botos may also be considered to often times enter ships or households, paralyzing their occupants to take part in sexual activity. The boto returns back into water, reverting into its dolphin form ( Cravalho 1999 ) before first light. Certainly, unforeseen teenage pregnancies within the Amazon area have now been typically caused by seduction by the boto ( Cravalho 1999 ).

It will be the intimate nature with this folklore that leads to your sensed worth of boto areas of the body as love charms. The most crucial among these would be the eyes and genitalia ( da Silva 1990 ) respected specially by Amazonian town dwellers ( Smith 1996 ). For instance, keeping the attention for the boto while speaking with a part regarding the reverse intercourse is considered to make one very intimately appealing because no-one can resist the boto’s gaze ( Salter 1994 ). Boto genitalia are considered much more effective ( Best and da Silva 1989 ). Grinding the dry penis of this boto, combining it with talcum powder or perfume, and putting it on to your vaginal area is thought to boost the pleasure that a female will give a person. Likewise, the use of a ground dolphin’s vagina to a guy’s penis is known to boost their effectiveness ( Cravalho 1999 ). Other uses, like those seen in Peru and Bolivia, are medicinal where dolphin oil comes to cure upper body disorders.

Need for boto?derived fetishes is high and supposed boto body components can be bought in almost all city that is amazonian and so are utilized mostly by town dwellers ( Smith 1996 ). The native and Caboclo (riverine individuals of blended ancestry) communities look not to ever use boto areas of the body, and mainly may actually respect taboos that are cultural killing these magical pets ( Best and da Silva 1989 ). The use that is ritualistic of areas of the body has additionally been reported into the coastal parts of north and northeastern Brazil ( Siciliano 1994, Reeves et al. 2003 ), where vaginal organs and eyes of both the estuarine dolphin (Sotalia guianensis ) and also the freshwater tucuxi (Sotalia fluvitalis ) are reportedly offered as amulets. The north and northeastern seaside area of Brazil has a good West African heritage that is cultural including Afro?Brazilian religions such as for example Candomble and Macumba. These coastal populations and religions have no taboos against killing dolphins or using their body parts in rituals unlike the case of folklore and traditional practices of the Amazon interior.

To look for the beginning associated with boto fetishes offered in major Amazonian areas, we sampled salted dried boto eyeballs in the Mercado Ver?o?Peso in Belem, Para (n = 22), Mercado Central in Manaus, Amazonas (n = 11), and Mercado Municipal in Porto Velho, Rondonia (n = 10). Samples had been transported to your laboratory where these people were washed, a cut had been changed to them, and an example of muscle formerly unexposed to your environment had been gathered. We additionally analyzed examples acquired from guide folks of Inia g. Geoffrensis, Sotalia fluviatilis, and Sotalia guianensis; recognition of guide people had been on the basis of the control of diagnostic morphological characters. Forensic studies, including the study that is present have now been, among other applications, extremely effective at monitoring the foundation of cetacean by?products and showing the mislabeling of illegally harvested cetacean species as appropriate cetacean items ( ag e.g., Baker and Palumbi 1994, Baker et al. 1996, Palumbi and Cipriano 1998 ).

Total DNA that is genomic obtained from muscle examples using a DNA extraction kit from GE Healthcare (Sao Paulo). Two blank extractions had been carried away to search for contamination; no DNA contamination had been seen. For dedication of intercourse, we utilized the four primer polymerase chain response (PCR) protocol of Rosel (2003). Male and female good control examples had been utilized in molecular sexing. To look for the particular beginning for the salted eyeballs, the mitochondrial control area ended up being amplified through the PCR utilizing the primers L15812 and H153 from Chivers et al. (2005) whereas the cytochrome b region ended up being amplified primers that are using ( Paabo 1990 ) and H15915 ( Irwin et al. 1991 ).