Dr Luiza Passos

My name is Luiza Passos and I am a Brazilian biologist and recieved PhD at the University of Salford. My project was entitled: ‘Keeping fit for the ark: are zoo bred reptiles and amphibians ready to go back to the wild?’

I investigated the behavioural skills of reptiles and amphibians in zoos and how this would affect their survivorship in the case of a reintroduction to the wild. During my research I sampled both from wild and zoo populations in order to produce a database for future comparisons.

My focus species is the golden mantella frog, a species endemic to Madagascar and the Jamaican Anole.

I am now based within the School of Biological and Environmental Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University 

Key publications

Figueiredo Passos L, Garcia G, Young R. (2020). How does captivity affect skin colour reflectance of golden mantella frogs? The Herpetological Journal, 30 :13-19 DOI https://doi.org/10.33256/hj30.1.1319

Figueiredo Passos L, Garcia G, Young RJ. (2018). Comparing the bacterial communities of wild and captive golden mantella frogs: Implications for amphibian conservation PLoS ONE, 13 :e0205652-e0205652 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205652

Figueiredo Passos L, Garcia G, Young RJ. (2017). Neglecting the call of the wild: Captive frogs like the sound of their own voice PLoS ONE, 12 :e0181931-e0181931 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181931

Passos, L.F., Garcia, G., Young, R.J. (2017). The tonic immobility test: Do wild and captive golden mantella frogs (Mantella aurantiaca) have the same response?. PLOS ONE, 12(7). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181972

Passos, L.F., Garcia, G., Young, R.J. (2017). Neglecting the call of the wild: Captive frogs like the sound of their own voice. PLOS ONE, 12(7).https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181931

Perillo, A., Mazzoni, L. G., Passos, L. F., Goulart, V. D.L.R., Duca, C. and Young, R. J. (2017), Anthropogenic noise reduces bird species richness and diversity in urban parks. Ibis. doi:10.1111/ibi.12481

Teixeira, B., Hirsch, A., Goulart, V. D. L. R., Passos, L.F., Teixeira, C. P., James, P., Robert, Y. (2015) Good neighbours: distribution of black-tufted marmoset (Callithrix penicillata) in an urban environment. Wildlife Research, 42, 579-589. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR14148

Teixeira, C. P., Passos, L. F., Goulart, V. D. L. R., Hirsch, A., Rodrigues, M. and Young, R.J. (2016). Evaluating patterns of human–reptile conflicts in an urban environment. Wildlife Research, 42 (7). http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/WR15143

Passos, L. F., Coutinho, M. E. and Young, R. J. (2014) Demographic and growth analysis of broad snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris) in a disturbed environment in southeastern Brazil. Herpetological Journal, 24(4), 223-228.

Passos, L. F., Mello, H. E. and Young, R. J. (2014). Enriching tortoises: assessing color preference. Journal Of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 17(3):274-81. doi: 10.1080/10888705.2014.917556.

Quadros, S., Goulart, V. D. L., Passos, L. F., Vecci, M. A. M. and Young, R. J. (2014). Zoo visitor effect on mammal behaviour: Does noise matter? Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 156: 78–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2014.04.002

Filogonio, R., Assis, V. B., Passos, L.F. and Coutinho, M. E.(2010). Distribution of populations of broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris, Daudin 1802, Alligatoridae) in the São Francisco River basin, Brazil. Braz. J. Biol., 70(4): 961-968. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1519-69842010000500007

Supervisors

Dr Gerardo Garcia (Chester Zoo)

Professor Robert Young (School of Environment & Life Sciences, University of Salford)