Abstract The Neogene benthic foraminiferal ecostratigraphy of offshore Pelotas Basin has not yet been researched. The benthic foraminifera were examined in twenty-nine ditch cuttings samples from Well 1-SCS-3B, present water depth 200 m. These samples ranged from the Lower Miocene Catapsydrax dissimilis planktonic foraminiferal Zone to the Pliocene Globigerinoides trilobus fistulosus Zone. Only ditch cuttings were available, which allowed us to present just broad paleoenvironmental trends within the studied section. Benthic foraminifera indicate deposition mostly between outer neritic to upper bathyal paleodepths. A peak in uvigerinid relative abundance marks a possible flooding surface or condensed section with a high nutrient flux, low diversity (marked by the Shannon Function H), and sluggish circulation within the Globorotalia mayeri Zone. This peak is bracketed by high abundances of Cibicidoides, which indicate stronger current action than within the condensed section. Biostratigraphic hiatuses within these Cibicidoides-rich intervals are concluded not to indicate subaerial exposure, but to reflect current action sufficiently strong to induce either non-deposition or seafloor scouring. A second possible flooding surface occurs at the top of the section, indicated by a decline in Cibicidoides associated with upticks in Sphaeroidina and Bolivina and a dip in H. The top of this younger maximum flood was not encountered, probably occurring above the studied section. That the timing of these floods differs from those recorded elsewhere in the Pelotas Basin implies that they were tectonically induced, perhaps as distal effects associated with the interaction between the South American and Nazca tectonic plates. Future studies with better quality core samples will add detail to this picture; such studies can incorporate eustatic sea-level changes into the model presented.

Técnicas analíticas variadas têm sido usadas para avaliar o dimorfismo sexual em medidas de vertebrados, mas não há consenso sobre o melhor procedimento. Um problema adicional, no caso dos anfíbios, é a presença de ponderável erro de medida. Para analisar dimorfismo sexual examinamos uma única hipótese (Ho = médias iguais) para dois grupos (fêmeas e machos). Demonstramos que dados de anfíbios preenchem as premissas para hipóteses estatísticas claramente definidas, usando modelos lineares em vez de técnicas exploratórias multivaraiadas, tais como components principais, correlação ou análise de correspondências. Para distinguir significância biológica de significância estatística nas hipóteses, propomos um protocolo incorporando erro de medida e "effect size". O erro de medida é avaliado por meio de um novo índice específico. Demonstramos que "effect size", amplamente usado nas ciências do comportamento e em meta-análises biológicas, é a medida mais útil na discriminação entre significância biológica e significância estatística. São dadas definições de uma ampla gama de "effect sizes" para dados anfibiológicos. São apresentados exemplos com medidas do gênero Leptodactylus. O novo protocolo é recomenadado não apenas no caso de anfíbios, mas em todos os casos de vertebrados em que possam ser calculados erros de medida e "effect sizes" observados ou determinados a priori.

Several analytic techniques have been used to determine sexual dimorphism in vertebrate morphological measurement data with no emergent consensus on which technique is superior. A further confounding problem for frog data is the existence of considerable measurement error. To determine dimorphism, we examine a single hypothesis (Ho = equal means) for two groups (females and males). We demonstrate that frog measurement data meet assumptions for clearly defined statistical hypothesis testing with statistical linear models rather than those of exploratory multivariate techniques such as principal components, correlation or correspondence analysis. In order to distinguish biological from statistical significance of hypotheses, we propose a new protocol that incorporates measurement error and effect size. Measurement error is evaluated with a novel measurement error index. Effect size, widely used in the behavioral sciences and in meta-analysis studies in biology, proves to be the most useful single metric to evaluate whether statistically significant results are biologically meaningful. Definitions for a range of small, medium, and large effect sizes specifically for frog measurement data are provided. Examples with measurement data for species of the frog genus Leptodactylus are presented. The new protocol is recommended not only to evaluate sexual dimorphism for frog data but for any animal measurement data for which the measurement error index and observed or a priori effect sizes can be calculated.