Bat fauna of the Cerrado savanna of eastern Maranhão, Brazil, with new species occurrences

Abstract

Abstract In Brazil, 179 bat species have been recorded to date, representing 68 genera and nine families. Few data are available on the bat fauna of the state of Maranhão, so the present study was based on a survey of the bat fauna of the Inhamum Municipal Environmental Protection Area (APA Inhamum) in the Cerrado savanna of the eastern extreme of the state. This inventory provides new records of bat species for the state of Maranhão and the Cerrado biome. A total of 31 species (four families) were collected, representing 39% of the bat species known to occur in Maranhão and 28.71% of the species described for the Cerrado. The family Phyllostomidae was the most diverse, with 23 species (74.20% of the total), and also the most abundant, with 86.09% of the specimens collected. The Molossidae (four species) was the second most diverse, followed by the Vespertilionidae (three species) and the Emballonuridae (one species). Carollia perspicillata was the most abundant species (28%).The records of Artibeus fimbriatus and Platyrrhinus fusciventris are the first for the Cerrado and were also recorded in Maranhão for the first time. The cumulative species curve did not reach an asymptote. The species Dermanura gnoma, Lasiurus blossevillii, Lasiurus ega, Micronycteris schmidtorum, Molossops temminckii, Platyrrhinus cf. recifinus, Phylloderma stenops and Trachops cirrhosus, were also recorded in Maranhão for the first time demonstrating the value of for mammal inventories and emphasizing the need for further surveys in this poorly-known region.