Caatinga bats in the Mammal Collection of the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco
Astúa, DiegoQ. Guerra, Deoclécio
The Caatinga is the only biome fully comprised in the Brazilian territory, located in the northeastern region of the country. The purpose of this work is to report the bat specimens from Caatinga localities currently housed in the Mammal Collection of the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, a regional collection with important records. A total of 256 specimens were examined, from 40 localities and seven families. Families present in the collection are Phyllostomidae (18 species), Molossidae (6 species), Vespertiolinidae (three species), Noctilionidae (two species), and Emballonuridae, Furipteridae and Mormoopidae, all with one species. The majority of records were from the Caatinga of Pernambuco, including several new municipality records and some species reported for the first time for the state of Pernambuco or neighbouring states. However, the localities sampled represent only 14% ca. of the existing municipalities in the Caatinga of Pernambuco, and in only three of these more than 10 species have been recorded. This shows the scarcity of Caatinga bat records in the main mammal collection of the state, strengthening the importance of further and thorough inventories.