Bats from the Atlantic rainforest of southern Bahia, Brazil

Abstract

Data collected during 16 years of bat surveys (1986 to 2002) in southern Bahia, Brazil, is presented here. Bats were surveyed in 14 municipalities, in habitats that included residences, caves, forests and agricultural areas, resulting in a total of 6576 captures of 60 species from the bat families Emballonuridae (5 sp), Noctilionidae (1 sp), Phyllostomidae (46 sp), Thyropteridae (1 sp), Natalidae (1 sp), Molossidae (3 sp) and Vespertilionidae (2 sp). These data include 29 species not previously documented for the state of Bahia. We also report the first record of Vampyrodes caraccioli for this biome, extending its distribution over 3.000 km eastwards. The present data significantly increase the knowledge of the bat fauna of Bahia, providing an updated list of 78 documented species, belonging to 50 different genera and eight families.