Levantamento da quiropterofauna (Mammalia : Chiroptera) da Ilha de Cotijuba - PA, com observações sobre sua ecologia

Abstract

Surveys of Amazonian bats have recorded the occurrence of at least 135 regional species of different feeding habits- insectivorous, frugivorous, polinivorous, carnivorous and hematophagous. Bats contribute to the balance of the Amazonian biota in different ways; e.g. population control of insects, dispersion of seeds and polinization. Flematophaguous bats are potentially dangerous to humans because were they can carry the rabies vírus. The objectives of the present study were: (a) inventory of the bat species of Cotijuba island - PA; (b) descriptions of the activity period, feeding habits, reproduction and roosting sites of the different species; (c) rabies diagnosis of the hematophagous bats coliected. Thirty-one species were recorded, two of which lack more detailed taxonomic studies for diagnosis. Most of the species are frugivorous (for example, Carollia spp., Artibeus spp., Uroderrna spp.), i.e. potential seed dispersers of the local flora. Two hematophagous species were observed: Desmodus rotundus (about 8% of the sample) and Diaemus youngi (less than 1% of the sample). The rabies vírus was not recorded, but there are records of attacks by bats on humans and domestic animals, demanding continuous analyses of new samples, for effective health care monitoring.