Survey of Small Mammals (Rodentia and Didelphimorphia) in a Cerrado Reserve: Central Espinhaço Mountain Range, Brazil

Abstract

Despite its high diversity, small mammals within the Cerrado (savanna) at the Central Espinhaço Range are poorly known, and precise information regarding the geographical distribution of all species is still scarce. Here we present data on terrestrial small-sized mammals (Didelphimorphia and Rodentia) from Parque Estadual do Rio Preto (PERP), a protected area in the Central Espinhaço and compare the species composition of this area with other protected areas in the Espinhaço Range. Over the course of 10,616 trap-nights, there were 700 captures of 245 individuals, being eight species from de order Didelphimorphia and eight from Rodentia, with an overall capture rate of 6.6%. We report both, Gracilinanus agilis and G. microtarsus, occurring in sympatry and the occurrence of Thalpomys lasiotis, known to be endemic to the Cerrado biome. We observed that the species composition of the Central Espinhaço contains a set of species different from those found in Southern Espinhaço (Serra de Ouro Branco). This may be most the result of vegetal physiognomies among the inventoried areas and less clearly the result of geographic distance between them. Considering that the conservation strategies focus basically on the richness and the occurrence of endemic species, we here emphasize the need for further research efforts in order to improve our knowledge about the Espinhaço fauna.