New occurrences of Hoary Fox, Lycalopex vetulus (Lund, 1842), and Pantanal Cat, Leopardus braccatus (Cope, 1889) (Mammalia, Carnivora), in a Cerrado-Caatinga-Atlantic Forest ecotone in northeastern Brazil

Fernanda D Abra,Paula R Prist,Frederico G Lemos,Guilherme S T Garbino,Fabio O Nascimento

doi:10.15560/16.6.1673

Abstract

We present new records of Hoary Fox, Lycalopex vetulus (Lund, 1842), and Pantanal Cat, Leopardus braccatus Cope, 1889, from a Cerrado-Caatinga-Atlantic Forest ecotone, Brazil. Records are based on three roadkilled specimens (two Hoary Foxes and one Pantanal Cat) from Vit&oacute;ria da Conquista, southern Bahia. Although highly anthropized, the region still holds a mosaic of Cerrado savannas and Caatinga seasonally dry forests. Our records expand the distribution of both species eastwards to southern Bahia and suggest that Leopardus braccatus may occur marginally in the Caatinga.

Highlights

The Caatinga is the largest seasonally dry forest ecosystem in the Neotropical region, encompassing 912,519 km2 in northeastern Brazil (Silva et al 2017)
We present new records of Hoary Fox, Lycalopex vetulus (Lund, 1842), and Pantanal Cat, Leopardus braccatus Cope, 1889, from a Cerrado-Caatinga-Atlantic Forest ecotone, Brazil
Basic natural history information on the smaller species of Neotropical carnivores, as Lycalopex vetulus and Leopardus braccatus, is limited and even the distribution ranges of these two species are imprecisely defined (Sunquist and Sunquist 2002, 2009; Queirolo et al 2018; Lemos et al 2020)

Summary

Introduction

The Caatinga is the largest seasonally dry forest ecosystem in the Neotropical region, encompassing 912,519 km in northeastern Brazil (Silva et al 2017). The Caatinga intermingles with the Brazilian savanna, the Cerrado, and a small area of the seasonal tropical forest of the Atlantic Rain Forest ecosystem (Silva et al 2017). This region, encompassing northern Minas Gerais and southern Bahia states, is poorly known and considered a priority area for conservation (Fonseca et al 2017). With 227 mammal species recorded for the Cerrado (Carmignotto et al 2012) and 183 in the Caatinga (Carmignotto and Astúa 2017), Check List 16 (6) These two ecosystems are highly diverse and have a high proportion of endemic species (Gutiérrez and Marinho-Filho 2017). The Hoary Fox can be locally rare throughout its range, in some regions, such as in southern Minas Gerais and western São Paulo states, the species may be expanding its range, occurring in areas originally covered by the seasonal Atlantic forest that have been transformed by anthropic activities (Fernandes and Costa 2013; Lemos et al 2020)

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