Small mammals of Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park (Cerrado of Central Brazil): ecologic, karyologic, and taxonomic considerations

C R Bonvicino,M Weksler,B Lemos

doi:10.1590/s1519-69842005000300004

Abstract

This work is based on a survey of small mammals carried out in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, a natural reserve located in the mountains of the Planalto Central Goiano in the Cerrado of Central Brazil. The 227 specimens collected represented six marsupial and 13 rodent species. Taxonomic, karyologic, and ecologic considerations are present and discussed in the present work. Our data reflected the faunal heterogeneity with respect to both elevation and vegetation because only eight of the 19 species were collected at both high and low elevations. The composition of the small mammal fauna of the park is influenced by predominance of forest formations at low elevations and cerrado with rupestrian areas at high elevations. Presence of endemic species and one undescribed demonstrated that the cerrado has an endemic fauna and a little known diversity of small mammals.

Highlights

The cerrado is the most extensive openvegetation biome of South America and one of the largest savanna-forest complexes in the world
Of the 19 collected species, 12 have recently been reviewed or described. This is the case of Oligoryzomys rupestris and Oligoryzomys moojeni (Weksler & Bonvicino, 2005), Monodelphis umbristriata (Lemos et al, 2000), Thylamys velutinus (Palma, 1995), Proechimys roberti (Weksler et al, 2001), Nectomys rattus (Bonvicino et al, 1996), Pseudoryzomys simplex (Voss & Myers, 1991), Oryzomys megacephalus (Musser et al, 1998), Oryzomys lamia (Bonvicino et al, 1998), Oryzomys scotti (Langguth & Bonvicino, 2002), Oxymycterus delator (Oliveira, 1998), and Calomys expulsus (Bonvicino & Almeida, 2000)
Seven species were predominantly found in gallery forest (Didelphis albiventris, Micoureus demerarae, Monodelphis umbristriata, Proechimys roberti, Nectomys rattus, Oryzomys megacephalus, and Oryzomys lamia), three in cerrado rupestre (Galea cf. flavidens, Thrichomys sp., and Oligoryzomys sp. 2) and three in vereda and campo úmido (Oxymycterus delator, Pseudoryzomys simplex, and Thylamys velutinus)

Summary

Introduction

The cerrado is the most extensive openvegetation biome of South America and one of the largest savanna-forest complexes in the world. With a core area spanning over 1.8-2 million km on the Brazilian plateau, the cerrado is located in the middle portion of an open-vegetation belt between the Argentinean-Paraguayan Chaco and the caatinga of northeastern Brazil This open-vegetation belt separates two major mesophytic biomes, the Atlantic rainforest and the Amazonian rainforest. Given the degree of physiognomical complexity of the biome, it is natural that several studies have been devoted to the description of the small mammal composition associated with habitat heterogeneity These studies primarily center on differences between areas of open vegetation and gallery forest (Henriques & Alho, 1981; Fonseca & Redford, 1984; Mares et al, 1986, 1989; Marinho Filho et al, 1994; Bonvicino et al, 1996a)

Methods

Results

Conclusion