Bats of Casanare, Colombia

ABSTRACT

Colombia is known for its high bat richness, but regions like Orinoquía remain poorly known for this group. Here we present results from seven biodiversity assessments in Casanare, Colombia, a department circumscribed within Orinoquía. We captured 1,116 individual bats of 51 species and five families. Desmodus rotundus, Carollia spp., and Artibeus spp. were the most abundant taxa sampled. We also captured elusive species such as Lampronycteris brachyotis and Sphaeronycteris toxophyllum. In general, sites with some sort of protection, lower in elevation, and towards the southwest tended to have richer assemblages with different composition than sites without protection, higher in elevation, and towards the northeast of our study area. This southwest-northeast site distribution follows a rainfall gradient, which might explain differences in bat composition among sites. Finally, we discuss our species list in light of others that have been published and present the first analysis of assemblage structure for the bats of Casanare using true diversities.