Preliminary inventory of the bat species of the Poço das Antas Biological Reserve, RJ

ABSTRACT

The Atlantic Forest is an ecosystem that is quickly vanishing from southeastern Brazil. Most remaining areas are located in the hills of the Serra do Mar (Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica et al 1998). The reduction of lowland forest has been even more intense. This process threatens the rich animal and plant life in this system. Among mammals, bats are the second most diverse order in this system, being critical for the dynamics of tropical forests (Marinho- Filho 1991).