Morcegos (Mammalia: Chiroptera) da região do Médio Rio Teles Pires, Sul da Amazônia, Brasil

Amazonia is the largest tropical rainforestin the world and at least 147 bat species occur in this environment. Despite its richness, the diversity of bat fauna is poorly known for this region and there are large gaps in its knowledge. This study aims to describe the bat assemblage of the Middle Teles Pires River (MTP) region, southern Amazonia. Furthermore, we evaluated the similarity of this assemblage in relation to 14 assemblages studied in other Amazonianlocalities, and correlations were found between the similarity values among the sites and their geographic distances. Thirty-three bat species were recorded, accounting for 71% of the estimated species richness (Jackknife2). The three species that had the higher relative abundance values were Carollia perspicillata, Pteronotus parnelliiand Phyllostomus hastatus, which together accounted for more than 50% of the captures. The frugivorefunctional group had the highest number of recorded species. A negative correlation was found between the geographic distancesand the similarities among the Amazonianbat assemblages (r = -0.22; p = 0.014). Geographic distancecould explain only 6% of the similarities among the analyzed assemblages, even though, the similarity found allowed them to be grouped by their distances. Besides, the MTP bat fauna is different from other Amazonianareas, which gives it a special role in the Amazonianbat conservation.