According to our recent paper [ Quintela, Rosa & Feijó, 2020]. Read the full article here!​
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Brazil has 249 genera, 51 families and 11 orders. About 30% of mammalian species are endemic to Brazil. In our study, we recognized 751 mammalian species in the country. Keep in mind that this number is expected to change rapidly as new studies have been constantly published. Since our publication, three new species were already added to the Brazilian list.
Here are some interesting facts about Brazilian mammals!
Brazilian mammalogy is passing through an accelerated period of investigative taxonomy. Just in the last two years, 15 new taxa were described
The most speciose order is Rodentia with 258 species, followed by Chiroptera (182), Primates (126), Didelphimorphia (62), Artiodactyla (57), Carnivora (36), Cingulata (12), Pilosa (12), Lagomorpha (2), Perissodactyla (2), and Sirenia (2).
During the XVIII century most of the species described were from the order Carnivora! Since the XIX century, rodents, bats and primates are the most described groups in Brazil!
80 species (10.6%) are included in some global threat category.
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12 are "Critically Endangered" (CE)
31 are "Endangered" (EN)
37 are "Vulnerable") (VU)
96 (12.8%) are considered with "Deficient Data" (DD) for conservation
83 species (11%) are pending (re)evaluation due to recent taxonomic rearrangements or new species descriptions.
According to the Brazilian Red List, 110 taxa (including species and subspecies) are listed in one of the threat category.
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10 spp. are Critically Endangered (CR)
41 spp. are Endangered (EN)
52 spp. are Vulnerable (VU)
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From the ~754 mammal species in Brazil, about 30% are endemic. This means that 223 species of mammals can only be found in Brazil. A large proportion of endemics are Rodents and Primates.
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Who has described more mammal species in Brazil?
All species
Species from
1900-2000
Species described since 2000