Bats (Mammalia, Chiroptera) from an area of Caatinga in southwestern Bahia, Brazil

The seasonal deciduous Caatinga scrub forest of northern Brazil has a continuous canopy of 15–25 m in height, with a well-developed understory, and abundant cacti, lianas, and epiphytes. The present study provides an inventory of the bat species recorded in the municipality of Caetité, in southwestern Bahia, Brazil. Sixty-eight individuals were captured, belonging to nine species and three families. The Jackknife 1 procedure estimated a species richness of 9.9. The phyllostomid bats were the most abundant, and Carollia perspicillata (Linnaeus, 1758) was captured most frequently. Our results are consistent with previous studies conducted in Bahia and the Caatinga, providing data on the local bat community structure. It also highlights the importance of rapid inventories for the understanding of the diversity and distribution of the bat fauna.