Collecting 

 Small Mammals 

 In the Atlantic Rain 

 Forest of Brazil 



By Barbara E. Brown 



Technical Assistant, Division of Mammals 



photos by author 

 except where noted 



16 



Our Base OF Field Operations, October 1987, the 



Centro de Primatologia do Rio de Janeiro, hardly fifty 

 miles northeast of the coastal metropolis of Rio de 

 Janeiro, nestles serenely in the aptly named valley of 

 the Paradise River at the base of the spectacular Organ 

 Mountains. The 260 hectares (620 acres) of the Centro 

 supports a remnant of the formerly vast and now fast- 

 disappearing Atlantic rain forest. The reserve is still 

 completely surrounded by forest, much of it, however, 

 secondary. Cultivated fields, pastures, and farm houses 

 are in the deforested valley lower down. Dr. Adelmar F. 

 Coimbra-Filho had invited Curator Emeritus of Mam- 

 mals Philip Hershkovitz and me to the Centro to carry 

 on the survey of small mammals of eastern Brazil Phil 

 had been making in collaboration with the National 

 Museum of Brazil and the University of Brasilia. Mar- 

 celo Lima Ries, a graduate student majoring in 

 mammalian ecology at the university, participated in 

 the survey. Louren^o, foreman of the Centro and an 

 able woodsman, was placed at our service by Dr. 

 Coimbra-Filho. Dr. Pissinati, assistant director and 

 veterinarian of the Centro, was always on call for help 

 in resolving any logistical problem that might arise. 



The Monkeys 



The forested surroundings of the guest house where we 

 were quartered and the Organ Mountains that rise to 

 over 2000 meters above the Centro were known to be 

 the home of several species of monkeys peculiar to the 

 Atlantic forest. We soon learned, however, that the 

 once-plentiful muriqui, or wooly spider monkey 



Two kinds of lion tamarins in \Ue breeding colony of the Centro de 

 Primatologia do Rio de Janeiro; in front, the golden (Leontopithecus 

 rosalia rosalia): behind, the golden rump {Leontopithecus rosalia 

 clirysopygus}. 



{Brachy teles arachnoides) , largest of New World mon- 

 keys, had been exterminated years ago throughout the 

 state of Rio de Janeiro. The golden lion tamarin (Leon- 

 topithecus rosalia rosalia) had been hunted and trapped 

 for the pet market until no more remained free in the 

 state. We neither saw nor heard in the wild any of the 

 other kinds of monkeys. A few residents mentioned 

 having heard the brown howler monkey (Alouatta jus- 

 cus) call in distant hills. The large squirrel-like titi 

 monkey {Callicehus persormtus) may have disappeared 

 entirely from the vicinity of the Centro, and the usual- 

 ly ubiquitous marmoset (Callithrix aurita) was nowhere 

 visible. 



In the Primate Center breeding experiments are 

 conducted with captive representatives of these and 

 other species of endangered and disappearing monkeys. 

 The time is at hand when some of the animals will be 

 reproducing in sufficient numbers to permit their gra- 

 dual introduction into government-controlled parks 

 and reserves where the species existed before. 



Small Mammals 



Our mission in the Atlantic forest was not with mon- 

 keys or other comparatively large, conspicuous mam- 

 mals. We came to observe in the field, and to collect for 

 laboratory study the small, nocturnal, cryptic marsu- 

 pials, bats, and rodents. These are at once the best and 

 most readily available indicators of mammalian history 

 and biogeography; some are closely associated with 

 man and important m his welfare. Our primary pur- 



