LA SELVA-BRAULIO CARRILLO MAMMALS 



9 



tion route, he provided an excellent scientific account of the sparsely populated 

 and rugged area, including a reliable report on the region's few remaining Indians, 

 and he made a valuable zoological collection. Gabb's specimens included several 

 new species of mammals, some of which subsequently were described by J. A. 

 Allen. F. Du Cane Godman and O. Salvin produced a multi-volume Biologia 

 Centrali- Americana, beginning in 1879, and one of the early volumes was devoted 

 to mammals (Alston 1879-1882). Alston's book included a table listing the occur- 

 rence of each species of mammal in each central American country. His list included 

 66 species from Costa Rica. 



The first checklist devoted strictly to Costa Rican mammals was compiled by 

 the German physician A. von Frantzius (1881). In 1854, at the age of 33, he moved 

 to Costa Rica to improve his health, and opened a drugstore in San Jose that became 

 a center for local naturalists (Gomez and Savage 1983). He made the first signifi- 

 cant collection of mammals from the Meseta Central (Central Valley), which he 

 sent to specialists in Germany and the United States for identification and study. 

 His checklist included 56 native species and many others of probable occurrence. 

 Frantzius' assistant, J. C. Zeledon, who under his tutelage later developed an 

 international reputation as an ornithologist, also collected many specimens of mam- 

 mals that are deposited in the U.S. National Museum of Natural History. Zeledon 

 made considerable contributions to the advancement of science in Costa Rica as 

 a cofounder of the Museo Nacional, collaborator with foreign scientists, teacher, 

 and book collector. The so-called "drugstore gang" included A. Alfaro, the first 

 director of the Museo Nacional in San Jose, and G. K. Cherrie, a taxidermist who 

 collected many specimens of mammals for that museum and others in the United 

 States. Alfaro (1897) published a checklist of Costa Rican mammals that included 

 121 species. 



The first mention in the literature of mammals from La Selva and the general 

 vicinity was by Slud (1960:76) in The Birds ofFinca 'La Selva', Costa Rica, his 

 classic study of the avifauna. Concerning the mammals observed at La Selva dur- 

 ing his year's study, he wrote "A howler monkey may roar at any time of day 

 and sometimes night. . . .Mammals, except agoutis, squirrels, tayras, and monkeys, 

 are seldom to be observed. Of the big cats I saw only tracks." 



Students and faculty of the OTS courses have made significant contributions 

 to our understanding of the mammalian fauna of La Selva, and indeed throughout 

 Costa Rica. Shortly after Finca La Selva was purchased by OTS in 1968, we began 

 netting bats there, assisted over the years by the many students in OTS courses. 

 D. E. Wilson was a faculty member and R. K. LaVal was a student in the first 

 course to visit La Selva in 1968. D. M. Armstrong was a student in the second 

 course to visit in 1968 (Armstrong 1969). M. A. Mares visited there in 1969 as 

 a student (Mares and Wilson 1971). Wilson continues to study bats there during 

 OTS courses. LaVal spent several months there in 1973 and 1974 studying bats 

 (LaVal 1977; LaVal and Fitch 1977). R. M. Timm first visited La Selva in 1974 

 as an OTS student (Foster and Timm 1976; Timm and Mortimer 1976), and has 

 continued to work there and teach with OTS. C. S. Vaughan first visited La Selva 



