LA SELVA-BRAULIO CARRILLO MAMMALS 



13 



Specimen Data 



Each species of mammal presently or historically recorded from Heredia Prov- 

 ince, Costa Rica, as well as those possibly occurring there but whose presence 

 is unverified by specimens, is treated separately in the accounts that follow. The 

 basis of each species account is the natural history data obtained during this study, 

 including distribution, relative abundance, reproductive characteristics, habitat use, 

 parasites, food habits, and taxonomic comments as appropriate. All known records 

 from the province and references to pertinent literature are included. 



The colloquial or vernacular name(s) for each species is listed in English and 

 then in Spanish immediately following the scientific name heading each species 

 account. Spanish names listed herein are those used within this region of Costa 

 Rica. Colloquial names for mammals often vary from country to country and even 

 between different regions of the same country. Although there is little variation 

 within Costa Rica in colloquial names for easily observed mammals, these are 

 sometimes different than names used in neighboring countries. For example, in 

 Costa Rica tigrillo refers to the gray fox {Urocyon cinereoargenteus) , whereas in 

 most Latin American countries tigrillo can refer to the margay {Felis wiedii) . In 

 Costa Rica, zorro refers to either of the two species of skunks that occur there, 

 whereas in many Spanish speaking countries zorro refers to foxes. Agouti paca 

 is a common game species throughout the tropics; in Costa Rica, and in adjacent 

 Nicaragua, it is known as the tepezcuintle , but this name is not used ever>'where 

 in Latin America. The word is derived from the Indian name for the species. As 

 nonmammalogists cannot distinguish most of the many species of bats, there are 

 few local colloquial names in Spanish for bat species other than those that are direct 

 translations of the English common name. Thus, we have not included Spanish 

 names for most of the bats. 



Standard external measurements (total length, length of tail vertebrae, length 

 of hind foot, and height of ear from notch) were recorded in millimeters, weight 

 was recorded in grams. On the basis of size and pelage characteristics, each animal 

 was placed into one of three age classes: juvenile, subadult. or adult. 



Specimens listed under "Specimens examined" were personally examined by 

 one or more of us. The localities listed in both the "Specimens examined" and 

 "Additional records" sections are reported as they were recorded by the original 

 collector on specimen labels. Many specimens dating from the 1960*s have distances 

 recorded in miles and elevation in feet. Accordingly, we have kept the original 

 English measures rather than convert these measures to metric equivalents. The 

 one exception to maintaining the original locality data is that we have standardized 

 the locality for specimens taken from La Selva. As the name for and formal status 

 of this property have varied over the years, herein we use the name that has been 

 most frequently associated with specimens in collections, "Finca La Selva, 3 km 

 S of Puerto Viejo." Specimens preserved from the 1986 Zona Protectora Expe- 



