Preliminary Inventory of Mammals from Yurubí National Park, Yaracuy, Venezuela with Some Comments on Their Natural History

in venezuela, mammals represent an important group of wildlife with high anthropogenic pressures that threaten their permanence. Focused on the need to generate baseline information that allows us to contribute to document and conserve the richness of local wildlife, we conducted a mammalogical inventory in Yurubí National Park, located in Yaracuy State in venezuela. We carried out fieldworks in three selected vegetation types: an evergreen forest at 197m, a semi-deciduous forest ranging between 100-230m, and a cloud forest at 1 446m. We used victor, Sherman, Havahart and pitfall traps for the capture of small non-volant mammals and mist nets for bats. in addition, we carried out interviews with local residents and direct-indirect observations for medium-large sized mammals. At least 79 species inhabit the area, representing 28% of the species recorded for the North side of the country. Chiroptera (39 spp.), Carnivora (13 spp.) and Rodentia (9 spp.) were the orders with the highest richness, as expected for the Neotropics. The evergreen forest had the greatest species richness (n=68), with a sampling effort of 128 net-hours, 32 bucket-days, 16 hours of observations, and three persons interviewed, followed by cloud forest (n=45) with 324 net-hours, 790 traps-night, 77 bucket-days, 10 hours of observations, and one person interviewed. The lowest richness value was in the semi-deciduous forest (n=41), with 591 traps-night, 15 net-hours, 10 hours of observations and three persons interviewed. Data and observations obtained in this inventory (e.g., endemism, species known as " surrogate species " threatened in venezuela) give an important role at the Yurubí National Park in the maintenance and conservation of local ecosystems and wildlife, threatened by human pressures in the Cordillera de la Costa. in venezuela, mammals represent the second richest group of terrestrial vertebrates, after birds (Hilty et al. reported 351 species in 13 orders and 43 families and this number has increased in recent years thanks to taxo-nomic contributions and new descriptions (e.

Regarding the Yurubí National Park, there is no inventory linked with mammals, and the only mammalogical survey close to the study area was the expedition between 1965-1968 by the Smithsonian venezuelan Project (Handley 1976), in the locality called "Minas de Aroa" in the Sierra de Aroa, where the Yurubí National Park is located.Much of the surface of the Sierra de Aroa is fragmented by farming, and perhaps the only area that has not been affected is the Yurubí National Park, due to its status of protected area (Lentino & Esclasans 2005).
Because there is a lack of mammalogical information in Yurubí National Park, added to anthropogenic pressures that threaten the permanence of species that inhabit the mountain regions in Cordillera de la Costa (Ochoa et al. 1995, Rodríguez & Rojas 1998), here, we present the preliminary results of an inventory focused on the need to generate baseline information as an effort to contribute with some information and to stimulate the conservation of local wildlife.

Study Area:
The Yurubí National Park is located in the Sierra de Aroa, Yaracuy State, venezuela (Fig. 1). it has a surface of 23 670ha  La Trampa de El Tigre (Lentino & Esclasans 2005) and an altitudinal range between 100-1 940m.The climate is seasonal and macrothermic, with an average annual precipitation between 800-1 500mm and a bimodal temporal distribution with a rainy season in July-August and other in November-December (Alvarado 2008).The annual average temperature is between 10-26.5ºC.

Data acquisition:
The first step of this survey was the collection of all information on mammals from specimens deposited in national institutions (museums and universities) and literature review.The second step consisted of three field expeditions, beginning on August 29-September 6 2008, for the locality called "Mayorica" (10°26' N -68°40' W; 100-230m), and we then carried out two expeditions on February 6-14 2009 and May 16-21 2009, in the locality "El Silencio" (10°25' N -68°48' W; 1 446m).The fieldwork consisted of seven days for "Mayorica" and six days for "El Silencio", with nights with limited moonlight.

Capture of small non-volant mammals:
We set four types of traps following of Ochoa et al. (2008) recommendations.
1) victor traps, were placed on the ground and heights ranging from 1-2m for the capture of taxa using the ground (terrestrial) and the middle stratum (arboreal).2) Sherman live traps, were placed on the ground level to capture terrestrial taxa.3) Havahart live traps were placed on the ground to capture terrestrial taxa and 4) a pitfall-trap system to capture of terrestrial and semi-arboreal taxa.All traps, except the pitfall-trap system, were baited daily with some of the following baits: 1) a mixture of oats, sardines, oil and vanilla extract).2) ripe plantain (Musa sp.) and 3) food for birds (canary seed).These traps were placed at approximately 20m intervals along existing trails, and the pitfall-trap system was placed at ground level and it was spaced 5m apart every plastic buckets with a fence in a linear series.Total traps (victor, Sherman and Havahart), used were 80 and the total sampling effort was 1 382 trap-nights and 109 bucket-days.

Capture of bats:
The procedure followed Ochoa et al. (2008).We set three mist nets of 9m and three mist nets of 12m in different forest strata (understory and mid-canopy).Mist nets were activated from 18:00-22:00 hours and in some occasions from 04:00-06:00 hours in order to cover two major peaks of activity.in addition to we carried out occasional searches of shelters in the daytime (e.g., caves, crevices, foliage, hollows in trees and logs, etc.).The total sampling effort was 323 net-hours.

Medium-large sized mammals:
To record medium-large sized mammals (e.g., Carnivora, Artiodactyla, Perissodactyla and Rodentia), we used a field guide to interview local residents together with our direct and indirect sightings (e.g., tracks, vocalizations and scats).We interviewed seven persons and we carried out 36 hours of observations.identifications followed Wilson & Reeder (2005) and Gardner (2008) for most species, Weksler et al. (2006) for Oryzomyini, Larsen et al. (2007) for large-sized Artibeus, Lim et al. (2008) for small-sized Artibeus and voss & Jansa (2009) for didelphid marsupials.We followed guidelines approved by Gannon et al. (2007), for animals captured in the field.voucher specimens were fixed in 10% formalin and preserved in 70% ethanol, and are deposited at the Museo de la Estación Biológica de Rancho Grande (EBRG-Maracay) and Museo de Zoología (MZUC), Departamento de Biología, Facultad Experimental de Ciencias y Tecnología FACYT, Universidad de Carabobo, valencia, Carabobo State, venezuela.

RESULTS
At least 79 species, representing 10 orders inhabit in the study area (Table 1).Of these, 73% (n=58) represent new records in Yurubí National Park.Chiroptera (39 spp.), Carnivora (13 spp.) and Rodentia (9 spp.) were the orders with the highest taxonomic richness.Among the vegetation types sampled (Table 1), the evergreen forest (n=67), had the highest richness, followed by the cloud forest (n=45), and finally by the semi-deciduous forest (n=41).Sampling efforts in every inventoried locality are shown in Table 2.
Rodents captured (Transandinomys talamancae, Heteromys anomalus, H. catopterius, Nephelomys caracolus and Proechimys guairae) represented important records for the mammalian fauna from Yurubí National Park.Of these, the latter three species were endemics (Heteromys catopterius endemic in the   1).The first three taxa with semi-arboreal habits; Chironectes, a terrestrial species associated with watercourses and Monodelphis, fully terrestrial.All these were captured and observed in primary habitats in Yurubí National Park.

DiSCUSSiON
Records obtained here provide new data for the Sierra de Aroa (Handley 1976) and update the list of mammals from Yurubí National Park.
The documentation of these species represents 28% of 278 reported mammals in Northern venezuela (Wilson & Reeder 2005).
With respect to medium-large sized mammals of hunting interest such as peccaries (Pecari tajacu and Tayassu pecari), paca (Cuniculus paca), agouti (Dasyprocta leporina) and deer (Mazama americana and Odocoileus cariacou) among others, their use as food can be considered as occasional, but it can be transformed if the daily use by local residents results successful in their hunting activities.They hunt very often, but this activity does not represent their basic sustenance.Apparently, only Mazama americana, a large-sized mammal evaluated in "Data deficient" for venezuela (Rodríguez & Rojas 2008), was used in Yurubí National Park as food by local residents; the rest of mediumlarge sized mammals recorded in this study, and threatened in other localities of the country (Ochoa et al. 1995, Ochoa 2000), were apparently not hunted here.
Of carnivores defined in venezuela within some threat category (Rodríguez & Rojas 2008), Puma concolor (Near threatened), Panthera onca, Leopardus pardalis and Leopardus sp.(vulnerable) would be species mostly affected in the study area, because to the fear of local residents with these cats.it is important to mention the definition of "surrogate species" for some taxa recorded in Yurubí National Park: Panthera onca is defined as "umbrella species" and Puma concolor as "flagship species".These species are used in ecosystem conservation programs in the Neotropics (isasi 2011); however, in an occasional encounter with these cats in the study area, they can be hunted without any importance of their conservation status.Another taxon considered "flagship species" in Yurubí National Park was the tapir (Tapirus terrestris); this large-sized mammal apparently was not hunted in the study area according to interviews with local residents.
According to surveys, the following taxa were considered common in the forest and they were not used for any purpose: Didelphis marsupialis, Tamandua tetradactyla, Alouatta seniculus, Cebus olivaceus, Procyon cancrivorus, Conepatus semistriatus and Potos flavus.
Small mammals showed a high number of species and families for bats (Phyllostomidae, Emballonuridae and Mormoopidae), marsupials (Didelphidae) and rodents (Sciuridae, Heteromyidae, Cricetidae and Echimyidae), very close to values found in other localities of the Northern side of the country (Handley 1976, Ochoa et al. 1995).
There are few records for Transandinomys talamancae in the Sierra de Aroa (which Handley 1976, assigned to the Oryzomys "capito" complex), and this rodent together with Sciurus granatensis, Heteromys anomalus, H. catopterius, Nephelomys caracolus and Proechimys guairae were the only representatives of families Sciuridae, Heteromyidae, Cricetidae and Echimyidae in the evaluated vegetation types.Some researchers regarded Heteromys anomalus, as one of the most common terrestrial rodent of forests in Northern venezuela from sea level to over 2 000m (Handley 1976(Handley , valdez et al. 1984)), but a recent taxonomic study (Anderson & Gutiérrez 2009), has confirmed a new species (Heteromys catopterius), from populations previously ascribed to the anomalus complex.
This new species was found between 1 500-1 940m (Anderson & Gutiérrez 2009).This record in Sierra de Aroa, represents the first one for this rodent, and a substantial range extension to the West occurring from the West of the Depresión de Yaracuy, it is likely disjunctive from known records to the East.
it is noteworthy to mention the importance of Proechimys guairae, Heteromys catopterius and Nephelomys caracolus as endemic species to Northern venezuela (Musser & Carleton 2005, Anderson & Gutiérrez 2009). in the present, these rodents have not been evaluated in threat categories defined in the country (Rodríguez & Rojas 2008).
Phyllostomid bats such as Carollia perspicillata, Artibeus planirostris and Sturnira lilium were the most common and with higher capture frequencies, in agreement with other records in primary forests in venezuela (Handley 1976, Ochoa et al. 1995, Ochoa 2000).They commonly represent the dominant fraction in the understory of Neotropical forests (Ochoa et al. 1995(Ochoa et al. , 2005)), partly because of their very general food requirements (e.g., these bats consume fruits of understory and canopy plants like Piper spp., Ficus spp., Cecropia spp.and Solanum spp., Ochoa 2000); furthermore, there is no overlap in items consumed (Carollia is specialized in Piper, Artibeus in Ficus and Cecropia and Sturnira in Solanum, Ochoa 2000, Thies & Kalko 2004); there is no overlap in flight patterns during the search of food (flights in understory for Carollia spp.and Sturnira spp., and understory and canopy for Artibeus spp., Soriano 2000); echolocation is less developed, making them easier to catch with mist nets, and another argument is related with capabilities to inhabit highly disturbed environments, as well as those in a pristine condition (Ochoa 2000).
Particularly in the evergreen forest, which had a primary condition, we observed forest Piper species in the understory, consumed mainly by Carollia spp.(Thies & Kalko 2004), as well as the typical species of Ficus spp., which provide fruits throughout the year.Some bats captured in this inventory were considered strict frugivores (e.g., Artibeus spp., Carollia spp., and Sturnira spp.), using these resources as items of their diet (Kalko et al. 1996, Thies & Kalko 2004).
An interesting record is the presence in the study area of 13 of the 20 species in the Cordillera de la Costa (Linares 1998) of bats belonging to the subfamily Phyllostominae.Bats captured in Yurubí National Park of this subfamily are considered rare and have low relative abundances (Ochoa 2000); their feeding strategies include insectivorous (e.g., Lonchorhina aurita, Lophostoma silvicolum and Mimon crenulatum), fruits consumers as an additional component to their diet of insects (e.g., Micronycteris spp., and Tonatia saurophila), pollen and nectar consumers (e.g., Phyllostomus discolor and P. hastatus) and small vertebrate consumers (e.g., Chrotopterus auritus and Trachops cirrhosus).
in addition to their ecological preferences, which make their capture difficult (because these bats habit in primary forests and use a variety of habitats with different availability of food and shelter resources), they seem to be sensitive elements not tolerant to high disturbances in forests (Fenton et al. 1992, Ochoa 2000).
Another support of the primary condition of the vegetation inventoried was the absence of individuals of the common vampire (Desmodus rotundus) in sampled days.This vampire consumes only blood, with preference for the cattle, and often is considered a "damaging species" in localities with great disturbances (Fernández-Badillo & Ulloa 1990).Although we did not captured Desmodus rotundus in the study area, local residents recognize it because sometimes their domestic animals suffer bite injuries.
Similarly, the capture of another vampire, Diphylla ecaudata, collected in the evergreen forest at 197m, indicates the primary condition of environments.This species unlike Desmodus rotundus, has been recorded mostly at elevations above 800m, in pristine forests in venezuela (Handley 1976) and specializes in the consumption of vertebrate blood, with preferences for the avian one (Greenhall et al. 1984) from species that live in forested environments, making it a rare species to collect in disturbed areas.
The mammals of Yurubí National Park are an important component of the biodiversity of forests in the Cordillera de la Costa.Data and observations obtained in this inventory (e.g., endemism, mammals known as "surrogate species" threatened in venezuela) give an important role at the Yurubí National Park, for the maintenance and conservation of ecosystems and local wildlife, threatened by human pressures of present times.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Authors wish to thank the staff of the Museo de la Estación Biológica de Rancho (Francisco Bisbal and Javier Sánchez), for allowing us to review the material deposited at the museum and supported us in fieldworks (equipment loans); Hylda Siliet, Edward Camargo, ivan Díaz, and vicente Colmenares for all logistical support of lodging at both locations; the Departamento de Biología, Universidad de Carabobo, especially Héctor Silva, Antonio Pérez, Guillermo Flórez, Jorge Giménez †, Karen López, and Yoiber Mujica for their fieldwork supports, and Carlos varela for his help in some identifications of botanical taxa, Robert Anderson for his suggestions and the instituto Nacional de Parques iNPARQUES-Yaracuy.

TABLE 1
Mammals recorded in Yurubí National Park, Yaracuy State, Northern venezuela

TABLE 2
Sampling efforts in evaluated localities of Yurubí National Park, Yaracuy State, Northern venezuela