Cave-dwelling bats of Carajás National Forest: New cytogenetic data of threatened species

In Brazil, bat species that use caves as shelters are constantly susceptible to anthropic impacts. Of the 181 species of bats in Brazil, 81 are recorded in caves, 13 of which are considered essentially cave dwellers. The Caraj & aacute;s National Forest Conservation Unit, located in the southeastern region of Par & aacute;, serves as a refuge for these species, among others. The present work sought to reveal the chromosomal diversity of bats in six caves of the Caraj & aacute;s National Forest. Cytogenetic analyses were carried out for some species as an additional tool for taxonomic identification. We present here the conventional karyotype of eight species, five being described for the first time in Brazilian specimens. We also described for the first time the karyotypes of Natalus macrourus and Peropteryx kappleri. These findings may be helpful to support conservation guidelines, and for the knowledge of these species' biodiversity, evolutionary history, and to support genome sequencing efforts.