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Abstract
The objective of this study was to furnish information on the natural history of the Neotropical marsupial Thylamys macrurus in the southern Cerrado of Brazil. A range expansion of the species was observed to the northeast of the Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil. Specimens were surveyed in fragments of savannah (40–600 ha) during dry and wet seasons in 2003 and 2004 with live‐trap grids and pitfall lines. With an effort of 9767 trap nights and 2200 pitfall nights, we obtained 102 captures and 49 recaptures of T. macrurus. The data analyzed (57 males and 40 females) showed that males are more abundant in the dry season and females in the wet season. Young were recorded mostly during the wet season. Thylamys macrurus was scansorial, using the floor and the understorey. Sexual dimorphism was recorded, with males being larger than females. Information on ectoparasites is supplied.
Acknowledgements
We thank UEMS and the Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul for partial support in the field (CPAQ and the Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação at UFMS), M. M. A. Gomes for helping with ectoparasite sheet preparation, the owners of the farms where ecological studies were carried out (A. A. Girotto, of the São Cristovão farm, and C. Gandini, of the Nova Aliança farm), and A. P. Carmignotto for helping in the final drafts of the manuscript. L. Z. Prates, C. F. Vargas, A. A. M. Tombini, and C. S. Goulart helped in the field. Distributional collections were possible with the financial support of FUNDECT/MS, FINEP/MCT, and Ministério do Meio Ambiente of Brazil (ProBio). G.S.G is a Posdoc CNPq fellow. We also thank an anonymous referee who contributed greatly to the final version of the manuscript.