Opportunistic Predation of Artibeus lituratus (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) by the Marsupial Marmosops incanus (Didelphidae, Didelphimorphia) in the Atlantic Forest, Minas Gerais

ABSTRACT

Marmosops incanus (Lund, 1840) is an abundant marsupial species in the primary and secondary forests of the Atlantic Forest, similarly to the fruit-eating bat Artibeus lituratus (Olfers, 1818), which is commonly recorded in forest regions and rural and urban areas. A new predation activity by the opportunistic marsupial species Marmosops incanus on the fruit-eating bat Artibeus lituratus, trapped in a mist-net, was recorded during a chiropterofauna study in the Atlantic Forest of the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is known that bats are part of the diet of several vertebrates, many of which are mammals; however, the prey-predator relationship between Marmosops incanus and Artibeus lituratus recorded in this study describes a predation relationship never reported before, contributing to enhance the knowledge on this topic.