Xenarthrans—anteaters, sloths, and armadillos—have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across their full distribution ranges. The Neotropics harbor 21 species of armadillos, 10 anteaters, and 6 sloths. Our data set includes the families Chlamyphoridae (13), Dasypodidae (7), Myrmecophagidae (3), Bradypodidae (4), and Megalonychidae (2). We have no occurrence data on Dasypus pilosus (Dasypodidae). Regarding Cyclopedidae, until recently, only one species was recognized, but new genetic studies have revealed that the group is represented by seven species. In this data paper, we compiled a total of 42,528 records of 31 species, represented by occurrence and quantitative data, totaling 24,847 unique georeferenced records. The geographic range is from the southern United States, Mexico, and Caribbean countries at the northern portion of the Neotropics, to the austral distribution in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. Regarding anteaters, Myrmecophaga tridactyla has the most records (n = 5,941), and Cyclopes sp. have the fewest (n = 240). The armadillo species with the most data is Dasypus novemcinctus (n = 11,588), and the fewest data are recorded for Calyptophractus retusus (n = 33). With regard to sloth species, Bradypus variegatus has the most records (n = 962), and Bradypus pygmaeus has the fewest (n = 12). Our main objective with Neotropical Xenarthrans is to make occurrence and quantitative data available to facilitate more ecological research, particularly if we integrate the xenarthran data with other data sets of Neotropical Series that will become available very soon (i.e., Neotropical Carnivores, Neotropical Invasive Mammals, and Neotropical Hunters and Dogs). Therefore, studies on trophic cascades, hunting pressure, habitat loss, fragmentation effects, species invasion, and climate change effects will be possible with the Neotropical Xenarthrans data set. Please cite this data paper when using its data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us of how they are using these data.

The aim of this study was to test the use of measures obtained from freelisting as possible surrogates of the harvest rate of game species. For this purpose, we interviewed 100 rural and urban hunters in southwestern Amazonia to obtain the frequency of citations of each hunted species through freelisting and gather information on the number of individuals hunted per species in the last five hunting events through hunting recalls. We assessed the relationship between the percentage of records per species by each method through a generalized linear model, and then compared the predicted values obtained from this model with the values observed in our dataset using Pearson’s correlation. During freelisting, forty-three taxa were listed in 608 citations as hunted by the informants. Freelisting provided data on around twice the number of species obtained from recalls. During the last five hunting trips, urban hunters reported the hunting of 164 individuals of 18 species, representing 54.5% of the freelisted species. Rural hunters caught 146 individuals of 21 species, 60.0% of the freelisted species. We found a strong logistic relationship between the harvest rates, i.e., percentage of individuals hunted per species from recalls, and the freelisting percentage citations of game species, with the estimated and observed values of harvest rates highly matching (Pearson's R = 0.98, p < 0.0001). The freelisting method allowed a good estimate of the composition and the harvest rates of hunted species. The formula produced in this study can be used as a reference for further studies, enabling researchers to use freelisting effectively to assess the composition of hunted species and to address the difficulty of obtaining reliable data on species harvest rates in tropical forests, especially in short-term studies and contexts in which hunters distrust research.

Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive, it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a nonnative habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat, and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In this data set, we make available occurrence and abundance data on mammal species that (1) transposed a geographical barrier and (2) were voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into the Neotropics. Our data set is composed of 73,738 historical and current georeferenced records on alien mammal species of which around 96% correspond to occurrence data on 77 species belonging to eight orders and 26 families. Data cover 26 continental countries in the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico and its frontier regions (southern Florida and coastal‐central Florida in the southeast United States) to Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay, and the 13 countries of Caribbean islands. Our data set also includes neotropical species (e.g., Callithrix sp., Myocastor coypus, Nasua nasua) considered alien in particular areas of Neotropics. The most numerous species in terms of records are from Bos sp. (n = 37,782), Sus scrofa (n = 6,730), and Canis familiaris (n = 10,084); 17 species were represented by only one record (e.g., Syncerus caffer, Cervus timorensis, Cervus unicolor, Canis latrans). Primates have the highest number of species in the data set (n = 20 species), partly because of uncertainties regarding taxonomic identification of the genera Callithrix, which includes the species Callithrix aurita, Callithrix flaviceps, Callithrix geoffroyi, Callithrix jacchus, Callithrix kuhlii, Callithrix penicillata, and their hybrids. This unique data set will be a valuable source of information on invasion risk assessments, biodiversity redistribution and conservation‐related research. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this data paper when using the data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us on how they are using the data.

The conflict between humans and wildlife in Brazil has both diversified and increased rapidly since 2005. These increases have been driven by the expansion of human economic activity and its associated infrastructure. The present article aims to describe and quantify the poaching of Brazilian wildlife and its link with livestockkeeping in the rural settlement project Joana D'Arc. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews of ranchers settled at the Joana D'Arc II and III, in Porto Velho municipality. The study revealed 20 instances of poaching and found that six species were poached. In 37.5% (n = 3) of the cases, poaching was performed with the help of dogs. In 25% (n � 2) of the cases, the settlement's owners offered their employees bonuses if they en-� 2) of the cases, the settlement's owners offered their employees bonuses if they en-� 2) of the cases, the settlement's owners offered their employees bonuses if they en-2) of the cases, the settlement's owners offered their employees bonuses if they en-2) of the cases, the settlement's owners offered their employees bonuses if they engaged in poaching. In 25% (n = 2) of the cases, people from outside the Joana D'Arc rural settlement were paid for poaching. In the remaining 12.5% (n = 1) of the cases the study found no details about the poaching event. The study found that the poachers were motivated to act preventing the predation of their livestock (n = 6, 30%), to reduce attacks on livestock (n = 5, 25%), owing to a personal aversion to wildlife (n = 4, 20%), the motivation of the poacher was not informed by the interviewed (n = 3, 15%), and to prevent attacks upon domestic animals and livestock in general (n = 2, 10%). However, this study showed that poaching was not entirely motivated by wildlife attacks. For instance, because it is difficult to confirm which predator is responsible for a given attack or is likely to attack in the future, people in these settlements are highly sensitive to the presence of wildlife-a condition that greatly increases the potential for the conflict between humans and wildlife. The study also found that wildlife hunting is common because predation can have a substantial economic impact on rural communities driven by agriculture. In short, the study found that the poaching of wild animals is not, in this context, directed to a single species of animal, and is a demonstrably multifaceted problem.

One of the greatest challenges for the conservation of hunting species is not to prevent exploitation in a definitive way, but to avoid that overhunting leads to depletion of the species. As a wildlife management tool for hunting, we can highlight the Hunting Agreement, which consists of prohibiting or restricting the hunting of certain species most vulnerable. Thus, the goal of this study was to determine if the adoption of the Hunting Agreement caused a change in the habits of hunters at the Cazumbá-Iracema Extractive Reserve, located in the State of Acre, North Brazil. The Hunting Agreement imposes a ban on the slaughter of species and the use of certain hunting strategies. This study used the methodology of interview to verify the hunting preference and hunting calendar for quantification. We recorded the slaughter of 15 banned individuals namely Ara spp., Amazona spp, Psittacara leucophthalmus and Tapirus terrestris. The comparison of the absolute abundance of species with a prohibition of hunting or not presented a significant difference, showing that there is a greater slaughter of species without prohibition on hunting. The comparison of prohibited and non-prohibited hunting strategies had a significant difference, demonstrating the greater predominance of the use of permitted strategies. There is a greater slaughter of species without prohibition on hunting. Prohibited hunting strategies represent a punctual behavior within the community. The implementation of the Hunting Agreement pervades not only the population awareness of the population lag of the target species, but mainly cultural, behavioral, economic and legislative changes.