This study described and analyzed the roadkill of native vertebrates in the southwest of the Brazilian State of Goiás, evaluating the influence of the seasonal variation in climate and the influence of highway structure (e.g., two lane/one lane routes, road conditions). In this context, we collected samples each month over a one-year period on five of the region's highways, all of which originate in the town of Jataí, linking it to the neighboring towns of Acreúna, Aporé, Itajá, Doverlândia and Portelândia. We recorded 1113 individuals (0.115 individuals/km/year), including nine amphibians, 55 reptiles, 223 birds, and 826 mammals. The two-lane highway had the highest species richness and abundance, and was significantly different from the other roads. We also found significant seasonal differences in overall abundance, and the species richness and abundance of the herpetofauna, with a greater number of collisions occurring during the rainy season. Over the long term, programs of environmental education-especially during the rainy season-may help to raise the awareness of drivers.

Habitat fragmentation is one of the principal causes of the decline of species worldwide, and the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Cerrado savanna biomes are among the most severely affected by this process. While highly fragmented, remnants of Atlantic Forest can still be found within the Cerrado domain of southern Goiás, where previous studies have revealed high levels of biodiversity. To inventory the mammalian species that occur in the region, two fragments of semideciduous Atlantic Forest were sampled between 2011 and 2016, using line transect surveys and camera trapping. A total of 1016 records were obtained of 30 mammal species, of which eleven are under some threat of extinction. The species richness recorded on this study was similar to or higher than the values reported from other areas of Goiás, which reinforces the importance of the maintenance of these remnants, located in private properties, for the conservation of the region's mammals.

No abstract

Guira cuckoo (Guira guira) is a communal breeder bird species displaying a diversified diet. In this study, we report the first published predation event of a rodent by Guira cuckoo in Brazil. We searched for vertebrate predation by this bird species in Brazilian domains in the following databases: Google Scholar, SciELO, Scopus and Web of Science. We recorded the rodent predation event in a landscape composed of pasture and gallery forest in Campo Grande municipality, Mato Grosso do Sul, central-west Brazil. The predated rodent is a vesper mouse, Calomys sp. We found 19 vertebrate species predated by the Guira cuckoo, distributed in all Brazilian domains, within the orders: Anura (5 species), Passeriformes (1), Squamata (12), and Rodentia (1 - present study). Our result contributes to the natural history of the Guira cuckoo, and highlights that this cuckoo bird displays a generalist diet, feeding on a diversity of vertebrate species.