
Ricardo MoratelliOswaldo Cruz Foundation | FIOCRUZ · Fiocruz Mata Atlântica
Ricardo Moratelli
Doctor of Science (D.Sc.)
Head of Fiocruz Atlantic Forest,
Oswaldo Cruz Foundation - Fiocruz
About
126
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Introduction
Taxonomist and wildlife biologist, with Master's and PhD degrees in Zoology. Since 2006 works as a scientist for Fiocruz. Research is based on museum collections and fieldwork. Interested in mammalogy, with projects focusing on the systematics, biogeography, ecology and natural history of Neotropical bats; ecology of zoonotic diseases associated with bats; and mammalian surveys and conservation in the Rio de Janeiro Atlantic Forest.
Additional affiliations
Education
September 2004 - November 2008
April 2001 - June 2003
August 1996 - November 2000
Publications
Publications (126)
An increasingly asked question is ‘can we confidently link bats with emerging viruses?’. No, or not yet, is the qualified answer based on the evidence available. Although more than 200 viruses – some of them deadly zoonotic viruses – have been isolated from or otherwise detected in bats, the supposed connections between bats, bat viruses and human...
We describe Lonchophylla inexpectata sp. n. from the Caatinga of Brazil. This new species can be distinguished from all known species of Lonchophylla that occur in Brazil by dental traits, cranial size, and fur colour. Specimens of Lonchophylla inexpectata have been misidentified as Lonchophylla mordax; but Lonchophylla inexpectata is a pale-venter...
We describe a new species of Myotis (Vespertilionidae, Myotinae) from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Tobago Island. The new species (Myotis attenboroughi sp. nov.) can be distinguished from all other Neotropical congeners by cranial features and cytochrome-b gene sequences. Myotis attenboroughi sp. nov. is allied morphologically with species...
Com raras exceções, as supostas conexões entre morcegos, vírus e doenças em humanos estão baseadas mais em especulação do que em evidências. Por outro lado, é de chamar atenção a história de alguns surtos de doenças relacionadas a morcegos e a análise do sistema imunológico desses animais, que parecem explicar por que eles são potenciais hospedeiro...
Hantaviruses are zoonotic pathogens associated with severe human diseases such as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Despite the extensive study of rodent-borne hantaviruses, research on bat-associated hantaviruses remains limited. This study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence and cross-reactivity of neotr...
Bats comprise one of the most diverse and abundant groups of mammals in the world and host a significant viral diversity with zoonotic potential. Bat adenoviruses (bat AdVs), members of the family Adenoviridae, have been detected in several bat species, suggesting that bats are natural reservoirs. Here, faeces and rectal/anal-swabs were collected f...
We present an updated checklist of Brazilian bats, commenting on the endemic and threatened status of the species listed and providing information on recent taxonomic and nomenclatural changes. The bats of Brazil comprise 186 species, 68 genera, and nine families, with 13 species exclusive to the country. From the previous checklists, we add eight...
With the successful control of rabies transmitted by dogs in Brazil, wild animals have played a relevant epidemiological role in the transmission of rabies virus (RABV). Bats, non-human primates and wild canines are the main wild animals that transmit RABV in the country. It is worth highlighting the possibility of synanthropic action of these spec...
Myotis originated during the Oligocene in Eurasia and has become one of the most diverse bat genera, with over 140 species. In the case of neotropical Myotis, there is a high degree of phenotypic conservatism. This means that the taxonomic and geographic limits of several species are not well understood, which constrains detailed studies on their e...
Bats are the second most diverse order of mammals and play a central role in ecosystem dynamics. They are also important reservoirs of potentially zoonotic microorganisms, of which rabies virus is the most lethal among the bat-transmitted zoonotic pathogens. Importantly, recent outbreaks of human rabies have been reported from the Brazilian Amazon....
Myotis nigricans was previously considered the most widely distributed Neotropical Myotis species, occurring from Mexico to northern Argentina, and several allopatric subspecies have been recognized, including M. n. extremus, from Mexico and Guatemala. However, recent studies have shown that M. nigricans is a species complex—many cryptic. Using mol...
The study of tooth morphology is fundamental for the taxonomic and evolutionary comprehension of mammals. However, dental abnormalities can lead to misidentifications and species invalidations. We present two distinctive dental anomalies observed in Myotis riparius: (i) hypodontia, characterized by the absence of the second upper premolar (P3) on b...
Myotis riparius is an insectivorous bat species widely distributed in the Neotropics with evident geographical variation in morphological traits. We conducted an integrative study using mitochondrial DNA, qualitative and quantitative morphology, and current and past species distribution models to investigate the variation, population structure, and...
It is estimated that less than 25% of the eukaryotic species on Earth have been formally described. On the other hand, we are going through a biodiversity crisis that has caused mass species extinctions, many of which have not yet been discovered by science. This puts taxonomy at the forefront of the biological sciences. Based on a case study on ne...
Artibeus lituratus (great fruit-eating bat; Phyllostomidae, Stenodermatinae) is a bat predominantly frugivorous species, with an important role in seed dispersal. The scarce literature on the morphology and pathology of bats is a challenge for professionals who study the species. This report presents the case of a free-living adult male of A. litur...
Histiotus is a Neotropical genus of bat that currently includes 11 species. The systemat-ics of Histiotus has been the focus of several studies over the last decades. However, no broad systematic revision has been made, and taxonomic issues such as synonymies, use of subspecies, and specimens that do not fit the description of valid species still p...
Eptesicus Rafinesque, 1820 is widely distributed in the Old and New World (26 species), and Histiotus Gervais, 1856 is a South American endemic (11 species). Molecular phylogenies have recovered Eptesicus (sensu lato) as polyphyletic, with New World Eptesicus and the sister genus Histiotus in a paraphyletic American clade sister to Old World Eptesi...
Aqui apresentamos os resultados do levantamento da mastofauna de médio e grande porte da Estação Biológica Fiocruz Mata Atlântica (EFMA) e analisamos sua distribuição ao longo das áreas definidas como peridomicílio, transição e proteção integral na EFMA. O estudo foi conduzido de 2018 a 2020. Para o levantamento utilizamos armadilhas fotográficas,...
O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a diversidade de roedores sigmodontíneos, marsupiais e morcegos na região da Estação Biológica Fiocruz Mata Atlântica. As amostragens cobriram diferentes tipos de habitat ao longo de um gradiente de intervenção antrópica, com áreas definidas como peridomicílio, floresta de transição, floresta em estágio intermedi...
Rabies is a lethal zoonotic disease caused by rabies virus (RABV) that affects human health and the economy. RABV is transmitted mainly by bats in Brazil, and surveillance in remote areas is hampered by the difficulty of properly collecting samples during fieldwork and the diagnosis is performed in laboratory conditions. Here, we report a portable...
Tamandua Gray, 1825 contains two species of anteaters: Tamandua mexicana (Saussure, 1860), which occurs in southern Mexico, throughout Central America and south to the west of the Andes in South America, and Tamandua tetradactyla (Linnaeus, 1758), widely distributed in South America, from Venezuela to northern Argentina, as well as Trinidad and Tob...
Mixed infections by different Trypanosoma species or genotypes are a common and puzzling phenomenon. Therefore, it is critical to refine the diagnostic techniques and to understand to what extent these methods detect trypanosomes. We aimed to develop an accessible strategy to enhance the sensitivity of the hemoculture, as well as to understand the...
Myotis is the most speciose genus of mammals in the world and recent taxonomic revisions have revealed an impressive diversity of species in South America. Even so, the phenotypic conservatism of some taxa makes taxonomic delimitation difficult. We perform a taxonomic review of Myotis from Argentina based on qualitative and quantitative morphologic...
Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu (REGUA) is a private, protected area inside a remnant of the Atlantic Forest with high biodiversity. Although the bats of the reserve have been sampled for more than two decades, few studies have been published about them. Based on a compilation of data from several surveys, we present an updated list of the bat specie...
Myotis is the most diverse genus of bats in the world, with more than 30 species recognized in the Neotropics. However, many of these species represent cryptic complexes and are evidence of the existence of hidden diversity in several regions. Using an integrative approach based on molecular, morphological, and bioacoustic data, we performed a syst...
The Pedra Branca Forest is in a highly urbanised region of the central portion of Rio de Janeiro City and comprises the largest urban forest in the world (> 12,000 ha). The local flora and fauna are protected by three conservation units and the Estação Biológica Fiocruz Mata Atlântica (EFMA), which comprises 462 hectares on the east side of the rem...
Cruzia tentaculata is a helminth parasite of marsupials and has a wide geographic distribution from Mexico to Argentina. The aim of this study was to analyse the genetic population structure of this nematode along the Atlantic Forest biome. Cruzia tentaculata specimens were recovered from Didelphis aurita, Didelphis albiventris and Philander quica...
Myotis comprises a diverse group of vespertilionid bats with worldwide distribution. Neotropical Myotis have an accentuated phenotypic conservatism, which makes species delimitation and identification difficult , hindering our understanding of the diversity, distribution, and phylogenetic relationships of taxa. To encourage new systematic reviews o...
Myotis atacamensis (Lataste, 1892) was described based on three syntypes from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. The type series is lost. The original description was based on few external and cranial characters, and the diagnosis became obsolete and useless considering the current diversity of South American Myotis. Based on 12 specimens of M. atacamens...
Myotis lavali Moratelli, Peracchi, Dias, and Oliveira, 2011 is a vespertilionid bat commonly called LaVal's myotis. It is a small-to medium-sized bat with long silky fur; dorsal fur strongly bicolored, with medium-brown bases and light-brown tips. It occurs from Northeastern Brazil to Paraguay and northern Argentina, and its distribution is associa...
Conceição dos Ouros is located in the Mantiqueira mountain range (elevation: 831‒1443 m a.s.l.), State of Minas Gerais, southeast Brazil. The largest two Atlantic Forest remnants of the Municipality of Conceição dos Ouros total more than 2,000 ha and the main vegetation type is seasonal semi-deciduous forest, isolated by a matrix of agricultural fi...
Brazil’s caves, home to diverse species and minerals, were stripped of protections by a recent presidential decree.
Xeronycteris Gregorin and Ditchfield, 2005 is a rare monotypic genus of Lonchophyllinae bats endemic to Brazil, with Xeronycteris
vieirai Gregorin and Ditchfield, 2005 as the type and sole species. We updated the geographical distribution of the species, including
new records from the Cerrado and the Caatinga. Using traditional and geometric morpho...
The Pedra Branca Forest is located in a highly-urbanised region of the central portion of Rio de Janeiro City, comprises the largest urban forest on the continent and is isolated from other Atlantic Forest remnants. The local flora and fauna are protected by three conservation units (Pedra Branca State Park, Prainha Municipal Natural Park and Guara...
The genus Myotis comprises a diverse group of vesper bats with worldwide distribution. Twenty-eight neotropical species are currently recognized. Based on a morphological approach, we describe a new species of Myotis from the Uruguayan Pampas grasslands, an ecoregion under high anthropogenic pressure with a largely unknown bat fauna. Qualitative an...
Bats are infected with several trypanosomatid species; however, assessing the diversity of this interaction remains challenging since there are species apparently unable to grow in conventional culture media. Accordingly, the ecology and biology of the Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) Trypanosoma spp. Neobats are unknown. Therefore, we...
Wild animals infected with Paracoccidioides brasiliensis represent important indicators of this fungal agent presence in the environment. The detection of this pathogen in road-killed wild animals has shown to be a key strategy for eco-epidemiological surveillance of paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM), helping to map hot spots for human infection. Molecu...
Myotis lavali is an insectivorous bat that occurs along the South American Dry Diagonal, extending from the Brazilian Caatinga southward to Paraguayan Alto Chaco. This species was described recently and there is little information about its biology. Herein, we describe the conventional karyotype from three males captured in an arboreal savanna from...
Crithidia mellificae, a monoxenous trypanosomatid considered restricted to insects, was recently reported to infect a bat. Herein, C. mellificae has been demonstrated to have a wider range of vertebrate hosts and distribution in Brazilian biomes than once thought. Parasites isolated from haemocultures were characterized using V7V8 SSU rDNA and glyc...
Myotis nesopolus currently comprises two subspecies. The nominate subspecies (M. n. nesopolus) occurs on the Caribbean islands of Curaçao and Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, whereas M. n. larensis is known from mainland South America in northeastern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela. Our Maximum Likelihood phylogenetic analyses of cytochrome-b gen...
Amblyomma Koch, 1844 is distributed worldwide, with ca. 130 species currently recognized. These ticks are vectors of pathogens to animals and humans, including the causative agent of the New World Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Species of the Amblyomma parasitize a wide range of organisms, especially medium and large terrestrial mammals. Here we rep...
It was provide a hematological profile of Artibeus lituratus (Phyllostomidae: Stenodermatinae). Animals were collected from October 2017 to February 2018 in an urban forest in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Southeastern Brazil. Males and females showed similar overall mean values for the parameters analyzed. Males had higher values for erythrocytes (R...
It was provide a hematological profile of Artibeus lituratus (Phyllostomidae: Stenodermatinae). Animals were collected from October 2017 to February 2018 in an urban forest in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Southeastern Brazil. Males and females showed similar overall mean values for the parameters analyzed. Males had higher values for erythrocytes (R...
Carlos Botelho State Park (PECB) is a large remnant of Atlantic Forest in Southeastern Brazil, with more than 37,000 ha. As its bat fauna is still unknown, we performed the first bat survey on PECB, to provide data on the distribution, natural history and taxonomy of the species. Fieldwork was conducted monthly, from October 2016 to September 2017....
Recently, Agnolin et al. (2019) described 14 new species of mammals, including 12 rodents, one bat, and one carnivore, and one new subspecies of rodent. In addition, these authors proposed several other nomenclatorial acts: some nominal forms were removed from synonymies and hypothesized as distinct species, at the time that three new genera, one s...
The Bartonella species are zoonotic agents that infect mammals and are transmitted by arthropod vectors. Approximately 18 distinct genotypes cause diseases in humans, and may be spread by both domestic and wild animals. In Brazil, Bartonella genotypes have been identified in several species of wild mammals, and in the present study, we analyzed sam...
Biological collections are central in understanding and preserving life on Earth. In Brazil, the most representative collections are kept by natural history museums, whose primary focus is in invertebrates, vertebrates and vascular plants. Only a few institutions keep repositories in different kingdoms. The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), establ...
Eight species of Myotis are known to occur west of the Andes, of which four are from western Peru. Based on four vouchers from the arid coast of northern and central Peru, a new species is added to this list. Myotis bakeri species novum externally resembles M. atacamensis but it can be distinguished from this species and all other South American co...
Xenarthra is a superorder of placental mammals constituted by extant armadillos, sloths, anteaters and their fossil relatives. Considering the biogeographic abundance, the two species included in the Tamandua genus are the most expressive among the anteaters, being found of the north of Central America to the south of South America. Tamandua tetrad...
Myotis lavali was described from the M. nigricans complex based on museum specimens from the Caatinga of northeastern Brazil. Current records of the species from about 10 localities suggest that M. lavali seems to occur throughout the South American dry corridor, with peripheral records in the Atlantic Forest. Based on new distribution records, we...
We aimed to assess the potential impact of climate change on the geographic distribution of areas holding suitable climatic conditions for the presence of Lycalopex vetulus, and to discuss the implications of such distribution for the conservation of the species. We employed correlative modeling analyses to infer the geographic distribution of clim...
We studied infection by Trypanosomatidae in bats captured in two areas with different degradation levels in the Atlantic Forest of Rio de Janeiro state: Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu (REGUA) and Estação Fiocruz Mata Atlântica (EFMA). Furthermore, we evaluated whether the diversity of trypanosomatids changes according to bat diversity and the differ...
The most recent list of mammals of the Serra dos Órgãos National Park (PARNASO) with 79 records is from its second Management Plan published in 2008. The present study aimed to update the list of mammal species of PARNASO, adding new species records obtained from primary data and bibliographic review, in the period between 2002 and 2018. The review...
Background
The southern tamandua, Tamandua tetradactyla (Linnaeus, 1758), is the most common species of anteater. Even though much is known about its ecology, behavior, and parasites, there is very limited information about bone diseases in Tamandua and other anteaters. Here, we examined postcranial skeletons of 64 T. tetradactyla museum specimens...
Here we report the results of a bat survey in three localities in the rural area of Guarapari, Espírito Santo state, southeastern Brazil. The region is in the Atlantic Forest biome, and localities sampled are adjacent to forest patches. Bats were sampled using ground-level mist nets. We captured 314 bats in 19 species, 15 genera, three families and...