The Mammals of Costa Rica

While walking through the forests of Costa Rica, many mammals rustle through the undergrowth or swing aloofly in the canopy—but this does not mean that they are visible at first. Night hikes sometimes offer better opportunities to spot mammals. This region of the Tropics provides a home for more than 200 mammal species, more than half of which are bat species and thus nocturnal. In fact, bats comprise the major contribution to the increase in mammal species richness as you move closer to the equator from temperate regions (like that of the United States). There are more food groups that are available throughout the year, enabling more species to specialize their diets around fruit, nectar, fish, blood, or meat. Other than bats, mammals here which have ecological roles unparalleled in temperate zones include monkeys (4 species), anteaters (3 species), sloths (2 species), and noninsectivorous bats (over 100 species). Many other mammals are rodents, such as the agouti or paca, and others are shy like the tapir and jaguar.