Occurrence of Anoura geoffroyi Gray, 1838, (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in Quaternary deposits of Lagoa Santa, Brazil

Fossils of bats (Order Chiroptera) are considered rare due to the fragility of their bone structure, and are commonly represented only by fragments. In Brazil, most records correspond to extant species, with Desmodus draculae standing out as the only extinct species identified. The Lagoa Santa karst system is widely recognized for its paleontological and archaeological sites. Although many of its caves contain bat remains, detailed studies focusing on this group remain scarce. This study reports the first record of the species Anoura geoffroyi in Quaternary deposits. The skull was found in Cuvieri Cave, in a superficial layer associated with vertebrate remains currently present in the local fauna. Although the exact age of the specimen is uncertain, the presence of carbonate incrustations suggests that the skull remained exposed in the cave for an extended period before its final burial. Despite the impossibility of precisely defining the corresponding paleoenvironment, the current wide distribution of Anoura geoffroyi in the Cerrado Biome (Brazilian Savanna) suggests that the specimen may have lived in the region at a time when this biome was already predominant.