Paul Carter; 26 Mar 2022 (v1); revised 8 July 2023 (v2) – removed Margay record.
This post summarizes my mammal records (30 species) in the Gamboa area, Panama, from six nights in Feb 2022 (6-10th and 18-20th). Species included Ocelot, Panama Mouse Opossum, Geoffroy’s Tamarin, Western Lowland Olingo, Gabb’s Cottontail, Quichua Porcupine, Tomes’s Spiny Rat and 9 bat species (including images of Mesoamerican Mustached Bat).
Contents
1) Sites; 2) Mammal List; 3) Images; 4) References.
1. SITES
We stayed at Summit Rainforest and Golf Resort (SRG; 6-10 Feb) and Gamboa Rainforest Reserve (GRR; 18-20 Feb). I did night-walks at both resorts as well as Pipeline Road and Plantation Road.
Bat records marked “EMT” refer to those seen in flight with identification made using an Echo Meter Touch 2 Pro (dubious ID records not included).
2. MAMMAL RECORDS
- Panama Mouse Opossum (Marmosa isthmica) @ GRR (Laguna Trail; three photographed). Image below and iNat post here as “Isthmian Mouse Opossum (Marmosa robinsoni isthmica)”.
- Common Opossum (Didelphis marsupialis) @ Pipeline Road and GRR. Image below.
- Nine-banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) @ SRG (golf course) and GRR (Laguna Trail).
- Northern Tamandua (Tamandua mexicana) @ SRG (near sloth center and on the trail) and Plantation Road.
- Hoffmann’s Two-toed Sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni) @ SRG.
- Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth (Bradypus variegatus) @ Plantation Road.
- Lesser White-lined Bat (Saccopteryx leptura) @ Discovery Center – EMT audio.
- Greater White-lined Bat (Saccopteryx bilineata) @ Plantation Road – EMT audio.
- Common Big-eared Bat (Micronycteris microtis) @ Discovery Center (in a culvert near the center).
- Merriam’s Long-tongued Bat (Glossophaga mutica) @ Discovery Center (in a culvert near the center).
- Seba’s Short-tailed Bat (Carollia perspicillata) @ Discovery Center (in a culvert near the center and under the deck; the latter site reported by previous visitors).
- Common Tent-making Bat (Uroderma bilobatum) @ GRR Resort (ceiling inside the building past reception and halfway down the stairs there was a maternity colony on the ceiling; photo below).
- Great Stripe-faced Bat (Vampyrodes major) @ Gamboa area.
- Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat (Artibeus jamaicensis) @ Gamboa area.
- Mesoamerican Mustached Bat (Pteronotus mesoamericanus) @ GRR (Laguna Trail). Image below; iNat post here.
- Common Big-eared Bat (Micronycteris microtis) @ Discovery Center (in a culvert near the center).
- Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) @ Pipeline Road; an adult crossed the road at the parking area for the Discovery Center. A smaller animal (juvenile) came to within 3 meters of me and all photos are front on; the smaller eyes and pink not black nose suggest this is an Oceloti; Nat post is HERE. Reid (2009 p277) notes that “a young Ocelot is probably indistinguishable from a Margay in the field”.
- White-nosed Coati (Nasua narica) @ Pipeline Road and GRR.
- Western Lowland Olingo (Bassaricyon medius) @ Pipeline Road (near Discovery Center parking) and SRG (near the sloth rehab center). Image below; iNat post HERE for SRG record.
- Kinkajou (Potos flavus) @ GRR (Laguna Trail).
- Collared Peccary (Dicotyles tajacu) @ Pipeline Road (a group of four at the bottom of the hill).
- Gabb’s Cottontail (Sylvilagus gabbi) @ GRR (three seen on the road to the tram station). Image below; iNat post HERE as Gabb’s Cottontail (Sylvilagus brasiliensis gabbi)
- Red-tailed Squirrel (Syntheosciurus granatensis / Sciurus granatensis) @ SRG.
- Variegated Squirrel (Echinosciurus variegatoides / Sciurus variegatoides) @ SRG (bamboo patch in front of pool).
- Quichua Porcupine (Coendou quichua; includes Coendou rothschildi) @ Plantation Road (3 sites) and Laguna Trail (one pair). Images below; iNat post HERE.
- Lesser Capybara (Hydrochoerus isthmius) @ SRG (a family of 5 at the entry gate pond; seen at midnight and at 6 AM).
- Central American Agouti (Dasyprocta punctata) @ Gamboa area (common).
- Spotted Paca (Cuniculus paca) @ GRR (Laguna Trail).
- Tomes’s Spiny Rat (Proechimys semispinosus) @ 4 sites (Plantation Road, Laguna Trail, “Watertank road”, and behind the Tram station). Images below; iNat posts HERE and HERE.
- Mantled Howler Monkey (Alouatta palliata) @ Pipeline Road and Discovery Center.
- Geoffroy’s Tamarin (Saguinus geoffroyi) @ SRG (fruit feeding station).
3. IMAGES
4. REFERENCES
Reid (2009). A Field Guide to the Mammals of Central America and Southeast Mexico. Second Edition. Oxford University Press.