Danger under wheels: mammal roadkills in the threaten lowland Atlantic Forest in southeast Brazil

ABSTRACT Understanding the ecological impacts of roads on mammals requires periodic monitoring roads, and identification both temporal spatial distribution roadkills (i.e., roadkill hotspots). The main aim study was to identify most roadkilled evaluate in RJ-122, a highway that crosses threaten lowland Atlantic Forest state Rio de Janeiro, southeast Brazil. Between October 2017 January 2020, an intense conducted, with carcasses being collected three times week. Overall, we recorded 295 belonging 22 species, resulting 11 per month for RJ-122 highway. black-eared opossum, Didelphis aurita (N=149, 51%) stood out as mammal, followed by porcupine, Coendou spinosus (N= 24, 8%), crab-eating fox, Cerdocyon thous 23, 8), nine-banded armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus white-tufted marmoset, Callithrix jacchus 20, 7%). Roadkills varied throughout year, more frequent rainy season (N=180) than dry (N=115), were concentrated two hotspots, indicating some critical points high frequency. Hotspots associated areas dense natural vegetation, which can function forest corridors this fragmented landscape. Based our results, several mitigation measures are recommended