Xenarthrans—anteaters, sloths, and armadillos—have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across their full distribution ranges. The Neotropics harbor 21 species of armadillos, 10 anteaters, and 6 sloths. Our data set includes the families Chlamyphoridae (13), Dasypodidae (7), Myrmecophagidae (3), Bradypodidae (4), and Megalonychidae (2). We have no occurrence data on Dasypus pilosus (Dasypodidae). Regarding Cyclopedidae, until recently, only one species was recognized, but new genetic studies have revealed that the group is represented by seven species. In this data paper, we compiled a total of 42,528 records of 31 species, represented by occurrence and quantitative data, totaling 24,847 unique georeferenced records. The geographic range is from the southern United States, Mexico, and Caribbean countries at the northern portion of the Neotropics, to the austral distribution in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. Regarding anteaters, Myrmecophaga tridactyla has the most records (n = 5,941), and Cyclopes sp. have the fewest (n = 240). The armadillo species with the most data is Dasypus novemcinctus (n = 11,588), and the fewest data are recorded for Calyptophractus retusus (n = 33). With regard to sloth species, Bradypus variegatus has the most records (n = 962), and Bradypus pygmaeus has the fewest (n = 12). Our main objective with Neotropical Xenarthrans is to make occurrence and quantitative data available to facilitate more ecological research, particularly if we integrate the xenarthran data with other data sets of Neotropical Series that will become available very soon (i.e., Neotropical Carnivores, Neotropical Invasive Mammals, and Neotropical Hunters and Dogs). Therefore, studies on trophic cascades, hunting pressure, habitat loss, fragmentation effects, species invasion, and climate change effects will be possible with the Neotropical Xenarthrans data set. Please cite this data paper when using its data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us of how they are using these data.

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non‐detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non‐governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer‐reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non‐detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio‐temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large‐scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data.

Although the brown howler monkey (Alouatta clamitans) is a relatively well-studied Neotropical primate, its behavioral and dietary flexibility at the intra-population level remains poorly documented. This study presents data collected on the behavior and ecology of two closely located groups of brown howlers during the same period at the RPPN Feliciano Miguel Abdala in southeastern Brazil. One group occupied a primary valley habitat, henceforth the Valley Group (VG), and the other group occupied a regenerating hillside habitat, the Hill Group (HG). We hypothesized differences in the behavior and ecological parameters between these sympatric groups due to the predicted harsher conditions on the hillside, compared to the valley. We measured several habitat parameters within the home range of both groups and collected data on the activity budget, diet and day range lengths, from August to November 2005, between dawn and dusk. In total, behavioral data were collected for 26 (318 h) and 28 (308 h) sampling days for VG and HG, respectively. As we predicted, HG spent significantly more time feeding and consumed less fruit and more leaves than VG, consistent with our finding that the hillside habitat was of lower quality. However, HG also spent less time resting and more time travelling than VG, suggesting that the monkeys had to expend more time and energy to obtain high-energy foods, such as fruits and flowers that were more widely spaced in their hill habitat. Our results revealed that different locations in this forest vary in quality and raise the question of how different groups secure their home ranges. Fine-grained comparisons such as this are important to prioritize conservation and management areas within a reserve.

Few attempts have been made to understand how spatiotemporal changes in fruit supply influence frugivores in tropical forests. The marked spatiotemporal variation in fruit supply can affect frugivore abundance and distribution, but studies addressing the effects of this variation on primates are scarce. The present study aimed to investigate how the spatiotemporal distribution of fruits influences the local distribution of three frugivorous primates in the eastern part of the Maracá Ecological Station, a highly seasonal Amazonian rainforest. Specifically, it was hypothesised that primate distribution will track changes in fruit supply, resulting that sites with high fruit availability should be heavily used by primates. During a 1-year study, fruit supply (ground fruit surveys) and primate density (line-transects) were monitored in twelve 2 km-long transects at monthly intervals. Fruit supply varied seasonally, being low during the dry season. The density of Ateles belzebuth was positively related to fruit supply during fruit shortage, but Cebus olivaceus and Alouatta macconnelli did not follow the same pattern. The supply of Sapotaceae fruit was an important component determining local distribution of A. belzebuth during the overall fruit shortage. Highly frugivorous primates such as A. belzebuth respond to seasonal decline in fruit supply by congregating at places with high fruit supply in this forest, particularly, those with many individuals of species of Sapotaceae. This study underscores the importance of small-scale spatiotemporal changes of fruit supply as a key component of frugivorous primate ecology in highly seasonal environments.