Os quirópteros do Novo Mundo: a América e o morcego hematófago no relato de viajantes quinhentistas

the arrival of the europeans in the new world will reveal not only the contact with new cultures or new riches; a completely unknown species will be revealed in the reports of practically all the travelers that came to america. in this context, a mammal will be the object of various reports; the blood-eating bat. based upon information contained in the reports and descriptions of the travelers, colonizers and missionaries from the old world that ventured into xvi century america, we intend to analyze not only issues related to the history of the naming, morphology and etiology of the american bat but we will also trace a historical sanitary study of this species known today as one of the biggest retainers of the hydrophobia virus.