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INTRASPECIFIC, INTERSPECIFIC, AND SEASONAL DIFFERENCES IN THE DIET OF THREE MID-SIZED CARNIVORES IN A LARGE NEOTROPICAL WETLAND
2199-241X
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Affilliation
Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho. Departamento de Biologia Aplicada à Agropecuária. Jaboticabal, SP, Brasil.
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Laboratório de Ecologia Terrestre Animal. Florianópolis, SC, Brasil.
Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul. Departamento de Ciências do Ambiente. Corumbá, MS, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Biologia e Parasitologia de Mamíferos Silvestres de Reservatórios. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
University of Missouri. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences. Columbia, MO, USA.
Embrapa/Pantanal. Centro de Pesquisa Agropecuária do Pantanal. Laboratório de Fauna Silvestre. Corumbá, MS, Brasil.
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Laboratório de Ecologia Terrestre Animal. Florianópolis, SC, Brasil.
Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul. Departamento de Ciências do Ambiente. Corumbá, MS, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Biologia e Parasitologia de Mamíferos Silvestres de Reservatórios. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
University of Missouri. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences. Columbia, MO, USA.
Embrapa/Pantanal. Centro de Pesquisa Agropecuária do Pantanal. Laboratório de Fauna Silvestre. Corumbá, MS, Brasil.
Abstract
The diet and partitioning of food resources among
mid-sized mammalian carnivores is poorly known, especially in
the tropics. We evaluated the resource partitioning between
Leopardus pardalis (ocelot), Cerdocyon thous (crab-eating
fox), and Nasua nasua (brown-nosed coati) in the Pantanal of
Brazil. Between December 2005 and February 2008, we collected
data necessary to better understand interspecific, intraspecific,
and seasonal variability in diet. Food habits were
assessed by analysis of feces (n=293) collected from known
individuals (n=128), and differences in dietary composition
were evaluated through nonmetric dimensional scaling using
the Jaccard similarity index. The main diet differences were
observed between the specialist ocelot and the more generalist
crab-eating fox and brown-nosed coati. Crab-eating foxes and
brown-nosed coatis preyed on arthropods, fruits, and vertebrates
whereas ocelots preyed almost entirely on vertebrates, mainly
rodents and snakes. Ocelots’ consumption of snakes was the
highest ever recorded, as was the extent of carnivory by brownnosed
coatis. For the crab-eating fox and the brown-nosed coati,
there were large differences between the use of fruits and animal
foods in the wet and dry season. Yet for both species there were
no significant differences in the diets of males and females.
Despite the conspicuous sexual dimorphism and spatial segregation
that are typical of brown-nosed coatis, the results do not
support the hypothesis that size dimorphism is primarily an
adaptation to reduce intersexual competition for food. Rather,
dimorphisms and patterns of space use may be more related to competition among males for access to females.
Keywords in Portuguese
FelidaePublisher
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Citation
BIANCHI, Rita de Cassia et al. Intraspecific, interspecific, and seasonal differences in the diet of three mid-sized carnivores in a large neotropical wetland. Acta Theriologica, n.59, p.13-23, 2014.DOI
10.1007/s13364-013-0137-xISSN
2199-24012199-241X
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