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BIBTEX RIS

Geographic distribution and food habits of Leopardus tigrinus and L. geoffroyi (Carnivora, Felidae) at their geographic contact zone in southern Brazil

2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 48; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/01650521.2013.774789

ISSN

1744-5140

Autores

Tatiane Campos Trigo, Flávia Pereira Tirelli, Leonardo Ferreira Machado, Felipe Bortolotto Peters, Cibele Barros Indrusiak, Fábio Dias Mazim, Dênis A. Sana, Eduardo Eizirik, Thales Renato Ochotorena de Freitas,

Tópico(s)

Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies

Resumo

Abstract The objective of this study is to define the geographic distribution of Leopardus tigrinus and L. geoffroyi in one of the few regions of South America where they co-occur, the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), in southernmost Brazil. We compiled 133 records for both species and constructed a distribution map, which shows sharp geographic segregation between them. Leopardus tigrinus was found to be associated more with forested ecoregions in the northern part of the state, while L. geoffroyi records were mainly associated with open habitats of the Pampas biome in southern RS. We present data on the diet of these two species that indicate trophic niche separation between them in this region of geographic contact. Our results thus suggest that these species exhibit ecological partitioning with respect to habitat and prey, and that these factors may influence the observed pattern of limited spatial overlap in this region. Keywords: contact zonedistributiondietNeotropical felids Acknowledgments The authors thank Fundação Zoobotânica do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul/FZBRS, Zoológico de Sapucaia do Sul, Zoológico Municipal de Cachoeira do Sul, Criadouro Conservacionista de Morro Reuter, Zoológico Municipal de Passo Fundo, Quinta da Estância Grande, Cláudio Giacomini, Raquel von Hohendorf, Edson Salomão, Daniel Green and the people listed in Appendix for access to occurrence records of Leopardus tigrinus and L. geoffroyi in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. We also thank Márcio Martins, Alexandre Christoff, Márcio Repenning, Cristiano Rovedder, and Carla Fontana for prey items identification, CNPq/Brazil, CAPES/Brazil and FAPERGS/Brazil for financial support. We are also grateful to two anonymous reviewers who have made valuable suggestions on the basis of a previous version of this manuscript.

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