Predation of Scapteromys tumidus (Waterhouse, 1837) by Leopardus munoai (Ximenez, 1961) in southern Brazil

Felipe B. Peters; Marina O. Favarini; Ana Paula N. Albano; Suelen D. Segui; Flávia P. Tirelli

doi:10.31687/SaremNMS26.1325

Autores/as

Felipe B. Peters Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Instituto Pró-Carnívoros, Atibaia, Brazil. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7802-0293
Marina O. Favarini Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Instituto Pró-Carnívoros, Atibaia, Brazil. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4553-0083
Ana Paula N. Albano Hospital de Clínicas Veterinária da Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Capão do Leão, Brazil. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6980-1426
Suelen D. Segui Universidade Federal do Pampa, Caçapava do Sul, Brazil. https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7697-4686
Flávia P. Tirelli Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Instituto Pró-Carnívoros, Atibaia, Brazil. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9748-8721

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31687/SaremNMS26.1325

Palabras clave:

citizen science, diet, Muñoa's pampas cat, predation, swamp rat

Resumen

The recent and accelerated fragmentation of native grasslands in the Uruguayan Savanna ecoregion may affect endemic and ecologically specialized species, such as the Muñoa's pampas cat Leopardus munoai. Despite its conservation relevance, information regarding its natural history, including feeding habits, remains limited. Here, we report the first observation of predation on the swamp rat Scapteromys tumidus by L. munoai, based on an opportunistic video obtained in southern Brazil. This record expands the trophic spectrum already documented for this felid, suggests the occasional use of wetland edges as foraging sites, and reinforces the complementary role of citizen science in documenting ecological interactions involving threatened, rare, and low-detectability species.

Citas

Andrade, B. O., et al. 2023. 12,500+ and counting: biodiversity of the Brazilian Pampa. Frontiers of Biogeography 15:e59288. https://doi.org/10.21425/F5FBG59288.

Astúa, D., R. T. Moura, C. E. Grelle, & M. T. Fonseca. 2006. Influence of baits, trap type and position for small mammal capture in a Brazilian lowland Atlantic Forest. Boletim do Museu de Biologia Mello Leitão 19:31–44.

Baeza, S., et al. 2022. Two decades of land cover mapping in the Río de la Plata grassland region: the MapBiomas Pampa initiative. Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment 26:100745. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsase.2022.100834.

Caballero, C. B., T. W. Biggs, N. Vergopolan, T. A. P. West, & A. Ruhoff. 2023. Transformation of Brazil's biomes: the dynamics and fate of agriculture and pasture expansion into native vegetation. Science of the Total Environment 896:166323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166323.

D'Elía, G. & U. F. J. Pardiñas. 2015. Genus Scapteromys. Mammals of South America, Vol. 2: Rodents (J. L. Patton, U. F. J. Pardiñas, & G. D'Elía, eds.). University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Distel, A., M. S. Di Bitetti, S. Cirignoli, Y. E. Di Blanco, & J. A. Pereira. 2023. The last stronghold of Muñoa's Pampas cat (Leopardus munoai) in Argentina? Journal for Nature Conservation 74:126449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2023.126449.

Kasper, C. B., F. B. Peters, A. U. Christoff, & T. R. O. Freitas. 2016. Trophic relationships of sympatric small carnivores in fragmented landscapes of southern Brazil: niche overlap and potential for competition. Mammalia 80:143–152. https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2014-0126.

Kitchener, A. C., et al. 2017. A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: the final report of the cat classification task force of the IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group. Cat News, Special Issue 11:1–80. <https://www.catsg.org/_files/ugd/7a07e2_bef86871118c4e71867bd44fd3e7d929.pdf>.

Lima, D. O., C. Banks-Leite, M. L. Lorini, E. Nicholson, & M. V. Vieira. 2020. Anthropogenic effects on the occurrence of medium-sized mammals on the Brazilian Pampa biome. Animal Conservation 24:1–13. https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12618.

Migliorini, R. P., F. B. Peters, M. O. Favarini, & C. B. Kasper. 2018. Trophic ecology of sympatric small cats in the Brazilian Pampa. PLOS One 13:e0201257. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0201257.

Nascimento, F. O., J. Cheng, & A. Feijó. 2021. Taxonomic revision of the pampas cat Leopardus colocola complex (Carnivora: Felidae): an integrative approach. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 190:575–612. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa043.

Pardiñas, U. F. J., G. D'Elía, & P. Teta. 2008. Una introducción a los mayores sigmodontinos vivientes: revisión de Kunsia Hershkovitz, 1966 y descripción de un nuevo género (Rodentia: Cricetidae). Arquivos do Museu Nacional 66:509–594.

Peters, F. B., P. R. O. Roth, L. F. Machado, E. L. Coelho, D. M. H. Jung, & A. U. Christoff. 2010. Assembléia de mamíferos dos agroecossistemas constituintes da bacia hidrográfica do rio da Várzea, Rio Grande do Sul. Biotemas 23:91–107. https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7925.2010v23n4p91.

Quintela, F. M., M. B. Santos, A. U. Christoff, & A. Gava. 2012. Pequenos mamíferos não-voadores (Didelphimorphia, Rodentia) em dois fragmentos de mata de restinga de Rio Grande, Planície Costeira do Rio Grande do Sul. Biota Neotropica 12:261–266.

Quintela, F. M., G. L. Gonçalves, S. L. Althoff, I. J. Sbalqueiro, L. F. B. Oliveira, & T. R. O. Freitas. 2014. A new species of swamp rat of the genus Scapteromys Waterhouse, 1837 (Rodentia: Sigmodontinae) endemic to Araucaria angustifolia Forest in Southern Brazil. Zootaxa 3811:207–225. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3811.2.3.

Santos, A. S., T. C. Trigo, T. G. Oliveira, L. Silveira, & E. Eizirik. 2018. Phylogeographic analyses of the pampas cat (Leopardus colocola; Carnivora, Felidae) reveal a complex demographic history. Genetics and Molecular Biology 41:273–287. https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-4685-GMB-2017-0079.

Sponchiado, J., G. L. Melo, & N. C. Cáceres. 2012. Habitat selection by small mammals in Brazilian Pampas biome. Journal of Natural History 46:1321–1335. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2012.655796.

Tirelli, F. P., et al. 2021. High extinction risk and limited habitat connectivity of Muñoa's pampas cat, an endemic felid of the Uruguayan Savanna ecoregion. Journal for Nature Conservation 62:126009. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2021.126009.

Tirelli, F. P., P. E. Horn, M. O. Favarini, F. B. Peters, & M. Lucherini. 2024. Collaborative conservation efforts for Geoffroy's cat and sympatric small wild cats. Cat News 79:4–5. IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group.