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Mammalian Biology
Zeitschrift fuÈr SaÈugetierkunde
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Diet of three didelphid marsupials (Mammalia,
Didelphimorphia) in southern Brazil
By N. C. CAÂCERES
Department of Biosciences, Mato Grosso do Sul Federal University, Brazil
Receipt of Ms. 30. 06. 2003
Acceptance of Ms. 18. 03. 2004
Key words: Neotropical marsupials, frugivory, seed dispersal
Didelphid marsupials are nocturnal and solitary small mammals. Some species, such
as Metachirus nudicaudatus (Desmarest,
1817), are more terrestrial than others, like
Philander frenata (Olfers, 1818), which
sometimes uses the vertical forest stratum.
The weights of these two taxa are comparable averaging 280 to 350 g, but Didelphis
aurita Wied-Neuwied, 1826 is averaging
985 g (Fonseca et al. 1996). Despite their
wide neotropical distribution, little is
known about their diet and role on seed dispersal, mainly for smaller species. In this
study, M. nudicaudatus, P. frenata and
D. aurita were compared in order to characterize their respective diets and roles in
seed dispersal.
The three species were trapped systematically in two Atlantic forest sites in southern
Brazil, 250 km apart. One site is located in
lowland secondary forest at Itapoa (Volta
Velha Reserve, 26°05' S 48°40' W); the other
is in primary submontane forest at Piraquara
in the Serra do Mar (1 000 m a. s. l., 25°28' S
and 48°50' W). Average annual temperature
and rainfall are higher in the lowland Atlantic Forest area (21 °C, 2 000 mm vs. 17 °C,
1 400 mm) (Maack 1981).
Two 2.5 ha-grids of 40 traps ( 40 ´ 20 ´
20 cm) each were used to capture marsu1616-5047/04/69/06-430 $ 30.00/0.
pials in each study area. Single traps were
set at 8 stations along 5 parallel lines, with
30 m spacing between trap stations and
lines, and trapping took place on four consecutive nights monthly from October 1997
to September 1998. Traps were baited with
banana and codfish liver oil.
Each animal was aged (following Tyndale-Biscoe and Mackenzie 1976) and
marked by punching a unique pattern of
holes in the ears before releasing them.
Diet was determined by investigation of
faeces (collected from traps) washed over
a 1 mm-mesh. Any seed found were placed
on moist paper in Petri dishes for germination. The dry mass of litter invertebrate
prey was also estimated each month at
both study areas by drying all individuals
in a 57 °C oven for 3 days after removal
from 7 pit traps (10 cm in diameter) on
each grid.
Trap success and species composition were
different between the two sites, as I captured only D. aurita (3 individuals on 5 occasions) and M. nudicaudatus (14 individuals, 44 total captures) at Itapoa and
D. aurita (1 individual, captured one time
but evidenced only through hair and faeces
left in the trap) and P. frenata (9 individuals,
14 captures) at Piraquara.
Mamm. biol. 69 (2004) 6 ´ 430±433
Diet of three didelphid marsupials (Mammalia, Didelphimorphia) in southern Brazil
The diet of all three species and at both
sites consisted primarily of invertebrates
(Tab. 1). Invertebrates of the leaf litter were
readily available for opossums during certain months (January in the lowland, and
December and March in the submontane
area) of the rainy season. The diet of P. frenata included much more vertebrate prey
than that of M. nudicaudatus, which was
preponderantly insectivorous. Despite the
small sample size, D. aurita was more frugivorous than the other two species (Tab. 1),
with many more seeds in faeces (350 vs. 76
and 2086, respectively).
431
The main invertebrate prey consumed by
all three species of opossums were Opiliones, Coleoptera and Diplopoda (in order
of importance), but also predominantly Pulmonata for P. frenata. Birds were the most
common vertebrates consumed, particularly
for P. frenata (Tab. 1). Seeds ingested ranged from ~ 1 to 6 mm in length. Larger seed
quantities were seen for D. aurita (Philodendron cf. imbe: n = 2 042 seeds) and for
P. frenata (Monstera adansonii: n = 296
seeds). Germination occurred at moderate
to high frequencies (Tab. 1). Juvenile individuals belonging to age classes 2 (M. nudi-
Table 1. Frequencies of occurrence (in %) of food items found in faeces of didelphid marsupials from two Atlantic forest sites of southern Brazil, and respective germination of seeds found in scats. Seed germination in % is
in parenthesis. N is the total number of seeds placed for germination.
Food items
Metachirus
nudicaudatus
(44 faeces)
Fruits
Araceae
Anthurium sp.
Monstera adansonii Schott
Philodendron cf. imbe Schott
Bromeliaceae
cf. Nidularium
Cecropiaceae
Coussapoa microcarpa (Sch.) Rizz
Moraceae
Ficus luschnatiana (Miq.) Miq.
Solanaceae
Solanum swartzianum Roem. and Schult.
Non-identified
7
Vertebrates
Aves
Mammalia
Reptilia
Invertebrates
Decapoda
Blattariae
Coleoptera
Hymenoptera (ants)
Lepidoptera (larvae)
Orthoptera
Diplopoda
Opiliones
Pulmonata
Philander
frenata
(14 faeces)
29
Didelphis
aurita
(6 faeces)
N
83
2 (88)
±
2 (29)
±
7 (97)
±
±
±
50 (58)
2 (77)
±
±
±
±
7 (100)
±
±
±
7
9
5
2
2
57
36
21
14
33
33
17
±
100
14
23
68
39
7
23
50
64
5
100
21
36
57
29
±
21
36
50
21
100
50
±
50
17
±
67
83
67
17
±
20 (67)
±
20 (67)
20
8
25
14 and 60
22
15
43
03
432
N. C. CAÂCERES
caudatus) and 3 (M. nudicaudatus, P. frenata) were confirmed to be fruit eaters (not
damaging seed cover and embryos).
Coexistence of these three species of opossums might be facilitated by adequate food
supplies and food diversity, particularly insects (Fonseca and Kierulff 1989) as well
as habitat selection and body size relationships (Leite et al. 1996). In particular,
P. frenata is omnivorous but frequently consumes vertebrate prey (Santori et al. 1997).
Its major consumption of Pulmonata can be
related to a preference for stream-side habitats (Charles-Dominique 1983). On the
other hand, M. nudicaudatus is highly insectivorous but only occasionally consumes
vertebrates or fruits (Santori et al. 1995).
However, D. aurita has been reported to be
frugivorous-omnivorous (e. g. Fonseca et
al. 1996; Leite et al. 1996), which is supported by data presented here. The similarly sized marsupials, M. nudicaudatus and
P. frenata, are never found at similar population levels in a given locality of the Atlantic forest (Cerqueira et al. 1993; Bergallo
1994), reflecting different adaptabilities.
Insects are more abundant during the wet
season in neotropical rainforests (e. g. Bergallo and Magnusson 1999), as was seen
here. Insects are also important in the diet
of young opossums (CaÂceres 2002; Santori
et al. 1997). Importantly, there appears to
be a close relation between insect availability and seasonal reproduction of opossums
(Julien-LaferrieÁre and Atramentowicz
1990).
Based on the frequency, amount, and viability of seeds found in faecal samples, each
of the 3 species of marsupials studied can
be classified as occasional seed dispersers
(P. frenata and M. nudicaudatus) and potential seed dispersers (D. aurita; e. g., CaÂceres
et al. 1999). Consumption of fruits by juvenile didelphid marsupials is also important
to forest succession, particularly since the
occurrence of juveniles is seasonal (Cerqueira et al. 1993; CaÂceres 2002) and correlated with the time of appearance of fleshy fruits in many neotropical forests (e. g.,
Smithe 1970; Julien-LaferrieÁre and Atramentowicz 1990; CaÂceres et al. 1999).
Acknowledgements
The author thanks J. Quadros for hair identification, A. M. Brito-Filho, C. C. Baskin and J. L.
Patton for help with the English translation,
S. M. Silva for help with seed identifications, and
E. L. A. Monteiro-Filho, H. G. Bergallo and
J. L. Patton for help in improving drafts of the
manuscript. CAPES/MEC/Brazil provided a fellowship and CPG-Zoo/UFPR supported this
study.
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Author's address:
Nilton C. CaÂceres, Departamento de BiocieÃncias, Cx.P. 051, Universidade Federal do Mato
Grosso do Sul, Aquidauana, MS, 79.200-000, Brazil (e-mail: [email protected])