Morfometría de excretas de cuatro especies de roedores en una plantación forestal en la cuenca del Río Cauca.

Abstract

One of the techniques for tracking and research of ecological issues in mammals is the use of feces as information sources. The purpose of this research was to determine if there exists any difference among the morphology of the feces of 4 species of rodents. This study was carried out in a forest plantation in La Esmeralda district, municipality of Chinchiná, Caldas, where 25 individuals of the Melanomys caliginosus, Handelyomys alfaroi, Neacomis tenuipes, Heteromys australis and Mus musculus species were caught and their feces were collected for being studied and morphometrically compared. Results show that there are differences among fecal morphology of the studied species and therefore this information can be used as a reference for their identification.

Keywords:

heces

morfometría

plantación forestal

roedores

feces

morphometric

forestal plantation

rodents

References

BARNETT, A. & DUTTON, J., 1995. Expedition Field Techniques: Small Mammals (excluding bats). Expedition Advisory Centre, London.

BOONSTRA, R. & CRAINE, I.T.M., 1986. Natal nest location and small mammal tracking with a spool and line technique. Can. J. Zool., 64: 1034-1036.

CASTAÑO-VILLA, G.J., MORALES-BETANCOURT, J.A. & BEDOYA-ÁLVAREZ, M.L., 2008. Aportes de un bosque en regeneración a la conservación de la avifauna en el cañón del río cauca, Colombia. Rev. Fac. Nal. Agr. Medellín, 61 (1): 4358-4365.

CARVALHO, F.M.V., PINHEIRO, P.S., FERNANDEZ, F.A.S. & NESSIMIAN, J.L., 1999. Diet of small mammals in Atlantic Forest fragments in southeastern Brazil. Rev. bras. De Zoociências Juiz de Fora, 1 (1): 91-101.

CHAME, M. & OLMOS F., 1997. Two Howler Species In Piauí? Neotrop Primates, 5: 74-77.

CHAME, M., 2003. Terrestrial Mammal Feces: A Morphometric Summary and Description. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, 98 (1): 71-94.

CHIN, K., 2002. Analyses of coprolites produced by carnivorous vertebrates. Paleontological Society Papers, 8: 43-50.

COLWELL, R.K., 2006. EstimateS: Statical Stimation of Species Richness in Shared Species from Samples. Version 8.2.0. Disponible en: purl.oclc.org/stimates.

DARIMONT, C.T., REIMCHEN, T.E., BRYAN, H.M. & PAQUET, P.C., 2008. Faecal-Centric Approaches to Wildlife Ecology and Conservation; Methods, Data and Ethics. Wildl. Biol. Pract., 4 (2): 73-87.

DONATTI, C.I., GALETTI, M., PIZO, M.A., GUIMARÃES, JR. P.R. & JORDANO, P., 2007. Living in the Land of Ghosts: Fruit Traits and the Importance of Large Mammals as Seed Dispersers in the Pantanal, Brazil. CAB International, 5: 104-123.

KOHN, M.H. & WAYNE, R.K., 1997. FACTS FROM FECES revisited. Trends ecol evol, 12: 223-227.

SETON, E.T., 1925. On the study of scatology. J Mamm, 6: 47-49.

TALAMONI, S., COUTO, D., CORDEIRO, D.A. JR., DINIZ, F.M., 2008. Diet of some species of Neotropical small mammals. Mamm. biol., 73: 337-341.

WALKER, C., 1996. Signs of the Wild. Struik Publish, Cape Town.

WEKSLER, M. & PERCEQUILLO A.R., 2011. Key to the genera of the tribe Oryzomyini (Rodentia: Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae). Mastozoología Neotropical, 18 (2): 281-292.

WELLS, K., LAKIM, M.B. & PFEIFFER, M., 2006. Nest sites of rodents and tree shrews in Borneo. ECOTROPICA, 12: 141-149.

WELLS, K., CORLETT, R.T., LAKIM, M.B., KALKO, E.K., PFEIFFER, M., 2009. Seed consumption by small mammals from Borneo. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 25: 555-558.