Behavior and foraging technique of the Ingram's squirrel Guerlinguetus ingrami (Sciuridae: Rodentia) in an Araucaria moist forest fragment

Mendes, Calebe P.; Cândido-Jr, José Flávio

doi:10.1590/s1984-46702014000300001

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(16 reference statements)

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“…As adult squirrels rarely fail to identify the side of the internal gibbosity, this identification likely provides a significant improvement in the efficiency of squirrels’ foraging. Under natural conditions, identification failure rates of only 4.5 percent ( N = 534) have been observed (Mendes & Cândido‐Jr ). However, other studies have found rates as high as 37 percent ( N = 328) (Bordignon et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The squirrel must determine the position of the internal gibbosity to avoid it and thus save energy and time in obtaining the endosperm. These rodents are known to identify the side without the internal gibbosity even before beginning to open the fruit, with >90 percent success (Bordignon et al 1996, Mendes & Cândido-Jr 2014. However, how the squirrel identifies the side without the internal gibbosity remains unknown.…”

Section: Ecological Interactions Are Essential For Maintaining Com-mumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These rodents are known to identify the side without the internal gibbosity even before beginning to open the fruit, with >90 percent success (Bordignon et al . , Mendes & Cândido‐Jr ). However, how the squirrel identifies the side without the internal gibbosity remains unknown.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Queen palm fruit selection and foraging techniques of squirrels in the Atlantic Forest

2018

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Queen palm seeds (Syagrus romanzoffiana) are a vital source of nutrients for Ingram's squirrel (Guerlinguetus ingrami), a common inhabitant of the Atlantic forest biome of Brazil. G. ingrami acts as both a seed predator and disperser of this important palm; however, little is known about how G. ingrami selects or efficiently opens queen palm seeds. The objectives of this study were to: (1) investigate the squirrel's capacity to determine the germinal orifice among the fruit's three pores, which permits more efficient opening of the fruit; (2) assess whether the thickness and size of the fruit endocarp influence the squirrel's palm selection during foraging; and (3) evaluate whether the rodents preferentially select fruits with invertebrate infestations. To answer these questions, we used a series of behavioral experiments measuring patterns of squirrel feeding behavior (fruit opening, fruit selection, and patch selection), controlling for environmental variables. We found that (1) squirrels identify the queen palm germinal pore by its greater relative depth to the other pores; (2) the average size and thickness of fruit does not influence the squirrel's choice of palm for foraging; and (3) squirrels preferentially consume fruits infested by invertebrates. The development of methods for more efficient processing of queen palm fruit highlights the importance of this resource for G. ingrami. In addition, due to its preferential selection of infested fruits, G. ingrami may benefit palms by reducing parasite population loads.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Ecological Interactions Are Essential For Maintaining Com-mumentioning

confidence: 99%

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Queen palm fruit selection and foraging techniques of squirrels in the Atlantic Forest

2018

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“…Leaves, twigs, and bark of 38 plant taxa were used by seven squirrel species to build dens and line the nests. Bark stripping, a behaviour capable of causing severe damage to trees (Pedreira et al 2017), may be performed to gather nest materials (Mendes & Cândido 2014) or for feeding (Snyder 1992), and was reported for five squirrel species (Guerlinguetus brasiliensis, Notosciurus granatensis, Sciurus aureogaster, Sciurus variegatoides and the exotic Callosciurus erythraeus), on at least 30 tree taxa. Geophagy, the consumption of clay, was recorded for Hadrosciurus spadiceus in a Peruvian forest (Brightsmith & Munoz-Najar 2004).…”

Section: Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

NEOSQUIRREL: a data set of ecological knowledge on Neotropical squirrels

2019

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The squirrels (Sciuridae), with 292 species, make up the second most diverse family of rodents. Squirrels play important roles as seed and spore dispersers and seed predators in all regions where they occur. In Neotropical regions, around 28 species of squirrel are recognised. However, our knowledge of the ecology of the Neotropical Sciuridae is severely incomplete, lacking in the most basic ecological information for most species. We reviewed the literature in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, for all squirrel species in the Neotropical biogeographic region, summarising ecological interactions between squirrels and the local biota, population density records, the number of publications, and the distribution of study sites. We found information for 20 squirrel species (71% of the recognised species), from 15 countries, in 48 publications containing 126 population density records and 155 publications containing 649 ecological interactions. The most studied species were Guerlinguetus brasiliensis, Notosciurus granatensis, and Sciurus variegatoides, with 53% of all publications, whereas for eight species of Microsciurus, we found no publications. The density of Neotropical squirrels varied from 0.08 to 100 individuals per km2 and was negatively correlated with forest area. Neotropical squirrels were recorded eating 174 plant taxa, five fungus taxa, four invertebrate taxa, and one species of vertebrate. Palms were common in the diet of squirrels (30 palm species, 27% of feeding records). Squirrels cached 28 plant species, of which 15 were palms. Sixty‐five taxa of parasites are documented to occur in Neotropical squirrels, and the most common were Enderleinellus lice. Zoonotic parasites, including trypanosomes, Leptospira spp., Leishmania spp., and plague were also reported. Our review reveals the main information gaps in the current knowledge about the ecology of Neotropical Sciuridae and maps the geographic distribution of the available information throughout South and Central America. Squirrels often thrive in small forest fragments and fulfil important roles as seed dispersers and prey for mesopredators.

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“…A previous study in an area of Araucaria forest and a reforested area of Pinus taeda in southern Brazil found home range sizes ranging from 2.8 to 6.5 ha for males and 2.1 to 3.5 ha for females of G. b. ingrami (Bordignon & Monteiro-Filho 2000). Mendes & Cândido-Jr. (2014) described several behaviors and foraging techniques for G. b. ingrami, including a facial marking behavior that probably has maintenance and territorial functions.…”

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confidence: 93%

A 3-YEAR POPULATION STUDY OF Guerlinguetus brasiliensis ingrami (RODENTIA, SCIURIDAE) AT THE SERRA DA BOCAINA NATIONAL PARK, RIO DE JANEIRO STATE, BRAZIL

et al. 2019

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The Brazilian Squirrel Guerlinguetus brasiliensis ingrami (Rodentia, Sciuridae) is commonly observed in the wild, yet its population parameters are poorly known because this species is rarely captured with traditional live-traps. Here we evaluated the population parameters of G. b. ingrami in a 3-year capture-mark-recapture study at the Serra da Bocaina National Park, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Population parameters were evaluated using the Jolly-Seber model POPAN and the Minimum Number Known to be Alive (MNKA). Population size estimates ranged between 3.2 ± 2.4 (mean ± SE) and 51.3 ± 15.0 individuals based on POPAN, and 2 and 10 individuals based on MNKA. Our population density estimates (1.3 to 74.3 individuals/km 2) were similar to those documented in previous studies carried out in the Atlantic Forest. Monthly survival was high (0.94 ± 0.02) and capture probability was low (0.16 ± 0.05), probably reflecting the species trap-shyness. The low capture probability of G. b. ingrami evidences the importance of the unique population data presented in this study for increasing basic knowledge on this species.

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Behavior and foraging technique of the Ingram's squirrel Guerlinguetus ingrami (Sciuridae: Rodentia) in an Araucaria moist forest fragment

Cited by 8 publications

References 17 publications

Queen palm fruit selection and foraging techniques of squirrels in the Atlantic Forest

Queen palm fruit selection and foraging techniques of squirrels in the Atlantic Forest

NEOSQUIRREL: a data set of ecological knowledge on Neotropical squirrels

A 3-YEAR POPULATION STUDY OF Guerlinguetus brasiliensis ingrami (RODENTIA, SCIURIDAE) AT THE SERRA DA BOCAINA NATIONAL PARK, RIO DE JANEIRO STATE, BRAZIL

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