Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
The largest Neotropical rodent group includes the porcupines, and the true
cavy-like mammals: agoutis, pacas, acouchys, pacaranas, and the largest of all
rodents, the capybara. Most porcupines are nocturnal and arboreal, while the cavy-
like mammals are terrestrial and mostly diurnal. Agoutis, pacas, acouchys, and
pacaranas forage during the day or night. The semi-aquatic capybaras are naturally
diurnal, but they become nocturnal in areas where they are heavily hunted.
Only one rabbit occurs in the Neotropical rainforest, the Brazilian rabbit or
tapiti. It is nocturnal, terrestrial, and solitary and feeds on grass and small plants.
Carnivores play an important part in regulating the populations of prey species.
Members of the dog, raccoon, weasel, and cat families comprise the carnivores of
Neotropical rainforest. Tropical carnivores tend to be omnivorous, feeding on
insects, fruits, and leaves in addition to animal meat. Most are opportunistic and
do not specialize on a particular prey item.
Little is known about the bush dogs of Central and South America and the
short-eared dogs of South America, but both are thought to be diurnal. Short-eared
dogs probably hunt alone, while bush dogs often hunt in small groups of two to
four individuals.
The raccoon family includes two species of raccoons, two species of coatis
(coatimundis), the olingo, the kinkajou, and the cacomistle. Typically nocturnal,
these arboreal animals feed on fruits, invertebrates, and small animals both on the
forest floor and in the canopy. All raise their young in tree nests. The northern and
crab-eating raccoons are typically nocturnal and terrestrial; both are good climbers,
escaping to the trees for protection from predators. The two coati species are re-
stricted in distribution. The range of the white-nosed coati begins in Texas and Ari-
zona in North America and extends through Central America and along the coasts
of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru to the most northwestern tip of South America.
The South American coati is found east of the Andes throughout Colombia and
Venezuela south to Argentina and Uruguay. Coatis are both terrestrial and arbo-
real, and tend to be diurnal, feeding on fruits and invertebrates (see Figure 3.7).
Olingos, kinkajous, and cacomistles are strictly arboreal, nocturnal, and solitary
animals. Their diet is primarily fruit, with occasional insects, flowers, and small
vertebrates.
Members of the weasel or mustelid family include weasels, grison, skunk, hog-
nosed skunk, tayra, river otter, and giant otter. Although some are good climbers,
all forage on the ground or in water. Mustelids have dense fur and an extremely
powerful bite that enables them to kill prey larger than themselves. They feed on
rodents, birds, insects, fruit, fish, crustaceans, snakes, and small caimans. They can
be diurnal, nocturnal, or crepuscular (hunting at dawn and dusk). Because their fur
can be valuable, they are often hunted. The Amazon weasel, the rarest carnivore in
South America, is restricted to lowland forests east of the Andes in Peru, Ecuador,
and Brazil. The grison and tayra occur in both Central and South America, as does
the southern river otter. Giant otters are restricted to South America north of
Argentina.
