Social organization and territoriality of giant otters in a seasonal flooded savanna / Estudo do comportamento social e territorial da ariranha (Pteronura brasiliensis) no Pantanal Sul Mato-grossense

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2008

RESUMO

Giant otters live in social groups, consisting of a mating pair and one or two litters. Groups are territorial and mark their territories often with scent-marks. Our objectives were to evaluate the frequencies of marking and over-marking according to the social status of the individuals and to define the different postures used during marking. We observed 4 groups, totaling 25 individuals (5 alpha males, 4 alpha females, 7 adult females, 1 adult male and 8 juveniles). with group size ranging between 4 to 13 individuals. The study was conducted between July 2006 and July 2007 in the Vermelho River and in a stretch of the Miranda River, in the Southern Pantanal. We observed the groups for a total of 2,006 minutes and recorded 95 events of marking occuping a total of 84.9 minutes. Time spent marking varied between groups and ranged from 4.3 to 44.7 minutes. The alpha males marked more frequently (62% of marking events, 55 minutes) than the alpha females (17% of marking events, 13.6 minutes). Of the 59 events of scent-marking by the alpha males, 32 over-marked the marks of other individuals from the group. Of the 16 events of scent-marking of the alpha females, five over-marked that of subordinate females from the same group. When scentmarking, alpha males used the "stepping" posture most frequently (61%), then "fore paws rubbing" (26%), "latrine use" (7%), and "body rubbing" (6%). Alpha females used the "stepping" posture most frequently (65%), then "latrine use" (19%) and "fore paws rubbing" (12%), with only one event of "body rubbing" observed during marking. Subordinate females used the "stepping" posture (76%) and "latrine use" (24%) during marking. Scent-marking can play many roles in mammals and for giant otters, the main roles appear to be communication of social and sexual status, and territorial defense.

ASSUNTO(S)

pteronura brasiliensis ariranha ecologia giant otters

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