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| Albanesi, S.A.; Jayat, J.P.; Brown, A.D. | |
| Activity patterns of medium and large sized mammals in piedmont forests of the Yungas of northwestern Argentina | |
| 2016 Mastozoologia Neotropical (23): 335-358 | |
In the Yungas of Argentina, the piedmont forest is the most threatened altitudinal belt. The proximity to population centers and communication routes has facilitated its degradation and transformation, and mammals of this area have inevitably lost more habitat than those of other regions in the Yungas. In this context, the establishment of baselines of mammal diversity and the improvement of the knowledge of its biology and natural history constitute an important step in conservation policy implementations. In this study, we used camera traps to characterize the activity patterns of medium to large species mammals at three locations spanning the latitudinal distribution of the Yungas piedmont in Argentina. We obtained 2757 photographs for 28 species of mammals but only 18 could be properly characterized (10 or more photos each). In general, nocturnal activity patterns predominated (six species, including _Didelphis albiventris_, _Procyon cancrivorus_, _Euphractus sexcinctus_, _Tamandua tetradactyla_, _Tapirus terrestris_, and _Sylvilagus brasiliensis_), with two peaks of activity observed in both wet and dry season, and some cases of lunarphobic behavior (_T. tetradactyla_, _D. albiventris_, and _T. terrestris_). Only three species were diurnal (_Nasua nasua_, _Dasyprocta punctata _and _Eira barbara_), and one had diurnal-crepuscular activity (_Puma yagouaroundi_). Of the eight species classified as catemeral in activity (_Cerdocyon thous_, _Leopardus geoffroyi_, _L. pardalis_, _L. wiedii_, _Lycalopex gymnocercus_, _Mazama gouazoubira_, _Pecari tajacu_, and _Puma concolor_), three were significantly more active during evening hours. These patterns are compared and discussed in the context of the knowledge for these species in other areas. |
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