Scraping marking behaviour of the largest Neotropical felids
Background Details of how, why and in what conditions large felids make scrapes is unknown. Here, we examined the general hypothesis about the use of scrapes for marking proposals, as well as to communicate with other individuals to signalize particular points or areas of interest, by studying scrap...
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PeerJ Inc.
2018-06-01
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| author | Francisco Palomares Noa González-Borrajo Cuauhtémoc Chávez Yamel Rubio Luciano M. Verdade Rocio Monsa Bart Harmsen Begoña Adrados Marina Zanin |
| author_facet | Francisco Palomares Noa González-Borrajo Cuauhtémoc Chávez Yamel Rubio Luciano M. Verdade Rocio Monsa Bart Harmsen Begoña Adrados Marina Zanin |
| author_sort | Francisco Palomares |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background Details of how, why and in what conditions large felids make scrapes is unknown. Here, we examined the general hypothesis about the use of scrapes for marking proposals, as well as to communicate with other individuals to signalize particular points or areas of interest, by studying scrape-marking behaviour of jaguars and pumas. Methods We surveyed by scrapes between five days and two months mainly during dry season in five study areas from Mexico (El Edén and San Ignacio), Belize (Cockscomb) and Brazil (Angatuba and Serra das Almas), which differed in presence and/or abundance of jaguars and pumas. Paths were slowly walked while searching for scrapes by teams normally composed of two people and tracks were stored in GPS, distinguishing the type of path surveyed (unpaved track roads, trails and cross-country). Results We found a total of 269 felid scrapes along 467 km of paths surveyed, obtaining a finding rate of 0.576 scrapes per km. Most scrapes were found in car tracks (0.629 scrapes per km), followed by trails (0.581 scrapes per km), and rarely did we find scrapes in cross country (0.094 scrapes per km). In trails, scrapes were found in a similar frequency in the centre and edge, whereas in car tracks they were mainly found in the edge. There were also clear differences in the position of the scrapes between study areas that differed in presence and/or abundance of pumas and jaguars, with scrapes located mainly in the centre in areas only with pumas, in the centre and in the edge in areas with a similar number of jaguars and pumas, and in the edge in area mainly dominated by jaguars. The remarking rate tended to be higher in one of the areas with only pumas where natural vegetation was scarcer. Felids chose sites mainly covered by leaves and located in paths less wide, clean and rarely used. Discussion Scraping was a frequent behaviour in the largest felids of America, although in some areas, scraping behaviour was rare. Scrapes seem to be signalizing some specific areas within territories and data suggest that they are made with the proposal of communication between individuals. It seems that a high scraping behaviour in pumas is not related to the presence of jaguars. |
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| spelling | doaj.art-883d60566669470f92ee004c24309f3a2023-12-03T10:24:49ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592018-06-016e498310.7717/peerj.4983Scraping marking behaviour of the largest Neotropical felidsFrancisco Palomares0Noa González-Borrajo1Cuauhtémoc Chávez2Yamel Rubio3Luciano M. Verdade4Rocio Monsa5Bart Harmsen6Begoña Adrados7Marina Zanin8Department of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Seville, Seville, EspañaDepartment of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Seville, Seville, EspañaUniversidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Unidad Lerma, Lerma, Estado de México, MexicoEscuela de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa, Sinaloa, MexicoNúcleo Laboratorial de Ecologia Evolutiva Aplicada, Universidade de São Paulo, CENA, Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, BrazilNúcleo Laboratorial de Ecologia Evolutiva Aplicada, Universidade de São Paulo, CENA, Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, BrazilPanthera, New York, United States of AmericaDepartment of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Seville, Seville, EspañaDepartamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitória, Espírito Santo, BrazilBackground Details of how, why and in what conditions large felids make scrapes is unknown. Here, we examined the general hypothesis about the use of scrapes for marking proposals, as well as to communicate with other individuals to signalize particular points or areas of interest, by studying scrape-marking behaviour of jaguars and pumas. Methods We surveyed by scrapes between five days and two months mainly during dry season in five study areas from Mexico (El Edén and San Ignacio), Belize (Cockscomb) and Brazil (Angatuba and Serra das Almas), which differed in presence and/or abundance of jaguars and pumas. Paths were slowly walked while searching for scrapes by teams normally composed of two people and tracks were stored in GPS, distinguishing the type of path surveyed (unpaved track roads, trails and cross-country). Results We found a total of 269 felid scrapes along 467 km of paths surveyed, obtaining a finding rate of 0.576 scrapes per km. Most scrapes were found in car tracks (0.629 scrapes per km), followed by trails (0.581 scrapes per km), and rarely did we find scrapes in cross country (0.094 scrapes per km). In trails, scrapes were found in a similar frequency in the centre and edge, whereas in car tracks they were mainly found in the edge. There were also clear differences in the position of the scrapes between study areas that differed in presence and/or abundance of pumas and jaguars, with scrapes located mainly in the centre in areas only with pumas, in the centre and in the edge in areas with a similar number of jaguars and pumas, and in the edge in area mainly dominated by jaguars. The remarking rate tended to be higher in one of the areas with only pumas where natural vegetation was scarcer. Felids chose sites mainly covered by leaves and located in paths less wide, clean and rarely used. Discussion Scraping was a frequent behaviour in the largest felids of America, although in some areas, scraping behaviour was rare. Scrapes seem to be signalizing some specific areas within territories and data suggest that they are made with the proposal of communication between individuals. It seems that a high scraping behaviour in pumas is not related to the presence of jaguars.https://peerj.com/articles/4983.pdfFelidsMarking behaviourNeotropicJaguarPumaScraping behaviour |
| spellingShingle | Francisco Palomares Noa González-Borrajo Cuauhtémoc Chávez Yamel Rubio Luciano M. Verdade Rocio Monsa Bart Harmsen Begoña Adrados Marina Zanin Scraping marking behaviour of the largest Neotropical felids PeerJ Felids Marking behaviour Neotropic Jaguar Puma Scraping behaviour |
| title | Scraping marking behaviour of the largest Neotropical felids |
| title_full | Scraping marking behaviour of the largest Neotropical felids |
| title_fullStr | Scraping marking behaviour of the largest Neotropical felids |
| title_full_unstemmed | Scraping marking behaviour of the largest Neotropical felids |
| title_short | Scraping marking behaviour of the largest Neotropical felids |
| title_sort | scraping marking behaviour of the largest neotropical felids |
| topic | Felids Marking behaviour Neotropic Jaguar Puma Scraping behaviour |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/4983.pdf |
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