Spatial position and feeding success in ring-tailed coatis |
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Authors: | Ben T Hirsch |
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Institution: | (1) Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Unit 9100, Box 0948, DPO AA 34002-9898 Barro Colorado Island, Panama;(2) New York State Museum, CEC 3140, Albany, NY 12230, USA |
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Abstract: | The location of an animal within a social group has important effects on feeding success. When animals consume quickly eaten
food items, individuals located at the front edge of a group typically have greater foraging success. When groups feed at
large clumped resources, dominant individuals can often monopolize the resource, leading to higher feeding success in the
center of the group. In order to test these predictions, behavioral data relating foraging success to within-group spatial
position were recorded from two habituated groups of ring-tailed coatis (Nasua nasua) in Iguazu, Argentina. Foraging success did not fit expected patterns. When feeding on small ground litter invertebrates,
coatis had the same foraging success at all spatial positions. This pattern likely resulted from an abundance of invertebrates
in the ground litter. When feeding on fruit, individuals in the front of the group had greater feeding success, which was
driven by the relatively quick depletion of fruit trees. Dominant juveniles were often located in the front of the group which
led to increased access to food. This resulted in higher feeding success on fruits but simultaneously increased their risk
of predation. Although groups typically became more elongated and traveled faster when feeding on fruit, it did not appear
that the coatis were drastically changing their spacing strategies when switching between the two food types. Paradoxically,
spatial position preferences during invertebrate foraging appeared to be driven by fruit trees. Because fruit trees were encountered
so frequently, juveniles ranging at the front edge of the group during invertebrate foraging were the first to arrive at fruit
trees and thus had higher foraging success. This study demonstrates the importance of how food patch size and depletion rate
affect the spatial preferences of individuals. |
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