Figueira L, Zucaratto R, Pires A S, Cid B, Fernandez F A S
Departamento de Ciências Ambientais, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro - UFRRJ, Seropédica, RJ, Brazil.
Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Braz J Biol. 2014 Aug;74(3):585-7. doi: 10.1590/bjb.2014.0087.
The consumption of the carrion of a tapiti by a reintroduced female Dasyprocta leporina was observed in the wild. Herein, besides describing this event, we reviewed other evidence of vertebrate consumption by agoutis. Most of the studies describing this behaviour have been carried out in captivity. The preyed animals included birds and small rodents, which were sometimes killed by agoutis. This pattern suggests that this is not an anomalous behaviour for the genus, reflecting its omnivorous habits. This behaviour can be a physiologically sound feeding strategy, so new studies should focus on the temporal variation in the consumption of this resource, possibly related to food scarcity periods or to reproductive seasons, when the need for high-quality food tends to increase.
在野外观察到一只重新引入的雌性棉鼠（Dasyprocta leporina）食用貘的腐肉。在此，除了描述这一事件外，我们还回顾了其他关于刺豚鼠食用脊椎动物的证据。大多数描述这种行为的研究都是在圈养环境中进行的。被捕食的动物包括鸟类和小型啮齿动物，它们有时会被刺豚鼠杀死。这种模式表明，这对该属来说并非异常行为，反映了其杂食性习惯。这种行为可能是一种生理上合理的觅食策略，因此新的研究应关注这种资源消耗的时间变化，这可能与食物短缺期或繁殖季节有关，在这些时期对高质量食物的需求往往会增加。
