Teixeira Danilo Simonini, dos Santos Edmilson, Leal Silvana Gomes, de Jesus Andrea Karla, Vargas Waldemir Paixão, Dutra Irapuan, Barros Marilia
Primates. 2016 Jan;57(1):123-7. doi: 10.1007/s10329-015-0495-x.
Here we report the first witnessed attack on a marmoset by a constrictor snake. The incident occurred mid-morning in a gallery forest within an altered landscape of the Cerrado region of central Brazil and refers to a fatal attack by a Boa constrictor on two juvenile black-tufted-ear marmosets (Callithrix penicillata) simultaneously. The snake captured both individuals at a height of ~ 4 m while a group of eight marmosets traveled through the subcanopy. The actual strike was not seen. After 2 min, the boa fell to the ground with both marmosets in its coils and proceeded to kill one animal at a time through constriction. Two adult marmosets immediately descended to where the snake held its victims on the ground and attacked it. The snake showed no apparent reaction, and after ~ 1-2 min, the adults rejoined the remaining group members that were mobbing and vocalizing from 5 to 6 m above. The group left the scene ~ 7 min after the onset of the attack and was not seen again. The snake loosened its coils 10 min after its initial strike, left the two carcasses on the ground and stayed behind a nearby tree. Thus, we are not sure if the victims were in fact ingested. This report confirms that marmosets are vulnerable to boid snakes and capable of highly organized and cooperative antipredation behavior. It also suggests that snakes pose a greater threat to callitrichids than previously thought.
在此，我们报告首次有目击记录的蟒蛇对狨猴的攻击事件。该事件发生在上午时分，地点是巴西中部塞拉多地区一处地貌已改变的廊道森林内，是一条红尾蚺对两只幼年黑耳簇绒狨（Callithrix penicillata）同时发动的致命攻击。当一群八只狨猴在林冠下层穿行时，这条蛇在约4米的高度捕获了这两只狨猴。实际的攻击过程未被看到。两分钟后，蟒蛇带着两只狨猴一起掉到地上，然后开始逐一通过缠绕将它们杀死。两只成年狨猴立即下到蟒蛇在地面上控制受害者的地方并对其发起攻击。蟒蛇没有表现出明显反应，大约1 - 2分钟后，成年狨猴回到了在上方5到6米处围攻并发出叫声的其他群体成员那里。攻击开始约7分钟后，这群狨猴离开了现场，之后再也没有出现。蟒蛇在首次攻击10分钟后松开了缠绕，把两具尸体留在地上，自己躲在附近一棵树后。因此，我们不确定受害者是否真的被吞食了。本报告证实了狨猴易受蚺科蛇类攻击，并且具备高度有组织的合作性反捕食行为。这也表明蛇类对狨猴科动物构成 的威胁比之前认为的更大。
