Selection of cricetine prey by the culpeo fox in Patagonia: a differential prey vulnerability hypothesis

CORLEY, JUAN C.; FERNANDEZ, GUSTAVO J.; CAPURRO, ANGEL F.; NOVARO, A.; TRAVAINI, A.; FUNES, M.

MAMMALIA

WALTER DE GRUYTER & CO

Año: 1995 vol. 59 p. 315 - 326

0025-1461

The Patagonian culpeo fox (Dusicyon culpaeus) feedss in part on the cricetine rodent community. A previous diet study based on scats revealed that these foxes show a marked preference for 3 Akodon species (Akodon longipilis, Akodon xanthorrinus and Akodon iniscatus), in contrast with the notably more abundant sympatric mouse, Eligmodontia typus. For invertebrates and fish, prey selection of this sort has been often analyzed comparing differential prey vulnerability. However, this event has never been explicitly studied in mammalian communities. In this paper, we have attempted to analyze the Patagonian fox’s prey preferences through a field based prey vulnerability study. To do so, we compared behavioural and morphological attributes that could account for differences in the predator success (studied separately through stomach content analysis). our result show that there are differences in the vulnerability of these prey species which are based mainly upon a greater escape ability of E. typus related to their longer hind legs. We concluded that analyses such as these, which are simple and economical, can provide interesting data on which future experimental work on carnivore prey choice may be based upon.