Diet of a Piedmont population of Ctenomys mendocinus (Rodentia, Ctenomyidae): seasonal patterns and variations according sex and relative age

PUIG, S; ROSI, MI; CONA, MI; ROIG, VIRGILIO G; MONGE, SA; SILVIA PUIG

ACTA THERIOLOGICA

POLISH ACAD SCIENCES

Lugar: Bialowieza; Año: 1999 vol. 44 p. 15 - 27

0001-7051

Dietary composition was determined seasonally in males and females of Ctenomys mendocinus Philippi, 1869 from the Andean Piedmont (Mendoza, Argentina) during the reproductive and non-reproductive period. Reproductive condition and relative age of each animal was determined. Stomach contents were individually analyzed with the microhistological technique. Dietary generalism is supported by the high proportion of available genera eaten, but the intensity and continuity of use suggested specialization on grasses. Predation risk induces minimization of the exposure time out of the burrow, and could justify the specialization in grasses, considering that other rodents showed lower harvest and handling times for grasses than for shrubs. Males had a more varied diet than females in winter, and the opposite occurred in