Feeding behavior of the tuco-tuco (Ctenomys mendocinus): its modifications according to food availability and the changes in the harvest pattern and consumption.

SERGIO CAMÍN & LAURA MADOERY

REVISTA CHILENA DE HISTORIA NATURAL

SOC BIOLGIA CHILE

Lugar: Santiago de Chile; Año: 1994 vol. 67 p. 257 - 263

0716-078X

The foraging behavior of Ctenomys mendocinus Philippi 1869 has been studied in the laboratory. It has been verified through two experimetnal series that this behavior is modified according to the quality of the food available that are given to them . Two different criteria were used to test food selection in order to verify coincidence between harvest patterns and consumption patterns. The use of more than one criterion of selectivity precluded the confusion between removal  (harvesting) and consumption, allowing us to establish the feeding behavior of Ctenomys mendocinus in a more reliable way. Tuco-tuco fed on the aboveground parts of grass avoiding shrubs and roots but they were opportunistic when they harvested the available vegetation. This harvest pattern didi not experience changes in response to changes in the offer; it would mean selective advantages because the animal spends less time for aboveground feeding. On the other side, the difference between harvest patterns and consumption patterns suggest that C.mendocinus, remove material for distint uses (storage, construction of nest, etc.)