INVESTIGADORES
TETA Pablo Vicente
artículos
Título:
Distribution, natural history, and conservation of the Patagonian Weasel Lyncodon patagonicus
Autor/es:
FRANCISCO J. PREVOSTI, PABLO TETA Y ULYSES F. J. PARDIÑAS
Revista:
SMALL CARNIVORE CONSERVATION
Editorial:
Small Carnivore Specialist Group
Referencias:
Año: 2009 vol. 41 p. 29 - 34
ISSN:
1019-5041
Resumen:
The Patagonian Weasel Lyncodon patagonicus is a small mustelid that lives in the Southern Cone of South America (Argentina and
Chile). The species is known from relatively few direct observations and collected specimens. In this paper we review available data
about L. patagonicus to assess its conservation status. Information about its natural history is largely anecdotal, and suggests that it
feeds on fossorial rodents. Known record localities are based on specimens observed or collected during the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries. Its distribution encompasses herbaceous and shrub steppes and xerophytic woodlands, and presumably includes protected
areas. However, the presence of L. patagonicus in these areas must be reconfirmed, because most records of occurrence are more than
10 years old. The perceived scarcity of this species in the wild could be real, but its relatively widespread distribution might protect it
from the effects of environmental alteration and other human impacts. We conclude that field studies are urgently needed to confirm the
current distribution and ecological requirements of the Patagonian Weasel.