ABSTRACT

Small cats can have a direct influence on the organization of small Neotropical vertebrate communities. However, the magnitude of influence and role(s) played by small felids, including Leopardus guttulus, in regulating prey populations is not well understood. This study aims to determine if there is a key-taxon in the dietary composition of the southern tiger (S-tiger) cat and evaluate the relationship between prey availability and use in the restinga habitat of Southern Brazil. Oligoryzomys spp. were identified as one of the main prey items and found to be among the highest density mammal species in the restinga habitat. However, as Oligoryzomys spp. were not among the preferred prey species in the S-tiger cat’s diet, the high frequency of predation is probably a consequence of their high abundance. The diet of the S-tiger cat is characteristic of a generalist predator, eating a high diversity of different prey species, consumed per their availability, and selected according to mass and accessibility. However, in this area devoid of other felid competitors and with abundant prey, S-tiger cat seems to consume prey species within a relatively narrow mass spectrum (6–25 g), although it does not appear to select any specific taxon of any class size.

摘要

小型猫科动物可以直接影响小型新热带脊椎动物群落的组织。然而，包括Leopardus guttulus在内的小型猫科动物在调节猎物种群方面的影响和作用的大小尚不清楚。本研究旨在确定南方虎 (S-tiger) 猫的饮食成分中是否存在关键分类群，并评估巴西南部 restinga 栖息地的猎物可用性与使用之间的关系。Oligoryzomys属。被确定为主要猎物之一，并且被发现是restinga栖息地中密度最高的哺乳动物物种之一。然而，作为Oligoryzomys属 不属于 S-tiger 猫饮食中的首选猎物物种，捕食的高频率可能是它们高丰度的结果。S-tiger 猫的饮食是通才捕食者的特征，吃各种不同的猎物，根据它们的可用性进行消费，并根据质量和可及性进行选择。然而，在这个没有其他猫科动物竞争者且猎物丰富的地区，S-tiger cat 似乎在相对较窄的质谱（6-25 g）内消耗猎物物种，尽管它似乎没有选择任何类别的任何特定分类群尺寸。