ISSN 1413-4411
EdentataThe Newsletter of the IUCN Edentate Specialist Group • May 2006 • Number 7
Editors: Gustavo A. B. da Fonseca, Anthony B. Rylands and John M. Aguiar Assistant Editor: Mariella Superina ESG Chair: Gustavo A. B. da Fonseca ESG Deputy Chair: Mariella Superina Edentata The Newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Edentate Specialist Group
Center for Applied Biodiversity Science Conservation International 1919 M St. NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036, USA
ISSN 1413-4411 DOI: 10.1896/ci.cabs.2006.edentata.7
Editors Gustavo A. B. da Fonseca, Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, Conservation International, Washington, DC Anthony B. Rylands, Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, Conservation International, Washington, DC John M. Aguiar, Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, Conservation International, Washington, DC
Assistant Editor Mariella Superina, University of New Orleans, Department of Biological Sciences, New Orleans, LA
Edentate Specialist Group Chairman Gustavo A. B. da Fonseca
Edentate Specialist Group Deputy Chair Mariella Superina
Layout Kim Meek, Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, Conservation International, Washington, DC
Front Cover Photo A pygmy sloth (Bradypus pygmaeus) in mangrove forest on Isla Escudo de Veraguas, Panama. Endemic to this single Caribbean island, pygmy sloths are hunted by local fishermen, and are now considered to be Critically Endangered. Photo © Bill Hatcher Photography.
Editorial Assistance Liliana Cortés-Ortiz, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Please direct all submissions and other editorial correspondence to John M. Aguiar, Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, Conservation International, 1919 M St. NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036, USA, Tel. (202) 912-1000, Fax: (202) 912-0772, e-mail:
IUCN/SSC Edentate Specialist Group logo courtesy of Stephen D. Nash, 2004.
This issue of Edentata was kindly sponsored by the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, Conservation International, 1919 M St. NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036, USA. ARTICLES
Situación de Los Edentados en Uruguay
Alejandro Fallabrino Elena Castiñeira
En el Uruguay hay reportados seis especies de eden- tados: mulita (Dasypus hybridus), tatú (Dasypus novem- cinctus novemcinctus), tatú de rabo molle (Cabassous tatouay), peludo (Euphractus sexcinctus flavimanus), tamanduá (Tamandua tetradactyla chapadensis) y el oso hormiguero (Myrmecophaga tridactyla tridac- tyla) (González, 2001). Las especies de la Familia Dasypodidae son bastante comunes, exceptuando el C. tatouay del cual solo hay registros en los departa- FIGURA 1. Registros del Cabassous tatouay y Tamandua t. mentos del noreste del país que limitan con Brasil, chapadensis. siendo esta zona el límite sur de su distribución (Tabla 1, Fig. 1). El D. hybridus, D. novemcinctus y el E. sex- cinctus se encuentran en todo el país, principalmente (Ximenez y Achaval, 1966) y estudios sobre la cavidad en ambientes de monte y de praderas. de la mulita (González et al., 2001) son de las pocas publicaciones que existen. Los registros esencialmente De la Familia Myrmecophagidae existe un solo registro se han realizado en salidas de colecta e inventarios de M. tridactyla asociado a yacimientos arqueológicos que han realizado la Facultad de Ciencias y el Museo (González et al., 2001). El tamanduá fue registrado Nacional de Historia Natural, o por algún particular por primera vez en Uruguay a fines de la década de que ha donado especímenes. los ‘90 cuando fue encontrado un ejemplar vivo en el departamento de Cerro Largo. A partir de ese hecho Conservación se han registrado más ejemplares en los departamen- El creciente desarrollo agropecuario y forestal, junto tos vecinos de Rivera y Tacuarembó (Berrini, 1998). a la disminución del monte indígena en las últimas Cabe destacar que esta zona es el límite sur de distribu- décadas, trajo una importante pérdida del hábitat para ción de la especie para Sudamérica (Fonseca y Aguiar, todas las especies de edentados en nuestro territorio. 2004). En Uruguay existen varios tamanduás y osos hor- Investigación migueros provenientes de Argentina y Brasil que se En Uruguay son casi nulos los estudios de edenta- encuentran en cautiverio en zoológicos y reservas de dos. El primer reporte sobre el tatú de rabo molle fauna. Los escasos registros de tamanduás en vida
TABLA 1. Situación de los edentados en Uruguay. Nombre común Distribución Status nacional Problemáticas Caza para alimentación y fabricación Mulita Todo el país Susceptible de artesanías Caza para alimentación y fabricación Tatú Todo el país Susceptible de artesanías Lavalleja, Cerro Largo y posibles regis- Amenazado e insuficientemente Tatú de rabo molle Pérdida de hábitat tros para Rivera y Treinta y Tres conocido Caza para alimentación y fabricación Peludo Todo el país Susceptible de artesanías Oso hormiguero Rocha–un solo registro arqueológico Extinguido — Amenazado e insuficientemente Tamanduá Rivera, Cerro Largo y Tacuarembó Pérdida de hábitat, caza deportiva conocido
1 A B está totalmente prohibida la exportación e impor- tación de cualquier producto o subproducto de estas especies.
A pesar de poseer legislación que las protege, la misma no es muy efectiva debido a que no existe un control permanente sobre la presión de caza y el comercio de las mismas.
Status y futuro FIGURA 2. (A) Cuchillo artesanal con mango de mulita. (B) Venta de Si bien González (2001) y Achaval et al. (2004) desig- caparazón de tatú en feria de la capital, Montevideo. (A. Fallabrino.) naron un status nacional a los edentados en Uruguay (Tabla 1), debido a los pocos estudios, es importante también tomar como referencia el status regional silvestre son principalmente de reportes de animales (Argentina y Brasil) y de la UICN (Unión Internacio- muertos por personas que ante lo desconocido pre- nal para la Conservación de la Naturaleza) hasta que fieren cazarlos. no exista una investigación profunda sobre la situa- ción actual de estas especies. En Uruguay las especies de la Familia Dasypodidae han sido utilizadas para consumo humano y artesa- Es necesario generar estudios a largo plazo, constantes nal desde la época prehispánica. Pero es en el siglo y con fondos que permitan saber más sobre la dis- XX que se comienza a ejercer una presión sobre tribución, biología y ecología de los edentados en estas especies debido al crecimiento demográfico en Uruguay. Todo esto acompañado de actividades de zonas rurales. conservación y educación localizadas principalmente en el medio rural, fomentando la valoración y pro- Existe un tradicional consumo de carne de armadillos, tección de los mismos. A su vez con los tamanduás siendo denominada por algunos como un manjar. Si y osos hormigueros en cautiverio sería interesante bien en algunas zonas rurales la gente más vieja rea- poder generar intercambios y estudios en conjunto liza un consumo racional, existe una depredación por con Argentina y Brasil y así poder apoyar a los pro- parte de personas de las grandes ciudades. Esto se yectos de reintroducción. puede observar en las salidas de cacería que organizan los citadinos, donde llegan a capturar decenas de indi- Alejandro Fallabrino, CID/Antitrafico Neotropi- viduos. La venta ilegal de carne se da principalmente cal, D. Murillo 6334, Montevideo, Uruguay, correo en el medio rural, en comercios establecidos y en casas electrónico:
2 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 (Cingulata: Dasypodidae). Acta Theriologica ciated with a series of Tertiary boundaries, occurring 46(1): 53–59. in small plateaus at altitudes between 150 –200 m. Ximenez, A. y Achaval, F. 1966. Sobre la presencia Mining bauxite on these plateaus involves the whole- en el Uruguay del tatú de rabo molle, Cabassous sale removal of the rainforest along with the first tatouay (Desmarest) (Edentata, Dasypodidae). 4–15 m of soil. Heavy machinery works around the Com. Zool. Mus. Hist. Nat. Montevideo 9(109): clock to extract the ore, which is the raw material for 1–5. the production of aluminum. After an area has been mined out, the pits are filled with a mixture of soil and vegetative debris, and the area is replanted with native seedlings by the mining company. Edentates of the Saracá-Taquera National Forest, Pará, Brazil Our fieldwork for this study focused on three regions: the Almeidas plateau, which has been undergoing Leonardo de Carvalho Oliveira stepwise deforestation since 2002; in areas on the Sylvia Miscow Mendel, Diogo Loretto Saracá plateau, which was mined out and reforested José de Sousa e Silva Júnior during the 1980s and 1990s; and on sightings and Geraldo Wilson Fernandes road kills along a 30-km stretch of road between Porto de Trombetas and the Almeidas plateau (Fig. Introduction 1). From April 2002 to December 2004, a small team The order Xenarthra contains 31 living species of three carried out ten field trips of 15 days each. distributed in 13 genera, all but one of which are On each field trip, the team was composed of two restricted to the Neotropics (Wetzel, 1982; Fonseca researchers (L. C. Oliveira and either S. M. Mendel or and Aguiar, 2004). Nineteen of these species, distrib- D. M. Loretto) plus a field assistant. Edentates were uted in ten genera and four families, can be found recorded whenever they were seen on trails in both in Brazil (Fonseca et al., 1996). This order embodies mature forest and reforested areas. a substantial amount of the evolutionary history of mammals (Fonseca, 2001) and is potentially a basal Additional records on the occurrence of edentates offshoot of the earliest placental mammals (Murphy in the region were gathered from publications et al., 2001). Despite their ecological importance (Wetzel, 1982, 1985a, 1985b; Emmons and Feer, and the need to highlight them in conservation 1997; Eisenberg and Redford, 1999; Silva Júnior programs, xenarthrans are virtually unstudied when and Nunes, 2001; Silva Júnior et al., 2001) as compared with other, better-known mammals (Fon- well as two technical reports: the Saracá-Taquera seca, 2001). National Forest Management Plan (STCP, 2001) and an environmental impact study (Brandt Meio At least 13 species of xenarthrans are found in the Ambiente, 2001), as well as from specimens in the rainforests of Amazonia, four of which are endemic Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG), Belém. (Fonseca et al., 1996); another two are on the Bra- During our fieldwork in STNF we found 11 dead zilian Red List of threatened species (Fonseca and animals, which we compared directly with museum Chiarello, 2003). Although the Xenarthra include specimens at MPEG. We deposited tissue samples few species compared with other orders of Brazilian from the animals at the PUCMinas Natural History mammals, only a handful of field studies have focused Museum, and also took reference photographs of on them, and their geographic distributions are still live animals in the field. poorly known. Here we present data on the occur- rence of xenarthrans in the Saracá-Taquera National We interviewed four technicians from the Brazilian Forest (STNF) in northwestern Pará, Brazil. Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) who were working in the region, Field Site and Methods and also ten of our local field assistants. We presented The Saracá-Taquera National Forest (429,600 ha) is a each interviewee with the illustrations of the Xenar- bauxite-rich area immediately south of the village of thra from Emmons and Feer (1997), and asked them Porto Trombetas (01°40′S, 56°00′W), in the munici- to identify those which they had seen in the region. pality of Oriximiná in western Pará. Our study site For each sighting they reported, we noted the species, in the STNF is about 100 km west of the confluence the type of record, and the location and estimated of the Rios Trombetas and Amazonas. The bauxite is date of the sighting. We also asked to see any remains, mined by the Rio do Norte Mining Company (Min- such as the skulls and carapaces of animals which were eração Rio do Norte — MRN). The deposits are asso- either hunted or found dead.
3 FIGURE 1. Map of the Saracá-Taquera National Forest with the study areas represented.
Results There are two species of sloth in the STNF: the Based on information compiled from our fieldwork, pale-throated three-toed sloth (Bradypus tridac- the scientific literature, technical reports, museum tylus: Bradypodidae) and the two-toed sloth (Cho- collections and interviews, we found evidence for loepus didactylus: Megalonychidae). A three-toed up to 13 xenarthran species occurring in the STNF sloth was found dead on the road, and an IBAMA (Table 1). The geographic distribution of ten of technician observed another crossing the road at them suggests their occurrence in the study area. The Porto de Trombetas. Choloepus didactylus was the other three were mentioned only in the two techni- most frequently sighted of the xenarthrans during cal reports; they have yet to be confirmed, and may our field study, with a total of ten records for this be erroneous. species — six of which were dead specimens found on the road. Fieldwork We found six xenarthran species in our field surveys, We recorded just one species of armadillo, the three of them in reforested areas (Table 1). We recorded common long-nosed armadillo (Dasypus novem- three of the four known species of anteaters in the study cinctus). We saw one in the Almeidas forest, and area. Three giant anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) a second in the 1980s reforested zone at Saracá; were seen in the reforested areas, twice in plots refor- a third was found dead on the road to Porto ested in the 1980s and once in a plot from the 1990s. de Trombetas. The southern tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla) was seen on six occasions, four of which were in the remain- Museum collections ing forest of the Almeidas plateau. We found a fifth There are specimens of two xenarthran species from individual dead in the 1990s reforested plot, showing the STNF in the mammal collection of the Museu unmistakable signs of predation — broken bones, bite Paraense Emílio Goeldi: two of Bradypus variegatus marks on the head, and large parts of the body missing. (Faro and headwaters of the Rio Paru do Oeste), and The sixth was found dead on the road between Porto one of the greater long-nosed armadillo, Dasypus de Trombetas and the Almeidas plateau, probably killed kappleri, collected from the Rio Saracazinho, Porto by a vehicle. We also found a pygmy anteater (Cyclopes Trombetas (Table 1). didactylus) killed on the same road.
4 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 Interviews and published literature Discussion The presence of the giant armadillo (Priodontes Although our study registered a potential total of 13 maximus) was inferred by its burrows (recorded by xenarthran species in the Saracá-Taquera National an IBAMA technician, Antônio de Almeida Cor- Forest, not all have been verified. The Brazilian three- reia) and it was also listed during inventories for banded armadillo (Tolypeutes tricinctus), although an environmental impact statement (Brandt Meio listed in a technical report (STCP, 2001) is unlikely to Ambiente, 2001) and for the preparation of a man- occur in the study area. It has never been recorded in agement plan for the national forest (STCP, 2001). Amazonia, and occurs mainly in the Cerrado biome The Brazilian lesser long-nosed armadillo (Dasypus (Wetzel, 1982, 1985a; Fonseca et al., 1996; Eisenberg septemcinctus) may also be present, as one of the tech- and Redford, 1999). nicians we interviewed described two different species of armadillos, one with nine bands in the carapace The presence of the yellow armadillo (Euphractus sex- and the other with seven. The technician was unable cinctus) also remains to be confirmed. According to to identify the exact species from the illustrations we Wetzel (1985a), this species occurs in northeastern, provided, however, and this record is provisional. The middle-western, southeastern, and southern Brazil, southern naked-tail armadillo (Cabassous unicinc- but Silva Júnior and Nunes (2001) and Silva Júnior tus), the Brazilian three-banded armadillo (Tolypeutes et al. (2001) have found it in the eastern Amazon, tricinctus) and the yellow armadillo (Euphractus sex- and proposed that its disjunct range is an artifact of cinctus) were only recorded in some publications and sampling. Our records for this species are based only technical reports (Table 1). on interviews and technical reports.
TABLE 1. Edentate fauna reported from the Saracá-Taquera National Forest, Pará, Brazil, from scientific collections, published reports and fieldwork. The number of individuals observed is given in parentheses. Museum Literature Fieldwork Order Edentata Technical Scientific Mature Reforested MPEG Road reports papers forest area Myrmecophagidae Myrmecophaga tridactyla 1, 2 1, 3, 4, 5 Obs. (3) Tamandua tetradactyla 1, 2 1, 3, 4, 5 Obs. (4) Obs. (1) Obs.(1) Cyclopes didactylus 1, 2 1, 3, 4, 5 Obs. (1) Bradypodidae Bradypus tridactylus 1, 3, 4, 5 Obs.(2) Bradypus variegatus* 304; 1743 1, 2 1, 3, 5 Megalonychidae Choloepus didactylus 1, 2 1, 3, 4, 5 Obs. (4) Obs.(6) Dasypodidae Priodontes maximus 1, 2 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Int. Cabassous unicinctus 1, 2 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Tolypeutes tricinctus** 1 Dasypus kappleri*** 12592 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Dasypus novemcinctus 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Obs (1) Obs. (1) Obs. (1) Dasypus septemcinctus**** Int. Euphractus sexcinctus 1, 2 Literature: 1 Wetzel, 1982; 2 Wetzel, 1985a; 3 Wetzel, 1985b; 4 Emmons and Feer, 1997; 5 Eisenberg and Redford, 1999. Technical reports: 1. STCP, 2001; 2. Brandt Meio Ambiente, 2001. * MPEG 304: Faro and MPEG 1743: Cabeceiras do Rio Paru de Oeste. ** Improbable occurrence due to a geographic range restricted to other biomes. *** MPEG 12592: Rio Saracazinho, Porto Trombetas. **** Species recorded by interview and recorded in the Porto Trombetas Biological Reserve. Obs. = Direct observation of the species. Int. = Interview.
5 Dasypus septemcinctus has yet to be confirmed for the de Almeida Correia (IBAMA) for useful informa- STNF. It has a broad range, from the mouth of the tion; our colleagues from the Horto Florestal; Rio do Amazon to the Gran Chaco in Argentina (Wetzel, Norte Mining Company (MRN) for logistical help, 1985b), but none have been recorded from the cen- especially Alexandre Castilho; and Leonardo Viana tral Amazon. As mentioned above, the presence of and Lyn Buchheit for the English corrections. Rio do this species was suggested by one of the technicians Norte Mining Company (MRN) and Planta Ltda. we interviewed, and D. septemcinctus was listed in funded this study. The first author thanks CAPES/ the management plan for the Rio Trombetas Bio- Fulbright for the fellowship in support of his doctoral logical Reserve, on the east side of the Rio Trombetas studies at the University of Maryland. (Antônio de Almeida Correia, pers. comm.). Thus, we consider its occurrence possible for the STNF, but we Leonardo de Carvalho Oliveira, Graduate Program have no concrete evidence of it having been seen or in Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, collected there. MD 20742, USA, e-mail:
6 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 Fonseca, G. A. B. da. 2001. The conservation of xen- Wetzel, R. M. 1985b. Taxonomy and distribution of arthra will be vital for the preservation of mam- armadillos, Dasypodidae. In: The Evolution and malian phylogenetic diversity. Edentata (4): 1. Ecology of Armadillos, Sloths, and Vermilinguas, G. Fonseca, G. A. B. da and Aguiar, J. M. 2004. The G. Montgomery (ed.), pp.23–46. Smithsonian 2004 Edentate Species Assessment Workshop. Institution Press, Washington, DC. Edentata (6): 1–26. Fonseca, G. A. B. da and Chiarello, A. G. 2003. Offi- cial list of Brazilian fauna threatened with extinc- tion — 2002. Edentata (5): 56–59. A Southern Extension of the Geographic Forman, R. T. T. and Alexander, L. E. 1998. Roads Distribution of the Two-Toed Sloth, Choloepus and their major ecological effects. Ann. Rev. Ecol. didactylus (Xenarthra, Megalonychidae) Syst. 29: 207–231. Leeuwenberg, F. 1997. Edentata as a food resource: Cristiano Trapé Trinca Subsistence hunting by Xavante Indians, Brazil. Francesca Belem Lopes Palmeira Edentata (3): 4–5. José de Sousa e Silva Júnior Murphy, W. J., Eizirik, E., Johnson, W. E., Zhang, Y. P., Ryder, O. A. and O’Brien, S. J. 2001. Molec- The two species of two-toed sloths, Choloepus didac- ular phylogenetics and the origins of placental tylus and C. hoffmanni, are the only extant repre- mammals. Nature 409: 614–618. sentatives of the Megalonychidae (Adam, 1999), Peres, C. A. 2000. Effects of subsistence hunting on occurring in partial sympatry in the Andean regions vertebrate community structure in Amazonian and western Amazonia (Le Pont and Desjeux, 1992; forest. Conservation Biology 14(1): 240–253. Emmons and Feer, 1997; Adam, 1999; Eisenberg Redford, K. H. 1992. The empty forest. BioScience 42: and Redford, 1999). Although their distributions 412–422. are reasonably well-understood on a broad scale, Silva Júnior, J. S. and Nunes, A. P. 2001. Disjunct the precise boundaries of their ranges are still unre- geographical distribution of the yellow armadillo, solved. According to Wetzel and Ávila-Pires (1980), Euphractus sexcinctus (Xenarthra: Dasypodidae). Wetzel (1985), Adam (1999) and Eisenberg and Edentata (4): 16–18. Redford (1999), C. didactylus occurs across all of Silva Júnior, J. S., Fernandes, M. E. B. and Cerqueira, northern Amazonia, from the eastern Andes to R. 2001. New records of the yellow armadillo, northeastern Surinam, reaching the northern coast Euphractus sexcinctus (Xenarthra: Dasypodidae) of Brazil in the states of Amapá, Pará and Maranhão. in the state of Maranhão, Brazil. Edentata (4): The maps presented by Wetzel (1985), Emmons 18–23. and Feer (1997) and Eisenberg and Redford (1999) STCP. 2001. Plano de Manejo da Floresta Nacional de all suggest that in Western Amazonia, this distribu- Saracá-Taquera, Estado do Pará, Brasil. Unpub- tion extends southward to 10°S latitude. In central lished report. STCP Engenharia, Consultoria e and eastern Amazonia, however, their maps show Gerenciamento, Curitiba, Paraná. Choloepus didactylus as being restricted to a narrow Valsecchi, J. A. 2005. Diversidade de mamíferos não belt along the southern edge of the Amazon Riv- voadores e uso da fauna nas Reservas de Desenvolvi- er — although there is no ecological reason why the mento Sustentável Mamirauá e Amanã, Amazonas, species might not occur further to the south. Wetzel Brasil. Master’s thesis, Programa de Pós-Graduação and Ávila-Pires (1980) reported the only records for em Zoologia, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi and this region available at the time, referring to speci- Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém. mens from Santarém, Taperinha and Rio Barcarena Wetzel, R. M. 1982. Systematics, distribution, ecol- in Pará, as well as Humberto de Campos in Mara- ogy, and conservation of South American Eden- nhão. Specimens in the mammal collection of the tates. In: Mammalian Biology in South America, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG) confirm M. A. Mares and H. H. Genoways (eds.), pp. this distribution, including those from the following 345–375. Special Publication Series of the Pyma- localities in eastern Pará: Marituba (MPEG 22070), tuning Laboratory of Ecology, University of Pitts- Paragominas (MPEG 30677), Fazenda Cauaxi, burgh, Pittsburgh. municipality of Paragominas (MPEG 26315, Wetzel, R. M. 1985a. The identification and distri- 26316, 26317), and Rodovia Belém-Brasília, Km- bution of recent Xenarthra (= Edentata). In: The 75 (MPEG 2385, 2391, 2394). With the exception Evolution and Ecology of Armadillos, Sloths, and of the last three individuals, all these specimens were Vermilinguas, G. G. Montgomery (ed.), pp.5–21. collected after 1980 and were thus not available to Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. Wetzel and Ávila-Pires.
7 Mascarenhas and Puorto (1988) reported C. didac- The specimen, an adult skull without the mandible, tylus from the middle-lower Rio Tocantins, south of is now in the MPEG mammal collection (MPEG the range indicated by other authors. The specimens 36871). We identified the specimen based on the which Mascarenhas and Puorto collected are now diagnostic characters provided by Wetzel (1985) and in the MPEG collection (Tucuruí, Base 5: MPEG by direct comparison with specimens of Choloepus 12597; Jacundá: MPEG 11884), and these localities in the MPEG collection. The skull fits the descrip- were included in the more recent range maps of Adam tion of C. didactylus, possessing a large anterior and (1999) and Eisenberg and Redford (1999). Soon there- small posterior inter-pterygoid space, large pterygoid after, Toledo et al. (1999) extended the distribution expansions, absence of a posterior pair of foramina in of C. didactylus to the region of Carajás in southern the inter-pterygoid space, pterygoid sinuses broadly Pará, approximately 06°S, 50°W. Here we demonstrate inflated and broad contact of maxilla with frontal that the eastern part of the distribution of this species bone, not interrupted by lacrimals. extends further south than previously known. The original vegetation of the Juruena basin was While one of us was conducting fieldwork in a set- mainly dense rainforest, interspersed with open tlement in northern Mato Grosso (Trinca, 2004), a rainforest and transitional areas (Dinerstein et al., local man found a skull of C. didactylus in the nearby 1995; Miranda and Amorim, 2000). Within the past plantation of Fazenda do Tenente, Japuranã district 30 years, these forests have been destroyed by the (10°03′56.6″S, 58°00′02.3″W), municipality of expansion of agriculture and pastures, and the Nova Bandeirantes (Fig. 1). This area is located in increase in cattle-ranching and soybean farming may the Juruena interfluve between the Rios Juruena and have extirpated C. didactylus from many areas in east- Teles Pires. central Mato Grosso.
FIGURE 1. Location of the southern records of C. didactylus, based on the distributions presented in Eisenberg (1989) and Eisenberg and Redford (1999): 1. Pará, Santarém (02°26′S, 54°42′W); 2. Pará, Taperinha (02°31′S, 54°17′W); 3. Pará, Rio Barcarena (01°30′S, 48°39′W); 4. Pará, Marituba (01°22′S, 48°20′W); 5. Pará, Rodovia Belém-Brasília, Km 75 (01°19′S, 47°55′W); 6. Pará, Jacundá (04°39′S, 49°29′W); 7. Pará, Fazenda Cauaxi (03°45′S, 48°10′W); 8. Pará, Paragominas (02°56′S, 47°31′W); 9. Pará, Tucuruí, Base 5 (approx. 03°42′S, 49°27′W); 10. Pará, Carajás (06°05′S, 50°07′W); 11. Maranhão, Humberto de Campos (02°37′S, 43°27′W); 12. Mato Grosso, Fazenda do Tenente, Japuranã (10°03′S, 58°00′W).
8 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 This new record suggests that the presumed absence Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil. The University of of this species in south-central and eastern Amazo- Chicago Press, Chicago. nia may be an artifact of undersampling, which has Emmons, L. H. and Feer, F. 1997. Neotropical long been an impediment to understanding the Rainforest Mammals: A Field Guide. Second diversity and biogeography of Neotropical fauna edition. The University of Chicago Press, (Vivo, 1996; Silva Júnior, 1998; Silva et al., 2001). Chicago. Surveys covering this entire region would most likely Le Pont, F. and Desjeux, P. 1992. Presence de Cholo- indicate that C. didactylus has a wider geographic epus hoffmanni dans les Yungas de la Paz (Bolivie). distribution within the forests of Amazonia than Mammalia 56(3): 484–485. now understood. Mascarenhas, B. M. and Puorto, G. 1988. Nonvo- lant mammals rescued at the Tucuruí Dam in Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Mr. Marcos, the Brazilian Amazon. Primate Conservation (9): who found the skull at Fazenda do Tenente and 91–93. gave it to C. T. Trinca. We also thank Mr. Leonar Miranda, L. and Amorim, L. 2000. Mato Grosso: Dallagnol, Mr. Antonio Geraldo Conjiu and Mr. Atlas Geográfico. Ed. Entrelinhas, Cuiabá, Arley Brumati for their logistical support during Brazil. the first author’s field research in the Juruena Silva Júnior, J. S. 1998. Problemas de amostragem no interfluve. Special thanks are due to Luís Cláu- desenvolvimento da sistemática e biogeografia de dio Barbosa for drawing the map and to Marinus primatas neotropicais. Neotropical Primates 6(1): Hoogmoed, Teresa Cristina Sauer de Ávila-Pires, 21–22. Ana Lima and John Aguiar for their reviews of Silva, M. N. F. da, Rylands, A. B. and Patton, J. L. the manuscript. 2001. Biogeografia e conservação da mastofauna na floresta amazônica brasileira. In: Biodivers- Cristiano Trapé Trinca and Francesca Belem Lopes idade na Amazônia Brasileira: Avaliação e Ações Palmeira, Faculdade de Ciências Biológicas, Centro Prioritárias para a Conservação, Uso Sustentável e de Ciências Médicas e Biológicas, Pontifícia Uni- Repartição de Benefícios, A. Vérissimo, A. Moreira, versidade Católica de São Paulo, Praça José Ermírio D. Sawyer, I. dos Santos, L. P. Pinto and J. P. de Moraes, 290, Vergueiro, Sorocaba 18030-230, R. Capobianco (eds.), pp. 110–131, 471–475. São Paulo, Brasil, and Departamento de Pesquisa, Instituto Socioambiental, Estação Liberdade, Reserva Brasil, Av. Dr. Silva Melo, 520, comple- São Paulo. mento 606, Jardim Taquaral, São Paulo 04675- Toledo, P. M., Moraes-Santos, H. M. and Melo, C. C. 010, São Paulo, Brazil, e-mail:
9 confiscated animals. Based on this information, we The Illegal Traffic in Sloths and Threats to Their believe that variegated sloths are limited to some areas Survival in Colombia of the northern Caribbean region, certain localities in the inter-Andean valleys, and the Pacific and Ama- Sergio Moreno zonian regions. We have combined presence data Tinka Plese from Anderson and Handley (2001) with our own unpublished data to produce a preliminary model Introduction of distribution using BIOCLIM (Busby, 1991) and The illegal trade in wildlife is driven by the high DIVA-GIS (Hijmans, 2005) that we believe presents demand in national and international urban centers, the probable current distribution of B. variegatus making wildlife trafficking the third most lucrative (Fig. 2). criminal enterprise in Colombia, after the trade in weapons and drugs (CITES, 2005; Rodríguez and C. hoffmanni has a wider distribution, ranging from Echeverry, 2005). Together with the swift and perva- the northern Caribbean coast to the south along the sive destruction of tropical forests, this places many Pacific coast, as well as in the central Andean regions of the species reliant on these ecosystems in danger (Wetzel, 1982). In Colombia there are two distinct of extinction. phenotypes of C. hoffmanni; one is found in lower, warmer areas below 1500 m, while the other is typi- This report is based on our observations at the UNAU cal of higher and cooler zones between 1500 and Foundation sloth rehabilitation center during its first 3000 m (Moreno, 2003b). These phenotypes may five years of operation, from 2000 to 2005, in the city correspond to the subspecies C. h. capitalis and of Medellín. Here we show how independent pres- C. h. agustinus, respectively (Wetzel, 1982). C. didac- sures have combined to threaten the survival of sloths tylus has been reported from the Orinoco and Amazon in Colombia. regions (Wetzel, 1982; Eisenberg, 1989; Emmons and Feer, 1999), but this species has been little studied Sloths of Colombia in Colombia. Three species of sloths are known from Colombia (Wetzel, 1982). The brown-throated three-toed sloth, Bradypus variegatus (Schinz, 1825) inhabits both Pacific and Amazonian lowland rainforest and the Caribbean savanna dry forest (pers. obs.) (Fig. 1). Hoffman’s two-toed sloth, Choloepus hoffmanni (Peters, 1859) is sympatric in the north with B. var- iegatus, sharing the Pacific rainforest and the Carib- bean savanna dry forest, but is also found in Andean montane forest (pers. obs.). The southern two-toed sloth, Choloepus didactylus (Linnaeus, 1758) is sympatric in the south with B. variegatus, sharing the lowland Amazonian rainforest (Wetzel, 1982; Eisenberg, 1989; Emmons and Feer, 1999; Fonseca and Aguiar, 2004) but this species has been little- studied in Colombia. The available habitat of these species is limited primarily by the extent of continu- ous canopy within natural forest (Montgomery and Sunquist, 1978).
Previous authors have assumed the distribution of FIGURE 1. Main natural regions of Colombia. Map developed from B. variegatus to include nearly the entire lowland ter- IAvH (2005a) and IGAC (2002). Arid and semiarid areas correspond ritory of Colombia (Wetzel, 1982; Eisenberg, 1989; to lowlands dominated by xerophytic or subxerophytic vegetation. Emmons and Feer, 1999; Fonseca and Aguiar, 2004). Savannahs are lowlands with marked dry-wet seasons; they are char- However, we have developed what we believe to be a acterized by shrub vegetation and abundant wetlands. The Andean more accurate and detailed assessment of its range, region is comprised of a great diversity of montane ecosystems with multiple vegetation assemblies, ranging from 500 to 3900 m above based on interviews with local hunters, government sea level. Rainforest is evergreen hygrophilous with exuberant strati- officials and other researchers, as well as personal fied vegetation, rich in lianas and epiphytes. Transformed areas are observations and our efforts to track the origin of primarily used for intensive agriculture and ranching (IGAC, 2002).
10 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 Threats to Sloth Survival
Habitat destruction and fragmentation As with too many tropical species, the greatest threat to the survival of sloths in Colombia is the destruc- tion of their natural habitat (Chiarello, 1999). Owing to the constant expansion of ranching, agriculture and urban areas, over 100,000 ha of natural forest are destroyed every year in Colombia (IDEAM, 2004), with immense wildlife mortality as a direct result.
Sloths sometimes die in large numbers in incidents that go unreported by the media, and unnoticed or ignored by Colombian wildlife agencies and police.1 One such case was reported in the newspaper El Colombiano (Machado, 2002) in Necoclí, Depart- ment of Antioquia, where an estimated 600 B. var- iegatus were displaced by the destruction of their habitat, forcing them into open grassland and beaches where they suffered from starvation, dehydration and parasite infestation. People from the local communi- FIGURE 2. Preliminary BIOCLIM model of the current distribution of ties took action to rescue the sloths on the beaches B. variegatus in Colombia. themselves, one by one, without assistance from the local authorities (R. Villarta, pers. comm.). Unlike other arboreal mammals, a variegated sloth is At the sloth rehabilitation center of the UNAU Foun- likely to remain within a tree until it is cut down; dation, we are often called to nearby semi-urban areas this is because their instinctive reaction to a threat to rescue two-toed sloths (C. hoffmanni) that have is to hold still rather than to flee (pers. obs.). Once been injured in a variety of ways — hit by cars, stoned on the ground, with no sheltering forest nearby, they by children, or suffering from electrical shocks — as are exposed to starvation, predators and hunting. The well as others that appear to be dispersing from lost northern lowland rainforest and northern savannah habitat. All these cases are ultimately related to the dry forest have been widely cleared for pasture and destruction of remnant patches of natural forests croplands (IDEAM, 2004), seriously compromising (Moreno, 2003a). We have not had rescue calls for the survival of B. variegatus in those areas. Only in the other two species of sloth; C. didactylus and B. the Pacific lowland rainforest are there still extensive variegatus do not naturally occur near the city of reaches of continuous canopy. Medellín where the Foundation is located. We have had similar cases reported by veterinarians, however, Choloepus hoffmanni, on the other hand, has larger and some individuals of these species have been sent home ranges, is more mobile, nocturnal, solitary and to us from regions throughout the country. aggressive, and is thus much more adaptable to habi- tat alteration. We have seen individuals in a diver- In general, B. variegatus are more vulnerable than sity of habitats, frequently isolated and disturbed, other sloths to habitat disruption. Their reduced such as small patches of secondary forest (less than mobility, small home range, and their more gregari- 10 ha) near urban centers. We have also found them ous and diurnal habits make them more sensitive to in patches of remnant tropical dry forest in the midst forest loss, which may account for their disappear- of cattle ranches. But C. hoffmanni shares the same ance from many regions of their former distribution. forest habitat as B. variegatus, and so it is exposed to the same threats and alterations. Habitat loss and fragmentation affect the montane phenotype of 1 Colombian wildlife agencies are represented locally by C. hoffmanni in particular (IDEAM, 2004). “autonomous regional corporations” which have the respon- sibility of administering all natural resources except fish. There is little published information on C. didactylus, There are 30 of these corporations throughout the country, working under the general guidelines established by the Envi- but its distribution within Colombia follows the low- ronmental Ministry (Ministerio de Ambiente, Vivienda y land rainforest of the upper Amazon basin (Fonseca Desarrollo Territorial). and Aguiar, 2004), which so far has suffered compar-
11 atively little deforestation (IDEAM, 2004). Based on departments are rich in natural resources — but they the extent of its remaining habitat, C. didactylus may are also undergoing rapid transformation, with wet- be in the best situation of all the Colombian sloths. lands and forests converted for agriculture and cattle farming. A major highway, La Troncal del Norte, Despite this flexibility, habitat fragmentation is a leads from the interior to the Caribbean coast, pass- critical threat for all three species of sloths in Colom- ing through the northern departments and serving bia. Their adaptations to an arboreal life make them as a conduit for potential buyers on vacation. Local exceptionally vulnerable when away from the trees, authorities are unable to exert much control over the and open reaches of grassland, crops or urban infra- roadside sale of wildlife there, and many sloths change structure become insurmountable barriers for them. hands during the summer and winter holidays. Small forest fragments are unlikely to contain viable populations due to the small genetic pool (Groom et In 2004 in the city of Medellín alone — the second al., 2005). largest in the country — local police and wildlife agencies reported the confiscation of 256 mammals Illegal trade in sloths (Moreno et al., 2005). That same year, the UNAU Every year in Colombia, hundreds of young two- Foundation received 102 sloths, of which 81 (79.4%) and three-toed sloths are taken from their mothers were B. variegatus and 21 (20.6%) were C. hoffmanni by poachers. Traffickers buy young sloths from chil- (Tables 2 and 3). Of these 102 rescued animals, about dren, who often take them from deforested areas. The 70% were newborns or juveniles, with a body weight mother sloths are often mistreated and sometimes of less than 700 g. B. variegatus is the more appealing killed for their meat. This is not limited to sloths species for the wildlife trade; their docile nature and alone; any wild animal that can be caught is also inherent charm, especially in infants and juveniles, used, including monkeys (Alouatta, Ateles, Cebus and make for easy sales to unwary buyers. C. didactylus is Saguinus), parrots (Aratinga, Pionus and Amazona), much less common in this trade; during the five years macaws (Ara) and other xenarthrans such as Taman- UNAU has been in operation, we have received only dua and Cyclopes. Once taken from the forest, animals one individual — a juvenile rescued after its mother are brought to improvised shelters with inadequate housing, feeding and sanitary conditions, and are sold to Colombians traveling between the interior and the coast on vacation (Moreno, 2003a). The price of a young sloth starts at the local equivalent of US$30, but with a little bargaining one may be bought for less than US$5 (pers. obs.). Neither the sellers nor the buyers understand the nutritional and environmental needs of these animals, and so the stress of their cap- ture and captivity ultimately leads to their deaths. This commerce is strictly illegal; although there are no laws in Colombia that give specific protection to sloths, all wildlife in the country is protected by a general law (Decreto 1608/1978) that prohibits the hunting, possession and traffic of Colombian wildlife.
This trade in sloths is not a new development, but the number of sloths sold on roadsides has risen in recent years. The security on national highways has improved significantly since 2003, bringing greater numbers of seasonal travelers — and hence creating greater opportunities for wildlife traffickers. Thanks in part to extensive educational efforts by the UNAU Foundation, local and national authorities have taken an increasing interest in the issues of sloth welfare, FIGURE 3. Sources of illegal traffic, by department, in B. variega- tus and C. hoffmanni in Colombia. The source symbols represent but the trade continues unabated. Sloths appear to be highway locations or municipalities where sloths were bought. We captured and sold mainly in the northern departments collected this information based on reports from buyers who later of Córdoba, Sucre, Bolívar, Atlántico and Magdalena regretted their purchases, and from our personal observations during (Fig. 3, Table 1) (Moreno and Plese, 2004). These fieldwork for the UNAU Foundation.
12 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 was killed by a car near the town of Florencia in the The northern departments of Córdoba, Antioquia, Amazon. The areas where C. didactylus are found are Atlántico, Sucre, Bolívar and Magdalena are the too remote and have too little tourism for traffic in source of 85% of the young sloths we have received, this species to be common. most of them victims of a chain of regular traffic. The remaining 15% come from departments of To determine the departments where this traffic is the interior. These are mostly C. hoffmanni, and most prevalent, we analyzed our records for the 274 according to testimonies, they were captured sloths admitted to the UNAU Foundation between in chance encounters. Many of these sloths die March 2001 and October 2004. Records without a unreported in private hands. Very few of them known purchase site were not used. We also excluded are given to zoos or a rehabilitation center such records of adult individuals, as these animals come to as UNAU. the Foundation as result of accidents (road, electrocu- tion) or other encounters. We sorted the remaining Although the police may confiscate sloths at highway 61 records by department (Table 1). checkpoints, or in response to citizen complaints, most of those we have received were voluntarily sur- rendered by the buyers, concerned by their new TABLE 1. Departments of origin for young sloths arriving at the UNAU pet’s failing health — or by the trouble of keeping it Foundation (March 2001–October 2004). alive. To some extent, buyers may also be moved by campaigns undertaken by wildlife agencies and the Department Qty. % UNAU Foundation. Not surprisingly, the mortality Córdoba 25 41% of these sloths is high. Antioquia 8 13% Sucre 7 11% The annual increase in the number of individuals Atlántico 6 10% received at the center results from two factors: first, Bolívar 3 5% the consolidation of the rehabilitation center, and its Magdalena 3 5% increasing recognition by citizens and wildlife author- ities; and second, the increase in the sale of sloths on Huila 2 3% the northern highways, as the improvements in over- Risaralda 2 3% all security have brought more vacationers out on Boyacá 1 2% the roads. Caquetá 1 2% Chocó 1 2% Rehabilitation Quindío 1 2% Two factors strongly influence the success of the reha- Tolima 1 2% bilitation process. The first is the body weight of the animal upon arrival, which depends on its age. Mor- Total 61 100% tality is very high (about 70%) for individuals weigh- ing less than 700 g, which corresponds to their first TABLE 2. Number of sloths received at the UNAU Foundation sloth five months of life. After this age, their chances for rehabilitation center in the first five years of its operation. survival improve considerably, and older sloths show Year N° of sloths per year Cumulative N° of Sloths about 30% mortality (Table 4). 2000 8 8 The second determining factor is the physical condi- 2001 28 36 tion of new arrivals, which is critical during their first 2002 36 72 30 days at the rehabilitation center. Most of the mor- 2003 103 175 tality occurs during this period (Table 5), usually as 2004 102 277 a direct result of the treatment sloths received from poachers, salesmen and unsuspecting buyers. Before a sloth’s arrival at the UNAU Foundation’s rehabilita- TABLE 3. Total sloth mortality at the UNAU Foundation rehabilitation tion center, it may have been in captivity for some center during 2004. 15 days, during which it was most likely malnour- B. variegatus C. hoffmanni ished and badly cared for. If the young sloth expe- Admissions 81 (100%) 21 (100%) riences a violent separation from its mother and is subsequently mistreated, it is in poor physical condi- Mortality 68 (84%) 52 (52%) tion, often involving dehydration, starvation, trauma Survivors 13 (16%) 10 (48%) and disease.
13 A health survey of the 277 sloths treated by the ally be fatal. Other generalized traumas are caused by UNAU Foundation showed that respiratory dis- improper confinement and careless maintenance by eases, such as acute or chronic bronchopneumonia poachers and buyers alike. and lobar pneumonia, are by far the most common ailment, with 248 cases (90%) in total. Other ill- Capture myopathy is a complex condition involving nesses include digestive problems such as diarrhea, physiological and psychological factors generated constipation, tympanism and rumen paralysis, with by stressful handling (Kreeger et al., 2002). Infant 14 cases (5%); skin problems caused by fungus, bac- and juvenile sloths suffer from immunodepression teria (Staphylococcus aureus) and external parasites as a consequence of the trauma of early separation such as ticks, lice and mites (e.g., Demodex canis), from the mother (Brieva et al., 2000). Often they with 8 cases (3%); and human-induced traumas such will also develop digestive problems caused by an as nail mutilation, filed-down teeth, contusions, elec- improper diet, especially infants that do not have a tric shock, burns and other wounds (5 cases; 2%). fully developed digestive system. There is no good Nail polish is commonly used on sloths offered for substitute for a sloth mother’s natural milk. Pulmo- sale: poachers use it to prevent young sloths, with nary problems may also arise, sometimes due to the their sharp nails and strong grip, from intimidating inhalation of liquids into the lungs during artificial potential buyers. Other sellers will sometimes clip the feeding. Other pulmonary difficulties may develop nails instead of polishing them, with results as seen in as well, both from overall stress and from their Fig. 5a. C. hoffmanni have sharp, canine-like molars, sudden change in climate — from the warm, low- and even very young individuals are able to bite down land rainforests and savannas to the cooler Andean hard; thus poachers will sometimes file down the regions where most buyers live. Young sloths may infants’ teeth, with consequences that may eventu- also acquire respiratory ailments from close contact with humans.
TABLE 4. Sloth mortality by body weight during 2004. Conservation Status Body Weight (g) B. variegatus C. hoffmanni The conservation status currently assigned to Colom- bian sloths by national and international authorities 200 –700 44 (65%) 8 (73%) makes it difficult to enforce their protection. The > 700 24 (35%) 3 (27%) most recognized authority, the IUCN Red List, clas- Mortality 68 (100%) 11 (100%) sifies B. variegatus, C. hoffmanni and C. didactylus as LC – Least Concern (IUCN, 2006). TABLE 5. Sloth mortality by time in rehabilitation during 2004. The Convention on International Trade in Endan- Period in rehabilitation B. variegatus C. hoffmanni gered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) (days) lists B. variegatus in Appendix II and C. hoffmanni < 30 53 (78%) 8 (73%) in Appendix III with no other restrictions, while no > 30 15 (22%) 3 (27%) classification is given to C. didactylus (CITES, 2005). Mortality 68 (100%) 11 (100%) Appendix II includes species not necessarily threat- ened with extinction, but for which trade must be controlled in order to avoid uses incompatible with their survival. Appendix III contains species that are protected in at least one country and which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling the trade (CITES, 2005).
A report by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre of the United Nations Environment Pro- gramme (UNEP-WCMC) on the international trade in wildlife lists only six individuals of B. varie- gatus (1 body, 5 live) for the period 1995–1999, and provides no information on their origin (UNEP- WCMC, 2001). It should be noted, however, that FIGURE 4. A salesman offering a young B. variegatus by the road in UNEP-WCMC and CITES deal only with the inter- “La Y,” Córdoba. Not knowing otherwise, tourists will often believe national species trade, and do not address the issues the hucksters’ claims that sloths are easy to feed and maintain. of within-country wildlife commerce. We include
14 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 TABLE 6. Sloth conservation status according to national and international listing authorities. Organization B. variegatus C. hoffmanni C. didactylus IUCN Red List (IUCN, 2006) LC – Least Concern LC – Least Concern LC – Least Concern NatureServe (InfoNatura, 2004) G5 – Secure G4 – Apparently Secure G4 – Apparently Secure CITES (CITES, 2005) Appendix II Appendix III (Costa Rica only) None Ministerio de Ambiente, Colombia (2005) Not listed Not listed Not listed
them here to provide an international perspective The most recent distribution maps for the sloths, pre- on the traffic in sloths — and because conservation sented by Fonseca and Aguiar (2004), do not differ funds are often conditional on a species being listed much from the maps provided by Wetzel (1982). by CITES. These maps are generalized and do not represent the actual distribution of the three species in Colombia. A separate measure of conservation status, developed For example, these sources indicate that B. variegatus by the NGO NatureServe, lists B. variegatus as G5 is present throughout the territory of Colombia, in (Secure) and both species of Choloepus as G4 (Appar- significant contrast with the preliminary results of our ently Secure) (InfoNatura, 2004). Information from BIOCLIM model (Fig. 2). all three threat classification systems is summarized in Table 6. None of the three sloth species is included on Likewise, conservation assessments are sometimes the List of Threatened Mammals of Colombia (Min- based on isolated reports that may not always be rep- isterio de Ambiente, 2005). resentative of a species’ ecology as a whole. Eisenberg and Thorington (1973) reported sloths to comprise Discussion as much as 40% of the biomass of mammals on Barro The international classifications of sloth conservation Colorado Island, and suggested that “Bradypus exists status are not representative of the local situation in at the highest numerical density of any large, arboreal Colombia. Other countries such as Bolivia, Costa mammal” in the Neotropics. However, the situation Rica and Brazil face similar threats to their own sloth at Barro Colorado Island is almost certainly different populations, and have ongoing rehabilitation pro- from conditions prevailing across the majority of the grams for these species — indicating there is pressure species’ range. In addition, B. variegatus is sometimes on them as well. gregarious, congregating in large numbers during
a b
c d
FIGURE 5. Frequent traumas on trafficked B. variegatus: a. mutilation of the nails; b. severe respiratory disease; c. laceration caused by fungus; d. trauma to the left eye.
15 mating seasons and at seasonal feeding grounds, At a local level, the limited efforts by police and wild- giving a false impression of abundance (pers. obs.). life agencies to control the wildlife trade are of no substantial help. A report from the Procuraduría Gen- Thus we would caution researchers, conservationists eral de la Nación, the Colombian Attorney General’s and decision-makers on the danger of taking these Office, denounces the lack of legal instruments to generalizations too literally, as this may lead to unno- regulate the post-confiscation management of wildlife ticed local extinctions. The current situation of sloths in Colombia, as well as insufficient infrastructure and in Colombia may also hold true for other, less-noted the lack of reliable statistics on confiscation and illegal species without organizations dedicated to their sur- traffic (Rodríguez and Echeverry, 2005). This report vival, such as the silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus). points out that of 251,776 wild animals confiscated At present there are very few organizations in Colom- during the period 1996–2004, only 1,639 legal inves- bia, perhaps a dozen all told, which are working on tigations were initiated. Of these, only 45 resulted in the conservation of specific genera. a fine, while 263 concluded with a lesser sanction.
The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for the Inves- Recommendations tigation of Biological Resources (IAvH) is a public Predictive models of species distribution, such as the corporation, linked to the Colombian Ministry of one we have presented in Fig. 2, are based on easily the Environment, which tracks the threat status of accessed environmental data and detailed informa- all Colombian fauna. The IAvH lists 16 criteria for tion on species localities (Phillips et al., 2006). These a species at risk of extinction (IAvH, 2005b). Six of models can be powerful tools that should be used in these criteria, we believe, are applicable to Bradypus species conservation assessments and to facilitate deci- and Choloepus in Colombia: sion-making processes. Predictive models are not dif- ficult to develop, and they can be done by researchers • Species whose populations are known to be or NGOs with desktop computers running freeware declining; or shareware. However, modeling also requires broad- • Species with low population density; scale information, such as vegetation coverage or • Species with a reduced ability to disperse to ecosystem type, that only government agencies have new environments; the resources to gather. Access to this information is • Species that are habitat specialists; often limited, and agreements between institutions • Species that suffer pressure from overexploi- are required to take fullest advantage of it. tation; and • Species with close relatives extinct or cur- Threat assessments should take into account the rently threatened. dangers to local populations, recognizing that many genetic, biological and ecological factors are still The Colombian Ministry of the Environment does unknown, especially in the Neotropics. Biodiversity not list any of these three sloth species as being of conservation may be most effective when efforts are conservation concern (Table 6), probably because focused on widespread umbrella species rather than there are no long-term studies to demonstrate on focal endangered species (Fleishman et al., 2000). cause for concern. For Colombia and for the inter- This may be the situation with B. variegatus, which national community, sloths are not focal species requires continuous forest canopy to survive; protect- because they are not listed as threatened or poten- ing this sloth would extend the same protection to tially threatened. There are no formal estimates of many other species that share its rainforest habitat. Its sloth densities in Colombia, and this would be the wide distribution is an added benefit, since its range first step in order to present any estimates of the is continental in scope. Focal species, on the other total population. hand, are generally endemic, limited to small regions and specific habitats. Concentrating efforts on the Funds for species protection are always scarce, and protection of focal species may create limitations on generally go to those species listed as high risk in the overall conservation of biodiversity conservation, IUCN categories, while those that are Least Concern and the application of limited funds should be con- or Data Deficient are largely ignored. This circle — in sidered in this context. which Data Deficient species receive little attention, and lack of funding precludes new research — traps Sergio Moreno and Tinka Plese, UNAU Founda- investigators in a frustrating situation, as they are wit- tion, Cl. 10E N°25-156, Medellín, Colombia, e- ness to the worsening situation of many of these spe- mail:
16 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 References tigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander Von Anderson, R. P. and Handley Jr., C. O. 2001. A Humboldt, Bogotá D.C., Colombia. new species of three-toed sloth (Mammalia: IAvH. 2005b. Instituto Colombiano de Investig- Xenarthra) from Panama, with a review of the ación de los Recursos Biológicos Alexander Von genus Bradypus. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 114(1): Humboldt — Especies Amenazadas — Biología 1–33. de la Conservación.
17 Phillips, S. J., Robert, P. A. and Robert, E. S. 2006. un ejemplar en el Zoológico de New York que logró Maximum entropy modeling of species geo- sobrevivir un año, cinco meses y 13 días (Meritt, graphic distributions. Ecological Modeling 190: 1971). La dificultad del mantenimiento en cautiverio 231–259. puede ser causado por la falta de conocimiento sobre Rodríguez, L. A. and Echeverry, S. I. 2005. Informe la biología y la especificidad de la alimentación. Preventivo Sobre el Diagnóstico del Manejo y Dis- posición de Especímenes de Fauna Silvestre Colom- Se han reportado que comen hormigas, termitas y biana Decomisada. Procuraduría General de La escarabajos aunque presentan una preferencia por las Nación, Bogotá. hormigas (Best y Harada, 1985). Al igual que las otras UNEP-WCMC. 2001. Total net trade in wild- especies de hormigueros, la dieta en cautiverio es una Appendix-II Mammalia by taxon, 1995–1999, de las más difíciles de formular y muchas veces defi- highlighting taxa in significant trade.
18 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 FIGURA 1. Crioviales para alimentación. FIGURA 2. Heces de Cyclopes didactylus.
Inicialmente el medio de alimentarlo fue a través de inicialmente con una longitud de 0.5–1.0 cm de largo una jeringa de 1 ml; posteriormente se utilizaron crio- y posteriormente, una longitud de 3–5 cm (Fig. 2). La viales de 2 ml (Fig. 1). frecuencia de defecación fue en promedio dos días.
Resultados Discusión Como se ha demostrado, la elaboración de una dieta El gran desconocimiento de los requerimientos nutri- adecuada en cautiverio en Cyclopes didactylus ha sido cionales de los xenarthra en general y del Cyclopes muy compleja, básicamente por la necesidad de didactylus en particular nos obligaron a la determi- determinar los requerimientos reales de esta especie, nación de fórmulas iniciales de alimentación que y utilizar diferentes insumos que puedan cubrir estas lograron la supervivencia del individuo. Por la poca necesidades. Esto ha provocado que se realicen diver- información disponible, se estableció inicialmente sas modificaciones en la dieta llegando a un total de una fórmula para lactante (F1 y F2) en base a un sus- diez fórmulas alimenticias, las cuales se fueron elabo- tituto lácteo para perros que presentaba un aporte ele- rando en función a las necesidades fisiopatólogicas vado en grasa (40%) y proteína (33%). La intención que fue presentando “Maximus.” era alcanzar elevados niveles de proteína en base a la información de la composición nutricional de la dieta Como se puede observar en la Fig. 3, la curva describe de tamandúas, la cual contiene niveles de proteína de un crecimiento lineal ascendente, a pesar de la disper- 30 a 37% (Pérez Jimeno, 2004). sión en la curva de consumo. Así mismo existe una baja en el volumen de consumo entre la F5 y F10, que La F5, F6, F7, F8 y F9 fueron fórmulas que se esta- coincide con el periodo en que el animal empezó con blecieron por diversos problemas que presentó el pérdida de pelo y blefaritis. Sin embargo a partir de la individuo, como blefaritis, conjuntivitis y alopecia, F10 la curva de consumo, a pesar de su variabilidad, recibiendo inicialmente un tratamiento como proceso tiende a ser más estable y la pendiente de crecimiento infeccioso, no observándose mejora. Las primeras fór- se incrementa. mulas no aportaban vitaminas, las cuales son impres- cindibles en los procesos metabólicos que tienen lugar En la Tabla 2 se presenta la composición nutricional en la nutrición. La variación en las dietas estuvo diri- de la F10. Esta fórmula es utilizada hasta la fecha y gida al cambio de suplementos vitamínicos que no se estableció como una fórmula de crecimiento cuyo afectaran la palatabilidad de la dieta. Priorizamos el porcentaje de proteína es 37.71% y grasa de 19.03%. aporte de vitaminas A, D, E, C y B observándose una Siempre se observó una muy buena aceptación de las mejoría en los problemas que había presentado. fórmulas ofrecidas, de consistencia líquida y sabor ligeramente dulce. De acuerdo a dos reportes de muertes de osos hormi- gueros gigantes, con cuadros semejantes en gatos con Los primeros 15 días fue estimulado antes de ofrecerle deficiencia de taurina (Aguilar et al., 2002), se decidió sus alimentos, para orinar y defecar. No se observa- elaborar la F10 donde se adicionó la taurina en 0.18 ron alteraciones en la consistencia de las heces, cuyas g en función a dosis utilizadas en otros zoológicos. características fueron: color verde oscuro, pastosas, Cabe recalcar que la F10 no es una dieta definitiva,
19 TABLA 1. Fórmulas establecidas durante la crianza en cautiverio del Cyclopes didactylus. Fórmula Insumos Cantidad (g) Días en cautiverio Proporción Mother’s Helper 2,000 F1 1–2 Solución hidratante (Frutiflex®) 8,000 Mother’s Helper 2,000 F1 3–10 Solución hidratante (Frutiflex®) 4,000 Mother’s Helper 2,000 F2 11–16 Agua 4,000 Mother’s Helper 5,300 17–22 3 (F2):1 (F3) Promod 2,000 Aceite de girasol 2,500 F3 23–27 2 (F2):1 (F3) Carbonato de calcio 0,100 Levadura de cerveza 0,100 28–41 1 (F2):1 (F3) Agua 10,000 Mother’s Helper 7,000 Promod 0,800 Aceite de girasol 0,800 F4 42–71 Carbonato de calcio 0,050 Levadura de cerveza 0,050 Agua 20,000 Mother’s Helper 7,000 Promod 1,200 Aceite de girasol 0,800 F5 Carbonato de calcio 0,200 72–92 Levadura de cerveza 0,050 VMD-SUPERVITAMINS 0,030 Agua 20,000 Mother’s Helper 4,000 Promod 4,000
Aceite de girasol 0,500 F6 Levadura de cerveza 0,100 93–106 VMD-SUPERVITAMINS 0,030
Pecutrín 0,400 Agua 20,000 Mother’s Helper 4,000 Promod 4,000 Aceite de girasol 0,500 Levadura de cerveza 0,050 F7 107–110 VMD-SUPERVITAMINS 0,030 Pecutrín 0,400 Duo CVP-K 0,500 Agua 25,000 Mother’s Helper 4.000 Promod 4.000 Aceite de girasol 0.500 Levadura de cerveza 0.050 F8 111–122 Pecutrín 0.400 Duo CVP-K 0.500 VMD-AMINOVIT 0.030 Agua 25.000
20 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 TABLA 1, continuación Fórmula Insumos Cantidad (g) Días en cautiverio Proporción Mother’s Helper 4.000 Promod 4.000 Aceite de girasol 0.500 Levadura de cerveza 0.050 F9 123–145 Pecutrín 0.400 VMD-AMINOVIT 0.030 Selenio 2.000 Agua 25.000 Mother’s Helper 4.000 Promod 4.000 Aceite de girasol 0.500 Levadura de cerveza 0.050 F10 Pecutrín 0.400 146–244 VMD-AMINOVIT 0.030 Selenio 2.000 L-Taurina 0.180 Agua 25.000
Mother’s Helper: fórmula lactea para cachorros, Lambert Kay. Promod: suplemento proteico, Abbott Laboratorios SA. Levadura de cerveza, Saccharomyces cere- visiae, Lab. H.A. Knop. Pecutrín, suplemento mineral, Bayer Químicas Unidas SA. VMD-AMINOVIT, vitaminas y aminoácidos en polvo, Semeru Perkasa Permai. Selenio: mineral, GNC. L-Taurina: aminoácido, GNC.
TABLA 2. Composición nutricional – Fórmula 10 (F10). Nutrientes Unidades Fórmula F10 Nutrientes Unidades Fórmula F10 Agua Porcentaje 1.11 Aminoácidos, continuación Energía kcal/g 0.40 Lisina Porcentaje 2.49 Proteína Porcentaje 37.71 Metionina Porcentaje 0.60 Fibra Porcentaje 0.01 Fenilalanina Porcentaje 0.97 Grasa Porcentaje 19.03 Tirosina Porcentaje 0.89 Ac. Linolénico Porcentaje 2.98 Treonina Porcentaje 0.01 Vitaminas Triptofano Porcentaje 0.51 Biotina ppm 0.05 Valina Porcentaje 1.61 Folacina ppm 1.40 Taurina Porcentaje 0.58 Niacina ppm 56.40 Minerales Acido Pantoténico ppm 27.68 Ceniza Porcentaje 2.45 Riboflavina ppm 11.03 Ca Porcentaje 0.91 Tiamina ppm 5.86 Fósforo Porcentaje 0–69.00 Vit A UI/g 38.06 Potasio Porcentaje 0.01 Vit B6 piridoxina ppm 4.25 Magnesio Porcentaje 0.04 Vit C ppm 67.96 Sodio Porcentaje 0.08 Vit D3 UI/g 4.53 Cloro Porcentaje 0.06 Vit E mg/Kg 53.73 Hierro ppm 77.51 Vit K (menadiona) ppm 4.08 Zinc ppm 114.34 Aminoácidos Manganeso ppm 104.23 Arginina Porcentaje 0.69 Cobre ppm 25.07 Cistina Porcentaje 0.67 Yodo ppm 1.09 Histidina Porcentaje 0.52 Cobalto ppm 1.09 Isoleucina Porcentaje 1.67 Selenio ppm 2.27
21 FIGURA 3. Ganancia de peso vs. consumo de Cyclopes didactylus.
sin embargo sí puede ser utilizada como una dieta cie, a fin de establecer protocolos estándares que nos durante el crecimiento en esta especie, siendo necesa- permitan detectar las fallas más recurrentes en sus rio formular una nueva dieta para el mantenimiento fases iniciales. del animal adulto. Alfonso Vargas Ledesma, Unidad de Nutrición Se han observado secreciones oleosas de color marrón – Parque Zoológico Huachipa, Lima, Perú, e-mail adheridas en el pelo de la región perigenital que
22 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 International Species Information System (ISIS). los hábitats secos donde otros armadillos no podrían 2006. ISIS Species Holdings,
23 fue registrado desde los incisivos hasta el inicio de la banda siguiendo la curvatura. La cola fue medida en faringe, y el ancho a nivel de la articulación mandibu- su base considerándose el diámetro. Tanto el esófago lar; la lengua extendida fue medida dorsalmente. El como los intestinos fueron medidos en forma directa. ancho del caparazón fue tomado a la altura de la sexta El estómago fue registrado teniendo en cuenta su cur- vatura mayor.
CUADRO 1: Medidas y pesos registrados de una hembra de peludo Todos los órganos del tubo digestivo presentaban (Chaetophractus villosus) durante su necropsia. apariencia macroscópica normal. Había restos de Peso (g) Largo (mm) Ancho (mm) alimento en proceso de digestión tanto en estómago Cuerpo como en intestinos. Cabeza 100 110 La dieta de este animal consistía en alimento balan- Tronco 320 370 ceado para perros Eukanuba® de mantenimiento para Cola 130 80 (diámetro) adultos extrusado, manzana y banana. El perfil nutri- Total 3887 550 — cional de la dieta era de 23% de proteína cruda (MS) Tubo Digestivo y 15% de grasa (MS). Boca 70 40 Lengua 90 SD Resultados Esófago 26 160 SD El TD del ejemplar desde la boca al ano tenía un largo Estómago 85 160* 130 total de 3.280 mm y un peso de 254 g. Las medidas y pesos de sus órganos están detallados en el Cuadro Intestino delgado 66 2420 SD 1. El largo del tubo digestivo fue de 7,8 veces el largo Ciego 36 85 SD del cuerpo y su peso con contenido fue del 6,53% de Intestino grueso-recto 41 385 SD su peso corporal. El contenido estomacal fue de 49 g, Total 254 equivalente al 1,26% del peso del animal. * Curvatura mayor. SD: sin datos El intestino delgado fue de 5,7 veces el largo del cuerpo y el 1,6% de su peso, y el intestino grueso fue 0,91 veces el largo del cuerpo y el 1,9% del peso (incluyendo el ciego).
En la Fig. 1 se aprecia parte del aparato digestivo todavía en la cavidad corporal, y en la Fig. 2 vemos el tubo digestivo extirpado del animal.
Discusión Si bien los datos publicados por Nowak (1999) deta- llan como peso promedio de esta especie 2.020 g, el peso promedio de los nueve ejemplares de Temaikèn durante los años 2002, 2003 y 2004 fue de 3.398 g. El peso promedio de este individuo en particular fue de 3.407 g durante el mismo período, acercándose más a los 4.500 g considerado por Vizcaíno y Milne FIGURA 1. Cavidad abdominal de FIGURA 2. Tubo digestivo de (2001) como peso promedio de sus ejemplares. En Chaetophractus villosus. Chaetophractus villosus. la misma referencia se consideran largo de cabeza y cuerpo de 220 y 440 mm, respectivamente, siendo el largo de cola un valor entre los 75 y 175 mm, rango en el cual se encuentran las medidas del ejemplar en estudio, a excepción de la medida de la cabeza.
Si bien algunos edentados como los perezosos (Cho- loepus hoffmanni y Bradypus torquatus) no poseen ciego (Gilmore et al., 2001) y otros como el Dasypus septemcinctus tiene dos ciegos cortos (Stevens y Hume, FIGURA 3. Estómago de Chaetophractus villosus. 1995), en el Chaetophractus villosus este órgano está
24 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 bastante desarrollado, siendo de 85 mm de largo en en la presencia de rastros de peludo (Chaetophrac- la hembra en estudio. Esto pareciera ser parte de las tus villosus) en lotes agropecuarios de la pampa adaptaciones de esta especie a consumir mayor canti- interior. En: Actas de la XIX Reunión Argentina de dad de material vegetal que otras dentro de su mismo Ecología. Asociación Argentina de Ecología (ASAE), grupo, y por ende a digerir mayor cantidad de fibra. 21 al 23 de abril de 1999, Horco Molle, Tucumán, p.189. Los osos hormigueros (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) son Gilmore, D. P., Da Costa, C. P. y Duarte, D. P. F. insectívoros estrictos y tienen un intestino delgado 2001. Sloth biology: An update on their physio- que es siete veces el largo del cuerpo y un intestino logical ecology, behavior and role as vectors of grueso similar en longitud al cuerpo. Opuestamente arthropods and arboviruses. Braz. J. Med. Biol. a lo que se podría deducir, debido a que el peludo es Res. 34(1): 9–25. más omnívoro en cuanto a sus hábitos alimenticios, Greegor, D. H. 1975. Renal capabilities of an Argen- el intestino delgado y el grueso del peludo en estudio tine desert armadillo. J. Mammal. 56(3): 626– es en relación al cuerpo relativamente más corto (5,7 632. y 0,91 veces el largo del cuerpo) que el de los osos Nowak, R. M. 1999. Walker’s Mammals of the World, hormigueros (7 y 1 veces el largo del cuerpo respecti- Vol. 1. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Bal- vamente) y el de las mulitas (Dasypus sabanicola) (8,29 timore. y 0,825 veces el largo del cuerpo respectivamente), Parera, A. 2002. Los Mamíferos de la Argentina y la según datos de Stevens y Hume (1995). Considerando Región Austral de Sudamérica. Editorial El Ateneo, otros omnívoros podríamos citar al oso negro (Ursus Buenos Aires, Argentina. americanus), cuyo intestino es aproximadamente diez Ratajszczak, R. y Trzesowska, E. 1997. Manage- veces el largo del cuerpo, sin distinción entre intestino ment and breeding of the larger hairy armadillo, medio y grueso (Stevens y Hume, 1995). No obstante, Chaetophractus villosus, at Pozan Zoo. Der Zoolo- para poder determinar la razón por la cual el peludo gische Garten 67(4): 220–228. tiene intestinos relativamente cortos, teniendo en Stevens, C. E. y Hume, I. E. 1995. Comparative Phy- cuenta sus hábitos alimenticios, deberíamos tener más siology of the Vertebrate Digestive System. Cam- datos que confirmen estas dimensiones. Ya que si estos bridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. datos se repitieran podríamos suponer que estamos Superina, M. 2000. Biologie und Haltung von Gür- frente a un animal que solo consume hierbas cuando teltieren (Dasypodidae). Tesis doctoral, Insti- no tiene otros alimentos disponibles, es decir un ver- tut für Zoo-, Heim- und Wildtiere, Universität dadero oportunista. Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland. Vizcaíno, S. F. y Milne, N. 2002. Structure and func- Conclusiones tion in armadillo limbs (Mammalia: Xenarthra: Dado el carácter preliminar de la información obte- Dasypodidae). J. Zool. (Lond.) 257: 117–127. nida a través de un único individuo, se hace necesario en el futuro contar con más ejemplares — provenien- tes tanto del cautiverio como de la naturaleza — a los efectos de establecer valores promedio para la especie, A Range Extension for the Yellow Armadillo, sexo y grado de madurez de los individuos. Euphractus sexcinctus Linnaeus, 1758 (Xenarthra: Dasypodidae), in the Eastern Brazilian Amazon Agradecimientos: A Julieta Esmaimann, cuidadora Semi-Senior de Fundación Temaikèn por su colabora- Fernanda Atanaena Gonçalves de Andrade ción en la necropsia, y procesamiento y toma de fotos; Marcus Emanuel Barroncas Fernandes y a las Lic. Biol. Soledad Magallanes y Carolina Bel- Maria Claudene Barros trami, miembros del Departamento de Conservación Horácio Schneider de Fundación Temaikèn, por la colaboración en la corrección del trabajo y en la búsqueda bibliográfica. Introduction Euphractus sexcinctus, the yellow or six-banded arma- María Julieta Olocco Diz, Beatriz Quse, y Gustavo dillo, is the largest of the five species of euphrac- Gabriel Gachen, Fundación Temaikèn, Ruta 25 km tine armadillos, also known as the hairy armadillos 0,700, Escobar (1625), Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Wetzel, 1985; Eisenberg and Redford, 1999). Yellow armadillos are distinguished by short ears and a flat- Referencias tened head that becomes triangular toward the snout, Bolkovic, M. L., Millones, A., Bono, J., McDonough, protected by large plates with patchy fur (Nowak, C. y Ghersa, C. M. 1999. Variables que influyen 1999). The upper body is light yellow, bronze or red-
25 dish, with six to eight mobile bands on the carapace. Methods An adult animal’s head and body measure approxi- mately 401–495 mm, and it weighs 3.2– 6.5 kg. Its Data collection and morphological characterization tail is short and cylindrical, with plates arranged in We identified E. sexcinctus from animals that had been two to four separate bands at the base. All five toes hunted by local people in the municipalities of Bra- on each paw have claws, the second of which is the gança, Ourém, Augusto Corrêa, and Vizeu in the state longest (Nowak, 1999). of Pará, and in Bocaina in the state of Piauí (Table 1). Local residents donated the specimens during inter- The geographic distribution of E. sexcinctus covers views carried out when we were conducting mammal much of eastern South America, ranging from surveys in this region. From the six animals donated the southern mouth of the Amazon through all of to us, it was only possible to preserve the carapace southeastern Brazil, and extending into Uruguay, and skull of a single specimen, now in the Zoological Paraguay and northeastern Argentina, as well as Collection of the Campus of Bragança in Bragança, eastern and central Bolivia (Wetzel, 1985; Red- Pará, under the field number 196PA. Only blood and ford and Wetzel, 1985; Emmons and Feer, 1997; muscle tissue could be collected from the other five Eisenberg and Redford, 1999). E. sexcinctus also specimens. We identified these individuals from the occurs in the savannas of Sipaliwini in Suriname, information provided in Emmons and Feer (1997), and of Paru in the Brazilian state of Pará. Together Eisenberg and Redford (1999), Nowak (1999), and the records in these two savanna regions constitute Silva Júnior and Nunes (2001). what has been thought to be a disjunct popula- tion, separated by hundreds of kilometers from the Molecular characterization main distribution to the southeast (Silva Júnior and We used molecular markers to confirm the morpho- Nunes, 2001). logical identification of E. sexcinctus and examine intraspecies similarities of the sampled animals. We Silva Júnior et al. (2001) recorded E. sexcinctus from chose Dasypus novemcinctus and Cabassous unicinctus 27 localities in the state of Maranhão, between the as outgroups, and obtained the sequences from a Rios Gurupí and Parnaíba, in the region known sample collected in the state of Pará and another sample as “Pré-Amazônia Maranhense.” From northern- supplied by GenBank, respectively. The GenBank most Brazil, Silva Júnior and Nunes (2001) added accession numbers for C. unicinctus are AF232016 four additional localities for this species in the (cytochrome b) and Z48940 (16S rRNA). state of Amapá, immediately to the north of the mouth of the Rio Amazonas. It is important to For the molecular characterization, two mitochondrial note that these records by themselves do not con- genes with different rates of evolution were chosen: firm a continuous distribution of E. sexcinctus in cytochrome b (protein coding gene) and 16S rRNA the Brazilian states of Amapá, Pará, Maranhão (ribosomal RNA). Genomic DNA was extracted and Piauí. Here we record this species from the from small quantities of blood or ear tissue of the col- region between the Rios Tocantins and Gurupí in lected specimens. DNA extraction was performed in Pará, and suggest its continuous distribution in the accordance with the conventional phenol-chloroform Brazilian Amazon. extraction protocol modified from Sambrook and Russell (2001).
TABLE 1. New locality records for Euphractus sexcinctus. Mesohabitat: 1 = clear-cut region, located between an urban area and mangrove; 2 = small fragments of secondary forest and salt marshes associated with mangroves; 3 = clear-cut region with small fragments of secondary forest; 4 = Caatinga region. Specimen Code Location Coordinates City/State Ecosystem Mesohabitat E.sex. 194PA Bacuriteua 46°44’22.8”W, 00°58’23.4”S Bragança/PA Dry Land 1 E.sex. 196PA* Salinas Farm 46°40’11.5”W, 00°55’21.3”S Bragança/PA Mangrove 2 E.sex. 73PA Gavião Real Farm 47°06’52”W, 01°33’07”S Ourém/PA Dry Land 3 E.sex. 17PA PA - 454 46°38’06”W, 01°01’18”S Augusto Corrêa/PA Dry Land 3 E.sex. 36PA PA - 242 46°08’24”W, 01°11’48”S Vizeu/PA Dry Land 3 E.sex. 33PI Malhada 41°19’21”W, 06°56’33”S Bocaina/PI Caatinga 4 * Carapace and skull preserved.
26 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 Fragments of nearly 600 base-pairs of both 16S and series of programs, including DAMBE (Xia and cytochrome b genes were isolated by PCR (Polymerase Xie, 2001), Modeltest (Posada and Crandall, 1998), Chain Reaction), using the oligonucleotides described MEGA2 (Kumar et al., 2001) and PAUP* (Swofford, by Palumbi et al. (1991) and Smith and Patton 1998). Cluster significance was estimated by -Boot (1993), respectively. DNA was sequenced using the strap analysis (Felsenstein, 1985). ABI Prism™ Dye Terminator Cycle Sequencing Ready Reaction kit (Applied Biosystems, USA), on an ABI Results 377 (Perkin Elmer) automated sequencer. PCR and The nucleotide sequences of the DNA fragments were sequencing procedures were conducted in accordance approximately 600 base pairs for each of the two genes with those described by Barros et al. (2003). we examined (16S and cytochrome b). All sequences were submitted to GenBank (Accession Numbers Phylogenetic analysis DQ243709–DQ243724). The nucleotide divergence Sequences were aligned and edited with BIOEDIT matrix, built according to the Kimura two-parameter (Hall, 1999) and ClustalX (Thompson et al., 1997). model for the two gene segments examined, showed a The phylogenetic analyses were performed with a divergence of less than 3%. Genetic distances among
Figure 1. Geographic distribution of E. sexcinctus in South America (a) and the new records which expand this species’ distribution northward in the Brazilian Amazon (b).
27 E. sexcinctus specimens captured in different habitats for the E. sexcinctus and D. novemcinctus specimens, ranged from 0.2 to 1.3% for the cytochrome b gene whereas the comparative analysis with C. unicinctus and from 0.6 to 2.8% for the 16S rRNA (Tables 2 and produced values ranging from 21–24.7% (Table 2). 3). The distance approach among species using cyto- The same approach using 16S rRNA resulted in lower chrome b resulted in divergences slightly above 22% values, which averaged 15.6% between E. sexcinctus and D. novemcinctus, while C. unicinctus averaged less than 11.1% (Table 3).
The four methods for performing the phylogenetic analysis (Maximum Parsimony, Neighbor-Joining, Minimum Evolution and Maximum Likelihood) generated trees of identical topology. Specimens of E. sexcinctus — regardless of origin, gene segment ana- lyzed, or different methods of analysis — were always included in the same clade (Fig. 2) with high statisti- cal support (bootstrap = 100%), matching the low divergence values found in individuals of this genus. Similarly, a high genetic divergence was found among the three different genera, a fact that was also con- firmed by the relationships within the resulting phy- logenetic trees.
Discussion The degree of divergence among the five individu- FIGURE 2. Neighbor-joining tree of a partial fragment of cytochrome als of Euphractus sexcinctus was much less than that b, with D. novemcinctus and C. unicinctus as outgroups. The high among the three armadillo genera. The strong simi- bootstrap values support the validity of this topology. larity among these five individuals, acquired from dif-
TABLE 2. Distance method analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene for E. sexcinctus, D. novemcinctus and C. unicinctus. E. sexc. E. sexc. E. sexc. E. sexc. E. sexc. E. sexc. D. nove. C. unic. Cytochrome b 33PI 17PA 194PA 36PA 73PA 196PA 29PA GB E. sex. 33PI - E. sex. 17PA 0.002 E. sex. 194PA 0.004 0.002 E. sex. 36PA 0.002 0.000 0.002 E. sex. 73PA 0.013 0.011 0.013 0.011 E. sex. 196PA 0.004 0.002 0.004 0.002 0.013 D. nov. 29PA 0.226 0.229 0.232 0.229 0.238 0.226 C. uni. (GB) 0.213 0.210 0.213 0.210 0.218 0.207 0.247 -
TABLE 3. Distance method analysis of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene for E. sexcinctus, D. novemcinctus and C. unicinctus. E. sexc. E. sexc. E. sexc. E. sexc. E. sexc. E. sexc. D. nove. C. unic. rRNA 16S 194PA 73PA 196PA 36PA 33PI 17PA 29PA GB E. sex. 94PA - E. sex. 73PA 0.019 E. sex. 96PA 0.009 0.015 E. sex. 36PA 0.019 0.028 0.017 E.sex. 33PI 0.009 0.017 0.006 0.015 E.sex. 17PA 0.011 0.017 0.006 0.019 0.009 D.nov. 29PA 0.155 0.163 0.150 0.166 0.153 0.147 C.uni. (GB) 0.104 0.111 0.099 0.114 0.101 0.102 0.143 -
28 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 ferent localities and ecosystems, suggests that the Rio Eisenberg, J. F. and Redford, K. H. 1999. Mammals of Gurupí is not a barrier to gene flow in the Euphractus the Neotropics, Volume 3: The Central Neotropics: populations of this region. Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago. These new locality records support the suggestion of Emmons, L. H. and Feer, F. 1997. Neotropical Rain- Silva Júnior and Nunes (2001) that the disjunct range forest Mammals: A Field Guide. Second edition. of E. sexcinctus may be an artifact of undersampling, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago. rather than a genuine division. The records we pres- Felsenstein, J. 1985. Phylogenies and the comparative ent here extend its known distribution to the inter- method. Am. Nat. 125: 1–15. fluve between the Rios Tocantins and Gurupí. Taken Hall, T. A. 1999. BioEdit: A user-friendly biological together with the localities presented by Silva Júnior sequence alignment editor and analysis program and Nunes (2001) and Silva Júnior et al. (2001), it for Windows 95/98/NT. Nucleic Acids Symposium seems likely that E. sexcinctus is continuously distrib- Series 41: 95–98. uted at least to the southern margin of the mouth of Kumar, S., Tamura, K., Jakobsen, I. B. and Nei, M. the Rio Amazonas. Additional surveys between the 2001. MEGA2: Molecular Evolutionary Genet- Rios Tocantins and Xingu may provide evidence of ics Analysis Software. The Biodesign Institute, a much broader total range than had been previously Tempe, Arizona. assumed. Nowak, R. M. 1999. Walker’s Mammals of the World, Vol. 1. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Bal- Acknowledgments: We are grateful to the Instituto timore. do Milênio for financial support. We also want to Palumbi, S. R., Martin, A., Romano, S., McMillan, thank both the Laboratory of Mangrove Ecology and W. O., Stice, L. and Grabowski, G. 1991. The the Laboratory of Genetic and Molecular Biology Simple Fool’s Guide to PCR. University of Hawaii of the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) for logis- Press, Honolulu. tical support. Frederic Delsuc, Liliana Cortés-Ortiz Posada, D. and Crandall, K. A. 1998. Modeltest: and Paula Lara-Ruiz kindly reviewed the manuscript Testing the model of DNA substitution. Bioin- and offered valuable comments. The first author was formatics Applications Note 14: 817–818. supported by a fellowship from the Brazilian Scien- Redford, K. H. and Wetzel, M. 1985. Euphractus sex- tific and Technological Council (CNPq: Process N°. cinctus. Mammalian Species 252: 1–4. 390007/2004-8). Sambrook, J. and Russell, D. W. 2001. Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual. Third edition. Fernanda Atanaena Gonçalves de Andrade, Marcus Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New Emanuel Barroncas Fernandes*, Universidade Fed- York. eral do Pará, Campus de Bragança, Colegiado de Bio- Silva Júnior, J. S. and Nunes, A. P. 2001. The disjunct logia, Laboratório de Ecologia de Manguezal, Alameda geographical distribution of the yellow armadillo, Leandro Ribeiro s/n, Aldeia, Bragança 68600-000, Euphractus sexcinctus (Xenarthra, Dasypodidae). Pará, Brazil, e-mail:
29 analysis tools. Nucleic Acids Research 24: 4876– wildlife reserves. It is my hope that anyone intending 4882. to work with Priodontes, or those already doing so, will Wetzel, R. M. 1985. Taxonomy and distribution of consider the questions raised in this outline. I encour- armadillos, Dasypodidae. In: The Evolution and age anyone who is able to provide answers to any of Ecology of Armadillos, Sloths, and Vermilinguas, G. these questions to publish their results; and likewise G. Montgomery (ed.), pp 23–46. Smithsonian I welcome any additions to this list, based on the life Institution Press, Washington, DC. history and behavior of the giant armadillo. Xia, X. and Xie, Z. 2001. DAMBE: Data analysis in molecular biology and evolution. J. Heredity 92: A thorough search of the literature demonstrates just 371–373. how little is known about this species. Burmeister (1867a, 1867b) provided early anatomical informa- tion on the giant armadillo, including notes on its skeleton. Benirschke and Wurster (1969) provided the Research Questions on the Behavior and Ecology first chromosome count for this species, while Carter of the Giant Armadillo (Priodontes maximus) (1983) and Carter and Encarnação (1983) conducted a census of its burrows in the Serra da Canastra, Dennis A. Meritt Jr. Brazil. Parera (2002) provided a brief review of the status, distribution, habitat and diet of the species in Between 1972 and 1982, five giant armadillos (Pri- Argentina, but little else is known directly, although odontes maximus) resided for varying periods in an some inferences may be made from the related forms off-exhibit area at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, of Cabassous and what is known about their natural Illinois. They included three males which came from history and behavior. Guyana and two females from Bolivia, all received as wild-caught young adults. Together they were One may hypothesize that Priodontes is generally soli- the subjects of observations by animal care staff and tary, except during periods of sexual receptivity. While volunteer docents, who made almost daily observa- the number of young per litter is unknown, in at least tions on the overall activity, food consumption, and two Cabassous species there is usually only a single off- general behavior of the giant armadillos. Zoo person- spring (pers. obs.). The gestation period is unknown, nel also recorded weights and body measurements at but thought to be similar to Cabassous; the period of regular intervals, as well as basic physiologic values maternal care is not known, and the role, if any, of the such as body temperature and respiratory rates. The male in the rearing and protection of the young is also presence of Priodontes in the collection stimulated a unknown. At the Lincoln Park Zoo, captive female number of communications, visits and inquiries from Cabassous with developing offspring were not in the individuals and organizations interested in its natural company of a male (pers. obs.) so it is not possible to history and behavior. Together with field excursions make any inferences about the male’s role, or even his to giant armadillo habitat in the Chaco of Paraguay possible threat to the offspring. Strikingly, no juve- and northern Argentina (Meritt, 1973), these captive nile Priodontes have been discovered in the field, nor armadillos prompted the development of a detailed found their way into captive management. Various life history outline—one that summarized research species of Cabassous have been confused for immature questions related to this species, noted information Priodontes at one time or another (pers. obs.) and have not readily available or missing from the literature, even been offered for sale by animal dealers. Whether and listed life history traits which are still unknown the evidence is physical or photographic, however, (Meritt, unpubl. ms.). none of these supposed giant armadillos have been proven to be Priodontes. Even in habitat known to A recent field excursion to the Chaco of Paraguay, support them, where giant armadillo activity has been and an increase in research projects in Argentina and demonstrated and field studies have been carried out, Paraguay, has prompted me to update and expand no young have ever been witnessed. this outline, which is meant to serve as a guide for those studying this, the largest of the living armadillos Our understanding of the habitat preferences of giant (Ceresoli and Fernandez-Duque, 2004; Porini, 1999, armadillos is also imprecise. While the present dis- 2001). Many of the study topics posed here will only tribution of Priodontes has been adequately mapped, be answered through the detailed study of animals in both individuals and populations are patchy in their the wild, but others may be addressed through the distribution, and may be limited to islands of pre- diligent observation of animals already held in various ferred habitat. In the Chaco of Paraguay, for example, Argentine zoos, or those under investigation in private where Priodontes is known and occasionally captured,
30 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 they are most often encountered in riparian habitat or • Describe reproductive behaviors—Sniff? Touch? in similar areas with loose, sandy-loam soil. It appears Follow? Chase? Push? Claw? Mount? Vocalize? Uri- that Priodontes in the Paraguayan Chaco prefers soil nate? Erection? Vulvar secretion? Vulvar swelling? with a loose composition and near adequate water Change in vulvar color? supplies, as well as necessary food such as insects, fruit and carrion (pers. obs.). Captive individuals Feeding Habits have consumed a variety of meat and meat-based diet • What foods do they eat? Plants? What parts of formulas (Meritt, 1977). Recent dietary studies have plants? Animals? What kinds of animals? Insects? made a significant contribution to identifying the Eggs? type of insect material sought by Priodontes, and pro- • Do they prefer special foods? Ants? Termites? Bird’s vided additional insights to its habitat requirements eggs? Roots? Fruits? Carrion? in a very different ecosystem, the Cerrado of Brazil • How often? Daily? Twice in a 24-hr period? More? (Anacleto and Marinho-Filho, 2001). Less? • Are there seasonal foods that they look for in nature? Although Priodontes is widespread in its geographic If so, what are they? distribution, and found in a variety of tropical eco- • What keys or attracts the animal to its food? Loca- systems throughout South America, it is nowhere as tion? Smell? Texture/Consistency? common as the range maps would imply. Often only individual animals, rather than populations, are found Burrowing in what might seem to be prime habitat. For native • Do they choose special places for their burrows? people across the continent, Priodontes is the arma- 1. Temporary resting places? dillo of choice for food whenever available; given its 2. Permanent home? adult mass (as much as 40 kg), one individual makes 3. In sand/loose soil? for a significant source of protein for a subsistence 4. In banks? hunter and his family. Thus it is hunted wherever it 5. At the base of trees? may be found, and in some habitats it may represent 6. Where? the single largest source of meat (Leeuwenberg, 1997; 7. Near water? Meritt, in prep.). 8. For permanent use? 9. For nesting only? A Checklist of Research Questions for “Tatu Car- 10. How many entrances? reta,” “Tatu-Canastra,” the Giant Armadillo (Pri- • How can one tell if a burrow is active? odontes maximus) • What are burrow measurements? Entrance hole size? Tunnel diameter? Tunnel depth? Tunnel Activity Schedule length? • When are animals active? • What time of day/night? Nesting and Nursing • When is the male active? • Is the nest burrow any different? • When is the female active? • Is there a true nest? Nest material? • Are animals more active when it is hot? • How many young are born/litter? Sexes? Same sex? • Are animals more active when it is cold? Mixed sex? • What is the ideal ambient temperature for • How often? Once each year? More? activity? • What time of year? • How long are animals active? • During what season(s)? • Is there a difference in activity between seasons? • What do the young look like? (Winter, spring, summer, wet season, dry season) • How much do they weigh? Measurements? • What is the distance traveled each day? • Are their eyes open? • Does it vary with the seasons? • Ears open? • Covered with hair? Mating Behavior • Claws hard or soft? • How often do the animals show reproductive • Shell (carapace) hard or soft? behavior? • Teeth present? • When and what time of year? Weekly? Monthly? • Can they crawl? Walk? Stand? Vocalize? Seasonally? • Are the young with the male and female, or the • How long is the period of sexual receptivity/ mother alone? activity? • What is the role of the male?
31 • Nursing position of mother? Female on back? • Is this done in a toilet or latrine area that is used Female on side? Which side? more than once? • How often do they nurse? • Where is this area located? • Do they have nipple preferences? • Does the animal attempt to bury its waste? Or cover • How often do they nurse each 24 hours? it? • For how long each session? • When active, how often does the animal stand up • Do they nurse during the day or at night? on its hind legs? • More by day? (0600–1800 hrs) or by night? (1800– • When this happens, what else is the armadillo 0600) doing? • How many days, weeks, months spent nursing? 1. Sniffing? • When do they begin solid food? What age? 2. Looking in a particular direction? • What kind of food is it? 3. Hold its foreclaws to its chest? • When are they first left alone? What age? 4. Moving its head? • Where are they left? 5. Opening or closing its mouth? • When are they first out of their burrow? 6. Walking forward? • With a parent or alone? 7. Clawing at an object or in the air? • How long and how far? 8. Closing its eyes? • When do they become independent? • Can you track armadillos by following: • Do they seek their own territory? 1. Their trail? • Are they forced to seek their own territory? 2. Places where they searched for food? • Is it away from their mother or their parents? 3. Toilet areas? • How far? Remote (= some distance) or in adjacent 4. Temporary burrows? territory? 5. Claw marks? 6. Scent or odor? Sleeping Patterns • In each 24-hour period, how long does the Acknowledgements: I am indebted to Caroline Jarvis, animal: then editor of the International Zoo Yearbook of the 1. Sleep? Zoological Society of London, for providing a gen- 2. Rest? (Awake but inactive) eralized life history outline — effectively an etho- 3. Be active? gram — to be used in the study of captive mammals • When sleeping, what body position is it in? (Jarvis, 1969). All those years ago she caused me to 1. Fetal? think about how best to investigate the natural his- 2. On its back? tory and behavior of mammals, in captivity and in 3. On its stomach? the wild. I am grateful for that stimulus. Additionally, 4. On its side? I owe a substantial debt of gratitude to the animal 5. Which side? care staff, the night keeper staff, various student • When sleeping, does the animal volunteers, and members of the Docent Behavioral 1. Vocalize? (Wheeze or snore?) Group at the Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens, Chi- 2. Shake or tremble? cago, for sharing their time and talents to assist in 3. In the case of males, have erections? the study of the captive giant armadillos during my 4. Paw or claw in the air? tenure as Director of Animal Collections there. Dan 5. Curl and uncurl the body? Hilliard of the Zoo Conservation Outreach Group (ZCOG) at Audubon Park Zoo, New Orleans, Loui- Foraging and Elimination siana, provided a reintroduction to the Chaco of • When foraging, does the animal northern Argentina. I am grateful for his support 1. Sniff the air? and insights. This is publication number 01/2006 2. Stand on hind legs? from the Chaco Center for Ecological Research & 3. Dig in soil? Science (CCERS). 4. Grab at food with claws? 5. Attempt to bury and save food? Dennis A. Meritt Jr., Department of Biological Sci- • How often does the animal: ence, DePaul University, 2325 North Clifton Avenue, 1. Urinate? What is the volume? Chicago, IL 60614, USA. E-mail:
32 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 References Anacleto, T. C. and Marinho-Filho, J. 2001. Habito A Reference List of Common Names for the alimentar do tatu-canastra (Xenarthra, Dasypodi- Edentates dae) em uma area de cerrado do Brasil Central. Rev. Brasil. Zool. 18(3): 681–688. Mariella Superina Burmeister, H. 1867a. Notes on the skeleton of Dasy- John M. Aguiar pus gigas; and notes on Chlamydophorus retusus. Anal. Mus. Buenos Aires: 32. Edentates are found in every country of the Western Burmeister, G. 1867b. Sobre el esqueleto de Dasypus Hemisphere except Canada and the smaller Carib- gigas y su relación con otros. Acta Soc. Paleont. de bean islands. This panoramic distribution has brought Buenos Aires: 32–34. them into contact with a profusion of languages, and Benirschke, K. and Wurster, D. H. 1969. The chro- some widespread species have been known by many mosomes of the giant armadillo, Priodontes dozens or hundreds of indigenous names. The ascent giganteus Geoffroy. Acta Zool. Path. Antwerp. 49: of European languages to continental dominance has 125–130. given rise to many more — some of them adaptations Carter, T. 1983. The burrows of the giant armadillos, of prior native terms, and others entirely new. Priodontes maximus (Edentata: Dasypodidae). Säugetierk. Mitt. 31: 47–53. Two of these latecomer tongues, Spanish and Portu- Carter, T. and Encarnação, C. 1983. Characteristics guese, overlay virtually the entire range of the eden- and use of burrows by four species of armadillos tate order, and together they encompass more local in Brazil. J. Mammal. 64: 103–108. and regional variants than any other extant language. Ceresoli, N. and Fernandez-Duque, E. 2004. Spanish common names in particular are myriad, Structure and use of burrows by giant arma- diverse and frequently confusing; the suite of terms dillos (Priodontes maximus) in the Argentin- in one country may be entirely distinct from anoth- ean Gran Chaco. 84th Annual Meeting of the er — and the same name may be used for different American Society of Mammalogy, June 12–16, species in several different areas. This is not to say 2004, Humboldt State University, Arcata, that pandemonium reigns: experienced research- California. ers know the terrain, and field biologists are famil- Jarvis, C. 1969. Studying wild mammals in captivity: iar with the local names where they work. But for Standard life histories with an appendix on zoo those searching through reports or making compari- records. Int. Zoo Ybk. 1: 316–328. sons from afar — or those who are simply new to the Leeuwenberg, F. 1997. Edentata as a food resource: field — aligning the common and Latin names may Subsistence hunting by Xavante Indians, Brazil. take a great deal of paging through far-flung refer- Edentata (3): 4–5. ences. Meritt Jr., D. A. 1973. Observations on the status of the giant armadillo, Priodontes giganteus, in Para- We have done some paging ourselves, and here we guay. Zoologica (New York) 58: 103. share the results of our efforts: a compilation of the Meritt Jr., D. A. 1977. Edentate nutrition. In: CRC established common names in the major languages of Handbook Series in Nutrition and Food, Vol. 1, Neotropical science, together with as broad a selec- M. Recheigl (ed.), pp.541–547. CRC Press, tion of current local names as we could assemble. We Cleveland, Ohio. also present a sampling of the hundreds of indigenous Meritt Jr., D. A. In review. Xenarthrans of the names which still survive throughout Central and Paraguayan Chaco. In: The Biology of the South America, in recognition of the many peoples Xenarthra, S. F. Vizcaíno and W. J. Loughry and cultures who first gave names to the edentates. (eds.). The University Press of Florida, Gainesville. This is an expansive list, but it is by no means exhaus- Parera, A. 2002. Los Mamíferos de la Argentina y la tive in any of these languages; a truly comprehensive Región Austral de Sudamérica. Editorial El Ateneo, document would want a lifetime of ethnographic Buenos Aires. surveys throughout the hemisphere. Instead we have Porini, G. 1999. Tatú carreta Priodontes maximus: tried to compile, in a workable matrix, the names Futura extinción producida por el hombre? XIV which have already been included in a variety of field Jornadas Argentinas de Mastozoologia, Salta 8.- guides, monographs, articles and other publications. 10.11.99, p.38. Not all versions of each name have been listed here; Porini, G. 2001. Tatú carreta (Priodontes maximus) en many indigenous languages are only spoken, not Argentina. Edentata (4): 9–14. written, and countless variants may stem from dif-
33 ferences in transcription and pronunciation. Rather in the tables below. These names are generally used than list a dense tangle of infinite detail, we have by the other major sources, but in cases where they tried to create a useful index of active common provide different terms we have cited them individu- names, in hopes of providing an easy but thorough ally. Superina (2000) adds several sensible variants reference guide. which we felt should be included, and Duff and Law- son’s recent book, Mammals of the World: A Checklist For the Latin names we follow the working taxonomy (2004) is a valuable secondary source. of the Edentate Specialist Group, as presented in Fon- seca and Aguiar (2004), which itself follows the tax- There appears to be no Spanish counterpart to Wilson onomy of Mammal Species of the World, Second and and Cole (2000), so for the primary names in Span- Third Editions (Wilson and Reeder, 1993, 2005). ish we have relied on Neotropical Rainforest Mammals We have listed the species names in alphabetical order by Emmons and Feer (1997), and the three volumes within each of the three major divisions of the Xen- of Mammals of the Neotropics by Eisenberg and Red- arthra; this is a linguistic rather than a phylogenetic ford (1989, 1992, 1999). Emmons and Feer in par- display, and no particular taxonomic arrangement ticular give a wealth of names in more than a dozen is implied. languages, although their focus excludes most of the armadillos. We have also referred to Gene Montgom- For the English common names, we rely primarily on ery’s 1985 volume on The Evolution and Ecology of Wilson and Cole’s Common Names of Mammals of the Armadillos, Sloths, and Vermilinguas. World (2000), which tracks the taxonomy presented in Wilson and Reeder (1993). We use these names We have drawn the Portuguese names from several as our default standard, and they are presented first sources, primarily Fonseca et al. (1996) and Emmons
TABLE 1. Sloths. Latin English Spanish Local names in Spanish Portuguese German French Dutch Indigenous names Bradypus pygmaeus pygmy sloth (Anderson perezoso pigmeo perico (Pn) preguiça-pigmeu (Aguiar and and Handley, 2001); Fonseca, in review) pygmy three-toed sloth (Duff and Lawson, 2004) Bradypus torquatus maned three-toed sloth; perezoso de tres n/a aí-pixuna, preguiça-preta Kragenfaultier bradype a collier Tupí-Guaraní: aí-igapó (Emmons and Feer, 1997) maned sloth (Eisenberg dedos (Emmons and Feer, 1997); and Redford, 1999) preguiça-de-coleira (Fonseca et al., 1994) Bradypus tridactylus pale-throated perezoso de tres pereza de tres dedos guayanesa aí, preguiça-de-bentinho Ai, Dreifinger-Faultier aï, bradype, paresseux Ai, Drieteenluiaard, Boruca: cha, tsä; Bribri: mon, sakura, seri, sëlë; three-toed sloth; dedos (Ve) (Emmons and Feer, 1997); tridactyle; mouton paresseux Drievingerige Luiaard, Guayana: aí; Guaymi: ku; Kariña: kupirisi; Makushi: pale-throated sloth preguiça-de-tres-dedos (Emmons and Feer, 1997) Zonluiaard kuwaran; Pemón: kuaran, kwaran; Saramaca: sonlori; (Eisenberg and Redford, (Fonseca et al., 1996) Sranan-tongo: sonloiri; Warao: buraca 1999) Bradypus variegatus brown-throated perezoso de tres perezoso bayo (Ar); perico (Bo); preguiça-de-bentinho (Emmons Braunkehl-Dreifinger- Amahuaca: puzze; Barí: arijkbá; Cashinahua: naii; three-toed sloth; dedos mono perezoso, perico ligero (CA, and Feer, 1997); preguiça- Faultier Chiquitano: noborobosh; Chocó: bucha; Guaraní, brown-throated sloth Mex); perica ligera (CR); perezoso marmota (Redford, 1994); Quichua: aí aí; Kuna: ibku; Mayan: q’oral; Miskito: (Eisenberg and Redford, de tres dedos de garganta café, preguiça-comum (Lara-Ruiz siwaiku; Sharanahua: itunai; Yanomami: ehu, ihama 1999) perezoso de tres uñas (Ec); perico and Srbek-Araujo, 2006) lerdo (Ho); pelejo (Pe); pereza de tres dedos común (Ve) Choloepus didactylus Southern two-toed perezoso de dos perico ligero (Co); perezoso preguiça real, unau (Emmons Unau, Zweifinger-Faultier paresseux didactyle, unau Tweeteenluiaard, Amahuaca: puzze; Cashinahua: naii; Kariña: aipaula; sloth; Linnaeus’s two- dedos amazónico de dos uñas (Ec); and Feer, 1997) commun Tweevingerige Luiaard Makushi: tenupi; Pemón: nupi; Quichua: intillama; toed sloth (Wilson and cucala (Ho); pelejo (Pe) Saramaca: skapoeloiri; Sharanahua: puzze; Sranan- Reeder, 2005) tongo: skapoeloiri; Tupí-Guaraní: aí; Yanomami: shimi Choloepus hoffmanni Hoffmann’s two-toed perezoso de dos perico ligero (Co); perica ligera preguiça real, unau (Emmons Hoffmann’s Zweifinger- unau d’Hoffmann Barí: ayaamá; Boruca: cha, tsä; Bribri: seri, siná, sloth dedos (CR); perezoso de dos uñas de and Feer, 1997) Faultier suhna, suno; Guaymi: ku; Quichua: intillama; Tawahka: occidente (Ec); cucala, perico um; Tupí-Guaraní: aí lerdo (Ho); pelejo (Pe); pereza cara amarilla, pereza de dos dedos zuliana, pereza lanuda (Ve) Abbreviations: Ar=Argentina; Bo=Bolivia; CA=Central America; Co=Colombia; CR=Costa Rica; Ec=Ecuador; Ho=Honduras; Mex=Mexico; Pn=Panama; Pe=Peru; Ve=Venezuela.
34 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 and Feer (1997), supplementing with other publi- to augmenting this list manyfold with additions cations whenever possible. For German and French from yourselves. names, we have consulted Grzimeks Enzyklopädie Säugetiere (1988), while the Dutch names are taken Acknowledgements: Many of the sources we used are principally from Father A. M. Husson’s Mammals difficult to find outside of their country of origin, of Suriname (1978), supplemented by Emmons and and we owe a particular debt of gratitude to Anthony Feer. Local and indigenous names appear in a wide Rylands for access to his extensive personal library. spectrum of sources, including field guides, journal A special note of thanks must also go to Dr. Court- articles, monographs, Red List compilations and mis- ney Shaw, Senior Reference Librarian at the U. S. cellaneous volumes. National Museum of Natural History, who provided a valuable text which no one else owned, just when But this is no final document: we hope this first effort it was needed the most. Thanks are likewise due will encourage our readers, especially those who live to Sérgio Maia Vaz, of the Mammal Section at the and work in the field, to contribute the common names Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro, for his time and they have encountered for edentates in any language. efforts in finding additional Portuguese names. We Comments in Spanish may be sent to Mariella Supe- also extend our appreciation to Dr. Jim Sanderson of rina at
TABLE 1. Sloths. Latin English Spanish Local names in Spanish Portuguese German French Dutch Indigenous names Bradypus pygmaeus pygmy sloth (Anderson perezoso pigmeo perico (Pn) preguiça-pigmeu (Aguiar and and Handley, 2001); Fonseca, in review) pygmy three-toed sloth (Duff and Lawson, 2004) Bradypus torquatus maned three-toed sloth; perezoso de tres n/a aí-pixuna, preguiça-preta Kragenfaultier bradype a collier Tupí-Guaraní: aí-igapó (Emmons and Feer, 1997) maned sloth (Eisenberg dedos (Emmons and Feer, 1997); and Redford, 1999) preguiça-de-coleira (Fonseca et al., 1994) Bradypus tridactylus pale-throated perezoso de tres pereza de tres dedos guayanesa aí, preguiça-de-bentinho Ai, Dreifinger-Faultier aï, bradype, paresseux Ai, Drieteenluiaard, Boruca: cha, tsä; Bribri: mon, sakura, seri, sëlë; three-toed sloth; dedos (Ve) (Emmons and Feer, 1997); tridactyle; mouton paresseux Drievingerige Luiaard, Guayana: aí; Guaymi: ku; Kariña: kupirisi; Makushi: pale-throated sloth preguiça-de-tres-dedos (Emmons and Feer, 1997) Zonluiaard kuwaran; Pemón: kuaran, kwaran; Saramaca: sonlori; (Eisenberg and Redford, (Fonseca et al., 1996) Sranan-tongo: sonloiri; Warao: buraca 1999) Bradypus variegatus brown-throated perezoso de tres perezoso bayo (Ar); perico (Bo); preguiça-de-bentinho (Emmons Braunkehl-Dreifinger- Amahuaca: puzze; Barí: arijkbá; Cashinahua: naii; three-toed sloth; dedos mono perezoso, perico ligero (CA, and Feer, 1997); preguiça- Faultier Chiquitano: noborobosh; Chocó: bucha; Guaraní, brown-throated sloth Mex); perica ligera (CR); perezoso marmota (Redford, 1994); Quichua: aí aí; Kuna: ibku; Mayan: q’oral; Miskito: (Eisenberg and Redford, de tres dedos de garganta café, preguiça-comum (Lara-Ruiz siwaiku; Sharanahua: itunai; Yanomami: ehu, ihama 1999) perezoso de tres uñas (Ec); perico and Srbek-Araujo, 2006) lerdo (Ho); pelejo (Pe); pereza de tres dedos común (Ve) Choloepus didactylus Southern two-toed perezoso de dos perico ligero (Co); perezoso preguiça real, unau (Emmons Unau, Zweifinger-Faultier paresseux didactyle, unau Tweeteenluiaard, Amahuaca: puzze; Cashinahua: naii; Kariña: aipaula; sloth; Linnaeus’s two- dedos amazónico de dos uñas (Ec); and Feer, 1997) commun Tweevingerige Luiaard Makushi: tenupi; Pemón: nupi; Quichua: intillama; toed sloth (Wilson and cucala (Ho); pelejo (Pe) Saramaca: skapoeloiri; Sharanahua: puzze; Sranan- Reeder, 2005) tongo: skapoeloiri; Tupí-Guaraní: aí; Yanomami: shimi Choloepus hoffmanni Hoffmann’s two-toed perezoso de dos perico ligero (Co); perica ligera preguiça real, unau (Emmons Hoffmann’s Zweifinger- unau d’Hoffmann Barí: ayaamá; Boruca: cha, tsä; Bribri: seri, siná, sloth dedos (CR); perezoso de dos uñas de and Feer, 1997) Faultier suhna, suno; Guaymi: ku; Quichua: intillama; Tawahka: occidente (Ec); cucala, perico um; Tupí-Guaraní: aí lerdo (Ho); pelejo (Pe); pereza cara amarilla, pereza de dos dedos zuliana, pereza lanuda (Ve)
35 TABLE 2. Anteaters. Latin English Spanish Local names in Spanish Portuguese German French Dutch Indigenous names Cyclopes didactylus silky anteater; pygmy cíclope osito oro, serafín de Santa Cruz tamanduá-i (Fonseca et al., Zwergameisenbär myrmidon; lèche main Dwergmiereneter, Amahuaca: cama; Cashinahua: busa; Kariña: wailili; anteater (Eisenberg (Bo); angelito (Co); ceibita (CR); 1996); tamandua-í (Emmons (Emmons and Feer, 1997) Kleinste Miereneter, Maya: kisin, woyotz; Miskito: likur; Sranan-tongo: and Redford, 1999); flor de balsa, serafín, serafín and Feer, 1997) Wespeneter likan, likanoe; Tawahka: wísurh; Tupí-Guaraní: taman- two-toed anteater de platanar (Ec); osito melero, duá-í; Yanomami: masihoto (Wetzel, 1985) perezocito, perico lerdo (Ho); miq- uito de noche (Mex); gato balsa, tapacara (Pn); intepelejo, serafín (Pe); osito hormiguero enano, oso dormilón, perico ligero (Ve) Myrmecophaga tridactyla giant anteater; ant oso hormiguero gran hormiguero, oso hormiguero papa-formigas, tamanduá-açú, Grosser Ameisenbär grand fourmilier; tamanoir Grote Miereneter, Mieren- Abipón: heteyré, heteyreé; Amahuaca: shao; Ayoreo: bear (Be) común, oso hormiguero mayor, tamanduá-bandeira (Emmons (Emmons and Feer, 1997) beer; Reuzenmeiereneter yajogue; Barí: nokchibá; Boruca: tejong, tsing; oso hormiguero real, tamanduá and Feer, 1997); tamanduá (Emmons and Feer, Bribri: nai uhrí, ti uri; Cashinahua: xae; Chiquitano: bandera; oso bandera, oso cavalho (Chebez, 1994) 1997) nupaichavishti, paichabish; Garífuna: liwa; Guaraní: comilón (Bo); oso caballuno, oso ñurumí, tamanduá, tamanduá-guazú, tamiguasu, hormiguero palmero, oso pajizo yaquí, yurumí; Guaymi: meen, mengkri, misuli; Guis- (Co); oso caballo (CR, Ho, Pn); naí: soolaj; Kariña: tamanoa; Machiguenga: shiani; oso hormiguero gigante (CR); oso Makushi: tamanowa; Mataco: sulaj; Mayan: zam hool; banderón, tamanduá de occi- Miskito: wingu tara; Pech: corauya; Pemón: warema; dente (Ec); tamandua de bandera Pilagá: pottai; Saramaca: tamanúa, tamanwa; (Ec, Pe); hormiguero gigante, oso Sharanahua: shall; Sranan-tongo: tamanúa; Tawahka: palmero (Ve) dánka-takálvas; Toba: pota’e; Tupi: tamanduá-guasú; Warao: eburearane; Yanomami: shikahami; Yaruro: arigurí Tamandua mexicana northern tamandua; tamanduá hormiguero arborícola (CA); oso tamanduá-mirim Nördlicher Tamandua tamandua mexicain Barí: baakakai, kajkai; Kuna: sugachu; Mayan: chab; banded anteater amarillo, susurete, taman- Miskito: wingku; Tawahka: kárquin (Janzen, 1983); duá (Co); oso colmenero, oso ant bear (Be) hormiguero, oso jaceta, oso mielero (CR); oso melero, perico ligero (Ho); brazo fuerte, oso hormiguero común (Mex); osito hormiguero norteño (Pe); osito melero zuliano (Ve) Tamandua tetradactyla southern tamandua; tamanduá hormiguero chico, oso melero mambira, tamanduá-colete, Südlicher Tamandua tamandua à quatre doigts; Termieteneter, Mieren- Amahuaca: wii; Ayoreo: yajoguena; Boruca: tejong, yellow tamandua (Ar); oso hormiga, oso hormiguero tamanduá-mirim (Emmons tamandou (Emmons and Feer, fluiter, Kleine Mierene- tsing; Bribri: uhrí, uri; Cashinahua: bi; Chiquitano: (Husson, 1978); rubio (Bo); oso colmenero (Co, Ec, and Feer, 1997); melete, mixila 1997 ter; Boom-miereneter nopoés, opoema; Guaraní: caguaré, kaaguaré, tamimí; collared anteater Pe); oso hormiguero amazónico, (Olmos, 1995); tamanduá de (Emmons and Feer, Guaymi: meen, misuli; Makushi: woiwa; Pemón: woiwo; (Grzimek, 1988) shibi, shihuí (Pe); oso hor- coleira (Machado et al., 1998) 1997) Saramaca: mirafroiti; Sharanahua: wii; Sranan- miguero, osito melero común (Ve) tongo: mirafroiti; Toba: potay laté; Tupi: tamandua-í, tamanduá-mirín; Warao: tandui; Yanomami: shoko; Yaruro: tóarigurír Abbreviations: Arg=Argentina; Be=Belize; Bo=Bolivia; CA=Central America; Co=Colombia; CR=Costa Rica; Ec=Ecuador; Hon=Honduras; Mex=Mexico; Pe=Peru; Pn=Panama; Ve=Venezuela.
36 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 TABLE 2. Anteaters. Latin English Spanish Local names in Spanish Portuguese German French Dutch Indigenous names Cyclopes didactylus silky anteater; pygmy cíclope osito oro, serafín de Santa Cruz tamanduá-i (Fonseca et al., Zwergameisenbär myrmidon; lèche main Dwergmiereneter, Amahuaca: cama; Cashinahua: busa; Kariña: wailili; anteater (Eisenberg (Bo); angelito (Co); ceibita (CR); 1996); tamandua-í (Emmons (Emmons and Feer, 1997) Kleinste Miereneter, Maya: kisin, woyotz; Miskito: likur; Sranan-tongo: and Redford, 1999); flor de balsa, serafín, serafín and Feer, 1997) Wespeneter likan, likanoe; Tawahka: wísurh; Tupí-Guaraní: taman- two-toed anteater de platanar (Ec); osito melero, duá-í; Yanomami: masihoto (Wetzel, 1985) perezocito, perico lerdo (Ho); miq- uito de noche (Mex); gato balsa, tapacara (Pn); intepelejo, serafín (Pe); osito hormiguero enano, oso dormilón, perico ligero (Ve) Myrmecophaga tridactyla giant anteater; ant oso hormiguero gran hormiguero, oso hormiguero papa-formigas, tamanduá-açú, Grosser Ameisenbär grand fourmilier; tamanoir Grote Miereneter, Mieren- Abipón: heteyré, heteyreé; Amahuaca: shao; Ayoreo: bear (Be) común, oso hormiguero mayor, tamanduá-bandeira (Emmons (Emmons and Feer, 1997) beer; Reuzenmeiereneter yajogue; Barí: nokchibá; Boruca: tejong, tsing; oso hormiguero real, tamanduá and Feer, 1997); tamanduá (Emmons and Feer, Bribri: nai uhrí, ti uri; Cashinahua: xae; Chiquitano: bandera; oso bandera, oso cavalho (Chebez, 1994) 1997) nupaichavishti, paichabish; Garífuna: liwa; Guaraní: comilón (Bo); oso caballuno, oso ñurumí, tamanduá, tamanduá-guazú, tamiguasu, hormiguero palmero, oso pajizo yaquí, yurumí; Guaymi: meen, mengkri, misuli; Guis- (Co); oso caballo (CR, Ho, Pn); naí: soolaj; Kariña: tamanoa; Machiguenga: shiani; oso hormiguero gigante (CR); oso Makushi: tamanowa; Mataco: sulaj; Mayan: zam hool; banderón, tamanduá de occi- Miskito: wingu tara; Pech: corauya; Pemón: warema; dente (Ec); tamandua de bandera Pilagá: pottai; Saramaca: tamanúa, tamanwa; (Ec, Pe); hormiguero gigante, oso Sharanahua: shall; Sranan-tongo: tamanúa; Tawahka: palmero (Ve) dánka-takálvas; Toba: pota’e; Tupi: tamanduá-guasú; Warao: eburearane; Yanomami: shikahami; Yaruro: arigurí Tamandua mexicana northern tamandua; tamanduá hormiguero arborícola (CA); oso tamanduá-mirim Nördlicher Tamandua tamandua mexicain Barí: baakakai, kajkai; Kuna: sugachu; Mayan: chab; banded anteater amarillo, susurete, taman- Miskito: wingku; Tawahka: kárquin (Janzen, 1983); duá (Co); oso colmenero, oso ant bear (Be) hormiguero, oso jaceta, oso mielero (CR); oso melero, perico ligero (Ho); brazo fuerte, oso hormiguero común (Mex); osito hormiguero norteño (Pe); osito melero zuliano (Ve) Tamandua tetradactyla southern tamandua; tamanduá hormiguero chico, oso melero mambira, tamanduá-colete, Südlicher Tamandua tamandua à quatre doigts; Termieteneter, Mieren- Amahuaca: wii; Ayoreo: yajoguena; Boruca: tejong, yellow tamandua (Ar); oso hormiga, oso hormiguero tamanduá-mirim (Emmons tamandou (Emmons and Feer, fluiter, Kleine Mierene- tsing; Bribri: uhrí, uri; Cashinahua: bi; Chiquitano: (Husson, 1978); rubio (Bo); oso colmenero (Co, Ec, and Feer, 1997); melete, mixila 1997 ter; Boom-miereneter nopoés, opoema; Guaraní: caguaré, kaaguaré, tamimí; collared anteater Pe); oso hormiguero amazónico, (Olmos, 1995); tamanduá de (Emmons and Feer, Guaymi: meen, misuli; Makushi: woiwa; Pemón: woiwo; (Grzimek, 1988) shibi, shihuí (Pe); oso hor- coleira (Machado et al., 1998) 1997) Saramaca: mirafroiti; Sharanahua: wii; Sranan- miguero, osito melero común (Ve) tongo: mirafroiti; Toba: potay laté; Tupi: tamandua-í, tamanduá-mirín; Warao: tandui; Yanomami: shoko; Yaruro: tóarigurír
37 TABLE 3. Armadillos. Latin English Spanish Local names in Spanish Portuguese German French Dutch Indigenous names Cabassous centralis northern naked-tailed cabasú, tatú de armadillo zopilote, cusuco venenoso, tatu-de-rabo-mole (S. M. Nördliches Barí: douró; Guaraní: tatú-aí; Maya: wai-wech; Tawahka: armadillo rabo molle pitero de uña (CA); armadillo hediondo Vaz, in litt.) Nacktschwanz- tákan tákan (Co); armado de zopilote (CR); Gürteltier armadillo rabo de carne de occidente, rabo de carne, rabo de molle (Ec); cusuco, timba, tumbo armado (Ho); armadillo rabo de puerco, morrocoy (Pn); cachicamo morrocoy, cuspa montañera zuliana, cuspita (Ve) Cabassous chacoensis Chacoan naked-tailed cabasú chico cabasú chaqueño, tatú-ai menor (Ar) Chaco-Nacktschwanz- Guaraní: tatú-aí armadillo Gürteltier Cabassous tatouay greater naked-tailed tatú-ai mayor cabasú grande, tatú-ai mayor (Ar); tatú tatu rabo-mole (Redford, Grosses Nacktschwanz- Guaraní: tatú-aí armadillo de rabo molle (Ur) 1994); tatu-do-rabo- Gürteltier mole-grande (Machado et al., 1998) Cabassous unicinctus southern naked-tailed cabasú de orejas metecito, peji, peji cola blanda, cabassú, tatu-de-rabo- Nacktschwanz- cabassou (Emmons and Cabassou, Naaktstaart Chiquitano: nopeish; Guaraní: tatú-aí armadillo largas pejichi llorón (Bo); armadillo rabo de mole, tatu-rabo-de-couro Gürteltier Feer, 1997) Gordeldier trapo (Co); armadillo rabo de carne (Emmons and Feer, Amazónico, cachicambo rabo de carne, 1997); tatu-de-rabo- lugubre, tatú-iba (Ec); armadillo de mole-pequeno (Machado cola desnuda, carachupa (Pe); cuspa, et al., 1998); tatu-bola cuspa montañera común, cuspa rabo (S. M. Vaz, in litt.) blando (Ve) Chaetophractus nationi Andean hairy armadillo quirquincho peludo, quirquincho de la puna (Pe) Anden-Borstengürteltier andino Chaetophractus screaming hairy piche llorón mulita, peludo chico, quirquincho chico Weisshaar-Gürteltier Ayoreo: chacajami; Guaraní: tatukirisi, tatundovivi, vellerosus armadillo; small hairy (Ar); tatú llorón (Bo) taturavuku armadillo (Superina, 2000) Chaetophractus villosus large hairy armadillo; peludo; tatú pecho amarillo (Bo) Braunhaar-Gürteltier Ayoreo: pajotague; Guaraní: taturakapeyu larger hairy armadillo quirquincho (Superina, 2000); big grande (Superina, hairy armadillo (Wilson 2000) and Reeder, 2005) Chlamyphorus retusus Chacoan fairy armadillo; pichiciego armadillo de Burmeister, pichiciego Burmeister-Gürtelmull chlamyphore de Burmeister Guaraní: tatujeikuarajoya; Izoceño: tatujeikurajoyava greater fairy armadillo chaqueño grande (Ar); coseveru, culo tapado (Bo) (Superina, 2000) Chlamyphorus truncatus pink fairy armadillo; pichiciego menor antiquirquincho, armadillo truncado Kleiner Gürtelmull chlamyphore tronqué lesser pink fairy menor, guargualate, Juan calado, armadillo (Redford pichiciego, pichihormiguero, tatú de and Eisenberg, 1992); abrigo (Ar) lesser fairy armadillo (Superina, 2000) Dasypus hybridus southern long-nosed mulita; mulita mulita chica, mulita pampeana (Ar) tatuíra, tatu-mulita (S. Südliches Guaraní: tatú-mbiricá armadillo; southern orejuda M. Vaz, in litt.) Siebenbinden-Gürteltier lesser long-nosed (Superina, 2000) armadillo (Superina, 2000)
Note: some common names are used for several species, including armadillo (English and Spanish), cachicamo, mulita and quirquincho (Spanish), tatu (Portuguese), Gürteltier (German) and tatou (French). Abbreviations: Arg=Argentina; Be=Belize; Bo=Bolivia; CA=Central America; Co=Colombia; CR=Costa Rica; Ec=Ecuador; Hon=Honduras; Mex=Mexico; Pe=Peru; Pn=Panama; Py=Paraguay; Ur=Uruguay; Ve=Venezuela.
38 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 TABLE 3. Armadillos. Latin English Spanish Local names in Spanish Portuguese German French Dutch Indigenous names Cabassous centralis northern naked-tailed cabasú, tatú de armadillo zopilote, cusuco venenoso, tatu-de-rabo-mole (S. M. Nördliches Barí: douró; Guaraní: tatú-aí; Maya: wai-wech; Tawahka: armadillo rabo molle pitero de uña (CA); armadillo hediondo Vaz, in litt.) Nacktschwanz- tákan tákan (Co); armado de zopilote (CR); Gürteltier armadillo rabo de carne de occidente, rabo de carne, rabo de molle (Ec); cusuco, timba, tumbo armado (Ho); armadillo rabo de puerco, morrocoy (Pn); cachicamo morrocoy, cuspa montañera zuliana, cuspita (Ve) Cabassous chacoensis Chacoan naked-tailed cabasú chico cabasú chaqueño, tatú-ai menor (Ar) Chaco-Nacktschwanz- Guaraní: tatú-aí armadillo Gürteltier Cabassous tatouay greater naked-tailed tatú-ai mayor cabasú grande, tatú-ai mayor (Ar); tatú tatu rabo-mole (Redford, Grosses Nacktschwanz- Guaraní: tatú-aí armadillo de rabo molle (Ur) 1994); tatu-do-rabo- Gürteltier mole-grande (Machado et al., 1998) Cabassous unicinctus southern naked-tailed cabasú de orejas metecito, peji, peji cola blanda, cabassú, tatu-de-rabo- Nacktschwanz- cabassou (Emmons and Cabassou, Naaktstaart Chiquitano: nopeish; Guaraní: tatú-aí armadillo largas pejichi llorón (Bo); armadillo rabo de mole, tatu-rabo-de-couro Gürteltier Feer, 1997) Gordeldier trapo (Co); armadillo rabo de carne (Emmons and Feer, Amazónico, cachicambo rabo de carne, 1997); tatu-de-rabo- lugubre, tatú-iba (Ec); armadillo de mole-pequeno (Machado cola desnuda, carachupa (Pe); cuspa, et al., 1998); tatu-bola cuspa montañera común, cuspa rabo (S. M. Vaz, in litt.) blando (Ve) Chaetophractus nationi Andean hairy armadillo quirquincho peludo, quirquincho de la puna (Pe) Anden-Borstengürteltier andino Chaetophractus screaming hairy piche llorón mulita, peludo chico, quirquincho chico Weisshaar-Gürteltier Ayoreo: chacajami; Guaraní: tatukirisi, tatundovivi, vellerosus armadillo; small hairy (Ar); tatú llorón (Bo) taturavuku armadillo (Superina, 2000) Chaetophractus villosus large hairy armadillo; peludo; tatú pecho amarillo (Bo) Braunhaar-Gürteltier Ayoreo: pajotague; Guaraní: taturakapeyu larger hairy armadillo quirquincho (Superina, 2000); big grande (Superina, hairy armadillo (Wilson 2000) and Reeder, 2005) Chlamyphorus retusus Chacoan fairy armadillo; pichiciego armadillo de Burmeister, pichiciego Burmeister-Gürtelmull chlamyphore de Burmeister Guaraní: tatujeikuarajoya; Izoceño: tatujeikurajoyava greater fairy armadillo chaqueño grande (Ar); coseveru, culo tapado (Bo) (Superina, 2000) Chlamyphorus truncatus pink fairy armadillo; pichiciego menor antiquirquincho, armadillo truncado Kleiner Gürtelmull chlamyphore tronqué lesser pink fairy menor, guargualate, Juan calado, armadillo (Redford pichiciego, pichihormiguero, tatú de and Eisenberg, 1992); abrigo (Ar) lesser fairy armadillo (Superina, 2000) Dasypus hybridus southern long-nosed mulita; mulita mulita chica, mulita pampeana (Ar) tatuíra, tatu-mulita (S. Südliches Guaraní: tatú-mbiricá armadillo; southern orejuda M. Vaz, in litt.) Siebenbinden-Gürteltier lesser long-nosed (Superina, 2000) armadillo (Superina, 2000) continued on next page
39 TABLE 3. Armadillos, continued Latin English Spanish Local names in Spanish Portuguese German French Dutch Indigenous names Dasypus kappleri great long-nosed armadillo de tatú quinze quilos (Bo); armadillo tatu canastra, tatu Kappler-Weichgürteltier tatou de Kappler; grand Cashinahua: panu; Saramaca: maka kapasi; Sranan- armadillo; Kappler’s Kappler, mulita aracacho, cachicamo grande, quinze quilos (Emmons tatou (Emmons and Feer, tongo: maka-kapasi;Yanomami: prushiima armadillo (Anderson, de Kappler jusachula (Co); armadillo narizón, and Feer, 1997); tatu- 1997) 1997); greater long- tatú-peba grande (Ec); carachupa tinga (S. M. Vaz, in litt.) nosed armadillo (Pe); cachicamo gigante, cachicamo (Superina, 2000) guayanés, cachicamo montañero gigante (Ve) Dasypus novemcinctus nine-banded armadillo; cachicamo, mulita tatú negro (Ar); tatú mula, toche (Bo); tatu-galinha (Fonseca et Neunbinden-Gürteltier tatou à neuf bandes (Emmons Gewone Kapasie, Amahuaca: cazta; Ayoreo: hajamei; Barí: ojsokba; Carib: common long-nosed grande, tatú cachicamo (Co); armadillo narizón al., 1996); tatu-verdadeiro and Feer, 1997) Langstaart Gordeldier, kaikán; Cashinahua: yaix; Chiquitano: nutaconsh, tacoorsh; armadillo (Superina, común, cachicambo, mulita (Ec); cusuco, (Olmos, 1995); tatu preto Negenbandig Gordeldier, Chocó: tro; Garífuna: guasigamu; Guaraní: tatuakuti, tatueté, 2000); dilly (Be) pitero (Ho); tochi (Mex); carachupa (Pe); (Parera, 2002); tatuetê, Negengordelig tatú-hú; Kuna: ugsi; Maya: mail chan, wech; Miskito: tahira, tatú (Ur); cachicamo montañero (Ve) tatu-folha, tatu-nove- Gordeldier ukmik taira; Pech: patan waá; Sharanahua: catstahua; bandas, tatu veado (S. M. Sranan-tongo: kapasi; Tawahka: úkmik; Warao: jabaca; Vaz, in litt.) Yanomami: opo, oyorowahirimi; Yaruro: igoró Dasypus septemcinctus seven-banded long-nosed mulita chica mulita común, tatú-mulita (Ar); tatú tatú mirim (Wetzel and Nördliches Siebenbinden- tatou à sept bandes armadillo; Brazilian lesser chico, tatú de siete bandas (Bo) Mondolfi, 1979); muleta, Gürteltier long-nosed armadillo tatu-mula (Redford, (Superina, 2000); seven- 1994); tatu-china (Olmos, banded armadillo (Wilson 1995); tatuí (Fonseca et and Reeder, 2005) al., 1996) Dasypus yepesi Yepes’ long-nosed mulita de Mazza mulita de Yepes (Ar) Yungas-Gürteltier armadillo; Yunga’s lesser long-nosed armadillo (Superina, 2000) Euphractus sexcinctus six-banded armadillo; gualacate, peludo gualacate, gualincho, tatú colorado, tatú tatu-peba, tatu-peludo Sechsbinden-Gürteltier tatou à six bandes; tatou Zesbandig Gordeldier Ayoreo: gatodejai; Chiquitano: nopeish, ropeish; Guaraní: tatú- yellow armadillo (Emmons mano amarilla, tatú poyú (Ar); peji, peji jaune (Emmons and Feer, podyu, tatú poyú, tatuguasu and Feer, 1997) grande, quirquincho de seis bandas, tatú 1997) iris (Bo); peludo (Ur) Priodontes maximus giant armadillo tatú carreta, tatú gran tatú de los bosques, priodonte, tatu-açú, tatu-canastra Riesengürteltier cabassou, tatou géant Reuzengordeldier Amahuaca: cazta; Ayoreo: jochacai; Carib: mauraimá; gigante priodonte gigante (Ar); pejiche, pejichi (Emmons and Feer, 1997) Cashinahua: panku; Chiquitano: noshisisiris, opeish; Guaraní: (Bo); jusa trueno, ocarro (Co); armadillo tatú-guazú, tatu mborevi; Pilagá: napnalú; Sharanahua: gigante, armadillo trueno, cutimbo, catstahua; Sranan-tongo: granmankapasi; Tupi: tatú-asú; tatú gigante (Ec); carachupa gigante, Yanomami: waka carachupa maman, kintéro, yungunturu (Pe); cachicamo gigante, cuspa, cuspa gigante, cuspa grande, cuspón (Ve) Tolypeutes matacus southern three-banded quirquincho bola mataco, mataco bola (Ar); corechi, tatú tatu-bola Kugelgürteltier tatou à trois bandes Ayoreo: auco; Chiquitano: muñacarsh, nuiñacash; Guaraní: armadillo bola (Bo); tatú bolita (Pa) tatú apepú, tatú-pará, taturapua; Tupi-Guaraní: tatú-apará Tolypeutes tricinctus Brazilian three-banded tatú-bola n/a tatu-bola Dreibinden- tatou à trois bandes armadillo Kugelgürteltier Zaedyus pichiy pichi piche blanquito, piche patagónico, pichi Zwerggürteltier tatou nain Araucanian: kumtrü pagagónico, quirquincho (Ar)
Abbreviations: Arg=Argentina; Be=Belize; Bo=Bolivia; CA=Central America; Co=Colombia; CR=Costa Rica; Ec=Ecuador; Hon=Honduras; Mex=Mexico; Pe=Peru; Pn=Panama; Py=Paraguay; Ur=Uruguay; Ve=Venezuela.
40 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 TABLE 3. Armadillos, continued Latin English Spanish Local names in Spanish Portuguese German French Dutch Indigenous names Dasypus kappleri great long-nosed armadillo de tatú quinze quilos (Bo); armadillo tatu canastra, tatu Kappler-Weichgürteltier tatou de Kappler; grand Cashinahua: panu; Saramaca: maka kapasi; Sranan- armadillo; Kappler’s Kappler, mulita aracacho, cachicamo grande, quinze quilos (Emmons tatou (Emmons and Feer, tongo: maka-kapasi;Yanomami: prushiima armadillo (Anderson, de Kappler jusachula (Co); armadillo narizón, and Feer, 1997); tatu- 1997) 1997); greater long- tatú-peba grande (Ec); carachupa tinga (S. M. Vaz, in litt.) nosed armadillo (Pe); cachicamo gigante, cachicamo (Superina, 2000) guayanés, cachicamo montañero gigante (Ve) Dasypus novemcinctus nine-banded armadillo; cachicamo, mulita tatú negro (Ar); tatú mula, toche (Bo); tatu-galinha (Fonseca et Neunbinden-Gürteltier tatou à neuf bandes (Emmons Gewone Kapasie, Amahuaca: cazta; Ayoreo: hajamei; Barí: ojsokba; Carib: common long-nosed grande, tatú cachicamo (Co); armadillo narizón al., 1996); tatu-verdadeiro and Feer, 1997) Langstaart Gordeldier, kaikán; Cashinahua: yaix; Chiquitano: nutaconsh, tacoorsh; armadillo (Superina, común, cachicambo, mulita (Ec); cusuco, (Olmos, 1995); tatu preto Negenbandig Gordeldier, Chocó: tro; Garífuna: guasigamu; Guaraní: tatuakuti, tatueté, 2000); dilly (Be) pitero (Ho); tochi (Mex); carachupa (Pe); (Parera, 2002); tatuetê, Negengordelig tatú-hú; Kuna: ugsi; Maya: mail chan, wech; Miskito: tahira, tatú (Ur); cachicamo montañero (Ve) tatu-folha, tatu-nove- Gordeldier ukmik taira; Pech: patan waá; Sharanahua: catstahua; bandas, tatu veado (S. M. Sranan-tongo: kapasi; Tawahka: úkmik; Warao: jabaca; Vaz, in litt.) Yanomami: opo, oyorowahirimi; Yaruro: igoró Dasypus septemcinctus seven-banded long-nosed mulita chica mulita común, tatú-mulita (Ar); tatú tatú mirim (Wetzel and Nördliches Siebenbinden- tatou à sept bandes armadillo; Brazilian lesser chico, tatú de siete bandas (Bo) Mondolfi, 1979); muleta, Gürteltier long-nosed armadillo tatu-mula (Redford, (Superina, 2000); seven- 1994); tatu-china (Olmos, banded armadillo (Wilson 1995); tatuí (Fonseca et and Reeder, 2005) al., 1996) Dasypus yepesi Yepes’ long-nosed mulita de Mazza mulita de Yepes (Ar) Yungas-Gürteltier armadillo; Yunga’s lesser long-nosed armadillo (Superina, 2000) Euphractus sexcinctus six-banded armadillo; gualacate, peludo gualacate, gualincho, tatú colorado, tatú tatu-peba, tatu-peludo Sechsbinden-Gürteltier tatou à six bandes; tatou Zesbandig Gordeldier Ayoreo: gatodejai; Chiquitano: nopeish, ropeish; Guaraní: tatú- yellow armadillo (Emmons mano amarilla, tatú poyú (Ar); peji, peji jaune (Emmons and Feer, podyu, tatú poyú, tatuguasu and Feer, 1997) grande, quirquincho de seis bandas, tatú 1997) iris (Bo); peludo (Ur) Priodontes maximus giant armadillo tatú carreta, tatú gran tatú de los bosques, priodonte, tatu-açú, tatu-canastra Riesengürteltier cabassou, tatou géant Reuzengordeldier Amahuaca: cazta; Ayoreo: jochacai; Carib: mauraimá; gigante priodonte gigante (Ar); pejiche, pejichi (Emmons and Feer, 1997) Cashinahua: panku; Chiquitano: noshisisiris, opeish; Guaraní: (Bo); jusa trueno, ocarro (Co); armadillo tatú-guazú, tatu mborevi; Pilagá: napnalú; Sharanahua: gigante, armadillo trueno, cutimbo, catstahua; Sranan-tongo: granmankapasi; Tupi: tatú-asú; tatú gigante (Ec); carachupa gigante, Yanomami: waka carachupa maman, kintéro, yungunturu (Pe); cachicamo gigante, cuspa, cuspa gigante, cuspa grande, cuspón (Ve) Tolypeutes matacus southern three-banded quirquincho bola mataco, mataco bola (Ar); corechi, tatú tatu-bola Kugelgürteltier tatou à trois bandes Ayoreo: auco; Chiquitano: muñacarsh, nuiñacash; Guaraní: armadillo bola (Bo); tatú bolita (Pa) tatú apepú, tatú-pará, taturapua; Tupi-Guaraní: tatú-apará Tolypeutes tricinctus Brazilian three-banded tatú-bola n/a tatu-bola Dreibinden- tatou à trois bandes armadillo Kugelgürteltier Zaedyus pichiy pichi piche blanquito, piche patagónico, pichi Zwerggürteltier tatou nain Araucanian: kumtrü pagagónico, quirquincho (Ar)
41 Mariella Superina, University of New Orleans, Emmons, L. H. and Feer, F. 1997. Neotropical Rainfor- Department of Biological Sciences, New est Mammals: A Field Guide. Second edition. The Orleans, Louisiana 70148-0001, USA, e-mail: University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
42 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 Livro Vermelho das Espécies Ameaçadas de Extinção Vermilinguas, G. G. Montgomery (ed.), pp.5–21. de Fauna de Minas Gerais. Fundação Biodiver- Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. sitas, Belo Horizonte. Wetzel, R. M. and Mondolfi, E. 1979. The subgen- Marineros, L. and Gallegos, F. M. 1998. Guía de era and species of long-nosed armadillos, genus Campo de los Mamíferos de Honduras. Instituto Dasypus L. In: Vertebrate Ecology in the North- Nacional de Ambiente y Desarollo, Tegucigalpa. ern Neotropics, J. F. Eisenberg (ed.), pp. 43–64. Montgomery, G. G. (ed.). 1985. The Evolution and Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. Ecology of Armadillos, Sloths, and Vermilinguas. Wilson, D. E. and Cole, F. R. 2000. Common Names Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. of Mammals of the World. Smithsonian Institution Moreno, S. and Plese, T. 2006. The illegal traffic in Press, Washington, DC. sloths and threats to their survival in Colombia. Wilson, D. E. and Reeder, D. M. (eds.). 1993. Edentata (7): 10–18. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Olmos, F. 1995. Edentates in the caatinga of Serra da Geographic Reference. Second edition. Smithson- Capivara National Park. Edentata (2): 16–17. ian Institution Press, Washington, DC. Pacheco, V., Macedo, H. de, Vivar, E., Ascorra, Wilson, D. E. and Reeder, D. M. (eds.). 2005. C., Arana-Cardó, R. and Solari, S. 1995. Lista Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and anotada de los mamíferos peruanos. Occasional Geographic Reference. Third edition. The Johns Papers in Conservation Biology No. 2, Conserva- Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. tion International, Washington, DC. Parera, A. 2002. Los Mamíferos de la Argentina y la Appendix I: Citations by Country Región Austral de Sudamérica. Editorial Al Ateneo, Buenos Aires. Argentina (Ar): Chebez, 1994, 1996; Diaz and Ojeda, Redford, K. 1994. The edentates of the Cerrado. 2000; Guiñazú Rawson de Arentsen, 1956; Parera, Edentata (1): 4–10. 2002; Vizcaíno, 1997. Bolivia (Bo): Anderson, 1997; Redford, K. H. and Eisenberg, J. F. 1992. Mammals Cuéllar, 2001; Cuéllar S. and Noss, 2003; Ergueta S. of the Neotropics, Volume 2: The Southern Cone: and Morales, 1996. Brazil (Br): Aguiar and Fonseca, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay. The Univer- in review; Fonseca et al., 1994; Fonseca et al., 1996; sity of Chicago Press, Chicago. Lara-Ruiz and Srbek-Araujo, 2006; Machado et al., Reid, F. A. 1997. A Field Guide to the Mammals of 1998; Olmos, 1995; Redford, 1994. Central Amer- Central America and Southeast Mexico. Oxford ica (CA): Reid, 1997. Colombia (Co): Moreno and University Press, Oxford. Plese, 2006. Costa Rica (CR): Carillo et al., 2002; Simpson, G. G. 1941. Vernacular names of South Gómez, 2001; Janzen, 1983. Ecuador (Ec): Tirira American mammals. J. Mammal. 22(1): 1–17. S., 1999; Tirira S., 2001. Honduras (Ho): Marine- Superina, M. 2000. Biologie und Haltung von Gür- ros and Gallegos, 1998. Mexico (Me): Reid, 1997. teltieren (Dasypodidae). Doctoral dissertation, Panama (Pn): J. Ledbetter, pers. comm. Peru (Pe): Universität Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland. Leite Pitman et al., 2003; Pacheco et al., 1995. Suri- Tirira S., D. (ed.). 2001. Libro Rojo de los Mamífe- name (Su): Husson, 1978. Uruguay (Ur): Fallabrino ros del Ecuador. Sociedad para la Investigación and Castiñera, 2006. Venezuela (Ve): Linares, 1998. y Monitoreo de la Biodiversidad Ecuatoriana References covering more than one country: Duff (SIMBIOE) / Ecociencias / Ministerio del Ambi- and Lawson, 2004; Eisenberg and Redford, 1999; ente / UICN. Serie Libros Rojos del Ecuador, Eisenberg, 1989; Emmons and Feer, 1997; Grzimek, Tomo 1. Publicación Especial sobre los Mamífe- 1988; Montgomery, 1985; Redford and Eisenberg, ros del Ecuador. Quito, Ecuador. 1992; Reid, 1997; Simpson, 1941; Superina, 2000; Tirira S., D. 1999. Mamíferos del Ecuador. Publi- Wetzel and Mondolfi, 1979; Wilson and Cole, 2000; cación Especial 2, Museu de Zoología, Centro de Wilson and Reeder, 2005. Biodiversidad y Ambiente, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador y Sociedad para la Investig- Appendix II: Citations by Group ación y Monitoreo de la Biodiversidad Ecuatori- ana (SIMBIOE). Quito, Ecuador. Sloths: Aguiar and Fonseca, in review; Cuéllar S. Vizcaíno, S. F. 1997. Armadillos del noroeste argen- and Noss, 2003; Diaz and Ojeda, 2000; Emmons tino (provincias de Jujuy y Salta). Edentata (3): and Feer, 1997; Fonseca et al., 1994; Fonseca et al., 7–10. 1996; Gómez, 2001; Grzimek, 1988; Lara-Ruiz and Wetzel, R. M. 1985. The identification and distribu- Srbek-Araujo, 2006; Leite Pitman et al., 2003; Lin- tion of recent Xenarthra (= Edentata). In: The ares, 1998; Marineros and Gallegos, 1998; Moreno Evolution and Ecology of Armadillos, Sloths, and and Plese, 2006; Pacheco et al., 1995; Redford, 1994;
43 Reid, 1997; Tirira S., 1999. Anteaters: Chebez, tes (Queiroz, 1995; Chiarello et al., 2004; Lara-Ruiz 1994, 1996; Cuéllar S. and Noss, 2003; Emmons and e Chiarello, 2005). Para o gênero Bradypus, relatos de Feer, 1997; Ergueta S. and Morales, 1996; Gómez, outras interações decorrentes de observações na natu- 2001; Grzimek, 1988; Janzen, 1983; Leite Pitman et reza se restringem ao registro de comportamento ago- al., 2003; Linares, 1998; Machado et al., 1998; Mar- nístico entre dois indivíduos adultos (Beebe, 1926) ineros and Gallegos, 1998; Olmos, 1995; Pacheco e observações de campo de animais compartilhando et al., 1995; Redford, 1994; Reid, 1997; Simpson, uma mesma árvore durante atividades de alimentação 1941; Tirira S., 2001. Armadillos: Anderson, 1997; e repouso (dados não publicados, P. Lara-Ruiz). Chebez, 1994, 1996; Cuéllar, 2001; Cuéllar S. and Noss, 2003; Diaz and Ojeda, 2000; Eisenberg, 1989; A presente comunicação relata observações associadas Eisenberg and Redford, 1999; Emmons and Feer, ao comportamento reprodutivo de Bradypus variega- 1997; Ergueta S. and Morales, 1996; Fallabrino and tus, realizadas em uma área de preservação (ca. 350 Castiñera, 2006; Fonseca et al., 1996; Gómez, 2001; hectares) de propriedade da Empresa Aracruz Celu- Grzimek, 1988; Guiñazú Rawson de Arentsen, 1956; lose, localizada no Município de Sooretama no Espí- Linares, 1998; Machado et al., 1998; Marineros and rito Santo, Brasil. (Essa área é uma Reserva Legal; Lei Gallegos, 1998; Olmos, 1995; Parera, 2002; Red- 7.803, de 18 de julho de 1989.) Ressalta-se que relatos ford, 1994; Reid, 1997; Simpson, 1941; Superina, de comportamento reprodutivo do gênero Bradypus 2000; Tirira S., 2001; Vizcaíno, 1997; Wetzel and na natureza são ausentes na literatura científica. Mondolfi, 1979. Em setembro de 2005 foi visto um indivíduo adulto Appendix III: Indigenous Languages by Country com padrão de pelagem característico de macho: a porção intraescapular com pelagem alaranjada inter- Argentina: Abipón, Guaraní, Pilagá, Toba, Wichí rompida por linha mediana irregular enegrecida, Lhamtés; Bolivia: Ayoreo, Chiquitano, Guaraní; composta por pêlos de menor comprimento (Beebe, Brazil: Guaraní, Tupí; Central America: Chocó, 1926). O espécime estava atravessando uma das estra- Maya; Chile: Araucanian; Colombia: Barí; Costa das internas à área de preservação, deslocando-se da Rica: Boruca, Bribri; Ecuador: Quichua; Hondu- margem direita para a esquerda do fragmento (08:20 ras: Garífuna, Pech, Tawahka; Nicaragua: Mískito; hrs). O indivíduo foi capturado para coleta de material Panama: Guaymi, Kuna; Paraguay: Ayoreo, Guar- destinado a análises genéticas e, durante manipulação, aní; Peru: Amahuaca, Cashinahua, Machiguenga, foi detectada a vocalização de um segundo indivíduo Sharanahua; Surinam: Saramaccan, Sranan-Tongo, em área próxima (08:45 hrs). Com base em experi- Wayana; Venezuela: Barí, Kariña, Makushi, Pemón, ências anteriores, a vocalização foi reconhecida como Warao, Yanomami, Yaruro. Note: some names listed pertencente a um indivíduo do gênero Bradypus. De here, such as Chocó, Guaraní, and Tupí, more prop- acordo com observações de espécimes de Bradypus tor- erly refer to language groups rather than individual quatus em semi-cativeiro, fêmeas em período reprodu- languages. The online edition of the Ethnologue tivo (“cio”) emitem vocalizações que atraem machos (Gordon, 2005), published by the Sumner Insti- (comunicação pessoal, V. L. de Oliveira). Conside- tute of Linguistics, proved invaluable for checking rando que a vocalização ouvida pudesse estar rela- these languages. cionada a um comportamento reprodutivo, o macho capturado foi solto (08:55 hrs) e seu deslocamento foi monitorado. O espécime se deslocou poucos metros para o interior do fragmento, onde permaneceu até a detecção de uma segunda vocalização (09:40 hrs), depois da qual reiniciou o deslocamento (ca. 10 m em FIELD NOTES linha reta em direção ao local de origem da vocaliza- ção). Após este deslocamento o espécime permaneceu Comportamento Potencialmente Reprodutivo no mesmo local, em comportamento de procura, que da Preguiça-comum, Bradypus variegatus foi caracterizado pela realização de movimentos repe- (Xenarthra, Bradypodidae): Observações de titivos da cabeça e farejamento. Campo Durante o acompanhamento do macho foi detec- As preguiças (Família Bradypodidae e Megalonychi- tado um segundo indivíduo (10:05 hrs), em árvore dae) são consideradas animais solitários, cuja intera- a aproximadamente 10 m do ponto de observação, ção social se restringe à associação mãe-filhote que identificada como o local de origem das vocalizações. ocorre durante os primeiros meses de vida dos infan- O segundo indivíduo não apresentava coloração ala-
44 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 ranjada no dorso, coincidindo com a descrição das madamente 15 metros em linha reta. No terceiro dia fêmeas de Bradypus variegatus (Beebe, 1926; Eisen- de observações (14:30 hrs), os dois indivíduos foram berg e Redford, 1999). Este animal também foi detectados compartilhando a mesma árvore durante acompanhado. Durante o período de observações o atividades de alimentação (local de registro da fêmea segundo espécime realizou atividades de deslocamento no primeiro e segundo dias). Este fato contesta a supo- (curtas distâncias, permanecendo na mesma árvore sição de que o deslocamento do macho para a margem ou vizinhas), repouso e alimentação. Ressalta-se que direita da estrada, realizado no dia anterior, pudesse a fêmea apresentava porte maior em comparação com indicar seu afastamento da área. Outras observações o macho, coincidindo com o dimorfismo sexual em foram obtidas no dia seguinte (12:06 hrs), destacando tamanho registrado para o gênero (Lara-Ruiz e Chia- que o macho foi novamente registrado na margem rello, 2005). No decorrer das quatro horas seguintes direita da estrada, estando a fêmea na mesma árvore de monitoramento simultâneo dos dois espécimes, dos registros anteriores. Os espécimes se encontravam não foram observados comportamentos de desloca- a uma distância de aproximadamente 20 metros em mento, repouso ou alimentação realizadas pelo macho, linha reta. não tendo sido também registrados outros eventos de vocalização do espécime considerado fêmea. Semelhanças detectadas no padrão de coloração dorsal do macho observado ao longo dos quatro dias (Fig. 1) No dia seguinte (09:25 hrs), os dois indivíduos foram suportam a consideração de que os registros efetua- encontrados na mesma área, estando o macho em dos estão atribuídos a um mesmo indivíduo. Padrões árvore localizada na margem direita da estrada, e a individuais de coloração da mancha intraescapular fêmea na mesma árvore de registro no dia anterior. Os para machos adultos de Bradypus variegatus foram espécimes se encontravam a uma distância de aproxi- relatados por Beebe (1926) e Goffart (1971).
FIGURA 1. Padrão de pelagem e coloração da fêmea (A) e macho (B) adultos de Bradypus variegatus, destacando a semelhança no padrão de coloração dorsal do macho observado em dias consecutivos (B a D), suportando a consideração de que os registros efetuados estejam relacio- nados a um mesmo indivíduo.
45 Caso seja confirmada a utilização de sinais vocais por fêmeas de Bradypus variegatus na atração dos machos, Mating Behavior of the Northern Tamandua conforme observado para Bradypus torquatus em (Tamandua mexicana) in Costa Rica semi-cativeiro, as observações descritas acima esta- riam relacionadas ao comportamento reprodutivo da The mating behavior of several anteater species has espécie, constituindo o primeiro registro deste com- been documented under zoo conditions (Sanmarco, portamento na natureza. Neste caso, as observações 1985; Moeller, 1990; Coleman, 2003), but observa- realizadas indicariam que as interações sociais ocorri- tions have yet to be made in the wild. No descrip- das durante o período de reprodução destes animais tions have been published on the mating behavior of não são restritas ao momento da cópula, estando Tamandua mexicana under any conditions, although associadas a um maior período de contato macho- it is the most common anteater in Central America fêmea durante o qual os animais permanecem na (Lubin, 1983). mesma área, chegando a compartilhar a arvore de repouso e alimentação. As interações observadas Northern tamanduas are medium-sized animals (4–6 durante o período relatado indicam que estes animais kg) that feed on ants and termites (Montgomery, geralmente solitários podem apresentar períodos de 1985a, 1985b); they range from eastern Mexico to interações sociais de vários dias de duração. O fato northwestern Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and é mais relevante ainda considerando que existem Peru (Wetzel, 1975, 1982, 1985; Fonseca and Aguiar, poucas observações de interações entre indivíduos 2004). Macdonald (1995) speculated that T. mexicana adultos na natureza, sendo que estas normalmente may mate in the fall, but the few reports available sug- são efetuadas em regiões com densidades populacio- gest that mating is aseasonal (Lubin, 1983). Estrus nais excessivamente altas, relacionadas com restrita cycles have not been reported for T. mexicana, but its disponibilidade de habitat florestado adequado para close relative T. tetradactyla has estrus cycles lasting o uso. between 35 and 42 days (Sanmarco, 1987; Hay et al., 1994). Silveira (1969) reported that gestation in Paula Lara-Ruiz, Laboratório de Biodiversidade e tamanduas is approximately 130–150 days, but data Evolução Molecular, Universidade Federal de Minas from a zoo birth of T. tetradactyla suggests that gesta- Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil, e-mail:
Referências While hiking on a beach in Corcovado National Beebe, W. 1926. The three-toed sloth. Zoologica 7(1): Park, Costa Rica (08°29′N, 83°36′W), at 11:21 hrs 1–67. on 1 February 2005, I witnessed a pair of T. mexi- Chiarello, A. G., Chivers, D. J., Bassi, C., Maciel, cana engaging in mating behavior. Standing at a dis- M. A., Moreira, L. e Bazzalo, M. 2004. A tance of five meters, I observed the pair interacting translocation experiment for the conservation for over five minutes, during which two copulations of maned sloths, Bradypus torquatus (Xenar- occurred. thra: Bradypodidae). Biol. Cons. 118(4): 421–430. As I approached, I noticed one tamandua (later Eisenberg, J. F. e Redford, K. H. 1999. Mammals of assumed to be female) searching for insects on top the Neotropics, Volume 3: The Central Neotropics: of a fallen log, which protruded onto the beach from Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil. The University of beneath the shadowed understory of the forest. A Chicago Press, Chicago. second tamandua (later assumed to be male) emerged Goffart, M. 1971. Function and Form in the Sloth. from the forest along the top of the same log. When Pergamon Press, Oxford. the male encountered the female he first smelled her Lara-Ruiz, P. e Chiarello, A. G. 2005. Life history traits rump, and then followed her while she searched for and sexual dimorphism of the Atlantic Forest insects, pacing back and forth on the log several times. maned sloth Bradypus torquatus (Xenarthra: As the male followed the female he swatted her rump Bradypodidae). J. Zool., Lond. 267: 63–73. with his forelimbs (Fig. 1a), and on several occasions Queiroz, H. L. 1995. Preguiças e Guaribas, os he straddled the female and scrambled over her. Mamíferos Folívoros Arborícolas do Mami- rauá. CNPq e Sociedade Civil Mamirauá, He then turned to face her, grabbing and holding her Brasília. head for a short time (Fig. 1b), and then scrambled
46 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 wise during courtship the male and female exchange blows and pinches (Moeller, 1990), and engage in “face-to-face embraces” similar to T. mexicana (Cole- man, 2003). The onset of aggression and copulation seem to coincide in Tamandua tetradactyla (Meritt, 1976), as observed here with T. mexicana. Mating in T. tetradactyla is preceded by both sexes engaging in mutual inspection, “gentle boxing,” cuddling, and following each other; a male T. tetradactyla will show interest in a female by sniffing, grooming, and follow- ing her (Sanmarco, 1985).
FIGURE 1. Apparent courtship and mating behavior between These observations of T. mexicana suggest that the two northern tamanduas (Tamandua mexicana) on a beach in strong forelimbs and tail may aid males in copulating Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica. with unwilling females. The prehensile tail provides stability during arboreal locomotion (Montgomery and Lubin, 1977; Lubin, 1983) but it may also aid over her again. Both tamanduas remained on top of in stabilizing the males during mating. Taylor (1978, the log during the entire encounter, foraging and 1985) has discussed the functional morphology of the feeding on insects. The female acted antagonistically tamandua’s powerful forelimbs in the context of open- towards the male, attempting to avoid and flee from ing termite mounds, but my observations suggest that him. Twice both tamanduas reared up on their back the forelimbs may also play a role in a male’s ability to legs facing each other, aggressively swinging their fore- manipulate the position of the female during mating. claws (Fig. 1c). Several times the tamanduas paused Northern tamanduas find their prey by scent (Mont- to sniff each other’s noses for 5–10 seconds (Fig. 1d). gomery, 1985), and my observations suggest that Twice the male mounted the female dorsally, despite scent may also be important during mating, perhaps her attempts to flee, and achieved copulations. Each to identify potential mates and assess their receptivity. copulation was brief (10–30 seconds) with approxi- The male T. mexicana may have been scent-marking mately two minutes between them. both the female when he scrambled over her, and the log when he slid down it. I was unable to find addi- During the first copulation, the male mounted the tional information on scent glands and scent-marking female on top of the log and used his forelimbs to in tamanduas for comparison. To my knowledge this restrain her by holding her neck and forelegs (Fig. is the first account of mating behavior in T. mexicana 1e). The second time the male mounted the female as and the first account of any anteater mating in the she attempted to dismount the log. He grabbed her wild. with his forelimbs, holding the log with his prehensile tail, and mounted her on the side of the log (Fig. 1f). Acknowledgements: Bob Timm and Larry Gilbert Finally the male straddled the log and slid down the gave helpful advice, while Carlos Garcia-Robledo length of its incline, walking into the forest and leav- assisted with making the figure. This manuscript was ing my field of view. The female continued to search improved by comments from Tanya Hawley. Logisti- for insects on the fallen log for another eight minutes cal support in Costa Rica was provided by MINAE, before departing into the forest as well. especially Wendy Barrantes, and Friends of the Osa.
The dorso-ventral mating behavior of Tamandua David Matlaga, Department of Biology, University mexicana is different from the behavior typical of at of Miami, P. O. Box 249118, Coral Gables, Florida least two other Neotropical xenarthrans. The two- 33124, USA. E-mail:
47 Hay, M. A., Bellem, A. C., Brown, J. L. and Good- Taylor, B. K. 1978. The anatomy of the forelimb of rowe, K. L. 1994. Reproductive patterns in the anteater (Tamandua) and its functional impli- tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla). J. Zoo Wildl. cations. J. Morphol. 157: 347–367. Med. 25: 248–258. Taylor, B. K. 1985. Functional anatomy of the forelimb Lubin, Y. D., Montgomery, G. G. and Young, O. P. in vermilinguas (anteaters). In: The Evolution and 1977. Food resources of anteaters (Edentata: Myr- Ecology of Armadillos, Sloths, and Vermilinguas, G. mecophagidae) I. A year’s census of arboreal nests G. Montgomery (ed.), pp.163–171. Smithsonian of ants and termites on Barro Colorado Island, Institution Press, Washington, DC. Panama Canal Zone. Biotropica 9: 26–34. Wetzel, R. M. 1975. The species of Tamandua Gray Lubin, Y. D. 1983. Tamandua mexicana. In: Costa (Edentata, Myrmecophagidae). Proc. Biol. Soc. Rican Natural History, D. H. Janzen (ed.), Wash. 88: 95–112. pp.494–496. The University of Chicago Press, Wetzel, R. M. 1982. Systematics, distribution, ecol- Chicago. ogy, and conservation of South American Eden- Macdonald, D. 1995. The Encyclopedia of Mammals. tates. In: Mammalian Biology in South America, Facts on File, Inc., New York. M. A. Mares and H. H. Genoways (eds.), Meritt, D. A. 1976. The lesser anteater (Tamandua pp.345–375. Special Publication Series of the tetradactyla) in captivity. Int. Zoo Ybk. 15: 41– Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology, University 45. of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. Moeller, W. 1990. Modern Xenarthans. In: Grzimek’s Wetzel, R. M. 1985. The identification and distribu- Encyclopedia of Mammals, S. P. Parker (ed.), tion of recent Xenarthra (= Edentata). In: The pp.583–627. McGraw-Hill Publishing Com- Evolution and Ecology of Armadillos, Sloths, and pany, New York. Vermilinguas, G. G. Montgomery (ed.), pp.5–21. Montgomery, G. G. and Lubin, Y. D. 1977. Prey influ- Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. ences on movements of Neotropical anteaters. In: Proceedings of the 1975 Predator Symposium, R. L. Phillips and C. Jonkel (eds.), pp.103–131. Montana Forest and Conservation Experiment New Information on Population Declines in Pink Station, University of Montana, Missoula. Fairy Armadillos Montgomery, G. G. 1985a. Impact of vermilinguas (Cyclopes, Tamandua: Xenarthra = Edentata) on The conservation status of the pink fairy armadillo arboreal ant populations. In: The Evolution and (Chlamyphorus truncatus) was extensively discussed Ecology of Armadillos, Sloths, and Vermilinguas, G. during the recent IUCN Edentate Species Assessment G. Montgomery (ed.), pp.351–363. Smithsonian Workshop (Fonseca and Aguiar, 2004). The near- Institution Press, Washington, DC. total lack of data on its natural history and popula- Montgomery, G. G. 1985b. Movements, forag- tion dynamics, however, made it extremely difficult ing and food habits of the four extant species to assess. Fresh information from the field now sug- of Neotropical vermilinguas (Mammalia; Myr- gests that its current classification as Near Threatened mecophagidae). In: The Evolution and Ecology (IUCN, 2006) should be reconsidered. of Armadillos, Sloths, and Vermilinguas, G. G. Montgomery (ed.), pp. 365–377. Smithsonian In March 2006, I assisted a film crew in their search Institution Press, Washington, DC. for pink fairy armadillos in Mendoza Province, Sanmarco, P. 1985. A tamandua reproduction project: Argentina. The documentary will be the opening film Further progress. Animal Keepers’ Forum 12(12): in a new television series, “Nick Baker’s Weird Crea- 417–419. tures,” produced by Icon Films in association with Sanmarco, P. 1987. Growth and development of a the British Natural History Museum, and to be aired tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla) at Lincoln concurrently on Channel 5 (UK) and Animal Planet. Park Zoo. Animal Keepers’ Forum (Special Edi- Although our efforts to trap, track, or observe a live tion): 419–421. pink fairy armadillo were unsuccessful, our inter- Shaw, J. H., Machado-Neto, J. and Carter, T. S. views with local people provided new and important 1987. Behavior of free-living giant anteaters information on the abundance of this species — in- (Myrmecophaga tridactyla). Biotropica 19(3): formation that needs to be considered to ensure that 255–259. its conservation status is accurately assessed. There is Silveira, E. K. P. 1969. História natural do tamanduá- no doubt that this information requires confirmation bandeira, Myrmecophaga tridactyla Linn. 1758, by scientific methods. But in the absence of long- Myrmecophagidae. Velozia 7: 34–43. term ecological research, we are obliged to listen to
48 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 the careful observations of local people, who are often spot,” as it were — lies near Monte Comán, where an excellent source of information on native fauna they appear to be relatively abundant. It should be and flora. noted, however, that “relatively abundant” involves no more than two or three sightings per year: one More than a decade ago, Roig (1995) reported a con- pink fairy armadillo was killed by a domestic cat siderable reduction in sightings of C. truncatus in about eight months ago (M. Lucero, pers. comm.), Mendoza between 1985 and 1995, and he warned one was seen crossing a road in January 2006 (G. that its wild populations might have suffered sig- Ferraris, pers. comm.), and one had been raiding an nificant declines. In recent years this trend has been earthworm farm over the course of several months confirmed by locals in Mendoza, but it seems that in 2004 (G. Gonzalez, pers. comm.). Other recent sightings have never been very frequent — at least sightings have been reported from east of Ñacuñán over the past several decades. One farm worker, (Chani, pers. comm.); Corral de Lorca (G. Gonzalez, Chani, who has worked in rural areas of San Rafael pers. comm.); to the south of El Nihuil (Rojas family, for most of his forty-five years, reported that he has pers. comm.); and the Lavalle Desert in northeast- seen about a dozen pink fairy armadillos in his entire ern Mendoza (Mr. Molina, pers. comm.). The pink life — and Chani is famous for having seen more pink fairy armadillo’s situation in protected areas looks fairy armadillos than anyone else in the region. no more promising: not a single individual has been observed for a decade in the provincial reserve of Although the geographic range of C. truncatus Bosques de Telteca in northern Mendoza (G. Ferraris, encloses a relatively large area in central Argentina pers. comm.), nor has one been seen by researchers (Fonseca and Aguiar, 2004), it should be noted that at the MAB Reserve Ñacuñán for 18 years (V. Roig, the pink fairy armadillo is restricted to small patches pers. comm.). Ironically, three weeks before we drove with specific soil types, such as loose sand dunes. The through the area, a seven-year-old boy captured a area with the most sightings — a Chlamyphorus “hot- live pink fairy armadillo in the middle of the village of Ñacuñán and released it in the Reserve (Brian, pers. comm.).
The story of the Rojas family is a good example of the accounts we heard from many locals through- out the region, including Mr. Day and his neighbors living in the Lavalle Desert; Mr. Lucero and his col- leagues in the Monte Comán area; and Mr. Ponzina and Mr. Manzano, of the Department of Natural Renewable Resources, in the area around Corral de Lorca. The Rojas family has lived on their farm south of El Nihuil for almost 100 years. The mother, now 85 years old, told us that when her sons were boys, they often caught and released pink fairy armadillos in the nearby sand dunes. According to Mrs. Rojas, they would only catch these odd creatures to watch them, but never killed them, “because these little animals don’t do any harm.” This opinion is shared by many locals, and suggests that persecution for cultural reasons is not the main cause of the recent population declines.
The last tracks were observed around September 2005, and the last sighting dates back to over a year ago, when a drowned pink fairy armadillo was found in an irrigation ditch. (The amazingly well-preserved dead animal is now a family treasure.) Mrs. Rojas and her sons confirmed that sightings were much more FIGURE 1. Map of Mendoza Province, Argentina. Recent pink fairy frequent 10 to 20 years ago — but they could not give armadillo sightings have been reported from the Lavalle Desert and an explanation for the population decline, as pink rural areas around Ñacuñán, Monte Comán, and Corral de Lorca. fairy armadillos are not used as a protein source, and
49 therefore not the target of poachers. The Rojas family distribution or population ecology of pink fairy arma- suggested that a disease — perhaps an epidemic simi- dillos, I would be more than interested in a dialogue. lar to the “pichi plague” that has affected Zaedyus pichiy in their area — could have decimated local Mariella Superina, Las Palmas 3307, Vistalba, Luján populations of C. truncatus as well. de Cuyo (5509), Prov. Mendoza, Argentina. E-mail:
50 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 FIGURE 1. a. Two of the four giant anteaters seen foraging near each other, indicated by a white arrow. These two apparently ignored the presence of the others. 1b–1f. Sequence of the agonistic encounter (see text). Note (in Figure 1d) the raised forepaw of the aggressor.
Acknowledgements: CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Reference Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico) provided Shaw, J. H., Machado-Neto, J. and Carter, T. S. a scholarship to one of the authors (FLR) during this 1987. Behavior of free-living giant anteaters study. We thank Arnaud Desbiez for his comments (Myrmecophaga tridactyla). Biotropica 19(3): and English revision of the manuscript. 255–259.
Fabiana L. Rocha1, 2 and Guilherme Mourão2, 1 Pro- grama de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conserva- Chasing Behavior in Yellow Armadillos, Euphractus ção, Dept. Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Mato sexcinctus, in the Brazilian Pantanal Grosso do Sul, Brazil and 2 Embrapa Pantanal, Rua 21 de Setembro, 1880, C. P. 109, Corumbá 79320- 900, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, e-mail:
51 documented. This species is primarily solitary, except over 35 minutes. The threat of injury gives a fight during the breeding season and in the case of mother greater risk than a chase (see Loughry et al., 2002). In and young. Several yellow armadillos have also been fights between nine-banded armadillos, the combat- seen gathered around the carcass of a dead animal, ants balance on their hind feet and tails and claw at feeding on maggots and carrion (Moeller apud one another with their front feet; they also claw at the Nowak, 1999). sides of their opponents with their hind feet while rolling and flipping one another in a ventral-ventral On the afternoon of 27 October 2003, during field- position (McDonough, 1994). This fighting behav- work in the Brazilian Pantanal (18°59′S, 56°39′W), ior has not been reported in yellow armadillos, but it we observed three yellow armadillos chasing each may occur in a similar form. other through grassy scrub at the edge of a forested area. The animals were running at high speed in single In nine-banded armadillos, adult males and females file, less than a meter apart from one another (Fig. 1). are most aggressive during the breeding season. Male We witnessed similar behavior on 10 November 2004, aggression may ensure exclusive access to females as in which up to eight yellow armadillos were involved well as suppressing reproductive behavior by younger in a similar chase. Although the number of animals males. In females, aggressive behavior may be due actively chasing varied from moment to moment, as to competition for limiting resources during preg- many as eight individuals were seen together at one nancy and lactation, and may also stimulate disper- time, forming a single long and weaving line. sal of young from the previous year (McDonough, 1994). Female aggression has been associated with The animals continued this behavior for over an lactation in yellow armadillos (McDonough and hour, appearing and disappearing among the denser Loughry, 2003). vegetation in an area of no more than one hectare. We found several open-earth burrows nearby, located in During the breeding season male armadillos will the grassy scrub near the more densely vegetated area. avidly follow the females and, among nine-banded Several of the burrows showed evidence of recent armadillos, they will forage together for several days activity, with fresh dirt scattered at the entrance. (McDonough and Loughry, 2003). Male nine-banded armadillos may be polygynous, mating with two or Aggression in armadillos typically consists of chases, three females each breeding season, while females in which one animal displaces another by running generally mate with only a single male (McDonough after it, and of fights, in which chases lead to physi- and Loughry, 2001). In the three-banded armadillo cal contact (McDonough, 1994). During fieldwork (Tolypeutes tricinctus [Linnaeus, 1758]), an observa- in Alabama, USA, Breece and Dusi (1985) witnessed tion of one female followed by two males has been adult nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus recorded (Marinho-Filho apud Guimarães, 1997). Linnaeus, 1758) chasing juveniles on five occasions When the more distant male tried to approach the female, the closer male put himself between the female and the hopeful interloper. Whenever the farther male managed to get close to the female, her defender would jump onto the intruder, the two of them rolling and flipping one another across the ground (Marinho-Filho apud Guimarães, 1997).
It is unclear whether the chasing behavior we observed in these yellow armadillos may have a reproductive function — allowing access to a mate, or maintaining an exclusive mate — or to defend territories or food resources. As all the animals we observed were of a similar size, however, the chases we witnessed prob- ably had nothing to do with the dispersal of young. Both of these observations were made at the begin- ning of the rainy season, in October and November. The local people, the pantaneiros, believe that these FIGURE 1. Yellow armadillos (Euphractus sexcinctus) in full chase, chases involve several yellow armadillo males in pur- 27 October 2003, in the Brazilian Pantanal (18º59′S, 56º39′W). suit of females that are ready to breed, and so chasing Photo: Arnaud L. J. Desbiez. may be a way for males to compete for females. To
52 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 fully understand this behavior, however, will require more information on the sex, age and reproductive Extension of the Distribution of Cabassous status of the individuals involved. unicinctus in Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Acknowledgements: We thank Embrapa Pantanal for The southern naked-tailed armadillo, Cabassous their logistical support, and Guilherme Mourão for unicinctus, has been reported from northern Bolivia his useful comments and review of this manuscript. in the Departments of Pando, Beni, and north- ern Santa Cruz. The two southernmost localities Arnaud Léonard Jean Desbiez, Durrell Institute of for the species in Bolivia are both in Santa Cruz: at Conservation and Ecology (DICE), Department 16°40′S, 63°45′W, 80 km north of San Carlos, and of Anthropology, University of Kent, Canterbury, 14°45′S, 60°35′W, 52 km south of Campamento Kent CT2 7NS, UK, e-mail:
References Breece, G. A. and Dusi, J. L. 1985. Food habits and home range of the common long-nosed armadillo Dasypus novemcinctus in Alabama. In: The Evolution and Ecology of Armadillos, Sloths, and Vermilinguas, G. G. Montgomery (ed.), pp.419–427. Smithsonian Institution Press, FIGURE 1. An adult female southern naked-tailed armadillo, Cabas- Washington, DC. sous unicinctus, walking across an unpaved road. Guimarães, M. M. 1997. Área de vida, territorialidade e dieta do tatu-bola Tolypeutes tricinctus (Xen- arthra, Dasypodidae), num Cerrado do Brasil Central. Master’s thesis, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília. Loughry, W. J., McDonough, C. M. and Robertson, E. G. 2002. Patterns of anatomical damage in a population of nine-banded armadillos Dasypus novemcinctus (Xenarthra, Dasypodidae). Mam- malia 66(1): 111–122. McDonough, C. M. 1994. Determinants of aggres- sion in nine-banded armadillos. J. Mammal. 75(1): 189–198. McDonough, C. M. and Loughry, W. J. 2001. Arma- dillos. In: The New Encyclopedia of Mammals, D. Macdonald (ed.), pp.796–799. Oxford Univer- sity Press, Oxford. McDonough, C. M. and Loughry, W. J. 2003. Arma- dillos (Dasypodidae). In: Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia, Vol. 13 (Mammals II), M. Hutchins (ed.), pp.181–192. Thomson Gale, Farmington Hills, Michigan. FIGURE 2. Distribution of Cabassous unicinctus in Bolivia; the open Nowak, R. M. 1999. Walker’s Mammals of the World. circle represents the new locality reported here. (Original image Sixth edition. The Johns Hopkins University courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History, reproduced and Press, Baltimore and London. modified with permission of the AMNH Library.)
53 from Bolivia to date, all of which Anderson (1997) marine species, in particular the sharks and rays, of ascribes to the subspecific form C. u. squamicaudis which at least 20% are threatened with extinction. (Lund, 1842). Freshwater fish are in a far worse situation — of 252 species endemic to the Mediterranean region, On 3 March 2001, at 14:00 hrs, an adult female was a full 56% are now classified in threatened cat- observed walking across the unpaved road that runs egories. A total of 7,725 animal species are now from San Jose de Chiquitos to Tucavaca Field Camp recognized as threatened, including 12% of (Bolivia-Brazil gas pipeline), in the Department of birds, 32% of amphibians and 42% of turtles Santa Cruz at 18°05.723′S, 60°49.996′W (378 m and tortoises. asl). No measurements could be taken, nor were any special features evident (Fig. 1). The vegetation Of the 4,856 mammal species assessed, 1,093 (23%) of the area is Chiquitano transitional forest — dry were classified as threatened with extinction, of which forest transitional between the Chaco and Cerrado 583 are Vulnerable, 348 are Endangered and 162 are biogeographical provinces. Annual precipitation Critically Endangered, with an additional 70 Extinct is 800 mm and the average annual temperature is and four Extinct in the Wild. The edentates, fortu- 26°C. nately, contribute very little to these ominous totals: only six species are threatened, with another seven This sighting is a new locality for this species, and species classified as Near Threatened, two as Data extends its known distribution more than 300 km to Deficient, and 16 as Least Concern. the southeast towards the Bolivian border with Para- guay (Fig. 2). The most recently described edentate, the pygmy sloth Bradypus pygmaeus, is by far the most threat- Acknowledgements: Thanks to the American Museum ened, now classified as Critically Endangered. The of Natural History Library for permission to modify maned sloth (Bradypus torquatus) remains Endan- and reproduce Fig. 2, originally published as Fig. 514 gered, while Chaetophractus nationi, Dasypus pilosus, from Anderson (1997). Priodontes maximus and Tolypeutes tricinctus are con- sidered Vulnerable. Several species were downgraded Leonardo Maffei, Casilla 3800, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. from their prior status: the pink fairy armadillo (Chlamyphorus truncatus) changed from Endangered Reference to Near Threatened, the giant armadillo (Priodontes Anderson, S. 1997. Mammals of Bolivia, taxonomy maximus) moved from Endangered to Vulnerable, and distribution. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. (231): and both the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) 1–652. and the greater fairy armadillo (Chlamyphorus retusus) shifted from Vulnerable to Near Threatened. Some of these changes resulted from application of the most recently revised Red List criteria (IUCN, 2001) and may not reflect actual improvements to conditions in NEWS the wild. These most recent assessments are the result of the Edentates in the 2006 IUCN Red List 2004 Edentate Species Assessment Workshop, led by Dr. Gustavo Fonseca and with expert contributions from Agustín Abba, Teresa Anacleto, Adriano Chi- The IUCN/SSC 2006 Red List of Threatened Species arello, Erika Cuéllar, Paula Lara-Ruiz, Jim Loughry, was launched online in May 2006, covering a total of Dennis Meritt Jr., Flávia Miranda, Gustavo Porini, 16,119 species categorized as Vulnerable, Endangered Anthony B. Rylands, Rafael Samudio Jr., Mariella or Critically Endangered. There are now 784 species Superina and Sergio Vizcaíno. officially considered to be Extinct, with an additional 65 which exist only in cultivation or captivity. In Craig Hilton-Taylor, Red List Programme Offi- 2003, by comparison, the Red List included 12,259 cer, Species Survival Programme, 219c Huntingdon species threatened with extinction, with 762 officially Road, Cambridge CB3 0DL, UK, Gustavo A. B. da extinct and 58 lost from the wild. Fonseca and John M. Aguiar, Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, Conservation International, In addition to its broad coverage of terrestrial spe- 1919 M Street NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC cies, the 2006 Red List added assessments of selected 20036, USA.
54 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 TABLE 1. Conservation status and main threats to the extant edentates, based on the 2004 Edentate Species Assessment Workshop and the 2006 IUCN/SSC Red List of Threatened Species. All species have been assessed against the 2001 IUCN criteria. Species 1996 Status 2006 Status Primary Threats Bradypus pygmaeus NE CR B1ab(i,ii,iii) hunting, minimal range Bradypus torquatus EN A1cd EN B1ab(i,ii,iii) population fragmentation Bradypus tridactylus LR LC hunting, habitat loss Bradypus variegatus LR LC hunting, habitat loss Cabassous centralis DD DD habitat loss and degradation Cabassous chacoensis DD NT hunting, habitat loss Cabassous tatouay LR/nt LC hunting, habitat loss Cabassous unicinctus LR LC hunting, habitat destruction Chaetophractus nationi VU A1d VU A2d intense hunting and habitat loss Chaetophractus vellerosus LR LC hunting Chaetophractus villosus LR LC hunting Chlamyphorus retusus VU A1c NT intense persecution, habitat loss Chlamyphorus truncatus EN A1abcd NT habitat loss Choloepus didactylus DD LC hunting, habitat loss Choloepus hoffmanni DD LC habitat loss Cyclopes didactylus LR LC habitat loss Dasypus hybridus LR NT intense hunting and habitat loss Dasypus kappleri LR LC unknown Dasypus novemcinctus LR LC hunting Dasypus pilosus VU B1+2c VU B1ab(iii) habitat loss Dasypus sabanicola DD LC hunting Dasypus septemcinctus LR LC unknown Dasypus yepesi NE DD unknown Euphractus sexcinctus LR LC hunting, habitat destruction Myrmecophaga tridactyla VU A1cd NT hunting, fire, highway mortality, habitat loss, persecution Priodontes maximus EN A1cd VU A2cd hunting, habitat loss Tamandua mexicana LR LC fire, habitat loss, highway mortality Tamandua tetradactyla LR LC fire, hunting, habitat loss, highway mortality Tolypeutes matacus LR/nt NT hunting, habitat loss Tolypeutes tricinctus VU A1bcd VU A2bc hunting, habitat loss Zaedyus pichiy DD NT hunting, habitat loss and degradation
References coast of Costa Rica. We rescued our first orphaned IUCN. 2001. IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: infant sloth in 1992. Since then our focus has been Version 3.1. IUCN Species Survival Commission. primarily on rescuing and caring for both kinds of IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, sloths native to Costa Rica, Bradypus variegatus and UK. Choloepus hoffmanni. IUCN. 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Spe- cies.
55 a variety of threats caused by human intervention. As In addition, we will continue to study the behavior, word got around, more and more sloths were brought lifestyle, physiology and pathology of sloths through to the center: baby sloths falling from their mothers, research and the exchange of information. We hope to or orphaned because their mothers were killed — hit promote respect for sloths among people near and far, by cars, stoned or beaten by people, attacked by dogs, and we disseminate information on their importance or electrocuted when crossing power cables — as well to our environment, stimulating scientific and social as adult sloths that managed to survive such horrific interest in them with the support of those organiza- accidents, but were in need of medical attention, tions involved in, and responsible for, environmental food, rehabilitation, and/or long-term care. protection. In particular, we are working to expand our school-aged environmental education program Through the years we have compiled a consider- to include children not only from our immediate able amount of new information on sloth habitat, area, but from throughout Costa Rica and beyond, in behavior, nutrition, anatomy, physiology, patholo- order to bring a greater understanding of and admira- gies and reproduction, gathered from our own tion for these extraordinary and fascinating animals experience — much of it trial and error — as well as to the future generations of our world. feedback from others working with this remarkable animal. All of this gives us a great amount of practical We have invested considerable material and human and theoretical knowledge on both species of sloth resources into this purpose, and today, on the south- found in Costa Rica. ern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, we have 96 hect- ares of privately owned and protected primary and Our successes have encouraged us formulate a new secondary forest, plus a building housing a medical plan in our work with sloths: to become the first sloth clinic, nursery, a laundry room and a kitchen for the sanctuary focused on rescue, research and education. preparation of the sloths’ special diet. We also have a Our mission and vision are: separate building with an area for community out- reach and educational activities, and, most impor- Mission: tantly, the resident Bradypus and Choloepus sloths that “To consolidate our Sanctuary as an agency that pro- need us — and teach us — every single day. motes and implements the protection and rehabilita- tion of sloths in Costa Rica, through the observation, Over the years we have received many other ani- study, care and analysis of animals in recovery; to mals as well, which we have cared for to the best of promote actions that raise people’s awareness and to our abilities. Some of these animals have been suc- facilitate education in order to improve the welfare cessfully released into the wild; others have died or and quality of life of these two species.” have been relocated to other rehabilitation centers. We have treated two other species of edentates, the Vision: silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus) and the northern “To be an integrated agency operating for the protec- tamandua (Tamandua mexicana). Other species of tion and rehabilitation of sloths, especially through mammals which have been brought to us include study, research and exchange of knowledge that per- the mantled howler monkey (Alouatta palliata), mits the development of scientific information on the olingo (Bassaricyon gabbii), kinkajou (Potos flavus), species; to promote educational actions on the impor- jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi), margay tance of sloths in our habitat.” (Leopardus wiedii), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), Mexican hairy porcupine (Coendou mexicanus) and Our general objectives are, first and foremost, to paca (Agouti paca). We have also cared for a number rescue and rehabilitate sloths with special needs that of tropical birds, including rainbow-billed toucan are referred to our sanctuary, and to explore every (Ramphastos sulfuratus), chestnut-mandibled toucan alternative to improve their welfare and quality of (Ramphastos swainsonii), collared aracari (Pteroglossus life. Although many adult sloths have been reintro- torquatus), pomerine jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus), duced to the wild, we cannot do the same for the parasitic jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus), brown peli- orphaned infants which we rescue and hand-raise. can (Pelecanus occidentalis), and slaty-tailed trogon Until we are able to teach them how to survive in (Trogon massena). At this writing, one rainbow- the wild as well as a mother sloth, we must consider billed toucan and four kinkajous are still in residence alternative solutions, such as placing them on loan with us. to qualified institutions, either in Costa Rica or other countries, as ambassadors for the rainforests of Much still needs to be done. The clinic is in desper- the Neotropics. ate need of essential veterinary equipment, from basic
56 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 TABLE 1. Number of animals received from 1990 to December 31, 2005. (Numero de animales recibidos desde 1990 hasta 31 diciembre 2005.) Year Other Total For Year Choloepus hoffmanni Bradypus variegatus (Año) (Otros) (Total en el año) 1990 0 0 1 1 1992 2 0 0 2 1994 0 1 0 1 1995 0 0 2 2 1996 1 0 2 3 1997 2 1 1 4 1998 6 0 0 6 1999 4 3 3 10 2000 9 4 1 14 2001 9 2 0 11 2002 13 8 2 23 2003 17 4 2 23 2004 23 10 2 35 2005 37 13 13 63 Total 198
TABLE 2. Total population of animals in the sanctuary as of Decem- ber 31, 2005. (Población total de animales en el santuario hasta 31 Una Introducción a Aviarios Sanctuary diciembre 2005.) Aviarios del Caribe fue creado por Species Quantity Luís Arroyo y Judy Avey-Arroyo en (Especie) (Cantidad) 1972 con el propósito de proteger Choloepus hoffmanni 60 96 hectáreas de bosque tropical llu- Bradypus variegatus 15 vioso de la costa caribeña de Costa Miscellaneous other 5 Rica. En 1992 rescatamos al primer (mammals and birds) huérfano perezoso infante. Desde ese momento nos hemos enfocado principalmente en el rescate y cuido de las dos especies de perezoso propias de Costa Rica, el Bradypus variegatus y Choloepus hoffmanni.
supplies — stethoscopes, overhead lamps, surgical El interés nació no sólo de la ternura y la inspira- scissors — to expensive devices such as autoclaves, ción que producen estos seres vivos para quienes se centrifuges, and ultrasound and hemogram machines. toman el tiempo de apreciarlos verdaderamente; si no In the immediate future we will develop a protocol for sobre todo de la falta de información que existía con universities and researchers from around the world relación a ellos a pesar de ser una especie con antece- who would be interested in joining our medical team dentes históricos de adaptación y permanencia admi- to carry out research and education projects at the rables. El centro de rescate se empieza a conocer como sanctuary. We are committed to our continuing edu- Aviarios Sloth Sanctuary (Aviarios, Santuario de Pere- cation of the public, and to sharing information on zosos). El santuario también responde a la necesidad our progress so that our mission and vision become de educar a las personas acerca de estos animales y de a reality. proteger a los perezosos de las diferentes amenazas, especialmente relacionadas con la intervención del We invite anyone interested in learning more about ser humano. our project or sharing their experiences in the man- agement of sloths to contact us: Judy Avey-Arroyo, Con el pasar del tiempo han sido más y más el número Project Director, and Franscisco Arroyo Murillo, de animales referidos (ver Tabla 1); bebés que caen de Chief Veterinarian, Aviarios Sanctuary, 1 Km. Norte su madre o huérfanos a causa de la muerte de madres Puente Río Estrella, Penshurt, Limón, Costa Rica, atropelladas, agredidas a pedradas por personas, ata- or P. O. Box 569-7300, Limón, Costa Rica. E-mail: cadas por perros o electrocutadas por cables eléctricos,
57 tes y requieren de atención médica, alimentación datos e intercambio de conocimientos. Esperamos y cuidados. poder promover el respeto hacia los perezosos en el ser humano, y damos a conocer su importancia his- A través de los años hemos recopilado cantidades tórica en nuestro medio ambiente incentivando el considerables de información nueva acerca del hábi- interés científico y social hacia ellos, con el apoyo de tat, comportamiento, nutrición, anatomía, fisiología, los diferentes organismos involucrados y encargados patologías y reproducción, aprendido por experien- de la protección ambiental. En especial, estamos tra- cias propias — generalmente a prueba y error — así bajando para extender nuestros programas de educa- como la retroalimentación con otras personas que ción ambiental para alcanzar no solo a los niños de han trabajado con estos maravillosos animales. Esto áreas cercanas, sino de todo Costa Rica y el mundo nos brinda un gran conocimiento teórico y práctico para así tener un mayor entendimiento y admiración acerca de ambas especies para compartir. hacia estos extraordinarios y fascinantes animales en las futuras generaciones. Nuestro éxito en el trabajo con estos animales nos ha impulsado a reformular nuestra propuesta de trabajo Para el cumplimiento de los mismos hemos invertido para con los perezosos de una forma integral, cons- recursos materiales y humanos contando hoy en día tituyéndonos como el primer centro de perezosos en la costa caribeña sur de Costa Rica con un total enfocado en los temas de rescate, investigación y edu- de 96 hectáreas de bosque primario y secundario pro- cación con la siguiente misión y visión: tegido, una clínica para la atención médica y cuida- dos especiales, y una cocina para la preparación de la Misión: dieta especial de los perezosos, además de un espacio “Que nuestro santuario se consolide como un ente para la proyección comunitaria y educativa y lo más promotor y ejecutor de la protección y rehabilitación importante, los Bradypus y Choloepus que residen en del perezoso en Costa Rica; mediante la observación, el centro que nos necesitan — y nos enseñan — día el estudio, cuido y análisis de los animales en recu- a día. peración. Para promover procesos de concientización social y educativa en pro del bienestar y calidad de En los últimos años también hemos recibido muchas vida de estas especies.” otras especies de animales que hemos cuidado lo mejor que pudimos. Algunos de esos animales fueron Visión: liberados exitosamente; otros murieron o fueron tras- “Ser un centro integrado trabajando en la protec- ladados a otros centros de rehabilitación. Cuidamos ción y rehabilitación de perezosos, especialmente de otras dos especies de edentados, el cíclope (Cyclo- mediante el estudio, la investigación e intercambio pes didactylus) y el tamanduá (Tamandua mexicana). de conocimientos que permitan el desarrollo cientí- Otros mamíferos que fueron llevados a nuestro centro fico de estas especies. A la vez que se promueven pro- incluyen monos aulladores (Alouatta palliata), olingos cesos de educación e importancia de los perezosos en (Bassaricyon gabbii), micos de noche (Potos flavus), nuestro hábitat.” yaguarundíes (Herpailurus yagouaroundi), tigrillos (Leopardus wiedii), ocelotes (Leopardus pardalis), Nuestros objetivos generales son, en primer lugar, res- puercos espín (Coendou mexicanus) y pacas (Agouti catar y rehabilitar los perezosos referidos al Aviarios paca). También hemos cuidado de varias especies de Sanctuary con necesidades especiales y activar dife- aves tropicales, incluyendo tucanes (Ramphastos sul- rentes alternativas de ambiente que promuevan su furatus y R. swainsonii), arasaris collarejo (Pteroglossus bienestar y calidad de vida. Aunque se han reintrodu- torquatus), págalos pomarinos (Stercorarius poma- cido muchos perezosos adultos a su hábitat natural, rinus), págalos parásitos (Stercorarius parasiticus), no podemos hacer lo mismo con los perezosos huér- pelícanos (Pelecanus occidentalis), y trogones grandes fanos que rescatamos y criamos artificialmente. Hasta (Trogon massena). Al momento de escribir esta nota, poder enseñarles a sobrevivir en estado silvestre, tene- siguen bajo nuestro cuidado un tucán pico iris y mos que considerar alternativas — como entregarles cuatro micos de noche. en préstamo a instituciones calificadas, sea en Costa Rica u otros países, para que sean embajadores del No obstante, sabemos que aún nos falta mucho más bosque tropical lluvioso del Neotrópico. por lograr: el equipamiento de la clínica, por ejemplo. Entre nuestros planes para un futuro cercano está el Adicionalmente, seguiremos estudiando el comporta- desarrollo de protocolos para universidades e investi- miento, estilos de vida, fisiología y patología de los gadores de todo el mundo que estén interesados en perezosos mediante la investigación, recolección de formar parte de nuestro equipo médico para avanzar
58 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 en los proyectos de investigación y educación conti- – F. Delsuc and E. J. P. Douzery; 3. Morphology- nua, y sobre todo la oportunidad y la asesoría para based investigations of the phylogenetic relationships compartir públicamente nuestros avances para hacer among extant and fossil xenarthrans – T. J. Gaudin de nuestra Misión y Visión sueño cumplido! and H. G. McDonald. Part 2: Fossil Xenarthra. 4. Fossil history of sloths – H. G. McDonald and G. De Invitamos a todas las personas que deseen saber Iuliis; 5. Paleogeographic distribution and anatomical más sobre nuestro proyecto o que quieran compar- adaptations in Peruvian megatheriine ground sloths tir sus experiencias en el mantenimiento de perezo- (Xenarthra: Megatherioidea) – F. Pujos; 6. Evolution sos, a corresponder con nosotros: Judy Avey-Arroyo, of the Vermilingua: An overview – H. G. McDonald, Co-fundadora y Directora del Proyecto, y Frans- S. F. Vizcaíno and M. S. Bargo; 7. The evolution of cisco Arroyo Murillo, Veterinario Regente, Aviarios armored xenarthrans and a phylogeny of the glypto- Sanctuary, 1 Km. Norte Puente Río Estrella, Pens- donts – J. C. Fernicola, S. F. Vizcaíno and R. A. Fariña; hurt, Limón, Costa Rica, o P. O. Box 569-7300, 8. Form, function and paleobiology in xenarthrans Limón, Costa Rica. Correio electrónico:
59 the Bolivian Chaco – E. Cuéllar; 30. The natural his- 2006 and June 2007. If you are looking for a field tory of the pichi, Zaedyus pichiy, in western Argentina assistant, or have a colleague with a position available, – M. Superina. Laura would be glad to hear of it at
Three silky anteaters are now being successfully hand- raised and maintained in captivity. Two animals are Preliminary Organization of the First Conference currently being cared for in a zoo in the outskirts of on Xenarthran Conservation Lima, Peru. The Huachipa Zoo was able to rescue an orphaned male, now named Maximus, while he An informal group of xenarthran specialists and sup- was so young that he still had his umbilicus attached. porters is working to organize the First International Maximus was successfully weaned onto a formula Conference on the Conservation of Xenarthra, to developed by the zoo’s nutritionist and clinical staff be held in 2007 somewhere in Latin America. The (see Ledesma et al., this issue). At 14 months, he is proposal has awakened the interest of many field the longest-lived captive silky anteater on record. In biologists, conservationists, zoo biologists, and veteri- addition, a female was recently flown from the Peru- narians. Several sites have been considered with regard vian Amazon to the Huachipa Zoo for rehabilita- to their cost and accessibility, as well as the necessary tion. She was started on the formula two weeks ago infrastructure for a large conference. To date, Colom- and has adjusted well so far. A third animal has been bia, Argentina, Brazil and Peru have all shown inter- kept at the Aviarios Sanctuary in Costa Rica (see est in hosting the meeting, but the potential cost for Avey-Arroyo and Murillo, this issue). Email contact Latin American participants has made Lima, Peru the between the Peruvian and Costa Rican researchers most likely venue. has greatly facilitated the effort of rehabilitating the Central American individual. A fourth animal was We welcome all input, especially proposals of pro- rescued two months ago by a rehabilitation group gram themes for discussion. Please send your com- in Medellín, Colombia, but it died shortly thereaf- ments and ideas to Mariella Superina at
John Gramieri, Mammal Curator at the San Anto- nio Zoo, has recently been elected chairman of the Prospective Research Assistant for Sloth and Pangolin, Aardvark and Xenarthran Taxon Advisory Anteater Studies Group (PAX TAG) of the American Zoo and Aquar- ium Association (AZA). This TAG covers a number Laura Cisneros has recently graduated from Michigan of important taxa, each facing unique challenges and State University with a BS in Zoology and an inter- deserving of genuine progress. There is a great deal est in graduate studies, with an emphasis on ecology, of work as well as many exciting opportunities that evolution and animal behavior. Between now and will face the members of a new Steering Committee, graduate school, she would like to gain research expe- who will be elected from the Institutional Represen- rience with Neotropical mammals; she has a particu- tatives of interested AZA zoos. AZA’s Taxon Advi- lar interest in fieldwork with sloths or anteaters, and sory Groups serve as committees of expert advisors she would like to hear about projects focusing on any and provide a forum for discussing husbandry, vet- of these species. erinary, ethical and other issues that apply to entire taxa. In particular, they examine animal manage- Laura is currently in the field at the Cocha Cashu ment techniques based on scientific studies, help research station in Peru, assisting with a project on to develop animal care and husbandry guidelines, the ecology and behavior of spider monkeys. She will and establish priorities for management, research be available for future projects between September and conservation.
60 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 Conservation Project for the Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) — Zoológico de RECENT PUBLICATIONS Florencio Varela, Argentina and ARTIS Zoo, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Staff at the Zoológico de Florencio Varela (Buenos Books Aires, Argentina) have begun a cooperative project with the ARTIS Zoo (Amsterdam, The Nether- Ecologia e História Natural da Mata Atlântica, por lands) on the conservation of the giant anteater Athayde Tonhasca Jr. 2005. Editora Interciência, (Myrmecophaga tridactyla). The project has received Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. 198pp. ISBN 8571931305. approval from local wildlife authorities as well as the R$50,00. Após séculos de desmatamento, restam hoje Zoo Associations of Buenos Aires (AZBA), Argentina menos de 10% do conjunto de ecossistemas que con- (AZARA) and Latin America (ALPZA). The project stitui a Mata Atlântica. A acentuada redução de área, is recognized by the European Endangered Species aliada a sua imensa riqueza biológica e altos níveis Program (EEP) of the European Association of Zoos de endemismo, fazem da Mata Atlântica uma das and Aquaria (EAZA). The project entails develop- prioridades mundiais para preservação. Mais ainda, ment of a captive breeding program (a first birth took estes ecossistemas têm valor inestimável na presta- place on May 13, 2005), rehabilitation of animals ção de serviços ecológicos tais como armazenamento rescued from the wild, and the establishment of an de água, controle da erosão e ciclagem de minerais. educational center for the conservation of the giant Por estas razões, a Mata Atlântica representa rico anteater. Field research is part of the next phase. For patrimônio cutural, estético, biológico e econômico further information please contact Dr. Guillermo dos brasileiros. No entanto, apesar de oficialmente Pérez Jimeno, scientific advisor, at
61 academic libraries throughout the world, and will be Patterns of Behavior: Konrad Lorenz, Niko Tinbergen, a valuable resource for every biologist who works with and the Founding of Ethology, by Richard W. Burkhardt mammals. Available from: The Johns Hopkins Uni- Jr. 2005. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago. versity Press, 2715 North Charles Street, Baltimore, 648pp. ISBN 0226080900 (paperback, $29.00). This Maryland 21218-4363, Phone: (410) 516-6900, Fax: book traces the scientific theories, practices, subjects, (410) 516-6968. Orders: 1-800-537-5487, Fax: (410) and settings integral to the construction of a discipline 516-6998. More information online at
62 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 – J. C. Avise, p.76; 5. Integrating phylogenetic diver- of mammals contains more than 1,000 genera and sity in the selection of priority areas for conservation: approximately 4,400 extant species. Although much Does it make a difference? – A. S. L. Rodrigues, T. studied, the origin and diversification of the placen- M. Brooks and K. J. Gaston, p.101; 6. Evolutionary tals continue to be a source of debate. Here paleontol- heritage as a metric for conservation – A. Ø. Mooers, ogists Kenneth D. Rose and J. David Archibald have S. B. Heard and E. Chrostowski, p.120. Part 2: Infer- assembled some of the world’s leading authorities to ring evolutionary processes. 7. Age and area revisited: provide a comprehensive and up-to-date evolutionary Identifying global patterns and implications for con- history of placental mammals. Focusing on anatomi- servation – K. E. Jones, W. Sechrest and J. L. Gittle- cal evidence, the contributors present an unbiased man, p.141; 8. Putting process on the map: Why scientific account of the initial radiation and ordi- ecotones are important for preserving biodiversity – T. nal relationships of placental mammals, representing B. Smith, S. Saatchi, C. Graham, H. Slabbekoorn and both the consensus and significant minority view- G. Spicer, p.166; 9. The oldest rainforests in Africa: points. This book will be valuable to students and Stability or resilience for survival and diversity? – J. C. researchers in mammalogy, paleontology and evolu- Lovett, R. Marchant, J. Taplin and W. Küper, p.198; tionary biology. Two chapters in particular focus on 10. Late Tertiary and Quaternary climate change and the edentates: “Xenarthra and Pholidota,” by K. D. centres of endemism in the southern African flora Rose, R. J. Emry, T. J. Gaudin and G. Storch, and – G. F. Midgley, G. Reeves and C. Klak, p.230; 11. “Molecular evidence for major placental clades,” by Historical biogeography, diversity and conservation M. S. Springer, W. J. Murphy, E. Eizirik and S. J. of Australia’s tropical rainforest herpetofauna – C. O’Brien. Available from: The Johns Hopkins Uni- Moritz, C. Hoskin, C. H. Graham, A. Hugall and A. versity Press, 2715 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Moussalli, p.243. Part 3: Effects of human processes. Maryland 21218-4363, Phone: (410) 516-6900, Fax: 12. Conservation status and geographic distribution (410) 516-6968. Orders: 1-800-537-5487, Fax: (410) of avian evolutionary history – T. M. Brooks, J. D. 516-6998. More information online at
63 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA, Current status of knowledge — a review. Memo- Fax: 1-212-691-3239. General Address (Orders & rias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 99(7): 663–672. Customer Service): Cambridge University Press, 100 Carranza Castañeda, O. and Miller, W. E. 2004. Brook Hill Drive, West Nyack, NY 10994-2133, Late Tertiary terrestrial mammals from Central USA, Tel: 1-845-353-7500, Fax: 1-845-353-4141. Mexico and their relationship to South Ameri- Website:
64 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 and feeding in unrestrained three-toed sloths, Ontogenetic changes in scapular shape of dasypo- Bradypus variegatus. Brazilian J. Med. Biol. Res. did armadillos. Hystrix 11(1): 91–98. 37(10): 1557–1561. Morgan, G. S. and Lucas, S. G. 2005. Pleistocene ver- Ealy, M. J., Fleet, R. R. and Rudolph, D. C. 2004. tebrate faunas in New Mexico from alluvial, flu- Diel activity patterns of the Louisiana pine snake vial, and lacustrine deposits. Bulletin of the New (Pituophis ruthveni) in eastern Texas. Texas J. Sci- Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science 28: ence 56(4): 383–394. 185–248. Engeman, R. M., Martin, R. E., Smith, H. T., Nery, L. C. da R., Lorosa, E. S. and Franco, A. M. R. Woolard, J., Crady, C. K., Shwiff, S. A., Con- 2004. Feeding preference of the sand flies Lutzo- stantin, B., Stahl, M. and Griner, J. 2005. Dra- myia umbratilis and L. spathotrichia (Diptera: Psy- matic reduction in predation on marine turtle chodidae, Phlebotominae) in an urban forest patch nests through improved predator monitoring and in the city of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Memorias management. Oryx 39(3): 318–326. do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 99(6): 571–574. Estecondo, S., Codón, S. M. and Casanave, E. B. Nogueira, D. R., Pereira, V. S. and Santana, A. P. 2005. Histological study of the salivary glands 2005. The artificial termite mound: An alterna- in Zaedyus pichiy (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Dasy- tive feeder for anteaters. Intl. Zoo News 52(2): podidae). Int. J. Morphology 23(1): 19–24. 95–97. Fernandes, G. F., Deps, P., Tomimori-Yamashita, J. Novack, A. J., Main, M. B., Sunquist, M. E. and and Camargo, Z. P. 2004. IgM and IgG antibody Labisky, R. F. 2005. Foraging ecology of jaguar response to Paracoccidioides brasiliensis in natu- (Panthera onca) and puma (Puma concolor) in rally infected wild armadillos (Dasypus novem- hunted and non-hunted sites within the Maya cinctus). Medical Mycology 42(4): 363–368. Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala. J. Zool., Lond. Garcia, J. E., Vilas-Boas, L. A., Lemos, M. V. F., 267(2): 167–178. Macedo Lemos, E. G. de and Contel, E. P. B. Oliveira-Porpino, K. de, Cavalcante Ferreira dos 2005. Identification of microsatellite DNA Santos, M. de F. and Paglarelli-Bergqvist, L. markers for the giant anteater Myrmecophaga tri- 2004. Registros de mamíferos fosseis no Lajedo dactyla. J. Heredity 96(5): 600–602. de Soledade, Apodi, Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil. Horovitz, I., Storch, G. and Martin, T. 2005. Rev. Brasil. Paleontologia 7(3): 349–358. Ankle structure in Eocene pholidotan mammal Orr, C. M. 2005. Knuckle-walking anteater: A con- Eomanis krebsi and its taxonomic implications. vergence test of adaptation for purported knuckle- Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 50(3): 545–548. walking features of African Hominidae. Am. J. Kondrashov, F. A. 2005. The convergent evolution of Phys. Anthropol. 128(3): 639–658. the secondary structure of mitochondrial cyste- Pautasso, A. A. 2003. Aprovechamiento de la fauna ine tRNA in the nine-banded armadillo Dasypus silvestre por pobladores rurales en la fracción novemcinctus. Biofizika 50(3): 396–403. norte de los bajos submeridionales de la Provincia Lara-Ruiz, P. and Garcia-Chiarello, A. 2005. Life-his- de Santa Fe, Argentina (incluye aspectos relacio- tory traits and sexual dimorphism of the Atlantic nados a la producción y la conservación en este forest maned sloth Bradypus torquatus (Xenarthra: ambiente). Comunicaciones del Museo Provincial Bradypodidae). J. Zool., Lond. 267(1): 63–73. de Ciencias Naturales Florentino Ameghino 8(2): Lizarralde, M. S., Bolzán, A. D., Poljak, S., Pigozzi, M. 1–62. I., Bustos, J. and Merani, M. S. 2005. Chromo- Perea, D. 2005. Pseudohoplophorus absolutus n. sp. somal localization of the telomeric (TTAGGG)n (Xenarthra, Glyptodontidae), variabilidad en sequence in four species of armadillo (Dasypodi- Sclerocalyptinae y redefinición de una biozona dae) from Argentina: An approach to explaining del Mioceno Superior de Uruguay. Ameghiniana karyotype evolution in the Xenarthra. Chromo- 42(1): 175–190. some Res. 13(8): 777–784. Pereira, H. R. J., Jorge, W. and Costa, M. E. L. T. Lopes-Ferreira, R. 2003. Depósitos sedimentares em da. 2004. Chromosome study of anteaters (Myr- cavernas: Registros de vida passada. Bios (Belo mecophagidae, Xenarthra) — a preliminary Horizonte) 11(11): 39–52. report. Genetics and Molecular Biology 27(3): Medri, Í. M. and Mourão, G. 2005. Home range of 391–394. giant anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) in the Pinowski, J. 2005. Roadkills of vertebrates in Venezu- Pantanal wetland, Brazil. J. Zool., Lond. 266(4): ela. Rev. Brasil. Zool. 22(1): 191–196. 365–375. Prada, M. and Marinho-Filho, J. 2004. Effects of fire Monteiro, L. R. 2000. Geometric morphometrics on the abundance of xenarthrans in Mato Grosso, and the development of complex structures: Brazil. Austral Ecology 29(5): 568–573.
65 Redi, C. A., Zacharias, H., Merani, S., Oliveira- Thompson, A. K. 2004. Method for achieving a suc- Miranda, M., Aguilera, M., Zuccotti, M., cessful birth and weaning of a southern taman- Garagna, S. and Capanna, E. 2005. Genome dua (Tamandua tetradactyla) at the Cincinnati sizes in Afrotheria, Xenarthra, Euarchonto- Zoo and Botanical Garden. Proceedings of the glires, and Laurasiatheria. J. Heredity 96(5): National Conference of the American Association of 485–493. Zoo Keepers, Inc. 31: 107–114. Rose, K. D., Emry, R. J., Gaudin, T. J. and Storch, Wible, J. R. and Gaudin, T. J. 2004. On the cranial G. 2005. Xenarthra and Pholidota. In: The Rise osteology of the yellow armadillo Euphractus sex- of Placental Mammals: Origins and Relationships cinctus (Dasypodidae, Xenarthra, Placentalia). of the Major Extant Clades, K. D. Rose and J. D. Ann. Carnegie Museum 73(3): 117–196. Archibald (eds.), pp. 106–126. The Johns Hop- Vizcaíno, S. F., Farina, R. A., Bargo, M. S. and De kins University Press, Baltimore. Iuliis, G. 2004. Functional and phylogenetic Salas, R., Pujos, F. and de Muizon, C. 2005. Ossified assessment of the masticatory adaptations in meniscus and cyamo-fabella in some fossil sloths: Cingulata (Mammalia, Xenarthra). Ameghiniana A morpho-functional interpretation. Geobios 41(4): 651–664. (Villeurbanne) 38(3): 389–394. Voglino, D. and Pardinas, U. F. J. 2005. Roedores sig- Schappert, I. 2005. International Studbook for the modontinos (Mammalia: Rodentia: Cricetidae) y Giant Anteater Myrmecophaga tridactyla (Linné, otros micromamíferos pleistocénicos del norte de 1758). Eighth edition, 2001–2003. Zoo Dort- la provincia de Buenos Aires (Argentina): Recon- mund, Dortmund. strucción paleoambiental para el Ensenadense Sforzi, A. and Bartolozzi, L. 2004. Brentidae Billberg, cuspidal. Ameghiniana 42(1): 143–158. 1820 (Brentinae, Cyphagoginae, Pholidochla- van den Wildenberg, A., Nijboer, J. and Beynen, A. mydinae, Taphroderinae, Trachelizinae, Ulo- C. 2004. Feeding of the nine-banded armadillo cerinae) (Coleoptera, Curculionoidea). Museo (Dasypus novemcinctus) in captivity. Zoologische Regionale di Scienze Naturali Monografie (Turin) Garten 74(6): 358–364. 39: 19–828. Wilson, M. C., McDonald, H. G. and Hill, C. L. Silva, E. A., Rosa, P. S., Arruda, M. S. P. and Rubio, 2005. Fossil ground sloths, Megalonyx and Para- E. M. 2005. Determination of duffy phenotype mylodon (Mammalia: Xenarthra), from the of red blood cells in Dasypus novemcinctus and Doeden local fauna, Montana. Current Research Cabassous sp. Brazilian J. Biol. 65(3): 555–557. in the Pleistocene 22: 83–85. Simkin, S. M. and Michener, W. K. 2005. Faunal soil Zurita, A., Scillato-Yane, G. J. and Carlini, A. A. disturbance regime of a longleaf pine ecosystem. 2005. Paleozoogeographic, biostratigraphic, and Southeastern Naturalist 4(1): 133–152. systematic aspects of the genus Sclerocalyptus Springer, M. S., Murphy, W. J., Eizirik, E. and Ameghino, 1891 (Xenarthra, Glyptodontidae) of O’Brien, S. J. 2005. Molecular evidence for Argentina. J. South American Earth Sci. 20(1–2): major placental clades. In: The Rise of Placental 121–129. Mammals: Origins and Relationships of the Major Extant Clades, K. D. Rose and J. D. Archibald (eds.), pp. 37–49. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. Staller, E. L., Palmer, W. E., Carroll, J. P., Thornton, R. R. and Sisson, D. C. 2005. Identifying preda- MEETINGS tors at northern bobwhite nests. J. Wildlife Mgmt. 69(1): 124–132. Steadman, D. W., Martin, P. S., MacPhee, R. D. 2006 E., Jull, A. J. T., McDonald, H. G., Woods, C. A., Iturralde-Vinent, M. and Hodgins, G. Ecology in an Era of Globalization: Challenges W. L. 2005. Asynchronous extinction of late and Opportunities for Environmental Scientists in Quaternary sloths on continents and islands. the Americas, 8–12 January 2006, Merida, Mexico. Proc. National Acad. Sci. USA 102(33): 11763– This conference will be held at the Fiesta Americana 11768. Hotel in Merida and is co-hosted by the Universi- Tauber, A. A. 2005. Mamíferos fosiles y edad de la dad Autónoma de Yucatán and the Centro de Inves- Formación Salicas (Mioceno tardio) de la sierra tigaciones Científicas de Yucatán. Abstracts should de Velasco, La Rioja, Argentina. Ameghiniana address one of the meeting’s three subthemes: inva- 42(2): 443–460. sive species, human migration, and production. The
66 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 invasive species subtheme includes such topics as dis- information, see the Congress website at
67 principais: 1) reunir a comunidade de mastozoólogos be addressed to
2007
6th Zoos & Aquariums Committing to Conserva- tion Conference, 26–31 January 2007, Houston, Texas. ZACC is a bi-annual event that promotes the role of zoos and aquariums in supporting conserva- tion activities worldwide, both at their institutions and in the field. Conference participants include representatives from zoological institutions, interna- tional conservation organizations, local non-govern- mental organizations, government agencies, funding agencies and, most importantly, field biologists and conservationists. Presentations at the 2007 ZACC will highlight both ongoing projects and new initia- tives that offer opportunities for institutional support. There will be a major focus on field-based initia- tives that have already established links to zoos and aquariums, as well as promising candidates for such partnerships. In addition, the program will feature presentations related to the organization, manage- ment, and support of zoo-based and aquarium-based conservation programs. The full conference registra- tion fee ($195) will include icebreaker event, all ses- sions, breaks, lunches, conference proceedings, zoo day transport, zoo day lunch and dinner. All funds raised above conference costs will be allocated to the conservation fund for this conference. The deadline for submitting paper and poster abstracts is Septem- ber 1, 2006. Abstracts submitted electronically should
68 Edentata no. 7 • May 2006 NOTES TO CONTRIBUTORS
Scope News Items Edentata, the newsletter of the Edentate Specialist Please send any information on projects, field sites, Group, aims to provide a basis for conservation infor- courses, recent publications, awards, events, etc. mation relating to edentates. We welcome texts on any aspect of edentate conservation, including articles, References thesis abstracts, news items, recent events, recent publi- Examples of house style may be found throughout this cations, and the like. newsletter. Please refer to these examples when citing references: Submission Please send all submissions in English, Portuguese or Journal article. Carter, T. and Encarnação, C. D. 1983. Spanish to: John Aguiar, Center for Applied Biodi- Characteristics and use of burrows by four species of versity Science, Conservation International, 1919 M armadillos in Brazil. J. Mammal. 64(1): 47–53. St. NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036, USA, Tel: (202) 912-1000, Fax: (202) 912-0772, e-mail: Chapter in book. Wetzel, R. M. 1985a. The identifica-
Figures and Maps Articles may include small high-quality black-and-white photographs, figures, maps, and tables. Image resolution should be 300 dpi or higher in any of the following elec- tronic file formats: .jpg, .tif, .eps, .pdf, .psd, or .ai. We also accept original artwork, photos, or slides to scan and return to the owner. Please contact Kim Meek at (202) 912-1379 or via e-mail at
Edentata The Newsletter of the IUCN Edentate Specialist Group • May 2006 • Number 7
Articles
1 Situación de Los Edentados en Uruguay Alejandro Fallabrino y Elena Castiñeira 3 Edentates of the Saracá-Taquera National Forest, Pará, Brazil Leonardo de Carvalho Oliveira, Sylvia Miscow Mendel, Diogo Loretto, José de Sousa e Silva Júnior and Geraldo Wilson Fernandes 7 A Southern Extension of the Geographic Distribution of the Two-Toed Sloth, Choloepus didactylus (Xenarthra, Megalonychidae) Cristiano Trapé Trinca, Francesca Belem Lopes Palmeira and José de Sousa e Silva Júnior 10 The Illegal Traffic in Sloths and Threats to Their Survival in Colombia Sergio Moreno and Tinka Plese 18 Formulación de Dieta en Cautiverio de Serafín del Platanal (Cyclopes didactylus) en el Parque Zoológico Huachipa Alfonso Vargas Ledesma, U. Catalina Hermoza Guerra y L. Lizette Bermúdez Larrazábal 23 Registro de Medidas y Pesos del Tubo Digestivo de un Ejemplar de Chaetophractus villosus María Julieta Olocco Diz, Beatriz Quse y Gustavo Gabriel Gachen 25 A Range Extension for the Yellow Armadillo, Euphractus sexcinctus Linnaeus, 1758 (Xenarthra: Dasypodidae), in the Eastern Brazilian Amazon Fernanda Atanaena Gonçalves de Andrade, Marcus Emanuel Barroncas Fernandes, Maria Claudene Barros and Horácio Schneider 30 Research Questions on the Behavior and Ecology of the Giant Armadillo (Priodontes maximus) Dennis A. Meritt Jr. 33 A Reference List of Common Names for the Edentates Mariella Superina and John M. Aguiar 44 Field Notes 54 News 60 Recent Publications 65 Meetings