Feeding habits of Molina's hog-nosed skunk, Conepatus chinga (Carnivora: Mephitidae) in the extreme south of Brazil

Felipe Bortolotto Peters,Paulo Ricardo De Oliveira Roth,Alexandre Uarth Christoff

doi:10.1590/s1984-46702011000200006

Abstract

Feeding habits of the Molina's hog-nosed skunk, Conepatus chinga (Molina, 1782) in the extreme south of Brazil. We analyzed 60 stomachs of road-kills of C. chinga in the extreme south of Brazil. The contents revealed 808 prey parts, including invertebrates (frequency of occurrence - FO = 96.7% and relative abundance - RA = 94.7%), vertebrates (FO = 18.3% and RA = 2.8%) and plants (FO = 31.7% and RA = 2.3%). We identified 18 kinds of food, including the invertebrate order Coleoptera which showed the highest FO (86.7%) and RA (75.2%). Other important orders were Orthoptera (FO = 35% and RA = 10.4%) and Araneae (FO = 41.7% and RA = 4%). The combination of occurrence and abundance of the preys consumed allowed classifying C. chinga as an omnivorous with a predominance of insects, especially Coleoptera, consuming other invertebrates, vertebrates and plants in smaller numbers. Behavioral and morphological adaptations of C. chinga favor the predation of insects, which are preys that offer low physical resistance and are available in all terrestrial environments.

Highlights

Conepatus Gray, 1973 comprises four species (WOZENCRAFT 2005), which are popularly known as skunks and distributed from the north of the United States to southern Argentina and Chile (VAN GELDER 1968)
Two species occur in Brazil: Conepatus semistriatus (Boddaert, 1785) which is restricted to the Caatinga, Cerrado and Pantanal biomes (BORGES & TOMAS 2004, CHEIDA et al 2006); and Conepatus chinga (Molina, 1782), which has occurrences in the Pampa and Atlantic Forest biomes (DE VIVO & GREGORIN 2001, CIMARDI 1996, CÁCERES 2004)
Conepatus chinga is very common in the extreme south of Brazil, where it is usually associated with landscapes composed of grasslands intercalated with forest islands and riparian forests

Summary

Introduction

Conepatus Gray, 1973 comprises four species (WOZENCRAFT 2005), which are popularly known as skunks and distributed from the north of the United States to southern Argentina and Chile (VAN GELDER 1968). The present study aimed to investigate the trophic niche, and to identify the most important prey in the diet of C. chinga from a sample of road-kill specimens from southern Brazil.

Results

Conclusion