Abstract
Abstract: Unusual movements of an animal can potentially represent a dispersal event. A higher frequency of young males dispersing is a pattern observed for most part of polygynous or promiscuous mammals with these dispersion events occurring, mainly, before or at the beginning of the breeding season. The water opossum (Chironectes minimus), the only marsupial adapted for semi-aquatic life, occurs from Mexico to Argentina and it has been mostly described as a sensitive species to river and riparian vegetation degradation, occurring exclusively near water curses. Here we describe the first record of long-distance movement of a water opossum not associated with riverine vegetation through dry land. We captured a healthy adult male of C. minimus in July 2012 beside of a highway (DF-001) located 1,100 m from nearest gallery forest in the Federal District. The region is characterized by urban and suburban residential, small fragments of typical savanna and degraded gallery forests. Our unique record could be an event of dispersion through degraded dry lands as observed for other semi-aquatic mammals and also suggests that this species is more resistant to anthropogenic disturbances than previously described. Also, information about dispersal patterns of water opossum is scarce and may contributes to a deeper understanding of ecological requirements of this species.
Highlights
Dispersal events, which may be defined as the movement and subsequent breeding of individuals from one area to another, play a crucial role on the population dynamics (Ramakrishnan 2008)
Adequate information about dispersal of elusive species is not obtained. This is the case of the water opossum or yapok (Chironectes minimus, Zimmerman 1790) (Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae), an uncommon nocturnal small mammal (Galliez et al 2009), which is the only known marsupial, fossil or living, adapted for semi-aquatic life (Brandão et al 2015, Damasceno & Astúa 2016)
Like other semi-aquatic mammals, C. minimus displays numerous adaptations associated to this lifestyle as streamlined body shape, slightly flattened tail, large webbed hind feet, enlarged pisiform in the manus, dense and water-resistant pelage, and a well-developed pouch in both sexes
Summary
Dispersal events, which may be defined as the movement and subsequent breeding of individuals from one area to another, play a crucial role on the population dynamics (Ramakrishnan 2008). Adequate information about dispersal of elusive species is not obtained This is the case of the water opossum or yapok (Chironectes minimus, Zimmerman 1790) (Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae), an uncommon nocturnal small mammal (Galliez et al 2009), which is the only known marsupial, fossil or living, adapted for semi-aquatic life (Brandão et al 2015, Damasceno & Astúa 2016). The water opossum feeds on fishes, crustaceans, insects, and occasionally on frogs and bats (Santori et al 2006, Breviglieri & Pedro 2010) It is nocturnal and solitary (Galliez et al 2009), with the breeding season beginning in June and extending to February (Fernandez et al 2015).
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