Abstract
Abstract We investigate the potential flaws of estimating animal home range using indexes based on distance between captures as proposed by Puttker et al. (2012, Journal of Mammalogy 93:115–123). Through simulated capture distributions we demonstrated that distance indexes are inherently correlated with home-range estimates derived from the same data set. We also arrived at a similar conclusion using a real capture data set from the spiny rat (Thrichomys pachyurus). However, distance indexes were not correlated to home range based on radiotelemetry for the same individuals of T. pachyurus. Our results strongly support that the conclusions presented by Puttker et al. (2012) were due to statistical dependence between correlated measures and that these indexes might not represent the biological phenomenon of interest—the home range.
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