The highest altitudinal record of the Mountain coati Nasuella olivacea (Gray, 1865) for Ecuador.

Pablo Medrano-Vizcaíno

doi:10.3897/bdj.6.e29160

Abstract

The Mountain coati Nasuella olivacea is a species of carnivorous mammal, several aspects of its ecology and natural history remain unknown. In Ecuador, its presence is reported in high Andean forest and paramo between 1,300 and 3,700 m a.s.l., being rare over 3,200 m. In this work, I present the extension of its altitudinal limit for Ecuador to 3,862 m a.s.l.; in addition, I report an event of a possible interaction between Tremarctos ornatus and N. olivacea.

Highlights

The Mountain coati Nasuella olivacea, known as cuchucho or andasolo, is a carnivore species that belongs to the Procyonidae family; it is very similar to the lowland coati (Nasua nasua), but a little smaller (Tirira 2017)
On 12 October 2017 at 11:47 am, in the Province of Tungurahua, Marcos Espinel Parish, Sunfopamba locality (-78.35196W, -1.13237S) (Fig. 1) while looking for direct and indirect signs of wildlife, I found Andean coati bones, in a paramo area at 3,862 m a.s.l., in a place surrounded by scrublands
It is important to add that coati bones were found near spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) faeces (Fig. 2)

Summary

Introduction

The Mountain coati Nasuella olivacea, known as cuchucho or andasolo, is a carnivore species that belongs to the Procyonidae family; it is very similar to the lowland coati (Nasua nasua), but a little smaller (Tirira 2017). Its diet is omnivorous, based on vegetables, fruits, vertebrates and invertebrates, showing a preference for the consumption of Coleoptera, Orthoptera, Myriapoda and Hymenoptera insects (Rodríguez-Bolaños et al 2000) It is a rare species and information about ecology and natural history is unknown, but it could be similar to Nasua nasua (Tirira 2017). According to the red book of mammals of Ecuador, it is a vulnerable species Main causes for this category are deforestation, expansion of the agricultural frontier, roadkills and hunting. In Ecuador, it is found in Imbabura, Carchi, Pichincha, Cotopaxi, Bolívar, Tungurahua, Chimborazo, Cañar, Azuay, Loja and Napo provinces (Vallejo 2017) In this manuscript, I present new distribution data for Ecuador and a possible feeding interaction between the spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) and N. olivacea. These data were obtained from fieldwork carried out by the Project Paisajes Vida Silvestre (Ministry of Environment of Ecuador)

Materials and Methods

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Discussion