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Diet of Sympatric Brazilian Caatinga Peccaries (Tayassu tajacu and T. pecari)Author(s): Fabio OlmosReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of Tropical Ecology, Vol. 9, No. 2 (May, 1993), pp. 255-258Published by: Cambridge University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2559300.

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2/5

Journal f TropicalEcology

1993)

9:255-258

SHORT COMMUNICATION

Diet of

sympatric Brazilian

caatinga peccaries

(Tayassu tajacu and T. pecari)

FABIO OLMOS

r. Antonio . Gandra182,

Sdlo

Vicente,P, 11390-250,

Brazil

KEY

WORDS:

Brazil, caatinga, competition,

feeding ecology, peccaries,

Tayassu pecari, Tayassu

tajacu.

Food habits

of the Collared

Peccary (Tayassu tajacu

Linnaeus) have been well

documented

in

the arid northern part

of its range, where it feeds

mainly on

succulent plants (summary

n

Corn & Warren 1985).

There is also

a substantial

amount of

information

n

the diet of both this species

and of the White-lipped

Peccary (T. pecari Link) in the forestedparts of their ranges (Bodmer 1989,

Enders 1935,

Kiltie 1981, Kiltie & Terborgh

1983, Leopold 1959).

Both species

seem

to be primarilyfrugivorous

n

rain forest reas, being able

to crack and

digest

hard

seeds

(Bodmer

1989).

The occurrence

of

both species

of peccaries

in

the caatinga,

the

vast

xeric

biome which

covers most of

north-eastern

Brazil

(Reis 1976),

has been

largely

ignored in the recent iterature

see Willig & Mares

1989), despite

the fact

that

at

least

T. tajacu was originally

widespread

and is well known

by

local people

even

in

the

driest

areas

(Sick

et

al.

1987).

Between

March and

July

1990

I

was able to

gather

data

on the food habits of

both species in Serra da Capivara National Park (around 08? 26' S, 42? 19' W),

a

1300

km2

reserve

n

south-eastern

Piaui, Brazil.

The area

has been

described

by Emperaire

(1989)

and

Olmos

(1992).

The

park

is covered

by

several

xeric,

deciduous plant

associations

from

dry,

open

woodland

to

thorn crub

with

cacti

and

terrestrialbromeliads.

The climate is semi-arid, with

a

variable

annual

precipitation

between

250

and

1270

mm

which

falls

unpredictably

between

September

and March. There

is

no

permanent

water

course, only

some

springs,

water-holes

and

man-made

reservoirs.The

study period

covered

the late

rainy

to

early dry

season of

1990, when

most

plants

had not

yet

lost their eaves

and

were either

flowering

r

fruiting.

Because

of the

tangled

vegetation, and nocturnal

habits

of the

peccaries,

the

best

way

to collect

data

was

to search for and follow

the tracks of

peccary


3/5

256

FABIO

OLMOS

groups, simultaneously ooking

for excavations, bitten

off

plants, cracked seed-

shells

and

half-eaten fruits

n the

way.

The

dry

climate allowed both

feeding

signs and tracks

to

be readily dentified

ven after ne month. The two

species

of

peccaries can be clearly distinguishedby their tracks. Those of T. tajacuare

small and elipsoid, while T. pecari eaves

larger

tracks which resemble

those of

a

goat.

Feeding records represent individual plants

which

provided

at

least

some

food; it was impossible to estimate the actual amount

consumed.

Both species were observed

to

be predominantly vegetarian (Table

1),

although T. pecari ppeared to possess the habit

of

turningup

fallen trunks

nd

rocks, perhaps searching for izards and

arthropods.

In

contrast

to

desert

pec-

caries (Corn & Warren 1985), succulentplants

formed minor tem

n

the

diet,

only the uicy stems

of

Ipomoea p. being recorded. Nevertheless, ocal

people

report heavy use of the succulent

herb

Portulaca

p. during

the

dry

season.

Despite using the same number

of food items there was

little

dietary overlap

between the species

(Morisita-Horn Index 0.3425). T. tajacuseemed to be

more generalist

n

nature,

feedingalmost equally on

roots,

tubers and seeds.

T.

pecari,

n

the other hand, fedmainly on roots, which supplied

80%

of their

diet,

and seeds.

The very hard seeds of

Manihot caerulescensPohl) Rog. et App.

were

an

important tem forboth species. These seeds accumulate under the

mother-trees

and are

available for up to six

months after seeding. The same is true for

Copaifera angsdorfiiesf. Manihot aerulescenss one of the commonest trees n the

region, with densities around 25

individuals ha-' (Emperaire 1987). It is most

Table 1. Food items consumed

by

Tayassu

ajacu and

T.

pecari

n

Serra da Capivara National Park,

the number

of times

they

were

recorded and

percentage frequency.

T.

tnajaic

T.

pecani

Plant Species

N % N

%

Vines

Ipornoea

p. (Convolvulaceae)

- -

1

1.5

Seeds

Alanihot

aerulescensPohl) Rog. et App. (Euphorbiaceae) 15

21.4 9 13.6

Copaifera

angsdoifii

esf.

(Leg. Caesalpinoideae)

3

4.3

-

-

Fruits

,Spondias

uberosa rruda

Anacardiaceae)

1

1.4

- -

Tubers

Ipoinoea

p.

(Convulvulaceae)

2 2.9

1 1.5

Aristolochia

p. (Aristolochiaceae)

-

-

3 4.5

Boelhaavia

coccineal

iller

(Nyctaginaceae)

22

31.4

-

-

Pentalostelima

p. (Asclepiadaceae)

4

5.7

- -

Roots

Pterodon

briiptus

Mart. ex Benth. (Leg. Papilionoideae)

-

-

1 1.5

Alanihot

aerulescensPohl) Rog. et App. (Euphorbiaceae)

7 10

13

19.7

Thliloa

lauicocarpa

ichl. ex Baill.

(Conibretaceae)

5

7.1

32

48.5

Swvarziafflneaennengiiaddi (Leg. Caesalpinoideae) 11 15.7

-

-

Desnmodiuminolle C. (Leg. Papilionoideae)

- -

4

6.1

Malvaceae n. id.

- -

2 3

N = 70

N

=66


4/5

Diet of Brazilianpeccaries 257

common over sandy, previouslyburnt

areas. Its amilaceous roots are also one of

the

main

food items of T. pecari.

The main food item of T.

pecari

s the fibrousroots of Thiloaglaucocarpa ichl.

ex Baill., one of the commonest trees in the region (density c. 70 individuals

ha-'). This species also benefits romhabitat disturbance, sproutingvigorously

after ires.Together with

Al.

caerulescens

t made up

70%

of the diet of T. pecari.

n

accordance with their food preferences,

oraging T. pecari eft holes larger and

deeper than those left by

T.

tajacu,usually

50-60 cm wide and 20-30 cm deep

(pers. obs.). This contrasts with the shallow excavations reported by Kiltie

&

Terborgh (1983) made by rain forest T.

pecari.

It is apparent that caatinga T. pecari

fed heavily on only a few of the com-

monest plant species

in

the region and

specialized in roots. Their stronger aws

and skull enable them to bite off nd

masticate hard items more effectivelyhan

T. tajacu Kiltie 1982), which feeds

more on softer lant materials.

A

reason for

feeding mainly

on roots

and tubers seems

to be the climatic instabilityof the

caatinga. Resources like fruits nd leaves are dependent on the unpredictable

rainfall regime and may not be produced

for years during the periodic

catastrophic droughts (Reis 1976).

The

only dependable

food resources

for

herbivores,besides succulent plants and dried shed leaves, are roots and tubers

(which store the nutritivereserves of

the plants) and

some

long-lasting

hard

seeds.

Both

species of peccaries seem

to share these resources with little dietary

overlap, thus avoiding competition.

Nevertheless, t is unclearwhythere was so little use offruits,which are most

common

exactly during

the late

rainy season,

and

why

the

abundant cacti were

not consumed. More studies are needed to verify he significance

of

these

items

for

caatinga peccaries.

Acknowledgements.

thank N.

Guidon,

A.-M.

Pessis,

N.

Parente,

A. V. L.

Freitas,

M.

Galetti and R.

Laps

for

their

help,

advice

and assistance

during

data collect-

ing and analyses,

and

writing

of

the

manuscript.

Two

anonymous

reviewers

greatly mproved

an

earlier draft f

this

paper.

This work

was funded

by

FUM-

DHAM

and CNPq.

LITERATURE

CITED

BODMER, R. E.

1989. Frugivory in

Amazonian

Artiodactyla:

evidence for the evolution

of the ruminant

stomach.

Journal f

Zoology,

ondon

219:457-467.

CORN, J. L. &

WARREN, R. J. 1985.

Seasonal food habits

of theCollared

Peccary

in

South

Texas.Journal

of

AMlaozmalogy

6(1):155-159.

EMPERAIRE, L. 1989.

vegetation t gestiondes

resouces

aturelles ans la Caatinga

cdu

ud-est

dii Piaui

(Bresil).

Editions de

L'Orstrom

TDM

52,

Collection

Travaux et

Documents Microedites, Paris.

445 pp.

ENDERS, R. K.

1935. Mammalian life

histories from Barro

Colorado Island,

Panama. Aluiseunif

Comzpgaratize

ZoologyBulletin,Harvard

78:385-502.

KILTIE, R. A. 1981. Stomach contents of rain forest peccaries (Tqyassu tajacu and T pecani). Biotropica

13(3):234-236.

KILTIE,

R.

A. 1982.

Bite

force

as

a

basis for

niche

differentiation etween rain-forest

eccaries (Tavassu

tajacu

and T.

pecari).

Biotropica 4:188-195.


5/5

258

FABIO

OLMOS

KILTIE, R. A. &

TERBORGH, J. 1983. Observations on the behavior of

rain

forest

peccaries

in

Peru:

why

do

white-lipped peccaries form

herds?

Zeitschriftfifer

ierpsychlologie

2:241-255.

LEOPOLD, A. S. 1959.

H/ildlife

f

Alexico. University of

California Press, Berkeley. 568

pp.

OLMOS, F. 1992. Serra da Capivara National Park and the conservation ofnorth-easternBrazil's 'caatinga'.

Orj'x

26(3):142-146.

REIS, A. C. 1976. Clima da

Caatinga.

Anais da Academfia

rasileira

de Ciencias

48:325-335.

SICK, H.,

GONZAGA,

L. P. &

TEIXEIRA,

D. M.

1987.

A

arara

azUl

de Lear

Anodorlynclus

eanri

onaparte

1856. RevistaBrasileira

de

Zoologia

3:441-463.

WILLIG,

M.

R.

&

MARES,

M.

A. 1989. Mammals of

the

Caatinga:

an

updated

list

and

surnmaiy

of

recent

research. RevistaBrasileira de

Biologia

49(2):361-367.

Accepted 7 December 1992

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