The Imperiled Giant Anteater: Ecology and Conservation

Bertassoni, Alessandra; Desbiez, Arnaud Léonard Jean

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-821139-7.00217-8

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Existing knowledge on giant anteater sociality is based on brief reports and are primarily from observations on captive animals (del Valle Jerez & Halloy, 2003; Bertassoni & Milléo Costa, 2010; Eyer & Miller, 2020), with only limited data on the behaviour of free-ranging animals (Montgomery & Lubin, 1975; Shaw et al ., 1987; Bertassoni & Milléo Costa, 2010; Bertassoni et al ., 2021; Giroux et al ., 2021). From these, giant anteaters are described as mostly solitary in the wild except during the mating season where courtship behaviour has been observed (Shaw et al ., 1987; Braga et al ., 2010; Bertassoni & Desbiez, 2022). Our findings on the finer-scale interactions between individuals support these earlier works.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…; and ii) does giant anteater movement within their home range exhibit signs of social interactions (e.g., avoidance, attraction, correlated movement, etc.)? Currently, little is known about the socio-spatial ecology of giant anteaters (Bertassoni & Desbiez, 2022). Existing studies on free-ranging individuals have shown that home ranges can overlap within and between sexes (Bertassoni & Ribeiro, 2019; Bertassoni, Mourão & Bianchi, 2020), a few instances of mating and courtship behaviour have also been previously recorded (Shaw, Machado-Neto & Carter, 1987; Júnior & Bertassoni, 2014), however, these relationships are still poorly understood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such, we expected to observe a high amount of overlap between individuals with the potential for some amount of correlated movement. Likewise, because of the lack of a clearly defined mating season (Bertassoni & Desbiez, 2022), encounters were expected to be infrequent without any seasonal patterns. Findings are directly applicable for sustainable development as an integrated approach towards area-based management for the conservation of giant anteaters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The socio-spatial ecology of giant anteaters in the Brazilian Cerrado

Chhen,

Bertassoni,

Desbiez

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Movement is a key component of an animal’s life history. While there are numerous factors that influence movement, there is an inherent link between a species’ social ecology and its movement ecology. Despite this inherent relationship, the socio-spatial ecology of many species remains unknown, hampering ecological theory and conservation alike. Here, we use fine-scale GPS location data and continuous-time stochastic processes to study the socio-spatial ecology of 23 giant anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) in the Brazilian Cerrado. We found that individuals occupied stable home ranges with a mean area of 5.45 km2with males having significantly larger home ranges than females. The average amount of home-range overlap was low (0.20, n = 121 dyads), with no evidence that giant anteater home ranges were structured based on territorial, mate guarding, nor other social behaviour. We also identified a total of 2774 encounter events. Interestingly, both female-male and male-male dyads had significantly more encounters than female-female dyads, with two pronounced seasonal peaks in female-male encounters. Though encounters occurred frequently, associations between dyads were generally weak and there was little evidence of any correlated movement (mean amount of total correlation = 0.01). Collectively, these findings suggest giant anteaters are a solitary and largely asocial species that readily share space with conspecifics. Despite their present capacity to share space, the combined pressures of being condensed into smaller areas and decreased food availability due to increased pesticide use may see behavioural changes radiating throughout the population. Our study provides insight into heretofore unknown aspects of the socio-spatial ecology of this iconic, but understudied species, as well as crucial information for proactive area-based management. Ultimately, these findings contribute towards sustainable development while potentially maintaining the ecological integrity of giant anteaters and their habitats.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The socio-spatial ecology of giant anteaters in the Brazilian Cerrado

Chhen,

Bertassoni,

Desbiez

et al. 2023

Preprint

Self Cite

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No evidence of sex-related differences in the diet of giant anteater in the Brazilian savanna

Santana,

Attias,

Nascimento

et al. 2024

Mamm Biol

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The socio‐spatial ecology of giant anteaters in the Brazilian Cerrado

Chhen,

Bertassoni,

Desbiez

et al. 2024

Journal of Zoology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Movement is a key component of an animal's life history. While there are numerous factors that influence movement, there is an inherent link between a species' social ecology and its movement ecology. Despite this inherent relationship, the socio‐spatial ecology of many species remains unknown, hampering ecological theory and conservation alike. Here, we use fine‐scale GPS location data and continuous‐time stochastic processes to study the socio‐spatial ecology of 23 giant anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) in the Brazilian Cerrado. We found that individuals occupied stable home ranges with a mean area of 5.45 km2 with males having significantly larger home ranges than females. The average amount of home‐range overlap was low (0.20, n = 121 dyads), with no evidence that giant anteater home ranges were structured based on territorial, mate‐guarding, or other social behaviour. We also identified a total of 2774 encounter events. Interestingly, both female–male and male–male dyads had significantly more encounters than female–female dyads, with two pronounced seasonal peaks in female–male encounters. Though encounters occurred frequently, associations between dyads were generally weak and there was little evidence of any correlated movement (mean amount of total correlation = 0.01). Collectively, these findings suggest giant anteaters are a solitary and largely asocial species that readily share space with conspecifics. Despite their present capacity to share space, the combined pressures of being condensed into smaller areas and decreased food availability due to increased pesticide use may cause behavioural changes radiating throughout the population. Our study provides insight into heretofore unknown aspects of the socio‐spatial ecology of this iconic, but understudied species, as well as crucial information for proactive area‐based management. Ultimately, these findings contribute towards sustainable development while potentially maintaining the ecological integrity of giant anteaters and their habitats.

show abstract

The Imperiled Giant Anteater: Ecology and Conservation

Cited by 4 publications

References 37 publications

The socio-spatial ecology of giant anteaters in the Brazilian Cerrado

The socio-spatial ecology of giant anteaters in the Brazilian Cerrado

No evidence of sex-related differences in the diet of giant anteater in the Brazilian savanna

The socio‐spatial ecology of giant anteaters in the Brazilian Cerrado

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