2009/09/01 by R. Andriatsimietry, Steven M. Goodman, Emilienne Razafimahatratra +3 · 2 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · Psychology · #Arid #Biology #Biomass (ecology) #Competition (biology) #Dry season #Ecology #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Guild #Habitat #Invertebrate #Predation #Primate Behavior and Ecology #Sympatry #Wet season #Wildlife Ecology and Conservation #Zoology
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00633.x
openalex publication_date 2009/09/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
Abstract We describe the diet of Grandidier's Vontsira Galidictis grandidieri (family Eupleridae), one of the rarest carnivorans in the world and restricted to an area of 400 km 2 in the spiny forest of south‐western Madagascar. From May 2006 to May 2007, 342 G. grandidieri scats were collected in the Parc National de Tsimanampetsotsa – 256 faecal samples in the dry season and 86 in the wet season. In total, 886 prey items were identified from these scats. Invertebrates (principally large cockroaches of the genus Gromphadorhina ) were the most frequently eaten prey. Even though vertebrates comprised only 8 and 17% of prey individuals in the diet of G. grandidieri during the dry and wet seasons, they contributed 58 and 80% of the prey biomass in each season, respectively. About 90% of all prey consumed had body masses below 10 g. This is well below the weight of the prey consumed by Cryptoprocta ferox , the only native carnivoran occurring in sympatry with G. grandidieri , making competition for food between the two species unlikely.