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Niche partitioning between two marsupials inhabiting the Yungas of Northwestern Argentina: overlapping diets in non-overlapping lifestyles?

  • Gabriel M. Martin EMAIL logo , Guillermo Omad and Nilton C. Cáceres
Published/Copyright: February 27, 2025
Mammalia
From the journal Mammalia Volume 89 Issue 3

Abstract

Marmosa rapposa and Thylamys sponsorius were captured in syntopy in the locality of Isla de Cañas Salta province, Argentina. We studied the stomach contents of 7 M. rapposa and 10 T. sponsorius and identified arthropods and plant material as the main items. Niche overlap was studied using the Pianka index. We found that arthropods were the most abundant items in both species (67 % in M. rapposa, 63.5 % in T. sponsorius), and plant material represented 29.6 % and 35.5 %, respectively. Insects were the main item in both species (45 % in M. rapposa, 58.5 % in T. sponsorius), while spiders were more abundant in the diet of M. rapposa (21.7 % vs. 5 % in T. sponsorius). The dietary overlap between the two species was high (91.1 %); a similar result was found between males and females of M. rapposa (74.2 %) and T. sponsorius (77.4 %). Non-parametric analyses using PERMANOVA and Principal Coordinate Analysis showed the same pattern, with broad overlap in the diets of the species. The coexistence of these two species may be due to temporal segregation (which we could not study) or different habitat use (more prominent palmar and plantar calluses in M. rapposa indicate a more arboreal lifestyle than that of T. sponsorius).

Keywords: New World marsupials; white-bellied wooly mouse opossum; buff-bellied fat-tailed mouse opossum; foot pads; stomach contents
Corresponding author: Gabriel M. Martin, Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica (CIEMEP), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) y Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia “San Juan Bosco” (UNPSJB), Esquel, Chubut, Argentina, E-mail:

Funding source: Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃ-fico e Tecnológico

Award Identifier / Grant number: 227-002573/10

Funding source: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃ-ficas y Técnicas

Award Identifier / Grant number: 12420150100122CO

Funding source: Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco

Award Identifier / Grant number: PI 841

Acknowledgments

C. Brand and T. Giarla assisted during fieldwork. A. Palavecino helped with seed identification. E. Watkins and M. Simeon provided economic support to GMM. CNPq-Brazil provided a research scholarship to NCC. Two anonymous reviewers provided suggestions that improved our original manuscript.

  1. Research ethics: Not applicable.

  2. Informed consent: Not applicable.

  3. Author contributions: GMM designed the study and field work, and collected the specimens. GO conducted laboratory analyses. GMM, GO, and NC analysed the data and wrote the manuscript. All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  4. Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.

  5. Conflict of interest: The authors state no conflict of interest.

  6. Research funding: This work was carried out as part of the projects PI 841 from Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia “San Juan Bosco”, and PIP 12420150100122CO 2011–2013 from Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas to GMM. The Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable de Salta allowed us to conduct fieldwork under the permits #100, Expte. N.º 227-002573/10 Cpde. 01. The Brazilian Council for Research (CNPq) supported NCC with a research grant (2023-2026) (Process number 309779/2022-7).

  7. Data availability: Not applicable.

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Received: 2024-11-08
Accepted: 2025-01-30
Published Online: 2025-02-27
Published in Print: 2025-05-26

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Conservation
  3. Tickell’s bat, Hesperoptenus tickelli (Blyth, 1851), in Sri Lanka with new records after 58 years and roosting ecology notes
  4. Ecology
  5. New ecological aspects of the pacarana (Dinomys branickii) in southeastern Peru
  6. Variation in mammal ecological patterns in response to seasonality in a Brazilian tropical dry forest
  7. Niche partitioning between two marsupials inhabiting the Yungas of Northwestern Argentina: overlapping diets in non-overlapping lifestyles?
  8. Characteristics of tree hollows used by Nilgiri marten Martes gwatkinsii in the Western Ghats, India
  9. How much do we know about wild canid (Carnivora: Canidae) ectoparasites in Mexico? Current state of knowledge
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  13. First record of Andersen’s leaf-nosed bat, Hipposideros gentilis, and hairy-faced myotis, Myotis annectans from Bangladesh
  14. Ethology
  15. Temperature and pups influence daytime roosting behavior of the great fruit-eating bat, Artibeus lituratus, in an urban southern Brazilian habitat
  16. Taxonomy/Phylogeny
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  19. Complete mitogenome of Prionailurus bengalensis alleni and taxonomic revisions of leopard cat subspecies
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https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2024-0160
Keywords for this article
New World marsupials; white-bellied wooly mouse opossum; buff-bellied fat-tailed mouse opossum; foot pads; stomach contents

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Conservation
  3. Tickell’s bat, Hesperoptenus tickelli (Blyth, 1851), in Sri Lanka with new records after 58 years and roosting ecology notes
  4. Ecology
  5. New ecological aspects of the pacarana (Dinomys branickii) in southeastern Peru
  6. Variation in mammal ecological patterns in response to seasonality in a Brazilian tropical dry forest
  7. Niche partitioning between two marsupials inhabiting the Yungas of Northwestern Argentina: overlapping diets in non-overlapping lifestyles?
  8. Characteristics of tree hollows used by Nilgiri marten Martes gwatkinsii in the Western Ghats, India
  9. How much do we know about wild canid (Carnivora: Canidae) ectoparasites in Mexico? Current state of knowledge
  10. First and new records of albinism and leucism in Jaculus orientalis and Jaculus jaculus (Rodentia, Dipodidae)
  11. Biogeography
  12. The first record of the long-eared hedgehog (Hemiechinus auritus Gmelin, 1770) in Lebanon
  13. First record of Andersen’s leaf-nosed bat, Hipposideros gentilis, and hairy-faced myotis, Myotis annectans from Bangladesh
  14. Ethology
  15. Temperature and pups influence daytime roosting behavior of the great fruit-eating bat, Artibeus lituratus, in an urban southern Brazilian habitat
  16. Taxonomy/Phylogeny
  17. On the phylogenetic position of Rhinolophus sakejiensis (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae)
  18. New geographical records of Phyllostomidae (Chiroptera) for the Brazilian Caatinga, with taxonomic notes
  19. Complete mitogenome of Prionailurus bengalensis alleni and taxonomic revisions of leopard cat subspecies
  20. Karyotype of the lesser gymnure Hylomys maxi and comparison with its Vietnamese congeners (Mammalia: Eulipotyphla: Erinaceidae)
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