Activity and social interactions in a wide-ranging specialist scavenger, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), revealed by animal-borne video collars
Activity and social interactions in a wide-ranging specialist scavenger, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), revealed by animal-borne video collars
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pone.0230216
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发表时间：
2020-03-23
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Jones, Menna E.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Andersen, Georgina E.;McGregor, Hugh W.;Jones, Menna E.
直接在野外观察动物可以最准确地了解动物行为和资源选择。然而，对许多物种来说，长时间观察不受干扰的动物是困难或不可能的。为了克服这个问题的塔斯马尼亚魔鬼（Sarcophilus harrisii），一个神秘的和夜间的食肉动物，我们开发了动物传播的视频项圈，调查活动模式，觅食行为和社会互动。我们从2013年到2017年收集了13个魔鬼的173小时的镜头。魔鬼主要在夜间活动，休息是所有昼夜期间最常见的行为。魔鬼花更多的时间清除比狩猎和表现出机会主义和灵活的觅食行为。清除主要发生在自然植被，但也在人为植被和线性功能（道路和围栏线）。清除频率与大小成反比，例如，小尸体被清除最频繁。与同类的激动性相互作用最常发生在魔鬼旅行时，但也发生在尸体或洞穴上。互动一般涉及发声和简短的追逐没有身体接触。我们的研究结果突出了魔鬼作为塔斯马尼亚生态系统中的清道夫的重要性，不仅是大型尸体的魔鬼是众所周知的，但在清理小项目的腐肉在布什。我们的研究结果还显示了种内相互作用的复杂性，揭示了相互作用发生的背景下的更多细节。此外，这项研究表明，使用动物传播的成像在量化难以捉摸的，夜间食肉动物的行为，以前没有看到使用传统的领域方法的好处。
Observing animals directly in the field provides the most accurate understanding of animal behaviour and resource selection. However, making prolonged observation of undisturbed animals is difficult or impossible for many species. To overcome this problem for the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), a cryptic and nocturnal carnivore, we developed animal-borne video collars to investigate activity patterns, foraging behaviour and social interactions. We collected 173 hours of footage from 13 individual devils between 2013 and 2017. Devils were active mostly at night, and resting was the most common behaviour in all diel periods. Devils spent more time scavenging than hunting and exhibited opportunistic and flexible foraging behaviours. Scavenging occurred mostly in natural vegetation but also in anthropogenic vegetation and linear features (roads and fence lines). Scavenging frequency was inversely incremental with size e.g. small carcasses were scavenged most frequently. Agonistic interactions with conspecifics occurred most often when devils were traveling but also occurred over carcasses or dens. Interactions generally involved vocalisations and brief chases without physical contact. Our results highlight the importance of devils as a scavenger in the Tasmanian ecosystem, not just of large carcasses for which devils are well known but in cleaning up small items of carrion in the bush. Our results also show the complex nature of intraspecific interactions, revealing greater detail on the context in which interactions occur. In addition, this study demonstrates the benefits of using animal-borne imaging in quantifying behaviour of elusive, nocturnal carnivores not previously seen using conventional field methods.