Publication: Growth and home range size of the gracile mouse opossum Gracilinanus microtarsus (Marsupialia: Didelphidae) in Brazilian cerrado
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Graduate program
Undergraduate course
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Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Type
Article
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Acesso aberto
Abstract
Differences in growth patterns between the sexes of the gracile mouse opossum Gracilinanus microtarsus and the consequences for home range size were investigated in a savanna habitat (cerrado) of south-eastern Brazil. A total of 51 juvenile individuals of Gracilinanus microtarsus was monitored using capture-mark-recapture from November 2005 to August 2006. The increase in body mass of gracile mouse OPOSSUMS was described using the Gompertz growth model. Male gracile mouse OPOSSUMS grew faster than females (dimorphic ratio of 1.5). Home range size. estimated with the minimum convex polygon method. was positively related to body mass. Model selection Using Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC(c)) and incorporating body mass, sex and season as independent variables showed that the best-supported model describing variance in home range sizes included only body Mass. Our data suggest that a greater body Mass gain in juvenile males is probably the proximate cause of sexual dimorphism ill adult. gracile mouse OPOSSUMS and that energetic needs required for growth have a greater influence ill home range size.
Description
Keywords
body mass, cerrado, growth, home range, marsupial, population ecology
Language
English
Citation
Journal of Tropical Ecology. New York: Cambridge Univ Press, v. 26, p. 185-192, 2010.
