Population ecology of Chaetophractus vellerosus: the first report for an armadillo in South America

By

Abba, Agustín M.
Benitez, Veronica V.
Doyle, Santiago R.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2017-10-12

Original Publication

NeoBiota : advancing research on alien species and biological invasions

Volume

34

Pages

1--7

Subjects

Argentina , capture probability , CMR , screaming hairy armadillo , survival rates

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sophia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zoologia.34.e20785

 

Abstract

The aim of this work was to obtain the first estimates of survival rates (S), capture probability (p) and life expectancy for armadillos in South America by analyzing capture-mark-recapture data obtained from a population of Chaetophractus vellerosus (Gray, 1865) located in Magdalena, Buenos Aires, Argentina. From June 2006 to June 2011, we conducted 16 field surveys that resulted in 365 capture events of 152 adult C. vellerosus. For the survival analysis we used a Cormack-Jolly-Seber (CJS) modelling framework. Interannual variation in S made an important contribution to overall variation in the survival rate of C. vellerosus. The average life expectancy for females and males after attaining sexual maturity was estimated at 1.70 and 1.65 years respectively. The period of lowest survival probability was associated with dry seasons that might have affected the availability of food. This study provides the first estimates of demographic parameters for xenarthrans in South America.