Biology Faculty Articles
Title
Ecological and Biogeographical Inferences on Two Sympatric and Enigmatic Andean Cat Species Using Genetic Identification of Faecal Samples
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-2008
Publication Title
Molecular Ecology
Keywords
Andean mountain cat, Food habits, Genetic variation, Mountain vischacha, Pampas cat
ISSN
0962-1083
Volume
17
Issue/No.
2
First Page
678
Last Page
690
Abstract
The carnivore community of the altiplano ecosystem of the high Andes, including the Andean mountain cat (Leopardus jacobita) and pampas cat (Leopardus colocolo), is one of the least studied in the world. We determined the origin of 186 carnivore samples (184 faeces and two skulls) collected above 3000 m above sea level in northern Chile, including 33 from the Andean mountain cat and 75 from the pampas cat using diagnostic molecular genetic sequence variation. We determined for the first time food habits, habitat and physiographic associations, and general patterns of molecular genetic variation of the Andean mountain cat and the pampas cat in Chile. Both species had narrow dietary niches dominated by small rodents and there was a wide overlap in diet composition (0.82), suggesting low levels of prey partitioning between species. The mountain viscacha (Lagidium viscacia) made up a large proportion of the biomass of the diet of both species, especially for the Andean mountain cat (93.9% vs. 74.8% for the pampas cat), underscoring the importance of further research and conservation focus on this vanishing prey species. Although the probability of finding Andean mountain cat scats increased with altitude and slope, there was substantial geographical overlap in distribution between species, revealing that the pampas cat distribution includes high-altitude grassland habitats. The Andean mountain cat had relatively low levels of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genetic variation (two mtDNA haplotypes) compared with the pampas cat (17 mtDNA haplotypes), suggestive of a distinct evolutionary history and relatively smaller historic populations. These insights will facilitate and provide tools and hypotheses for much-needed research and conservation efforts on these species and this ecosystem.
Additional Comments
NSF grant #: DEB-0072909; National Cancer Institute contract #: N01-CO-12400
NSUWorks Citation
Napolitano, Constanza; Magdalena Bennett; Warren E. Johnson; Stephen J. O'Brien; Pablo A. Marquet; Ivan Barria; Elie Poulin; and Agustin Iriarte. 2008. "Ecological and Biogeographical Inferences on Two Sympatric and Enigmatic Andean Cat Species Using Genetic Identification of Faecal Samples." Molecular Ecology 17, (2): 678-690. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cnso_bio_facarticles/519
ORCID ID
0000-0001-7353-8301
ResearcherID
N-1726-2015
Comments
©2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.