Abstract

SANTOS-MORENO, Antonio  and  SANTIAGO-MARCIAL, Aremi E. Activity area and movements of Liomys irroratus (Rodentia: Heteromyidae) in semideciduos tropical forest of Tuxtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodiv. [online]. 2012, vol.83, n.2, pp.496-502. ISSN 2007-8706.

We estimated the movements and activity area of the spiny pocket-mice Liomys irroratus in a semideciduos tropical forest at the southeastern of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Males have larger activity areas than females (126 m² vs. 21.1), also, in the rainy season these were higher than in the dry season, but in this case the differences were not statistically significant. The annual average size of the activity area for all individuals in the population was of 87.48 m². Males showed no overlap in their activity areas with other males, while between females and between members of different sexes this was low. Males showed average travel distances larger than females (69.31 m vs. 33). In the rainy season individuals moved significantly more than in the dry season (58.12 m vs. 44.19). The size of activity areas of the females showed a significant and inverse correlation with the number of trees and shrubs, and these areas had higher number of cavities and greater slope that those occupied by males. The results suggest that the species has a polygamous breeding system, where the territory is held until the beginning of the breeding season.

Keywords : Heteromyidae; territoriality; activity area.