Comportamento reprodutivo e territorialidade de tocas do tatu- bolinha (Tolypeutes matacus)

Abstract

The armadillos (Cingulata) are, in general, poorly known and basic information about their biology and ecology is almost inexistent for most species. Information about spatial ecology and the mating behavior of free-living species enable the elaboration of more efficient conservation plans. Hence, this study proposes to describe the repertory of mating behaviors of three-banded armadillos (Tolypeutes matacus) in free-living individuals and the spatial use of burrow territory. The work is presented in two chapters. In the first chapter, we aim to describe behavioral aspects of the mating biology of the species, by the focal group’s direct observations. For this, females were monitored through VHF radio telemetry. During the monitoring, at least 4 females entered in the estrous. The following behavioral and physiological repertories associated with mating were recorded: the chasing “rallies” of males to females in the estrous, agonistic disputes among males to the access to a receptive female, implantation of copulatory plugs in the female’s genitalia after the copulation, being the first record of copulatory plugs in armadillos, according to our knowledge. The observed behaviors allowed the following conclusions: the occurrence of intense competition among males to obtain reproductive success; the confirmation of a promiscuous mating system for the species; females have a control strategy to stop copulation at any time, they start running or enter a burrow; and the presence of the copulatory plug as a strategy of male ́s passive guard to obtain exclusive access to the female. The second chapter focus on the discussion of the spatial dynamics of the burrow territory of female Tolypeutes matacus. Through the tracking of adult and juvenile females fitted with VHF radio, it was obtained the locations of burrows used during rest. From the data obtained, it was calculated the size of burrow territories, through the estimator MCP 95%. Then, it was calculated the overlap index of burrow territory between pairs of neighboring individuals. In addition, it was possible to record information on the longevity of three-banded armadillos on the study area. For this objective, photos of cephalic shield of all armadillos captured in this study were compared with those of a previous study, in 2015, confirming the recapture of four individuals. Regarding burrow territories, we observed that the monitored females preferably keep exclusive areas in relation to other females. Additionally, we conclude that the three-banded armadillo live more than seven years in the wild.