Diet of small mammals in Atlantic Forest fragments in southeastern Brazil

Martins Vilar de Carvalho, FábioSoares Pinheiro, PaulaAntonio dos Santos Fernandez, FernandoLuís Nessimian, Jorge

Diet of six species of small mammals (five marsupials and one rodent) was studied through analysing a total of 163 fecal samples obtained from live-trapping in Atlantic Forest fragments at Poço das Antas, Brazil, 1995-1999. For the marsupial Micoureus demerarae the most frequent food itens were arthropods from the orders Coleoptera and Hymenoptera, pupae and larvae of Diptera and Lepidoptera, and seeds of plants from secondary vegetation; freshwater crustaceans were also recorded. Caluromys philander also consumed mostly Coleoptera, Hymenoptera and seeds from secondary plants, but seeds were less diverse, more frequent and more abundant than for M. demerarae. Patterns recorded for the remaining marsupials included the importance of termites for Metachirus nudicaudatus, presence of a vertebrate (rodent) only for Philander frenata, and a diverse diet for Didelphis aurita despite a small sample size. The diet of the sixth species, Akodon cursor, included mostly insects and arachnids with seeds in lowerfrequency.