Unknown scavenging habits of an elusive tropical Andean mammal

Abstract

There is a significant gap in knowledge regarding the basic ecology of many mammal species that inhabit the Neotropical region. The mountain paca (Cuniculus taczanowskii) is an elusive Neotropical rodent, catalogued as “Near Threatened” by the IUCN and whose ecology is largely unknow. To better understand its dietary ecology, we first conducted a literature review on its diet, determining it as primarily herbivorous-frugivorous. However, through a field experiment using photo-trapping in the Madrigal del Podocarpus Reserve (southern Ecuador) to identify the vertebrate scavenger assemblage, we documented for the first time, an unexpected behaviour of this species consuming a significant amount of carrion. This unexpected finding challenges previous assumptions about the mountain paca's diet and raises important questions about its ecological role and the importance of carrion in ecosystems. Our study underscores the need to further explore carrion ecology and its significance in the understudied and biodiverse tropical Andes.