How to translate text using browser tools
28 May 2019 Spatial and Temporal Variation in the use of Supplementary Food in an Obligate Termite Specialist, the Bat-Eared Fox
Keafon R Jumbam, Stéphanie Périquet, Fredrik Dalerum, Aliza le Roux
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

The bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis) is considered a termite specialist. However, studies of its diet have been limited to indirect methods, such as scat and stomach content analyses, resulting in intraspecific dietary variations due in part to methodological differences. Because diet plays a central role in the social dynamics of these canids, we hereby contribute further to our knowledge about their dietary habits. We present 2-year data of direct observations of foraging bouts of 19 habituated bat-eared foxes in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa, as well as data on seasonal variation in invertebrate prey communities obtained through pitfall and sweep net trapping. Despite showing a diet breadth reflective of a specialised forager across all seasons, foxes exhibited substantial seasonal variation in diet breadth with a broader range of food categories utilised in summer compared to the other seasons. Supplementary food categories appear to not have been utilised opportunistically, but it is unclear what drove the preference for some food categories over others. A literature review indicated strong effects of local conditions on the utilisation of supplementary food across southern Africa. Our data support bat-eared foxes as obligate termite specialists but highlight that they appear to have the ability to show dietary flexibility based on both temporal and spatial variations in food abundance.

Copyright © Zoological Society of Southern Africa
Keafon R Jumbam, Stéphanie Périquet, Fredrik Dalerum, and Aliza le Roux "Spatial and Temporal Variation in the use of Supplementary Food in an Obligate Termite Specialist, the Bat-Eared Fox," African Zoology 54(1), 63-71, (28 May 2019). https://doi.org/10.1080/15627020.2019.1596754
Received: 27 July 2018; Accepted: 13 March 2019; Published: 28 May 2019
KEYWORDS
diet breadth
food availability
Otocyon megalotis
seasonal variation
termite specialist
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top