Eira barbara

7.

Tayra

Eira barbara

French: Tayra / German: Tayra / Spanish: Taira

Taxonomy. Mustela barbara Linnaeus, 1758,

“ Pernambuco ”, Brazil.

Seven subspecies are recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

E. b. barbara Linnaeus, 1758 — Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.

E. b. inserta J. A. Allen, 1908 — El Salvador and Honduras to Costa Rica.

E. b. madeirensis Lonnberg, 1913 — W Brazll, E Ecuador, and NE Peru.

E. b. peruana Tschudi, 1844 — Amazonian Bolivia and SE Peru.

E. b. poliocephala Traill, 1821 — the Guianas, E Venezuela, and lower Amazon Basin.

E. b. senex Thomas, 1900 — Mexico to Guatemala.

E. b. sinuensis Humboldt, 1812 — Panama to Colombia, W Ecuador, W Venezuela, and Trinidad.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 55.9-71.2 cm, tail 36-5—- 46 cm; weight 2.7-7 kg, adult males are 30% larger than females. The Tayra is large and slender, with elongated limbs and a long brushy tail. The pelage is dark, but the head and neck are grayish or grizzled tan. In Guyana, a yellow morph also occurs. The feet have naked soles and strong claws. Dental formula: 13/3, C 1/1, P 3/3-4, M 1/1-2 = 34. Thefirst premolars are missing, although the upper first premolar is sometimes retained.

Habitat. Tayras are found in tropical and subtropical forests, including secondary rainforests, gallery forests, cloud forests, and dry scrub forests. They sometimes occur in gardens, plantations, and in agricultural fields. Tayras may hunt in grasslands, although much of their time is spent in forested areas. In the Ilanos of Venezuela, Tayras are usually found along gallery forests; at night, they may cross extensive grasslands, presumably moving from one forest to another. In Veracruz, Mexico, Tayras generally are restricted to forested habitats. They are found in the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil, in deciduous and scrub forest of the Pantanal in Paraguay and Bolivia, and in gallery and scrub forest and tall grass savannas in Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. In Belize, no significant habitat preference was found for the Tayra.

Food and Feeding. The diet includes fruits, small vertebrates, insects, and carrion. In Venezuela, three species of vertebrate (Echimys semivillous, Rhipidomys sp., and Iguana iguana) and four species of fruit (Genipa americana, Zanthozylum culantrillo, Guazuma tomentosa, and Psychotria anceps) were recorded from 18 scats; both FE. semivillous and G. americana were found in 50% of the scats. In Belize, four species of small mammals were found in 31 scats: Didelphis marsupialis (9-6%), Oryzomys palustris (22-5%), Sigmodon hispidus (32:3%), and Rattus rattus (29-0%). In addition, 19-4% small birds, 58-0% arthropods, and 67-7% fruit were found. The primary fruit eaten was Calocarpum mammosum. Additional fruits consumed included Cecropia mexicana, Astrocaryum standleyanum, and Spondias mombin. Prey and other foods are detected primarily by smell, as its eyesight is relatively poor. Prey are captured after persistent chases; the Tayra does not stalk or ambush prey.

Activity patterns. Primarily diurnal, with peaks of activity in the early morning and late afternoon. On occasion, some nocturnal activity may occur, especially near human habitations. Rest sites are in hollow trees or underground burrows.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Tayras spend a large proportion of their time foraging or resting in trees. They are normally solitary, but adult pairs and small groups, consisting of a female with her young, are sometimes seen. In the Ilanos of Venezuela, a female with two young maintained a home range of 2: 25 km * around a den until the pups were about three months old, after which her range expanded to almost 9 km *. Upon expansion of her home range and weaning of the young, the female used new dens daily that were an average of 867 m apart. In Belize, Tayras traveled an average of 6-89 km per day. A female had a home range of 16-03 km* over a 13-month period, one male had a home range of 24-44 km ” over a 10-month period, and another male had a home range of only 2-11 km? over a 3-month period; the short duration of radio-tracking for the last animal may have accounted for the small size of the observed home range. The home ranges of all three animals overlapped greatly. In south-eastern Brazil, a female had a home range of 5- 3 km?; she did not show a preference for any particular habitat type within her home range, but her use of secondary forest and grassland agreed with previous studies.

Breeding. In captivity, breeding activity of adult Tayras occurs during the day. However, on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, two males and one female may have engaged in nocturnal sexual behavior. Males appear ready to mate year round and can reproduce by 18 months of age. Female Tayras have their first estrus at about 22 months of age; the estrous cycle is c. 52 days in young females and c. 94 days in older females. Females enter estrus several times each year for periods of 3-20 days. Gestation lasts 63-67 days. Delayed implantation does not occur. Tayras give birth to one to three young, but two are most common. In the wild, males do not remain with females, who raise the young alone. The young are born blind, covered in fur, and weigh about 100 g. The ears open at 27-34 days and the eyes open at 35-47 days. Deciduous teeth begin emerging at day 36 and are completely erupted by day 99. Permanent teeth appear at day 115 and are completely emerged by day 224. The young consume solid food by day 70 and are weaned by day 100. Five stages of development have been defined. First is the infant stage, days 1-50, during which the young suckle and do not leave the den. During days 50-75, the fledgling stage, the young leave the den for short periods, and solid food is provided by the mother, in addition to milk. The weaning stage, days 75-100, includes exploratory excursions, with independent feeding on fruits and insects. During the transition stage, days 100-200, the birth den is abandoned, the young are weaned, and they begin to hunt with their mother and kill prey on their own. During dispersal, days 200-300, family bonds break down and the young go their separate ways. The young reach adult size at six months. When outside the den, the young and mother use a clicking call to maintain contact if they are not within sight of one another. Mothers are protective of their young and will carry them by the middle of the body when a threatis perceived. This protective behavior persists as the young grow and mothers may also carry or drag them back to the den by their necks or ears. Prey-catching ability develops slowly and is learned. When only three months old, the young will follow and bite rodents and small birds on the rump or limbs. Through experience, bite placement is improved, resulting in killing bites to the base of the skull. The mother will bring wounded prey to her young and release it for them to catch and kill.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern in The IUCN Red List. The Tayra is considered common throughout most ofits range. However, the range of E. b. senex has been greatly reduced in Mexico because of the destruction of tropical forests and the spread of agriculture. Remaining populations are small and threatened by habitat loss and hunting. The Tayra is a popular species for zoo exhibits and is frequently kept In captivity.

Bibliography. Galef et al. (1976), Michalski et al. (2006), Poglayen-Neuwall (1975, 1978), Presley (2000), Ramirez-Pulido et al. (2005), Wozencraft (2005).