| Central American Agouti | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Dasyproctidae |
| Genus: | Dasyprocta |
| Species: | D. punctata |
| Binomial name | |
| Dasyprocta punctata (Gray, 1842) |
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The Central American Agouti (Dasyprocta punctata) is an agouti species from the family Dasyproctidae.[2] The species is widespread in Mesoamerica and South America. The northern section of the range occurs from Chiapas and the Yucatan Peninsula (southern Mexico) to northern Ecuador and Colombia and western Venezuela. The southern portion of the range occurs from southern Peru and Bolivia, through southwestern Brazil and Paraguay to northern Argentina (Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005). It has been introduced to both eastern and western Cuba and the Cayman Islands (Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005). In Mesoamerica, it can be found from lowlands to 2400 m (Reid, 1997).
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The body length of the agouti is 41.5 to 62.0 centimetres (16.3 to 24.4 in) and the tail is 1.0 to 3.5 centimetres (0.39 to 1.4 in). It weighs around 1.3 to 4.0 kilograms (2.9 to 8.8 lb). The Central American agouti is typically slender. They have short ears and the hind foot has three toes and have hoof-like claws (Nowak, 1999). Its coat varies from pale orange to different shades of brown or black and varies from white and yellow ventrally. Some have stripes, and the fur is coarse and glossy.
Central American agoutis are monogamous and mate with the each other for life. During courtship the male agouti sprays urine on the female, which causes her to go into a “frenzy” dance, which is necessary before mate acquisition (Smythe, 1978). They breed throughout the year, but majority of the young are born during fruit abundance (between March and July). The gestation period is 90 to 126 days. They typically have 1–4 offspring, which weighs about 22.7 grams (0.80 oz) at birth, and mothers usually nurse young for about 140 days. Young reach maturity in about 487 days. Offspring typically become independent once a new litter is born due to aggression or lack of food. The average lifespan of an agouti is 13.80 years.
Agoutis are terrestrial and cursorial which means ground dwelling and built for running with speed. They walk, trot or gallop on their toes, and can jump up more than six feet from a standing position. They prefer tropical, terrestrial habitats. They also build small caves around sources of water. When their territory is challenged, males often get into fights.
They mainly feed on fruits, and on excursions, they search for fruit bearing trees (Grzimek, 1990). They are able to hear fruit falling from trees from far away, which attracts them. When food is abundant they bury the seeds of many species of forest trees (Macdonald, 1984). Dasyprocta punctata also sometimes browsed and ate crabs, vegetables and other plants (Nowak, 1999).
Agoutis spend much of their daily activities grooming with their forefeet. It is used as a comb. They remove parasites, ticks and mites. They are diurnal, but shift to night hours if there is much human predation around. They are endothermic, and live near water as a homeostatic strategy.
They use good vision, hearing and tactile communication through grooming. Also, males and females possess anal scent glands which they use to mark territory or various structures.
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