New World carnivore Tayras are diurnal across their range
For immediate release ‐ January 27, 2021
Contact: Jon Pishney, 919.707.8083. Images available upon request
Museum Research Curator for Mammals, Dr. Michael Cove, and colleagues have published a range-wide study of Tayras in the Journal of Mammalogy. These mustelids (related to weasels, otters, martens, etc.), some of the least-known in the New World, were found to be diurnal across their entire range.
Cove has been camera trapping in Central America for over a decade and says, “these are one of the coolest animals to get on camera trap – they are omnivorous, which is not very common among the mustelids.” They have been documented taking down prey as large as deer. Cove says, “Think tropical wolverines!”
Unlike some other mustelids, Tayras remained active during the day even in the presence of humans and other environmental factors. Cove and colleagues speculate that this could be a way to avoid resource competition from competitors like ocelots and raccoons, or possibly to avoid larger predators like jaguars.
The research team is still compiling databases to learn more about Tayras, but the enigmatic carnivores seem to be adaptable and opportunistic, which has allowed them to fare decently even in forest fragments in human-modified agricultural landscapes in the Neotropics.
Read the scientific paper here:
Activity patterns of tayra (Eira barbara) across their distribution