Emissões vocais de quati Nasua nasua (Linnaeus 1766) associadas a contextos comportamentais

Abstract

Coatis Nasua nasua are gregarious mammals, that live in dense rainforests of South America and use the vocalization as an important method of communication. Within the Procyonidae family is one of the species with the most extensive vocal repertoire. N. narica and N. nelsoni are two other species of the genus Nasua. Nasua narica is native to the Central and Northern Americas and is known to have a characteristic white muzzle, Nasua nelsoni is a species recently described, lies in Mexican islands. In 1960 some qualitative descriptions of the acoustic repertoire of these animals began, bringing important information to the 80s in 1998 was described the repertoire for N. narica, but only in 2013 a first study was conducted with N. nasua coatis in the Ecological Park Tietê - SP, Brazil, in order to describe and contextualize the acoustic repertoire of the specie in more detail. We aimed in this study is identify the vocal emissions of coatis in behavioral contexts displayed in natural habitat. The parameters of acoustic emissions were analyzed. A group was watched during your daily activities from April to September 2014, on the National Park of the Organ Mountains, Teresopolis headquarters, State of Rio de Janeiro. On Araras, district of Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro, other group was observed opportunistically during a day. The behavior of coatis were recorded in video files totaling 100 minutes of recording. In this research eighteen types of vocal emissions are described, along with eight distinct behavioral categories (agonistic, play, search, foraging, locomotion, intimidation, research and separation) which are associated. One of the eighteen vocal emissions is not restricted to a single behavioral category (contact whistle) and each category being composed of at least one type of call. The so-called found demonstrate the richness of the acoustic repertoire of the coati, abundant species in Brazilian and important ecosystems for behavioral studies and bioacoustics. This research can contribute to support management plans for the conservation of the species and their natural habitats.