Diet and fruit choice of the brown palm civet Paradoxurus jerdoni, a viverrid endemic to the Western Ghats rainforest, India.

摘要: Brown palm civet diet was assessed by examining 1,013 scats between May 1996 and December 1999 in KalakadMundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Western Ghats, India. The brown is predominantly frugivorous, with fruits of 53 native species four introduced plants comprising 97% its diet. There high intra- inter-annual variation the civets. Civets adapted to fluctuations fruit resources feeding on a diverse range supplementing their year-round, primarily invertebrates vertebrates. mainly ate trees lianas, rarely those herbs or shrubs. Fruits eaten civets were mostly small ( 2 cm) like Palaquium ellipticum, Elaeocarpus serratus, Holigarna nigra, Knema attenuata. key mammalian seed disperser Ghats rainforest being frugivorous dispersing array plant species. As can persist fragmented rainforest, they play major role restoration degraded fragments these landscapes. results emphasize need recognize importance carnivores as dispersers tropical forests.