The Common Red-rumped Agouti has a wide distribution and presumably large population and occurs in protected areas.īibliography. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Consistent with longevity of family groups and clumped distribution, several separate mitochondrial maternal lineages might overlap within an area, even across relatively small geographical regions. Densities of Common Red-rumped Agoutis vary with forest type, and greater numbers of individuals might be found in fragmented patches rather than continuous forest. Individuals frequently use well-worn trails and travel in pairs or as a family group. Site fidelity is nearly permanent over time. Distributional pattern is clumped as a result of aggregation of individual home ranges. Each family group occupies areas ¢.200 m in diameter, with groups separated by 50 m or less there is intergroup territorial defense. Adult sex ratio is skewed in favor of females due to high mortality ofjuvenile males. Subadult and juvenile males are either solitary or may group into small units of 2-3 individuals. Basic social unit of the Common Red-rumped Agoutiis the family of a breeding pair with their young-of-the-year. Movements, Home range and Social organization. Single individuals use diurnal and nocturnal resting places, with the number of these places varying by individual, not by sex or age. They are sometimes active on bright moonlit nights. They are most active in early morning and late afternoon. As is characteristic of all species of Dasyprocta, Common Red-rumped Agoutis are primarily diurnal but with bimodal activity patterns concentrated in early morning and late evening when a second phase of foraging occurs. Neonates are precocial, being well furred and with eyes open at birth.Īctivity patterns. Litters are 1-3 young gestation lasts 110-112 days. A study in French Guiana identified pregnancy peaks in November-April, beginning with the early rainy season and coinciding with an increase in the number offruiting trees.
Female Common Red-rumped Agoutis typically reproduce once per year, and although births may occur year-round, most are concentrated in the dry season. Foraging activity varies in response to available resources and temperature, with foraging time dependent on forest age and tree structure.īreeding. The Common Red-rumped Agouti eats fruit, nuts, and seeds.It is primarily diurnal but exhibits a bimodal activity pattern with a second phase of foraging in the late evening. In French Guiana, Common Red-rumped Agouti occur in all vegetation types but primarily in open forest, distant from water and dense vegetation.įood and Feeding. Mature, disturbed, and secondary evergreen, deciduous, and gallery forest and gardens and plantations. azarae) by larger size and overall brownish color with yellow-orange rump. prymnolopha) by lacking black mid-dorsal stripe, and from Azara’s Agouti (D. fuliginosa) by its yellowish-red rump, from the Black-rumped Agouti (D. croconota) by its bright orange rump, from the Black Agouti (D. The Common Red-rumped Agoutiis distinguished from the Orange Agouti (D. Top of head, neck, and mid-back are blackish crest has longer hairs. Head and forequarters are finely grizzled olivaceous rump is dark red to yellowish orange, covered by long,straight hairs that overhang rump in a fringe. Color varies based on geographical location. The Common Red-rumped Agouti is variable but medium to large-sized. It has been introduced to the Lesser Antilles (Dominica, Grenada, and US Virgin Is).ĭescriptive notes. Throughout Guianan region, from N Venezuela (E of Lake Maracaibo) and the Guianas to N Brazil (N of the Amazon River and E of the Rio Negro), including Trinidad I, also in EC & E Brazil (S of the Amazon), from the Rio Madeira to the C coast. Dasyprocta leporina was previously designated as D. Taxonomic classification requires comprehensive study of geographical variation. Two proposed taxa are included here in the synonymy of D. leporina, and multiple subspecies have been recognized in limited parts of its distribution, There is considerable variation in color over backs and flanks of D. Husson in 1978 to “forest near the boarding-school Peninika, near the con- fluence of the Peninika Creek and the upper Commewijnw River,” Commewijnw District, Suriname. Mus leporinus Linnaeus, 1758, “Habitat in Java, Sumatra.”Ĭorrected by A. Other common names: Brazilian Agouti, Orange-rumped Agouti, Red-rumped Agouti French: Agouti doré / German: Goldaguti / Spanish: Aguti de dorso rojo