Working PaperData DescriptorVersion 1This version is not peer-reviewed
Data on Dietary Composition and Foraging Habitats of The Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) in A Tropical Lowland Forest-Associated Landscape in Southwest Sri Lanka
Version 1
: Received: 9 December 2019 / Approved: 10 December 2019 / Online: 10 December 2019 (03:06:05 CET)
How to cite:
Karawita, H.; Perera, P. Data on Dietary Composition and Foraging Habitats of The Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) in A Tropical Lowland Forest-Associated Landscape in Southwest Sri Lanka. Preprints2019, 2019120123
Karawita, H.; Perera, P. Data on Dietary Composition and Foraging Habitats of The Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) in A Tropical Lowland Forest-Associated Landscape in Southwest Sri Lanka. Preprints 2019, 2019120123
Karawita, H.; Perera, P. Data on Dietary Composition and Foraging Habitats of The Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) in A Tropical Lowland Forest-Associated Landscape in Southwest Sri Lanka. Preprints2019, 2019120123
APA Style
Karawita, H., & Perera, P. (2019). Data on Dietary Composition and Foraging Habitats of The Indian Pangolin (<em>Manis crassicaudata</em>) in A Tropical Lowland Forest-Associated Landscape in Southwest Sri Lanka. Preprints. https://doi.org/
Chicago/Turabian Style
Karawita, H. and Priyan Perera. 2019 "Data on Dietary Composition and Foraging Habitats of The Indian Pangolin (<em>Manis crassicaudata</em>) in A Tropical Lowland Forest-Associated Landscape in Southwest Sri Lanka" Preprints. https://doi.org/
Abstract
Indian pangolins are insectivorous mammals with less-known ecology. Due to the lack of sufficient literature on their dietary ecology, captive raring of this species has become problematic. This article describes data on dietary composition and foraging habitats of the Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) in a tropical lowland forest-associated landscape in Southwest Sri Lanka. Five different types of habitats were investigated in this study: Forest, rubber plantation, cinnamon cultivation, oil palm plantation, and tea-dominated home gardens. Foraging preference of the Indian pangolin for each habitat was assessed using signs of foraging activities. To further observe the foraging habitat utilization of pangolins, photographic evidences were collected using Infrared (IR) active camera traps located in all the studied habitats. Faecal samples collected from same habitats were further examined to identify the dietary composition of Indian Pangolins. As termites and ants are major prey organisms of Indian pangolins, the digestibility of different body parts –heads, mouthparts, abdomens, and legs of termites and ants was also scrutinized. The findings of the study with regard to dietary ecology will be important for both captive feed preparation and future conservation planning of the species
Keywords
Indian pangolin; dietary; habitats; foraging intensity; faecal
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Animal Science, Veterinary Science and Zoology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
