Bioacoustics of Mungotictis decemlineata

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Earlier studies, largely of Narrowstriped Boky in captivity, concluded that they were not particularly social but tend to live in couples. Recent research in the wild indicates that they are notably gregarious and have a complex social system with some particularly interesting intricacies. In a telemetry study conducted in the Kirindy forest Centre de Formation Professionnelle Forestiére by L.. Razafimanantsoa, 26 animals ( 20 adults and six sub-adults) were captured and marked in an area of about 90 ha. These animals belonged to different groups and included dispersing solitary individuals. A good proportion of the marked animals were not seen again in the study area, which was occupied by two different groups. The first group was composed of two adult females, an adult male, a sub-adult female, and one of the previous season’s young; the second group was two adult females and a sub-adult male. The home range ofthe first group was calculated as about 18 ha and the second group 13 ha. These figures are notably smaller than previous inferred estimates of 20-25 ha. The ranges of the two groups overlapped over an area of about 1-5 ha. In the overlap zone, group members intensively scent-marked using glandular secretions and no aggressive interactions were observed between them. Based on these radio-tracking studies, individual Narrow-striped Boky can traverse a distance of 2200 m in a single day, of which two-thirds is covered during the morning. This species often can be observed in groups with three to five adults , and depending on the season, with numerous sub-adults. Groups of more than ten individuals have been observed and, in certain areas, the age and sex ratio remains stable over the course of years. As a group moves through the forest, the alpha female plays the role of “leader”. After mating, the males will generally leave the female group for several months. Lone individuals can be observed, particularly towards the end of the dry season, and these are presumed to be solitary males. During the mating period, males were tolerant of visiting males and even allowed them to copulate with group females. Some marked males visited the female groups frequently both during and outside the mating period, and this social configuration has been referred to as a “super-group”. Narrow-striped Bokys appear to have a limited vocal repertoire. After birth, the young emit a shrill call that is very similar to a communication call between adult males and females, and can be transcribed as “bouk-bouk”. Almost certainly, the Malagasy name of this animal is the onomatopoeic form of this vocalization. The Narrow-striped Boky often erects its fluffy tail, which is undoubtedly for visual communication. Narrowstriped Boky has well-developed jaw, neck, and anal glands that it uses to mark vertcal vegetation, tree trunks, and the ground. This animal uses three different types of night shelters, depending on the season: partially collapsed and abandoned ant burrows during the dry, cold season; hollows in fallen dead trees at the beginning of the rainy, warm season; and cavities up to 10 m above the ground in standing dead or living trees during the rainy, warm season. Underground burrows are at least partially excavated, with a single tunnel entrance terminating as a chamber. This carnivore is known to share tree hollows with a variety of nocturnal lemurs, but the species are not in direct contact, as they occupy different portions of the cavity. Groups regularly move between different resting shelters, generally along the periphery of their home range, which may help to reduce ectoparasite loads. Narrow-striped Bokys are preyed upon by Fossa .