Abstract:
The diet of Temminck’s ground pangolin Smutsia temminckii (hereafter, pangolin)
has thus far been studied only in mesic savannahs. We provide arid-zone dietary
data for this species based on direct observations, and compare these to available
prey species assemblages. We also report stable carbon and nitrogen isotope
enrichment values for liver and scales compared to the diet. Pangolins were
recorded consuming four ant (Anoplolepis steingroeveri, Camponotus fulvopilosus,
two Crematogaster spp.) and one termite (Trinervitermes trinervoides) species,
which represent 7.5 and 25 % of the available ant and termite species, respectively.2
The stable isotope data corroborate the direct observations and confirm that
pangolins display a high degree of prey selectivity, however stable isotopes alone
were not able to infer the diet of pangolins as a number of non-prey species had
similar isotopic values to prey species. Direct observations suggest that these latter
species are not preyed on, possibly because they have chemical or mechanical
defences or gallery structures that make them unsuitable as prey. Liver was enriched
by 3.8 ± 1.2 ‰ (mean ± SD) and 2.5 ± 1.4 ‰ for δ15N and δ13C, respectively, relative
to the mean δ15N and δ13C values of the prey species, and scales were enriched by
2.9 ± 1.0 ‰ and 5.3 ± 1.8 ‰, respectively. We observed no seasonal variation or
age or sex-related differences in diet, either from direct observations or isotope data.
These results support previous findings that pangolins have further specialised within
an already unusual mammalian dietary niche.
