Galictis vittata (Schreber, 1776)

Voss, Robert S. & Fleck, David W., 2017, Mammalian Diversity And Matses Ethnomammalogy In Amazonian Peru Part 2: Xenarthra, Carnivora, Perissodactyla, Artiodactyla, And Sirenia, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2017 (417), pp. 1-1 : 1-

Galictis vittata (Schreber, 1776)

Figure 15A

VOUCHER MATERIAL (TOTAL = 1): Nuevo San Juan (MUSM 15157).

OTHER INTERFLUVIAL RECORDS: Río Yavarí- Mirím (Salovaara et al., 2003).

IDENTIFICATION: Our single grison specimen from the Yavarí-Ucayali interfluve consists of the skin and skull of a young adult female. The pelage markings of this specimen correspond exactly with those of topotypical (Surinamese) material described by Husson (1978: 291–292), and most of its measurements ( table 13 ) fall within the range of morphometric variation reported for females of the species by Bornholdt et al. (2013: table 4 ). 10 Among other (nonmetrical) traits that distinguish Galictis vittata from its southern congener ( G. cuja ), MUSM 15157 has a well-developed metaconid on the lower first molar. Several subspecies of G. vittata are recognized as valid by some authors (e.g., Yensen and Tarifa, 2003; Wozencraft, 2005), but no compelling empirical basis for a trinomial nomenclature seems to have been published.

ETHNOBIOLOGY: Although the grison’s Matses name is bosen uşhu (literally, “white otter”), the Matses do not consider grisons to be a type of otter. There are no archaic synonyms or overdifferentiated varieties. Many Matses have never seen a grison, and only a limited number of Matses are familiar with its name. Some know of it through the accounts of those who have seen it.

The grison is of no economic importance to the Matses.

Because grisons are so rarely encountered, the Matses have no specific beliefs regarding them

10 Male grisons are substantially larger than females ( Bornholdt et al., 2013).

and no special medicinal plants for contagions by a grison spirit. However, Matses medicine men say that grisons could make a child ill if touched or looked upon and that “Neotropical otter medicine” would probably be effective.

MATSES NATURAL HISTORY: The grison is black with a light-colored back. Its teeth are small. They are found near streams, but they are not aquatic like otters. They can swim. (One interviewed Matses hunter said that he saw one catch and eat an agouti).

REMARKS: Matses informants had little to say about this seldom-encountered species, but its pursuit of agoutis is corroborated by the literature cited in Yensen and Tarifa’s (2003) review.

Our voucher was shot by a Matses hunter, who encountered a group of three individuals fighting over a dead spiny rat ( Proechimys sp. ) in upland primary forest near a muddy mineral lick during the day.

Figures

FIG. 15. Adult skulls of five sympatric mustelid species illustrating taxonomic differences in size and shape: Galictis vittata (A, MUSM 15157), Eira barbara (B, MUSM 13149), Mustela africana (C, AMNH 61813), Pteronura brasiliensis (D, AMNH 74431), Lontra longicaudis (E, AMNH 98589). All illustrated specimens are from eastern Peru, but only MUSM 13149 and MUSM 15157 are from the Yavarí-Ucayali interfluve.