Activity patterns of the threatened northern tiger cat Leopardus tigrinus and its potential prey in a Brazilian dry tropical forest

Activity patterns of mammals are shaped by abiotic pressures and biotic interactions. Here, we describe the daily activity pattern of the northern tiger cat Leopardus tigrinus in semiarid drylands, an Endangered species in Brazil, and test its overlap with those of potential prey, small mammals and ground birds. Also, we test the effect of the lunar phase on the synchrony of the predator-prey interactions. Camera trap data were obtained from ten areas in the Caatinga of the Rio Grande do Norte state, totalling a sampling effort of 7271 camera-days. The northern tiger cat activity pattern was primarily nocturnal, although it shows a considerable crepuscular activity and some daytime activity. Results suggest a high activity overlap with small mammals, that were strongly nocturnal, but a low activity overlap with ground birds that were diurnal and crepuscular. The lunar cycle did not affect the activity of the northern tiger cat, but changed the activity of small mammals, which were most active during new moon phase. A feeding study performed in another geographic region of the Caatinga suggests, in contrast, that northern tiger cats should have a higher activity during the day or during the crepuscular period. Our results suggest that the stressful conditions of the day period in the Caatinga drylands, the virtual absence of nocturnal top predators in our study area, and the higher availability of small mammals during the night are propably shaping the activity pattern of the northern tiger cat. Our study contributes to enlarge our knowledge on the behavioural ecology of a threatened small cat providing one of the first insight on its predator-prey interactions.