AGOUTIS don't let its size fool you

Stories

Agoutis: Amazon kleptomania

Agoutis, like squirrels and chipmunks, love seeds.  2012 biologists knew this from observation. Even tourists knew this from observation: half the time you see this uber common rodent he´s either holding on to a seed, looking for one, gnawing it, or digging a hole to find. Think of the prehistoric chipmunk of the Ice Age cartoons.

Brown agouti by Paul bertner

 

Patrick Jansen and his team decided to radiotag 589 agouto-philiac seeds in Barro Colorado island to follow them around. To follow the seeds around, not the agoutis.

Here’s what he found out from the seeds agoutis cached (To cache – to store so as to be safe).

  • More than half the seeds were moved from one cache to another – presumably stolen by other agoutis.
  • One seed exchanged owners 30 and traveled a total of 750 meters.
  • 14% of the seeds survived to germinate.

I´m thinking of submitting a proposal for a new agouti Latin name: Dasyoprocta kleptomania.

As always – here´s the paper: Thieving rodents as substitute dispersers of megafaunal seeds

Brown agouti by Paul bertner n the amazon

And as usual, sign up for your free trial of the Amazon cam here and help us identify the Amazon wildlife that is on the photos taken by our 20 square kilometer grid of 78 cameras snapping away in the middle of the Amazon jungle. You can start practicing photo identification with our free illustrated plates of 172 Amazon Rainforest Animals

And of course, if you´re thinking (or even dreaming) of Amazon Travel, you can chat with the Amazon Travel experts right here. We will help you get there.

by Kurt Holle

  • What our guest say

    • Valuation Excellent
    • 5/5

Jacob Shama May 2024

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Dreamer627120 March 2024

The lodge is located in the middle of the forest accessible only by boat. The experience was very unique and exciting. Service is great, and the fun part are the nature activities and tours the hotel offers for free. We had an amazing tour guide that had a lot of knowledge and was fun to spend time with. The rooms are totally open to the forest which is really cool the struggle is the there is no privacy at all in between the rooms, also food was pretty basic. All together a very unique experience. Read all

This hotel is the perfect blend of comfort and hospitality, with the natural experience. The hotel is reached by a hours boat ride from Puerto Maldonado, expertly organized and accomplished. Most staff are members of the local Esa Ejja community. The food is good and plentiful. Hot water is always available and lovely bedding features mosquito nets. There is of course no air conditioning (one side wall is open in rach room) and the electricity is off for a few hours at night affecting overhead fans, so I was glad to have brought a small battery powered fan for sleeping. But the best of the experience is the wildlife. Our expert guide Oscar Mishaja introduced us to nearly 100 bird species, along with caimans, river otters, poison dart frogs and capybara. A trip of a lifetime. Read all

Excellent experience overall— really kind and welcoming staff at every point of the journey. All transfers were well organized and smooth. Excellent and educational excursions all around the rainforest. Delicious food for every meal. We had wonderful guides- Freet and Alvaro. Enjoyed our time here! Read all

Unbelievable.... Magical Everything I have dreamed of since I was 8 years old but MORE Read all

We had a surreal experience at Refugio Amazonas. From the well organized transportation to the warm welcome, hospitality and the experience of living in nature - we loved it all. Huge shout out to our guide Boris who went out of his way to ensure we had a good experience and got to watch all kinds of wild life. The meals and cocktails were delicious. And even though this place is smack in the middle of the jungle there was super fast WiFi available. We made unforgettable memories. Read all

We had an amazing time in TRC. From the guide, tours, lounge staff, food and room, everything has exceeded our expectation and like an amazing dream came true. We highly recommend to directly book with the lounge website, so that you got a private guide for your group. Special thanks to our guide Saul, who made this experience extra special! We were so impressed by his knowledge about all the animals and the rainforest. Read all

We had an amazing time in TRC. From the guide, tours, lounge staff, food and room, everything has exceeded our expectation and like an amazing dream came true. This is the only lounge available in Tambopata national park, and this eco lounge takes environment seriously. We highly recommend to directly book with the lounge website, so that you got a private guide for your group. Special thanks to our guide Saul, who made this experience extra special! We were so impressed by his knowledge about all the animals and the rainforest. If you are a natural lover, you can’t miss this place Read all

Excellent and luxurious place, wonderful experience and our guide Boris was first class, he had a unique patience with my 8 year old son. An experience in the tropical rainforest that marks the life of its visitors. In addition to the scientific research that takes place in the place: a whole research center. Rooms: Very comfortable and luxuriou Read all

El mejor hotel para visitar la Amazonia peruana. Hotel eco turístico metido en medio de la selva, equipado para visitar y vivir la selva, su flora y fauna, en todas sus facetas. Todo incluido, con guías preparados y amables, resultó una experiencia increíble para mi familia. Dentro de las opciones no se debe perder el Canopy de 45 metros de altura para observar y escuchar la selva, así como el lago de las tres Chimbadas, lugar único para ver caimanes, nutrias gigantes, monos y aves exóticas. Recomiendo mínimo dos noches!!! Read all

Wunderbare lodge mit freundlichen Menschen. sehr persönliche guides, tolle Tourangebote und super kulinarische Verpflegung ! Wir wurden herzlichst von Caesar empfangen und unser guide JuanJo hat uns phantastische Dinge gezeigt. Wir können die lodge nur wärmstens empfehlen! Read all

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