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    Ecologia alimentar e estudo do comportamento de termorregulação de preguiça comum, Bradypus variegatus, Schinz, 1825, no Parque Estadual Fontes do Ipiranga, São Paulo
    (Universidade Federal de São Paulo, 2017-04-28) Moraes, Amanda Alves de [UNIFESP]; Nunes, Fabiana Rodrigues Costa [UNIFESP]; Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)
    The brown-throated sloth (Bradypus variegatus) is a widely distributed mammal in the forests of Central and South America. Although listed as not threatened, recent studies point to the need for a better understanding of the ecological, genetic and demographic aspects of the Atlantic Forest population, considering the low levels of genetic diversity, the isolation due to habitat fragmentation and the strong anthropogenic influence. About behavior, for example, some authors have already studied the food preference of the brown-throated sloth, but there are no articles regarding possible seasonality in the choice of food items. The Parque Estadual Fontes do Ipiranga (PEFI), the third largest Atlantic Forest fragment of São Paulo, houses a population of this species. The objective of this study was to verify if the consumption of arboreal itens by B. variegatus in this area is influenced by the availability of such resources, and if the postural behavior, solar exposure and position of the species in the canopy is related to the climate as behavioral strategies for thermoregulation. Based on previous studies five hypotheses were formulated: 1 - there is variation of food availability throughout the year, considering arboreal items; 2- the consumption of arboreal items by sloths is heterogeneous throughout the year; 3- the consumption of these items is related to their availability; 4 - in periods of young leaves scarcity there is an increase in the locomotion behavior; 5- The body postures, sun exposure and position in the canopy are related to climatic variables. For feeding behaviour study 45 individuals from a tree community were observed during 11 months, and during 24 months 24 specimens of Bradypus variegatus were observed, which comprised 210 field hours and 477 records of food intake. For the thermoregulation behavior study nine individuals were observed over 12 months comprising 212 records and 215 hours of observation. The results do not corroborated the hypotheses of differential availability of arboreal items throughout the year, thus indicating kind of phenological asynchrony among the species of the community here tested, but corroborated the differential consumption of these items throughout the year by sloths, with a preference in the cold season for reproductive structures over leaves. However, this differential consumption could not be related to fluctuations in availability and seems to be more related to the preference for seasonal items. Regarding thermoregulation behavior, it seems to be more advantageous for sloths to move around the canopy searching for sunny spots than to adopt certain postures, although such results may have been biased by the presence of many pregnant or lactating females in the sample. However, this sampling generated pertinent discussion regarding the thermoregulatory behavior of the species, mainly for the reproductive condition found. Data from this study may help in the understanding on how such specialized animals interact with the environment, thus generating subsidies for future research, management and conservation of the species, as well as comparisons with this and other groups of mammals, specially those endangered ones.