Tayra

Tayra
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Mustelidae
Subfamily:	Mustelinae
Genus:	Eira Hamilton Smith, 1842
Species:	E. barbara
Binomial name
Eira barbara (Linnaeus, 1758)
Tayra range

The tayra (Eira barbara), also known as the tolomuco or perico ligero in Central America, and san hol or viejo de monte in the Yucatan Peninsula is an omnivorous animal from the weasel family Mustelidae. It is the only species in the genus Eira. There are at least nine known subspecies.

Range and habitat

Tayras live in the tropical forests of Central America, South America and on the island of Trinidad.

Description

Tayras have an appearance similar to weasels and martens, growing to a size of about 60 cm, not including a 45 cm long tail. Most tayras have either dark brown or black fur with a lighter patch on its chest. The fur on its head changes to brown or gray as it ages. Tayras grow to weigh around 5 kilograms (11 pounds), ranging from 2.7 to 7.5 kg (6-16.5 pounds).

Reproduction

The tayra, unlike other Mustelidae, does not display embryonic diapause, otherwise known as delayed implantation (this reproductive strategy in other mustelids delays embryonic development and allows the female to delay birth of offspring until environmental factors are favorable). The female gives birth to 2 to 4 altricial, black-coated young.

A Tayra from above

A rare white tayra at Ipswich Museum, Ipswich, Suffolk, England

Behavior

They travel both alone and in groups during both the day and the night. Tayras are expert climbers, and can leap from treetop to treetop when pursued; they can also run fast and swim well.

Diet

They eat mainly fruit, but also consume carrion, small mammals, reptiles, and birds. They live in hollow trees, burrows in the ground, or terrestrial nests made of tall grass. Tayras are opportunistic eaters, hunting rodents and invertebrates, and climbing trees to get eggs and honey. In Central Brazil they are called "Papa Mel" (honey eater). They are attracted to fruit and can be found raiding orchards.

An interesting instance of caching has been observed among tayras: a tayra will pick unripe green plantains, which are inedible, and leave them to ripen in a cache, coming back a few days later to consume the softened pulp.

Tayras and people

Tayras are playful and easily tamed. Indigenous people, who often refer to the tayra as "cabeza del viejo", or old man's head, due to their wrinkled facial skin, have kept them as household pets to control vermin.

Conservation

Wild tayra populations are slowly shrinking, especially in Mexico, due to habitat destruction for agricultural purposes. Though the species as a whole is listed as a Least Concern species, the northernmost subspecies, Eira barbara senex, is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN.

IRARA

Subspecies

• Eira barbara barbara (northern Argentina, Paraguay, western Bolivia and central Brazil)
• Eira barbara biologiae (central Costa Rica and Panama)
• Eira barbara inserta (South Guatemala to central Costa Rica)
• Eira barbara madeirensis (west Ecuador and northern Brazil)
• Eira barbara peruana (the Andes in Peru and Bolivia)
• Eira barbara poliocephala (Guyana, eastern Venezuela and Brazil)
• Eira barbara senex (central Mexico to northern Honduras)
• Eira barbara senilis (northern Ecuador)
• Eira barbara sinuensis (Colombia and western Venezuela)

References

• Nowak, Ronald M. (2005). Walker's Carnivores of the World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. ISBN 0-8018-8032-7
• Emmons, L.H. (1997). Neotropical Rainforest Mammals, 2nd ed. University of Chicago Press ISBN 0-226-20721-8