New records of Galictis cuja (Molina, 1782) (Carnivora, Mustelidae) in Southern Patagonia

Abstract

The lesser grison, Galictis cuja (Molina 1782), is a small mustelid (± 1.6 kg) with a wide distribution in South America (Redford and Eisenberg 1992). It is found in a wide range of habitats: cerrado, wet forest, Andean grasslands, xeric Chaco, pampean grassland and steppes. This habitats have a great variation in temperatures, precipitation, and range in elevation from the seashore to > 4.800 m. Galictis cuja is distributed from southeastern Peru, western Bolivia and southern Brazil, throughout most Paraguay and Uruguay, to southern Patagonia in Chile and Argentina. New records in the last 30 years have extended the southern limit of the distribution to southernmost Patagonia. Until 1974, the southern record of G. cuja in Chile was Valdivia (39º 46´ S, 73º 25´ W), but Texera (1974) reported two specimens from “Estancia Las Cumbres” (50º 45´ S, 72º 25´ W) and “Estancia Brazo Norte” (52º 03´ S, 70º 05´ W) in the Magallanes region (Figure 1), more than 1000 km south of Valdivia. Redford and Eisenberg (1992) suggested that these specimens may actually belong to Lyncodon patagonicus, but lower first molars are present and the measurements are more appropriate for G. cuja (Yensen and Tarifa 2003). The situation is similar in Argentina, where the southern limit was thought to be in Chubut Province (e.g. Cabrera 1958, Daciuk 1974, Mares et al. 1996, Tell et al. 1997). However, recent records have changed this perception (Gil 1991; Massoia et al. 1993). Gil (1991) mentioned the lesser grison at a few localities in the Santa cruz province. All these mentions, with the exception of Texera (1974), are only taxonomic lists or pellet items, without descriptions, figures, measurements, collection or collection number of the exemplars studied.In this note we present new records of G. cuja from Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, based on skeletal and skin remains, and compile previous published records in southern Patagonia outstanding it presently distribution.