Abstract Solitary species are defined by the tendency for adults to live alone. Spatial relationships among individuals, however, can vary markedly across solitary taxa, including differences in the degree and frequency of spatial overlap that may influence the potential for social interactions among conspecifics. As part of long-term studies of behavioral variation among tuco-tucos (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae), we characterized patterns of space use within a population of Ctenomys occurring in sparsely vegetated Monte Desert habitat near Amaicha del Valle, Tucumán Province, Argentina. Analyses of mitochondrial Cytb sequences confirmed the assignment of these animals to C. scagliai, making them part of the opimus subclade within the genus Ctenomys. Radiotelemetry data revealed that members of the study population were solitary, with effectively no overlap of home ranges occupied by different adults. Comparisons of spatial relationships in this population and a population of a second solitary species (C. coludo) from a more heavily vegetated Monte habitat near Anillaco, La Rioja Province, Argentina revealed that mean home range size was greater but that both mean home range overlap and mean percentage of the home range used on a daily basis were smaller for C. scagliai. These differences are expected to have important implications for the frequency of potential social interactions in C. scagliai versus C. coludo. At the same time, the solitary behavior of the population C. scagliai at Amaicha creates critical opportunities for comparative studies of differences in social organization between these animals and the group-living C. opimus.
Lacey et al. (Fri,) studied this question.