Camera traps reveal the predation of artificial nests by free‐ranging Azara’s agoutis, Dasyprocta azarae Lichtenstein, 1823, in central Brazil

Agoutis, Dasyprocta spp., are medium‐sized rodents distributed in Neotropical region. Their diet is usually described as granivorous/frugivorous, and agoutis are recognised as important seed dispersers. Here, we present two spatially and temporally independent records of egg predation by Azara’s agouti, Dasyprocta azarae, in fragments of Cerrado savanna forest. In both cases, the agoutis ingested quail eggs that had been placed in artificial nests at ground level, 100 m from the edge of the forest. As Dasyprocta is a herbivorous rodent, this predatory behaviour is unexpected and may represent an opportunistic foraging strategy. These observations provide important new insights into the feeding biology of agoutis and highlight the value of camera traps as a tool for the collection of data on the behavioural ecology and natural history of vertebrates in general.