EltonTraits 1.0: Species‐level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals: Ecological Archives E095‐178
Open accessAbstract
Species are characterized by physiological, behavioral, and ecological attributes that are all subject to varying evolutionary and ecological constraints and jointly determine species' role and function in ecosystems. Attributes such as diet, foraging strata, foraging time, and body size, in particular, characterize a large portion of the “Eltonian” niches of species. Here we present a global species‐level compilation of these key attributes for all 9993 and 5400 extant bird and mammal species derived from key literature sources. Global handbooks and monographs allowed the consistent sourcing of attributes for most species. For diet and foraging stratum we followed a defined protocol to translate the verbal descriptions into standardized, semiquantitative information about relative importance of different categories. Together with body size (continuous) and activity time (categorical) this enables a much finer distinction of species' foraging ecology than typical categorical guild assignments allow. Attributes lacking information for specific species are flagged, and interpolated values based on taxonomy are provided instead. The presented data set is limited by, among others, these select cases missing observed data, by errors and uncertainty in the expert assessment as presented in the literature, and by the lack of intraspecific information. However, the standardized and transparent nature and complete global coverage of the data set should support an array of potential studies in biogeography, community ecology, macroevolution, global change biology, and conservation. Potential uses include comparative work involving these traits as focal or secondary variables, ecological research on the trait or trophic structure of communities, or conservation science concerned with the loss of function among species or in ecosystems in a changing world. We hope that this publication will spur the sharing, collaborative curation, and extension of data to the benefit of a more integrative, rigorous, and global biodiversity science.
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The species in Fig. 2 included strict faunivores (90-100% animal matter) as well as omnivores (40-60% animal matter).
“Notably, the species in Fig. 2 included strict faunivores (90-100% animal matter) as well as omnivores (40-60% animal matter) (Wilman et al. 2014).”
From Digestive anatomy and diet of free-ranging maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) (2025) · cites this paper as Wilman et al. 2014
The paper’s main text (p. 1) describes a species-level dataset with semiquantitative information on the relative importance of diet categories. It does not identify the species in the citing paper’s Fig. 2 or give the stated 90–100% and 40–60% animal-matter ranges; searches for those ranges and diet labels found no matching passage. (LLM, conf=0.77)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredVanga curvirostris and Oriolus oriolus are omnivorous passeriforms that are aerial and canopy foragers and range in mass from 64 to 79 g.
“Both are omnivorous passeriforms that are aerial and canopy foragers and range in mass from 64 to 79 g (37).”
From Developmental origins of mosaic evolution in the avian cranium (2018) · cites this paper as [37]
The paper (p. 1) describes a dataset of bird diets, foraging strata, and body sizes, but our copy contains no entries for Vanga curvirostris or Oriolus oriolus. Searches for the species names and the stated mass and foraging traits found no passage verifying those specific attributes; the paper says the complete dataset is published separately in Ecological Archives. (LLM, conf=0.73)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
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Digestive anatomy and diet of free-ranging maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus)
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“2 included strict faunivores (90–100% animal matter) as well as omnivores (40–60% animal matter) (Wilman et al. 2014).”
- Authors
- Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M. M., & Jetz, W.
- Affiliations
- Yale University (US)
- Tel Aviv University (IL)
- Universidad Católica del Norte (CL)
- Corresponding author
- Jetz, Walter
- Venue
- Ecology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2014-07
- Volume
- 95
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 2027-2027
- ISSN
- 0012-9658 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-9170
- OpenAlex
- W1882658170
- Cited by
- 1,994
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 198 · 2025: 262 · 2024: 253 · 2023: 246 · 2022: 206 · 2021: 253 · 2020: 216 · 2019: 143 · 2018: 93 · 2017: 52 · 2016: 54 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 38.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Ecology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Avian ecology and behavior
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Keywords
- feeding ecology, diet, foraging time, body size, birds, mammals, species traits, trophic structure, functional diversity, macroevolution, biogeography
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