High ambient temperatures are associated with reduced foraging capacity in an equatorial mammal, the banded mongoose (Mungos mungo)

Due to anthropogenic climate change, there is substantial interest in how temperature variation impacts reproduction and survival in animal populations, however the underlying mechanisms are often poorly understood. Animals often behaviourally thermoregulate under high ambient temperatures (Tas) to avoid their body temperatures rising, for instance becoming less active and resting in shade. However, this can trade off with performing vital activities including foraging, reproduction and social behaviours.
We studied a Ugandan population of banded mongooses (Mungos mungo) to investigate how changing temperatures impact behaviour. We found that banded mongooses reduce activity under high Tas, such that foraging opportunities in particular are constrained. This may explain why previous studies on this species have found that offspring care is reduced under high Tas, resulting in lower pup weight and survival, as adults may struggle to meet their daily food requirements and therefore priori..., , # Data from: High ambient temperatures are associated with reduced foraging capacity in an equatorial mammal, the banded mongoose (Mungos mungo)

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.866t1g23j](10.5061/dryad.866t1g23j)

## Description of the data and file structure

We conducted 187 video focals on a social group of wild banded mongooses (38 individuals within this group) in Queen Elizabeth National park, Mweya, Uganda in order to determine how banded mongooses behave in response to changing ambient temperatures. These focals were conducted in May 2023. Each video focal was ~5 minutes long.

### Files and variables

#### File: Dataset.csv

**Description:** This dataset contains information collected during each video focal and each row represents a video focal.

##### Variables

* Date: The date the video focal was conducted formatted as day/month/year.
* Focal_ID: The ID of the video focal conducted. Each focal video has a unique focal ID that can be used to link back the data to the particular...,