Abstract

WONG-SMER, Jesse Ricardo et al. Diet and relative abundance of the gray fox Urocyon cinereoargenteus (Carnivora: Canidae) in the Área Natural Protegida Altas Cumbres, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Acta Zool. Mex [online]. 2022, vol.38, e3812426.  Epub Aug 22, 2022. ISSN 2448-8445.  https://doi.org/10.21829/azm.2022.3812426.

In this study, the gray fox’s (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) diet was examined and relative abundance was estimated, through the record of scats collected in the Área Natural Protegida Altas Cumbres (ANPAC), Tamaulipas, Mexico. The sampling effort was from August 2017 to November 2018. The scats were washed and separated to identify the prey species that make up the gray fox’s diet and the abundance was estimated with an index of relative abundance (IAR = number of scats/kilometers). From 938 scats, we determined that the diet of the gray fox was generalist and composed of three categories; plant material, invertebrates and vertebrates. Within the plant material, the most representative were Brahea berlandieri or Sierra Madre palm, which is endemic to northeastern Mexico and Litsea glaucescens or also known as laurel de la sierra. Both species are of great importance, because these species have not been described previously as part of the diet of the gray fox and because the palm is subject to special protection and the laurel in danger of extinction. Among invertebrates the most consumed prey was the Order Miriapoda and for vertebrates the Order Rodentia. The abundance of the gray fox was variable throughout the sampling of this study (range of IAR = 0.9 to 7.91) and it was considered abundant with respect to other carnivores of the ANPAC.

Keywords : Ciudad Victoria; laurel de la sierra; trophic niche; Northeastern Mexico; Sierra Madre palm.

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