“A record of the coyote (Carnivora: Canidae) in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, Mexico”. In recent years the coyote (Canis latrans) has expanded its range in the tropical areas of Mexico and Central America. We report the first record of a coyote in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in the southeastern, Mexico. Using photo trapping, from December 2018 to June 2019, tree photographs of coyotes were obtained from a site located in the center of the southern core area of the reserve.

Registro del coyote (Carnivora: Canidae) en la Reserva la Biosfera de Calakmul, México

background

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Coyote ( Canis latrans )

The geographic distribution of coyotes (Canis latrans) has dramatically expanded since 1900, spreading across much of North America in a period when most other mammal species have been declining. Although this considerable expansion has been well documented at the state/provincial scale, continent-wide descriptions of coyote spread have portrayed conflicting distributions for coyotes prior to the 1900s, with popularly referenced anecdotal accounts showing them restricted to the great plains, and more obscure, but data-rich accounts suggesting they ranged across the arid west. To provide a scientifically credible map of the coyote’s historical range (10,000–300 BP) and describe their range expansion from 1900 to 2016, we synthesized archaeological and fossil records, museum specimens, peer-reviewed reports, and records from wildlife management agencies. Museum specimens confirm that coyotes have been present in the arid west and California throughout the Holocene, well before European colonization. Their range in the late 1800s was undistinguishable from earlier periods, and matched the distribution of non-forest habitat in the region. Coyote expansion began around 1900 as they moved north into taiga forests, east into deciduous forests, west into costal temperate rain forests, and south into tropical rainforests. Forest fragmentation and the extirpation of larger predators probably enabled these expansions. In addition, hybridization with wolves (C. lupus, C. lycaon, and/or C. rufus) and/or domestic dogs has been documented in the east, and suspected in the south. Our detailed account of the original range of coyotes and their subsequent expansion provides the core description of a large scale ecological experiment that can help us better understand the predator-prey interactions, as well as evolution through hybridization.

https://zookeys.pensoft.net/lib/ajax_srv/article_elements_srv.php?action=download_pdf&item_id=15149

Mapping the expansion of coyotes (Canis latrans) across North and Central America.

The Calakmul region, at the center of the Yucatan peninsula, contains the largest forested area of the Mexican tropics. Our objective is to provide the classification, description and spatial distribution of the plant communities of Calakmul region. In spite of the relatively lack of topographic features there is large spatial heterogeneity in the vegetation. Five plant associations are underlined because of their regional, national and world relevance: guayacan forest (Guaiacum sanctum), jobillo forest (Astronium graveolens), low deciduous forest, tall forest and mixed seasonally flooded forest. We discuss the main factors influencing the vegetation, including rainfall gradients, soil development, natural disturbances and anthropogenic factors. This study underscores the importance of using vegetation classification with enough detail to assess the representation and effectiveness of natural protected areas.

/pdf/la-vegetacion-de-calakmul-campeche-mexico-clasificacion-3gg8c908fp.pdf

La vegetación de Calakmul, Campeche, México: clasificación, descripción y distribución

Aim Coyote (Canis latrans) distribution in Mexico and Central America has expanded recently reaching the Yucatan peninsula, Belize and Panama, probably promoted by deforestation of tropical areas. Historically, the southern distribution of coyotes prior to European settlement in America was described as reaching only as far south as central Mexico and that introduction of livestock favoured migration of coyotes to southern Mexico and Central America. However, coyote fossil records in Central America and Yucatan, as well as observational records of travellers during the sixteenth century suggest that the coyote's arrival to the region was earlier. Because of the uncertainty of past coyote distribution and the possible economic and ecological impacts due to recent range expansion, the objectives of this study were to confirm if paleontological and historical evidence support the hypothesis that the southernmost limit of coyote distribution before the arrival of European settlers was the centre of Mexico, to discuss the possible factors that have influenced historical shifts in coyote distribution, and to model the present distribution of the coyote in Mexico and Central America, determining the areas where they could invade in the near future.

Location  The research area comprises continental Mexico and the Central American Isthmus countries: Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.

Methods  The historical distribution (Pleistocene–Early Holocene, Pre-Columbian, sixteenth to nineteenth centuries and twentieth century) was established from coyote records obtained from museum collections and specialized literature. Present coyote distribution for Mexico and Central America was modelled using the Genetic Algorithms for Rule-set Prediction (GARP).

Results  Historical coyote records show that this species was distributed in southern Mexico and Central America during the Pleistocene–Early Holocene, the Pre-Columbian period, and during the arrival of Europeans in the sixteenth century. Coyote records indicate a continuous range expansion during the twentieth century. Historical advance and regression of tropical forests in southern Mexico and Central America produced by natural and human events such as climatic changes and variation in human densities could help us understand the historical coyote distribution. The modelled present-day coyote distribution included the north of Belize, the north of Panama, the north of the Yucatan Peninsula and a corridor on the Gulf costal plain of Campeche in Mexico. Also, the model predicted a region north of the Darien in southern Panama as appropriate for the presence of coyotes, although they have not been detected there so far.

Main conclusion  Coyote records in southern Mexico and Central America during the Pleistocene–Early Holocene, the Pre-Columbian period, and early arrival of European settlers to the area indicated that coyotes were probably already present there and did not recently disperse from the north of Mexico to the south due to livestock introduction.

/pdf/historical-and-present-distribution-of-coyote-canis-latrans-1juasu405j.pdf

Registro del coyote (Carnivora: Canidae) en la Reserva la Biosfera de Calakmul, México

References

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Coyote ( Canis latrans )

Mapping the expansion of coyotes (Canis latrans) across North and Central America.

La vegetación de Calakmul, Campeche, México: clasificación, descripción y distribución

Historical and present distribution of coyote (Canis latrans) in Mexico and Central America