Seasonal food habits of bobcats (Lynx rufus) in subtropical Baja California Sur, Mexico

The annual and seasonal diet of the bobcat (Lynx rufus) was determined from analysis of 188 feces in the Cape region of Baja California, Mexico, an arid zone with numerous subtropical elements in its flora and fauna. Bobcats fed mainly on lagomorphs, which reached 74% of occurrence, followed by rode...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Delibes, M., Blázquez, M.C., Estrella, Ricardo R., Zapata, Sonia C.
Formato: artículo
Fecha de publicación:1997
País:España
Recursos:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/50763
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/50763
Access Level:acceso abierto
Descrição
Resumo:The annual and seasonal diet of the bobcat (Lynx rufus) was determined from analysis of 188 feces in the Cape region of Baja California, Mexico, an arid zone with numerous subtropical elements in its flora and fauna. Bobcats fed mainly on lagomorphs, which reached 74% of occurrence, followed by rodents (40%), reptiles (15%), and birds (12%). No seasonal variations were observed. The results were consistent with those of studies elsewhere, indicating that bobcats still rely upon lagomorphs for much of their food in southern latitudes. This supports the hypothesis that lynx have evolved to prey on hares and rabbits. The prevalence of reptiles as prey of bobcats in our study area was the highest ever reported. They were reported as bobcat prey in only 1 of 20 studies from north of latitude 40°, but in 14 of the 18 studies carried out south of this latitude. With regard to feeding on reptiles, the habits of bobcats in Baja California Sur resemble those of other similar-sized felids in tropical areas, such as ocelots (Felis pardalis) and servals (Leptailurus serval).