Registro de Puercoespín (Erethizon dorsatum) en Valle Colombia Coahuila, México

Abstract

We recorded the presence of a live specimen of porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) in Valle Colombia in the Municipality of San Buenaventura, in Coahuila in 2010 in a microphilous desert scrubland with gently sloping hills and at an altitude of 1,314 m above sea level. There are few records of this species in Mexico, which are restricted to seven states in the north of the country, including two fossil records in the south of Nuevo León and Aguascalientes. In Mexico, the North American porcupine is known only in 20 scattered localities, where most of the records belong to roadkill, skull remains, or spines. According to the Official Mexican Standard (NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010), this species is classified as endangered. Our findings represent the most recent record of Valle Colombia in the state of Coahuila. In addition to the porcupine, we also recorded the additional presence of 23 species of medium and large mammals, including the black bear (Ursus americanus), puma (Puma concolor), wild cat (Lynx rufus), bison (Bison bison), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), white-tailed deer (O. virginianus), and pronghorn (Antilocapra Americana). It is worth mentioning that Valle Colombia is in the priority terrestrial region of Mexico for the maintenance of Biodiversity (RTP-71, Sierra la Encantada-Santa Rosa), which highlights the importance of areas with little human disturbance for biological conservation at the regional and national level.