Role of reptiles and arthropods in the diet of coyotes in extreme desert areas of northern Mexico

The food habits of coyotes (Canis latrans) during autumn in the Mapimí Biosphere Reserve (southern Chihuahuan Desert) and the Pinacate region (Sonoran Desert) of northern Mexico have been studied through the analysis of 117 and 233 faecal scats, respectively. The main foods of coyotes in both areas were leporids and rodents. Reptiles and arthropods were consumed rather often in the more arid Pinacate region, but scarcely at all in Mapimí, while the contrary occurred with fruits. The results from Pinacate represent the highest occurrence of reptiles and one of the highest occurrences ever of arthropods previously detected in coyote scats. By considering the diets of some other vertebrate predators in different world deserts, we speculate that a high role of reptiles and arthropods as prey would be a characteristic feature of the vertebrate trophic webs in hot desert environments.