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ABSTRACT.-Few studies have been conducted on the food habits of the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), considered an endangered feline in Mexico. Past studies showed that rodents were the main component of ocelot diet. In our study ocelot prey consumption was measured as frequency of occurrence of prey in scats and then converted to biomass. The spiny-tailed iguana (Ctenosaura pectinata) was the most important prey of ocelots, followed by the spiny pocket mouse (Liomys pious). Other rodents and some birds were also present in the scats, although representing only a minor proportion of the ocelot's diet. Evidence of subadult white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) was also found in scats indicating that ocelots can either capture prey bigger than themselves or are using deer as carrion.
INTRODUCTION
Members of the family Felidae are strict carnivores and as such they confront several difficulties when they feed. First, meat is a relatively limited food resource in nature, and second, feuds generally feed on live prey, which makes acquisition of meat a highly energy-- demanding activity (Gittleman and Harvey, 1982). Hence, the anatomical structure of a felid is related to the way its prey are detected and captured, resulting in a striking similarity in body shape among the 36 species of cats in the world regardless of the habitat in which they live (Kitchener, 1991). Furthermore, all Felidae have a common predator-prey size pattern (Rosenzweig, 1966). In this sense, the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) is a medium size feline (~10 kg) that should consume small to medium size prey (Brown, 1990; Kitchener, 1991). Studies of ocelot food habits are scarce and cover disjunct areas of its distribution. Ocelot
diets are principally comprised of small mammals, but also include medium to large mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, fishes and insects (Bisbal, 1986; Emmons, 1987; Konecny, 1989; Sunquist et aL, 1989; Chinchilla, 1994; Crawshaw, 1995). Based on these results some authors have suggested that ocelots are opportunistic feeders (Bisbal, 1986; Emmons, 1987). Anecdotal data for Mexico, principally in the states of Sinaloa, Nayarit and Jalisco (mangrove, coastal dunes and tropical deciduous forest, respectively) indicated that ocelot's diet includes rabbits, small mammals, birds, iguanas, frogs, fishes, crabs and small turtles (Allen, 1906). This study presents data on ocelot food habits in a tropical deciduous forest of...