Current distribution of the Mexican hairy dwarf porcupine, Sphiggurus mexicanus, in Guerrero, México

Abstract

The Mexican hairy dwarf porcupine, Sphiggurus mexicanus, is listed as threatened in the Mexican regulations. It has previously been recorded in three terrestrial ecoregions of the State of Guerrero.  However, there are still several regions with no information on this species.  The objective of this note is to provide a detailed account of the current distribution of S. mexicanus in the State of Guerrero and fill the information gaps on its occurrence information for the poorly studied regions.  We searched for reports of S. mexicanus in electronic repositories such as Enciclovida, Naturalista, and Global Biodiversity Information Facility, as well as in scientific literature for the State of Guerrero.  In addition, we created an updated database that includes recent and unpublished observations, both direct and indirect (skin, bone remains, excreta, barrows, run-over, and hunted specimens).  We found a total of 59 records of S. mexicanus, of which 24 % are accounts from the literature and electronic repositories collected over the past 60 years.  Within our database, 45 records correspond to 16 municipalities in Guerrero that comprise three ecoregions, of which Sierra Madre del Sur has the largest number (n = 26) of records.  All sightings occurred between 7 and 2,400 m, and 58 % (n = 26) of records were either direct sightings or evidence of indirect observations over the past two decades (years 2000–2020).  Our new records provide the most comprehensive data set on the distribution of S. mexicanus in 11 municipalities with no previous records.  We confirmed its presence in a total of 19 municipalities in the State of Guerrero.  Most of our records come from temperate forests and dry tropical forests; however, there were occasional sightings on farmland.  Our observations mostly corroborated that S. mexicanus depends on high plant coverage as it was commonly found in forest habitats.  Moreover, based on the results obtained from indirect observations of deceased individuals or their remains, the two major threats to populations of S. mexicanus in Guerrero appear to be hunting and running-over (resulting in road death).