Puma diet in a high Andean ecosystem, 2012-2022

We analyzed 45 puma scats collected between 2012 and 2022, identified in the field based on size, shape, and hair content. Scats were dissected, and prey remains (bones, teeth, claws) were soaked in soapy water, rinsed, air-dried, and stored with silica gel to prevent fungal or bacterial contamination. All processed material was deposited in the Ichnology Collection of the Colecciones Biológicas de la Universidad CES (CBUCES-J), Medellín. Prey remains were photographed with a Canon EOS T7i camera and macro lens, using focus stacking in Helicon Focus 8.2.3 to produce fully focused composite images. Specimens were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level by comparison with reference material housed at CBUCES, the Museo de Ciencias Naturales de La Salle (CNS), the Museum of Southwestern Biology (MSB), and the Colección Teriológica de la Universidad de Antioquia (CTUA).

Diet was quantified using frequency of occurrence (FO) and relative biomass consumed (RBC). RBC was used to estimate the proportion of total prey biomass represented by each species. Published mean adult body masses were assigned to prey species, while unidentified sigmodontine rodents were estimated using dental allometry.

Statistical analyses was used to evaluate sample completeness, and Kruskal–Wallis tests to assess variation across three time bins (2012–2016, 2018–2020, 2021–2022). Diet breadth was measured using Levins’ standardized niche breadth (Bsta). Diet similarity between study sites and previous research was assessed using Jaccard distance. Mean human disturbance values were extracted from raster data to derive effects of anthropogenic pressure.