Xenarthrans—anteaters, sloths, and armadillos—have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across their full distribution ranges. The Neotropics harbor 21 species of armadillos, 10 anteaters, and 6 sloths. Our data set includes the families Chlamyphoridae (13), Dasypodidae (7), Myrmecophagidae (3), Bradypodidae (4), and Megalonychidae (2). We have no occurrence data on Dasypus pilosus (Dasypodidae). Regarding Cyclopedidae, until recently, only one species was recognized, but new genetic studies have revealed that the group is represented by seven species. In this data paper, we compiled a total of 42,528 records of 31 species, represented by occurrence and quantitative data, totaling 24,847 unique georeferenced records. The geographic range is from the southern United States, Mexico, and Caribbean countries at the northern portion of the Neotropics, to the austral distribution in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. Regarding anteaters, Myrmecophaga tridactyla has the most records (n = 5,941), and Cyclopes sp. have the fewest (n = 240). The armadillo species with the most data is Dasypus novemcinctus (n = 11,588), and the fewest data are recorded for Calyptophractus retusus (n = 33). With regard to sloth species, Bradypus variegatus has the most records (n = 962), and Bradypus pygmaeus has the fewest (n = 12). Our main objective with Neotropical Xenarthrans is to make occurrence and quantitative data available to facilitate more ecological research, particularly if we integrate the xenarthran data with other data sets of Neotropical Series that will become available very soon (i.e., Neotropical Carnivores, Neotropical Invasive Mammals, and Neotropical Hunters and Dogs). Therefore, studies on trophic cascades, hunting pressure, habitat loss, fragmentation effects, species invasion, and climate change effects will be possible with the Neotropical Xenarthrans data set. Please cite this data paper when using its data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us of how they are using these data.

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non‐detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non‐governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer‐reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non‐detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio‐temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large‐scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data.

Wetlands are one of the most productive ecosystems in the world. However, they have received little attention in the tropics. Biodiversity data from the Terminos-Centla wetlands is limited despite the conservation efforts to protect these wetlands. In this study we list the medium-szied and large mammals from 8 sites within the Terminos-Centla wetlands. We recorded 30 native and 1 introduced species, representing 9 orders, 14 families, and 27 genera. Four of the recorded species are Threatened, 9 Endangered, and 1 under special protection under Mexican legislation. Compared with other sites of southeastern Mexico, the area of the Terminos-Centla wetlands has a many more species. Our results highlight the Terminos-Centla wetlands as one of the most important systems of Mesoamerica for the medium-sized and large mammals and and underlines the urgent need to develop conservation strategies for the area.

Objetivo: Describir el uso de bebederos artificiales por el sereque (Dasyprocta punctata) en la Reserva de la Biosfera de Calakmul. Diseño/metodología/aproximación: Se monitorearon ocho bebederos artificiales cada uno con una cámara trampa con la finalidad de estimar el índice de abundancia relativa y los patrones de actividad de visitas a los bebederos. El monitoreo fue durante la temporada de secas del 2019. Los análisis se realizaron con los programas R e InfoStat. Resultado: De enero a mayo de 2019, con un esfuerzo de muestreo fue de 1121 días/cámara, abundancia promedio de 160.08±85.44. El patrón de visitas a los bebederos fue principalmente diurno. Limitaciones/implicaciones: El uso de cámaras trampa en los bebederos artificiales nos permite conocer los alcances en la modificación del hábitat en la Reserva de la Biosfera de Calakmul (RBC). Hallazgos/conclusiones: La implementación de bebederos artificiales en la RBC durante la temporada de seca fue una acción de éxito para mitigar los efectos de la escases de agua. El aprovechamiento del recurso agua por el sereque en los bebederos artificiales fue constante, también se observaron otras especies de mamíferos y aves haciendo uso de los bebederos artificiales.

El ocelote enfrenta problemas de conservación a lo largo de su distribución, debido principalmente a la caza ilegal y transformación del hábitat. Se ha documentado que la dieta del ocelote consiste principalmente de pequeños mamíferos terrestres nocturnos, especialmente roedores , aunque también se ha registrado que pueden alimentarse de zarigüeyas, ardillas, conejos, primates, iguanas, ranas, aves, peces, insectos y cangrejos terrestres. La presente nota resulta relevante sobre el comportamiento alimentario de los ocelotes en Mexico debido a que se describe un evento fotográfico de un ocelote alimentándose de un murciélago, el registro fue obtenido con trampas cámara colocadas en la zona nucleo sur de la Reserva de la Biosfera de Calakmul . Estas camaras fueron instaladas para registrar que especies de fauna visitan a los bebederos ariticiales (fuentes de agua abastecidas constantemente por miembros del proyecto) que fueron colocados como parte de un proyecto piloto en los años 2018 y 2019 y tienen como objetivo el abastecimiento de agua en la RBC para uso de la fauna silvestre. Cómo resultado de este esfuerzo, se obtuvo el presente registro fotográfico de un individuo de ocelote alimentandose de un murcielago asociado a un bebedero artificial.