Mammals under pressure: presence data for assessing extinction of endemic, threatened and mammals subject to use in Colombia

Colombia is the sixth country in mammal richness worldwide (553 species) and the fourth in the Americas. This high diversity presents significant conservation and management challenges. Although knowledge of mammalian biology has advanced, the 2006 “Libro Rojo de los Mamíferos de Colombia” was the last major effort to assess the risk category for the country's mammals. New risk assessments require updated species records, especially for little-documented taxa. This dataset contains records of 136 mammal species (24.6% of the national total) provided by 51 institutions from trail cameras and museum specimens. It also includes occurrence comments useful for identifying priority conservation areas. This is the first dataset to compile Colombian mammal records from trail cameras, human observations and biological collections. We assembled 97,921 unpublished records of 136 species, including 36 endemic, 92 used by humans and 56 categorised as Data Deficient or threatened (national/international). The data span 30 of 32 Departments, offering vital input for future distribution and conservation assessments. While most records (n = 96,417; 98.4%) are from non-invasive methods like trail cameras, museum specimens (n = 1,310) were crucial for small, medium and restricted-distribution species. This joint interinstitutional effort provides a foundation for comprehensively assessing the conservation status of all mammals in Colombia.

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Publication Details

Journal
Biodiversity Data Journal
Published
2026-11-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3897/bdj.14.e209630
Primary Topic
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Type
article
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article

Mammals under pressure: presence data for assessing extinction of endemic, threatened and mammals subject to use in Colombia

Francisco A. Sánchez, Aída Otálora‐Ardila, Jorge Villamil, Christian Cabrera-Ojeda et al.
Biodiversity Data Journal
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
article

Mammals under pressure: presence data for assessing extinction of endemic, threatened and mammals subject to use in Colombia

Francisco A. Sánchez, Aída Otálora‐Ardila, Jorge Villamil, Christian Cabrera-Ojeda, Dalila Camelo, Juanita Montoya-Cepeda, Andres Quinones, Irene Aconcha-Abril, Camilo A. Paredes-Casas, Leonor Valenzuela, Diego A. Zárrate-Charry, Ángela Parra-Romero, Angélica V. Yantén, Catalina Sánchez‐Lalinde, Fadel Cuello Alfaro, Angélica Benítez, Carolina Soto, Alejandra Niño-Reyes, Hector Emilio Ramirez-Chaves, Jhon Jairo Calderón-Leytón, Adriana Reyes, Federico Mosquera-Guerra, Danny Zurc, Fredy Avellaneda, Mónica M. PEÑUELA-SALGADO, Maria Baptiste, Elkin Alexi Noguera Urbano, Jairo Pérez‐Torres, Bibiana Gómez‐Valencia, Daniela Amórtegui-Hernández, Julio Javier Chacón-Pacheco, Fernando Trujillo, Germán Forero‐Medina, Angélica Díaz‐Pulido, Jesús Ballesteros Correa, Gerson A. Salcedo-Rivera, Miguel E. Rodríguez‐Posada, Mario Alejandro Santana Tobar, Karen Cruz-Parrado, Gabriel Pantoja-Peña, Diego Torres, Darwin M Morales-Martínez, Adriana Restrepo Isaza, Diego Lizcano, Juana González-Arenas, Esteban Grajales Suaza, Gabriela Moreno, Mario Hernández, Diana Angulo, María Machado-Aguilera, Mario Raigoso, Harold López, Diana Valencia-Zapata, Yina Serna-Trujillo, Abelardo Rodriguez Bolaños, David Hernández, Juan Parra, Andrea Martínez-Bulla, Maria Fernández-Certuche, Angélica Becerra-Mendez, Angy Toloza, María Andrade-Erazo, Maria Cotes-Beltrán, Laura Vargas, José Vicente Rodríguez-Mahecha, Amilvia Acosta, María Ardila Montaña, Lain Pardo, Darly Rodríguez, Hugo López-Arévalo, Baltazar González-Chávez, Fabio Agudelo-Zapata, Juliá Zamora, Anamaria Rodríguez, Adriana Rodriguez, Julieth Cardenas-Hincapie, Maria Kairuz, Juan López-Ordoñez, Néstor Peralta, María Lema, Héctor Díaz Sánchez, Cristian Cruz-Rodríguez, José González-Maya, Juliana Rodríguez Ortiz, Maria Moreno, Johana Castro-Chingal, Cristian Gallego Carmona, Ivonne Salamanca, Germán Jiménez, Lina García Loaiza, Karen Rojas-H, Daniel Rodriguez, Fredy García, Camila Díaz-B, Nerieth Leuro-Robles, María PaQui, Carlos Hernández-Vélez, Juan Valencia-Mazo, Cesar Rojano, Angela Hurtado-Moreno
article en

Abstract

Colombia is the sixth country in mammal richness worldwide (553 species) and the fourth in the Americas. This high diversity presents significant conservation and management challenges. Although knowledge of mammalian biology has advanced, the 2006 “Libro Rojo de los Mamíferos de Colombia” was the last major effort to assess the risk category for the country's mammals. New risk assessments require updated species records, especially for little-documented taxa. This dataset contains records of 136 mammal species (24.6% of the national total) provided by 51 institutions from trail cameras and museum specimens. It also includes occurrence comments useful for identifying priority conservation areas. This is the first dataset to compile Colombian mammal records from trail cameras, human observations and biological collections. We assembled 97,921 unpublished records of 136 species, including 36 endemic, 92 used by humans and 56 categorised as Data Deficient or threatened (national/international). The data span 30 of 32 Departments, offering vital input for future distribution and conservation assessments. While most records (n = 96,417; 98.4%) are from non-invasive methods like trail cameras, museum specimens (n = 1,310) were crucial for small, medium and restricted-distribution species. This joint interinstitutional effort provides a foundation for comprehensively assessing the conservation status of all mammals in Colombia.

Biodiversity Data JournalVol. 14
Wildlife Conservation Society (US), Universidad de Caldas (CO), Universidad del Cauca (CO), Bangor University (GB), Universidad de Los Andes (CO), Lund University (SE), Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (MX), Universidad de Sucre (CO), Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (CO), Universidad de Nariño (CO), Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute (CO), Instituto Sinchi (CO), Universidad de los Llanos (CO), Universidad de Córdoba (CO), Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas (CO), Universidad Nacional de Colombia (CO), SELVA (CO), Universidad Central (CO), Instituto Tecnológico Metropolitano (CO), Universidad de la Amazonia (CO), Corporación Universitaria Santa Rosa de Cabal (CO), Fundación Universitaria Internacional del Tropico Américano (CO), University of La Salle (CO), Universidad del Valle (CO), Nelson Mandela University (ZA)
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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