A Nearctic cat in the Neotropics: spatial biases in the existing knowledge of bobcats in Mexico (1988–2019)

Spatial biases commonly occur in biodiversity conservation efforts, and bobcats in Mexico exemplify this issue. Bobcats are one of the most well-studied felids worldwide. However, in Mexico bobcat studies are limited despite a wide distributional range. The objective of our study was to review the scientific literature published on bobcats in Mexico from 1988 to 2019 and to identify potential sampling biases. For each study, we identified the year, location, taxonomic focus, topic studied, and georeferenced each research location that included data collection in Mexico. We compared the spatial distribution of bobcat studies to random locations with a generalized linear model with binomial error structure using three variables and their interactions (degree of biome transformation, distance to protected lands, and distance to capital cities). We reviewed 210 publications (including research articles and undergraduate and postgraduate theses). Only in 37 publications were bobcats the single species studied. Bobcat studies have increased in Mexico since 2004 with most (78.57%) published within the 2004–2019 period. The main topic studied was diet, followed by species interactions. All but three states within the bobcat distribution in Mexico have at least one research study. We found that study locations are biased towards the less transformed biomes and protected lands. Bobcats can persist in urbanized landscapes although a threshold of disturbance for the species in Mexico remains unknown. Thus, we suggest bobcat research efforts to be strategically directed to fill knowledge gaps and with greater emphasis on highly transformed landscapes where the species may be at risk.