# Manual de huellas de algunos mamíferos terrestres de Colombia

> Jaguar, tapir, spectacled bear, capybara: tracks of 33 Colombian mammals in one field guide. Written in Spanish for a tracking course, this manual pairs track drawings and measurements with skulls, maps and natural history notes, and shows simple ways to record and cast tracks in the field.

Summary by Kersey Lawrence, Original Wisdom. Updated 9 November 2026. Page: https://www.originalwisdom.com/tracking-literature/2000-navarro-munoz-manual-de-huellas-de/

## Citation and access

- **Authors:** José Fernando Navarro and Javier Muñoz
- **Year published:** 2000
- **Journal or source:** Field guide (field course edition, reprint), Medellín, Colombia
- **Full citation:** Navarro, J. F. and Muñoz, J. 2000. Manual de huellas de algunos mamíferos terrestres de Colombia. Edición curso de campo (reimpresión). Medellín, Colombia. 110 pp. ISBN 958-33-1618-0.
- **Access status:** Publisher link only
- **Where to find it:** https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Manual+de+huellas+de+algunos+mam%C3%ADferos+terrestres+de+Colombia+Navarro

## Tags

- **Species:** Mammals > Baird’s tapir; Mammals > Brazilian porcupine; Mammals > Brown four-eyed opossum; Mammals > Capybara; Mammals > Central American agouti; Mammals > Collared peccary; Mammals > Common opossum; Mammals > Crab-eating fox; Mammals > Crab-eating raccoon; Mammals > Domestic cat; Mammals > Domestic cattle; Mammals > Domestic dog; Mammals > Domestic goat; Mammals > Domestic pig; Mammals > Domestic sheep; Mammals > Donkey; Mammals > Greater grison; Mammals > Hippopotamus; Mammals > Horse; Mammals > Jaguar; Mammals > Jaguarundi; Mammals > Kinkajou; Mammals > Lion; Mammals > Long-tailed weasel; Mammals > Lowland paca; Mammals > Margay; Mammals > Mountain lion; Mammals > Neotropical otter; Mammals > Nine-banded armadillo; Mammals > Northern tamandua; Mammals > Ocelot; Mammals > Oncilla; Mammals > Red brocket; Mammals > Red-tailed squirrel; Mammals > Spectacled bear; Mammals > Striped hog-nosed skunk; Mammals > Tapeti; Mammals > Tayra; Mammals > Tiger; Mammals > Water opossum; Mammals > Western woolly opossum; Mammals > White-lipped peccary; Mammals > White-nosed coati; Mammals > White-tailed deer
- **Region:** South America > Colombia
- **Tracking:** Gaits; Track casts; Track measurements; Tracking; Tracks; Tracks and signs identification
- **Behaviour and ecology:** Behaviour; Feeding
- **Data type:** Field guide; Review
- **Observer qualification:** Not needed
- **Discipline:** Wildlife tracking
- **Year published:** 2000

## Detailed keywords

- **Species:** Covered (33 species): western woolly opossum (Caluromys lanatus), water opossum (Chironectes minimus), brown four-eyed opossum (Metachirus nudicaudatus), common opossum (Didelphis marsupialis), northern tamandua (Tamandua mexicana), nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), margay (Leopardus wiedii), oncilla or tigrillo lanchero (Leopardus tigrinus), jaguarundi (Puma yagouarondi), puma (Puma concolor), jaguar (Panthera onca), long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata), greater grison (Galictis vittata), tayra (Eira barbara), striped hog-nosed skunk (Conepatus semistriatus), neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis), crab-eating raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus), white-nosed coati (Nasua narica), kinkajou (Potos flavus), Andean or spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus), Baird’s tapir (Tapirus bairdii), collared peccary (Pecari tayacu), white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), red brocket deer (Mazama americana), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), Brazilian porcupine (Coendou prehensilis), capybara (Hydrochoerus isthmius), red-tailed squirrel (Sciurus granatensis), paca (Cuniculus paca), Central American agouti (Dasyprocta punctata) and tapeti (Sylvilagus brasiliensis). Spanish common names are given for each. Domestic animals with track drawings (adapted from Liebenberg 1990): cattle, domestic pig, donkey, horse, sheep, goat, cat and dog. Introduced species shown: common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), lion (Panthera leo) and tiger (Panthera tigris).
- **Location and habitat:** Colombia, with distribution maps by the country’s five natural regions (Andean, Pacific, Caribbean, Orinoquía and Amazonia) and elevation ranges for each species. Habitats range from lowland rainforest and riverbanks to cloud forest and páramo.
- **Topics:** mammal track identification field guide; front and hind foot drawings with measurements; stride and trail width; plantigrade, digitigrade and unguligrade feet; factors affecting track quality (animal and substrate); recording tracks on acetate sheets; plaster and paraffin casts; track traps (talc, fine sand, kymograph paper, talc-coated foil); skulls and dental formulae; body measurements and weights; similar species; diet, activity rhythm and social structure; Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) appendices and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categories; a key to the orders and families of Colombian mammals; colour plates of each species; tracking courses for biodiversity monitoring. Inconsistencies: the text says 31 genera and 33 species, but the species accounts cover 30 genera; page numbers in the common-name index differ from the table of contents for several species; some printed measurements look wrong in scale (for example the jaguar’s hind foot length is given as 22 to 25 mm, and a 10 mm scale bar sits under tracks given as about 10 cm).
- **Statistics or models:** None
- **Data type:** Review: a field guide built from the authors’ field notes and other track guides (Aranda 1981, Emmons and Feer 1997, Schmitz 1993, Becker and Dalponte 1999 and others). No study data or dates of data collection. This copy, though cited as 2000, uses classification from Wilson and Reeder (2005) and Solari et al. (2013), so it appears to be a later updated reprint.

## Synopsis

### 1. What they did

The authors wrote a Spanish-language field guide to the tracks of 33 wild mammal species in Colombia, for professionals, researchers, students, amateur naturalists and the general public. They note that books on neotropical mammal tracks are scarce and hard to find. This copy is a field course edition used for training in tracking for biodiversity monitoring.

The guide opens with how mammal feet are built (plantigrade, digitigrade and unguligrade), what affects the quality of a track, where to look for tracks, and how to record and preserve them. Each species then has a two-page account with:

- Scientific, Spanish and English names.

- A description of the animal, its habitat and ecology (diet, activity and social habits).

- A distribution map and elevation range in Colombia, with CITES and IUCN status.

- A skull drawing and dental formula, and the animal’s size compared with a 1.70 m person.

- Drawings of the front and hind tracks with measurements, and the stride and trail width.

- Body weight and measurements, and similar species that could be confused with it.

It ends with tracks of domestic and introduced animals, a bibliography and eight colour plates.

### 2. What they found

- Tracks are often seen more than the mammals themselves, because many are discreet and active at dusk or at night. A track may be the only sign that a species is in an area.

- Track quality depends on the animal (species, sex, age, gait and which foot) and on outside factors (weather, ground, substrate and how long ago the track was made).

- Track shape can show how an animal lives: the webbed feet of the neotropical otter and the water opossum show they swim.

- Front and hind tracks differ in most mammals, and the front feet are usually a little smaller.

- Tracks are easiest to find on riverbanks, beaches near vegetation, marsh edges and paths after rain, and on bare, not too wet clay soils. Clear tracks are hard to find in some forests.

- Tracks can be traced on acetate sheets with a fine marker, or cast in plaster (slow to dry) or paraffin (quick but fragile). Track traps can be made from a thin layer of talc, fine sand or crushed stone, kept out of the rain.

- Track counts can give abundance indices that are often simpler and cheaper than counts based on sightings or captures. A drawback is that tracks can build up over a long period, during which numbers may change.

- Combining tracks with skulls, bones, scats and hair gives a more reliable picture of which mammals live in an area.

### 3. What they concluded

- Correctly read, wild animal tracks are a basic field tool and a non-invasive way to study mammals, which matters as habitats shrink and more species are threatened.

- The guide is meant to help identify wild mammals in the field during ecological studies and fauna surveys, and to build interest in knowing and conserving Colombia’s mammals.

- Tracking can also be used in environmental education, for students, tourists and visitors.

### 4. How tracking was or was not used

The whole guide is about tracks and signs identification. The track drawings were based on field observations, the authors’ own records and museum skins, then compared with other track guides. The course introduction notes that tracking errors from wrong identification are often high, which is why tracking skills have often been questioned.

### 6. Other technologies, skills or innovations

- Recording tracks on projector acetate sheets, and casting them in plaster or paraffin, with counter-moulds made from the casts.

- Track traps with talc, sand or crushed stone, kymograph paper, or aluminium foil coated with talc and a silicone waterproofing solution.

- Camera traps are mentioned as another non-invasive method that combines well with tracking.

### 7. Implications for conservation (from the paper)

- Tracking is a non-invasive way to learn about species’ ecology without harming them, and with camera traps can show whether management measures in an area have helped conserve biodiversity.

- Each species account gives CITES and IUCN status, to raise awareness of threatened mammals.

### 8. Implications for tracking (Original Wisdom's observations)

_These are Original Wisdom's observations, not the authors'._

- One of few Spanish-language track guides for South American mammals, useful for trackers working in Colombia and neighbouring countries.

- Some printed measurements look out of scale, so trackers may want to check measurements against other guides.

## Cite this summary

Lawrence, K. 2026. Summary of: Manual de huellas de algunos mamíferos terrestres de Colombia (Navarro and Muñoz, 2000). Original Wisdom, Tracking Literature. https://www.originalwisdom.com/tracking-literature/2000-navarro-munoz-manual-de-huellas-de/