# Manual para el rastreo de mamíferos silvestres de México

> How do you tell a jaguar’s track from a puma’s, or know which way a coyote’s body was turned as they trotted? This richly illustrated Spanish-language manual covers the tracks and signs of about 70 wild mammals of Mexico, from opossums and armadillos to tapirs, bears and bison. The author also argues that collections of track casts and photographs could serve as scientific records of where species live, without harming a single animal.

Summary by Kersey Lawrence, Original Wisdom. Updated 9 November 2026. Page: https://www.originalwisdom.com/tracking-literature/2012-sanchez-manual-para-el-rastreo/

## Citation and access

- **Authors:** Jaime Marcelo Aranda Sánchez
- **Year published:** 2012
- **Journal or source:** Book, Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO), Mexico
- **Full citation:** Aranda Sánchez, J. M. 2012. Manual para el rastreo de mamíferos silvestres de México. Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO), México, D.F. ISBN 978-607-7607-69-4.
- **DOI:** 10.5962/bhl.title.113211
- **Access status:** Open access (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
- **PDF:** https://www.originalwisdom.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/2012_Aranda_manual-para-el-rastreo-de-mamiferos-silvestres.pdf

## Tags

- **Species:** Mammals > American badger; Mammals > American beaver; Mammals > American bison; Mammals > American black bear; Mammals > American hog-nosed skunk; Mammals > Antelope jackrabbit; Mammals > Baird’s tapir; Mammals > Bighorn sheep; Mammals > Black howler; Mammals > Black-footed ferret; Mammals > Bobcat; Mammals > Brown four-eyed opossum; Mammals > Central American agouti; Mammals > Central American red brocket; Mammals > Central American woolly opossum; Mammals > Collared peccary; Mammals > Common opossum; Mammals > Coyote; Mammals > Cozumel raccoon; Mammals > Eastern cottontail; Mammals > Eastern spotted skunk; Mammals > Geoffroy’s spider monkey; Mammals > Greater grison; Mammals > Grey four-eyed opossum; Mammals > Grey fox; Mammals > Grey wolf; Mammals > Hooded skunk; Mammals > Jaguar; Mammals > Jaguarundi; Mammals > Kinkajou; Mammals > Kit fox; Mammals > Long-tailed weasel; Mammals > Lowland paca; Mammals > Mantled howler; Mammals > Margay; Mammals > Mexican agouti; Mammals > Mexican cottontail; Mammals > Mexican grey squirrel; Mammals > Mexican ground squirrel; Mammals > Mexican hairy dwarf porcupine; Mammals > Mexican prairie dog; Mammals > Mountain lion; Mammals > Mule deer; Mammals > Neotropical otter; Mammals > Nine-banded armadillo; Mammals > North American porcupine; Mammals > Northern naked-tailed armadillo; Mammals > Northern tamandua; Mammals > Ocelot; Mammals > Pocket gopher; Mammals > Pronghorn; Mammals > Pygmy spotted skunk; Mammals > Raccoon; Mammals > Ringtail; Mammals > Rock squirrel; Mammals > Southern spotted skunk; Mammals > Striped hog-nosed skunk; Mammals > Striped skunk; Mammals > Tayra; Mammals > Virginia opossum; Mammals > Volcano rabbit; Mammals > Water opossum; Mammals > Western spotted skunk; Mammals > White-lipped peccary; Mammals > White-nosed coati; Mammals > White-tailed deer; Mammals > Yucatan brown brocket
- **Region:** North America > Mexico
- **Tracking:** Burrows; Claw marks; Feeding signs; Gaits; Paths; Scat; Spoor age estimation; Track casts; Track measurements; Track photographs; Tracking; Tracks; Tracks and signs identification
- **Behaviour and ecology:** Behaviour; Feeding
- **Methods and technology:** Distribution mapping
- **Data type:** Protocol or guidelines
- **Observer qualification:** Not needed
- **Discipline:** Wildlife tracking
- **Year published:** 2012

## Detailed keywords

- **Species:** A field guide to the tracks and signs of the medium and large wild mammals of Mexico, with about 70 species treated (English common names are ours; the book uses Spanish names). Opossums: Central American woolly opossum (Caluromys derbianus), water opossum (Chironectes minimus), Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), common opossum (Didelphis marsupialis), gray four-eyed opossum (Philander opossum), brown four-eyed opossum (Metachirus nudicaudatus); mouse opossums (Marmosa mexicana, Tlacuatzin canescens) mentioned only. Armadillos: nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), northern naked-tailed armadillo (Cabassous centralis). Anteaters: northern tamandua (Tamandua mexicana); silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus) mentioned. Monkeys: mantled howler (Alouatta palliata), black howler (Alouatta pigra), spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi). Rabbits and hares: antelope jackrabbit (Lepus alleni), volcano rabbit (Romerolagus diazi), Mexican cottontail (Sylvilagus cunicularius), eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus). Cats: bobcat (Lynx rufus), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), margay (Leopardus wiedii), puma (Puma concolor), jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi), jaguar (Panthera onca). Dogs: coyote (Canis latrans), gray wolf (Canis lupus), gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), kit fox (Vulpes macrotis). American black bear (Ursus americanus). Weasels and relatives: Neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis), American badger (Taxidea taxus), tayra (Eira barbara), greater grison (Galictis vittata), long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata), black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes). Skunks: hog-nosed skunks (Conepatus leuconotus, Conepatus semistriatus), spotted skunks (Spilogale angustifrons, S. gracilis, S. putorius, S. pygmaea), hooded and striped skunks (Mephitis macroura, Mephitis mephitis). Raccoons and relatives: ringtail (Bassariscus astutus), cacomistle (Bassariscus sumichrasti), white-nosed coati (Nasua narica), raccoon (Procyon lotor), Cozumel raccoon (Procyon pygmaeus), kinkajou (Potos flavus). Baird’s tapir (Tapirus bairdii). Peccaries: collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari). Deer: Yucatan brown brocket (Mazama pandora), red brocket (Mazama temama), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), bison (Bison bison), bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). Rodents: Mexican gray squirrel (Sciurus aureogaster) and other tree squirrels, Mexican prairie dog (Cynomys mexicanus), ground squirrels (Spermophilus mexicanus, Spermophilus variegatus), American beaver (Castor canadensis), pocket gophers (family Geomyidae, mounds only), North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum), Mexican hairy dwarf porcupine (Sphiggurus mexicanus), agoutis (Dasyprocta mexicana, Dasyprocta punctata), lowland paca (Cuniculus paca). Comparison species: domestic dog, domestic cat, coypu (Myocastor coypus), kangaroo rats (Dipodomys).
- **Location and habitat:** Mexico, nationwide; many species also occur in other countries, so the author notes the guide is useful beyond Mexico. Each account gives the species’ general distribution, its range in Mexico and its habitats (from deserts and grasslands to tropical and cloud forests, mangroves and high mountains). Terrain types for tracking: dry soil, dry and wet sand, mud, snow and slopes.
- **Topics:** field guide; definitions of sign (“rastro”) and tracking (“rastreo”) as identifying and interpreting sign; tracking as learning a language; limb anatomy (bones, plantigrade, digitigrade and unguligrade feet, digit reduction, pads, nails, claws and hooves); track terms (track, trail, stride, pattern length and width); gaits (walk, trot, diagonal and rotary gallop, bound, half-bound, kangaroo rat ricochet) and how they place the tracks; influence of terrain; ageing sign by weather (rain, wind, cold and heat); collecting sign (photographs with a scale, plaster casts, drying and storing scats); identifying tracks; species accounts with descriptions, distribution, natural history, tracks, scat, other signs (vocalisations, claw marks on trees, feeding remains, burrows, mounds, dams), similar species and track patterns; practical uses in education and research; advantages and limits of tracking; non-invasive methods; track collections (casts and digital photographs) as scientific collection specimens and distribution records.
- **Statistics or models:** None
- **Data type:** Protocol or guidelines (a field guide). Based on the author’s own field experience and photographs, with ink drawings of an “ideal” track for each species and 59 colour photographs of tracks and signs; no dates of data collection are given. The drawings for the northern naked-tailed armadillo were based on photographs of a captive animal’s feet, as the author had never seen their tracks in the wild. Small inconsistencies: Figure 3 (plantigrade, digitigrade and unguligrade feet) carries the same caption as Figure 2 (bone anatomy of the limbs); Matthews (1977) is also cited as “Mattews”; Vaughan (1978) is cited in the text but the reference list gives Vaughan et al. (2000); the contents list gives page 59 for both the silky anteater and the tamandua.

## Synopsis

### 1. What they did

This book is a Spanish-language field manual for identifying and interpreting the tracks and signs of the medium and large wild mammals of Mexico. The author defines sign as any trace, mark or clue mammals leave during their activities, plus any remains of the animals themselves, and tracking as identifying and interpreting that sign. He compares learning to track with learning a language, and writes for hikers and other outdoor visitors as well as biologists.

The book has four parts:

- Basics of tracking. Limb anatomy and how it shapes tracks, track terms and measurements, the main gaits and the track patterns they leave, the influence of terrain, how weather changes sign over time, how to collect sign, and how to identify tracks.

- Species accounts. Family by family, from opossums to the paca, with taxonomy following Wilson and Reeder (2005). Each species (or group of species with similar sign) gets a description, distribution, natural history, then its tracks, scat, other signs, species with similar sign and notes, with ink drawings of right front and hind tracks, measurements and walking patterns. Where a family has many species with similar sign, a representative group is described.

- Practical applications. Tracking in education and in mammal research.

- Photographs of tracks and signs. 59 photographs of tracks, scats and other signs in natural conditions.

### 2. What they found

Reading tracks

- Tracks are usually the easiest sign to see and the most likely to be identified correctly, because the feet are closely tied to each species’ way of life and stay much the same among individuals.

- Knowing the number of toes, which toes are reduced, the shape of the pads and the claws or hooves is key. Rabbits and hares have no pads, only stiff hair.

- In overlapping tracks, the hind foot always lands on the front foot’s track.

- Four basic gaits are recognised: walk, trot, gallop and bound, each leaving typical patterns. For example, opossums walk with the hind track just behind the front track; deer, peccaries and cats often register the hind foot on the front track; raccoons leave tracks in pairs; large canids often trot with the body turned to one side; rabbits and some squirrels mostly use a half-bound; kangaroo rats hop on their hind feet only.

- Terrain changes the size, toe spread and clarity of tracks. Fine dry soil and soft shallow mud are best; coarse sand and deep mud lose detail; on slopes the toes and claws mark more going uphill and the pads more going downhill.

- To age sign, the author’s general rule is that the greater the difference between the ground inside a track and the ground around it, the fresher it is, because weather gradually evens them out. Rain, wind, cold and heat each change tracks in different ways.

Collecting sign

- Photograph the clearest sign with a scale such as a pen or ruler.

- Plaster casts: fine, fast-setting dental plaster works best, mixed in half a thick rubber ball; pour thin mixes on dry ground and let the plaster flow from the widest to the narrowest parts to avoid bubbles; a cast is set when hard, warm and does not mark the finger.

- Scats should be dried well against mould; those with hair need naphthalene against moths; soft ones can be coated with clear varnish or diluted glue.

Species accounts

- The accounts give typical track and scat sizes and how to separate similar species. For example, jaguar tracks are told from puma tracks by toes that do not taper to a point and a pad with a straight or convex top edge; jaguars do not cover large prey remains, unlike pumas; and jaguar and puma scats can be separated where they share an area by associated tracks, bile acids or DNA.

- Some signs other than tracks are described, such as the mounds of pocket gophers, whose tracks are almost never found because they live underground.

### 3. What they concluded

- Tracking is an enriching activity for anyone, and of great value for education and for research on mammals.

- As a research method it has drawbacks: it needs well-trained, experienced people; sign is not always easy to see or found everywhere, which makes random sampling hard; suitable ground varies between areas; data can be hard to interpret; and similar species, or individuals of the same species, can be hard to tell apart.

- Its advantages: it is cheap, needs no special equipment, and is non-invasive, causing no harm to animals and no risk to researchers, so trained volunteers can help.

- With so many species at risk, it is rarely justified to kill animals for information. For species whose tracks can be identified to species, recording and collecting tracks is a real alternative for keeping distribution records up to date.

- In the author’s opinion, building and keeping collections of track casts or digital photographs is a key task for knowing and conserving wild mammals. These can be curated like skins and skulls, as a complement to traditional collections, which hold little on medium and large mammals.

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

The whole book is about tracking: identifying and interpreting the tracks and signs of Mexican mammals, including footprints, gaits and track patterns, measurements, scats, feeding remains, burrows and mounds, claw marks, trails, and vocalisations. No trailing method is described, although the author notes that in snow animals can be followed over long distances and much of their activity read.

### 6. Other technologies, skills or innovations

- Plaster casting, with practical tips on mixing, pouring, reinforcing long casts with a stick, and setting on salty ground.

- Track photographs with a size reference, and ink drawings of an “ideal” track for each species, with the reminder that in the field one sees hollows in the ground, not drawings.

- Curating track casts and photographs as scientific collection specimens, following Ramírez-Pulido et al. (1989).

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

- Learning to read tracks and signs helps people see a place as an ecosystem rather than just scenery, and makes them more aware of the need to conserve natural areas and their biodiversity.

- Tracking is a non-invasive way to gain valuable information on species at risk, and track collections can provide current distribution records without killing animals.

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

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

- A detailed Spanish-language tracking guide that includes many tropical species (such as tapir, peccaries, brockets, agoutis, paca and tayra) whose tracks and signs are less often covered in field guides, useful wherever these species live.

- The author openly notes where his drawings were not based on wild tracks (the naked-tailed armadillo), a useful reminder to check how a guide’s reference material was obtained.

## Cite this summary

Lawrence, K. 2026. Summary of: Manual para el rastreo de mamíferos silvestres de México (Sánchez, 2012). Original Wisdom, Tracking Literature. https://www.originalwisdom.com/tracking-literature/2012-sanchez-manual-para-el-rastreo/