DISCRIMINACIÓN DE HECES DE PUMA (Puma concolor) Y JAGUAR (Panthera onca) POR IDENTIFICACIÓN DE SUS ÁCIDOS BILIARES: UNA TÉCNICA PARA EL MONITOREO DE CARNÍVOROS SILVESTRES.

The article presents a study that identifies puma and jaguar feces through analyzing fecal bile acids, a technique used in monitoring wildlife carnivores in Amboró National Park in Bolivia. The study uses a simple laboratory technique, thin layer chromatography that allows the identification of species by chromatographic determination of intensity, color and presence or absence pattern of fecal bile acids. Result shows that the bile acid pattern for puma was lithocholic, dehydrocholic, deoxycholic, quenodeoxycholic, cholic glycocholic and four non identified bile acids, while the bile acid pattern for jaguar was lithocholic, dehydrocholic, deoxycholic, cholic and glycocholic.