Gompper Matthew E, Goodman Rachel M, Kays Roland W, Ray Justina C, Fiorello Christine V, Wade Susan E
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA.
J Wildl Dis. 2003 Jul;39(3):712-7. doi: 10.7589/0090-3558-39.3.712.
Coyotes (Canis latrans) have colonized northeastern North America only within the past 10-80 yr. We examined feces of coyotes in 2000-01 at three sites in New York (USA) to survey parasites in the region. Two cestodes, nine nematodes, five protozoa, one trematode, and two arthropods were identified from 145 coyote fecal samples. Parasite component community diversity was higher (n = 16 species) in southern New York than in middle and northern sites (nine species each) and infracommunity species richness was greater in southern New York than at the other sites. These differences may reflect the variable diets of coyotes, as well as recent colonization of the region and the mixing of component communities from expanding coyote populations.
