Species richness and endemicity of carnivorans in protected areas of the Yucatan Peninsula

• Yucatán Peninsula has the second largest forest in the Americas after Amazon. • Yucatan Peninsula hosts 18 carnivoran species (∼22% of Americas’). • Temperature stability and forest cover are key drivers of carnivoran species distributions. • Protected areas cover just 9.48% of critical carnivoran habitats in the Yucatan Peninsula. Despite their ecological importance, carnivorans are often underrepresented in protected areas (PAs), making it crucial to evaluate the representation of their richness and endemicity patterns within these areas for effective conservation. The Yucatan Peninsula (YP), a unique biogeographic province, harbors 18 carnivoran species (∼22% of the Americas’ carnivoran diversity). Using ecological niche modeling and diversity range analysis, we assessed the spatial representation of these patterns within the region’s PAs. Our results show that peak species richness occurs in southern Quintana Roo, southeastern Campeche, the Tabasco-Chiapas border (Mexico), and northern Belize-Guatemala, while endemicity is highest on Cozumel Island and in south-central Tabasco. However, only 9.48 % of high-richness and high-endemicity areas lie within existing PAs. Key PAs partially covering these priority zones include Sierra del Lacandón, Laguna del Tigre, Tikal, and Yaxhá-Nakum-Naranjo National Parks (Guatemala); the Rio Bravo Conservation Area (Belize); and the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve (Mexico). These findings underscore the need to expand PA coverage and enhance systematic assessments of biodiversity patterns within them to safeguard the YP’s unique carnivoran assemblages and their ecosystem functions.