Supplementary material from "Metabarcoding analysis provides insight into the link between prey and plant intake in a large alpine cat carnivore, the snow leopard"

Species of the family Felidae are thought to be obligate carnivores. However, detection of plants in feces of felids raises questions about the role of plants in their diet. This is particularly true for the snow leopard (Panthera uncia), a large felid native to central and South Asia's high mountains. Our study aimed to comprehensively identify the prey and plants consumed by snow leopards. We applied DNA metabarcoding methods on 90 fecal samples of snow leopards collected in Kyrgyzstan. We found that argali (Ovis ammon) was detected only from male snow leopards. Among the three most common plant families detected in their feces, Tamaricaceae (genus Myricaraia) was consumed often by snow leopards. The genus Myricaria frequently appeared in samples lacking any prey animal DNA, indicating that snow leopards might have consumed this plant especially when their digestive tracts were empty. We also observed differences in the patterns of plant consumption between male and female snow leopards, and potentially between sampling seasons. We believe our comprehensive overview of prey and plants detected in the feces of snow leopards and other sympatric mammals will help in formulating hypotheses and guiding future research to understand the adaptive significance of plant-eating behavior in felids.