TABLE 2.

Metadata associated with each dataset.

Species	Latin name	Country	No. of samples	Sample type	Sample buffer	16S Primers	Mean read count per sample	Associated publication	Data availability
Humans	Homo sapiens	United States	500	Feces	None	515F/806R (V4)	33,454	American Gut Project	NCBI BioProject PRJEB11419
Meerkat	Suricata suricatta	South Africa	137	Feces	None/RNAlater	515F/806R (V4)	129,011	NA	NCBI BioProject PRJNA715730
Red deer	Cervus elaphus	Germany	136	Feces	RNAlater	515F/806R (V4)	48,667	Menke et al., 2019	https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7r22vb1
Seba’s short-tailed bat	Carollia perspicillata	Panama	169	Feces	RNAlater	515F/806R (V4)	36,549	NA	NCBI BioProject PRJNA715730
Tome’s spiny rat	Proechimys semispinosus	Panama	196	Feces	RNAlater	515F/806R (V4)	25,045	Fackelmann et al., 2021	NCBI BioProject PRJNA715350
Gray-brown mouse lemur	Microcebus grisorufus	Madagascar	182	Feces	RNAlater	515F/806R (V4)	49,910	Wasimuddin et al., 2019	NCBI BioProject PRJNA715730
Greater flamingo	Phoenicopterus roseus	France	552	Cloacal swab	RNAlater	515RF/806R (V4)	27,970	Gillingham et al., 2019	NCBI BioProject PRJNA485732
Red-necked stint	Calidris ruficollis	Australia	98	Cloacal swab	None	27F/519R (V1-3)	42,573	Risely et al., 2018	NCBI BioProject PRJNA385545