List of South American mammals

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This is a list of the native wild mammal species recorded in South America. South America's terrestrial mammals fall into three distinct groups. The marsupials and xenarthrans are 'old-timers', their ancestors having been present on the continent since at least the very early Cenozoic Era. During the early Cenozoic, South America's only land connection was to Antarctica, so it was effectively cut off from most of the world; as the fragments of Gondwana continued to separate, this connection was lost, leaving South America an island continent. Caviomorph rodents and monkeys arrived as 'waif dispersers' by rafting across the Atlantic from Africa in the Eocene epoch, 35 million or more years ago.[1][2][3] All the remaining nonflying mammals of South America are recent arrivals, having migrated from North America via Central America during the past seven million years as part of the Great American Interchange; this invasion, which peaked around three million years ago, was made possible when the formation of the volcanic Isthmus of Panama bridged North and South America. The newcomers out-competed and drove to extinction many unique mammals that had evolved during South America's long period of isolation, as well as some species from other classes (e.g., terror birds).[4]

South America suffered another major loss of mammal species in the Quaternary extinction event, which started around 12500 cal BP, at roughly the time of arrival of Paleoindians, and may have lasted up to several thousand years. At least 37 genera of mammals were eliminated, including most of the megafauna.[5] While South America currently has no megaherbivore species weighing more than 1000 kg, prior to this event it had a menagerie of about 25 of them (consisting of gomphotheres, camelids, ground sloths, glyptodonts, and toxodontids – 75% of these being 'old-timers'), dwarfing Africa's present and recent total of 6.[6]

Anthropogenic climate change and the damage to its ecosystems resulting from the rapid recent growth of the human population pose a further threat to South America's biodiversity.

The list consists of those species found in the nations or overseas territories of continental South America (including their island possessions, such as the Galápagos), as well as in Trinidad and Tobago and the Falkland Islands; Panama is not included. As of May 2012, the list contains 1331 species, 340 genera, 62 families and 15 orders. Of the taxa from nonflying, nonmarine groups (992 species, 230 genera, 40 families and 12 orders), 'old-timers' comprise 14% of species, 15% of genera, 20% of families and 42% of orders; African immigrants make up 38% of species, 30% of genera, 40% of families and 17% of orders; North American invaders constitute 49% of species 55% of genera, 40% of families and 50% of orders. At the order level, the 'old-timers' are overrepresented because of their ancient local origins, while the African immigrants are underrepresented because of their 'sweepstakes' mode of dispersal.

Of the species, 8 are extinct, 29 are critically endangered, 64 are endangered, 111 are vulnerable, 64 are near-threatened, and 255 are data-deficient.[n 1] Mammal species presumed extinct since AD 1500 (eight or nine cases) are included. Domestic species (e.g., the guinea pig, alpaca, and llama) and introduced species are not listed.

NOTE: this list is inevitably going to be incomplete, since new species are continually being recognized via discovery or reclassification. Places to check for missing species include the Wikipedia missing mammal species list, including recently removed entries, and the species listings in the articles for mammalian genera, especially those of small mammals such as rodents or bats.

The following tags are used to highlight each species' conservation status as assessed by the IUCN:

EX Extinct No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died.
EW Extinct in the Wild Known only to survive in captivity or as a naturalized population well outside its historic range.
CR Critically Endangered The species is in imminent danger of extinction in the wild.
EN Endangered The species is facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
VU Vulnerable The species is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
NT Near Threatened The species does not qualify as being at high risk of extinction but is likely to do so in the future.
LC Least Concern The species is not currently at risk of extinction in the wild.
DD Data Deficient There is inadequate information to assess the risk of extinction for this species.
NE Not Evaluated The conservation status of the species has not been studied.

The IUCN status of all listed species except bats was last updated during the period from March to June 2009; bats were updated in September 2009.

Subclass: Theria

Infraclass: Metatheria

The infraclass Metatheria includes all living and extinct marsupials, but also includes some related extinct orders of mammals that are no longer considered marsupials, such as Sparassodonta. At least six families of sparassodonts lived in South America prior to the interchange, dominating the niches for large mammalian carnivores.

Marsupials are a collection of pouched mammals that was once more widely distributed. Today they are found primarily in isolated or formerly isolated continents of Gondwanan origin. South America's 22 extant genera compares with 10 in Central America, 1 in North America north of Mexico, 52 in Australia, 28 in New Guinea and 2 in Sulawesi. South American marsupials are thought to be ancestral to those of Australasia.[7]

Superorder: Ameridelphia

Order: Didelphimorphia (common opossums)
File:Caluromys philander.JPG
Bare-tailed woolly opossum
File:Woolly opossum.jpg
Woolly opossum
(Caluromys sp.)
File:Schwimmbeutler-drawing2.jpg
Water opossum
White-eared opossum
Common opossum
File:Cambridge Natural History Mammalia Fig 084.jpg
Lutrine opossum
File:Marmosa robinsoni.jpg
Robinson's mouse opossum
Mouse opossum
(Marmosa sp.)
File:Micoureus.JPG
Mouse opossum
(Marmosa (Micoureus) sp.)
File:Gracilinanus microtarsus.JPG
Gray slender opossum
File:Monodelphis domestica93-300b.jpg
Gray short-tailed opossum
Gray four-eyed opossum
File:Llaca.jpg
Elegant fat-tailed mouse opossum

Didelphimorphia is the order of common opossums of the Western Hemisphere. Opossums probably diverged from the basic South American marsupials in the late Cretaceous or early Paleocene. They are small to medium-sized marsupials, about the size of a large house cat, with a long snout and prehensile tail.

Order: Paucituberculata (shrew opossums)
File:HyracodonFuliginosusWolf2.jpg
Dusky caenolestid

There are six extant species of shrew opossum. They are small shrew-like marsupials confined to the Andes.

Monito del monte on bamboo

Superorder: Australidelphia

Order: Microbiotheria (monito del monte)

The monito del monte of Chile and Argentina is the only extant member of its family and the only surviving member of an ancient order, Microbiotheria. It appears to be more closely related to Australian marsupials than to other Neotropic marsupials; this is a reflection of the South American origin of all Australasian marsupials.[7]

Infraclass: Eutheria

Superorder: Afrotheria

Order: Sirenia (manatees and dugongs)
West Indian manatee

Sirenia is an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit rivers, estuaries, coastal marine waters, swamps, and marine wetlands. All four species are endangered. They evolved about 50 million years ago, and their closest living relatives are elephants. The manatees are the only extant afrotherians in the Americas. However, a number proboscid species, some of which survived until the arrival of Paleoindians, once inhabited the region. Those that reached South America have usually been classified as gomphotheres, but sometimes instead as elephantids.

Superorder: Xenarthra

Order: Cingulata (armadillos)
Nine-banded armadillo
Pink fairy armadillo
Screaming hairy armadillo
File:Euphractus sexcinctus2.jpg
Six-banded armadillo
S. three-banded armadillo

The armadillos are small mammals with a bony armored shell. All 21 extant species are found in South America, where they originated. Their much larger relatives, the pampatheres and glyptodonts, once lived in North and South America but became extinct following the appearance of humans.

Order: Pilosa (sloths and anteaters)
File:Sloth1a.jpg
Hoffmann's two-toed sloth
File:Silky anteater.jpg
Silky anteater
Giant anteater
Southern tamandua

The order Pilosa is confined to the Americas and contains the tree sloths and anteaters (which include the tamanduas). All 5 extant genera and 9 of 10 extant species are present in South America, the ancestral home of the group. (The exception is the pygmy three-toed sloth, endemic to an island off Panama.) Numerous ground sloths, some of which reached the size of elephants, were once present in both North and South America, as well as on the Antilles. (Some west coastal South American forms had even evolved into marine sloths.) All of these went extinct following the arrival of humans. Extant tree sloths fall into two groups that are not closely related, and which do not form a clade; two-toed sloths are much more closely related to some extinct ground sloths than to three-toed sloths.

Superorder: Euarchontoglires

Order: Primates
File:Panamanian Night Monkeys2.jpg
Panamanian night monkey
File:Dværgsilkeabe Callithrix pygmaea.jpg
Pygmy marmoset
File:Callithrix geoffroyi 2.jpg
White-headed marmoset
File:Silvery marmoset2.jpg
Silvery marmoset
Golden lion tamarin
Emperor tamarin
File:Cebus albifrons edit3.jpg
White-fronted capuchin
File:Macaco-prego Manduri 151207 REFON 8.jpg
Black capuchin
Common squirrel monkey
Venezuelan red howler
Black-headed spider monkey
Brown spider monkey
Northern muriqui
File:Lagothrix lagotricha.jpg
Brown woolly monkey
File:Callicebus nigrifrons -Brazil-8b.jpg
Black-fronted titi
File:White-faced Saki 2008-07.jpg
White-faced saki
Bearded saki
Bald uakari

The order Primates includes the lemurs, monkeys, and apes, with the latter category including humans. It is divided into four main groupings: strepsirrhines, tarsiers, monkeys of the New World (parvorder Platyrrhini), and monkeys and apes of the Old World. South America's 20 genera of nonhuman primates compares with 6 in Central America, 15 in Madagascar, 23 in Africa and 19 in Asia. All South American monkeys are believed to be descended from ancestors that rafted over from Africa about 25 million years ago in a single dispersal event.

Order: Rodentia (rodents)
File:Coendu bicolor.jpg
Bicolored-spined porcupine
File:Coendou prehensilis - Buffalo Zoo.jpg
Brazilian porcupine
File:ErethizonRufescensWolf.jpg
Stump-tailed porcupine
Short-tailed chinchilla
File:Chin resting on sofa.JPG
Long-tailed chinchilla
Southern viscacha
File:Lagostomus maximus - Parc National El Palmar en Argentine (Entre-Rios)b.jpg
Plains viscacha
File:Dinomys branickii.JPG
Pacarana
File:Wildmeerschweinchen-06.jpg
Brazilian guinea pig
File:Cavia magna (Wroclaw zoo).JPG
Greater guinea pig
File:Galea monasteriensis.JPG
Muenster yellow-toothed cavy
File:Mara Thoiry 19802 LS40 PS6 crop.jpg
Patagonian mara
Capybara
File:Kerodon rupestris.jpg
Rock cavy
File:Agouti Azarae.JPG
Azara's agouti
File:Schwarzer Aguti-drawing.jpg
Black agouti
Red-rumped agouti
Central American agouti
File:Myoprocta pratti.jpg
Green acouchi
Lowland paca
File:Ctenomys flamarioni cropped.jpg
Flamarion's tuco-tuco
File:Tinytuco.jpg
Haig's tuco-tuco
File:Degu eating a piece of dried banana.jpg
Degu
File:Cururo.jpg
Coruro
Plains viscacha rat
File:AmazonBambooRat.JPG
Amazon bamboo rat
File:Hoplomys gymnurus2.jpg
Armored rat
File:Myocastor coypus - ragondin.jpg
Coypu

Rodents make up the largest order of mammals, with over 40 percent of mammalian species. They have two incisors in the upper and lower jaw which grow continually and must be kept short by gnawing. Most rodents are small, although the capybara can weigh up to 45 kg (100 lb). South America's rodent fauna today is largely an outgrowth of two spectacularly fortunate ancient "sweepstakes" dispersal events, each of which was followed by explosive diversification. Caviomorphs, the first rodents to reach the continent, are believed to have washed ashore after rafting across the Atlantic from Africa over 30 million years ago.[8] More recently, ancestral sigmodontine rodents[9] apparently island-hopped from Central America 5 million or more years ago,[10][11][12] prior to the formation of the Panamanian land bridge. These two groups now comprise 36 and 60%, respectively, of all South American rodent species. The corresponding figures are 10 and 27% for Central America, 2% and 10% for Mexico, and 0.5 and 3% for North America north of Mexico.[n 2] Conversely, sciurids make up 3% of rodents in South America, 8% in Central America, 15% in Mexico and 31% in North America north of Mexico, while castorimorphs are 1%, 16%, 26% and 28%, respectively. Sciurids are absent from South America's southern cone, while castorimorphs are only present in northwest South America (Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador). Illustrating the advantage of gaining a head start in colonizing a new land mass, sigmodontine rodents comprise 99.5% of all cricetid rodents in South America, but only 42% in Central America, 17% in Mexico and 7% in North America north of Mexico.

File:Sciurus aestuans.jpg
Brazilian squirrel
File:Costa-Rica-Hörnchen (Sciurus granatensis hoffmanni).jpg
Red-tailed squirrel
File:Sciurus ingrami (Thomas, 1901).jpg
Ingram's squirrel
File:Sciurus spadiceus2.jpg
Southern Amazon red squirrel
File:Abrothrix sanborni.jpg
Sanborn's grass mouse
File:Galapagos Rice-Rat.jpg
Galápagos rice rat
Small vesper mouse
Drymoreomys albimaculatus
File:IcthyomysStolzmanniSmit.jpg
Stolzmann's crab-eating rat
File:Raton colilarga.jpg
Long-tailed pygmy rice rat
Marsh rice rat (close relative of Coues's rice rat)
File:Phyllotis darwini.jpg
Darwin's leaf-eared mouse
File:Reithrodon Gervais.png
Bunny rat
File:Hesperomys (Rhipidomys) sclateri2.jpg
White-footed climbing mouse
Order: Lagomorpha (lagomorphs)
Eastern cottontail

The lagomorphs comprise two families, Leporidae (hares and rabbits), and Ochotonidae (pikas). Though they can resemble rodents, and were classified as a superfamily in that order until the early 20th century, they have since been considered a separate order. They differ from rodents in a number of physical characteristics, such as having four incisors in the upper jaw rather than two. South America's meager lagomorph diversity (3 species compared to 18 for North America north of Mexico) reflects their recent arrival and failure (so far) to diversify much. Only the tapeti is present south of northern South America; lagomorphs are absent from most of South America's southern cone.

Superorder: Laurasiatheria

Order: Eulipotyphla (shrews, hedgehogs, moles, and solenodons)

Eulipotyphlans are insectivorous mammals. Shrews and solenodons closely resemble mice, hedgehogs carry spines, while moles are stout-bodied burrowers. In South America, shrews are only found in the north (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru), a legacy of their relatively recent immigration to the continent by way of Central America (where shrew species are considerably more diverse). Moles are not found in the Americas south of northern Mexico.

Order: Chiroptera (bats)
Greater bulldog bat
Big brown bat
File:Lasiurus blossevillii2.jpg
Desert red bat
File:Lasurius cinereus.jpg
Hoary bat

The bats' most distinguishing feature is that their forelimbs are developed as wings, making them the only mammals in the world naturally capable of flight. Bat species account for about 20% of all mammals.

File:Eumops perotis.jpeg
Western mastiff bat
File:Nyctinomops macrotus.jpeg
Big free-tailed bat
File:Costa-Rica-Bat-IMG 8315b.jpg
Greater or lesser sac-winged bat
File:Sbilineata.jpg
Greater sac-winged bat
File:Mormoops megalophylla.JPG
Ghost-faced bat
File:Pteronotus parnellii.jpg
Parnell's mustached bat
File:Lophostoma.jpg
White-throated round-eared bat
File:Phyllostomus discolor2b.jpg
Pale spear-nosed bat
File:Phyllostomus hastatus.jpg
Greater spear-nosed bat
File:Intro wide polls intro vertebrate species 3.jpg
Geoffroy's tailless bat
File:Palla's long-tongued bat.jpg
Pallas's long-tongued bat
File:Southern long-nosed bat.jpg
Southern long-nosed bat
File:Lonchophylla robusta.jpg
Orange nectar bat
File:Platalina genovensium-JMaloMolina-Acos Peru-09 10 2010.jpg
Long-snouted bat
File:Carollia brevicauda.jpg
Silky short-tailed bat
File:Artibeus jamaicensis los tuxtlas 2008.jpg
Jamaican fruit bat
File:Great Fruit-eating Bat (Artibeus lituratus) crop.jpg
Great fruit-eating bat
File:Centurio senex.jpg
Wrinkle-faced bat
File:Chiroderma salvini2.jpg
Salvin's big-eyed bat
File:Sturnira lilium lostuxtlas2008.jpg
Little yellow-shouldered bat
File:Platyrrhinus -upside down-6.jpg
Platyrrhinus sp.
File:Common tent-making bats.JPG
Tent-making bat
Common vampire bat
File:Dyoungi.jpg
White-winged vampire bat
Order: Carnivora (carnivorans)
Geoffroy's cat
File:Margay01b.jpg
Margay
File:Puma yaguarondi2.jpg
Jaguarundi
File:Jaguar full.jpg
Jaguar
File:Culpeo MC2.jpg
Culpeo
Darwin's fox
File:Bush dog2.jpg
Bush dog
Maned wolf
File:Urso de óculos.jpg
Spectacled bear
File:Szop rakojad-2.jpg
Crab-eating raccoon
File:Coati Nasua narica Side 2212px.jpg
White-nosed coati
File:Yawning kinkajou-2.jpg
Kinkajou
File:Tayra.jpg
Tayra
Giant otter

There are over 260 species of carnivorans, the majority of which feed primarily on meat. They have a characteristic skull shape and dentition. South America is notable for its diversity of canids, having more genera than any other continent in spite of their relatively brief history there. South America's felid diversity is also greater than that of North America north of Mexico, while its mustelid diversity is comparable and its mephitid and ursid diversities are lower. Its procyonid diversity is somewhat less than that of Central America, the center of the family's recent evolution. The diversification of canids and felids in South America was partly a consequence of the inability of the continent's native avian and metatherian predators to compete effectively following the Great American Interchange.

Order: Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates)
File:Tapirus terrestris (1) by JM Rosier.jpg
Lowland tapir

The odd-toed ungulates are browsing and grazing mammals. They are usually large to very large, and have relatively simple stomachs and a large middle toe. Following the interchange with North America, South America's odd-toed ungulates included equids of genus Equus as well as tapirs. Equids died out in both North and South America around the time of the first arrival of humans, while tapirs died out in most of North America but survived in Central and South America. South America also once had a great diversity of ungulates of native origin, but these dwindled after the interchange with North America, and disappeared entirely following the arrival of humans. Sequencing of collagen from fossils of one recently extinct species each of notoungulates and litopterns has indicated that these orders comprise a sister group to the perissodactyls.[13] If, as some evidence suggests, perissodactyls originated in India,[14] both ungulate groups may have been of Gondwanan origin, despite being laurasiatheres.

Order: Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates and cetaceans)
Chacoan peccary
Guanaco
File:Vicunacrop2.jpg
Vicuña
Marsh deer
Southern pudú

The weight of even-toed ungulates is borne about equally by the third and fourth toes, rather than mostly or entirely by the third as in perissodactyls. There are about 220 noncetacean artiodactyl species, including many that are of great economic importance to humans. South America's considerable cervid diversity belies their relatively recent arrival. The presence of camelids in South America but not North America today is ironic, given that they have a 45-million-year-long history in the latter continent (where they originated), and only a 3 million year history in the former.

Infraorder: Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises)
Southern right whale
File:Balaenoptera borealis 3.jpg
Sei whale
Blue whale
Humpback whale
Pygmy sperm whale
File:Inia Duisburg zoo crop2.jpg
Amazon river dolphin
Commerson's dolphin
Clymene dolphin
File:Spinner dolphin jumping.JPG
Spinner dolphin
Hourglass dolphin
File:Lagenorhynchus obscurus.jpg
Dusky dolphin
File:Risso's dolphin.jpg
Risso's dolphin
Orca

The infraorder Cetacea includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. They are the mammals most fully adapted to aquatic life with a spindle-shaped nearly hairless body, protected by a thick layer of blubber, and forelimbs and tail modified to provide propulsion underwater. Their closest extant relatives are the hippos, which are artiodactyls, from which cetaceans descended; cetaceans are thus also artiodactyls.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ This list is derived from the IUCN Red List which lists species of mammals. The taxonomy and naming of the individual species is based on those used in existing Wikipedia articles as of 21 May 2007 and supplemented by the common names and taxonomy from the IUCN, Smithsonian Institution, or University of Michigan where no Wikipedia article was available.
  2. ↑ This is based on the definition of Sigmodontinae that excludes Neotominae and Tylomyinae.

References

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  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (Google books link)
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