Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Roland W. Kays is the curator of mammals at the New York State Museum. Don E. Wilson is a senior scientist at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. His books include The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals and Mammal Species of the World.

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MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

Princeton University Press

Contents

Acknowledgments..........................................6Introduction.............................................7Species Included.........................................8What Is a Species?.......................................8What Information Is Included?............................8What Information Is Not Included?........................10Further Reading..........................................10Recommended Internet Resources...........................10Using This Book to Identify a Mammal.....................11Quick Mammal ID Chart....................................12How Are Mammals Related?.................................16Mammal Measurements and Anatomy..........................17Species Plates...........................................18Glossary.................................................240Index....................................................242

Chapter One

This field guide is designed to efficiently and accurately identify all 462 mammal species known from North America, north of Mexico. In addition to native species, this includes tropical species that rarely venture north across the border, exotic species introduced from foreign lands, and extinct species.

Some species on our list have very rarely been recorded in North America (e.g. Margay and Hairy-legged Vampire Bat), but deserve coverage in a field guide so that naturalists know what to look for in the event that these species recolonize.

Selecting which introduced mammal species to include in a field guide is a bit tricky. We selected only exotic mammal species known to survive and reproduce in the wild. This includes a number of ungulate and rodent species that could be confused with our native species. We decided not to include species such as the domestic horse or domestic cat, which have feral populations but are known to everyone, and unlikely to be confused with any native mammals. Because they are unlikely to be confused with native fauna, we did not include the various monkey species known to have escaped from zoos or breeding centers and that may survive in some areas in Florida, and perhaps Texas.

What Is a Species?

Scientists continue to refine our definition of the term species. Traditionally, we recognized independent evolutionary lineages that were reproductively isolated from other such lineages as species. This biological species concept is often difficult to apply in real life. Recent advances in molecular technology that allow much greater resolution of evolutionary relationships have led to a continuing re-examination of our ideas about what constitutes a species. For the purposes of this book, we have followed Wilson and Reeder (2005) in determining which species to recognize. In addition we have followed the more recent scientific literature and recognized a few additional species or name changes published subsequent to Wilson and Reeder (2005). So, for our purposes, a species is an evolutionary lineage of mammal that is recognized as distinct from other such lineages by appropriate authorities in the field of mammalogy.

What Information Is Included?

We designed this book to be useful both to amateur naturalists and professional mammalogists. We have packed as much detail into this volume as possible, but also worked hard to keep it concise and efficient, so that it is not unwieldy in the field. All the information for a given species is displayed on two facing pages.

- Artwork

The 110 color plates are the core of this guide and will be the most useful component for mammal identification. Each species is represented by an illustration, and some species have a number of illustrations to show variations in their appearance due to age, sex, season, or geographic variation. All paintings are original works of art created for this book and are the result of close collaboration between the artists and ourselves. Credits for each plate are listed on the copyright page.

- A Note on Skeletal Material

Most species can be identified based on external appearances. However, sometimes two species of mammal can be distinguished only by a dental or skeletal character. In these cases we include an illustration of such differences.

- Distribution Maps

The maps show the most recent geographic distribution data for each species. Data for these maps were provided by NatureServe in collaboration with Bruce Patterson, Wes Sechrest, Marcelo Tognelli, Gerardo Ceballos, The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, World Wildlife Fund, and Environment Canada. Mammal ranges are dynamic, with some populations expanding into new areas and others becoming extirpated locally. Readers should therefore be on the lookout for species outside of their normal geographic range.

- Species Accounts

Each species account has a brief paragraph noting a species' common name, scientific name, measurements, and details about appearance, general ecology, and behavior. All species accounts are written with a specific formula to make it easy to find the bit of information you are looking for:

Common Name Genus species total length, tail length, weight (with differences for male and female where significant)

1) The single most important piece of information for identifying the species.

2) Description of the physical traits of the species. Details of within-species variation and how to tell it apart from similar species.

3) Description of behavior, where relevant, including vocalizations.

4) Description of habitats used by a species.

- Scat Illustrations

Mammals are often elusive, but their scat (feces) can be easy to find. This makes scat an excellent tool to document the presence of local mammals, and some mammalogists get quite excited over a good scat discovery. To aid in scat study, we have included examples of mammal scat shapes (see pages 236-239). While some species have very characteristic scats, others can be quite variable, with the shape and size dependent on the contents of the animal's last meal. Generally, herbivores have more consistent diet, and therefore their scat can be more reliably identified. Carnivores and omnivores have more variable diets, and therefore are much more difficult to identify by scat alone.

- Mammal Tracks

Most big or medium-sized mammals have characteristic footprints that can be detected and identified in soft mud or snow. We have provided illustrations of these tracks, with a range of measurements, on the inside flap of the cover of this guide.

What Information Is Not Included?

While this book has all the information you need to identify every mammal species in North America, it does not have much more. To keep this field guide efficient to use, small, and easy to take into the field, we have minimized discussion about the ecology, behavior, evolution, and conservation of each species. We encourage readers to read more about the mammals they see and identify, and recommend the following sources for their bookshelves and coffee tables - but not necessarily for their field backpack.

Further Reading

Elbroch, M. 2003. Mammal Tracks & Sign: A Guide to North American Species. Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA.

Glass, Brian P., and Monte L. Thies, 1997. A Key to the Skulls of North American Mammals, 3rd edn. Oklahoma State University.

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