Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Recent Mammals of Alaska

By S. O. MacDonald Joseph A. Cook

University of Alaska Press

Copyright © 2009 University of Alaska Press
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-60223-047-7

Contents

Preface......................................................................................ixAcknowledgments..............................................................................xiIntroduction.................................................................................1A Brief History of Mammalogy and Mammal Collectors in Alaska.................................4Appreciating the Limits of Our Knowledge of Alaska's Mammalian Diversity.....................5Beringian Coevolution Project................................................................18Specimen Representation: Time and Space......................................................20Study Area...................................................................................25Regional Overviews...........................................................................26Alaska's Island Archipelagos.................................................................37Materials and Methods........................................................................41Fieldwork....................................................................................41Collaborations...............................................................................43Additional Museum Studies....................................................................43Laboratory Studies...........................................................................43Museum Specimens.............................................................................44Accounts of Species and Subspecies...........................................................44The Recent Mammals of Alaska.................................................................49Faunal Composition...........................................................................49List of Species..............................................................................50Order PROBOSCIDEA............................................................................53Family ELEPHANTIDAE-elephants................................................................53Order SIRENIA................................................................................56Family DUGONGIDAE-dugong and sea cow.........................................................56Order PRIMATES...............................................................................59Family HOMINIDAE-apes and humans.............................................................59Family SCIURIDAE-squirrels...................................................................62Family CASTORIDAE-beavers....................................................................77Family DIPODIDAE-jumping mice................................................................80Family CRICETIDAE-voles, lemmings, deermice, woodrats........................................84Family MURIDAE-Old World rats and mice.......................................................111Family ERETHIZONTIDAE-New World porcupines...................................................115Order LAGOMORPHA.............................................................................118Family OCHOTONIDAE-pikas.....................................................................118Family LEPORIDAE-hares and rabbits...........................................................121Order SORICOMORPHA...........................................................................127Family SORICIDAE-shrews......................................................................127Order CHIROPTERA.............................................................................143Family VESPERTILIONIDAE-evening bats.........................................................143Order CARNIVORA..............................................................................151Family FELIDAE-cats..........................................................................151Family CANIDAE-wolf, coyote, and foxes.......................................................156Family URSIDAE-bears.........................................................................165Family OTARIIDAE-eared seals.................................................................174Family ODOBENIDAE-walrus.....................................................................181Family PHOCIDAE-hair seals...................................................................184Family MUSTELIDAE-weasels....................................................................194Family PROCYONIDAE-raccoons..................................................................212Order ARTIODACTYLA...........................................................................214Family CERVIDAE-antlered ungulates...........................................................214Family BOVIDAE-horned ungulates..............................................................225Order CETACEA Brisson........................................................................234Family BALAENIDAE-right whales...............................................................234Family BALAENOPTERIDAE-rorquals..............................................................239Family ESCHRICHTIIDAE-gray whale.............................................................247Family DELPHINIDAE-dolphins..................................................................250Family MONODONTIDAE-beluga and narwhal.......................................................259Family PHOCOENIDAE-porpoises.................................................................263Family PHYSETERIDAE-sperm whales.............................................................267Family ZIPHIIDAE-beaked whales...............................................................271Literature Cited.............................................................................275Appendices...................................................................................337Appendix 1. Locations and Names of Alaska Quadrangle Topographic Maps........................338Appendix 2. Regional Occurrence of Alaska Land Mammals.......................................340Appendix 3. Number of Alaska Type Specimens by Institution...................................343Appendix 4. Specimens of Alaska Mammals by Institution.......................................344Appendix 5. Habitats of Alaska Mammals.......................................................347Appendix 6. Conservation Status of Alaska Mammals............................................353Appendix 7. Introductions and Translocations of Mammals in Alaska............................357Appendix 8. Mammal Occurrence on Islands in Southeast Alaska.................................366Appendix 9. Mammal Occurrence on Islands in Southcentral Alaska..............................370Appendix 10. Mammal Occurrence on Islands in Southwest Alaska................................371Appendix 11. Mammal Occurrence on Islands in Western Alaska..................................373Appendix 12. Pleistocene Mammals of Alaska and Yukon Territory...............................374Index........................................................................................381

Introduction

Mammals have long been important to Alaskans. From the earliest indigenous peoples who colonized this vast region tracking wildlife across the Bering Land Bridge, and the Russian colonists who were lured later by vast quantities of sea otter pelts, to the large-scale American whaling operations that followed several decades thereafter,...