List of mammals of Alabama
The U.S. state of Alabama is home to these known indigenous mammal species.[1] Historically, the state's indigenous species included one armadillo species, sixteen bat species, thirteen carnivore species, six insectivore species, one opossum species, four rabbit species, twenty-two rodent species, and three ungulate species.[2][3][4][5][6][7] Four of these native species have become extirpated within the state, including the American bison, cougar, gray wolf, and the elk.[1][8]
There are six known introduced mammal species in the state. These include the black rat, brown rat, fallow deer, wild boar, house mouse, and nutria.[8]
Human predation and habitat destruction has placed several mammal species at risk of extirpation or extinction. The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources lists the conservation status of each species within the state with a rank of lowest, low, moderate, high, and highest concern.[3][5][6][7][8]
Armadillo
Image | Scientific name | Common name | Family | Conservation concern |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dasypus novemcinctus | nine-banded armadillo common long-nosed armadillo | Dasypodidae | Low |
Bats
Carnivores
Image | Scientific name | Common name | Family | Conservation concern |
---|---|---|---|---|
Canis latrans | coyote | Canidae | Lowest | |
Canis lupus | grey wolf | Canidae | Extirpated (now exists in Alaska, Canada, portions of the Great Lakes region and northwestern United States). | |
Canis lupus rufus | red wolf | Canidae | Extirpated (U.S. Fish and Wildlife lists as endangered) | |
Urocyon cinereoargenteus | gray fox | Canidae | Lowest | |
Vulpes vulpes | red fox | Canidae | Lowest | |
Ursus americanus | American black bear | Ursidae | Highest/ Range limited to northeast Alabama and Mobile-Tensaw River Delta. Designated as state land mammal. | |
Procyon lotor | raccoon | Procyonidae | Lowest | |
Lontra canadensis | North American river otter | Mustelidae | Low | |
Mustela frenata | long-tailed weasel | Mustelidae | High | |
Neovison vison | American mink | Mustelidae | Low | |
Mephitis mephitis | striped skunk | Mephitidae | Low | |
Spilogale putorius | eastern spotted skunk | Mephitidae | High | |
Lynx rufus | bobcat | Felidae | Lowest | |
Puma concolor | cougar mountain lion panther puma | Felidae | Extirpated (now exists in the western United States, southern Florida, and western Canada). |
Eulipotyphlans
Image | Scientific name | Common name | Family | Conservation concern |
---|---|---|---|---|
Blarina brevicauda | northern short-tailed shrew | Soricidae | Moderate | |
Blarina carolinensis | southern short-tailed shrew | Soricidae | Moderate | |
Cryptotis parva | North American least shrew | Soricidae | Moderate | |
Sorex hoyi | American pygmy shrew | Soricidae | High | |
Sorex longirostris | southeastern shrew | Soricidae | Moderate | |
Scalopus aquaticus | eastern mole | Talpidae | Low |
Opossum
Image | Scientific name | Common name | Family | Conservation concern |
---|---|---|---|---|
Didelphis virginiana | Virginia opossum North American opossum | Didelphidae | Low |
Rabbits
Image | Scientific name | Common name | Family | Conservation concern |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sylvilagus aquaticus | swamp rabbit | Leporidae | Low | |
Sylvilagus floridanus | eastern cottontail | Leporidae | Lowest | |
Sylvilagus obscurus | Appalachian cottontail | Leporidae | High | |
Sylvilagus palustris | marsh rabbit | Leporidae | High |
Rodents
Image | Scientific name | Common name | Family | Conservation concern |
---|---|---|---|---|
Castor canadensis | North American beaver | Castoridae | Lowest | |
Glaucomys volans | southern flying squirrel | Sciuridae | Lowest | |
Marmota monax | woodchuck groundhog | Sciuridae | Lowest | |
Sciurus carolinensis | eastern gray squirrel | Sciuridae | Lowest | |
Sciurus niger | fox squirrel eastern fox squirrel Bryant's fox squirrel | Sciuridae | Low | |
Tamias striatus | eastern chipmunk | Sciuridae | Lowest | |
Geomys pinetis | southeastern pocket gopher | Geomyidae | High | |
Microtus ochrogaster | prairie vole | Cricetidae | Moderate | |
Microtus pinetorum | pine vole woodland vole | Cricetidae | Low | |
Neotoma cinerea | eastern woodrat Florida woodrat | Cricetidae | Moderate | |
Neotoma magister | Allegheny woodrat | Cricetidae | High | |
Ochrotomys nuttalli | golden mouse | Cricetidae | Lowest | |
Ondatra zibethicus | muskrat | Cricetidae | Lowest | |
Oryzomys palustris | marsh rice rat | Cricetidae | Lowest | |
Peromyscus gossypinus | cotton mouse | Cricetidae | Lowest | |
Peromyscus leucopus | white-footed mouse | Cricetidae | Lowest | |
Peromyscus polionotus | oldfield mouse beach mouse | Cricetidae | Moderate | |
Peromyscus polionotus ammobates | Alabama beach mouse | Cricetidae | Highest/ U.S. Fish and Wildlife lists as endangered. Range limited to Fort Morgan Peninsula and Ono Island in Baldwin County. | |
Peromyscus polionotus trissyllepsis | Perdido Key beach mouse | Cricetidae | Highest/ U.S. Fish and Wildlife lists as endangered. Range limited to the barrier island of Perdido Key in Baldwin County, Alabama and Escambia County, Florida. | |
Reithrodontomys humulis | eastern harvest mouse | Cricetidae | Moderate | |
Sigmodon hispidus | hispid cotton rat | Cricetidae | Lowest | |
Mus musculus | house mouse | Muridae | Introduced/ Considered a pest species | |
Rattus rattus | black rat | Muridae | Introduced/ Considered a pest species | |
Rattus norvegicus | Norway rat brown rat | Muridae | Introduced/ Considered a pest species | |
Zapus hudsonius | meadow jumping mouse | Dipodidae | High | |
Myocaster coypus | nutria coypu river rat | Myocastoridae | Introduced/ Considered a pest species |
Cetaceans
Image | Scientific name | Common name | Family | Conservation concern |
---|---|---|---|---|
Eubalaena glacialis | North Atlantic right whale | Balaenidae | Endangered | |
Balaenoptera acutorostrata | common minke whale | Balaenopteridae | Least concern | |
Balaenoptera borealis | sei whale | Balaenopteridae | Endangered | |
Balaenoptera brydei | Bryde's whale | Balaenopteridae | Data deficient | |
Balaenoptera musculus | blue whale | Balaenopteridae | Endangered | |
Balaenoptera physalus | fin whale | Balaenopteridae | Endangered | |
Megaptera novaeangliae | humpback whale | Balaenopteridae | Least concern | |
Physeter macrocephalus | sperm whale | Physeteridae | Vulnerable | |
Kogia breviceps | pygmy sperm whale | Kogiidae | Data deficient | |
Kogia sima | dwarf sperm whale | Kogiidae | Data deficient | |
Mesoplodon bidens | Sowerby's beaked whale | Ziphiidae | Data deficient | |
Mesoplodon densirostris | Blainville's beaked whale | Ziphiidae | Data deficient | |
Mesoplodon europaeus | Gervais' beaked whale | Ziphiidae | Data deficient | |
Peponocephala electra | melon-headed whale | Ziphiidae | Data deficient | |
Ziphius cavirostris | Cuvier's beaked whale | Ziphiidae | Least concern | |
Feresa attenuata | pygmy killer Whale | Delphinidae | Data deficient | |
Globicephala macrorhynchus | short-finned pilot whale | Delphinidae | Data deficient | |
Grampus griseus | Risso's dolphin | Delphinidae | Least concern | |
Lagenodelphis hosei | Fraser's dolphin | Delphinidae | Least concern | |
Orcinus orca | killer whale | Delphinidae | Data deficient | |
Pseudorca crassidens | false killer Whale | Delphinidae | Data deficient | |
Stenella frontalis | Atlantic spotted dolphin | Delphinidae | Data deficient | |
Stenella coeruleoalba | striped dolphin | Delphinidae | Data deficient | |
Stenella attenuata | pantropical spotted dolphin | Delphinidae | Data deficient | |
Stenella longirostris | spinner dolphin | Delphinidae | Data deficient | |
Stenella clymene | Clymene dolphin | Delphinidae | Data deficient | |
Steno bredanensis | rough-toothed dolphin | Delphinidae | Least concern | |
Tursiops truncatus | common bottlenose dolphin | Delphinidae | Least concern |
Ungulates
Image | Scientific name | Common name | Family | Conservation concern |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cervus canadensis | elk | Cervidae | Extirpated | |
Dama dama | fallow deer | Cervidae | Introduced | |
Odocoileus virginianus | white-tailed deer Virginia deer | Cervidae | Lowest | |
Sus scrofa | wild boar | Suidae | Introduced; a significant threat to the ecosystem, they compete heavily with native wildlife and destroy natural plant communities | |
Bison bison | American bison American buffalo | Bovidae | Extirpated (note: domestic herds exist on farms.[9][10][11]) |
References
- Mirarchi, Ralph E. (2004). Alabama Wildlife: Volume One. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. pp. 185–202. ISBN 978-0-81735-1304.
- Alden, Peter (1999). National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Southeastern States. New York, New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 350–375. ISBN -0-679-44683-4.
- "Bats". Outdoor Alabama. Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- "Carnivores". Outdoor Alabama. Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- "Insectivores". Outdoor Alabama. Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- "Rabbits". Outdoor Alabama. Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on September 14, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- "Rodents". Outdoor Alabama. Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- "Mammals". Outdoor Alabama. Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on September 27, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- "On a farm in south Alabama, the buffalo roam in herds". Gadsden Times. April 2, 2000.
- "Former aerospace manager raising bison". The Tuscaloosa News. December 28, 1996.
- "Wiregrass Buffalo". WTVY 4. February 23, 2007. Retrieved October 15, 2012.