List of mammals of Spain

The Iberian lynx, the most endangered cat species in the world, exists only in the wild in Spain.

This is a list of the mammal species recorded in Spain. There are 115 mammal species in Spain, of which 2 are critically endangered, 5 are endangered, 13 are vulnerable, and 3 are close-threatened.[1] The list includes mammals from every Spanish territory, both in and outside the Iberian Peninsula; for mammals found only in extra-peninsular territories see List of mammals of the Balearic Islands, List of mammals of the Canary Islands and List of mammals of Ceuta, Melilla and the Plazas de Soberanía.

The following tags are used to highlight each species' conservation status as assessed by the IUCN. If the IUCN status of a species in Spain only is different from its global status,[2] the status in Spain is shown next between brackets:

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 populations well outside its previous range.
CR Critically endangered The species is in imminent risk of extinction in the wild.
EN Endangered The species is facing an extremely 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 meet any of the criteria that would categorise it as risking extinction but it is likely to do so in the future.
LC Least concern There are no current identifiable risks to the species.
DD Data deficient There is inadequate information to make an assessment of the risks to this species.

Some species were assessed using an earlier set of criteria. Species assessed using this system have the following instead of near threatened and least concern categories:

LR/cd Lower risk/conservation dependent Species which were the focus of conservation programmes and may have moved into a higher risk category if that programme was discontinued.
LR/nt Lower risk/near threatened Species which are close to being classified as vulnerable but are not the subject of conservation programmes.
LR/lc Lower risk/least concern Species for which there are no identifiable risks.

Subclass: Theria

Infraclass: Eutheria

Order: Macroscelidea (elephant shrews)

North African elephant shrew

Elephant shrews are small insectivorous mammals native to Africa and members of the superorder Afrotheria. Their name derives from their elongated noses resembling the trunks of elephants, to whom they are distantly related.

Order: Rodentia (rodents)

Eurasian beavers
Red squirrel
Garden dormouse
Southwestern water vole
Common vole
Yellow-necked mouse
Harvest mouse

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 keep short by gnawing. Most rodents are small though the capybara can weigh up to 45 kg (100 lb).

Order: Lagomorpha (lagomorphs)

European rabbit

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.

Order: Erinaceomorpha (hedgehogs and gymnures)

West European hedgehog

The order Erinaceomorpha contains a single family, Erinaceidae, which comprise the hedgehogs and gymnures. The hedgehogs are easily recognised by their spines while gymnures look more like large rats.

Order: Soricomorpha (shrews, moles, and solenodons)

Lesser white-toothed shrew
Eurasian pygmy shrew
Pyrenean desman
European mole

The "shrew-forms" are insectivorous mammals. The shrews and solenodons closely resemble mice while the moles are stout bodied burrowers.

Order: Chiroptera (bats)

Daubenton's bat
Lesser noctule
Nathusius' pipistrelle
Brown long-eared 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.

Order: Cetacea (whales)

The last North Atlantic right whale captured on the Basque Country coast, near Orio in 1901. This species was known as "Basque whale" or "Whale of the Basques" because of how often it was hunted by Basque whalers.[9]
Fin whale watching off Tarifa in strait of Gibraltar
Bryde's whale off La Gomera
Short-finned pilot whales off Tenerife, are one the main attractions of local tourism in Canary islands
Common dolphins in Gibraltar Bay
Atlantic spotted dolphin with an injured dorsal fin off La Gomera
Small numbers of striped dolphins live around Gijón

The order 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.

Order: Carnivora (carnivorans)

Wildcat
Common genet
Iberian wolf
European mink
Mediterranean monk seal (young)

There are over 260 species of carnivorans, the majority of which feed primarily on meat. They have a characteristic skull shape and dentition.

Order: Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates)

Spanish ibex
Pyrenean chamois

The even-toed ungulates are ungulates whose weight 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 artiodactyl species, including many that are of great economic importance to humans.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ This list is derived from the IUCN Red List which lists species of mammals and includes those mammals that have recently been classified as extinct (since 1500 AD). 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. ↑ Palomo, L.J. et al. (2007) Atlas y Libro Rojo de los Mamíferos Terrestres de España. Dirección General para la Biodiversidad-SECEM-SECEMU, Madrid, 588pp.
  3. ↑ http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/4007/1
  4. ↑ Ceña, J.C. et al. (2004) Castor europeo en Navarra y La Rioja. Galemys: Boletín informativo de la Sociedad Española para la conservación y estudio de los mamíferos, ISSN 1137-8700, Vol. 16(2), 91-98
  5. ↑ Purroy and Varela (2003) dispute that it was ever present in Spain. The only record is by Ángel Cabrera in Huesca, 1914.
  6. ↑ Nogales, M., RODRÍGUEZ‐LUENGO, J. L., & Marrero, P. (2006). "Ecological effects and distribution of invasive non‐native mammals on the Canary Islands". Mammal Review, 36(1), 49-65.
  7. ↑ Species identified only by molecular data. Morphology is identical to E. serotinus. Palomo, L.J. et al. (2007) Atlas y Libro Rojo de los Mamíferos Terrestres de España. Dirección General para la Biodiversidad-SECEM-SECEMU, Madrid, 588pp.
  8. ↑ The species is sometimes reported as "extinct in Spain" (as in Purroy and Varela, 2003) but breeding colonies have later been rediscovered in the north and east of the country. Palomo, L.J. et al. (2007) Atlas y Libro Rojo de los Mamíferos Terrestres de España. Dirección General para la Biodiversidad-SECEM-SECEMU, Madrid, 588pp.
  9. ↑ Purroy & Varela, 2003
  10. ↑ The MORSE Project - Ancient whale exploitation in the Mediterranean: species matters
  11. ↑ http://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/are-grey-whales-climate-change-s-big-winners-1.2313730
  12. ↑ Although a predominantly antarctic species, dispersed individuals have been sighted as far as western Andalusia (Purroy and Varela, 2003)
  13. ↑ Kratochvíl, J. et al. (1968) History of the Distribution of lynx in Europe Acta sc. nat. Brno, 2(4): 1-50

References

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