Global InformationList of mammals of South America information
This is a list of the native wild mammal species recorded in South America. South America's terrestrial mammals fall into three distinct groups: "old-timers", African immigrants and recent North American immigrants. 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 mammals that had evolved during South America's long period of isolation, as well as some species from other classes.[4]
South America suffered another major loss of mammal species in the Quaternary extinction event, which started around 12,500 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 1,331 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, 9 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 (nine or ten cases) are included. Domestic species (e.g., the guinea pig, alpaca, and llama) and introduced species are not listed.
Note: This list is inevitably incomplete, since new species are continually being recognized via discovery or reclassification. Places to check for missing species include the list of mammals described in the 2000s, 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 International Union for Conservation of Nature; those on the left are used here, those in the second column in some other articles:
| EX | EX | Extinct | No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died. |
| EW | EW | Extinct in the wild | Known only to survive in captivity or as a naturalized population well outside its historic range. |
| CR | CR | Critically endangered | The species is in imminent danger of extinction in the wild. |
| EN | EN | Endangered | The species is facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild. |
| VU | VU | Vulnerable | The species is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. |
| NT | 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 | LC | Least concern | The species is not currently at risk of extinction in the wild. |
| DD | DD | Data deficient | There is inadequate information to assess the risk of extinction for this species. |
| NE | 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 between March and June 2009; bats were updated in September 2009.
- ^ Poux, C.; Chevret, P.; Huchon, D.; de Jong, W. W.; Douzery, E. J. P. (2006). "Arrival and Diversification of Caviomorph Rodents and Platyrrhine Primates in South America" (PDF). Systematic Biology. 55 (2): 228–244. doi:10.1080/10635150500481390. PMID 16551580. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
- ^ Antoine, P.O.; Marivaux, L.; Croft, D. A.; Billet, G.; Ganerod, M.; Jaramillo, C.; Martin, T.; Orliac, M. J.; et al. (2011). "Middle Eocene rodents from Peruvian Amazonia reveal the pattern and timing of caviomorph origins and biogeography". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 279 (1732): 1319–1326. doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.1732. PMC 3282368. PMID 21993503.
- ^ Bond, M.; Tejedor, M. F.; Campbell, K. E.; Chornogubsky, L.; Novo, N.; Goin, F. (2015-02-04). "Eocene primates of South America and the African origins of New World monkeys". Nature. 520 (7548): 538–541. Bibcode:2015Natur.520..538B. doi:10.1038/nature14120. hdl:11336/79088. PMID 25652825. S2CID 4456556.
- ^ Marshall, L. G. (July–August 1988). "Land Mammals and the Great American Interchange" (PDF). American Scientist. 76 (4). Sigma Xi: 380–388. Bibcode:1988AmSci..76..380M. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-03-02. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
- ^ Fiedal, Stuart (2009). "Sudden Deaths: The Chronology of Terminal Pleistocene Megafaunal Extinction". In Haynes, Gary (ed.). American Megafaunal Extinctions at the End of the Pleistocene. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer. pp. 21–37. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-8793-6_2. ISBN 978-1-4020-8792-9. OCLC 313368423.
- ^ Martin, P. S. (2005). "Chapter 1. Discovering the Last Lost World". Twilight of the Mammoths: Ice Age Extinctions and the Rewilding of America. University of California Press. pp. 30–37. ISBN 978-0-520-23141-2. OCLC 58055404. Retrieved 2014-11-11.
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