Mammals & Other Wildlife

in Texas

noting those 
during FONT tours
with an (*)

1991 thru 2007

A List compiled by Armas Hill 


Mammals:
         

         AMERICAN OPOSSUMS in the Order Didelphimorphia (formerly Marsupialia),
         Family Didelphidae) (78 species in the New World)

1. Virginia Opossum ______
   Didelphis virginiana
   
   
   ARMADILLOS (in the Magorder Xenarthra (formerly Edentata) (now in the Order Cingulata)
   ("Edentates" means "those without teeth". However, this term is more appropriate for the xenarthrans that truly are toothless, the Old World pangolins.)
   (Family Dasypodidae) (21 species in the New World)
   
   
2. Nine-banded (Long-nosed) Armadillo (*) ______ 
   Dasypus novemcinctus
   (the only armadillo that inhabits the United States)  
   
   
   RABBITS & HARES (in the Order Lagomorpha, Family Leporidae)
   (57 species worldwide)
   
   
3. Desert Cottontail (*) ______  
   Sylvilagus audubonii
   
   
4. Eastern Cottontail (*) ______   
   Sylvilagus floridanus  
   
   
5. Swamp Rabbit ______  
   Sylvilagus aquaticus
   
   
6. Black-tailed Jackrabbit (*) ______   
   Lepus californicus
   
   
   RODENTS: gnawing mammals  (Order Rodentia - the largest order of mammals with nearly 2,000 species worldwide)
   Families include:
   Squirrels (Sciuridae)
   Beavers (Castoridae)
   Pocket Gophers (Geomyidae), including Pocket Mice & Kangaroo Rats
   Mice & Rats (Muridae), New World Mice & Rats (subfamily Sigmodontinae)
   New World Porcupines (Erethizontidae)  
   
   SQUIRRELS (Family Sciuridae) (276 species worldwide)
   
   
7. Blacktail Prairie Dog ______ 
   Cynomys ludovicianus
   
   
8. Texas Antelope Squirrel (*) ______ 
   Ammospermophilus interpres
   
   
9. Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel ______ 
   Spermophilus tridecemlineatus
   
   
10. Mexican Ground Squirrel (*) ______ 
    Spermophilus mexicanus 
    
    
11. Spotted Ground Squirrel ______ 
    Spermophilus spilosoma 
    
    
12. Rock Squirrel (*) ______ 
    Spermophilus variegatus
    
    
13. Gray-footed Chipmunk ______   
    Tamias canipes
    
14. Eastern Gray Squirrel ______    
    Sciurus carolinensis
    
    
15. Eastern Fox Squirrel (*) ______ 
    Sciurus niger 
    
    
16. Southern Flying Squirrel ______
    Glaucomys volans
    
    
    POCKET GOPHERS (Family Geomyidae) (99 species in North America)
    (includes Pocket Mice & Kangaroo Rats)
    
    
17. Botta's Pocket Gopher ______
    Thomomys bottae
    
    
18. Yellow-faced Pocket Gopher (*) ______
    Cratogeomys castanops
    
    
19. Baird's Pocket Gopher ______
    Geomys breviceps
    
    
20. Attwater's Pocket Gopher ______
    Geomys attwateri
    
    
21. Knox Jones's Pocket Gopher ______
    Geomys knoxjonesi
    
    
22. Central Texas Pocket Gopher ______
    Geomys texensis
    
    
23. Plains Pocket Gopher ______
    Geomys bursarius
    
    
24. Texas Pocket Gopher ______
    Geomys personatus
    
    
25. Desert Pocket Gopher ______
    Geomys arenarius  
    
    
26. Plains Pocket Mouse ______ 
    Perognathus flavescens
    
    
27. Merriam's Pocket Mouse ______
    Perognathus merriami
    
    
28. Silky Pocket Mouse ______
    Perognathus flavus
    
    
29. Nelson's Pocket Mouse ______
    Chaetodipus nelsoni
    
    
30. Rock Pocket Mouse ______
    Chaetodipus intermedius
    
    
31. Mexican Spiny Pocket Mouse ______
    Liomys irroratus
    
    
32. Hispid Pocket Mouse ______
    Chaetodipus hispidus
    
    
33. Chihuahan Pocket Mouse (*) ______
    Chaetodipus eremicus
    
    
    (Kangaroo Rats have enormous hind feet, miniature front feet, and long tails.)
    
    
34. Merriam's Kangaroo Rat ______
    Dipodomys merriami
    
    
35. Banner-tailed Kangaroo Rat ______
    Dipodomys spectabilis
    
    
36. Texas Kangaroo Rat ______
    Dipodomys elator
    
    
37. Ord's Kangaroo Rat ______
    Dipodomys ordii
    
    
38. Gulf Coast Kangaroo Rat ______
    Dipodomys compactus
    
    
    TRUE MICE & RATS, including also Voles & Gerbils (Family Muridae) (1,394 species worldwide)
    
    
39. Eastern Woodrat ______
    Neotoma floridana
    
    
40. Mexican Woodrat ______
    Neotoma mexicana
    
    
41. Southern Plains Woodrat ______
    Neotoma micropus
    
    
42. White-throated Woodrat ______ 
    Neotoma albigula
    
    
43. House Rat ______ (introduced from Europe with the earliest colonists)
    Rattus rattus
    
    
44. Brown Rat ______ (also called Common Rat, or, incorrectly, Norway Rat) (introduced worldwide with human settlements, originally from southeast Siberia & northern China)
    Rattus norvegicus
    
    
45. Northern Grasshopper Mouse ______
    Onychomys leucogaster
    
    
46. Southern Grasshopper Mouse ______
    Onychomys torridus
    
    
47. Chihuahuan Grasshopper Mouse ______
    Onychomys arenicola
    
    
    (Rice Rats are nocturnal, mostly aquatic rats that are diverse in the Neotropics, where there are more 35 species. 2 species reach the US.)
    
    
48. Coue's Rice Rat ______
    Oryzomys couesi
    
    
49. Marsh Rice Rat ______
    Oryzomys palustris
    
    
50. Northern Pygmy Mouse ______
    Baiomys taylori
    
    
51. Fulvous Harvest Mouse ______
    Reithrodontomys fulvescens
    
    
52. Eastern Harvest Mouse ______
    Reithrodontomys humulis
    
    
53. Plains Harvest Mouse ______
    Reithrodontomys montanus
    
    
54. Western Harvest Mouse ______
    Reithrodontomys megalotis
    
    
55. House Mouse ______ (a cosmopolitan, introduced species, most common around human habitations)
    Mus musculus
    
    
56. White-footed Deermouse ______
    Peromyscus leucopus
    
    
57. North American Deermouse ______
    Peromyscus maniculatus
    
    
58. Cotton Deermouse ______
    Peromyscus gossypinus
    
    
59. Cactus Deermouse ______
    Peromyscus eremicus
    
    
60. Pinon Deermouse ______
    Peromyscus truei
    
    
61. Northern Rock Deermouse ______
    Peromyscus nasutus
    
    
62. Texas Deermouse ______
    Peromyscus attwateri
    
    
63. Brush Deermouse ______
    Peromyscus boylii
    
    
64. White-ankled Deermouse ______
    Peromyscus pectoralis
    
      
65. Golden Mouse ______
    Ochrotomys nuttalli
    
    
66. Hispid Cotton Rat (*) ______ 
    Sigmodon hispidus
    
    
67. Yellow-nosed Cotton Rat ______
    Sigmodon ochrognathus 
    
    
    (Voles (& Lemmings) in Subfamily Arvicolinae) (140 species worldwide)
    
    
68. Woodland Vole ______ 
    Microtus pinetorum 
    
    
    AQUATIC MAMMALS
    (The Muskrat in the same subfamily, Arvicolinae, as Voles & Lemmings, in the Order Rodentia.)
    (The American Beaver is 1 of 2 species in the Family Castoridae, Order Rodentia. The other species is in Eurasia.)
    (The introduced Nutria, from South America, is in the Family Echimyidae, of Spiny Rats, indigenous to that continent - in that family, 81 species in South America.)      
    
    
69. Muskrat ______   
    Ondatra zibethicus
    
    
70. American Beaver ______  
    Castor canadensis
    
    
71. Nutria (*) ______ (also called Coypu) (introduced, native to South America)
    Myocastor coypus
    
    
    NEW WORLD PORCUPINES (Family Erethizontidae) (17 species in the New World)
    
    
72. North American Porcupine ______   
    Erethizon dorsatum
    (the only porcupine in North America)
    
    
    CARNIVORES  (Order Carnivora)
    Families include:
    Canines: Dogs & Foxes (Canidae)
    Felines: Cats (Felidae) 
    Bears: (Ursidae)
    Procyonids: Raccoons & allies (Procyonidae)
    Mustelids: Weasels, Skunks & allies (Mustelidae)
    
    CANINES, Dogs & Foxes (Family Canidae) (35 species worldwide) 
    
    
73. Coyote (*) ______   
    Canis latrans
    
    
74. (The Red Wolf, Canis rufus, formerly occurred in the wild in Texas. Some say that this was a hybrid between the Coyote and the now more-northerly Gray Wolf.)   
    
    
75. Gray Fox (*) ______   
    Urocyon cinereoargenteus
    
    
76. Red Fox _____   
    Vulpes fulva  (the North American animal considered by some as conspecific with the Old World Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes)
    
    
77. Swift Fox ______ 
    Vulpes velox
    
    
78. Kit Fox (*) ______ 
    Vulpes macrotis 
    
    
    FELINES, Cats (Family Felidae) (39 species worldwide)
    
    
79. Bobcat (*) ______   
    Lynx rufus
    
    
80. Puma ______ (also called Cougar or Mountain Lion)
    Puma concolor
    
    
81. Jaguarundi ______ (endangered in the US due to limited range)
    Puma yagouaroundi
    
    
82. Margay ______ (probably never common in Texas, the last record there was in 1852.)
    Leopardus wiedii
    
    
83. Ocelot ______ (rare, endangered in Texas)
    Leopardus pardalis
    
    
    BEARS (Family Ursidae) (8 species worldwide)
    
    
84. American Black Bear ______ 
    Urus (formerly Euarctos) americanus
    
    
    PROCYONIDS, Raccoons & allies (Family Procyonidae) (19 species, all in the Americas, except 1, the Red Panda of Asia) 
    
    
85. Northern Raccoon (*) ______   
    Procyon lotor
    
    
86. Ringtail (*) ______ 
    Bassariscus astutus
    
    
87. White-nosed Coati ______ 
    Nasua narica
    
    
    MUSTELIDS, Otters, Weasels, Skunks, and Badger (Family Mustelidae) (68 species worldwide)
    
    
88. Northern River Otter ______   
    Lontra canadensis 
    
    
89. American Badger ______ 
    Taxidea taxus
    
    
90. Long-tailed Weasel ______
    Mustela frenata
    
    
91. Black-footed Ferret ______ (now extinct in the wild;  formerly occurred commonly in Texas) 
    Mustela nigripes
    
    
92. Western Spotted Skunk ______ 
    Spilogale gracilis 
    
    
93. Eastern Spotted Skunk ______
    Spilogale putorius
    
    
94. Eastern Hog-nosed Skunk ______
    Conepatus leuconotus
    
    
95. Western Hog-nosed Skunk ______
    Conepatus mesoleucus
    
    
96. Hooded Skunk ______ 
    Mephitis macroura
    
    
97. Striped Skunk (*) ______ 
    Mephitis mephitis
    
    
    SHREWS & MOLES (now in the Order Erinaceomorpha, formerly Insectivores "insect eaters" - this group, throughout much of the world, includes shrews, moles, hedgehogs, moonrats, and tenrecs.)
    
    SHREWS (in the Order Soricodae, Family Soricidae) (335 species worldwide) 
    
    
98. Least Shrew ______   
    Cryptotis parva 
    
    
99. Desert Shrew ______
    Notiosorex crawsfordi
    
    
    MOLES (along with SHREW-MOLES, and DESMANS, in the Family Talpidae) (42 species worldwide)
    
    
100. Eastern Mole ______
     Scalopus aquaticus 
     
     
     BATS  (Order Chiroptera - with about 950 species worldwide, the diversity of bats is second only to that of rodents)
     
     Leaf-chinned Bats (Family Mormoopidae) (8 species in the New World)
     
     
101. (Peter's) Ghost-faced Bat ______ 
     Mormoops megalophylla
     (in riparian zones in arid lands)
     
     
     American Leaf-nosed Bats (Family Phyllostomidae) (155 species in the New World)  
     
102. Mexican Long-nosed Bat ______ (an endangered species)  
     Leptonycteris nivalis  (formerly conspecific with the North American Long-nosed Bat, L. yerbabuenae) 
     
     
103. Mexican Long-tongued Bat ______ 
     Choeronycteris mexicana
     (forms small colonies in caves, mine tunnels, buildings, and culverts)
     
     
104. Hairy-legged Vampire Bat ______ (in the US, known only from a single specimen in Val Verde County, Texas) 
     Diphylla ecaudata
     
     
     Free-tailed Bats (Family Molossidae) (94 species worldwide)
     
     
105. Mexican (or Brazilian) Free-tailed Bat (*) ______ 
     Tadarida brasiliensis
     (forms summer nursery colonies composed of millions in large caves)
     
      
106. Pocketed Free-tailed Bat ______
     Nyctinomops femorosaccus 
     (near large open-water sources, where it feeds in the evening)
     
     
107. Big Free-tailed Bat (*) ______  
     Nyctinomops macrotis
     (in rugged, rocky canyon country)
     
     
108. Greater Bonneted Bat ______
     Eumops perotis
     (lives in crevices in vertical cliffs in rugged canyonlands)
     
     
     Vesper Bats (Family Vespertilionidae) (364 species worldwide)
     
     
109. Spotted Bat ______
     Euderma maculatum
     (widespread but rarely seen, lives in mountain and basin country) 
     
     
110. Silver-haired Bat ______   
     Lasionycteris noctivagans 
     
     
111. Eastern Red Bat ______ 
     Lasiurus borealis (Eastern Red Bat & Western Red Bat recently split)  
     
     
112. Seminole Bat ______ (in TX, in the east & south)
     Lasiurus seminolus
     (favors Spanish Moss as a day roost)
     
     
113. Northern Yellow Bat ______
     Lasiurus intermedius
     
     
114. Southern Yellow Bat ______
     Lasiurus ega
     
     
115. Hoary Bat ______
     Lasiurus cinereus
     
     
116. Rafinesque's Big-eared Bat ______
     Corynorhinus rafinesquii
     (forms small colonies in a variety of places: man-made structures, caves, hollow trees, and even under loose tree bark)
     
     
117. Townsend's Big-eared Bat ______
     Corynorhinus townsendii
     (often hunts in edge habitats, between forest and open areas)
     
     
118. Allen's Big-eared Bat ______
     Idionycteris phyllotis
     (in a variety of arid and wooded habitats)
     
     
119. Pallid Bat ______
     Antrozous pallidus
     (in a variety of arid and semi-arid habitats, its unique foraging style allows it to pick up prey, such as scorpions, from the surface of the ground)  
     
     
120. Fringed Myotis ______ (in TX, in the far-west)
     Myotis thysanides
     (occurs in desert, grassland, and woodland habitats) 
     
     
121. California Myotis ______ (in TX, in far-west)  
     Myotis californicus
     (in deserts and in interior mountain basins)
     
     
122. Western Small-footed Myotis ______ (in TX, in far-west) 
     Myotis ciliolabrum
     (in rocky outcrops in short grass habitats)
     
     
123. Long-legged Myotis ______ (in TX, in far-west)
     Myotis volans
     (in coniferous forests, and in oak and riparian woodlands, extending into the desert)
     
     
124. Cave Myotis ______ 
     Myotis velifor
     (forms large colonies in caves)
     
     
125. Little Brown Myotis ______ 
     Myotis lucifugus
     
     
126. Yuma Myotis (*) ______  
     Myotis yumanensis
     (common in deserts, but not far from a water source)
     
     
127. Southeastern Myotis ______ (in TX, only in northeast part of the state)
     Myotis austroriparius
     
     
128. Big Brown Bat ______ 
     Eptesicus fuscus
     (frequently roosts in man-made structures, occurs in a wide variety of habitats)
     
     
129. Evening Bat ______ (in TX, in the east & south)
     Nycticeius humeralis  
     
     
130. Eastern Pipistrelle ______ (in east TX) 
     Pipistrellus subflavus
     
     
131. Western Pipistrelle (*) ______ (in west TX) 
     Pipistrellus hesperus
     
     
     EVEN-TOED UNGULATES (Order Artiodactyla)
     (This order worldwide is diverse, including: pigs, hippopotamuses, camels, deer, antelope, and cattle.)
     
     SHEEP, GOATS, & OLD WORLD ANTELOPES, (in the Family Bovidae, along with cattle, buffalo, and others) (141 species worldwide)
     
     
132. Bighorn Sheep ______ 
     Ovis canadensis 
     
     
133. Barbary Sheep (or Aoudad) ______ (introduced in the Panhandle region of Texas, native to northern Africa)
     Ammotragus lervia
     
     
134. Blackbuck ______ (introduced widely in Texas, in more than 51 counties, with the most on the Edwards Plateau. Native to India & Pakistan.)
     Antilope cervicapra 
     
     
135. Nilgai ______ (a large exotic antelope, introduced and now wild in southern Texas, especially in Kennedy and Willacy Counties. Native to India, Pakistan, & Nepal.)
     Boselaphus tragocamelus
     
     
     PRONGHORN ANTELOPE (Family Antilocapridae)
     (There is only one living species in this exclusively American family.) 
     
     
136. Pronghorn (*) ______ (IN PHOTOGRAPH AT BEGINNING OF LIST)
     Antilocapra americana
     (the fastest North American mammal; has been clocked at 60 mph)
     
     
     NEW WORLD PIGS OR PECCARIES - 2 species, 1 of which north of Mexico  (Family Tayassuidae)
     (Note: the Old World Swine (Boars, introduced various places in North America) are in the Family Suidae) 
     
     
137. Collared Peccary (*) ______ (also called Javelina)
     Pecari tajacu (formerly Pecari angulatus)
     
     
     DEER (Family Cervidae: hoofed animals with antlers shed each year) (47 species worldwide)
     
     
138. (American) Elk (or Wapiti) ______  
     Cervus elaphus canadensis  (another, slightly smaller, subspecies in Europe is called there the Red Deer) 
     
     
139. Mule Deer (*) ______  
     Odocoileus hemionus
     
     
140. White-tailed Deer (*) ______  
     Odocoileus virginianus
     (including "Sierra del Carmen White-tailed Deer" in the Chisos Mtns of west Texas) (This mammal occurs in all 48 states of the lower mainland US.)
     
     
     EXOTIC UNGULATES
     
     
141. Chital (or Axis Deer) ______ (This spotted deer is now the most abundant exotic ungulate in Texas. It is native to India and some surrounding countries.) 
     Axis axis
     
     
142. Sambar ______ (A small number now established in Texas. It is native to India and Southeast Asia.)
     
     
     
     MARINE MAMMALS II - PORPOISES, DOLPHINS, & WHALES  (Order Cetacea)
     
     (all of the following, either along the Gulf Coast, or further offshore in the Gulf of Mexico)
     
     TOOTHED WHALES (Suborder Odontoceti) include: Dolphins & Porpoises, the Beaked Whales & Sperm Whale. 
     
     OCEAN DOLPHINS  (Family Delphinidae) (34 species worldwide)
     
      
143. Common Bottle-nosed Dolphin ______
     Tursiops truncatus
     
     
144. Atlantic Spotted Dolphin ______ 
     Stenella frontalis
     
     
145. Pantropical Spotted Dolphin ______
     Stenella attenuata
     
     
146. Spinner Dolphin ______
     Stenella longirostris
     
     
147. Clymene (or Short-snouted Spinner) Dolphin ______ 
     Stenella clymene
     
     
148. Striped Dolphin ______
     Stenella coeruleoalba 
     
     
149. Rough-toothed Dolphin _______ 
     Steno bredanensis
     
     
150. Pygmy Killer Whale ______ 
     Feresa attenuata
     
     
151. False Killer Whale ______ 
     Pseudorca crassidens
     
     
152. Melon-headed Whale ______ 
     Peponocephala electra 
     
     
153. Short-finned Pilot Whale ______ (has also been called "Blackfish")
     Globicephala macrorhynchus
     (Males up to over 22 feet in length; females up to over 16 feet long. Males weigh to to 2,640 pounds; females up to 1,760 pounds.)
     
     
     BEAKED WHALES  (Family Ziphiidae) (21 species worldwide)
     (Pelagic in habitat, most are poorly known)
     
     
154. Cuvier's Beaked Whale ______ (has also been called Goosebeak Whale)
     Ziphius cavirostris
     
     
155. Blainville's Beaked Whale ______ 
     Mesoplodon densirostris
     
     
     GREAT SPERM WHALE  (Family Physeteridae) (1 species worldwide)
     (2 smaller species, the Pygmy Sperm Whale and the Dwarf Sperm Whale, are now placed in a different family, Kogiidae. They appear to be distantly related to the Great Sperm Whale.)
     
     
156. Great Sperm Whale ______ (has also been called Cachalot)
     Physeter catodon
     
     
     BALEEN WHALES - whales without teeth (Suborder Mysticeti)
     
     RORQUAL (or FINBACK) WHALES (Family Balaenopteridae) (8 species worldwide)
     
     
157. Bryde's Whale ______  
     Balaenoptera edeni 
     
     
158. Sei Whale ______ 
     Balaenoptera borealis
     
     
159. Fin Whale ______ (has also been called Common Rorqual)
     Balaenoptera physalus
     

References for the above mammal-list include:

the new book: "Mammals of North America" by Roland W. Kays & Don E. Wilson, published by Princeton Univ Press, 2002. 

also new, "Mammals of the World - A Checklist", by Andrew Duff & Ann Lawson, 2004

"A Field Guide to the Mammals (of North America north of Mexico), by William H. Burt & Richard P. Grossenheider

"Eyewitness Handbook: Whales, Dolphins & Porpoises - a Visual Guide to the World's Cetaceans", by Mark Carwardine, illustrated by Martin Camm, 1995  

"World Guide to Mammals" by Nicole Duplaix & Noel Simon, 1976

"The Encyclopedia of Mammals", edited by Dr. David Macdonald, 1984

"A Field Guide to the Mammals of Central America & Southeast Mexico", by Fiona A. Reid, 1997