List of mammals of Antarctica

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description The following is a list of native wild mammal species recorded in Antarctica. There are 23 mammal species in Antarctica, all of which are marine. Three are considered endangered, one is vulnerable, eight are listed as data deficient, and one has not yet been evaluated.[1] Domesticated species, such as the dogs formerly present,[2] are not included.

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:

Template:IUCN status Extinct No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died.
Template:IUCN status Extinct in the wild Known only to survive in captivity or as a naturalized population well outside its historic range.
Template:IUCN status Critically endangered The species is in imminent danger of extinction in the wild.
Template:IUCN status Endangered The species is facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
Template:IUCN status Vulnerable The species is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
Template:IUCN status Near threatened The species does not qualify as being at high risk of extinction but is likely to do so in the future.
Template:IUCN status Least concern The species is not currently at risk of extinction in the wild.
Template:IUCN status Data deficient There is inadequate information to assess the risk of extinction for this species.
Template:IUCN status Not evaluated The conservation status of the species has not been studied.

Order: Carnivora (carnivorans)

File:Baby fur seal, South Georgia.jpg
Infant Antarctic fur seal
File:MacquarieIslandElephantSeal.JPG
Bull southern elephant seals
File:Antarctic Sound-2016-Brown Bluff–Leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) 04.jpg
Leopard seal
File:Mikkelsen Harbour-2016-Trinity Island (D'Hainaut Island)–Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) 03.jpg
Weddell seal
File:Crabeater Seal in Pléneau Bay, Antarctica.jpg
Crabeater seal

There are over 260 species of carnivorans, the majority of which feed primarily on meat. They have a characteristic skull shape and dentition. The southern elephant seal is believed to be the largest carnivoran of all time; bulls typically weigh Script error: No such module "convert".. The lobodontine seals comprise about 80% of the global biomass of pinnipeds, a reflection of the high productivity of the Southern Ocean; all have circumpolar distributions surrounding Antarctica and breed on pack ice or shore-fast ice. Antarctic fur seals and southern elephant seals, in contrast, while doing much of their feeding at the edge of the continent, breed on subantarctic islands, such as South Georgia. Warmblooded prey makes up a significant proportion of the leopard seal's diet, and is occasionally taken by Antarctic fur seals.

Order: Artiodactyla (artiodactyls)

File:Southern right whale6.jpg
Southern right whale
File:Anim1754 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library.jpg
Blue whale
File:Humpback whale Fournier Bay Robert Pitman NOAA PS9.jpg
Humpback whale lunge feeding in Fournier Bay
File:Sperm whale Tim Cole NMFS crop.jpg
Sperm whale
File:Hourglas dolphin crop.jpg
Hourglass dolphin
File:Killerwhales jumping.jpg
Orca

All artiodactyls in Antarctica belong to the infraorder Cetacea, which 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. Their closest extant relatives are the hippos, which are artiodactyls, from which cetaceans descended; cetaceans are thus also artiodactyls.

The hunting of baleen whales in the vicinity of Antarctica began around 1904, with the establishment of a whaling station on South Georgia. Hunting of blue whales was banned in 1966, and finally brought under control in the 1970s. By that time the blue whale population had been reduced to 0.15% of its original size.[3] Whaling for other species in the Southern Hemisphere was banned in 1976.[4] Numbers have recovered somewhat since, but the largest species remain endangered.

See also

Notes

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

  1. ↑ The 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. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

References

  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

Template:Antarctica

Retrieved from "http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=List_of_mammals_of_Antarctica&oldid=4723595"