List of mammals of the Philippines

This is a list of the mammal species recorded in the Philippines.

There are 210 native mammal species in the Philippines, excluding those of the order Cetacea (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) and extinct species (Pleistocene Epoch), of which around six are critically endangered, around thirteen are endangered, around thirty are vulnerable, and around two are near-threatened. Eight of the species listed for the Philippines have been extinct since the Pleistocene Epoch. One fossil species of Sirenia has been found in Palawan and could have been extinct since the Miocene, the east-most fossil remains of any Sirenia in history. Though there are also extinct deer and pig fossil remains known in the Philippine not yet included in this list, as well as other buffalo and small mammal species from the Pleistocene Epoch. One species which became extinct in the 13th to possibly the 16th century, the Asian elephant, which was transported to the Sultanate of Sulu and Maguindanao but became extinct on those areas or were transported back to Sabah for unknown reasons. One former species, Acerodon lucifer is now extinct, but is now highly regarded as part of the species Acerodon jubatus today, thus, the species still thrives in the archipelago, but is locally extinct on the island of Panay.

Seven species in the country have been introduced for agriculture, transportation, companionship, and tourism and has played significant roles in the livelihood of the people, one species was introduced for unknown purpose, the sika deer which evolved into as separate subspecies on Jolo Island, while three species (introduced accidentally through ships), are worldwide pests: black and brown rat, and the house mouse.

The taxonomy and naming of the individual species is based on: 1.) The Synopsis of Philippine Mammals by Smithsonian Institution, 2.) Recent articles on species discovery in the country, 3.) Domesticated profiles, and 4.) 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.

The following tags are used to highlight each species' conservation status as assessed by the IUCN:

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: Proboscidea (elephants)

Stegodon, Once roamed in the plains of Luzon, Mindanao and entire Philippine Archipelago.
Asian elephant

Elephants comprise three living species and are the largest living land animals. Three species that lived in prehistoric times used to live in the Philippines, until their extinction. One species, the Asian elephant - unknown subspecies like those on Sabah, once lived in both the Sultanate of Sulu and Maguindanao, though became extinct on those areas because of hunting and/or were transported back to Sabah for unknown reasons.

Order: Sirenia (manatees and dugongs)

Dugong

Sirenia is an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit rivers, estuaries, coastal marine waters, swamps, and marine wetlands. All four species are endangered. One species occur in the Philippines. One fossil species has been discovered in the Philippines in 2011.[1] The fossil hasn't yet been extracted from the rocks in fear of destroying the natural heritage caves of Palawan which are protected by Philippine Law. Future technology in fossil extraction is the only way to get and identify the fossil remain in peace according to the scientists who found the remains.

Order: Scandentia (treeshrews)

Common treeshrew

The treeshrews are small mammals native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. Although called treeshrews, they are not true shrews and are not all arboreal. Three species occur in the Philippines, though the Calamian treeshrew is not yet fully considered by the IUCN as a full separate species because assessment is not yet done at present to confirm the movement as of 2013.

Order: Dermoptera (colugos)

The two species of colugos make up the order Dermoptera. They are arboreal gliding mammals found in Southeast Asia. Only one species occurs in the Philippines and is endemic to the Mindanao Faunal region.

Order: Primates

Crab-eating macaque

The order Primates contains humans and their closest relatives: lemurs, lorisoids, monkeys, and apes. Three species occurs in the Philippines, one of which is endemic.

Order: Rodentia (rodents)

Polynesian rat

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). 86 native species occurs in the Philippines as of 2014, most endemic to the archipelago. One discovered fossil species is extinct since the Pleistocene Epoch.The number of species is speculated to rise more because of the high endemic concentration on the islands which are mostly isolated from Mainland Asia in prehistoric times. There are also three introduced species of rodents in the archipelago, the most common introduced rodents, house mouse, black rat, and the brown rat which are considered worldwide pests.

Order: Erinaceomorpha (hedgehogs and gymnures)

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. 2 species occurs in the Philippines as of 2013, though speculation persists that perhaps there will be future moonrat species on Leyte, Samar, Basilan, or even Bohol, because they were also once part of the Mindanao Faunal Region like Mindanao and Dinagat.

Order: Soricomorpha (shrews, moles, and solenodons)

Asian house shrew

The "shrew-forms" are insectivorous mammals. The shrews and solenodons closely resemble mice while the moles are stout-bodied burrowers. 12 species occurs in the Philippines, most of them are endemic.

Order: Chiroptera (bats)

Giant golden-crowned flying fox

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. 90 Species occur in the Philippines, though the exact number of species is truly unknown because of the uneven distribution of bat species in Southeast Asia and Australasia. More additional field survey is needed in all of the 7,107 islands of the country archipelago to determine the exact species that occurs in the country, and to know the exact number of species that actually lives in the archipelago.

Order: Pholidota (pangolins)

Sunda pangolin

The order Philodota comprises the eight species of pangolin. Pangolins are anteaters and have the powerful claws, elongated snout and long tongue seen in the other unrelated anteater species. One species occurs in the Philippines, the Philippine pangolin which was elevated to full species status from the Sunda pangolin.

Order: Cetacea (whales)

Pygmy sperm whale
Melon-headed whales in Bohol Sea between Balicasag and Alona Beach
Pantropical spotted dolphin

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. The number of cetacea species that occur in the Philippines is critically unsure. More research and field work is needed to confirm the exact number.

Order: Carnivora (carnivorans)

shape and dentition.

There are over 260 species of carnivorans, the majority of which feed primarily on meat. They have a characteristic skull shape and dentition. Seven native species occurs in the Philippines, the second smallest number of carnivore species in any of the Asia-Pacific region countries, next to East Timor. And the smallest number in Southeast Asia compared to land size. One species or subspecies has been introduced: the domestic cat, although its origin is uncertain whether it originated from the leopard cat (though thought by some as introduced in the Visayas from Palawan) in the country or migrated with the Malays, or from Spain and America, or more than two of the former theories. Two subspecies are introduced to the country, the dingo which became extinct 15,000 years ago (dingo migration theory), and the aspin (term for domestic dog in the Philippines) which probably evolved from the dingo. One tiger subspecies is extinct in the Philippines that once thrived in the Holocene to the Pleistocene.

Order: Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates)

Sumatran rhinoceros

The odd-toed ungulates are browsing and grazing mammals. They are usually large to very large, and have relatively simple stomachs and a large middle toe. One species was introduced from Malaysia (probably from Saudi Arabia) and was bred with those that were imported from Spain when the Spaniards built the Spanish East Indies in the Philippines in the 16th century. One species used to occur in the Philippines in the Pleistocene Epoch, but died out for unknown reason.

Order: Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates)

Visayan warty pig
Philippine spotted deer
Tamaraw

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. 10 native species occur in the Philippines, including the Sus populations in Tawi-tawi Province which are the only Bornean bearded pigs in the country. 2 species is extinct since the Pleistocene Epoch, though there are also other pig, deer, and buffalo species extinct since the Pleistocene Epoch not listed in this list because they need further research, naming, and placement of family and genus. 5 introduced species occurs in the country: 1.) The carabao, which originated from the water buffalo in Mainland Asia, 2.) The domesticated goat - Philippine breed, 3.) The domesticated pig, though some domesticated pigs in the country originated from native Sus species like those of Banaue, 4.) The domestic cattle, which hybridized from the banteng, and Mexican domestic cattle, forming the breed, Philippine cattle which is further divided into 4 varieties, 5.) The Jolo sika deer which was anciently introduced to Sulu (unknown date, unknown subspecies origin), though it might be already extinct.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ lacks reference

References

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