Administrator

07 January 2010

11 September 2020

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Administrator

07 January 2010

11 September 2020

Hits: 9014

Administrator

07 January 2010

11 September 2020

Hits: 11073

Administrator

07 January 2010

11 September 2020

Hits: 29392

The species included in this checklist include both native and introduced exotic species. Species that occur on Tobago are indicated by asterisks and those found only on Tobago are indicated by a notation in brackets. The taxonomy used in this list ignores sub-specific classification for purposes of simplicity, and because of a lack of recent genetic studies in most cases, to substantiate sub-specific designations. The species-level taxonomic nomenclature is taken from Nelson and Nelson (in press).

The mammals of Trinidad and Tobago are represented by 96 native mammals from 27 families and eight mammalian orders as follows:

ORDER: ARTIDACTYLA
This order is found in its natural distribution globally except Australia, Oceanic Islands and Antarctica. There are three families in South America, of which two are found in Trinidad and Tobago.

Family: Tayassuidae (Peccaries)
These pig-like mammals are large animals with long, slim legs, large heads, an elongated snout and almost no tail. Their large canines have been modified into tusks. Although the peccaries are close relatives of the pigs, they are in a separate family and have some distinguishing features from true pigs: small litters of precocial young. Peccaries are gregarious, living in varying sizes of groups. They are omnivores eating fruits, roots, seeds and tubers.

ORDER: CARNIVORA
Present day distribution of the Carnivora includes all continents except Antarctica and Australia (but Canis was introduced there). There are eight extant families; five occur in South America and three are native to Trinidad and Tobago.

Family: Procyonidae (Racoons)
The Procyonidae family includes the raccoons, coatis and kinkajous. Procyonids are omnivorous, feeding primarily on small vertebrates, insects, crustaceans, fruit and berries. Some species are arboreal, but most species will climb to avoid danger and to nest. They are able to dig and manipulate prey with their hands.

Family:Viverridae (Mongooses)
These are small, lithe-bodied, and sometimes arboreal mammals. Their general appearance is broadly cat-like, but the muzzle is extended and often pointed. The entire Mongoose population in the Caribbean is descended from 9 individuals introduced into Jamaica by European settlers in the 19th Century.

ORDER: CHIROPTERA
Bats are the second largest order of mammals, with over 950 species in about 15 families on all continents except Antarctica. They are the only true flying mammals. All New World bats belong to the suborder Microchiroptera. Echolocation, a kind of sonar, is used by these bats to navigate and to locate prey. Bats are important for pollinating flowers, and dispersing seeds of many trees and other plants. Few of the New World species have actually been found to carry rabies.

Family: Emballonuridae (Sheath-tailed Bats)
These bats are typically small in size, with smooth face and lips, no nose leaf, large eyes, and ears that are often united across the top of the head. A distinguishing feature is that the tail is enclosed in a sheath of membrane, with the tail tip extending above it. Bats of this family will fly at dusk and dawn, and are all aerial insectivores. This family is found worldwide and consists of about 48 species.

ORDER: MARSUPIALIA
Marsupials are currently found only in the Australasian, and the South and Central American regions of the world. Of the three surviving families in the New World, one is found in Trinidad and Tobago.

Family: Didelphidae (Opossums)
The family Didelphidae contains small to medium-sized marsupials. They tend to be nocturnal, semi-arboreal omnivores. Most of these species have large ears, long snouts, and a narrow braincase. They have an opposable ‘thumb’ on the hind foot which is used for grasping and climbing and, has a nail - not a claw. Nails are rare in the animal world and are common only among primates. The tail of most species is prehensile and can grip objects strongly. As in other marsupial mammals, young Didelphids are born tiny and underdeveloped. They attach themselves to the mothers nipples for several weeks, which are protected in a pouch in some of the species.