List of mammals of Minnesota

This list of mammals of Minnesota includes the mammals native to Minnesota. It also shows their status in the wild. There are 81 native and 5 introduced mammal species found in the state. American bison, caribou, and wolverines were extirpated from the state. Minnesota does not have a state mammal but several have been proposed: The northern white tailed deer was proposed eight times, the eastern wolf was proposed six times, the American black bear and thirteen-lined ground squirrel were each proposed once.^[1]

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:

Didelphimorphs

Opossums

• Virginia opossum, Didelphis virginiana LC

Rodents

Squirrels

• Northern flying squirrel, Glaucomys sabrinus LC
• Southern flying squirrel, Glaucomys volans LC
• Woodchuck, Marmota monax LC
• Least chipmunk, Neotamias minimus LC
• Eastern gray squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis LC
• Fox squirrel, Sciurus niger LC
• Franklin's ground squirrel, Spermophilus franklinii LC
• Richardson's ground squirrel, Spermophilus richardsonii LC
• Thirteen-lined ground squirrel, Spermophilus tridecemlineatus LC
• Eastern chipmunk, Tamias striatus LC
• American red squirrel, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus LC
• Black-tailed prairie dog, Cynomys ludovicianus LC introduced

Beavers

• American beaver, Castor canadensis LC

Gophers

• Plains pocket gopher, Geomys bursarius LC
• Northern pocket gopher, Thomomys talpoides LC

Pocket mice

• Plains pocket mouse, Perognathus flavescens LC

Cricetids

• Eastern deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus LC
• White-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus LC
• Western deer mouse, Peromyscus sonoriensis NE
• Western harvest mouse, Reithrodontomys megalotis LC
• Northern grasshopper mouse, Onychomys leucogaster LC
• Northern bog lemming, Synaptomys borealis LC
• Southern bog lemming, Synaptomys cooperi LC
• Rock vole, Microtus chrotorrhinus LC
• Prairie vole, Microtus ochrogaster LC
• Woodland vole, Microtus pinetorum LC
• Meadow vole, Microtus pennsylvanicus LC
• Eastern heather vole, Phenacomys ungava LC
• Southern red-backed vole, Myodes gapperi LC
• Muskrat, Ondatra zibethicus LC

Murids

• House mouse, Mus musculus LC introduced
• Brown rat, Rattus norvegicus LC introduced

Jumping mice

• Meadow jumping mouse, Zapus hudsonius LC
• Woodland jumping mouse, Napaeozapus insignis LC

Porcupines

• North American porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum LC

Lagomorphs

Hares

• Snowshoe hare, Lepus americanus LC
• White-tailed jackrabbit, Lepus townsendii LC

Cottontail rabbits

• Eastern cottontail, Sylvilagus floridanus LC

Eulipotyphlans

Shrews

• Northern short-tailed shrew, Blarina brevicauda LC
• North American least shrew, Cryptotis parva LC
• Arctic shrew, Sorex arcticus LC
• Masked shrew, Sorex cinereus LC
• American pygmy shrew, Sorex hoyi LC
• American water shrew, Sorex palustris LC

Moles

• Star-nosed mole, Condylura cristata LC
• Eastern mole, Scalopus aquaticus LC

Bats

Evening bats

• Big brown bat, Eptesicus fuscus LC
• Silver-haired bat, Lasionycteris noctivagans LC
• Hoary bat, Lasiurus cinereus LC
• Eastern red bat, Lasiurus borealis LC
• Little brown bat, Myotis lucifugus EN
• Northern long-eared myotis, Myotis septentrionalis NT
• Eastern pipistrelle, Pipistrellus subflavus VU

Carnivorans

Procyonids

• Common raccoon, Procyon lotor LC

Mustelids

• Wolverine, Gulo gulo LC extirpated
• Northern river otter, Lontra canadensis LC
• American marten, Martes americana LC
• Least weasel, Mustela nivalis LC
• American ermine, Mustela richardsonii NE
  • Western Great Lakes stoat, M. r. bangsi NE
• Beringian ermine or stoat, Mustela erminea LC
• Long-tailed weasel, Neogale frenata LC
• American mink, Neogale vison LC
• Fisher, Pekania pennanti LC
• American badger, Taxidea taxus LC

Skunks

• Striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis LC
• Eastern spotted skunk, Spilogale putorius VU

Canines

• Coyote, Canis latrans LC
• Gray wolf, Canis lupus LC
• Eastern wolf, Canis lycaon VU
• Gray fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus LC
• Swift fox, Vulpes velox LC vagrant
• Red fox, Vulpes vulpes LC
  • American red fox, V. v. fulva LC
  • Northern plains fox, V. v. regalis LC^[2]

Felines

• Canada lynx, Lynx canadensis LC
• Bobcat, Lynx rufus LC
• Cougar, Puma concolor LC vagrant^[3]

Bears

• American black bear, Ursus americanus LC

Artiodactyls

Deer

• Moose, Alces alces LC
• Elk, Cervus canadensis LC
• White-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus LC
  • Northern white-tailed deer, O. v. borealis LC^[4]
  • Dakota white-tailed deer, O. v. dacotensis LC^[4]
  • Kansas white-tailed deer, O. v. macrourus LC^[4]
• Caribou, Rangifer tarandus VU extirpated
  • Woodland caribou, R. t. caribou extirpated
• Mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus LC
• Sika deer, Cervus nippon LC introduced

Pronghorn

• Pronghorn, Antilocapra americana LC vagrant

Bovids

• American bison, Bison bison NT extirpated
  • Plains bison, B. b. bison extirpated

Pigs

• Wild boar, Sus scrofa LC introduced

References

• Burt, W. H., and R. P. Grossenheider (1976). Field Guide to the Mammals: North America North of Mexico. Third edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts, US.
• Gunderson, H. L., and J. R. Beer (1953). "Mammals of Minnesota". Occasional Papers, Minnesota Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota. 6: 1-190.
• Hazard, E. B. 1982. Mammals of Minnesota. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• Heany, L. R., and E. C. Birney (1975). "Comments on the distribution and natural history of some mammals in Minnesota". Canadian Field-Naturalist. 89 (1): 29-34.
• Wiche, J. M. and J. F. Cassel (1978). "Checklist of North Dakota mammals. (Revised)". The Prairie Naturalist 10 (3): 81-88.
• Wilson, D. E., and F. R. Cole (2000). Common Names of the Mammals of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., US.

This page was last edited on 19 June 2024, at 08:08