This is a list of the mammal species recorded on

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

. The island had five native and endemic land mammal species, of which three are now presumed to be extinct.John Woinarsk
"Australian endangered species: Christmas Island Shrew"
''The Conversation'', 9 May 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2015. In addition, five wild mammals have been introduced to Christmas Island since settlement.

Carnivora

Introduced cats and dogs are a threat to native wildlife on Christmas Island and can carry potentially dangerous pathogens, such as ''

Leptospira ''Leptospira'' ( grc, leptos, italics=yes, 'fine, thin' and la, spira, links=no, 'coil') is a genus of spirochaete bacteria, including a small number of pathogenic and saprophytic species. ''Leptospira'' was first observed in 1907 in kidney t ...

''. In 2014, the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

announced a $500,000 investment to help eradicate stray and feral cats on the island, with the aim of complete eradication by 2020. As of 2016, all pet cats on Christmas Island have been registered and de-sexed and no further cats will be permitted onto the island.

Chiroptera

Christmas Island was once home to two native bat species, of which only one is extant. The

Christmas Island pipistrelle The Christmas Island pipistrelle (''Pipistrellus murrayi'') was a species of vesper bat found only on Christmas Island, Australia. The species is now extinct, with the last individual bat seen in August 2009 with no further sightings despite in ...

was endemic to the island until 2009, when the last individual was recorded. In 2016, the species was assessed as extinct by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

. The remaining native bat species ''

Pteropus natalis The Christmas Island flying fox or Christmas Island fruit bat, as the name suggests, is a flying fox endemic to Christmas Island. It is unclear if it should be considered a distinct species (''Pteropus natalis''), or a subspecies of the black-ea ...

'' (Christmas Island flying fox) is classified as critically endangered.

Eulipotyphla

The

Christmas Island shrew The Christmas Island shrew (''Crocidura trichura''), also known as the Christmas Island musk-shrew is an extremely rare or possibly extinct shrew from Christmas Island. It was variously placed as subspecies of the Asian gray shrew (''Crocidura at ...

, once abundant on the island, has been very rare since the early twentieth century. Since 1909, only four confirmed individuals have been recorded: two in 1958, and two in 1985.

Rodentia

At the time of human settlement, Christmas Island hosted two endemic rodents, the

bulldog rat The bulldog rat (''Rattus nativitatis'') is an extinct species of rat formerly endemic to Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. It was one of two rats endemic to Christmas Island, alongside Maclear's rat. Description The head and body length ...

and

Maclear's rat Maclear's rat (''Rattus macleari'') is an extinct large rat endemic to Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. It was one of two species of rat native to Christmas Island, alongside the bulldog rat. Abundant, unfamiliar with and seemingly unafraid ...

. However, both species were extinct by 1908. There is evidence that

black rat The black rat (''Rattus rattus''), also known as the roof rat, ship rat, or house rat, is a common long-tailed rodent of the stereotypical rat genus ''Rattus'', in the subfamily Murinae. It likely originated in the Indian subcontinent, but is n ...

s, introduced to the island in 1899, carried the infectious parasite ''

Trypanosoma lewisi ''Trypanosoma lewisi'' is a globally distributed parasite of ''Rattus'' species and other rodents such as mice, and of kangaroo rats in America. Among these host species were two endemic species of rats: '' Rattus macleari'' and '' Rattus nativit ...

'', which was fatal to the native rodents.

Carnivora

Chiroptera

Eulipotyphla

Rodentia

Cetacea

Sirenia

See also

References

Further reading