This is a list of the mammal species recorded in Heard Island and McDonald Islands. There are 13 mammal species in

Heard Island and McDonald Islands The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) is an Australian external territory comprising a volcanic group of mostly barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The group's overall size ...

, of which none are thought to be at risk.This list is derived from the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

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. The following tags are used to highlight each species' conservation status as assessed 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 nat ...

Order: Cetacea (whales)

The order Cetacea includes

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...

s 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. *Suborder: Odontoceti **Superfamily:

Platanistoidea River dolphins are a polyphyletic group of fully aquatic mammals that reside exclusively in freshwater or brackish water. They are an informal grouping of dolphins, which itself is a paraphyletic group within the infraorder Cetacea. Extant riv ...

***Family:

Phocoenidae Porpoises are a group of fully aquatic marine mammals, all of which are classified under the family Phocoenidae, parvorder Odontoceti (toothed whales). Although similar in appearance to dolphins, they are more closely related to narwhals ...

****Genus: ''

Phocoena ''Phocoena'' is a genus of porpoises with four extant species: References External links * *''Phocoena''in ''Mammal Species of the World ''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in ...

'' *****

Spectacled porpoise The spectacled porpoise (''Phocoena dioptrica'') is a small to midsize porpoise indigenous to the Southern Ocean. It is one of the most poorly studied cetaceans, partly due to its remote range in the southern ocean. What little is known about th ...

, ''Phocoena dioptrica'' DD ***Family: Ziphidae ****Genus: '' Berardius'' *****

Giant beaked whale The four-toothed whales or giant beaked whales are beaked whales in the genus ''Berardius''. They include Arnoux's beaked whale (''Berardius arnuxii'') in cold Southern Hemispheric waters, and Baird's beaked whale (''Berardius bairdii'') in t ...

, ''Berardius arnuxii'' LR/cd ****Subfamily: Hyperoodontinae *****Genus: ''

Mesoplodon Mesoplodont whales are 16 species of toothed whale in the genus ''Mesoplodon'', making it the largest genus in the cetacean order. Two species were described as recently as 1991 (pygmy beaked whale) and 2002 (Perrin's beaked whale), and marine ...

'' ****** Gray's beaked whale, ''Mesoplodon grayi'' DD ****** Layard's beaked whale, ''Mesoplodon layardii'' DD ***Family:

Delphinidae Oceanic dolphins or Delphinidae are a widely distributed family of dolphins that live in the sea. Close to forty extant species are recognised. They include several big species whose common names contain "whale" rather than "dolphin", such as the ...

(marine dolphins) ****Genus: ''

Orcinus ''Orcinus'' is a genus of Delphinidae, the family of carnivorous marine mammals known as dolphins. It includes the largest delphinid species, ''Orcinus orca'', known as the orca or killer whale. Two extinct species are recognised, '' Orcinus pale ...

'' *****

Orca The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white ...

, ''Orcinus orca'' LR/cd ****Genus: '' Globicephala'' *****

Pilot whale Pilot whales are cetaceans belonging to the genus ''Globicephala''. The two extant species are the long-finned pilot whale (''G. melas'') and the short-finned pilot whale (''G. macrorhynchus''). The two are not readily distinguishable at sea, ...

, ''Globicephala melas'' LR/lc

Order: Carnivora (carnivorans)

There are over 260 species of carnivorans, the majority of which feed primarily on meat. They have a characteristic skull shape and dentition. *Suborder: Caniformia **Family: Otariidae (eared seals, sealions) ***Genus: '' Arctophoca'' ****

Antarctic fur seal The Antarctic fur seal (''Arctocephalus gazella''), is one of eight seals in the genus ''Arctocephalus'', and one of nine fur seals in the subfamily Arctocephalinae. Despite what its name suggests, the Antarctic fur seal is mostly distributed i ...

, ''Arctophoca gazella'' LR/lc ****

Subantarctic fur seal The subantarctic fur seal (''Arctocephalus tropicalis'') is found in the southern parts of the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans. It was first described by Gray in 1872 from a specimen recovered in northern Australia—hence the inappropri ...

, ''Arctophoca tropicalis'' LR/lc **Family: Phocidae (earless seals) ***Genus: '' Hydrurga'' ****

Leopard seal The leopard seal (''Hydrurga leptonyx''), also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). Its only natural predator is the orca. It feeds on a wide range of prey incl ...

, ''H. leptonyx'' LC ***Genus: '' Leptonychotes'' ****

Weddell seal The Weddell seal (''Leptonychotes weddellii'') is a relatively large and abundant true seal with a circumpolar distribution surrounding Antarctica. The Weddell seal was discovered and named in the 1820s during expeditions led by British seali ...

, ''Leptonychotes weddellii'' LR/lc ***Genus: '' Lobodon'' ****

Crabeater seal The crabeater seal (''Lobodon carcinophaga''), also known as the krill-eater seal, is a true seal with a circumpolar distribution around the coast of Antarctica. They are medium- to large-sized (over 2 m in length), relatively slender and pale-c ...

, ''Lobodon carcinophagus'' LR/lc ***Genus: '' Mirounga'' ****

Southern elephant seal The southern elephant seal (''Mirounga leonina'') is one of two species of elephant seals. It is the largest member of the clade Pinnipedia and the order Carnivora, as well as the largest extant marine mammal that is not a cetacean. It gets its ...

, ''Mirounga leonina'' LR/lc ***Genus: '' Ommatophoca'' ****

Ross seal The Ross seal (''Ommatophoca rossii'') is a true seal (family Phocidae) with a range confined entirely to the pack ice of Antarctica. It is the only species of the genus ''Ommatophoca''. First described during the Ross expedition in 1841, it is ...

, ''Ommatophoca rossii'' LR/lc

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Mammals Of Heard Island And Mcdonald Islands

Heard

Order: Cetacea (whales)

Order: Carnivora (carnivorans)

See also

Notes

References