This is a list of the mammal species recorded in Niue. There are ten mammal species in

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

, none of which are known to be at risk. 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 natu ...

: 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:

Order: Chiroptera (bats)

---- The bats' most distinguishing feature is that their forelimbs are developed as wings, making them the only mammals capable of flight. Bat species account for about 20% of all mammals. *Family: Pteropodidae (flying foxes, Old World fruit bats) **Subfamily:

Pteropodinae The Pteropodinae are a subfamily of megabats. Taxa within this subfamily are: * Genus ''Acerodon'' **Sulawesi flying fox, ''A. celebensis'' **Talaud flying fox, ''A. humilis'' **Giant golden-crowned flying fox, ''A. jubatus'' **Palawan fruit bat ...

***Genus: ''

Pteropus ''Pteropus'' (suborder Yinpterochiroptera) is a genus of megabats which are among the largest bats in the world. They are commonly known as fruit bats or flying foxes, among other colloquial names. They live in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Austra ...

'' ****

Insular flying-fox The insular flying fox or Pacific flying fox (''Pteropus tonganus'') is a species of flying fox in the family Pteropodidae. It is geographically widespread, the most widespread flying fox in the Pacific: it is found in American Samoa, the Cook I ...

, ''P. tonganus''

Order:
Cetacea Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively carnivorous diet. They propel them ...
(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

porpoise 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 an ...

s. 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:

Mysticeti Baleen whales (systematic name Mysticeti), also known as whalebone whales, are a parvorder of carnivorous marine mammals of the infraorder Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises) which use keratinaceous baleen plates (or "whalebone") in their ...

**Family:

Balaenopteridae Rorquals () are the largest group of baleen whales, which comprise the family Balaenopteridae, containing ten extant species in three genera. They include the largest animal that has ever lived, the blue whale, which can reach , and the fin wha ...

***Subfamily:

Megapterinae The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the monotypic taxon, only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh u ...

****Genus: ''

Megaptera The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hump ...

'' *****

Humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hump ...

, ''Megaptera novaeangliae'' VU ***Subfamily:

Balaenopterinae Rorquals () are the largest clade, group of baleen whales, which comprise the family (biology), family Balaenopteridae, containing ten extant taxon, extant species in three genus, genera. They include the largest animal that has ever lived, the b ...

****Genus: ''

Balaenoptera ''Balaenoptera'' () is a genus of rorquals containing eight extant species. ''Balaenoptera'' comprises all but two of the extant species in its family (the humpback whale and gray whale); the genus is currently polyphyletic, with the two aforem ...

'' *****

Minke whale The minke whale (), or lesser rorqual, is a species complex of baleen whale. The two species of minke whale are the common (or northern) minke whale and the Antarctic (or southern) minke whale. The minke whale was first described by the Danish n ...

, ''Balaenoptera acutorostrata'' LR/nt *Suborder:

Odontoceti The toothed whales (also called odontocetes, systematic name Odontoceti) are a parvorder of cetaceans that includes dolphins, porpoises, and all other whales possessing teeth, such as the beaked whales and sperm whales. Seventy-three species of ...

**Family: Physeteridae ***Genus: ''

Physeter ''Physeter'' is a genus of toothed whales. There is only one living species in this genus: the sperm whale (''Physeter macrocephalus''). Some extremely poorly known fossil species have also been assigned to the same genus including ''Physeter an ...

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Sperm whale The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the sperm whale famil ...

, ''Physeter macrocephalus'' VU **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:

Ziphidae Beaked whales (systematic name Ziphiidae) are a family of cetaceans noted as being one of the least known groups of mammals because of their deep-sea habitat and apparent low abundance. Only three or four of the 24 species are reasonably well-k ...

****Subfamily:

Hyperoodontinae Beaked whales (systematic name Ziphiidae) are a family of cetaceans noted as being one of the least known groups of mammals because of their deep-sea habitat and apparent low abundance. Only three or four of the 24 species are reasonably well-k ...

*****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 ...

'' ******

Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale The ginkgo-toothed beaked whale (''Mesoplodon ginkgodens'') is a poorly known species of whale even for a beaked whale, and was named for the unusual shape of its dual teeth. It is a fairly typical-looking species, but is notable for the males no ...

, ''Mesoplodon ginkgodens'' DD ***Family: Delphinidae (marine dolphins) ****Genus: '' Lagenodelphis'' *****

Fraser's dolphin Fraser's dolphin or the Sarawak dolphin (''Lagenodelphis hosei'') is a cetacean in the family Delphinidae found in deep waters in the Pacific Ocean and to a lesser extent in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Taxonomy ''Lagenodelphis hosei'' is spe ...

, ''Lagenodelphis hosei'' DD ****Genus: ''

Stenella ''Stenella'' is a genus of marine mammals in Delphinidae, the family informally known as the oceanic dolphins. Species Currently, five species are recognised in this genus: The common name for species in this genus is the "spotted dolphins" o ...

'' *****

Spinner dolphin The spinner dolphin (''Stenella longirostris'') is a small dolphin found in off-shore tropical waters around the world. It is famous for its acrobatic displays in which it rotates around its longitudinal axis as it leaps through the air. It is a ...

, ''Stenella longirostris'' LR/cd ****Genus: '' Globicephala'' *****

Short-finned pilot whale The short-finned pilot whale (''Globicephala macrorhynchus'') is one of the two species of cetaceans in the genus ''Pilot whale, Globicephala'', which it shares with the long-finned pilot whale (''G. melas''). It is part of the oceanic dolphin ...

, ''Globicephala macrorhynchus'' LR/cd ****Genus: '' Feresa'' *****

Pygmy killer whale The pygmy killer whale (''Feresa attenuata'') is a poorly known and rarely seen oceanic dolphin. It is the only species in the genus ''Feresa''. It derives its common name from sharing some physical characteristics with the orca also known as t ...

, ''Feresa attenuata'' DD ****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 taxon, extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black ...

, ''Orcinus orca'' LR/cd

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Mammals Of Niue

Mammals Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

Order: Chiroptera (bats)

Order: Cetacea Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively carnivorous diet. They propel them ... (whales)

See also

Notes

References

Order:
Cetacea Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively carnivorous diet. They propel them ...
(whales)