This is a list of the mammal species recorded in Palau. There are fifteen mammal species in

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

, of which two are endangered, one is vulnerable, and one is considered to be extinct. 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:

Subclass:
Theria Theria (; Greek: , wild beast) is a subclass of mammals amongst the Theriiformes. Theria includes the eutherians (including the placental mammals) and the metatherians (including the marsupials) but excludes the egg-laying monotremes. Ch ...

Infraclass: Eutheria

Order: Sirenia (manatees and dugongs)

---- Sirenia is an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit rivers, estuaries, coastal marine waters, swamps, and marine wetlands. All four species are endangered. *Family:

Dugongidae Dugongidae is a family in the order of Sirenia. The family has one surviving species, the dugong (''Dugong dugon''), one recently extinct species, Steller's sea cow (''Hydrodamalis gigas''), and a number of extinct genera known from fossil rec ...

***Genus: '' Dugong'' **** Dugong, ''Dugong dugon'' VU

Order:
Primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...
s

---- The order Primates contains

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

s and their closest relatives: lemurs, lorisoids,

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

s, and

ape Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its siste ...

s. *Suborder:

Haplorhini Haplorhini (), the haplorhines (Greek for "simple-nosed") or the "dry-nosed" primates, is a suborder of primates containing the tarsiers and the simians (Simiiformes or anthropoids), as sister of the Strepsirrhini ("moist-nosed"). The name is some ...

**Infraorder: Simiiformes ***Parvorder: Catarrhini ****Superfamily: Cercopithecoidea *****Family:

Cercopithecidae Old World monkey is the common English name for a family of primates known taxonomically as the Cercopithecidae (). Twenty-four genera and 138 species are recognized, making it the largest primate family. Old World monkey genera include baboons ...

(Old World monkeys) ******Genus: '' Macaca'' *******

Crab-eating macaque The crab-eating macaque (''Macaca fascicularis''), also known as the long-tailed macaque and referred to as the cynomolgus monkey in laboratories, is a cercopithecine primate native to Southeast Asia. A species of macaque, the crab-eating macaqu ...

, ''M. fascicularis'' introduced

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 ***Genus: '' Pteropus'' ****

Pelew flying fox The Pelew flying fox (''Pteropus pelewensis'') is a species of megabat in the genus ''Pteropus'' found in the Palau Islands. A subspecies found on Yap, the Yap flying fox, is considered as a separate species by some authorities.D.E. Wilson & D.M ...

, ''Pteropus pelewensis'' NT ****

Large Palau flying fox The large Palau flying fox (''Pteropus pilosus'') is an extinct species of medium-sized megabats from the Palau Islands in Micronesia. It had brownish fur with long, silvery hairs on its belly, and a wingspan of about 60 cm. It probably bec ...

, ''Pteropus pilosus'' EX *Family: Emballonuridae **Genus: '' Emballonura'' ***

Polynesian sheath-tailed bat The Pacific sheath-tailed bat or Polynesian sheath-tailed bat (''Emballonura semicaudata'') is a species of sac-winged bat in the family Emballonuridae found in American Samoa, Fiji, Guam, Micronesia, Palau, Samoa (where it is called ''pe'a vai, ...

, ''Emballonura semicaudata'' EN

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:

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 ...

'' *****

Bryde's whale Bryde's whale ( Brooder's), or the Bryde's whale complex, putatively comprises three species of rorqual and maybe four. The "complex" means the number and classification remains unclear because of a lack of definitive information and research ...

, ''Balaenoptera edeni'' DD *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 ...

**Superfamily: Platanistoidea ***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 ...

'' *****

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 ***Family:

Kogiidae Kogiidae is a family comprising at least two extant species of Cetacea, the Pygmy sperm whale, pygmy (''Kogia breviceps)'' and dwarf sperm whale, dwarf (''K. sima)'' sperm whales. As their common names suggest, they somewhat resemble sperm whales ...

****Genus: ''

Kogia ''Kogia'' is a genus of toothed whales within the superfamily Physeteroidea comprising two extant and two extinct species from the Neogene *Pygmy sperm whale, ''Kogia breviceps'' *Dwarf sperm whale, ''Kogia sima'' *†'' Kogia pusilla'', Italy, ...

'' ***** Dwarf sperm whale, ''Kogia sima'' LR/lc ***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'' ******

Blainville's beaked whale Blainville's beaked whale (''Mesoplodon densirostris''), or the dense-beaked whale, is believed to be the widest ranging mesoplodont whale. The French zoologist Henri de Blainville first described the species in 1817 from a small piece of jaw � ...

, ''Mesoplodon densirostris'' DD ******

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: ''

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, ''Stenella longirostris'' LR/cd ****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: '' Grampus'' ***** Risso's dolphin, ''Grampus griseus'' DD ****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: '' 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, a ...

, ''Globicephala macrorhynchus'' LR/cd

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Mammals Of Palau *Mammals

Mammals

Subclass: Theria Theria (; Greek: , wild beast) is a subclass of mammals amongst the Theriiformes. Theria includes the eutherians (including the placental mammals) and the metatherians (including the marsupials) but excludes the egg-laying monotremes. Ch ...