List of mammals of Morocco

The native Barbary lion, an unofficial symbol of the Moroccan Royal Family, disappeared from the country in the 1920s.[1] 1897 photo of a captive animal.

This is a list of the mammal species recorded in Morocco. These are the mammal species in Morocco, of which 3 are critically endangered, 3 are endangered, 11 are vulnerable, and 4 are near-threatened. 1 of the species listed for Morocco can no longer be found in the wild.[2]

The following tags are used to highlight each species' conservation status as assessed by the IUCN:

EX Extinct No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died.
EW Extinct in the wild Known only to survive in captivity or as a naturalized populations well outside its previous range.
CR Critically Endangered The species is in imminent risk of extinction in the wild.
EN Endangered The species is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
VU Vulnerable The species is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
NT Near Threatened The species does not meet any of the criteria that would categorise it as risking extinction but it is likely to do so in the future.
LC Least Concern There are no current identifiable risks to the species.
DD Data Deficient There is inadequate information to make an assessment of the risks to this species.

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:

LR/cd Lower Risk/conservation dependent Species which were the focus of conservation programmes and may have moved into a higher risk category if that programme was discontinued.
LR/nt Lower Risk/near threatened Species which are close to being classified as Vulnerable but are not the subject of conservation programmes.
LR/lc Lower Risk/least concern Species for which there are no identifiable risks.

Subclass: Theria

Infraclass: Eutheria

Order: Macroscelidea (elephant shrews)

North African elephant shrew

Often called sengis, the elephant shrews or jumping shrews are native to Africa. Their common English name derives from their elongated flexible snout, which is vaguely similar to the trunk of an elephant (to whom they are distantly related) and their resemblance to the true shrews.

Order: Proboscidea (elephants)

Roman mosaic depicting a North African elephant

The elephants comprise three living species and are the largest living land animals.

Order: Primates

Barbary macaque

The order Primates contains humans and their closest relatives: lemurs, lorisoids, tarsiers, monkeys, and apes.

Order: Rodentia (rodents)

Crested porcupine
Barbary ground squirrel
Asian garden dormouse
Sand rat
Common gundi

Rodents make up the largest order of mammals, with over 40 percent of mammalian species. They have two incisors in the upper and lower jaw which grow continually and must be keep short by gnawing. Most rodents are small though the capybara can weigh up to 45 kg (100 lb).

Order: Lagomorpha (lagomorphs)

European rabbit

The lagomorphs comprise two families, Leporidae (hares and rabbits), and Ochotonidae (pikas). Though they can resemble rodents, and were classified as a superfamily in that order until the early 20th century, they have since been considered a separate order. They differ from rodents in a number of physical characteristics, such as having four incisors in the upper jaw rather than two.

Order: Erinaceomorpha (hedgehogs and gymnures)

North African hedgehog

The order Erinaceomorpha contains a single family, Erinaceidae, which comprise the hedgehogs and gymnures. The hedgehogs are easily recognised by their spines while gymnures look more like large rats.

Order: Soricomorpha (shrews, moles, and solenodons)

Lesser white-toothed shrew

The "shrew-forms" are insectivorous mammals. The shrews and solenodons closely resemble mice while the moles are stout bodied burrowers.

Order: Chiroptera (bats)

Natterer's bat
Greater noctule bat
Common pipistrelle
Sundevall's roundleaf bat close-up

The bats' most distinguishing feature is that their forelimbs are developed as wings, making them the only mammals in the world naturally capable of flight. Bat species account for about 20% of all mammals.

Order: Cetacea (whales)

Female North Atlantic right whale and calf
Blue whale
Common bottlenose dolphin
Dwarf sperm whale
Harbour porpoise

The order Cetacea includes whales, dolphins 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.

Order: Carnivora (carnivorans)

Cheetah
African wildcat
Striped hyena
Egyptian mongoose
Fennec

There are over 260 species of carnivorans, the majority of which feed primarily on meat. They have a characteristic skull shape and dentition.

Order: Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates)

Somali wild asses. Roman mosaics indicate that the extinct Atlas subspecies had both the striped legs of the Somali wild ass and the black shoulder stripe of the Nubian wild ass[4]

The odd-toed ungulates are browsing and grazing mammals. They are usually large to very large, and have relatively simple stomachs and an odd number of anterior toes.

Order: Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates)

The Barbary stag is the only deer native to Africa
Cuvier's gazelle
Addax

The even-toed ungulates are ungulates whose weight is borne about equally by the third and fourth toes, rather than mostly or entirely by the third as in perissodactyls. There are about 220 artiodactyl species, including many that are of great economic importance to humans.

Notes

  1. ↑ BBC - Return of the Royal Barbary Lion
  2. ↑ This list is derived from the IUCN Red List 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.
  3. ↑ Kingdon (1997)
  4. ↑ Kingdon (1997)
  5. ↑ Kingdon (1997)
  6. ↑ Kingdon (1997)
  7. ↑ Kingdon (1997)
  8. ↑ Kingdon (1997)

References

See also