6.26 MAMMALS 



Table 29 lists twenty-eight 

 (28) species of mammals from the 

 terrestrial and freshwater wetlands 

 habitat of the lower Everglades and 

 Taylor Slough. This represents 57% 

 of the total number of mammalian 

 species (49) recognized in the state 

 of Florida (Layne 1978). Virtually 

 all of these species listed are of 

 North American origin. This essen- 

 tially unimpaired range extension of 



a temperate fauna into the subtrop- 

 ics accompanies what appears to be 

 an extensive differentiation of some 

 species populations into many races. 

 This differentiation is believed to 

 be a result of the frequent isola- 

 tion of populations and subsequent 

 localized genetic drift during 

 fluctuating sea levels of the late 

 Pleistocene (Layne 1974, 1977), 

 rather than adaptation resulting 

 from invasion into unexploited sub- 

 tropical habitats. 



SPECIES 



MAR PRA CYP HAM THE DIS PON 



Raccoon ( Procyon lotor) C 



River Otter (Lutra canadensis ) C 



Mink ( Mustela vison ) P 

 Spotted Skunk ( Spilogale putorius ) 

 Striped Skunk ( Mephitis mephitis ) 



Florida Panther ( Felis concolor ) P 



Bobcat ( Lynx rufus ) U 

 Domestic Dog ( Canis domesticus ) 



Whitetail Deer ( Odocoileus virqinianus ) C 



Opossum ( Didelphis marsupialis ) C 

 Shorttail Shrew (Blarina brevicauda ) 

 Least Shrew ( Crytotis parva ) 

 Eastern Mole ( Scalopus aquaticus ) 

 Eastern Yellcw Bat(Lasiurus intermedius ) P 



Evening Bat ( Nycticeius humeralis ) P 



Freetail Bat ( Tadarida brasiliensis ) P 

 Armadillo ( Dasypus novemcinctus ) 



Marsh Rabbit ( Sylvilaqus palustris ) C 

 Eastern Cottontail ( Sylvilaqus floridanus ) 

 Eastern Gray Squirrel ( Sciurus carol inens is ) 

 Southern Flying Squirrel ( Glaucanys volans) 



Rice Rat ( Oryzanys palustris ) C 



Cotton Mouse ( Peromyscus qossypinus ) C 



Hispid Cotton Rat ( Siqmodon hispidus ) U 



Florida Water Rat ( Neofiber alleni ) P 

 Black Rat ( Rattus rattus ) 

 House Mouse ( Mus musculus ) 

 Gray Fox ( Urocyon cinereoarqenteus ) 



Habitats are: MAR - marsh; PRA - prairie; CYP - cypress; HAM - hammock; 

 DIS - disturbed; PON - pond; THI - thicket. 

 Status within each habitat shown by P = present; C = common; U = uncaimcn. 



Table 29. Habitat use by lower Everglades mammals (adapted from SFRC 1980), 



142 



