MAMMALOGY IN NORTH AMERICA 



By W. J. HAMILTON, JR. 



Cornell University 



From the dawn of history, mammals have played a vital part in the destiny of 

 man. The mammal fauna of North America has been of tremendous economic 

 significance, in one manner or another, to human populations. As food for the 

 earlier settlers, many species provided, and continue to do so, a source of meat of 

 not inconsiderable quantity. The peltries of our fur-bearers supply a substantial 

 revenue to the trapper. Once the primary fur animal of the continent, the beaver 

 influenced the exploration and settlement of the West and the northern latitudes. 

 Esthetic values are not so tangible, but are evident in the hordes of tourists who 

 annually visit our national parks to see the great bears and hoofed species as well 

 as the attractions of the geysers, waterfalls, and other natural phenomena. On 

 the other hand, the losses sustained through destruction of crops and foodstuffs 

 by mammals may be very great. Some species play a major role in the trans- 

 mission of disease organisms, such as sylvatic plague, murine typhus, spotted 

 fever, rabies, and others of lesser importance. These economic relations have 

 inspired extensive studies, through which much has been learned regarding the 

 habits of certain species. The results of these investigations are continually being 

 catalogued. Research in the field has not kept pace with that accomplished on 

 some of the other classes of animals, for mammals are often shy and retiring in 

 their habits and many are nocturnal, making observation difficult. 



The study of mammals needs no economic justification, although pure research 

 has been repeatedly applied to factors which relate to man's welfare. This has 

 been aptly expressed by Miller (1928). 



There is nothing to be gained by denying that discovery for its own sake has always 

 been the mainspring of work in all branches of scientific endeavor, including mammalogy. 

 . . . This incentive requires no other apology than an indication of how the knowledge 

 thus gained has contributed to human advancement. Indeed, an understanding of the 

 relationships between the obscure seeker after facts and man's well-being must forever 

 justify the worker in pure research. 



The science of mammalogy may be said to date back only to the time of Lin- 

 naeus. Prior to the middle of the eighteenth century, the study of these animals 

 had lacked conciseness. The binomial system of Linnaeus, however simple it may 

 appear to present-day students, proved so useful a tool that it seems impossible 

 that any serious study of animals or plants could have proceeded without it. 



In his tenth edition of the Systema Naturae, published in 1758, Linnaeus in- 

 cluded only 86 mammals. A century later, 220 kinds were known to North America 

 alone. Presently, nearly 3,000 species and subspecies are recognized as occurring 

 north of Panama. North of the Mexican boundary, nearly 400 full species are 

 recognized today, some of these containing 40 subspecies alone. The number of 



[661] 



