Preliminary list of the Mammals of New York 
INTRODUCTION 
At the suggestion of Dr Frederick J. H. Merrill, director of the New 
York state museum, I have prepared the following preliminary list of the 
mammals of New York. To write a preliminary paper on this subject 
14 years after the appearance of Dr C. Hart Merriam’s two volumes on 
the mammals of the Adirondack region, and 56 years after the publica- 
tion of De Kay’s elaborate work on the mammals of the state at large, may 
at first seem paradoxical. Nevertheless one of the most important re- 
sults of the recent great increase in our knowledge of the mammalian 
fauna of New York is the realization that nothing more than preliminary 
work can be done now. The whole area of the state must receive a 
thorough biologic survey before final results can be expected. To aid 
in preparing the way for such a final investigation is the main purpose 
of this paper. My aim is to bring together the scattered published 
knowledge of the subject rather than to add any considerable mass of 
new facts. 
HISTORY OF THE LIST OF NEW YORK MAMMALS 
The first important work on the mammals of New York was pub- 
lished by DeKay in 1842 as part one of the Zoology of New York.} 
In this work 70 mammals are recorded as forming part of the natural 
fauna of the state. Seven of these, Didelphis virginiana, opossum, Sorex 
parvus ( =Blarina parva), small shrew, Sorex carclinensis ( =Blarina brevi- 
cauda carolinensis), short-tailed shrew, Arvicola xanthognathus ( =Microtus 
xanthognathus), yellow-cheeked meadow mouse, Rangifer tarandus 
( -Rangifer caribou), caribou, Rorgualus borealis ( =Sibbaldius borealis) 
silver-bottom whale, and De/phinus delphis, porpoise, are included with- 
out definite knowledge of their occurrence within the boundaries of 
the state. Eight others, Sorex dekayi ( =Blarina brevicauda, short-tailed 
shrew), Ofisorex platyrhinus ( =Sorex personatus, masked shrew), AZustela 
Jusca ( =Putorius richardsoni cicognani, Bonaparte’s weasel), Sciurus niger 
( =black phase of .S. carolinensis /eucotis, northern gray squirrel), JZus 
americanus (=M. rattus, black rat), Arvicola hirsutus (=Mierotus penn- 
— 
1¥or full title see bibliography, p. 379. 
