Annotated Checklist of the Mammals of Georgia 



Joshua Laerm, Lloyd E. Logan, M. Elizabeth McGhee 



Museum of Natural History and Department of Zoology, 

 University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602 



AND 



Hans N. Neuhauser 



The Georgia Conservancy, 

 Savannah, Georgia 31405 



ABSTRACT. — Previous accounts listed 79 species of mammals 

 occurring in Georgia. Taxonomic changes and improved distributional 

 records now allow listing of 90 species — 74 non-marine — with 20 of 

 them represented by more than one subspecies. Consequently, Georgia 

 has 1 18 taxonomically distinct mammalian species and subspecies. 



INTRODUCTION 



Since publication of Mammals of Georgia (Golley 1962) there has 

 been a considerable increase in knowledge concerning this group of ver- 

 tebrates in the state. There have been, for example, several new state 

 records (e.g., Wharton and White 1967), a number of taxonomic and/ or 

 nomenclatural changes (e.g., Williams and Genoways 1980), and some 

 significant range extensions (Laerm et al. 1980). A review of Georgia's 

 cetaceans (Neuhauser and Ruckdeschel 1978) provided a much needed 

 update of the known ocurrences of marine mammals in Georgia's coas- 

 tal waters. Recent regional studies (Wharton 1973; Neuhauser and 

 Baker 1974; Laerm et al. 1980) provided useful information regarding 

 the distribution and abundance of a number of species. 



In general, the mammals of Georgia are poorly known. Many spe- 

 cies are extremely rare, some are known only from very old historical 

 data, and there are a number of taxonomic problems with others. 

 Although we are preparing a book on the mammals of Georgia, its 

 completion will require several more years of work. We provide here an 

 updated and comprehensive annotated checklist of mammal species and 

 subspecies known to occur in Georgia and its coastal waters. For each 

 species and subspecies, we include distributional data and brief com- 

 ments regarding their taxonomic and conservation status. 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



Scientific and common names are those used by Jones et al. (1979). 

 Distributional ranges are based on voucher specimens in a number of 

 museums, published accounts, our observations, and University of 



Brimleyana No. 7:121-135. July 1981. 121 



