Vertebrates of the Okefenokee Swamp 
Joshua Laerm, B.J. Freeman, Laurie J. Vitt 
Museum of Natural History and 
Department of Zoology 
Joseph M. Meyers 
Institute of Ecology 
AND 
Lloyd Logan 
Museum of Natural History and 
Department of Zoology 
University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602 
ABSTRACT. —Four hundred nineteen vertebrate species and sub- 
species are known from the Okefenokee Swamp region of Georgia and 
adjacent Florida. These include 36 fishes, 37 amphibians, 66 reptiles, 
232 birds, and 48 mammals. The vertebrates occurring in the 
Okefenokee represent a typical southeastern Atlantic Coastal Plain 
fauna. There are no endemic species. Eleven species, recognized as 
threatened or endangered under state and/or federal guidelines, occur 
in the swamp. 
INTRODUCTION 
The Okefenokee Swamp region of southeastern Georgia and adja- 
cent Florida contains an extremely diverse vertebrate fauna. However, 
with the exception of biological surveys conducted by Cornell University 
in the early decades of this century, that fauna has received little atten- 
tion. At present there exists no comprehensive information on the ver- 
tebrates of the swamp. Most of the available literature is semipopular, 
anecdotal, or, at best, outdated. 
Accurate faunal information is essential to understanding the Oke- 
fenokee Swamp ecosystem. The long term value and credibility of the 
systems ecology studies presently being undertaken in the swamp will, in 
large part, be determined by the extent to which base level natural history 
information can be incorporated into definitive analyses and models. 
Base level faunal surveys provide information on species diversity and 
patterns of habitat use that are crucial for biogeographic and systematic 
research. Furthermore, comprehensive faunal studies serve also as dated 
testaments to species composition and distribution within specific 
habitats, which are crucial for enviromental impact assessments 
associated with management practices. 
For these reasons, we have undertaken vertebrate faunal surveys 
within the Okefenokee Swamp and surrounding uplands. We report here 
the results of these surveys. We present, too, a review of pertinent 
historical foundations of our present knowledge of the swamp’s ver- 
tebrate fauna, a comparison of the fauna with that of adjacent south- 
eastern regions, and a preliminary analysis of habitat distributions of ver- 
tebrates known to occur within the swamp. 
Brimleyana No. 4: 47-73. December 1980. 
47 
