This is a list of the mammal species recorded in Paraguay. There are 184 mammal species in Paraguay,[1][2] of which two are endangered, seven are vulnerable, and twelve are near threatened.[3]
Some species were assessed using an earlier set of criteria. Species assessed using this system have the following instead of near threatened and least concern categories:
Rodents make up the largest order of mammals, with over 40% of mammalian species. They have two incisors in the upper and lower jaw which grow continually and must be kept short by gnawing. Most rodents are small though the capybara can weigh up to 45 kg (99 lb).
The lagomorphs comprise two families, Leporidae (hares and rabbits), and Ochotonidae (pikas). Though they can resemble rodents, and were classified as a superfamily in that order until the early 20th century, they have since been considered a separate order. They differ from rodents in a number of physical characteristics, such as having four incisors in the upper jaw rather than two.
The bats' most distinguishing feature is that their forelimbs are developed as wings, making them the only mammals capable of flight. Bat species account for about 20% of all mammals.
The odd-toed ungulates are browsing and grazing mammals. They are usually large to very large, and have relatively simple stomachs and a large middle toe.
The even-toed ungulates are ungulates whose weight is borne about equally by the third and fourth toes, rather than mostly or entirely by the third as in perissodactyls. There are about 220 artiodactyl species, including many that are of great economic importance to humans.
Didelphimorphia is the order of common opossums of the Western Hemisphere. Opossums probably diverged from the basic South Americanmarsupials in the late Cretaceous or early Paleocene. They are small to medium-sized marsupials, about the size of a large house cat, with a long snout and prehensile tail.
^de la Sancha, Noé U., Celia López-González, Guillermo D'Elia, Philip Myers, Lourdes Valdez, and María Luisa Ortiz. "An annotated checklist of the mammals of Paraguay." Therya 8, no. 3 (2017): 241-260. https://doi.org/10.12933/therya-17-473
^de la Sancha, Noé U., Gustavo S. Libardi, and Ulyses FJ Pardiñas. "Discovery of a new genus record for Paraguay, the Atlantic Forest endemic rodent Abrawayaomys (Cricetidae, Sigmodontinae)." Mammalia 84, no. 4 (2020): 366-371. https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2019-0093
^This list is derived from the IUCN Red List which lists species of mammals and includes those mammals that have recently been classified as extinct (since 1500 AD). The taxonomy and naming of the individual species is based on those used in existing Wikipedia articles as of 21 May 2007 and supplemented by the common names and taxonomy from the IUCN, Smithsonian Institution, or University of Michigan where no Wikipedia article was available.
^Lucherini, M.; Eizirik, E.; de Oliveira, T.; Pereira, J.; Williams, R.S.R. (2016). "Leopardus colocolo". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T15309A97204446.
^Paviolo, A.; Crawshaw, P.; Caso, A.; de Oliveira, T.; Lopez-Gonzalez, C.A.; Kelly, M.; De Angelo, C. & Payan, E. (2015). "Leopardus pardalis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T11509A97212355.
^de Oliveira, T.; Paviolo, A.; Schipper, J.; Bianchi, R.; Payan, E. & Carvajal, S.V. (2015). "Leopardus wiedii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T11511A50654216.
^Caso, A.; de Oliveira, T. & Carvajal, S.V. (2015). "Herpailurus yagouaroundi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T9948A50653167.
^Nielsen, C.; Thompson, D.; Kelly, M. & Lopez-Gonzalez, C. A. (2015). "Puma concolor". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T18868A97216466.
^Quigley, H.; Foster, R.; Petracca, L.; Payan, E.; Salom, R. & Harmsen, B. (2017). "Panthera onca". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T15953A123791436.
External links
"Animal Diversity Web". University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. 1995–2006. Retrieved 22 May 2007.