List of mammals of Antarctica - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This is a list of the mammal species recorded in Antarctica. There are 17 mammal species in Antarctica, all of which are marine mammals. Three of these species are considered to be endangered

Endangered species

An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...

, and four are listed as data deficient.

The following tags are used to highlight each species' conservation status as assessed by the IUCN

World Conservation Union

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources is an international organization dedicated to finding "pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges." The organization publishes the IUCN Red List, compiling information from a network of...

EX	Extinct Extinction In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...	No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died.
EW	Extinct in the Wild Extinct in the Wild Extinct in the Wild is a conservation status assigned to species or lower taxa, the only known living members of which are being kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range.-Examples:...	Known only to survive in captivity or as a naturalized population well outside its historic range.
CR	Critically Endangered Critically Endangered Critically Endangered is the highest risk category assigned by the IUCN Red List for wild species. Critically Endangered means that a species' numbers have decreased, or will decrease, by 80% within three generations....	The species is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
EN	Endangered Endangered species An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...	The species is facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
VU	Vulnerable Vulnerable species On 30 January 2010, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 9694 Vulnerable species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and sub-populations.-References:...	The species is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
NT	Near Threatened Near Threatened Near Threatened is a conservation status assigned to species or lower taxa that may be considered threatened with extinction in the near future, although it does not currently qualify for the threatened status...	The species does not currently qualify as being at high risk of extinction but it is likely to do so in the future.
LC	Least Concern Least Concern Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...	The species is not currently at risk of extinction in the wild.
DD	Data Deficient Data Deficient Data Deficient is a category applied by the IUCN, other agencies, and individuals to a species when the available information is not sufficient for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made...	There is inadequate information to assess the risk of extinction for this species.

Order: Cetacea (whales)

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The order Cetacea includes whale

Whale

Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...

s, dolphin

Dolphin

Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...

s and porpoise

Porpoise

Porpoises are small cetaceans of the family Phocoenidae; they are related to whales and dolphins. They are distinct from dolphins, although the word "porpoise" has been used to refer to any small dolphin, especially by sailors and fishermen...

s. They are the mammals most fully adapted to aquatic

Aquatic adaptation

Several animal groups have undergone aquatic adaptation, going from being purely terrestrial animals to living at least part of the time in water. The adaptations in early speciation tend to develop as the animal ventures into water in order to find available food. As successive generations spend...

life with a spindle-shaped nearly hairless body, protected by a thick layer of blubber, and forelimbs and tail modified to provide propulsion underwater.

Suborder: Mysticeti
- Family: Balaenidae
  Balaenidae
  Balaenidae is a family of mysticete whales that contains two living genera. Commonly called the right whales as it contains mainly right whale species...
  - Genus: Eubalaena
    - Southern Right Whale
      Southern Right Whale
      The southern right whale is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus Eubalaena. Like other right whales, the southern right whale is readily distinguished from others by the callosities on its head, a broad back without a dorsal fin, and a long arching...
      
      Eubalaena australis LC
- Family: Balaenopteridae
  - Subfamily: Balaenopterinae
    - Genus: Balaenoptera
      Balaenoptera
      Balaenoptera is a genus of Balaenopteridae, the Rorqual whales, and contains eight species. The species Balaenoptera omurai was published in 2003...
      - Minke Whale
        Minke Whale
        Minke whale , or lesser rorqual, is a name given to two species of marine mammal belonging to a clade within the suborder of baleen whales. The minke whale was given its official designation by Lacepède in 1804, who described a dwarf form of Balænoptera acuto-rostrata...
        
        Balaenoptera acutorostrata LC
      - Sei whale
        Sei Whale
        The sei whale , Balaenoptera borealis, is a baleen whale, the third-largest rorqual after the blue whale and the fin whale. It inhabits most oceans and adjoining seas, and prefers deep offshore waters. It avoids polar and tropical waters and semi-enclosed bodies of water...
        
        Balaenoptera borealis EN
      - Fin Whale
        Fin Whale
        The fin whale , also called the finback whale, razorback, or common rorqual, is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales. It is the second longest whale and the sixth largest living animal after the blue whale, bowhead whale, and right whales, growing to nearly 27 metres long...
        
        Balaenoptera physalus EN
      - Blue Whale
        Blue Whale
        The blue whale is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales . At in length and or more in weight, it is the largest known animal to have ever existed....
        
        Balaenoptera musculus EN
  - Subfamily: Megapterinae
    - Genus: Megaptera
      - Humpback Whale
        Humpback Whale
        The humpback whale is a species of baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from and weigh approximately . The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the...
        
        Megaptera novaeangliae LC
Suborder: Odontoceti
- Superfamily: Platanistoidea
  - Family: Phocoenidae
    - Genus: Phocoena
      - Spectacled Porpoise
        Spectacled Porpoise
        The Spectacled Porpoise is a rarely seen member of the porpoise family. The species is readily distinguished from other porpoises by a characteristic dark ring around the eyes, which gives the animals their name. This ring is commonly surrounded by a farther lighter ring...
        
        Phocoena dioptrica DD
  - Family: Ziphidae
    - Genus: Berardius
      - Giant beaked whale
        Giant beaked whale
        The genus Berardius contains two species of beaked whale, Baird's beaked whale and Arnoux's beaked whale. The two species are so similar, some scientists regard their separation into distinct species as a historical anomaly...
        
        Berardius arnuxii DD
    - Subfamily: Hyperoodontidae
      - Genus: Hyperoodon
        
        Bottlenose whale
        Bottlenose whale
        The Northern bottlenose whale is a species of the ziphiid family, one of two members of the Hyperoodon genus. The northern bottlenose was hunted heavily by Norway and Britain in the 19th and early 20th centuries...
        
        Hyperoodon planifrons LC
  - Family: Delphinidae (marine dolphins)
    - Genus: Cephalorhynchus
      Cephalorhynchus
      Cephalorhynchus is a genus in the dolphin family Delphinidae. It consists of four species:*Commerson's Dolphin, Cephalorhyncus commersonii*Chilean Dolphin, Cephalorhyncus eutropia*Heaviside's Dolphin, Cephalorhyncus heavisidii...
      - Commerson's Dolphin
        Commerson's Dolphin
        Commerson's Dolphin is one of four dolphins in the Cephalorhynchus genus. The species has also the common names Skunk Dolphin, Piebald Dolphin and Panda Dolphin...
        
        Cephalorhynchus commersonii DD
    - Genus: Lagenorhynchus
      Lagenorhynchus
      Lagenorhynchus is a genus in the order Cetacea, traditionally containing six species:* white-beaked dolphin, Lagenorhynchus albirostris* Atlantic white-sided dolphin, Lagenorhynchus acutus...
      - Hourglass Dolphin
        Hourglass Dolphin
        The hourglass dolphin is a small dolphin in the family Delphinidae that inhabits Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters....
        
        Lagenorhynchus cruciger LC
    - Genus: Orcinus
      - Orca
        Orca
        The killer whale , commonly referred to as the orca, and less commonly as the blackfish, is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family. Killer whales are found in all oceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas...
        
        Orcinus orca DD

Order: Carnivora (carnivorans)

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There are over 260 species of carnivorans, the majority of which feed primarily on meat. They have a characteristic skull shape and dentition.

Suborder: Caniformia
Caniformia
Caniformia, or Canoidea , is a suborder within the order Carnivora. They typically possess a long snout and non-retractile claws . The Pinnipedia evolved from caniform ancestors and are accordingly assigned to this group...
- Family: Phocidae (earless seals)
  - Genus: Hydrurga
    - Leopard Seal
      Leopard Seal
      The leopard seal , also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic...
      
      Hydrurga leptonyx LC
  - Genus: Leptonychotes
    - Weddell Seal
      Weddell Seal
      The Weddell seal , is a relatively large and abundant true seal with a circumpolar distribution surrounding Antarctica. Weddell seals have the most southerly distribution of any mammal, with a habitat that extends as far south as McMurdo Sound...
      
      Leptonychotes weddellii LC
  - Genus: Lobodon
    - Crabeater Seal
      Crabeater Seal
      The crabeater seal, Lobodon carcinophagus, is a true seal with a circumpolar distribution around the coast of Antarctica. They are medium to large-sized , relatively slender and pale-colored, found primarily on the free floating pack ice that extends seasonally out from the Antarctic coast, which...
      
      Lobodon carcinophaga LC
  - Genus: Mirounga
    - Southern Elephant Seal
      Southern Elephant Seal
      The Southern Elephant Seal is one of the two extant species of elephant seal. It is both the most massive pinniped and member of the order Carnivora living today...
      
      Mirounga leonina LC
  - Genus: Ommatophoca
    - Ross Seal
      Ross Seal
      The Ross seal is a true seal with a range confined entirely to the pack ice of Antarctica. It is the only species of the genus Ommatophoca. First described during James Clark Ross' British Antarctic Expedition in 1841, it is the smallest, least abundant and least well known of the Antarctic...
      
      Ommatophoca rossii LC

Order: Cetacea (whales)

Order: Carnivora (carnivorans)

See also