List of mammals of the British Virgin Islands
Encyclopedia
This is a list of the mammal species recorded in the British Virgin Islands. There are 5 mammal species in the British Virgin Islands
British Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...

, of which 0 are critically endangered, 0 are endangered, 1 is vulnerable, and 0 are near-threatened.

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 No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died.
EW Extinct in the wild Known only to survive in captivity or as a naturalized populations well outside its previous range.
CR Critically Endangered The species is in imminent risk of extinction in the wild.
EN Endangered The species is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
VU Vulnerable The species is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
NT Near Threatened The species does not meet any of the criteria that would categorise it as risking extinction but it is likely to do so in the future.
LC Least Concern There are no current identifiable risks to the species.
DD Data Deficient There is inadequate information to make an assessment of the risks to this species.


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:
LR/cd Lower Risk/conservation dependent Species which were the focus of conservation programmes and may have moved into a higher risk category if that programme was discontinued.
LR/nt Lower Risk/near threatened Species which are close to being classified as Vulnerable but are not the subject of conservation programmes.
LR/lc Lower Risk/least concern Species for which there are no identifiable risks.

Order: Sirenia
Sirenia
Sirenia is an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit swamps, rivers, estuaries, marine wetlands, and coastal marine waters. Four species are living, in two families and genera. These are the dugong and manatees...

 (manatees and dugongs)

----
Sirenia is an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit rivers, estuaries, coastal marine waters, swamps, and marine wetlands. All four species are endangered.
  • Family: Trichechidae
    • Genus: Trichechus
      • West Indian Manatee
        West Indian Manatee
        The West Indian Manatee is a manatee, and the largest surviving member of the aquatic mammal order Sirenia . The West Indian Manatee, Trichechus manatus, is a species distinct from the Amazonian Manatee, T. inunguis, and the West African Manatee, T. senegalensis...

         Trichechus manatus VU

Order: Cetacea
Cetacea
The order Cetacea includes the marine mammals commonly known as whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Cetus is Latin and is used in biological names to mean "whale"; its original meaning, "large sea animal", was more general. It comes from Ancient Greek , meaning "whale" or "any huge fish or sea...

 (whales)

----
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: Odontoceti
    • Superfamily: Platanistoidea
      • Family: Delphinidae (marine dolphins)
        • Genus: Steno
          • Rough-toothed Dolphin
            Rough-toothed Dolphin
            The Rough-toothed dolphin is species of dolphin that can be found in deep warm and tropical waters around the world.The species was first described by Georges Cuvier in 1823...

             Steno bredanensis DD
        • Genus: Lagenodelphis
          • Fraser's Dolphin
            Fraser's Dolphin
            Fraser's Dolphin or Sarawak Dolphin is a cetacean in the family Delphinidae found in deep waters in the Pacific Ocean and to a lesser extent in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans.-Taxonomy:...

             Lagenodelphis hosei DD
        • Genus: Grampus
          • Risso's Dolphin
            Risso's Dolphin
            Risso's dolphin is the only species of dolphin in the genus Grampus.-Taxonomy:Risso's dolphin is named after Antoine Risso, whose description formed the basis of the first public description of the animal, by Georges Cuvier, in 1812...

             Grampus griseus DD
        • Genus: Globicephala
          • Pilot whale
            Pilot whale
            Pilot whales are cetaceans belonging to the genus Globicephala. There are two extant species, the long-finned pilot whale and the short-finned pilot whale . The two are not readily distinguished at sea and analysis of the skulls is the best way to tell the difference between them...

             Globicephala macrorhynchus LR/cd

See also

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