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32 Mammals native to Britain

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fudgee_babee | 22:56 Sun 07th Nov 2004 | Animals & Nature
16 Answers

PLEASE CAN SOMEONE HELP ME???

 NAME ALL 32 MAMMALS NATIVE TO MAINLAND BRITAIN (NOT INCLUDING IRELAND)

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE

EVEN JUST A FEW WOULD HELP!!!

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Red Squirrel, Red Fox, Stoat, Weasel, Otter, House Mouse, Doormouse, Field Mouse, Water Rat, Brown Rat, Brown Hare, Shrew, Roe Deer, Red Deer, Fallow Deer, vole

 

These are some - I think they are all native to the UK. I have not included Rabbits as they were introduced here, as were grey squirrels.  If New Forester is about, he will come up with some more (and may take some of mine out!) as he is so knowledgeable.

Wild Cat (Scotland)
Badger, Mole
Bank Vole, Pipistrelle (bat)
Hedgehog !!  I nearly forgot him

More Bats:  Brown Long Eared Bat, Natterers Bat, Noctule Bat.

 

Water Vole (as opposed to field vole and bank vole)

Water Shrew and Whiskered Bat (quite rare)
Harvest mouse (I think this is different from the field mouse)
Common Seal
I didn't do too badly.  That's a really good link stoo_pid!

You can't really say there are "32" native mammals, as it depends how you count them, and some species are not well understood.

 

Everyone else's suggestions are good, except these, which are introduced (you were right, FP!):

 

  • Brown rat
  • House mouse
  • Brown hare (probably)
  • Fallow deer

 

Field mouse is a confusing term which is best avoided, as it can mean either wood-mouse (modern), or outdoor-living house mouse (traditional).

 

Stoo's link just about covers the whole list, except:

  • Brown hare (probably introduced, see above.
  • Pipistrelle -- recently found to be two species, common pip Pipistrellus pipistrellus and "soprano" pip Pipistrellus pygmaeus.
  • Brown long-eared bat is suspected of being several species.
  • Lesser-white-toothed shrew is found on the Scillies and Channel Islands.
  • White-toothed shrew is found on the Channel Islands.
  • Mouse-eared bat has been found again recently in mainland Britain, so there is doubt about whether it's really extinct.
  • Wild swine (or "boar") was extinct, but is now re-established.
  • Beaver was extinct, but is in the process of being re-established.
  • Wolf -- only been extinct for a few hundred years.
  • Longer-extinct mammals also omitted: wild horse, wild cattle, moose, lynx, brown bear.
  • Going further back (but still only a few thousand years, since the last glaciation): giant deer, lion, hyaena.

 

There are of course loads of introduced mammals.

Are you definitely after the British mammals, not the Irish ones?  I make it about 44 British species, but there are apparently 31 - 33 Irish ones (though I can't find a proper list of those).

 

There are no mammal species which are native to Ireland but not to Britain, though the Irish hare is a different subspecies from the mountain hare in Britain, and the Irish stoat is also slightly (but not stoatally) different.

 

There are quite a few mammals which are native to Britain but not to Ireland, or are extinct there.  For example the following:

  • Common shrew
  • Mole
  • Barbastelle?
  • Serotine?
  • Noctule?
  • Brown hare (introduced -- probably not native to Britain either)
  • (Red squirrel) -- native, but probably extinct, then reintroduced -- as in much of Britain.
  • Dormouse
  • Bank vole (introduced)
  • Water vole
  • Short-tailed vole
  • Harvest mouse
  • Yellow-necked mouse
  • Weasel
  • Polecat? (if not, extinct)
  • (Wild swine) native, but currently extinct
  • Roe deer? (if not, extinct)

So the Irish list ought more or less to be stoo_pid's list, minus those listed above.

  someone has mentioned a seal in an answer, me, i'm  stupid, but are porpoises an' dolphins and whales, mammals too ? if so, you have the common porpoise, seen off all parts of the coast.... bottle nosed dolphin, mainly of the south  and west coast,..... both are seen regulary down this way,,,, native to the uk tho' ? sorry, dont know........ otter,,,, and hasnt the beaver made a comeback too ?   
Hi 2nd Row, yes seals, dolphins, porpoise and whales are mammals.

From: The observers book of wild animals of the british isles

  1. The Mole Talpa Europaea
  2. Common Shrew Sorex Araneus Castaneus
  3. Pygmy Shrew Sorex Minutus
  4. Water Shrew Neomys Fodiens Bicolor
  5. Hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus
  6. Greater Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus ferrum-equinum insulanus
  7. Lesser Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus hip-posideros minutus
  8. Whiskered Bat Myotis Mystacinus
  9. Natterers Bat Myotis Nattereri
  10. Bechsteins Bat Myotis Bechsteinii
  11. Daubentons Bat Myotis daubentoni
  12. Common Bat (Pipistrelle) Pipistrellus Pipistrellus
  13. Serotine Bat Eptesicus serotinus
  14. Great Bat (Noctule) Nyctalus Noctula
  15. Leislers Bat Nyctalus Leisleri

Do you need any more?

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32 Mammals native to Britain

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