News and Information about Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery

gray wolf
Collared wolf of the Druid pack
[Photo: Doug Smith, 2000,
Yellowstone Digital Slide File]

Find the most up-to-date news, information, recovery status reports, and more from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's site: Gray Wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains.

Featured Resource

Lesser Long-nosed Bat
Lesser Long-nosed Bat eating nectar from saguaro flower.
[Photo: National Park Service]

Mammal pollinators such as bats play a crucial role in flowering plant reproduction and in the production of fruits and vegetables.

Learn more about mammal pollinators.

The NBII Pollinators Project coordinates efforts to address the need for information and technology to support monitoring, management, and conservation of pollinators and pollinator habitats.

Mammals of the Pacific Northwest Region

River Otter
River Otter
[Photo: United States Fish and Wildlife Service]




Mammals are vertebrates of the taxonomic class Mammalia, including animals such as American marsupials, insectivores, bats, edentates, lagomorphs, rodents, carnivores, and artiodactyls. Thought of as warm-blooded, mammals are endotherms, meaning they are able to regulate their own body temperature independently of the temperature of their surroundings. Mammal characteristics include skin covered with hairs, females with mammary glands that secrete milk to feed young, and a reproduction strategy of internal fertilization and bearing relatively mature live offspring.

Fifty-three mammal species have been identified in state wildlife action plans as Species of Greatest Conservation Need (GCN) for the Pacific Northwest Region, which includes Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The Pacific Northwest Species of Greatest Conservation Need interactive application brings together resources on these 53 GCN mammal species and other GCN taxa from multiple authoritative sources including the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) and NatureServe.


Mammals in North America

In North America, mammals (non-marine) are represented by numerous taxonomic families within the taxonomic orders below:

American marsupials (Order Didelphimorphia)
The American opossum is the only marsupial found in North America.
Artiodactyls (order Artiodactyla)
This order includes hoofed mammals such as deer, elk, bison, and pigs.
Bats (order Chiroptera)
Bats are the only mammals capable of true flight.
Carnivores (order Carnivora)
Carnivores include predatory mammals such as wolves.
Edentates (order Cingulata)
This order includes armadillos. Armadillos are steadily increasing their range northward from the Southern U.S.
Insectivores (order Soricomorpha)
This order includes moles and shrews, mammals that primarily consume small invertebrates such as insects.
Lagomorphs (order Lagomorpha)
This order is represented by the taxonomic family Leporidae, which includes rabbits, hares, cottontail, and jackrabbits.
Rodents (order Rodentia)
Rodents include mammals such as squirrels, mice, and beaver.

Authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world can be explored using the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), a partner of the NBII.

Species Spotlight

Snowshoe Hare
[Photo: National Park Service]

Snowshoe Hare
Lepus americanus

Description: Larger than rabbits, with longer hind legs and ears. Have especially large, furry feet which help with staying active in the winter. Most have a white winter coat that turns brown in the spring during snow melt, with the exception of snowshoe hares in Olympic National Park, which stay brown all year. Solitary, other than when breeding, often resting during the day.

Life History: Breeding season is typically February to August, with young being born from May to August. Litter size ranges from 1 to 6, with an average of 3. Life span is about two years, but ranges up to six years. Summer diet consists of grasses and other greens; winter diet includes twigs, bark and buds.

Habitat: Prefer coniferous and mixed forests with abundant understory. Nest in hollow logs or ground depressions; underground burrows are usually avoided.

Distribution: Western and northeastern United States and most of Canada.

Status: In the Southwest region the population is vulnerable; in the Northwest region they are secure; the population in the East ranges from critically imperiled to secure.

Resources:

The NBII Program is administered by the Biological Informatics Program of the U.S. Geological Survey
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