List of mammals of Samoa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of the mammal species recorded in Samoa. There are nine mammal species in Samoa, of which one is endangered and two are vulnerable.[1]
Order: Chiroptera (bats)
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.
- Family: Pteropodidae (flying foxes, Old World fruit bats)
- Subfamily: Pteropodinae
- Genus: Pteropus
- Samoa flying-fox, Pteropus samoensis VU
- Insular flying-fox, Pteropus tonganus LR/lc
- Genus: Pteropus
- Subfamily: Pteropodinae
- Family: Vespertilionidae
- Subfamily: Myotinae
- Genus: Myotis
- Insular myotis, Myotis insularum DD
- Genus: Myotis
- Subfamily: Myotinae
- Family: Emballonuridae
- Genus: Emballonura
- Polynesian sheath-tailed bat, Emballonura semicaudata EN
- Genus: Emballonura
Order: Cetacea (whales)
The order Cetacea includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. They are the mammals most fully adapted to aquatic 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: Balaenopteridae
- Subfamily: Megapterinae
- Genus: Megaptera
- Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae LC
- Genus: Megaptera
- Subfamily: Megapterinae
- Family: Balaenopteridae
- Suborder: Odontoceti
- Superfamily: Platanistoidea
- Family: Ziphidae
- Subfamily: Hyperoodontinae
- Genus: Mesoplodon
- Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale, Mesoplodon ginkgodens DD
- Genus: Mesoplodon
- Subfamily: Hyperoodontinae
- Family: Delphinidae (marine dolphins)
- Genus: Tursiops
- Bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus DD
- Genus: Stenella
- Spinner dolphin, Stenella longirostris LR/cd
- Genus: Lagenodelphis
- Fraser's dolphin, Lagenodelphis hosei DD
- Genus: Tursiops
- Family: Ziphidae
- Superfamily: Platanistoidea