Mammals of Jokers Hill
Updated: September 14, 2020
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King Township, Regional Municipality of York
(second edition)
Tubba Babar and Peter M. Kotanen*
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Toronto Mississauga
3359 Mississauga Road, Mississauga, ON, Canada L5L 1C6
*Correspondence author. e-mail: peter.kotanen@utoronto.ca
The first edition of this list was compiled by C. Sean Blaney and was published as an appendix to his M.Sc. thesis (Blaney C.S. 1999. Seed bank dynamics of native and exotic plants in open uplands of southern Ontario. University of Toronto. https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/14382/). It subsequently was formatted for the web by P.M. Kotanen and made available on the Koffler Scientific Reserve website (http://ksr.utoronto.ca/), where it was revised periodically to reflect additions and taxonomic changes. This second edition represents a major revision reflecting recent phylogenetic and nomenclatural changes and adding additional species; it will be updated periodically.
This property was donated to the University of Toronto in 1995. This list is based on observations at this site by C.S. Blaney, P.M. Kotanen, and others beginning in 1997, supplemented with observations by property manager W. Fox between 1971 and 1998. Expert assistance and was provided by M. Engstrom (Royal Ontario Museum), while M. Havelka (University of Toronto) added several new species in 2004 using live traps and a bat detector. Phylogenetic classification and scientific and English nomenclature follow the American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) Mammals Diversity Database (https://mammaldiversity.org/), with minor corrections.
This list includes all wild mammals observed within the Koffler Scientific Reserve during the observation period. Of the 31 species listed, 28 are considered locally native, while three (House Mouse, Norway Rat, and European Hare) are introduced. Some listed species may have been temporarily established (European Hare) or transient (Northern River Otter). Other difficult-to-observe species (especially bats) likely occur on-site, while species currently absent but occurring regionally (Black Bear) likely historically were present. Information on any additional species (preferably with photographs) would be welcomed by the authors.
Clicking on the latin binomial of each species will bring you to GBIF occurrence records for that species.
Scientific Name | Common Name |
DIDELPHIMORPHIA | Opossums |
Didelphidae | (American Opossums) |
Didelphis virginiana Kerr | Virginia Opossum |
RODENTIA | Rodents |
Sciuridae | (Squirrels) |
Glaucomys sp. (Linneaus) | Flying Squirrel sp. |
Marmota monax (Linneaus) | Woodchuck |
Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin | Gray Squirrel |
Tamiasciurus hudsonicus (Zimmermann) | Red Squirrel |
Tamias striatus (Linneaus) | Eastern Chipmunk |
Castoridae | (Beavers) |
Castor canadensis Kuhl | American Beaver |
Dipodidae | (Jumping Mice) |
Napaeozapus insignis (Miller) | Woodland Jumping Mouse |
Zapus hudsonius (Zimmermann) | Meadow Jumping Mouse |
Cricetidae | (New World Mice & Rats) |
Microtus pennsylvanicus (Ord) | Meadow Vole |
Ondatra zibethicus (Linneaus) | Muskrat |
Peromyscus leucopus (Rafinesque) | White-footed Mouse |
Muridae | (Old World Mice & Rats) |
Mus musculus (Linneaus) | House Mouse |
Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout) | Norway Rat |
Erethizontidae | (New World Porcupines) |
Erethizon dorsatum (Linneaus) | Porcupine |
LAGOMORPHA | Rabbits & Hares |
Leporidae | (Hares) |
Lepus europaeus Pallas | European Hare |
Sylvilagus floridanus (J.A. Allen) | Eastern Cottontail |
SORICOMORPHA | Shrews |
Soricidae | (Shrews) |
Blarina brevicauda (Say) | Short-tailed Shrew |
Sorex cinereus Kerr | Masked Shrew |
Sorex hoyi Baird | Pygmy Shrew |
Talpidae | (Moles) |
Condylura cristata (Linneaus) | Star-nosed Mole |
CHIROPTERA | Bats |
Vespertilionidae | (Vespertilionid Bats) |
Eptesicus fuscus (Beauvois) | Big Brown Bat |
Myotis lucifugus (Le Conte) | Little Brown Bat |
CARNIVORA | Carnivores |
Canidae | (Dogs) |
Canis latrans (Say) | Coyote |
Vulpes vulpes (Linneaus) | Red Fox |
Mustelidae | (Weasels & Otters) |
Lontra canadensis (Schreber) | Northern River Otter |
Mustela erminea (Linneaus) | Ermine |
Neovison vison (Schreber) | Mink |
Mephitidae | (Skunks) |
Mephitis mephitis (Schreber) | Striped Skunk |
Procyonidae | (Raccoons) |
Procyon lotor (Linneaus) | Raccoon |
ARTIODACTYLA | Deer |
Cervidae | (Deer) |
Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmermann) | White-tailed Deer |