In total, 97 species of mammals are known to inhabit, or recently to
have inhabited, the state of Florida and its surrounding waters. This
includes a few species, such as the Black-tailed Jackrabbit and Red
Deer, that were introduced after the European colonization of the
Americas. The dolphin is the state saltwater mammal, the Florida Panther
is the state mammal and the manatee is the state marine mammal. For
further information on Florida mammals, you may want to purchase a book
from our Florida
Nature Library. Don't miss our "Florida
Nature" slideshows set to music.
Florida's mammals are broken up into several groups. Rodents account for
roughly one quarter of all species, followed closely by mammals from the
Cetacea and Carnivora families. Click on the name of each mammal for
complete information and photos.
Florida's diverse wildlife includes a number of large, predatory mammals
known as carnivores. Carnivores are characterized by
having teeth designed for tearing and consuming flesh. However, some
carnivores, such as bears and coyotes, are omnivorous and eat both
animal and plant material. Florida carnivores include:
American Black Bear,
American Mink,
Bobcats,
Coyote, Florida
Panther,
Gray
Fox & Red Fox,
Long-Tailed Weasel,
Northern River Otters,
Raccoons,
Red Wolves, and
Skunks.
Bats as a group are nocturnal; their eyes are small and
inefficient, but their ears are usually well developed. Experiments
suggest that the middle and inner ear and high-frequency vocals are
highly important in guiding bats in flight and in their aerial feeding
activities. Florida bats include:
Big Brown Bat, Eastern Pipistrelle, Eastern Red Bat,
Evening Bat, Gray Bat,
Hoary Bat, Indiana Bat, Jamaican Fruit Bat,
Little Brown Bat, Mexican Free-tailed Bat,
Northern Long-eared Myotis, Northern Yellow Bat,
Rafinesque's Big-Eared Bat, Seminole Bat,
Silver-haired Bat, Southeastern Myotis, Velvety
Free-tailed Bat, Wagner's Bonneted Bat.
Rodents are the single largest group of mammals.
Florida rodents include:
squirrels including the Mexican
Gray Squirrel, Fox Squirrel, Southern Flying Squirrel, and the Eastern
Gray Squirrel. Florida mice
including the Cotton Mouse, Eastern Harvest Mouse, Florida Mouse, Golden
Mouse, House Mouse, Oldfield Mouse. Rats
in Florida include Black Rat, Brown Rat, Florida Woodrat, Hispid Cotton
Rat, and the Marsh Rice Rat. Other rodents in
Florida include the American Beaver, Capybara,
Coypu, Eastern Chipmunk. And our last section contains the
Meadow Vole, Round-tailed
Muskrat, Southeastern Pocket Gopher, and the Woodland Vole.
Artiodactyla, or cloven-hoofed mammals, include such
familiar animals as sheep, goats, camels, pigs, cows, deer, giraffes,
and antelopes — most of the world's species of large land mammals are
artiodactyls. Many living artiodactyls have evolved features that are
adaptive for life on open grasslands. As beasts of burden and as sources
of meat, hair, and leather, artiodactyls have assumed important roles in
many cultures around the world. Florida artiodactyla include: Rabbits-Black-tailed
Jackrabbit, Eastern Cottontail, Marsh Rabbit, Swamp Rabbit;
Moles-Eastern
Mole, Star-nosed Mole;
Shrews-North American Least Shrew, Southeastern Shrew,
Southern Short-tailed Shrew;
Deer-Key Deer, Sambar deer, White-tailed deer; Other
cloven hoofed Florida mammals include the
Feral Pig,
Nine-banded Armadillo,
Rhesus Macaque, and the
Virginia Opossum.
Florida marine mammals include the state marine mammal,
the West Indian Manatee. It was designated the state marine mammal in
1975 and is protected by federal and state laws. Of the several whales
seen close to Florida, the most frequent visitor is the Atlantic
Northern Right Whale. Named as such because they were the "right" whales
to kill, their only known calving ground is located off the coasts of
Georgia and Florida. Pregnant females migrate from feeding grounds
located far north and deliver calves from mid December to March. The
most common dolphin in the state is the Bottlenose Dolphin. Dolphins,
like manatees, are vulnerable to red tide and have mass fatalities when
one occurs. Dolphins were designated the Florida State Saltwater Mammal
in 1975. Florida marine mammals include: Whales-Atlantic
Northern Right Whale, Bryde's Whale, Cuvier's Beaked Whale, Fin Whale,
Gervais' Beaked Whale, Humpback Whale, Minke
Whale, Orca,
Pygmy Sperm Whale, Short-finned Pilot Whale,
Sperm Whale, True's Beaked Whale;
Dolphins-Atlantic Spotted
Dolphin, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin,
Risso's Dolphin, Rough-toothed Dolphin,
Spinner Dolphin, Striped Dolphin, Seals-
Caribbean Monk Seal, Common Seal, Hooded Seal, and the
West Indian Manatee.
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Florida
Nature: Florida Mammals
