This is a list of the native wild mammal species recorded in South America. South America's terrestrial mammals fall into three distinct groups: "old-timers", African immigrants and recent North American immigrants. The marsupials and xenarthrans are "old-timers", their ancestors having been present on the continent since at least the very early Cenozoic Era. During the early Cenozoic, South America's only land connection was to Antarctica, so it was effectively cut off from most of the world; as the fragments of Gondwana continued to separate, this connection was lost, leaving South America an island continent. Caviomorph rodents and monkeys arrived as "waif dispersers" by rafting across the Atlantic from Africa in the Eocene epoch, 35 million or more years ago. All the remaining nonflying mammals of South America are recent arrivals, having migrated from North America via Central America during the past seven million years as part of the Great American Interchange; this invasion, which peaked around three million years ago, was made possible when the formation of the volcanic Isthmus of Panama bridged North and South America. The newcomers out-competed and drove to extinction many mammals that had evolved during South America's long period of isolation, as well as some species from other classes.
South America suffered another major loss of mammal species in the Quaternary extinction event, which started around 12,500 cal BP, at roughly the time of arrival of Paleoindians, and may have lasted up to several thousand years. At least 37 genera of mammals were eliminated, including most of the megafauna. While South America currently has no megaherbivore species weighing more than 1000 kg, prior to this event it had a menagerie of about 25 of them (consisting of gomphotheres, camelids, ground sloths, glyptodonts, and toxodontids – 75% of these being "old-timers"), dwarfing Africa's present and recent total of 6.
Anthropogenic climate change and the damage to its ecosystems resulting from the rapid recent growth of the human population pose a further threat to South America's biodiversity.
The list consists of those extant species found in the nations or overseas territories of continental South America (including their island possessions, such as the Galápagos), as well as in Trinidad and Tobago and the Falkland Islands; Panama is not included. As of May 2012, the list contains 1,331 species, 340 genera, 62 families and 15 orders. Of the taxa from nonflying, nonmarine groups (992 species, 230 genera, 40 families and 12 orders), "old-timers" comprise 14% of species, 15% of genera, 20% of families and 42% of orders; African immigrants make up 38% of species, 30% of genera, 40% of families and 17% of orders; North American invaders constitute 49% of species 55% of genera, 40% of families and 50% of orders. At the order level, the "old-timers" are overrepresented because of their ancient local origins, while the African immigrants are underrepresented because of their "sweepstakes" mode of dispersal.
Of the species, 29 are critically endangered, 64 are endangered, 111 are vulnerable, 64 are near threatened, and 255 are data deficient. 32 mammal species presumed extinct since the beginning of the Holocene are included. Domestic species (e.g., the guinea pig, alpaca, and llama) and introduced species are not listed.
Note: This list is inevitably incomplete, since new species are continually being recognized via discovery or reclassification. Places to check for missing species include the list of mammals described in the 2000s, and the species listings in the articles for mammalian genera, especially those of small mammals such as rodents or bats.
The following tags are used to highlight each species' conservation status as assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature; those on the left are used here, those in the second column in some other articles:
EX Extinct No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died. EW Extinct in the wild Known only to survive in captivity or as a naturalized population well outside its historic range. CR Critically endangered The species is in imminent danger of extinction in the wild. EN Endangered The species is facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild. VU Vulnerable The species is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. NT Near threatened The species does not qualify as being at high risk of extinction but is likely to do so in the future. LC Least concern The species is not currently at risk of extinction in the wild. DD Data deficient There is inadequate information to assess the risk of extinction for this species. NE Not evaluated The conservation status of the species has not been studied.
The IUCN status of all listed species except bats was last updated between March and June 2009; bats were updated in September 2009.
Subclass: Theria
Infraclass: Metatheria The infraclass Metatheria includes all living and extinct marsupials, but also includes some related extinct orders of mammals that are no longer considered marsupials, such as Sparassodonta. At least six families of sparassodonts lived in South America prior to the interchange, dominating the niches for large mammalian carnivores.
Marsupials are a collection of pouched mammals that was once more widely distributed. Today they are found primarily in isolated or formerly isolated continents of Gondwanan origin. South America's 22 extant genera compares with 10 in Central America, 1 in North America north of Mexico, 52 in Australia, 28 in New Guinea and 2 in Sulawesi. South American marsupials are thought to be ancestral to those of Australasia.
Superorder: Ameridelphia Order: Didelphimorphia (common opossums) Didelphimorphia is the order of common opossums of the Western Hemisphere. Opossums probably diverged from the basic South American marsupials in the late Cretaceous or early Paleocene. They are small to medium-sized marsupials, about the size of a large house cat, with a long snout and prehensile tail.
Family: Didelphidae (American opossums) Subfamily: Caluromyinae Genus: Caluromys Derby's woolly opossum, C. derbianus LC Brown-eared woolly opossum, C. lanatus LC Bare-tailed woolly opossum, C. philander LC Genus: Caluromysiops Black-shouldered opossum, Caluromysiops irrupta LC Subfamily: Glironiinae Genus: Glironia Bushy-tailed opossum, Glironia venusta LC Subfamily: Hyladelphinae Genus: Hyladelphys Kalinowski's mouse opossum, Hyladelphys kalinowskii LC Subfamily: Didelphinae Genus Chacodelphys Chacoan pygmy opossum, Chacodelphys formosa VU Genus: Chironectes Water opossum, Chironectes minimus LC Genus Cryptonanus Agricola's gracile opossum, Cryptonanus agricolai DD Chacoan gracile opossum, Cryptonanus chacoensis LC Guahiba gracile opossum, Cryptonanus guahybae DD Unduavi gracile opossum, Cryptonanus unduaviensis DD Genus: Didelphis White-eared opossum, Didelphis albiventris LC Big-eared opossum, Didelphis aurita LC Guianan white-eared opossum, Didelphis imperfecta LC Common opossum, Didelphis marsupialis LC Andean white-eared opossum, Didelphis pernigra LC Genus: Gracilinanus Aceramarca gracile opossum, Gracilinanus aceramarcae LC Agile gracile opossum, Gracilinanus agilis LC Wood sprite gracile opossum, Gracilinanus dryas NT Emilia's gracile opossum, Gracilinanus emiliae DD Northern gracile opossum, Gracilinanus marica LC Brazilian gracile opossum, Gracilinanus microtarsus LC Genus: Lestodelphys Patagonian opossum, Lestodelphys halli LC Genus: Lutreolina Big lutrine opossum, Lutreolina crassicaudata LC Massoia's lutrine opossum, Lutreolina massoia LC Genus: Marmosa Subgenus: Eomarmosa Red mouse opossum, Marmosa rubra DD Subgenus: Exulomarmosa Isthmian mouse opossum, Marmosa isthmica Robinson's mouse opossum, Marmosa robinsoni LC Marmosa simonsi Guajira mouse opossum, Marmosa xerophila VU Marmosa zeledoni Subgenus: Marmosa Quechuan mouse opossum, Marmosa macrotarsus LC Linnaeus's mouse opossum, Marmosa murina LC Tyler's mouse opossum, Marmosa tyleriana DD Marmosa waterhousei Subgenus: Micoureus Alston's mouse opossum, Marmosa alstoni LC White-bellied woolly mouse opossum, Marmosa constantiae LC Woolly mouse opossum, Marmosa demerarae LC Tate's woolly mouse opossum, Marmosa paraguayana LC Little woolly mouse opossum, Marmosa phaea VU Bare-tailed woolly mouse opossum, Marmosa regina LC Subgenus: Stegomarmosa Heavy-browed mouse opossum, Marmosa andersoni DD Rufous mouse opossum, Marmosa lepida LC Genus: Marmosops Bishop's slender opossum, Marmosops bishopi LC Marmosops caucae Narrow-headed slender opossum, Marmosops cracens DD Creighton's slender opossum, Marmosops creightoni DD Dusky slender opossum, Marmosops fuscatus DD Handley's slender opossum, Marmosops handleyi CR Tschudi's slender opossum, Marmosops impavidus LC Gray slender opossum, Marmosops incanus LC Junin slender opossum, Marmosops juninensis VU Neblina slender opossum, Marmosops neblina LC White-bellied slender opossum, Marmosops noctivagus LC Dorothy's slender opossum, Marmosops ocellatus LC Delicate slender opossum, Marmosops parvidens LC Brazilian slender opossum, Marmosops paulensis LC Pinheiro's slender opossum, Marmosops pinheiroi LC Genus: Metachirus Brown four-eyed opossum, Metachirus nudicaudatus LC Genus: Monodelphis Sepia short-tailed opossum, Monodelphis adusta LC Northern three-striped opossum, Monodelphis americana LC Monodelphis arlindoi Northern red-sided opossum, Monodelphis brevicaudata LC Yellow-sided opossum, Monodelphis dimidiata LC Gray short-tailed opossum, Monodelphis domestica LC Emilia's short-tailed opossum, Monodelphis emiliae LC Monodelphis gardneri Amazonian red-sided opossum, Monodelphis glirina LC Monodelphis handleyi Ihering's three-striped opossum, Monodelphis iheringi DD Pygmy short-tailed opossum, Monodelphis kunsi LC Marajó short-tailed opossum, Monodelphis maraxina DD Osgood's short-tailed opossum, Monodelphis osgoodi LC Hooded red-sided opossum, Monodelphis palliolata LC Monodelphis peruviana Reig's opossum, Monodelphis reigi VU Ronald's opossum, Monodelphis ronaldi LC Chestnut-striped opossum, Monodelphis rubida DD Monodelphis sanctaerosae Long-nosed short-tailed opossum, Monodelphis scalops LC Southern red-sided opossum, Monodelphis sorex LC Southern three-striped opossum, Monodelphis theresa DD Monodelphis touan Red three-striped opossum, Monodelphis umbristriata VU One-striped opossum, Monodelphis unistriata DD Genus: Philander Anderson's four-eyed opossum, Philander andersoni LC Deltaic four-eyed opossum, Philander deltae LC Southeastern four-eyed opossum, Philander frenata LC McIlhenny's four-eyed opossum, Philander mcilhennyi LC Mondolfi's four-eyed opossum, Philander mondolfii LC Olrog's four-eyed opossum, Philander olrogi Gray four-eyed opossum, Philander opossum LC Genus: Thylamys Cinderella fat-tailed mouse opossum, Thylamys cinderella LC Thylamys citellus Elegant fat-tailed mouse opossum, Thylamys elegans LC Karimi's fat-tailed mouse opossum, Thylamys karimii VU Paraguayan fat-tailed mouse opossum, Thylamys macrura NT White-bellied fat-tailed mouse opossum, Thylamys pallidior LC Thylamys pulchellus Common fat-tailed mouse opossum, Thylamys pusillus LC Argentine fat-tailed mouse opossum, Thylamys sponsorius LC Tate's fat-tailed mouse opossum, Thylamys tatei DD Dwarf fat-tailed mouse opossum, Thylamys velutinus LC Buff-bellied fat-tailed mouse opossum, Thylamys venustus DD
Order: Paucituberculata (shrew opossums)
There are six extant species of shrew opossum. They are small shrew-like marsupials confined to the Andes. Family: Caenolestidae Genus: Caenolestes Gray-bellied caenolestid, Caenolestes caniventer NT Andean caenolestid, Caenolestes condorensis VU Northern caenolestid, Caenolestes convelatus VU Dusky caenolestid, Caenolestes fuliginosus LC Eastern caenolestid, Caenolestes sangay VU