Abstract:

Due to recent modifications of mammalian taxonomy, discoveries of mammalogy in China, and conservation needs of the country, China’s mammal diversity inventory is in urgent need of an update. We collected new species and records of mammal species in China from the literature since March 2015, adopted the new taxonomy, incorporated our own research, and added mammalian species of the Zangnan Region, to renew the inventory of mammal diversity in the country. The major changes in the new version of the inventory are the elevation of the order Cetartiodactyla to the super order Cetartiodactyla and the split of the order Cetartiodactyla in Jiang et al (2015) into orders Cetacea and Artiodactyla, respectively. Chodsigoa hoffmanni C. furva and Mesechinus sp. were added to the order Eulipotyphla. In the order Chiroptera, Murina fanjingshanensis, Myotis rufoniger and Rhinolophus subbadius were added, while Myotis hirsutus and Miniopterus fuscus were deleted from the inventory. In the order Primates, Hoolock tianxing, Trachypithecus pileatus, Nycticebus coucang and Hoolock hoolock were added to the inventory. In the order Carnivora, Melursus ursinus, Canis aureus, Vulpes bengakensis, Herpestes edwardsii, and Felis viverrinus were added. We reclassified the species in the order Artiodactyla according to the taxonomy of the Handbook of the Mammals of the World, Vol. 2, Ungulates. Ovis ammon, O. collium, Budorcas taxicolor, and Muntiacus muntjak were added to the order. All sika deer in the country were grouped as a single species, Cervus nippon, and all moose were grouped as a single species, Alces alces. Cervus alashanicus and C. macneilli as well as the dwarf blue sheep, Psuodois sharferi, were deleted, and the species of the Tragulus in Xishuangbanna was listed as Tragulus sp. In the order Cetacea, Platanista gangetica was added while Delphinus capensis was deleted. In the order Rodentia, new species, Typhlomys nanus, Neodon medogensis and N. nyalamensis, Bandicota bengalensis as well as Myospalax cansus, Biswamoyopterus biswasi, Niviventer niviventer, Mus booduga; and one species, Typhlomys daloushanensis, which was elevated from the status of subspecies, were added to the inventory, however, Hadromys humei was deleted from the inventory. The taxonomy of Arvicolini of Cricetidae was renewed. Caprolagus hispidus and Lepus nigricollis were added to the order Lagomorpha and the taxonomy of Ochotona was renewed, with 5 species downgraded from the status of species to subspecies while 4 were elevated from subspecies to species. Altogether there are 29 pika species in China. However, O. princeps, O. collaris, O. hoffinanni, O. rufescens and O. pusilla are not found in the country. The new inventory of China’s mammals has 13 orders, 56 families, 248 genera and 693 species. Compared with that reported by Jiang et al (2015), there is now an additional order, family, three genera and 20 species in the new mammalian diversity inventory. Of the mammalian species in country, the statuses of 18 species, mostly rodents, are still in dispute amongst mammalogists. There are 146 endemic mammalian species in China, which accounted for 21% of the total mammal species in the country. Of those endemic species by order, the highest endemic rate is found in Lagomorpha (37%), followed by Eulipotyphla (35%) and Artiodactyla (25%). Overall, China has the richest mammal diversity in the world.

Key words: mammals, Hoolock, Trachypithecus, Neodon, Chodsigoa, Typhlomys, Ochotona