Mammals of the Dominican Republic

The Jamaican, Common or Mexican fruit bat (Artibeus jamaicensis) is a fruit bat native to Central and South America. It is also an uncommon resident of the Southern Bahamas. Its distinctive features include the absence of an external tail and a minimal, U-shaped interfemoral membrane. The coat is gray-brown and has a mild, soap-like odor, and is slightly paler on the underside. It is known to have a nose that looks somewhat like a third ear,... less ↑

The Sei Whale (pronounced /ˈseɪ/ or /ˈsaɪ/), Balaenoptera borealis, is a baleen whale, the third-largest rorqual after the Blue Whale and the Fin Whale. It can be found worldwide in all oceans and adjoining seas, and prefers deep off-shore waters. It tends to avoid polar and tropical waters and semi-enclosed bodies of water. The Sei Whale migrates annually from cool and subpolar waters in summer to temperate and subtropical waters for winter, although in most areas... less ↑

The Short-beaked Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis) is a species of common dolphin. It has a larger range than the Long-beaked Common Dolphin (D. capensis), occurring throughout warm-temperate and tropical oceans, with the possible exception of the Indian Ocean. There are more Short-beaked Common Dolphins than any other dolphin species in the warm-temperate portions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is also found in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas. less ↑

The Pygmy Killer Whale (Feresa attenuata) is a small, rarely-seen cetacean of the oceanic dolphin family (Delphinidae). It derives its common name from the fact that it shares some physical characteristics with the orca ("killer whale") and it is the smallest species referred to as a "whale" in its common name. In fact, "killer" may be a more apt name in the case of the Pygmy Killer Whale than its larger genetic cousin. When a number... less ↑

The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from 12–16 metres (39–52 ft) and weigh approximately 36,000 kilograms (79,000 lb). The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the water. Males produce a complex whale song, which lasts for 10 to 20 minutes and is repeated for hours at a time.... less ↑

The Greater Bulldog Bat or Fisherman Bat (Noctilio leporinus) is a type of fishing bat native to Latin America. The bats use echolocation to detect water ripples made by the fish upon which they prey, then use sharp claws to catch and cling to the fish. Their echolocation is so precise that they can detect a minnow's fin as thin as a human hair poking only a few millimetres out of the water, an astounding feat... less ↑

The Killer Whale or Orca (Orcinus orca), or less commonly, Blackfish, is the largest species of the dolphin family. Most people think that they are whales, but they are actually dolphins. They are called killer whales often because they sometimes hunt whales for food. It is found in all the world's oceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctic regions to warm, tropical seas. Some killer whale populations feed mostly on fish while others hunt sharks, marine... less ↑

The Melon-headed Whale (Peponocephala electra; other names are many-toothed blackfish and electra dolphin) is a cetacean of the oceanic dolphin family (Delphinidae). It is closely related to the Pygmy Killer Whale and Pilot Whale, and collectively these dolphin species are known by the common name blackfish. The Melon-headed Whale is widespread throughout the world's tropical waters, although not often seen by humans on account of its preference for deep water. less ↑

The sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, is a marine mammal species, order Cetacea, a toothed whale (odontocete) having the largest brain of any animal. The name comes from the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in the animal's head. The sperm whale is the only living member of genus Physeter. The synonym Physeter catodon refers to the same species. It is one of three extant species in the sperm whale superfamily, along with the pygmy sperm whale and... less ↑

The Hispaniolan Hutia (Plagiodontia aedium) is one of several hutia (also called zagouti, and jutía in Spanish) species to have inhabited at some time the island of Hispaniola (island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic). The P. aedium is the only scientifically confirmed extant species of the Plagiodontia genus; other species are either extinct or being debatedly catalogued as P. aedium subspecies. The name Plagiodontia means "oblique tooth" in Greek. less ↑

The False Killer Whale (Pseudorca crassidens) is a cetacean and one of the larger members of the oceanic dolphin family (Delphinidae). It lives in temperate and tropical waters throughout the world. As its name implies, the False Killer Whale shares characteristics with the more widely known Orca ("killer whale"). The two species look somewhat similar and, like the orca, the False Killer Whale attacks and kills other cetaceans. However, the two dolphin species are not closely... less ↑

Parnell's Mustached Bat, Pteronotus parnellii is an insectivorous bat native to North, Central and South America. This bat species ranges from southern Sonora, Mexico south to Brazil. Historically, it had a wider range as fossil specimens have been collected on the island of New Providence, Bahamas. It's a large bat with a forearm length of about 60 millimeters. The ears are short and pointed, and they have no noseleafs, but the lips are wrinkled up and... less ↑

The Hispaniolan Solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus), also known as the Haitian Solenodon or Agouta, is a solenodon only found on the island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and was unknown to science until 1833, when it was first described by Brandt. There was also another species present on the island, S. marcanoi, which became extinct after the initial colonization period. All solenodon species belong to the order Soricomorpha and the family Solenodontidae. less ↑

The Pantropical Spotted Dolphin (Stenella attenuata) is a species of dolphin found in all the world's temperate and tropical oceans. The species was beginning to come under threat due to the killing of millions of individuals in tuna purse seines. The 1980s saw the rise of "dolphin-friendly" tuna capture methods in order to save millions of the species in the eastern Pacific Ocean. less ↑

The West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus) is a manatee, and the largest surviving member of the aquatic mammal order Sirenia (which also includes the Dugong and the extinct Steller's Sea Cow).The West Indian Manatee, Trichechus manatus, is a species distinct from the Amazonian Manatee, T. inunguis, and the West African Manatee, T. senegalensis. Based on genetic and morphological studies, the West Indian Manatee is divided into two sub-species, the Florida Manatee (T. m. latirostris) and the... less ↑

Tursiops truncatus, commonly known as the Common Bottlenose Dolphin, is the most well-known species from the family Delphinidae. It is the most familiar dolphin due to the wide exposure it receives in captivity in marine parks, dolphinarias, in movies, and television programs (e.g. Flipper) . T. truncatus is the largest species of the beaked dolphins . It inhabits temperate and tropical oceans throughout the world, and is absent only from polar waters . The bottlenose dolphin... less ↑

Cuvier's Beaked Whale, Ziphius cavirostris is the most widely distributed of all the beaked whales. It is the only member of the genus Ziphius. Another common name for the species is Goose-beaked Whale on account of the fact that its head is said to be shaped like the beak of a goose. In fact, sightings of this creature were interpreted, during the Middle Ages, as a monster with a fish's body and an owl's head. This... less ↑