Mammals at Gateway National Recreation Area

A list mammals found within the boundary of Gateway National Recreation Area.

This list is a work in progress. We will continue to update over time.

White-tailed Deer

The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru. It has also been introduced to New Zealand and some countries in Europe, such as Finland, Czech Republic, and Serbia. In the Americas, ...more ↓

Domestic Dog

The domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is a subspecies of the gray wolf (Canis lupus), a member of the Canidae family of the mammalian order Carnivora. The term "domestic dog" is generally used for both domesticated and feral varieties. The dog was the first domesticated animal and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and pet animal in human history. The ...more ↓

Red Fox

The red fox, Vulpes vulpes, is the largest of the true foxes and the most abundant wild member of the Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, North America and Eurasia. It is listed as least concern by the IUCN. Its range has increased alongside human expansion, having been introduced to Australia, where it is ...more ↓

Wildcat

The wildcat (Felis silvestris) is a small cat found throughout most of Africa, Europe, and southwest and central Asia into India, China, and Mongolia. Because of its wide range it is classed by the IUCN as Least Concern. However, crossbreeding with housecats is extensive and has occurred throughout almost the entirety of the species' range, potentially threatening the genetic ...more ↓

Atlantic Gray Seal

The grey seal (Halichoerus grypus, meaning "hooked-nosed sea pig") is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a large seal of the family Phocidae or "true seals". It is the only species classified in the genus Halichoerus. Its name is spelled gray seal in the US; it is also known as Atlantic grey seal and the horsehead ...more ↓

Phoca groenlandica

The harp seal or saddleback seal is a species of earless seal native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and parts of the Arctic Ocean. It now belongs to the monotypic genus Pagophilus. Its scientific name, Pagophilus groenlandicus, means "ice-lover from Greenland", and its synonym, Phoca groenlandica means "Greenland seal". Originally in the genus ...more ↓

Phoca hispida

The ringed seal (Pusa hispida), also known as the jar seal and as netsik or nattiq by the Inuit, is an earless seal (family: Phocidae) inhabiting the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. The ringed seal is a relatively small seal, rarely greater than 1.5 m in length, with a distinctive patterning of dark spots surrounded by light grey rings, whence ...more ↓

Harbor Seal

The harbor (or harbour) seal (Phoca vitulina), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed of pinniped (walruses, eared seals, and true seals), they are found in coastal waters of the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Baltic and North ...more ↓

Raccoon

The raccoon (i/ræˈkuːn/, Procyon lotor), sometimes spelled racoon, also known as the common raccoon,North American raccoon,northern raccoon and colloquially as coon, is a medium-sized mammal native to North America. The raccoon is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of 40 to 70 cm (16 to 28 in) and a body weight of ...more ↓

Minke Whale

The common minke whale or northern minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) is a species of minke whale within the suborder of baleen whales. It is the smallest member of the rorquals and the second smallest species of baleen whale. Although first ignored by whalers due to its small size and low oil yield, it began to be exploited by various countries beginning in the ...more ↓

Sei Whale

The sei whale (/ˈseɪ/ or /ˈsaɪ/), Balaenoptera borealis, is a baleen whale, the third-largest rorqual after the blue whale and the fin whale. It inhabits most oceans and adjoining seas, and prefers deep offshore waters. It avoids polar and tropical waters and semi-enclosed bodies of water. The sei whale migrates annually from cool and subpolar waters in summer to winter in ...more ↓

Fin Whale

The fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), also called the finback whale, razorback, or common rorqual, is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales. It is the second longest animal in the world and second largest rorqual after the blue whale, growing to 27.3 metres (89.5 ft) long and weighing nearly 74 tonnes (73 long tons; 82 short tons). The ...more ↓

Humpback Whale

The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a species of 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. An acrobatic animal known for breaching and slapping the water with ...more ↓

Globicephala melaena

The long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas) is a large species of oceanic dolphin. It shares the genus Globicephala with the short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus). Long-finned pilot whales are known as such because of their unusually long pectoral fins.

Common Bottlenose Dolphin

Tursiops truncatus, commonly known as the common bottlenose dolphin or the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (and in older literature simply as the bottlenose dolphin, a term now applied to the genus), is the most well-known species from the family Delphinidae.

Harbor Porpoise

The harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) is one of six species of porpoise. It is one of the smallest marine mammals. As its name implies, it stays close to coastal areas or river estuaries, and as such, is the most familiar porpoise to whale watchers. This porpoise often ventures up rivers, and has been seen hundreds of miles from the sea. The harbour porpoise may be polytypic, ...more ↓

Physeter catodon

The sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), or cachalot, is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of genus Physeter, and one of three extant species in the sperm whale family, along with the pygmy sperm whale and dwarf sperm whale of the genus Kogia.

Silver-haired Bat

The silver-haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans) is a species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae and the only member of the genus Lasionycteris.

Eastern Red Bat

The eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis) is a species of bat from the family Vespertilionidae. See also the desert red bat (Lasiurus blossevillii), a related species.

Hoary Bat

The hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus) is a species of bat in the vesper bat family, Vespertilionidae. It occurs throughout most of North America and much of South America, with disjunct populations in the Galápagos Islands. The Hawaiian hoary bat (ssp. semotus), an endangered subspecies, is endemic to Hawaii.

Little Brown Bat

The little brown bat (sometimes called little brown myotis) (Myotis lucifugus) is a species of the genus Myotis (mouse-eared bats), one of the most common bats of North America. The little brown bat has been a model organism for studying bats.

Northern Short-tailed Shrew

The northern short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda) is the largest shrew in the genus Blarina, and occurs in the northeastern region of North America. It is a semifossorial, highly active and voracious insectivore present in a variety of habitats. It is one of the few venomous mammals. The specific epithet, brevicauda, is a combination of the Latin brevis ...more ↓

Masked Shrew

The cinereus shrew or masked shrew (Sorex cinereus) is a small shrew found in Alaska, Canada and the northern United States. This is the most widely distributed shrew in North America, where it is also known as the common shrew.

Edited by Mark Christiano, Simon Kingston, and Jolene, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)