Checklist of Mammals of Thunder Bay District
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Checklist of Mammals of Thunder Bay District Thunder Bay Field Naturalists Revised July 2018 Introduction The 2018 edition of the Checklist of the Mammals of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, represents a significant update since the last Thunder Bay Field Naturalists (TBFN) mammal checklist by Keith Denis in 1978. In particular, there have been changes in nomenclature due to taxonomic revisions at the species, genus and family levels. Five new species have also been confirmed in the district since 1978 (American Badger, Cougar, Gray Fox, Wolverine and Virginia Opossum), and there have been changes in the at-risk status of a number of species. The Atlas of the Mammals of Ontario (Dobbyn 1994), The Natural History of Canadian Mammals (Naughton 2012), and two volumes of Handbook of Canadian Mammals (van Zyll de Jong 1983, 1985) were used to update species’ status. Increased use of acoustic monitoring and several small mammal trapping projects in the district (e.g., McLaren et al. 2011) have improved our knowledge about the distribution of bats, rodents, and shrews. Fur harvest and aerial survey data were used to update status of furbearers and ungulates respectively. Notes on any significant changes to the taxonomy or nomenclature of each species, as well as their distribution and abundance within the Thunder Bay District are provided. The geographical area referred to as Thunder Bay District in this checklist is the official judicial District of Thunder Bay (Figure 1). It extends from the eastern border of Quetico Provincial Park north to the Albany River system, and east to White River and Michipicoten and Caribou islands in Lake Superior. Figure 1. Judicial District of Thunder Bay The main checklist includes 56 native or introduced species that are known to have occurred in the District. An appendix lists 6 additional species that have occurred in the District accidentally or for which the status is considered uncertain. Feral animals are not included in the checklist. This edition of the checklist follows the nomenclature used by the Natural Heritage Information Centre (NHIC) of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (OMNRF; accessed April 18, 2018). The primary common name is that used by NHIC, with additional common names from Baker et al. (2003) and Naughton (2012). The checklist also includes status under Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA) and Ontario’s Endangered Species Act (ESA), current as of April 15, 2018. The annotation for each species includes the species’ abundance (common, uncommon or rare; extra-limital; introduced; extirpated) and distribution (widespread, scattered, restricted) within the Thunder Bay District, as well as notes on habitat, ecology, and taxonomy where relevant. An updated bibliography of useful references and identification guides for the mammals of Thunder Bay District and adjacent areas is provided. Acknowledgements This checklist was prepared by Ted Armstrong, Neil Dawson, Robert Foster, and Allan Harris of the Thunder Bay Field Naturalists, with review from Natalie Asselin (Pukaskwa National Park), Christine Drake (Pukaskwa National Park), Darren Elder (OMNRF), Brian McLaren (Lakehead University), and Donald Sutherland (NHIC). The NHIC also provided Ontario Mammal Atlas records. We acknowledge the previous checklists of Keith Denis, which formed the foundation for this effort. Suggested citation: Thunder Bay Field Naturalists. 2018. Checklist of Mammals of Thunder Bay District. Revised July 2018. 15 pp. Literature Cited and Useful References Allin, A.E. 1942. Bats hibernating in the District of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Canadian Field- Naturalist 56:90-91 Allin, A.E. 1950. European Hare introduced into the District of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Canadian Field-Naturalist 64:122-123. Allin, A.E. 1955. Nutria, Myocastor coypus, in Thunder Bay District, Ontario. Canadian Field- Naturalist 69(1):25-26. Bradley, R.D., L.K. Ammerman, R.J. Baker, L.C. Bradley, J.A. Cook, R.C. Dowler, C. Jones, D.J. Schmidly, F.B. Stance, Jr., R.A. Van Den Bussche, and B. Würsig. 2014. Revised checklist of North American mammals north of Mexico, 2014. Occasional Papers, Museum of Texas Tech University (327):1-27. Banfield, A.W.F. 1974. The Mammals of Canada. University of Toronto Press. Toronto, ON. xxv + 438 pp. Beacon Environmental Limited and Wildlife 2000 Consulting. 2018. Draft Recovery Strategy for the Algonquin Wolf (Canis sp.) in Ontario. Ontario Recovery Strategy Series. Prepared for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Peterborough, Ontario. viiii + 62 pp. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). 2015. COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Eastern Wolf Canis sp. cf. lycaon in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. xii + 67 pp.(www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/default_e.cfm). Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario (COSSARO). 2016. Ontario Species at Risk Evaluation Report for Algonquin Wolf (Canis sp.), an evolutionarily significant and distinct hybrid with Canis lycaon, C. latrans, and C. lupus ancestry. Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario, Toronto, ON. 18 pp. Denis, K. 1959. Mammals of the Port Arthur & Geraldton Forest District, Thunder Bay District, Ontario. Newsletter of the Thunder Bay Field Naturalists. Thunder Bay, ON. Supplement No. 1. 11 p. Denis, K. 1978. Checklist of the Mammals of Thunder Bay District. Newsletter of the Thunder Bay Field Naturalists. Thunder Bay, ON. 32(4):60-63. de Vos, A. 1964. Range changes of mammals in the Great Lakes Region. American Midland Naturalist 71:210-231. Dobbyn, J. 1994. Atlas of the Mammals of Ontario. Federation of Ontario Naturalists, Don Mills. ON 120 pp. Drake, C. 2018. Ecologist, Pukaskwa National Park, Marathon, ON. personal communication. Dyke, T. Member, Thunder Bay Field Naturalists, Thunder Bay, ON. personal communication. Dykeman, D. 2018. The Landscape Used by Eight Bat Species in the Nipigon District, Ontario. Unpublished undergraduate thesis, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON. 60 pp. Dymond, J.R. 1928. Mammals of the Lake Nipigon Region. Transactions of the Royal Canadian Institute 16:239-250. Dymond, J.R. 1929. Some Little Brown Bats from Ontario. Canadian Field-Naturalist 43:137. Earle, R.D. and K.R. Kramm. 1982. Correlation between Fisher and Porcupine abundance in upper Michigan. American Midland Naturalist 107:244-249. Eder, T. Mammals of Ontario. 2002. Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton, AB. 215 pp. Elsasser, S.C. and G.H. Parker. 2008. Morphometric criteria for distinguishing species and age- cohorts of Ermine (Mustela erminea) and Long-tailed Weasel (M. frenata). Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 54:75-88. Elsey, C.A. 1950. Abundance of certain mammals of the Geraldton Forest District, Ontario. 64:159-163. Fenton. M.B. 1970. Population Studies of Myotis lucifugus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in Ontario Life Sci. Contr., R. Ont. Mus. No. 77. Foster, R., C. Robinson and B. Ratcliff. 2009. 2009 winter aerial surveys in the taa shi key win and use plan area. Submitted to: taa shi key win Land Use Plan (Mishkeegogamang FN and Eabametoong FN) Species at Risk Stewardship Fund (Project 36-08-EMFM2) Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. 33 pp. Foster, R. 2015. Grey Fox breeding confirmed near Thunder Bay!. Nature Northwest August 2015 69(3): 14. Thunder Bay Field Naturalists, Thunder Bay, ON. Available at http://www.tbfn.net/nature-northwest-newsletter. Frick, W.F., E.F. Baerwald, J.F. Pollock, R.M.R. Barclay, J.A. Szymanski, T.J. Weller, A.L. Russell, S.C. Loeb, R.A. Medellin, and L.P. McGuire. 2017. Fatalities at wind turbines may threaten population viability of a migratory bat. Biological Conservation. 209:172-177. Cuddy, D. and R. Norman. 1971. Annotated List of Mammals of Sibley Provincial Park in Ecological Report on Sibley Provincial Park. Ministry of Natural Resources, Thunder Bay, ON. Unpublished report. Government of Canada. 2019. Species at Risk Public Registry. Website: http://www.registrelep- sararegistry.gc.ca/species/schedules_e.cfm?id=1. [accessed April 2018]. Hamr, J., F. F. Mallory, and I. Filion. 2016. The history of Elk (Cervus canadensis) restoration in Ontario. Canadian Field-Naturalist 130:167-173. Hazard, E.B. 1982. The Mammals of Minnesota. University of Minnesota Press. 280 pp. Homyack, J.A., J.H. Vashon, C. Libby, E.L. Lindquist, S. Loch, D.F. McAlpine, K.L. Pilgrim and M.K. Schwartz. 2008. Canada Lynx-Bobcat (Lynx canadensis x L. rufus) hybrids at the southern periphery of lynx range in Maine, Minnesota and New Brunswick. American Midland Naturalist 159:504-508. Hope, A. G., N. Panter, J. A. Cook, S. L. Talbot, and D. Nagorsen. 2014. Multi-locus phylogeography and systematic revision of North American water shrews (genus: Sorex). Journal of Mammalogy 95:722–738. Hundertmark, K. 2016. Alces alces. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016. Website: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/56003281/0 [accessed April 2018]. Jannett, F. J., Jr., and R. J. Oehlenschlager. 1994. Range extension and first Minnesota records of the Smokey Shrew Sorex fumeus. American Midland Naturalist 131:364-365. Jones, J. K. Jr. and E. C. Birney. 1988. Handbook of Mammals of the North-central States. Univ. of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis MN. 346 pp. Koen, E.L., J. Bowman, J.L. Lalor, and P.J. Wilson. (2014. Continental-scale assessment of the hybrid zone between bobcat and Canada lynx. Biological Conservation 178 (2014) 107– 115. Krohn, W. B., K.D. Elowe, and R.B. Boone. 1995. Relations among Fishers, snow, and Martens: development and evaluation of two hypotheses. The Forestry Chronicle, 71:97-105. Krebs, C. J., R. Boonstra, S. Boutin, and A. R. Sinclair. 2001. What drives the 10-year cycle of Snowshoe Hares? BioScience 51:25-35 Kurta, A. 2017. Mammals of the Great Lakes Region, 3rd Ed. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. 416 pp. McLaren, B.E., E. Emslie, T. Honsberger, T. McCready, F.W.