Mammalian Classification—A Comparison

The publication of mammalian classification by McKenna and Bell (1997), although controversial, may well become the starting point for future changes. This, however, has not yet occurred, and thus the main classification given on these pages is the more traditional one necessary to understand most of the literature and follows "Walker's Mammals of the World" (6th ed., R. M. Nowak, 1999) and, at the generic level, Wilson and Reeder (1993). For reference, the following tables relate this classification to pertinent portions of the McKenna and Bell classification.

All extant orders are represented. Below the ordinal level, only taxa occurring in the greater Southwest or of particular interest in making a biological point are included. A regional checklist for the El Paso area is available. Dr. Frey's "Taxonomy and Distribution of the Mammals of New Mexico: An Annotated Checklist" includes virtually all mammals found in the northernmost Chihuahuan Desert with the exception of some in the Big Bend region; for these, see The Mammals of Texas, Online Edition or the 6th edition of The Mammals of Texas (D. J. Schmidly, 2004, University of Texas Press, Austin).

"////////////////" in a space indicates there is no comparable taxon generally recognized with the same content. "ditto" in the McKenna and Bell column indicates that they recognize the same taxon (and at the same taxonomic level) as the Traditional.

Latest Update: 20 Jun 2002