As of June this year, China has a total of 686 species of mammals (that is, mammals) in 12 orders, 59 families, 254 genera, accounting for about 10% of the total number of mammals in the world.
How many species of mammals are there in China?
Recently, the List of Beasts in China (2021 Edition) (hereinafter referred to as the "List") has been compiled. The Zoological Branch of the Zoological Society of China organized domestic researchers who have long been committed to mammal classification to complete this study.
Academician Wei Fuwen of the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is the core organizer of the compilation of the Directory. He said that on the occasion of the fifteenth conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (cbd cop15), the results of the List have helped researchers around the world to understand China's rich mammal diversity.
Do giant pandas belong to the "giant panda family" or the "bear family"?
"Red Panda" is now divided into 2 species
The List, which began in 2016, covers known mammal species distributed in all territories and territorial waters of China. This includes both previous research and recent scientific discoveries.
Because the giant panda has "cat" in its name, many people associate it with felines. But years of research have shown that pandas and cats are not very closely related. So how to classify giant pandas? Do giant pandas belong to the "giant panda family" or the "bear family"? With the deepening of research in recent years, the classification conclusion of "giant pandas belong to the bear family" has been widely recognized by the international academic community, and this "list" adopts this classification method to classify giant pandas into the bear family.
Previous studies have found that the red pandas distributed around the Himalayas have obvious morphological differences with the red pandas in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces of China, which has led scientists to divide the red pandas into two subspecies, "Himalaya" and "Chinese", or tend to promote both subspecies to species. In 2020, wei Fuwen's team's research results supported the "species" view: that is, dividing red pandas into two species: himalayan red pandas and Chinese red pandas. The results of this study provide a scientific basis for the scientific protection of two wild red panda species, the establishment of accurate captive lineages and the avoidance of interspecific hybridization. At the same time, this classification conclusion has also been adopted by the List.
The List contains reintroduced species
Rhinos are not included because they have become extinct
In the process of species inclusion, Chinese researchers have also gradually formed scientific screening criteria. The List includes species that have been reintroduced into the country and have formed wild populations in the wild. Elk has a special meaning for Chinese. This population originally lived in the swampy areas of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and completely disappeared from China in the early 20th century. In 1985, China began international cooperation to reintroduce elk, implementing artificial breeding, free range rearing and wild release programs in Nanhaizi, Beijing, Dafeng, Jiangsu, Shishou, Hubei and Poyang Lake, Jiangxi. At present, the elk population covers almost completely the original habitat. As a result, elk are also included in the List.
According to records, during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties two or three thousand years ago, rhinos were distributed in China. However, due to climate and ecological changes, rapid population growth and other factors, rhinos disappeared in China in the mid-20th century. The List does not include species such as rhinoceros, which have been identified in Chinese history but have now been declared extinct. In addition, for those species that have specimens but are determined not to be distributed in China, disputed species and alien species, the List has not yet been included.
In sorting the species, the List is cataloged according to the "phylogenetic tree" constructed by the latest phylogenetic relationships of various groups of mammals. Order and family are arranged in alphabetical order, starting from the root of the "phylogenetic tree"; genus and species are sorted by Latin scientific name letters.
The elevation of more subspecies to species requires sufficient evidence
In China, there are 28 kinds of "relatives" in humans.
According to the research results of the "List", Chinese mammals are divided into 12 orders, including proboscis, manatee, climbing shrew, primate, rabbit, rodent, Lauya insectivore, pterodactyl, whale-winged, odd-hoofed, lepidoptera and carnivorous. China has the fewest species of proboscis, manatee and climbing shrews, with only one species: the Asian elephant, dugong and northern tree shrew. Rodents are the most distributed in China, reaching 235 species. We humans belong to the primate order, which has 4 families, 9 genera and 29 species.
For the classification of species in the List, the editors of the List emphasize compliance with the internationally accepted animal naming regulations. Species need to be supported by evidence such as specimens, entities, photographs and literature, and also combine morphological and molecular evidence. If there is only molecular evidence, the original classification status of the original classification is not considered. For example, Wei Fuwen said that the basis for supporting the promotion of subspecies of torsion-horned antelope, sika deer, red deer and pan sheep as species is mainly based on morphological basis. Therefore, the List is deliberate in not promoting subspecies of the above species to species.
With the accumulation of more and more fossils of ancient mammals and the rapid development of molecular systematics, the phylogenetic relationship between various groups of mammals is being re-evaluated. The original relationship between them has changed considerably at the order, family and species levels. The List also actively incorporates the latest achievements of these classification systems. For example, the "whale puppet hoof" formed by the merger of cetaceans and even-hoofed orders, people are familiar with Bactrian camels, wild boars, roe deer, sika deer, wild yaks, etc. are in this new category. The original order Zebra is now divided into "African Hedgehogs" and "Lauya Insectivores", and this time the "List" includes the newly divided "Lauya Insectivores". Among them, the genus of toothless moles can also be divided into island toothless mole, Taiwan toothless mole, South China toothless mole, large toothless mole and Diaoyu Island mole.
Endangered animal populations in China began to recover
The List provides a reference for biodiversity conservation
Today's mammals on Earth face threats such as habitat fragmentation, increased human activity, global climate change, and the frequent occurrence of major zoonotic outbreaks. According to the number of species, the rate of decline and geographical distribution, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) divides the endangeredness of species into "extinction (ex)", "extinction in the wild (ew)", "critically endangered (cr)", "endangered (en)", "vulnerable (vu)" and "near-threatened (nt)". If the rank is between "vulnerable" and "critically endangered", it means that the species is threatened.
In recent years, China has attached great importance to the protection of the ecological environment and biodiversity, and populations of endangered animals such as giant pandas, Siberian tigers and Tibetan antelopes have begun to recover. Among them, the wild population of giant pandas has reached more than 1860, and the threat level has been reduced from "endangered" to "vulnerable". The number of Tibetan antelopes has also increased from less than 70,000 at the end of the 20th century to about 300,000 at present, and the threat level has also been reduced from "endangered" to "near-threatened".
Mastering the diversity and taxonomic status of mammal species is the basis of phylogenetic research and the premise of scientific protection of wild populations. Wei Fuwen said that the "China Mammal List (2021 Edition)" provides the latest basic information for the conservation of mammal diversity in China; at the same time, in the process of revision of the "List", issues such as species taxonomy controversy, subspecies elevation to species, distribution area changes and other issues have been found, which have pointed out important directions for future mammal taxonomic research.
Ni Yiling
Endemic mammals of China (link)
Mammals, or mammals, play an important role in maintaining the ecological balance. Humans are also mammals, belonging to the mammalian-primate-human family-human genus.
China has a vast territory, complex terrain and diverse climate, and is one of the countries with the highest diversity of mammal species in the world, with a total of hundreds of endemic mammals, such as Anhui musk, black deer, small chamois, white-lipped deer, elk, Przewalski's gazelle, Taiwan iguana, white mulle, Yangtze River finless porpoise; Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkey, Yunnan golden snub-nosed monkey, Qianjin snub-nosed monkey, Hainan gibbon, Tibetan chief monkey and Taiwan macaque in the order of whales; giant pandas and desert cats in the carnivorous order; Yunnan rabbit, Hainan rabbit and Tarim rabbit in the rabbit order.
——Excerpt from the List of Mammals in China (2021 Edition) and Advances in the Classification and Phylogenetic Evolution of Mammals in China
Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition