Collection Of Mammals Research Articles

First record of the shrew Cryptotis lacandonensis (Eulipotyphla: Soricidae) for Guatemala

A field expedition in 1995 around the community of Bethel, in the shore of the Usumacinta River, Guatemala, produced the collecting of one fluid specimen of shrew that remained unidentified as a voucher at the mammal collection at San Carlos University in Guatemala City. Our target was to identify this specimen and make the morphological comparison with a series of species of shrews of northern Central America. We extracted, cleaned the skull, and conducted a morphological comparison of the Bethel specimen with five species (20 specimens) of shrews from Guatemala and Honduras, besides the comparison with the description of C. lacandonensis Guevara, Leon and Woodman 2014, from Chiapas, Mexico. We also took 13 skull measurements and conducted a morphometric analysis. Morphology of the Bethel specimen fit well with the description of C. lacandonensis , especially U4 upper teeth aligned with unicuspid toothrow, with a presence of a medium gap between U3-P4 that makes U4 visible in labial and lateral view. Principal component and linear discriminant analysis also showed that Bethel specimen grouped well with C. lacandonensis . Bethel shrew specimen can be identified as C. lacandonensis, the second known locality for the species and the first record for Guatemala. The community of Bethel, in Guatemala, is located only 18 km south of the type locality at Yaxchilan archeological site, Chiapas, Mexico. This is a poorly known species, which merits more research.

First record of the White-winged Vampire bat, Diaemus youngii (Jentink, 1893) (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) for the state of Goiás, Brazil, with a revised distribution map

Diaemus youngii (Jentink, 1893) is a widespread species occurring from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. Along its distribution, however, this bat is rare to uncommon. Here, we report its record for the state of Goiás, central-western Brazil, based on a specimen found in the mammal collection of the Instituto Nacional da Mata Atlântica, former Museu de Biologia Professor Mello Leitão. Diaemus youngii is known from 129 unique localities, with 81 (over 62%) in Brazil, followed by Peru (7), Bolivia (6) and Venezuela (6). It is absent in the west of the Andes, southern Argentina, Uruguay, and Caribbean islands, except for Trinidad.

Alexander Sergeyevich Lisetskiy – to the 100th anniversary of the birth

Biographical information and brief information on the scientific activities of Alexander Sergeyevich Lisetskiy (1919–1991), one of the leading zoologists at Kharkov University, are provided. The study of student A.S.Lisetskiy at the Faculty of Biology of Kharkov University was interrupted by the years of the World War II, which he passed in tank division. Only in 1948 he graduated from the Department of Vertebrate Zoology and then worked here until the end of his life. Alexander Sergeevich Lisetskiy was the author of scientific works on ornithology, theriology and nature conservation; created an outstanding collection of Lepidoptera; he is the author of significant scientific collections of birds and mammals, which are preserved in the University’s Museum of Nature. The entire scientific legacy of the scientist is considered together with the details of his scientific biography, the history of research, inseparable from the history of the Department of Vertebrate Zoology. Over 45 years of work at Kharkov University, A.S.Lisetskiy took part in all the expeditions of the department under the direction of I.B.Volchanetsky in the framework of the research topics of the department. In 1948–50 he took part in the study of the fauna of Lake Elton. In 1950–52, at the experimental reclamation station of the Institute of Hydrotechnics and Land Reclamation of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, he participated in the study of the effect of irrigation and field-protective breeding on the fauna. Together with the expedition, under the guidance of Professor I.B.Volchanetsky, he studied birds of deciduous forests of northeastern Ukraine – as a source of enrichment of the created protective forest belts with useful fauna. In 1965 he defended his thesis on mammals of artificial irrigation fields (supervised by professor I.B.Volchanetsky). In 1960–80 A.S.Lisetskiy did a lot to study the fauna of the Kharkov region – for the first time published a fundamental summary of the avifauna of the Izyum forests; studied the avifauna of Kharkov, participated in the creation of the first project of the national park "Gomolshansky." Alexander Sergeyevich did a lot as a popularizer of science – he lectured at the People's University "Nature", published interesting popular articles in periodicals. A.S.Lisetskiy left a noticeable mark on the scientific fate of many students of the Department of Zoology of Kharkov University, transferring the skills of a real field researcher – conscientious, hardworking, infinitely in love with his job.

Mammal collections of the Western Hemisphere: a survey and directory of collections.

As a periodic assessment of the mammal collection resource, the Systematic Collections Committee (SCC) of the American Society of Mammalogists undertakes decadal surveys of the collections held in the Western Hemisphere. The SCC surveyed 429 collections and compiled a directory of 395 active collections containing 5,275,155 catalogued specimens. Over the past decade, 43 collections have been lost or transferred and 38 new or unsurveyed collections were added. Growth in number of total specimens, expansion of genomic resource collections, and substantial gains in digitization and web accessibility were documented, as well as slight shifts in proportional representation of taxonomic groups owing to increasingly balanced geographic representation of collections relative to previous surveys. While we find the overall health of Western Hemisphere collections to be adequate in some areas, gaps in spatial and temporal coverage and clear threats to long-term growth and vitality of these resources have also been identified. Major expansion of the collective mammal collection resource along with a recommitment to appropriate levels of funding will be required to meet the challenges ahead for mammalogists and other users, and to ensure samples are broad and varied enough that unanticipated future needs can be powerfully addressed.

The noncervical lateral transverse foramina.

The lateral vertebral foramen (LVF) is an osseous feature found in thoracic and lumbar vertebrae of some artiodactyls and perissodactyls. To learn more about the distribution and characteristics of the LVF, we examined museum specimens from the Smithsonian mammal collection and teaching specimens from the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. We identified five anatomically different types of LVF and noted their occurrence in 60 species. The LVF varies from a deep lateral groove at the cranial intervertebral notch, to as many as three distinct foramina located bilaterally in the caudal half of each vertebra. A nomenclature was developed to describe these five distinctly different LVF forms. The interspecific distribution of the LVF varies from examples such as the gazelle Gazella spekei, where the LVF occurs only in the thoracic region, to others such as the Siberian musk deer Moschus berezovski, where the LVF is predominant only in the lumbar region. Others, such as the Bos (cows), have large LVF along most of both the thoracic and lumbar regions of the vertebral column. Some did not have any form of LVF, such as the Giraffidae (giraffes) and Cetacea (whales). No LVF were found in 15 species representing nine families of the outgroup Carnivora, thus the LVF appears to be a characteristic specific to the artiodactyls and perissodactyls.

Biological field stations and scientific knowledge: the case of mammals in forests of the Chiapas highlands, México

The San Jose Biological Station (SJBE) is the first temperate station in the Chiapas Highlands dedicated to preserve the last wildlife refuges in the area. Comprehensive studies in biological stations are a top priority to generate scientific knowledge, as well as to manage, maintain and conserve both the species and the ecological systems to which they belong. Field sampling was carried out in 2007, 2010, 2015, and 2016 at SJBE. Rodents were captured with Sherman traps; shrews, with Pitfall traps; and bats, with mist nets. Medium-sized and large mammals were recorded by direct observation. The species recorded were listed by their common name in Spanish and Tzotzil. In addition, a bibliographic search was conducted and the databases of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and the Mammal Collection at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur were used. The conservation status of each species was identified based on the red list of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Mexican Official Norm 059 (NOM-059) by SEMARNAT. The list of mammals recorded at SJBE includes 23 species in 8 orders and 13 families. Of the total number of species, two are endemic to Chiapas, Peromyscus zarhynchus and Cryptotis griseoventris. In the IUCN, Cryptotis griseoventris is listed as endangered (with few records for 62 years), and Peromyscus zarhynchus as vulnerable. In NOM-059, Reithrodontomys microdon is listed as threatened and P. zarhynchus as subject to special protection. Oak-pine forests at SJBE are essential for the maintenance of biodiversity in the region, offer resources and preserve the local native fauna. The creation of spaces for research on the biota is a key tool to understand the impacts and threats that currently affect forests in the Chiapas Highlands.

Seeing is Believing, A Fourteen-Year Study on Efficacy and Economics of Visual Inspections to Protect A Large Mammal Collection from Insect Pests

Abstract In response to the cessation of use of in-case fumigants, from 1995–2009 the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History's Division of Mammals (DOM) applied a consistent voluntary visual inspection protocol over a period of 14 years. On average, per-case inspections required about 7 minutes. Inspections categorized case pest activity as clean, soiled, signs of life, and live insects. These categories compartmentalized levels of uncertainty about pest activity and directly led to remedial treatment and cleaning actions performed at a case level. Evidence of recurrent reinfestation led to case renovation or replacement. In order for an integrated pest management (IPM) method to be successful, it has to demonstrate a predatory efficacy better than the replacement and recruitment rates of the pests. With at most 1.5% of staff time devoted to IPM, case infestations of Thylodrias contractus (Motschulsky 1839) Coleoptera: Dermestidae and Necrobia rufipes (De Geer 1775) Coleoptera: Cleridae were lowered to near zero within 3 years. Rebound toward initial rates occurred after a forced 3-year hiatus in inspections and was similarly dealt with by a following round of inspections. The hourly investment of time is comparable with that of previous case repellant or fumigation regimes, but without the aggregated loss of access to collections during enclosure and out-gassing of fumigant, thus allowing longer and safer access to collections over a year, and instilling greater knowledge of specimen condition across the collection regardless of current research focus. The study also includes an economic comparison to historical methods of case level pest suppression with fumigants against two other comparably large collections documented within the last half century.

Recording of relict ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) and South American coati (Nasua nasua) populations in the biodiversity hotspot Pernambuco Endemism Center, Northern Atlantic Forest, Brazil

Abstract The northern portion of the Atlantic Forest, namely Pernambuco Endemism Center (PEC), faces an extreme level of forest loss, with only 2% of its original forest remaining. In the PEC, mesocarnivores are the only remaining carnivores and, among them, the ocelot and South American coati present a poorly known or even ignored distribution. Our goal is to provide an overview of the current distribution and conservation status of both species in the PEC through camera trap survey, review of published scientific literature and a search for voucher specimens in mammal collections. Our data confirm the presence of the ocelot and the South America coati in the PEC. The ocelots were mainly recorded in fragments smaller than 12 km2, suggesting they might access the monoculture matrix and anthropogenic areas. The few recent records of coatis suggest a worse scenario, predicting an imminent local extinction. The PEC has witnessed a historical continued deforestation, which has reduced the remaining fragments and contributed to the accentuated decline of both species populations. Nevertheless, these Atlantic Forest remnants are paramount to supporting relict populations of mesocarnivores in the PEC, and their maintenance and connectivity should be a conservation priority.

The Importance of Museum Biomaterial Resources and Specimen Records for the Advancement of Zoological Research in Southern Africa

The Durban Natural Science Museum (DNSM) Mammal Department was established in 1989. The Mammal Department is one of three zoological divisions and is the youngest and the most active collection within the institution. It is considered as one the fastest growing mammal collections in southern Africa and is comprised of 17,200 specimens belonging to ca. 450 species. The collection’s primary focus is small mammals and small mammal research. The collection has amassed five holotypes and 31 paratypes – all of which represent Afrotropical small mammalian taxa described within the past decade. The department generates about 12 – 15 loans per annum, most of which represent biomaterial transfers (following international guidelines and standards). Our collection material and specimen records support approximately 10 peer-reviewed publications on average per annum. The specimen material is accessed by local and international researchers and contributes towards various projects ranging from comparative morphological studies, taxonomic and systematic investigations, DNA-sequence based studies and stable isotope analyses; to mention but a few. The departmental database has recently been migrated from Microsoft Access to Specify 7 software. This upgrade has greatly assisted curatorial and technical staff in managing access to collection material and specimen information, as it has streamlined the amount of administration work associated with such tasks. Staff at the DNSM continue to strive to find innovative technologies and techniques to enable our collection material to be more accessible to a wider audience and to become an internationally-recognized authority on Afrotropical small mammalian biodiversity.

Revitalization of the University of Iowa's Bird Egg Collection after 100 Years of Dormancy

The University of Iowa Museum of Natural History's egg collection spans many avian orders, 6 continents, and over 160 years. However, this collection of approximately 17,000 egg specimens has remained disorganized and underutilized for most of its history. Only in 2017 did the museum begin taking significant steps toward organizing the eggs, cataloging them, and making them and their data available for researchers. Like many museum egg collections, ours is composed mostly of donated private collections originally collected, purchased, or traded between 1870 and 1910, and with variable amounts of data associated with individual specimens. Since the time the eggs were collected, most of them have been separated from the cards on which collectors stored their data. Much of the current project revolves around reuniting eggs and data cards. We have scanned over 2,000 egg cards, crowdsourced transcriptions of the handwriting, verified the accuracy of each transcription, and added the scans and transcriptions to our database for easy access by museum staff and volunteers. We are using the egg cards, any data written on the eggs, and many books and websites to match eggs with egg cards and integrate the data into our database. The eggs are then placed in new cabinets and relabelled with newly generated database information. Each egg set will be photographed and georeferenced if possible, using the GEOLocate web application. At the end of this project, these specimen records will be integrated into biodiversity repositories such as GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility), Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio), and VertNet, so they can be downloaded and used by researchers globally, as our bird, mammal and insect collections already are. Most of the work is carried out by a team of volunteers and interns, usually undergraduate students, without whom this project would not be possible at its current pace.

Health level of a mammal collection

The specimens deposited in a scientific collection are the physical evidence of living, as well as extinct, life forms. The physical state and the accuracy of the data and of the specimens stored in a collection may be assessed by the health level of the collection, which is represented by the collection profile and a health index. This paper presents a practical method for assessing a mammal collection health level. This method was designed and standardized following previous works and includes 8 levels. The method was applied to the Coleccion Nacional de Mamiferos (CNMA), housed at the Instituto de Biologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, in 2011 and in 2015. The cataloged specimens were selected by a stratified random sampling in 2011 and a simple random sampling in 2015. Specimens that had not been cataloged were also assessed and selected by a stratified sampling in both years. A total of 336 specimens were evaluated in 2011 and 331 in 2015. The health index in the CNMA was 0.70 in 2015.

A Review of Road-killed Felids in Mexico

Six species of felids are distributed across Mexico and all are affected to a greater or lesser extent by the national highway network (377,660 km in length), but the magnitude of its impact on these species is unknown. Part of the issue is the scarce information available spread across the scientific literature, mammal collections records, environmental consultancies, and the local press. This work compiled the information available on road-killed felids in Mexico and organizes it systematically to identify potential data trends. We conducted a systematic search for records of verified felid roadkill events across Mexico reported in the scientific literature, mammal collections, online news and emails addressed to mammal -- particularly wild cat -- management/conservation specialists. First, felid roadkill records were entered and classified according to origin, i.e. source of information, and then classified according to the state where the event occurred. This information was used to explore the potential correlation between felid roadkill frequency and road density per state. Roadkill events were reported for all felid species, with a total of 115 records in 25 states: Herpailurus yagouaroundi, 21; Leopardus pardalis, 20; L. wiedii, 11; Lynx rufus, 50; Puma concolor, 5; and Panthera onca, 8. Most of the information came from mammal collections (40 records), followed by personal communications (25), and publications in local media (19), citizen science websites (10), peer-reviewed journals (9), non-governmental organizations (7), and government agencies (5). We found a significant correlation between road density and number of roadkill events recorded per state. Road density alone is insufficient to explain some geographic bias in felid roadkill data, which might instead be related to the appeal of a species, and to being recorded by people (scientists or otherwise) interested in this issue in a particular location. Acknowledging road mortality as an issue for felids in our country might contribute to identify and apply methods to improve data collection (citizen science) to develop preventive measures in our highways (wildlife crossing structures), particularly in wildlife high-risk areas.

New records and estimation of the potential distribution of the stump-tailed porcupine Coendou rufescens

The stump-tailed porcupine (Coendou rufescens) is a medium-sized species that inhabits subtropical, temperate and High-Andean forests of the northern Andes, at 800 to 3,650 m asl. This species is characterized by a short non-prehensile tail and a distinctive reddish color. Here, we report new localities for Coendou rufescens in Ecuador based on direct field sightings and the revision of mammal collections. In addition, we conducted a review of literature records of C. rufescens throughout its distribution range. A total of 52 georeferenced records were modeled for the potential distribution at the regional level (Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru) based on 19 bioclimatic variables. Finally, we overlaid the layers of vegetation remnants and state protected areas. We report 10 new localities for Coendou rufescens in Ecuador; these records are concentrated to southern Ecuador between 1,120 to 4,387 masl. Fifty two records found that the bioclimatic variables Temperature Seasonality (BIO4) and Minimum Temperature of the Coldest Month (BIO6) associated with the type of habitat made the greatest significant contribution to the distribution model of C. rufescens. The suitable habitat for the species spans across ~ 448,820 km2, with 50.4 % in Colombia. These findings indicate that the locality Camino del Inca in Sangay National Park, at 4,387 m asl, is considered the highest-elevation record for C. rufescens and the family Erethizontidae. Colombia and Peru include the highest proportion of potential habitat across its range (40.2 % and 32.7 %) based on remnant vegetation; however, Ecuador maintains the largest proportion of the porcupine distribution within protected areas (35.5%), with a larger extent of landscape connectivity, essential for the conservation of C. rufescens.

Involving Collection Staff in the DINA Software Development – An Agile Approach

In order to ensure long-term commitment to the DINA project (“DIgital information system for NAtural history data”, https://dina-project.net), it is essential to continuously deliver features of high value to the user community. This is also what agile software development methods try to achieve by emphasizing early delivery, rapid response to changes and close collaboration with users (see for example the Manifesto for Agile Software Development at http://agilemanifesto.org). We will give a brief overview on how current development of the DINA collection management system core is guided by agile principles. The mammal collection at the Swedish Museum of Natural History will be used as an example. Developing a cross-disciplinary collection management system is a complex task that poses many challenges: Which features should we focus on? What kinds of data should the system ultimately support? How can the system be flexible but still easy to use? Since we cannot do everything at once, we work towards a minimum viable product (MVP) that contains just enough features at a time to bring value for selected target users. In the mammal collection case, the MVP is the simplest product that is able to replace the functions of the current system used for managing the collection. As we begin to work with other collections, new MVPs are defined and used to guide further development. Thus, the set of features available will increase with each MVP, benefiting both new and current users. Another big challenge is migration of legacy data, which is labor intensive and involves standardizing data that are not compatible with the new system. To address these issues, we aim to build a flexible data model that allows less structured data to coexist with more complex, highly structured data. Migration should thus not require extensive data standardization, transformation and cleaning. The plan is to instead offer tools for transforming and cleaning the data after they have been imported. With the data in place, it will be easier for the user to provide feedback and suggest new features.

An accounting approach to calculate the financial value of a natural history collection of mammals in Ecuador

ABSTRACTBiologists and economists collaborated to estimate the monetary value of the Mammal collection of the Museo de Zoología at PUCE in Quito. We analyzed the direct and indirect costs associated with collecting, preparing, and transporting mammal specimens during four 20-day trips. We determined that the average cost per specimen was $74.70. However, because the number of specimens caught in an expedition can vary, 36 expeditions varying in length between 2003 and 2016 were used, and each expedition was assigned a total cost based on the number of work days, at the baseline total cost per day obtained. The final valuation resulted in a per acquisition cost of $72.86. The total acquisition cost of the current collection is more than one million dollars. This result is a powerful argument to encourage support for research and conservation of zoological specimens.

The bats of Rio Grande do Norte state, northeastern Brazil

Abstract Rio Grande do Norte is one of the smallest states in Brazil but has a rich diversity of ecosystems, including Caatinga vegetation, remnants of Atlantic Forest, coastal habitats, mangroves and large karstic areas with caves. However, its chiropteran fauna is little known, and the state contains conspicuous gaps of information on the occurrence and distribution of bats in Brazil. In order to reduce this information gap, based on a review of scientific literature and regional mammal collections, we list 42 species of bats, including new occurrences for 13 species and discussion on their conservation status. Results show that more than half (54%) of the recorded species are phyllostomid bats, and about one third of the bats in the state roosts in underground cavities. The Caatinga harbored the highest bat richness in the state, including the occurrence of four vulnerable species (Furipterus horrens, Lonchorhina aurita, Natalus macrourus and Xeronycteris vieirai). The Atlantic Forest needs to be more sampled, including mangroves, coastal habitats and areas of Caatinga in the central region of the state (Borborema highlands), which are virtually unsurveyed. Although the recent increase of studies on bats in the state, future studies should complement conventional mistnetting with active roost search and bioacoustical records in order to obtain better data for unraveling the bat fauna of Rio Grande do Norte.

New collection locality of Cryptotis tropicalis (Merriam, 1895) (Eulipotyphla: Soricidae) in the south lowlands of Guatemala, Central America

In January 2013, we carried out a mammal inventory in the south lowlands of Guatemala (elevation below 500 m), in the south slope of the Tecuamburro Volcano, in Taxisco, Santa Rosa. The area is immersed in Subtropical Very Wet Forest (Castañeda 2008). We captured a male adult shrew in a pitfall container located within a riparian forest, following the river bank locally known as El Pajal, at 410 msnm (14,119N, -90,505W). The specimen was collected, and prepared as dried skin and skull following the protocols of The Animal Care and Use Committee (Gannon et al. 2007). As a collaboration agreement, it was housed as voucher in the Mammals Collection of El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Mexico

Incidental records of mammals from Leguízamo, Putumayo, Amazon region at the southern border of Colombia

Between February and September of 2015, we visited different sites along the Leguízamo jurisdiction, as part of an ornithological survey and education project (Acevedo-Charry et al. unpublished data). During fieldwork, some mammals were recorded, not systematically, through direct observation, tracks and incidental captures in mist-nets, which served as evidence and were used for taxonomic confirmation. Specimens collected were deposited in the “Alberto Cadena García” mammal collection of the Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá (Appendix 1 in Supporting Information). In addition, some species were recognized from informal interviews with local people and were included as potentially present but acknowledging the need for further confirmation. Our aim is to present these incidental mammal records as a contribution and support of the ongoing research in the Amazon region of Colombia.

Rediscovery of the type series of the Acadian Masked Shrew,Sorex acadicus(Mammalia: Soricidae), with the designation of a neotype and a reevaluation of its taxonomic status

Abstract The name Sorex acadicus Gilpin, 1865 is currently recognized as the valid name for the Nova Scotian subspecies of the masked shrew, S. cinereus Kerr, 1792 (Mammalia: Soricidae), but a holotype for the taxon was never designated, and the location of the type series has been a mystery. The authority for this species, John Bernard Gilpin, was associated with the Nova Scotia Museum, Halifax, NS, but that institution has no Gilpin specimens in its possession, and I could find no record of Gilpin shrews in any other Canadian Museum. I recently discovered a series of Gilpin specimens in the Mammal Collection of the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC (USNM), some of which may have been part of the original type series of S. acadicus, and I show that these specimens best represent Gilpin's concept of the taxon. From this series, I designate a neotype for S. acadicus. I also evaluate the distinctiveness of Nova Scotian S. c. acadicus compared with S. c. cinereus from Maine, New Brunswick, a...

A review of vertebrate body fossils from the Korean Peninsula and perspectives

For the first time, a comprehensive review was presented for all Korean vertebrate body fossils reported during last 100 years. At present, Korean vertebrate faunas are characterized by no fossil report in the Paleozoic, various Cretaceous terrestrial vertebrates, and the Late Eocene to Middle Miocene mammals. Except for the old collection of land mammals of North Korea, most fossils have been found and published during the last three decades in South Korea. They are commonly incomplete and fragmentary. Articulated skeletons are rare except for fish fossils. Cretaceous vertebrate faunas include six freshwater fish orders (including Jinjuichthys cheongi), two families of turtles, an anguimorph lizard (Asprosaurus bibongriensis), a crocodyliform (“Hadongsuchus acerdentis”), an anurognathid pterosaur, various theropod remains including three kinds of birds, titanosauriform remains, a basal ornithopod (Koreanosaurus boseongensis), and a basal neoceratopsian (Koreaceratops hwaseongensis). Among them, pterosaur and bird specimens from the Sinuiju Series of North Korea have not been described in detail yet, but their fossil assemblages are very similar to those of Jehol Biota of northeastern China. A possibility of the faunal connection is discussed between two regions. Unfortunately, no additional mammal fossil has been reported from North Korea since two important land mammal localities were discovered in the late Eocene and early Miocene strata before 1943. However, new rodent and cetacean fossils were found in both terrestrial and marine Miocene strata in South Korea. Most of the valid vertebrate taxa appear to be endemic in Korea, but some clades show faunal affinities with Mongolia, China, and Japan. However, detailed faunal comparisons have not been performed among these countries. Vertebrate paleontological data of the Korean Peninsula have been rapidly accumulated and become crucial to understand evolutionary dynamics of vertebrates in East Asia. Vertebrate paleontological studies need to focus more on the Paleozoic strata for primitive fishes and early tetrapods, and Cenozoic terrestrial strata for land mammals in Korea. Further work throughout the geologic column will only improve our understanding of the evolution of life in East Asia.