Year: 1996
Type: article
Abstract: Poorly documented distributions for most mammal species in southeast Alaska have long hampered studies of this highly diverse and insular fauna. New information based on 4280 specimens in the University of Alaska Museum and a review of other large collections is reported for 54 species of land mammals that occur or have recently occurred in Southeast Alaska. Based on the presence of endemic taxa or unique combinations of taxa, five subregions can be identified. Patterns of species richness and endemism are similar to other archipelagos. The origin of this fauna has been complex and includes species with Beringian and/or southern refugia affinities. Fossil mammals recovered from Prince of Wales Island and the large number of endemics suggest a coastal corridor along the continental shelf that allowed the movement of a number of mammals into southeast Alaska prior to the Fraser glacial advance.
Source: The Canadian Field-Naturalist
DOI: 10.5962/p.357533
Authors: Stephen O Macdonald, Joseph A. Cook
Institutions: Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Harvard University, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of British Columbia, University of Kansas, University of Puget Sound, University of California, Los Angeles, National Museum, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, University of California, Berkeley
Language: English
Subfield: Paleontology
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4391502452