If the U.S. government ever expelled me from this country, I would choose to live in Costa Rica. It’s a beautiful tropical paradise. The cost of living is very cheap and reportedly delicious fresh produce is available year-round. 28% of Costa Rica is protected wilderness, and I can imagine living in a home next to a nature reserve. Costa Rica is situated between North and South America, and accordingly it’s 1 of the most ecologically diverse regions in the world with more species of mammals than most other countries, despite its small size. I’ve written about Costa Rican mammal diversity before, but I came across an article updating the list of mammal species that occur there. Over the past 10 years, 22 new species of mammals have been discovered living in Costa Rica bringing the total number of mammal species known to occur in the country to an astonishing 271. By contrast the U.S. is 74 times bigger than Costa Rica but has less than twice as many species.
11 species of possum are known to live in Costa Rica.
Whales are now classified with the even-toed ungulates due to genetic evidence.
The Tacaruna bat was recently rediscovered to be living in Costa Rica after not being seen for 31 years.
6 species of cats, including the oncilla or northern tiger cat are known to occur in Costa Rica. All populations of these species are decreasing in abundance.
Dozens of species of rodents live in Costa Rica.
6 species of raccoons and their relatives live in Costa Rica.
The authors of the below referenced paper reviewed all of the scientific literature published over the past 10 years to update the list of species living in Costa Rica. They added 22 species to the list. 10 are bats and 8 are rodents. Some species were known formerly to have lived in Costa Rica but hadn’t been seen in decades. A colony of thumbless bats (Feripterus horrens) was rediscovered living in a tourist cabin after not beeing seen for 44 years. I couldn’t even find a photo of this species on the internet. The Tacaruna bat (Lasiurius castaneus) was rediscovered after a 31 yar absence. Costa Rica is home to 12 species of possums, 3 species of anteaters, 2 species of sloths, 2 species of armadillos, 4 species of monkeys, 6 species of cats, 6 species in the raccoon family and dozens of species of rodents and bats. Populations of all 6 species of cats are decreasing. Populations of 103 species of mammals here are stable, while 18 species are decreasing. 84 species are of unknown status. 3 species are increasing, including coyotes, sea lions, and spinner dolphins.
I learned about an interesting taxonomic controversy when reading the paper referenced below. Genetic evidence suggests whales should be classified with artiodactyls (hooved animals). Whales were formerly classified as cetaceans but apparently the genetic differences between whales, hippos, pigs, deer, etc. is not as great as assumed based on anatomical characteristics. (Of course, not all scientists agree with this reclassification.) Now, scientists can’t decide what name should be given to the combined whale and hooved animal classification. They’ve come up with all sorts of ridiculous names, but they’ve decided to call this order cetartiodactyl.
Reference:
Mora, J.; and L. Ruedas
“Updated List of the Mammals of Costa Rica, with notes on Recent Taxonomic Changes
Zootaxa 5357 (4) October 2023
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