Distribution, Natural History, and Parasites of Mammals of Cook County, Minnesota

• Main Author: Timm, Robert M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Bell Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota 2014
• Subjects: Coniferous forests; Conservation; Deciduous forests; Faunal similarity; Host–parasite relationships; Mammal communities; Parasite communities; Martes americana; martes; Lynx
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1808/13703

This is the publisher's version, which the author has permission to share on KU Scholarworks. Natural history, distributions, and parasites of mammals of Cook County, Minnesota, were studied from the summer of 1971 through the summer of 1973. The purposes of this research were twofold. First, to determine species composition and relative abundance of individual species present in the county today. These base-line data may be used to project both back in time and into the future to assess man s effects on the mammalian fauna of the area. Second, to develop a technique for analyzing similarities and differences between the parasite fauna of groups of hosts as a tool in systematic and ecological research. Data on the mammalian fauna of Cook County were obtained through field collecting, by examination of mammal specimens from the county in collections, from discussions with individuals familiar with the local mammalian fauna, and from the published literature. The present mammalian fauna of Cook County is composed of 48 species of verified occurrence. Eleven other species may be inhabitants of the county, but documentation of their occurrence there is lacking. Data presented for verified species includes localities of record, comments on abundance, refiroduction, habitats, taxonomy, parasites, and pertinent literature. Known distributions and pertinent iterature are presented for the eleven species or unverified occurrence. All mammalian species of verified occurrence have been reported from the state previously; however, the records of Sorex arcticus, Sorex palustris, Condylura cristata, Myotis keenii, Lasionycteris noctivagans, Lasiurus borealis, Microtus chrotorrhinus, Synaptomys cooperi, Napaeozapus insignis, Procuon lotor, Martes americana, Martes pennanti, and Lynx canadensis especially aid in our understanding of their distribution and natural history. Ectoparasites representing three widespread groups of parasitic arthropods (Anoplura, Siphonaptera, Acari) were found parasitizing 20 species of small ...