Sri Lanka is home to 21 endemic mammals.[1] Number of terrestrial mammals that have been recorded from the country is 91.[2] Additionally there are 28 marine mammals in the oceans surrounding the island. Being an island Sri Lanka lacks land area to supports large animals. However fossil evidence of large archaic species of rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, and lions have been discovered. The flora and fauna of Sri Lanka is mostly understudied.[3] Therefore, the number of endemics could be underestimated. All three endemic genera Solisorex, Feroculus and Srilankamys, of Sri Lanka are monotypic.[4]
The endemic status of two Sri Lankan shrews has undergone changes as they have been reported in India recently. The Kelaart's long-clawed shrew (Feroculus feroculus) and the Sri Lanka highland shrew (Suncus montanus) were recorded from southern India. At the same time taxonomic revisions have indicated that the flame-striped jungle squirrel (Funambulus layardi), the red slender loris (Loris tardigradus) and two species of mouse deer, Moschiola meminna and M. kathygre are endemic to Sri Lanka. That leaves the number of endemic mammals in Sri Lanka at 16. Meanwhile, a group of researchers have described a new shrew species Crocidura hikmiya from the Sinharaja Forest Reserve in 2007.[5] The discovery leads to increase the ultimate number of endemics to 21 at present.
For Sri Lanka, small mammals are of special importance as they constitute a notable portion of the mammalian fauna of the country.[6] Of the 91 species of mammals. recorded in the country, 31 are rodents and shrews. Furthermore, they are also of significant importance in biological point of view, as they make up largely to the country's endemic faunal component. The endemic small mammals include six rodents and four shrews. Many of these endemic species are found in fragmented rainforests in southwestern Sri Lanka which are highly vulnerable to habitat destruction. As a result, many of these species have been categorised as threatened or endangered at national level.
Most endemic mammals are small nocturnal mammals that are seen rarely.[7]
| Name | Species authority | Red List | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family Lorisidae: lorises | |||
| Red slender loris | Loris tardigradus (Linnaeus, 1758) | [8] | |
| Family Cercopithecidae: Old World monkeys | |||
| Toque macaque | Macaca sinica (Linnaeus, 1771) | [9] | |
| Purple-faced langur | Trachypithecus vetulus (Erxleben, 1777) | [10] |
| Name | Species authority | Red List | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family Sciuridae: squirrels | |||
| Layard's palm squirrel | Funambulus layardi (Blyth, 1849) | [11] | |
| Dusky palm squirrel | Funambulus obscurus (Waterhouse, 1838) | [12] | |
| Family Muridae: Old World rats and mice | |||
| Mayor's mouse | Mus mayori (Thomas, 1915) | [13] | |
| Ceylon spiny mouse | Mus fernandoni (Phillips, 1932) | [14] | |
| Nillu rat | Rattus montanus Phillips, 1932 | [15] | |
| Ohiya rat | Srilankamys ohiensis (Phillips, 1929) | [16] | |
| Nolthenius's long-tailed climbing mouse | Vandeleuria nolthenii Phillips, 1929 | [17] |
| Name | Species authority | Red List | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family Soricidae: shrews | |||
| Sri Lankan long-tailed shrew | Crocidura miya Phillips, 1929 | [18] | |
| Sinharaja shrew | Crocidura hikmiya Meegaskumbura, Meegaskumbura, Manamendra-Arachchi, Pethiyagoda, & Schneider, 2007 | [19] | |
| Pearson's long-clawed shrew | Solisorex pearsoni Thomas, 1924 | [20] | |
| Jungle shrew | Suncus zeylanicus Phillips, 1928 | [21] | |
| Sri Lankan shrew | Suncus fellowesgordoni Phillips, 1932 | [22] |
| Name | Species authority | Red List | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family Viverridae: civets | |||
| Golden palm civet | Paradoxurus zeylonensis (Pallas, 1778) | [23] | |
| Golden wet zone palm civet | Paradoxurus aureus Cuvier, 1822 | [24] | |
| Golden dry zone palm civet | Paradoxurus stenocephalus groves et al., 2009 | [25] | |
| Sri Lanka brown palm civet | Paradoxurus montanus Kelaart, 1852 | [26] |
| Name | Species authority | Red List | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family Tragulidae: chevrotains | |||
| Sri Lankan spotted chevrotain | Moschiola meminna Erxleben, 1777 | [27] | |
| Yellow-striped chevrotain | Moschiola kathygre Groves & Meijaard, 2005 | [28] |