|
Introduced
and Extinct Mammals of Britain
Over
the Past 15,000 Years
Name |
Species |
Date* |
Reason |
Introduced |
?Dog |
Canis
'familiaris' |
9000 Bef |
Companionship |
Sheep |
Ovis 'aries' |
5400 Bef |
Food |
Goat |
Capra 'hircus' |
5400 Bef |
Food |
?Ox |
Bos 'taurus' |
5400 Bef |
Food |
?Pig |
Sus scrofa |
5400 Bef |
Food |
Orkney vole |
Microtus
arvalis |
5400 Bef |
Accident |
Horse |
Equus
'caballus' |
4000 Bef |
Transport |
?Harvest mouse |
Micromys minutus |
4000 Bef? |
Accident |
Scilly shrew |
Crocidura suaveolens |
4000
Bef? |
Accident |
House mouse |
Mus domesticus |
3500 Bef |
Accident |
Cat |
Felis 'catus' |
2500 Bef |
Pest control/pet |
?Brown hare |
Lepus europaeus |
2500 Bef? |
Food or cult |
Black rat |
Rattus rattus |
200 AD |
Accident |
Fallow
deer |
Dama
dama |
1100
AD |
Food |
Rabbit |
Oryctolagus
cuniculus |
1150 AD |
Food |
Brown
rat |
Rattus norvegicus |
1728
AD |
Accident |
Sika |
Cervus
nippon |
1860
AD |
Amenity |
Grey
squirrel |
Sciurus
carolinensis |
1876
AD |
Amenity |
Edible
dormouse |
Glis glis |
1902
AD |
Amenity |
Chinese
muntjac |
Muntiacus reevesi |
1922 AD |
Amenity |
Muskrat |
Ondatra
zibethica |
1927
AD |
Fur |
Red-necked
wallaby |
Macropus rufogriseus |
1940 AD |
Amenity |
Coypu |
Myocastor
coypus |
1944
AD |
Fur |
Chinese
water deer |
Hydropotes
inermis |
1945 AD |
Amenity |
American
mink |
Mustela
vison |
1958
AD |
Fur |
Extinct |
Mammoth |
Mammuthus
primigenius |
12,500 Bef |
Climate |
Saiga
antelope |
Saiga
tatarica |
12,400 Bef |
Climate |
Arctic
fox |
Alopex
lagopus |
12,400 Bef |
Climate |
Lemming |
Lemmus
lemmus |
10,500 Bef |
Climate |
Arctic
lemming |
Dicrostonyx
torquatus |
10,500 Bef |
Climate |
Narrow-headed
vole |
Microtus
gregalis |
10,500 Bef |
Climate |
Pika |
Ochotona
pusilla |
10,000 Bef |
Climate |
Wild
horse |
Equus
ferus |
9330 Bef |
Climate |
Giant
elk |
Megaloceros
giganteus |
9225 Bef |
Climate |
Reindeer |
Rangifer
tarandus |
8300 Bef |
Climate |
Wolverine |
Gulo
gulo |
8000 Bef |
Hunting |
Northern
vole |
Microtus
oeconomus |
3500 Bef |
Climate |
Elk |
Alces
alces |
3400 Bef |
Hunting |
Aurochs |
Bos
primigenius |
3250 Bef |
Hunting |
Lynx |
Lynx
lynx |
200
AD |
Hunting |
Brown
bear |
Ursus
arctos |
500
AD |
Hunting |
Beaver |
Castor
fiber |
1300
AD |
Hunting |
Wild
boar |
Sus
scrofa |
1500
AD |
Hunting |
Wolf |
Canis
lupus |
1700
AD |
Hunting |
 |
Notes
*Bef = before 2008. AD dates are the time of escape or establishment
rather than dates of importation.
Sources
Gillespie, R. G. and D. A. Clague, eds. Encyclopedia
of Islands. Berkeley, etc.: University of California Press,
2009. |
|
|