Expert range maps of global mammal distributions harmonised to three taxonomic authorities
Charles J. Marsh, Yanina V. Sica, Connor Burgin, Wendy A. Dorman, Robert C. Anderson, Isabel del Toro Mijares, Jessica G. Vigneron, Vijay Barve, Victoria L. Dombrowik, Michelle Duong, Robert Guralnick, Julie A. Hart, J. Krish Maypole, Kira McCall, Ajay Ranipeta, Anna Schuerkmann, Michael A. Torselli, Thomas E. Lacher, Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands, Wes Sechrest, Don E. Wilson, Agustín M. Abba, Luis F. Aguirre, Joaquín Arroyo‐Cabrales, Diego Astúa, Andrew Baker, Gill Braulik, Janet K. Braun, Jorge Brito, Peter E. Busher, Santiago F. Burneo, M. Alejandra Camacho, Paolo Cavallini, Elisandra de Almeida Chiquito, Joseph A. Cook, Tamás Cserkész, Gábor Csorba, Erika Cuéllar Soto, Valéria da Cunha Tavares, Tim R. B. Davenport, Thomas A. Deméré, Christiane Denys, Chris R. Dickman, Mark D. B. Eldridge, Eduardo Fernández‐Duque, Charles M. Francis, Greta J. Frankham, William L. Franklin, Thales Renato Ochotorena de Freitas, J. Anthony Friend, Elizabeth L. Gadsby, Guilherme Siniciato Terra Garbino, Philippe Gaubert, Norberto P. Giannini, Thomas C. Giarla, Jason Gilchrist, Jaime Gongora, Steven M. Goodman, Sharon Gursky, Klaus Hackländer, Mark S. Hafner, Melissa T. R. Hawkins, Kristofer M. Helgen, Steven Heritage, Arlo Hinckley, Stefan Hintsche, Mary Ellen Holden, Kay E. Holekamp, Rodney L. Honeycutt, Brent A. Huffman, Tatyana Humle, Rainer Hutterer, Carlos Ibáñez, Stephen Jackson, Jan E. Janečka, Mary J. Janecka, Paula Jenkins, Rimvydas Juškaitis, Javier Juste, Roland Kays, C. William Kilpatrick, Tigga Kingston, John L. Koprowski, Boris Kryštufek, Tyrone H. Lavery, Thomas E. Lee, Yuri Luiz Reis Leite, Roberto Leonan Morim Novaes, Burton K. Lim, A.A. Lissovsky, Raquel López‐Antoñanzas, Adrià López‐Baucells, Colin D. MacLeod, Fiona Maisels, Michael A. Mares, Helene Marsh, Stefano Mattioli, Erik Meijaard, Ara Monadjem
Abstract
Abstract Aim Comprehensive, global information on species' occurrences is an essential biodiversity variable and central to a range of applications in ecology, evolution, biogeography and conservation. Expert range maps often represent a species' only available distributional information and play an increasing role in conservation assessments and macroecology. We provide global range maps for the native ranges of all extant mammal species harmonised to the taxonomy of the Mammal Diversity Database (MDD) mobilised from two sources, the Handbook of the Mammals of the World (HMW) and the Illustrated Checklist of the Mammals of the World (CMW). Location Global. Taxon All extant mammal species. Methods Range maps were digitally interpreted, georeferenced, error‐checked and subsequently taxonomically aligned between the HMW (6253 species), the CMW (6431 species) and the MDD taxonomies (6362 species). Results Range maps can be evaluated and visualised in an online map browser at Map of Life ( mol.org ) and accessed for individual or batch download for non‐commercial use. Main conclusion Expert maps of species' global distributions are limited in their spatial detail and temporal specificity, but form a useful basis for broad‐scale characterizations and model‐based integration with other data. We provide georeferenced range maps for the native ranges of all extant mammal species as shapefiles, with species‐level metadata and source information packaged together in geodatabase format. Across the three taxonomic sources our maps entail, there are 1784 taxonomic name differences compared to the maps currently available on the IUCN Red List website. The expert maps provided here are harmonised to the MDD taxonomic authority and linked to a community of online tools that will enable transparent future updates and version control.