A revised systematic checklist of the extant mammals of the southern African subregion

The current paper presents a revised, annotated, systematic checklist of 351 extant mammal species, in 190 genera, currently known to occur in southern Africa (south of the Zambezi and Cunene Rivers) and its coastal waters. The checklist includes each species’ scientific and English common name, details concerning original description, occurrence or possible occurrence in each of the seven countries falling within the Subregion, and, where relevant, the IUCN global Category of Threat. Taxonomic notes, together with the relevant literature, are provided to justify the proposed classification adopted at each hierarchical level. The new classification we present is founded on the philosophy of phylogenetic systematics, and represents not only a summary of new information, but also tremendous advances in the methods and philosophy of mammalian systematics during the past two decades.