Did you know the diversity of mammals in San Diego County is greater than any other county in the United States? It’s true—and now, thanks to a book authored and edited by staff at the San Diego Natural History Museum, along with several other authors and more than 40 contributors, amateur naturalists and professional biologists have a complete reference guide for San Diego fauna.

The San Diego County Mammal Atlas, published in late 2017, offers a complete list of mammals in San Diego County. More than a decade in the making, the 432-page, full-color book covers the biology of all 91 terrestrial species and 31 inshore marine visitors known to have occurred here since 1769. Species covered in the book range from the desert bighorn sheep to the abundant California ground squirrel to the immense blue whale found along our shorelines.

“San Diego County is a hotspot of biological diversity, species endangerment, and conservation planning,” said Scott Tremor, mammalogist at the San Diego Natural History Museum and lead author and organizer of the book. “But mammals have been somewhat underrepresented in San Diego’s innovative conservation plans, partly because of spotty information on the distribution, ecology, and conservation status of our local mammal species. The San Diego County Mammal Atlas is a highly collaborative effort to help fill these data gaps.”

The San Diego County Mammal Atlas is complementary to the San Diego County Bird Atlas (which was authored and edited by Curator of Birds and Mammals Dr. Philip Unitt in 2004), the Museum’s online projects, the San Diego County Plant Atlas and the Amphibian and Reptile Atlas of Peninsular California. Thanks to these scholarly works, San Diego County is now biologically one of the best-documented regions in the world.

The book is available for $49.95 at the Museum store and online, and proceeds support the Museum’s Department of Birds and Mammals.

Read more about the San Diego County Mammal Atlas here. 

Posted by Senior Director of Communications Rebecca Handelsman.