The table below lists every order of mammals, along with the continents and ecozones each order is native to. The continents, from left to right, are South America (SA), North America (NA), Eurasia (EA), Africa (AF) and Australia (AU). The ecozones are Neotropic (NT), Nearctic (NA), Palearctic (PA), Afrotropic (AT), Indo-Malayan (IM) and Australasian (AA). (The table is sortable; click on any abbreviation in the top row to sort that column - though you may have to click it twice for it to display properly.)
This symbol - (<) - indicates a marginal presence in a particular continent or ecozone. A question mark (?) indicates uncertainty. For example, I assume pangolins range north into the southern fringes of the Palearctic ecozone, but I’m not certain, so I labeled it ?.
For distribution by ocean, see the Marine Mammals Distribution table below. You can also see a similar list focusing on mammal families.
| Order | SA | NA | EA | AF | AU | NT | NA | PA | AT | IM | AA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Continents) | (Ecozones) | ||||||||||
| Afrosoricida (golden moles and tenrecs) | AF | AT | |||||||||
| Artiodactyla (even-toed hoofed mammals) | SA | NA | EA | AF | NT | NA | PA | AT | IM | AA | |
| Carnivora (carnivores)*1 | SA | NA | EA | AF | *1 | NT | NA | PA | AT | IM | *1 |
| Cetacea (whales)*2 | SA | NA | EA | AF | AU | NT | NA | PA | AT | IM | AA |
| Chiroptera (bats) | SA | NA | EA | AF | AU | NT | NA | PA | AT | IM | AA |
| Cingulata (armadillos) | SA | NA | NT | NA | |||||||
| Dasyuromorphia (carnivorous Australian marsupials) | AU | AA | |||||||||
| Dermoptera (colugos, or flying lemurs) | EA | IM | |||||||||
| Didelphimorphia (American marsupials) | SA | NA | NT | NA | |||||||
| Diprotodontia (kangaroos, wombats, koala, etc.) | AU | AA | |||||||||
| Erinaceomorpha (hedgehogs) | EA | AF | PA | AT | |||||||
| Hyracoidea (hyraxes)*3 | AF*3 | AT | |||||||||
| Lagomporpha (rabbits, hares & pikas) | SA | NA | EA | AF | NT | NA | PA | AT | IM | ||
| Macroscelidea (elephant shrews) | AF | AT | |||||||||
| Microbiotheria (monito del monte) | SA | NT | |||||||||
| Monotremata (echindas and platypus) | AU | AA | |||||||||
| Notoryctemorphia (marsupial "moles") | AU | AA | |||||||||
| Paucituberculata (shrew opossums) | SA | NT | |||||||||
| Peramelemorphia (bandicoots and bilbies) | AU | AA | |||||||||
| Perissodactyla (odd-toed hoofed mammals) | SA | NA | EA | AF | NT | PA | AT | IM | |||
| Pholidota (pangolins)*4 | EA | AF | *4 | AT | IM | ||||||
| Pilosa (anteaters and sloths)*5 | SA | NA | NT | *5 | |||||||
| Primates (humans, monkeys, etc.)*6 | SA | NA | EA | AF | NT | PA | AT | IM | |||
| Proboscidea (elephants)*4 | EA | AF | *4 | AT | IM | ||||||
| Rodentia (rodents) | SA | NA | EA | AF | AU | NT | NA | PA | AT | IM | AA |
| Scandentia (treeshrews) | EA | IM | |||||||||
| Sirenia (manatees and dugongs)*7 | SA | NA | AF | AU | NT | NA | AT | IM | AA | ||
| Soricomorpha (shrews, moles and relatives) | SA | NA | EA | AF | NT | NA | PA | AT | IM | AA | |
| Tubulidentanta (aardvark)*4 | AF | *4 | AT | ||||||||
| *1 The dingo (Carnivora) was introduced into Australia by humans thousands of years ago. Some people consider it a native species because it has lived there for so long and has reverted to a wild species. *2 A number of cetaceans (Cetacea) live along coast lines and enter freshwater. However, the only truly freshwater species are river dolphins native to South America and Asia (both Palearctic and Indo-Malayan ecozones). *3 Hyraxes (Hyracoidea) range into the Middle East (Arabian Peninsula). *4 African elephants (Proboscidea), pangolins (Pholidota) and the aardvark (Tubulidentata) are widespread in tropical Africa (the Afrotropic ecozone). They may range into the southern fringes of the Palearctic ecozone (the Sahara Desert), though I’m not certain. *5 The order Pilosa includes the now extinct giant ground sloths, which ranged north into the Nearctic ecozone. *6 Primates distribution doesn’t include humans (Home sapiens), which live on every continent, including scientific stations in Antarctica. *7 Steller’s sea cow (Sirenia) lived in the Bering Sea (North Pacific) when it was exterminated by Russian explorers. It earlier ranged along the western coast of North America, where it was perhaps wiped out by Native Americans. |
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Marine Mammals Distribution
This table lists the distribution of cetaceans (whales), sirenians (dugong and manatees) and pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) by ocean (Arctic, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Southern). Note that pinnipeds were once placed in the order Pinnipedia but are now classified in the order Carnivora.
The polar bear, sea otter and marine otter are also considered marine mammals. The polar bear’s distribution is primarily the Arctic Ocean and the northernmost Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The otters occur along the western coasts of North America and South America, respectively.
Mammals native to remote oceanic islands are pretty much limited to marine mammals and bats. However, other orders occur on larger, less remote islands, including Greenland, Madagascar, New Guinea and the islands of the Caribbean.
| Order | Arc | Pac | Atl | Ind | Sou |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cetacea | Arc | Pac | Atl | Ind | Sou |
| Sirenia | Pac1 | Atl | Ind | ||
| Pinnipeds (seals, sea lions and walrus - now placed in order Carnivora) |
Arc | Pac | Atl | Ind2 | Sou | *1Steller’s sea cow (Sirenia) lived in the Bering Sea (North Pacific) when it was exterminated by Russian explorers. It earlier ranged along the western coast of North America, where it was perhaps wiped out by Native Americans. *2 Pinnipeds only occur in the southern reaches of the Indian Ocean. |
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - 
