Mammals
Birds
Amphibians
Reptiles
Small mammals comprise over 3,200 species of rodents, eulipotyphlans and treeshrews.
From the giant flying squirrels of Asia to the subterranean mole rats of Africa, small mammals are found almost everywhere on earth and in almost every ecosystem. Many are ecosystem engineers, scatter-hoarders, scavengers, habitat-creators, bioturbators, predators and, not forgetting, prey. However, small mammals are hugely under-represented in terms of conservation research and attention.
The Small Mammal Specialist Group (SMSG) is one of many taxonomic specialist groups within the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission. Specialist groups usually comprise a small core team yet act as global coordinators for conducting Red List assessments for their species, whilst maintaining networks of voluntary experts around the world and building on conservation plans and research.
Photo: Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus) by Rocío Pozo
50%
world’s mammals are ‘small mammals’
400+
small mammal species are globally threatened
~500
considered ‘data deficient’
The SMSG serves as the global authority on the world’s 3,200 small mammals through developing a greater scientific understanding of their diversity, status and threats, and by promoting effective conservation action to secure their future.
Aligning with Gerald Durrell’s keen interest and drive to protect the elusive and lesser-known species, Durrell is a vital partner in the running of the SMSG. The SMSG was formed in 2011 and, since then, Durrell has supported some of the SMSG’s core team members, interns and students.
Durrell has long had links with small mammals. In the 1970s-1980s, Jersey Zoo was part of a breeding and reintroduction project for the Endangered Jamaican hutia (Geocapromys brownii), and today houses the Critically Endangered Malagasy giant jumping rat (Hypogeomys antimena). Gerald and Lee Durrell themselves even had the fortune of sharing a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with one of the rarest and most taxonomically unique small mammals: pictured is Gerry holding a Russian desman (Desmana moschata) in 1984 in Oka Reserve, Russia. Russian desmans are now Critically Endangered and are one of the SMSG’s focal species.
Our work
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Assessing conservation statuses
The SMSG is the Red List Authority for all 3,200+ small mammal species. This means the group oversees the assessment process for all rodents, eulipotyphlans (shrews, moles, solenodons and hedgehogs) and treeshrews, with help from species experts around the world. This includes both Red List and Green Status assessments; Durrell was one of the many driving forces behind the development of the Green Status of Species, and together with the SMSG, has pushed forward a number of small mammal assessments.
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Building capacity for conservation
The SMSG helps researchers and conservationists to develop proposals, refine methodology, source appropriate funding and implement action. Whenever possible, the group hosts students and interns. The group has also lead in-person conservation workshops for priority regions.
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Developing champions for small mammals
There are a number of key small mammal species – such as the Critically Endangered Santa Catarina’s Guinea Pig (Cavia intermedia) and Elvira Rat (Cremnomys elvira) – that are championed by proactive SMSG members who run surveys, host species action planning workshops or implement conservation and outreach on the ground.
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Promoting small mammals
The group and its members endeavour to raise the profile of small mammals at conferences, meetings and in the media. Many are not aware of the sheer number of these species that are already at the brink of extinction, nor the important niches they fill.
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Research
Many small mammal species are very poorly studied, known only from their initial discovery or from areas that have been little-surveyed, and many could be disappearing before we even realise. The team therefore collaborates with in-country partners on several conservation research projects (see Key Projects below) including the supervision of a PhD. The SMSG promotes and shares findings in peer-reviewed research papers.
Key projects
Malagasy giant jumping rat
The SMSG is working with Durrell as well as The Mad Dog Initiative to assess the threat of feral cats and dogs with camera trapping surveys. The SMSG recently reassessed the species as Critically Endangered on the Red List, and went on to produce a Green Status of Species assessment of Critically Depleted. Next, we aim to host an action planning workshop.
Caribbean mammals
Several SMSG projects are underway for threatened Caribbean small mammals. In a partnership funded by Zoo New England, the SMSG is working with local biologists to study the almiquí’s (Atopogale cubana) distribution, population, natural history, and threats in Cuba. In the Bahamas, thanks to funding from Indianapolis Zoo, local partners are undertaking Bahamian hutia (Geocapromys ingrahami) surveys to monitor population sizes, genetic health, and environmental conditions, which will inform a species action plan. Also, the SMSG is supporting the development of PhD work on the Jamaican hutia (Geocapromys brownii) which will use targeted ecological surveys and ancient DNA work, with Durrell serving as a CASE partner on the project.
Desmans
The Russian desman (Desmana moschata) and Iberian desman (Galemys pyrenaicus) - essentially aquatic moles - are the only two surviving desman species, though they remain highly threatened. The SMSG engages in work on both, firstly as part of a group that includes the IUCN Conservation Planning Specialist Group and IUCN-Med, developing a trans-national species action plan for the Iberian desman. Secondly, the SMSG leads a project on the Russian desman in Kazakhstan, with the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan, involving burrow surveys, interviews with local water users, and environmental DNA screening.
Sulawesi’s small mammals
With funding from an SSC Internal Grant and Re:wild, in 2023, the SMSG hosted a workshop in Indonesia to update the Red List assessments of, and identify priorities for, Sulawesi’s 76 native small mammal species. As a result, the group seed-funded a study by one of the workshop participants of a Data Deficient species, the Sulawesi water rat (Waiomys mamasae). Other outputs include the development of a field guide, scientific article, and various grant applications.
The SMSG is extremely grateful for the contributions of logistical support, funding, and advisory help from partners Re:wild, Zoological Society of London, and Texas A&M University.
For more information about the SMSG, visit their website.