Flora and Fauna of Mannahatta
The flora and fauna list of native plants and vertebrate animals possibly found on Mannahatta in September 1609 is based on analysis of historical records, species lists and habitat relationships. Notes on methods and sources can be found in Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City (Abrams 2009).
Species are organized by family and by likelihood that the species might have been found either on the island or within one-thousand meters of the shore. Click on the scientific name to learn more about the ecology of the species.
Key to Likelihood: **** = likely; *** = probable; ** = possible; ° = remotely possible
| Family Name |  |
Common Name | |
Scientific Name | |
Likelihood |
| Balaenidae | Northern Right Whale | Eubalaena glacialis | ** | |||
| Balaenopteridae | Minke Whale | Balaenoptera acutorostrata | ** | |||
| Finback Whale | Balaenoptera physalus | ** | ||||
| Humpback Whale | Megaptera novaeangliae | ** | ||||
| Sei Whale | Balaenoptera borealis | ° | ||||
| Blue Whale | Balaenoptera musculus | ° | ||||
| Bovidae | Bison | Bison bison | ° | |||
| Canidae | Gray Wolf | Canis lupus | **** | |||
| Dog | Canis lupus familiaris | **** | ||||
| Gray Fox | Urocyon cinereoargenteus | **** | ||||
| Red Fox | Vulpes vulpes | ** | ||||
| Coyote | Canis latrans | ° | ||||
| Castoridae | Beaver | Castor canadensis | **** | |||
| Cervidae | White-tailed Deer | Odocoileus virginianus | **** | |||
| Elk | Cervus elaphus | *** | ||||
| Moose | Alces alces | ** | ||||
| Delphinidae | Short-beaked Common Dolphin | Delphinus delphis | *** | |||
| Long-finned Pilot Whale | Globicephala melas | *** | ||||
| Bottlenose Dolphin | Tursiops truncatus | *** | ||||
| Atlantic white-sided dolphin | Lagenorhynchus acutus | ** | ||||
| Striped Dolphin | Stenella coeruleoalba | ** | ||||
| Risso’s Dolphin | Grampus griseus | ° | ||||
| White-beaked Dolphin | Lagenorhynchus albirostris | ° | ||||
| Killer Whale | Orcinus orca | ° | ||||
| Pantropical Spotted Dolphin | Stenella attenuata | ° | ||||
| Didelphidae | Virginia Opossum | Didelphis virginiana | ° | |||
| Erethizontidae | Porcupine | Erethizon dorsatum | ** | |||
| Felidae | Bobcat | Lynx rufus | **** | |||
| Mountain Lion | Puma concolor | **** | ||||
| Canada Lynx | Lynx canadensis | ° | ||||
| Hominidae | Human | Homo sapiens | **** | |||
| Leporidae | Eastern Cottontail | Sylvilagus floridanus | **** | |||
| New England Cottontail | Sylvilagus transitionalis | *** | ||||
| Snowshoe Hare | Lepus americanus | ** | ||||
| Mephitidae | Striped Skunk | Mephitis mephitis | **** | |||
| Monodontidae | Beluga | Delphinapterus leucas | ° | |||
| Muridae | Meadow Vole | Microtus pennsylvanicus | **** | |||
| Muskrat | Ondatra zibethicus | **** | ||||
| White-footed Mouse | Peromyscus leucopus | **** | ||||
| Deer Mouse | Peromyscus maniculatus | **** | ||||
| Pine Vole | Microtus pinetorum | *** | ||||
| Southern Red-backed Vole | Myodes gapperi | *** | ||||
| Woodland Jumping Mouse | Napaeozapus insignis | *** | ||||
| Meadow Jumping Mouse | Zapus hudsonius | *** | ||||
| Allegheny Woodrat | Neotoma magister | ** | ||||
| Southern Bog Lemming | Synaptomys cooperi | ** | ||||
| Mustelidae | North American River Otter | Lontra canadensis | **** | |||
| Mink | Neovison vison | **** | ||||
| Fisher | Martes pennanti | *** | ||||
| Long-tailed Weasel | Mustela frenata | *** | ||||
| Wolverine | Gulo gulo | ** | ||||
| Short-tailed Weasal (Ermine) | Mustela erminea | ** | ||||
| Least weasel | Mustela nivalis | ** | ||||
| American Marten | Martes americana | ° | ||||
| Phocidae | Harbor Seal | Phoca vitulina | **** | |||
| Hooded Seal | Cystophora cristata | *** | ||||
| Harp Seal | Pagophilus groenlandicus | ** | ||||
| Gray Seal | Halichoerus grypus | ° | ||||
| Ringed Seal | Phoca hispida | ° | ||||
| Phocoenidae | Harbor Porpoise | Phocoena phocoena | **** | |||
| Physeteridae | Sperm Whale | Physeter catodon | *** | |||
| Pygmy Sperm Whale | Kogia breviceps | ** | ||||
| Procyonidae | Raccoon | Procyon lotor | **** | |||
| Sciuridae | Southern Flying Squirrel | Glaucomys volans | **** | |||
| Eastern Gray Squirrel | Sciurus carolinensis | **** | ||||
| Eastern Chipmunk | Tamias striatus | **** | ||||
| Woodchuck | Marmota monax | *** | ||||
| Red Squirrel | Tamiasciurus hudsonicus | *** | ||||
| Fox Squirrel | Sciurus niger | ** | ||||
| Northern Flying Squirrel | Glaucomys sabrinus | ° | ||||
| Soricidae | Northern Short-tailed Shrew | Blarina brevicauda | **** | |||
| Masked Shrew | Sorex cinereus | **** | ||||
| Least Shrew | Cryptotis parva | *** | ||||
| Smoky Shrew | Sorex fumeus | *** | ||||
| Talpidae | Eastern Mole | Scalopus aquaticus | **** | |||
| Star-nosed Mole | Condylura cristata | *** | ||||
| Brewer’s Mole | Parascalops breweri | *** | ||||
| Trichechidae | Florida Manatee | Trichechus manatus | ° | |||
| Ursidae | American Black Bear | Ursus americanus | **** | |||
| Vespertilionidae | Big Brown Bat | Eptesicus fuscus | **** | |||
| Silver-haired Bat | Lasionycteris noctivagans | **** | ||||
| Red Bat | Lasiurus borealis | **** | ||||
| Hoary Bat | Lasiurus cinereus | **** | ||||
| Little Brown Bat | Myotis lucifugus | *** | ||||
| Northern Long-eared Bat | Myotis septentrionalis | *** | ||||
| Eastern Pipistrelle | Pipistrellus subflavus | *** | ||||
| Eastern Small-footed Myotis | Myotis leibii | ** | ||||
| Indiana Bat | Myotis sodalis | ** | ||||
| Ziphiidae | Dense-beaked Whale | Mesoplodon densirostris | ** | |||
| Gervais’s Beaked Whale | Mesoplodon europaeus | ** | ||||
| True’s Beaked Whale | Mesoplodon mirus | ** | ||||
| Cuvier’s Beaked Whale | Ziphius cavirostris | ** | ||||