Wetland vertebrate wildlife

Wetland Vertebrate Wildlife
Thomas A. Eddy and David Edds
Wetland Environments

Wetlands are some of the most productive ecosystems in the world and are home to a rich variety of vertebrate animals. Vertebrates are members of the subphylum Vertebrata within the phylum Chordata, Kingdom Animalia, and include fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The group gets its name from the vertebral column, or backbone, that protects the spinal cord.

North American wetland vertebrates include representatives from five taxonomic classes: Actinopterygii, Amphibia, Reptilia, Aves, and Mammalia. Each of these classes is subdivided into orders. Some common orders of wetland vertebrates are provided here, along with representative examples.

CLASS ACTINOPTERYGII (OSTEICHTHYES) (ray-finned bony fishes)

Order Acipenseriformes (sturgeons & paddlefish)
Order Lepisosteiformes (gars)
Order Amiiformes (bowfin)
Order Hiodontiformes (mooneye, goldeye)
Order Anguilliformes (American eel)
Order Clupeiformes (herrings, shad)
Order Cypriniformes (carps, minnows, suckers)
Order Siluriformes (catfishes)
Order Esociformes (pikes)
Order Salmoniformes (trouts & salmons)
Order Gadiformes (burbot, cods)
Order Atheriniformes (silversides)
Order Cyprinodontiformes (pupfishes, topminnows, mosquitofish)
Order Gasterosteiformes (sticklebacks)
Order Perciformes (basses, sunfishes, perches)

CLASS AMPHIBIA (amphibians)

Order Anura (frogs & toads)
Order Caudata (salamanders, amphiumas, mudpuppies, water dogs, sirens)
Order Gymnophiona (caecilians)

CLASS REPTILIA (SAUROPSIDA) (reptiles)

Order Testudines (turtles, tortoises, terrapins)
Order Squamata (snakes, lizards, amphisbaenids)
Order Crocodilia (crocodiles & alligators)

CLASS AVES (birds)

Order Anseriformes (waterfowl: ducks, geese & swans)
Order Galliformes (fowl: turkeys, grouse, quails, pheasants)
Order Gaviiformes (loons)
Order Podicipediformes (grebes)
Order Pelecaniformes (pelicans, cormorants, darters)
Order Ciconiiformes (storks, herons, egrets, ibises, spoonbills)
Order Phoenicopteriformes (flamingos)
Order Falconiformes (falcons, eagles, hawks)
Order Gruiformes (cranes, rails, coots, gallinules)
Order Charadriiformes (gulls, snipe, sandpipers, terns, stilts, plovers)
Order Columbiformes (doves, pigeons)
Order Strigiformes (owls)
Order Caprimulgiformes (nightjars)
Order Apodiformes (swifts, hummingbirds)
Order Coraciiformes (kingfishers)
Order Piciformes (woodpeckers)
Order Passeriformes (sparrows, finches, flycatchers, blackbirds, vireos, jays, warblers, wrens, chickadees, etc.)

CLASS MAMMALIA (mammals)

Order Didelphimorphia (opossum)
Order Cingulata (armadillo)
Order Rodentia (squirrels, beaver, voles, mice)
Order Lagomorpha (rabbits)
Order Primates (humans)
Order Soricomorpha (shrews, moles)
Order Chiroptera (bats)
Order Carnivora (bobcat, fox, skunk, otter, raccoon)
Order Sirenia (manatee)
Order Artiodactyla (deer, pronghorn)

The following pictures illustrate vertebrate wildlife typical of wetlands in the central United States. Common names are given for each animal along with its classification. Some representative wetland scenes are portrayed also. Click on small images to see larger versions.

	Cricket Frog Amphibia		Toad Amphibia
	Great Plains Skink (Eumeces obsoletus) Cheyenne Bottoms, Kansas Photo by J.S. Aber		Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) Shell bottom, Cheyenne Bottoms, Kansas Photo by S.W. Aber
	Turtle Reptilia		Whooping Cranes Aves
	Yellow-headed Blackbird Aves (nest)		Cormorant Aves (display)
	Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis) Nest, Squaw Creek NWR, Missouri Photo by S. Acosta		Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis) Defending nest, Squaw Creek NWR, MO Photo by S. Acosta.
	Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis) Chicks, Squaw Creek NWR, Missouri Photo by S. Acosta		Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) Chick, Squaw Creek NWR, Missouri Photo by S. Acosta
	American Coot (Fulica americana) Chicks, Squaw Creek NWR, Missouri Photo by S. Acosta		Swan Aves
	Muskrat lodge in cattail marsh.		Beaver dam in alpine meadow.
	Beaver dam with fresh construction. Cucharas Creek, southern Colorado. Photo by J.S. Aber.		Young aspen cut for beaver dam. Cucharas Creek, southern Colorado. Photo by J.S. Aber.

Typical wetland scenes

Related sites

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Nebraska’s wetland animals.
Wetland animal ecology (pdf file) from Allegheny College.
Animals and habitats of the Everglades, Florida.
Wetland animals from Hamilton, Ontario.
Wetland reservoirs of biodiversity from Ramsar.

Return to wetland invertebrate wildlife.
Return to wetlands syllabus.

© Notice: Wetland Environments is presented for the use and benefit of students enrolled at Emporia State University. Any other use of text, imagery or curriculum materials is prohibited without permission of the course webmaster, J.S. Aber (2007).