ADDENDUM — some thoughts about this project

    This project presents photos of mammals I've observed, organized by family, subfamily, or tribe. The mammal families I've encountered but not yet photographed include: Ornithoryhynchidae [Platypus], Didelphidae [Opossums], Dasyuridae [Carniverous Marsupials], Pseudocheiridae [Ringtail Possums & Greater Gliders], Petauridae [Striped Possum & Lesser Gliders], Hypsiprymnodontidae [Rat Kangaroo], Macroscelididae [Sengis], Dasypodidae [Long-nosed Armadillos], Cynocephalidae [Colugos], Cheirogaleidae [Mouse-Lemurs & relates], Gliridae [Dormice], Pedetidae [Spring-hares], Echimyidae [Bamboo Rats], Echimyidae [Hutias, Coypu, & Spiny-rats], Erinaceidae [Gymnures], Rhinolophidae [Horseshoe Bats], Hipposideridae [Old World Leaf-nosed Bats], Mormoopidae [Mustached Bats], and Miniopteridae [Long-fingered Bats], plus some fine subfamilies (e.g., Protelinae [Aardwolf] among the Hyaenidae).
    At this project's initial posting (May 2020, during the Covid-19 lock-down), there were examples of 82 families, plus various subfamilies and tribes. In searching for photos in my collection, I tried to emphasize biodiversity by posting multiple genera within families and subfamilies (sometimes up to 5 examples each) and to illustrate a geographic spread of examples. There are photos as recent as May 2020 and those in the past back in 1973. Since I didn't move to a digital camera until 2005, of necessary all photos prior to that were digitized from slides.
    There are about 50 additional mammal families that I've not yet encountered, including some highly desirable beasts (e.g, Manidae [Pangolins], Daubentoniidae [Aye-aye], and Dugongidae [Dugong]). I've also not seen a wild Camelidae. I may see all the bird families of the world but I'll never see all the mammal families. But it is fun to think about.
    There are other ways to think about mammal-watching beyond the strictures of mammalian phylogeny. Many serious mammal-watchers, like many of most focused world birders, are interested in finding as many different species as possible. Excluding now-extinct species, one recent listing had about 6400 species of mammals. There are over 1500 rodents and about 1200 bats that together comprise about 42% of all mammals. Thus my personal list of 530 mammals (just 8% of all mammals) is a mere pittance. [By contrast my list of 6300 birds represents about 60% of all bird species].
    My favorite way to think about global mammal-watching is to organize travel, to the extent time and money permits, in search of "The 50 Best Mammals in the World" — one person's stratified list of the most unique, spectacular, and/or desirable large mammals. My thinking about these have evolved over time but, in general, most of the choices have survived occasional realignments. Although some are exceeding rare and difficult, rarity alone has never been my primary consideration. There are some iconic mammals that should be on every naturalist's list of great mammals, even though they are not necessarily difficult if one can just get to where they occur (e.g., Lion or Brown Bear). Some of these iconic mammals are also featured in my list of 15 "monsters of god" — those alpha predators that, should they think of you at all, may think of of you as meat (a project arising from David Quammen's (2003) book of that name). As of this writing (May 2020), I've enjoyed encounters with all the mammalian "monsters of god," and I'd seen 29 of my "Best 50" choices among mammals (58%). I'm already looking forward to the next one . . . .
    I thank Rita Carratello, Jon Hall, and Murray Lord for their company in the field and their reviews of these pages. For anything you need to know about mammal watching, see Jon Hall's outstanding "Mammalwatching" website!