| My picks for the best 50 mammals of the world are at the heart of this web project, but those are just personal choices. I am very impressed by big cats, great apes, huge whales, and rhinos. Others have different views. I asked two dedicated mammal observers and another birder who has a passion for mammals, to independently chose their "top 50" or "top 30" mammals, using the same general criteria that I had developed. They graciously accepted the challenge. It is quite interesting to compare and contrast their choices. |
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Ten mammals were rated among the world's best by all of us: Snow Leopard, Gorilla, Giant Panda, Polar Bear, Orca (Killer Whale), Okapi, Giant Anteater, Aye-aye, Wolverine, and Narwhal, although we all had different ideas where these ranked. Tiger was ranked #1 by Blake and me, but for Jon it was #17, and Vladimir didn't include it at all. Although there was support by at least one other for 43 species on my "top 50" list (86%, if accounting liberally for the use of the "any unicorn" concept), some of my choices received no support at all, including Lion, Leopard, and Brown Bear. Orangutan, any Elephant, and Chimpanzee (under "any Pan ape") received support only from Blake. Presumably these are considered "too easy" by the others, but I'd certainly rather see any of these great mammals than any camel, horse, or bat, no matter how rare. [And I like bats a lot!] The most congruent lists were those of the two birders, Blake and me, with 65% of the species chosen the same as the other's listing. The least congruent, even compensating for the differences between picking 30 or 50 species, was between Vladimir and Jon, with 40% found on each other's list (in other words, over half the choices on each of these lists were different than the other person). Altogether, some 98 species or species groups were picked among the 4 different lists, which combined would serve well as a list of pretty much the "top 100" mammals. Two species were unanimous picks of the other three, but not by me: wild Bactrian Camel and truly wild Wild Ass. I very much appreciate the time these three experts gave to considering my questions, and for permitting the publication of their excellent choices. — D. Roberson (Nov 2007) |
Vladimir Dinets is a widely traveled naturalist whose foremost passion is mammals (photo, right, in the Gobi Desert). He has his own 
Jon Hall
is avid mammal-watcher who has traveled the world extensively in search
of them (photo right from Qinling Mountains, China; Jon with his
Chinese guides and hosts). His 
Blake Matheson
is currently in law school but he has already forayed to the western
Palearctic, to the Neotropics, and to the Philippines (photo, right) in
search of birds. He created his own "top 100 birds of the world" while
studying at Oxford, and has become increasingly interested in mammals
in addition to birds. He provided these "top 50" choices in 2007. | TOP Page created 3-4 June 2002, revised & expanded 15 Nov 2007 |
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photos & text © 2007 Don Roberson
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