Mammals of Turkey: Native Species, Habitats, and Distribution

Türkiye supports mammal communities across Balkan forests, Anatolian steppe, the Taurus and eastern mountain systems, dry southeastern plains, rivers, caves, islands and four surrounding seas. A 2025 national checklist recognizes 177 wild species—165 terrestrial and 12 marine—but this figure combines native residents, four taxa coded alien or invasive, regular marine species and marine visitors. The red squirrel also has a mixed status: native in Thrace and introduced in northeastern Anatolia. [a]

Why Current Sources Produce Different Totals

The Mammal Diversity Database country page currently displays a headline total of 181 living species for Türkiye. Its visible order subtotals add to 180, while the 2025 national checklist totals 177. The difference is not a simple error margin: the sources apply different taxonomic treatments and different rules for alien species, marine visitors and country occurrence. [b]

Mammal Diversity Database version 2.4 was released on 2 January 2026 and records dozens of taxonomic changes since the preceding release. Country totals can therefore change when lineages are split, combined, moved to another genus or reassigned geographically even when no new field survey has taken place. [c]

Order	2025 national checklist	MDD v2.4 country page
Lagomorpha	2	1
Rodentia	69	76
Eulipotyphla	22	22
Chiroptera	43	41
Artiodactyla	21	19
Carnivora	20	21
Displayed total	177	180; page headline 181

The Working Total Used on This Page

The 177-species national checklist is used for the full list below because it provides country-specific occurrence categories and explicitly separates native, alien, regular marine and visitor records. It is a source-based working list, not a claim that mammal taxonomy or national occurrence evidence is permanently settled.

Taxa Treated Differently in MDD v2.4

Issue	2025 national checklist	MDD v2.4 treatment	Effect on interpretation
Blind mole-rats	Five Nannospalax taxa	Eleven Nannospalax taxa	Fine-scale splitting raises the rodent subtotal.
Mouse-like hamsters	Calomyscus kiabii	C. bailwardi and C. urartensis	The country lists apply different species boundaries.
Jerboas	Includes Scarturus elater	Includes Scarturus indicus	The accepted country assignment changes.
Spiny mouse	Acomys cilicicus	Acomys cahirinus	The endemic label depends on the taxonomic treatment.
Bats	Several species retained in Eptesicus	Some are placed in Cnephaeus; the country subtotal is lower	Generic placement and species limits differ.
Marine mammals	Includes regular species and explicitly coded visitors	Uses its own country-occurrence set and includes Orcinus orca	A visitor record and a country-list record are not equivalent categories.
Alien mammals	Includes European rabbit, brown rat, black rat and coypu as alien/invasive	Some alien taxa are absent from the displayed country list	Scope rules alter the national total without changing native fauna.

Mammal Distribution Follows Türkiye’s Habitat Belts

Türkiye lies across Mediterranean, Irano-Turanian and Euro-Siberian ecological zones. The national biodiversity strategy describes lowland and mountain steppe, humid Black Sea forests, drier inland forests, high alpine and subalpine grasslands, Mediterranean woodland and scrub, wetlands and marine coasts. These belts explain why Balkan and Caucasian forest mammals, Central Asian steppe rodents, Middle Eastern dryland mammals and Mediterranean marine species occur within one country. [d]

Region or habitat	Ecological setting	Representative mammals	Distribution boundary
Thrace and Marmara	Deciduous woodland, agricultural mosaics, short grassland and wetlands	European ground squirrel, European hare, European mole, Roach’s mouse-tailed dormouse, red deer, roe deer, red squirrel	Balkan-linked taxa may be restricted to European Türkiye or the Marmara transition.
Western and central Black Sea	Humid forest, wooded mountains, river valleys and caves	Brown bear, gray wolf, Eurasian lynx, red deer, roe deer, pine marten, forest dormouse, horseshoe bats	Forest continuity, elevation and human land use shape local occupancy.
Eastern Black Sea and northeastern highlands	Dense forest below alpine and subalpine grassland	Caucasian shrews, snow voles, Robert’s snow vole, chamois, brown bear, gray wolf	Caucasian and high-mountain ranges often cross national borders.
Central Anatolian plateau	Open steppe, cereal fields, saline basins, rocky slopes and dry valleys	Anatolian ground squirrel, Brandt’s hamster, Günther’s vole, blind mole-rats, red fox, gray wolf	Rodent records are strongly affected by taxonomic identification and uneven survey coverage.
Taurus and Mediterranean Anatolia	Maquis, pine and cedar forest, limestone mountains, caves, rocky coast and dry scrub	Wild goat, Taurus ground squirrel, woolly dormouse, Egyptian fruit bat, caracal, striped hyena, Mediterranean monk seal	Mountain isolation and cave systems support narrow-range mammals and dense bat diversity.
Eastern Anatolian mountains	High plateaus, volcanic uplands, rocky alpine habitat and steppe	Armenian mouflon, chamois, wild goat, snow voles, long-clawed mole vole, brown bear, gray wolf	Elevation separates montane species from plateau and valley communities.
Southeastern Anatolia	Dry steppe, semi-desert plains, rocky escarpments and Euphrates–Tigris valleys	Mountain gazelle, Arabian sand gazelle, Euphrates jerboa, long-eared hedgehog, Indian gerbil, Egyptian mongoose	Irrigation, farming, roads and border geography affect present-day habitat continuity.
Rivers, lakes and marshes	Riparian cover, reedbeds, streams, reservoirs and wet meadows	Eurasian otter, water voles, water shrews, Daubenton’s bat, long-fingered bat, harvest mouse	Water quality and bank structure can matter more than broad regional labels.
Black Sea, Marmara, Aegean and Mediterranean	Continental shelf, deep basins, straits, islands, sea caves and rocky shore	Harbour porpoise, common dolphin, bottlenose dolphin, sperm whale, Cuvier’s beaked whale, Mediterranean monk seal	Regular occurrence, strandings and visitor records must be kept separate.

An 11-year camera-trap study in northwestern Anatolia found that large mammals changed habitat use by season and in relation to human-dominated land cover. National range descriptions therefore cannot substitute for local surveys, and a species recorded in one forest-steppe mosaic should not be assumed to occupy every similar-looking site. [e]

Why a Habitat Belt Is Not a Range Map

The regional table summarizes recurring ecological associations. Actual presence depends on elevation, soil, water, vegetation structure, prey, disturbance, season and survey effort. Occurrence records document reported evidence; they do not define a complete distribution.

Source-Based Checklist of 177 Wild Mammals

The checklist below follows Sözen and Çolak (2025). “Native; endemic” reproduces taxa marked endemic in that source. “Regular marine species” and “marine visitor” describe the source’s occurrence class rather than breeding status or population size. Scientific names are retained as published in the national checklist so that its total remains internally consistent; the preceding table records major differences from MDD v2.4.

Lagomorphs (2 Species)

No.	Family	Scientific name	Checklist status
1	Leporidae	Oryctolagus cuniculus	Alien/invasive
2	Leporidae	Lepus europaeus	Native

Rodents (69 Species)

No.	Family	Scientific name	Checklist status
3	Dipodidae	Scarturus williamsi	Native
4	Dipodidae	Scarturus aulacotis	Native
5	Dipodidae	Scarturus euphraticus	Native
6	Dipodidae	Scarturus elater	Native
7	Spalacidae	Nannospalax turcicus	Native; endemic
8	Spalacidae	Nannospalax xanthodon	Native
9	Spalacidae	Nannospalax cilicicus	Native; endemic
10	Spalacidae	Nannospalax tuncelicus	Native; endemic
11	Spalacidae	Nannospalax ehrenbergi	Native
12	Calomyscidae	Calomyscus kiabii	Native
13	Cricetidae	Mesocricetus auratus	Native
14	Cricetidae	Mesocricetus brandti	Native
15	Cricetidae	Nothocricetulus migratorius	Native
16	Cricetidae	Clethrionomys glareolus	Native
17	Cricetidae	Prometheomys schaposchnikowi	Native
18	Cricetidae	Bramus lutescens	Native
19	Cricetidae	Arvicola amphibius	Native
20	Cricetidae	Arvicola persicus	Native
21	Cricetidae	Chionomys nivalis	Native
22	Cricetidae	Chionomys lasistanius	Native
23	Cricetidae	Chionomys roberti	Native
24	Cricetidae	Chionomys stekolnikovi	Native; endemic
25	Cricetidae	Microtus majori	Native
26	Cricetidae	Microtus subterraneus	Native
27	Cricetidae	Microtus fingeri	Native; endemic
28	Cricetidae	Microtus daghestanicus	Native
29	Cricetidae	Microtus hartingi	Native
30	Cricetidae	Microtus guentheri	Native
31	Cricetidae	Microtus dogramacii	Native
32	Cricetidae	Microtus anatolicus	Native; endemic
33	Cricetidae	Microtus irani	Native
34	Cricetidae	Microtus obscurus	Native
35	Cricetidae	Microtus rossiaemeridionalis	Native
36	Muridae	Acomys cilicicus	Native; endemic
37	Muridae	Tatera indica	Native
38	Muridae	Gerbillus dasyurus	Native
39	Muridae	Meriones persicus	Native
40	Muridae	Meriones libycus	Native
41	Muridae	Meriones tristrami	Native
42	Muridae	Meriones crassus	Native
43	Muridae	Meriones vinogradovi	Native
44	Muridae	Meriones dahli	Native
45	Muridae	Micromys minutus	Native
46	Muridae	Nesokia indica	Native
47	Muridae	Rattus norvegicus	Alien/invasive
48	Muridae	Rattus rattus	Alien/invasive
49	Muridae	Apodemus witherbyi	Native
50	Muridae	Apodemus sylvaticus	Native
51	Muridae	Apodemus flavicollis	Native
52	Muridae	Apodemus uralensis	Native
53	Muridae	Apodemus mystacinus	Native
54	Muridae	Apodemus agrarius	Native
55	Muridae	Mus musculus	Native
56	Muridae	Mus macedonicus	Native
57	Hystricidae	Hystrix indica	Native
58	Echimyidae	Myocastor coypus	Alien/invasive
59	Sciuridae	Sciurus vulgaris	Native in Thrace; introduced in northeastern Anatolia
60	Sciuridae	Sciurus anomalus	Native
61	Sciuridae	Spermophilus citellus	Native
62	Sciuridae	Spermophilus taurensis	Native; endemic
63	Sciuridae	Spermophilus xanthoprymnus	Native
64	Gliridae	Glis glis	Native
65	Gliridae	Muscardinus avellanarius	Native
66	Gliridae	Myomimus roachi	Native
67	Gliridae	Myomimus setzeri	Native
68	Gliridae	Dryomys nitedula	Native
69	Gliridae	Dryomys laniger	Native; endemic
70	Gliridae	Dryomys anatolicus	Native; endemic
71	Gliridae	Eliomys melanurus	Native

Hedgehogs, Shrews and Moles (22 Species)

No.	Family	Scientific name	Checklist status
72	Erinaceidae	Erinaceus roumanicus	Native
73	Erinaceidae	Erinaceus concolor	Native
74	Erinaceidae	Hemiechinus auritus	Native
75	Soricidae	Sorex raddei	Native
76	Soricidae	Sorex araneus	Native
77	Soricidae	Sorex satunini	Native
78	Soricidae	Sorex minutus	Native
79	Soricidae	Sorex volnuchini	Native
80	Soricidae	Neomys milleri	Native
81	Soricidae	Neomys teres	Native
82	Soricidae	Suncus etruscus	Native
83	Soricidae	Crocidura gueldenstaedti	Native
84	Soricidae	Crocidura leucodon	Native
85	Soricidae	Crocidura arispa	Native; endemic
86	Soricidae	Crocidura mimula	Native
87	Talpidae	Talpa davidiana	Native
88	Talpidae	Talpa hakkariensis	Native; endemic
89	Talpidae	Talpa ognevi	Native
90	Talpidae	Talpa transcaucasica	Native
91	Talpidae	Talpa levantis	Native; endemic
92	Talpidae	Talpa martinorum	Native
93	Talpidae	Talpa europaea	Native

Bats (43 Species)

No.	Family	Scientific name	Checklist status
94	Pteropodidae	Rousettus aegyptiacus	Native
95	Rhinolophidae	Rhinolophus blasii	Native
96	Rhinolophidae	Rhinolophus mehelyi	Native
97	Rhinolophidae	Rhinolophus euryale	Native
98	Rhinolophidae	Rhinolophus ferrumequinum	Native
99	Rhinolophidae	Rhinolophus hipposideros	Native
100	Emballonuridae	Taphozous nudiventris	Native
101	Molossidae	Tadarida teniotis	Native
102	Miniopteridae	Miniopterus pallidus	Native
103	Miniopteridae	Miniopterus schreibersii	Native
104	Vespertilionidae	Nyctalus lasiopterus	Native
105	Vespertilionidae	Nyctalus noctula	Native
106	Vespertilionidae	Nyctalus leisleri	Native
107	Vespertilionidae	Pipistrellus pipistrellus	Native
108	Vespertilionidae	Pipistrellus pygmaeus	Native
109	Vespertilionidae	Pipistrellus nathusii	Native
110	Vespertilionidae	Pipistrellus kuhlii	Native
111	Vespertilionidae	Vespertilio murinus	Native
112	Vespertilionidae	Hypsugo savii	Native
113	Vespertilionidae	Eptesicus ognevi	Native
114	Vespertilionidae	Eptesicus anatolicus	Native
115	Vespertilionidae	Eptesicus bottae	Native
116	Vespertilionidae	Eptesicus serotinus	Native
117	Vespertilionidae	Barbastella barbastellus	Native
118	Vespertilionidae	Plecotus austriacus	Native
119	Vespertilionidae	Plecotus kolombatovici	Native
120	Vespertilionidae	Plecotus macrobullaris	Native
121	Vespertilionidae	Plecotus auritus	Native
122	Vespertilionidae	Otonycteris hemprichii	Native
123	Vespertilionidae	Myotis brandti	Native
124	Vespertilionidae	Myotis emarginatus	Native
125	Vespertilionidae	Myotis alcathoe	Native
126	Vespertilionidae	Myotis mystacinus	Native
127	Vespertilionidae	Myotis davidii	Native
128	Vespertilionidae	Myotis capaccinii	Native
129	Vespertilionidae	Myotis bechsteinii	Native
130	Vespertilionidae	Myotis daubentonii	Native
131	Vespertilionidae	Myotis blythii	Native
132	Vespertilionidae	Myotis myotis	Native
133	Vespertilionidae	Myotis nattereri	Native
134	Vespertilionidae	Myotis hoveli	Native
135	Vespertilionidae	Myotis tschuliensis	Native
136	Vespertilionidae	Myotis schaubi	Native

Even-Toed Ungulates and Cetaceans (21 Species)

No.	Family	Scientific name	Checklist status
137	Balaenopteridae	Balaenoptera physalus	Regular marine species
138	Balaenopteridae	Balaenoptera acutorostrata	Marine visitor
139	Ziphiidae	Ziphius cavirostris	Regular marine species
140	Physeteridae	Physeter macrocephalus	Regular marine species
141	Delphinidae	Grampus griseus	Regular marine species
142	Delphinidae	Pseudorca crassidens	Marine visitor
143	Delphinidae	Sousa plumbea	Marine visitor
144	Delphinidae	Tursiops truncatus	Regular marine species
145	Delphinidae	Stenella coeruleoalba	Regular marine species
146	Delphinidae	Delphinus delphis	Regular marine species
147	Delphinidae	Steno bredanensis	Marine visitor
148	Phocoenidae	Phocoena phocoena	Regular marine species
149	Cervidae	Dama dama	Native
150	Cervidae	Cervus elaphus	Native
151	Cervidae	Capreolus capreolus	Native
152	Bovidae	Gazella marica	Native
153	Bovidae	Gazella gazella	Native
154	Bovidae	Capra aegagrus	Native
155	Bovidae	Ovis gmelini	Native
156	Bovidae	Rupicapra rupicapra	Native
157	Suidae	Sus scrofa	Native

Carnivorans (20 Species)

No.	Family	Scientific name	Checklist status
158	Felidae	Panthera pardus	Native
159	Felidae	Caracal caracal	Native
160	Felidae	Lynx lynx	Native
161	Felidae	Felis chaus	Native
162	Felidae	Felis silvestris	Native
163	Herpestidae	Herpestes ichneumon	Native
164	Hyaenidae	Hyaena hyaena	Native
165	Canidae	Vulpes vulpes	Native
166	Canidae	Canis aureus	Native
167	Canidae	Canis lupus	Native
168	Ursidae	Ursus arctos	Native
169	Phocidae	Monachus monachus	Native marine species
170	Mustelidae	Meles meles	Native
171	Mustelidae	Meles canescens	Native
172	Mustelidae	Martes foina	Native
173	Mustelidae	Martes martes	Native
174	Mustelidae	Vormela peregusna	Native
175	Mustelidae	Mustela nivalis	Native
176	Mustelidae	Mustela putorius	Native
177	Mustelidae	Lutra lutra	Native

Endemism Is Concentrated in Small Mammals

The 2025 checklist marks 13 terrestrial species as endemic to Türkiye. Ten are rodents, two are moles and one is a shrew. This pattern reflects geographic isolation in mountain systems, local soil-bound subterranean lineages and the fine-scale taxonomic separation of small mammals. Because several of these groups are still being revised, endemic totals can change when species limits change.

No.	Family	Species	Order
1	Spalacidae	Nannospalax turcicus	Rodentia
2	Spalacidae	Nannospalax cilicicus	Rodentia
3	Spalacidae	Nannospalax tuncelicus	Rodentia
4	Cricetidae	Chionomys stekolnikovi	Rodentia
5	Cricetidae	Microtus fingeri	Rodentia
6	Cricetidae	Microtus anatolicus	Rodentia
7	Muridae	Acomys cilicicus	Rodentia
8	Sciuridae	Spermophilus taurensis	Rodentia
9	Gliridae	Dryomys laniger	Rodentia
10	Gliridae	Dryomys anatolicus	Rodentia
11	Soricidae	Crocidura arispa	Eulipotyphla
12	Talpidae	Talpa hakkariensis	Eulipotyphla
13	Talpidae	Talpa levantis	Eulipotyphla

Selected Species with Elevated Global Risk Categories

The entries below are selected examples from the national checklist whose MDD species pages display an IUCN category above Least Concern. They are not a full national threatened-species inventory, and a global category does not replace a Türkiye-specific population assessment.

Scientific name	Common name	Global category shown by MDD	Habitat association in Türkiye
Gazella gazella	Mountain gazelle	Endangered [f]	Dry southern plains, foothills and open scrub
Spermophilus citellus	European ground squirrel	Endangered [g]	Short grassland and steppe in Thrace
Myomimus roachi	Roach’s mouse-tailed dormouse	Vulnerable [h]	Thracean lowland grassland and agricultural mosaics
Vormela peregusna	Marbled polecat	Vulnerable [i]	Open steppe, dry grassland and farmland edges
Gazella marica	Arabian sand gazelle	Vulnerable [j]	Arid and semi-arid plains in southeastern Türkiye
Spermophilus xanthoprymnus	Anatolian ground squirrel	Near Threatened [k]	Central and eastern open steppe and plateau grassland

Sources and Verification

[a] Sözen, M. and Çolak, F. (2025), “An updated checklist of the mammals of Türkiye” — Used for the 177-species national checklist, terrestrial and marine totals, status codes, endemic designations and scientific names reproduced in the checklist.
[b] Mammal Diversity Database: Türkiye country profile — Used for the current global taxonomic country treatment, the displayed 181-species headline, order subtotals and source-to-source taxonomic differences.
[c] Mammal Diversity Database, version 2.4 — Used for the 2 January 2026 release date and the taxonomic-update context behind changing country totals.
[d] National Biological Diversity Strategy and Action Plan — Used for Türkiye’s steppe, forest, alpine, wetland, Mediterranean and marine ecosystem structure; older species totals in the document were not used.
[e] “Seasonal habitat-use patterns of large mammals in a human-dominated landscape” — Used for evidence that local habitat use by large mammals in northwestern Anatolia changes with season and land cover.
[f] Mammal Diversity Database: Gazella gazella — Used for the global Endangered category displayed for the mountain gazelle.
[g] Mammal Diversity Database: Spermophilus citellus — Used for the global Endangered category displayed for the European ground squirrel.
[h] Mammal Diversity Database: Myomimus roachi — Used for the global Vulnerable category displayed for Roach’s mouse-tailed dormouse.
[i] Mammal Diversity Database: Vormela peregusna — Used for the global Vulnerable category displayed for the marbled polecat.
[j] Mammal Diversity Database: Gazella marica — Used for the global Vulnerable category displayed for the Arabian sand gazelle.
[k] Mammal Diversity Database: Spermophilus xanthoprymnus — Used for the global Near Threatened category displayed for the Anatolian ground squirrel.