Mammal Watching in Argentina (& Southern South America)
Mammals are naturally harder to see in the wild than birds, but for that reason many times there is little effort involved in trying to see them on purpose. In the end this works like a self-accomplished prophecy, because little effort leads to poor results.
I have always liked watching mammals (together with birds and fish, they are my "favorite" groups of animals) but only recently started thinking of them as targets during a trip rather than incidental sightings while birding. And in 2022 I checked my notebooks and found out that my total lifelist of mammals seen in Argentina (alive and in wild conditions, not counting domestic species such as Llama and Water Buffalo) was 101 species, which was not bad considering the total number recorded in this country (about 400).
Living in Patagonia and working for a marine biology institute on board fishing vessels I was able to witness the privileged diversity of marine mammals of that part of the world, including species that are not commonly seen in Argentina. In recent years I finally learned how to find Franciscana (La Plata River Dolphin) in the Atlantic coast of Buenos Aires province, after visiting the area for many years without good results (the first one was by far the hardest). And during a trip to Misiones province in 2021 with a friend who really wanted to see a jaguar, after heavily looking for one during 5 days I reallized that it is not insane trying to do so in Argentina: we had a close encounter with one in Urugua-í Provincial Park. Later that year I saw another one in Iguazu National Park (although this one was by chance).
For all these reasons I am now commited to help developing mammal watching opportunities in the destinations that I already offer for birding tours, and although I can not yet seriously consider myself a mammal watching guide (the journey is just beggining), I hereby offer my services as a mammal watching ethusiast who knows how to guide and knows some of the best places where to find them in Argentina and southern South America. I have recently bought a thermal scope and have been using it almost everywhere I go, as it is incredibly helpfull to find mammals (and even birds).
Here is my lifelist of mammals seen in Argentina (a total of 125 species, updated to November 2024):
Marsupials (7)
Buff-bellied Fat-tailed Opossum (Thylamys venustus)
Brown-eared Woolly Opossum (Caluromys lanatus)
South-eastern Four-eyed Opossum (Philander quica)
Ihering’s Three-striped Opossum (Monodelphis iheringi)
Brazilian White-eared Opossum (Didelphis albiventris)
Southern Black-eared Opossum (Didelphis aurita)
Big Lutrine Opossum (Lutreolina crassicaudata)
Xenarthrans (6)
Southern Long-nosed Armadillo (Dasypus hybridus) - considered as a subspecies of Seven-banded Armadillo (Dasypus septemcinctus) by the Mammal Diversity Database, although not yet by the IUCN
Screaming Hairy Armadillo (Chaetophractus vellerosus)
Large Hairy Armadillo (Chaetophractus villosus)
Six-banded Armadillo (Euphractus sexcinctus)
Pichi (Zaedyus pichiy)
Primates (3)
Hooded (Azara's) Capuchin (Sapajus cay)
(Southern) Black-horned Capuchin (Sapajus (nigritus) cucullatus)
Black-and-gold (Paraguayan) Howler (Alouatta caraya)
Canids (6)
Crab-eating Fox (Cerdocyon thous)
Maned Wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus)
Pampas Fox (Pseudalopex gymnocercus)
South American Gray Fox (Pseudalopex griseus)
Culpeo (Pseudalopex culpaeus)
Bush Dog (Speothos venaticus)
Cats (7)
Jaguar (Panthera onca)
Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis)
Southern Oncilla (Leopardus guttulus)
Geoffroy’s Cat (Leopardus geoffroyi)
Southern Colocolo (Leopardus pajeros)
Jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi)
Puma (Puma concolor)
Other carnivores (11)
Molina’s Hog-nosed Skunk (Conepatus chinga)
Humboldt’s Hog-nosed Skunk (Conepatus humboldtii) - considered as conspecific with Molina's Hog-nosed Skunk by the Mammal Diversity Database, although not yet by the IUCN
Tayra (Eira barbara)
Lesser Grison (Galictis cuja)
Neotropical Otter (Lontra longicaudis)
South American Coati (Nasua nasua)
Crab-eating Raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus)
South American Sea Lion (Otaria byronia)
South American Fur Seal (Arctocephalus australis)
Southern Elephant Seal (Mirounga leonina)
Crabeater Seal (Lobodon carcinophaga)
Cetaceans (14)
Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis)
Antarctic Minke Whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis)
Sei Whale (Balaenoptera borealis)
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
Franciscana (Pontoporia blainvillei)
Dusky Dolphin (Sagmatias obscurus)
Peale's Dolphin (Sagmatias australis)
Killer Whale (Orcinus orca)
Short-beaked Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis)
Common Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
Long-finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala melas)
Commerson’s Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii)
Southern Right Whale Dolphin (Lissodelphis peronii) - seen from the Argentine side of the Beagle Channel, but the pod was actually swimming in the Chilean side, near the coast of Puerto Williams
Burmeister's Porpoise (Phocoena spinipinnis)
Traditional ungulates (14)
Guanaco (Lama guanicoe)
Vicuña (Vicugna vicugna)
Eurasian Wild Pig (Sus scrofa) - INTRODUCED
Collared Peccary (Pecari tajacu)
White-lipped Peccary (Tayassu pecari)
Marsh Deer (Blastocerus dichotomus)
Pampas Deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus)
North Andean Huemul (Hippocamelus antisensis)
Common Brown Brocket (Mazama guazoubira)
Common Red Brocket (Mazama americana)
Chital (Axis axis) - INTRODUCED
Western Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) - INTRODUCED
Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) - INTRODUCED
Lowland Tapir (Tapirus terrestris)
Lagomorphs (3)
Common Tapeti (Sylvilagus brasiliensis)
European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) - INTRODUCED
European Hare (Lepus europaeus) - INTRODUCED
Rodents (43)
Pallas’s Squirrel (Callosciurus erythraeus) - INTRODUCED
Guianan Squirrel (Sciurus aestuans)
Bolivian Squirrel (Sciurus ignitus)
Paraguayan Hairy Dwarf Porcupine (Coendou spinosus)
Common Mountain Viscacha (Lagidium viscacia)
Plains Viscacha (Lagostomus maximus)
Brazilian Guinea Pig (Cavia aperea)
Montane Guinea Pig (Cavia tschudii)
"Lesser" Southern Mountain Cavy (Microcavia australis)
"Greater" Southern Mountain Cavy (Microcavia maenas)
Southern Highland Yellow-toothed Cavy (Galea comes)
Lowland Yellow-toothed Cavy (Galea leucoblephara)
Greater Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris)
Patagonian Mara (Dolichotis patagonum)
Chacoan Mara (Dolichotis salinicola)
Azara’s Agouti (Dasyprocta azarae)
Brown Agouti (Dasyprocta variegata)
Lowland Paca (Cuniculus paca)
Coypu (Myocastor coypus)
Andean Tuco-tuco (Ctenomys opimus)
Rio Negro Tuco-tuco (Ctenomys rionegrensis)
Talas Tuco-tuco (Ctenomys talarum)
Dune Tuco-tuco (Ctenomys australis)
Mendoza Tuco-tuco (Ctenomys mendocinus)
Magellanic Tuco-tuco (Ctenomys magellanicus)
House Mouse (Mus musculus) - INTRODUCED
Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus) - INTRODUCED
Roof Rat (Rattus rattus) - INTRODUCED
Naked-soled Conyrat (Reithrodon typicus)
Yellow Pygmy Rice Rat (Oligoryzomys flavescens)
Long-tailed Pygmy Rice Rat (Oligoryzomys longicaudatus)
Argentinian Swamp Rat (Scapteromys aquaticus)
Azara’s Grass Mouse (Akodon azarae)
White-bellied Grass Mouse (Akodon albiventer)
Grey-bellied Grass Mouse (Akodon simulator)
Montane Grass Mouse (Akodon montensis)
Olive Soft-haired Mouse (Abrothrix olivacea)
Small Vesper Mouse (Calomys laucha)
Drylands Vesper Mouse (Calomys musculinus)
Blackish Grass Mouse (Thaptomys nigrita)
Lowland Gerbil Mouse (Eligmodontia typus)
Bats (11)
Greater Bulldog Bat (Noctilio leporinus)
White-lined Broad-nosed Bat (Platyrrhinus lineatus)
Great Fruit-eating Bat (Artibeus lituratus)
Fringed Fruit-eating Bat (Artibeus fimbriatus)
Woolly False Vampire Bat (Chrotopterus auritus)
Brazilian Free-tailed Bat (Tadarida brasiliensis)
Common Big-eared Brown Bat (Histiotus macrotus)
Argentine Serotine (Eptesicus furinalis)
Southern Hoary Bat (Lasiurus villosissimus)
Yellowish Myotis (Myotis levis)
Silver-tipped Myotis (Myotis albescens)
I have little photographic records of the mammals I have seen, but here are some pictures taken in Argentina and other parts of South America:
White-lined Broad-nosed Bats in north east Argentina
