List of mammals of the Maldives

This is a list of the mammal species recorded in the Maldives. There are eleven mammal species in the Maldives, of which one is vulnerable.

The following tags are used to highlight each species' conservation status as assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature:

Some species were assessed using an earlier set of criteria. Species assessed using this system have the following instead of near threatened and least concern categories:

Order: Sirenia (manatees and dugongs)
Sirenia is an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit rivers, estuaries, coastal marine waters, swamps, and marine wetlands. All four species are endangered.


 * Family: Dugongidae
 * Genus: Dugong
 * Dugong, D. dugon

Order: Chiroptera (bats)
The bats' most distinguishing feature is that their forelimbs are developed as wings, making them the only mammals capable of flight. Bat species account for about 20% of all mammals.


 * Family: Pteropodidae (flying foxes, Old World fruit bats)
 * Subfamily: Pteropodinae
 * Genus: Pteropus
 * Indian flying-fox, Pteropus giganteus LC
 * Small flying-fox, Pteropus hypomelanus LC

Order: Cetacea (whales)
The order Cetacea includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. They are the mammals most fully adapted to aquatic life with a spindle-shaped nearly hairless body, protected by a thick layer of blubber, and forelimbs and tail modified to provide propulsion underwater.


 * Suborder: Mysticeti
 * Family: Balaenopteridae
 * Subfamily: Balaenopterinae
 * Genus: Balaenoptera
 * Minke whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata LR/nt
 * Bryde's whale, Balaenoptera edeni DD
 * Sei whale, Balaenoptera borealis EN
 * Fin whale, Balaenoptera physalus EN
 * Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus EN
 * Subfamily: Megapterinae
 * Genus: Megaptera
 * Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae CR (Arabian Sea Population)
 * Suborder: Odontoceti
 * Family: Physeteridae
 * Genus: Physeter
 * Sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus VU
 * Superfamily: Platanistoidea
 * Family: Kogiidae
 * Genus: Kogia
 * Pygmy sperm whale, Kogia breviceps LR/lc
 * Family: Ziphidae
 * Subfamily: Hyperoodontinae
 * Genus: Indopacetus
 * Longman's beaked whale, Indopacetus pacificus DD
 * Family: Delphinidae (marine dolphins)
 * Genus: Stenella
 * Pantropical spotted dolphin, Stenella attenuata LR/cd
 * Striped dolphin, Stenella coeruleoalba LR/cd
 * Spinner dolphin, Stenella longirostris LR/cd
 * Genus: Tursiops
 * Common bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus LC
 * Genus: Lagenodelphis
 * Fraser's dolphin, Lagenodelphis hosei DD
 * Genus: Grampus
 * Risso's dolphin, Grampus griseus DD
 * Genus: Peponocephala
 * Genus: Orcinus
 * Orca, Orcinus orca DD
 * Melon-headed whale, Peponocephala electra LR/lc
 * Superfamily Ziphioidea
 * Family: Ziphiidae
 * Genus: Mesoplodon
 * Deraniyagala's beaked whale, Mesoplodon hotaula DD