Open Research: The complete data set is available as Supporting Information and are also
available in Figshare at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14938437Mammals are threatened worldwide, with ca. 26% of all species being
included in the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associated to
habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mammals, and pollution,
open net fishing, climate change and prey depletion for marine mammals. Mammals play
a key role in maintaining ecosystems functionality and resilience, and therefore
information on their distribution is crucial to delineate and support conservation actions.
MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublished georeferenced
occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mammals in mainland
Portugal and archipelagos of Azores and Madeira that includes 107,852 data entries
between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occurring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used
to collect the data were: live observations/captures (42%), sign surveys (38%), camera
trapping (16%), bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radio-tracking and inquiries that represent
less than 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: 1) burrows | soil
mounds | tunnel, 2) capture, 3) colony, 4) dead animal | hair | skulls | jaws, 5) genetic
confirmation, 6) inquiries, 7) observation of live animal, 8), observation in shelters, 9)
photo trapping | video, 10), predators diet | pellets | pine cones/nuts, 11) scat | track | ditch,
12) telemetry and 13) vocalization | echolocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and 100 m (76%). Rodentia (n = 34,754) has the highest number of
records followed by Chiroptera (n = 18,858), Carnivora (n = 18,594), Lagomorpha (n =
17,679), Cetartiodactyla (n = 11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n = 6,400). The data set includes
records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened (e.g., Oryctolagus cuniculus (n =
12,407), Monachus monachus (n = 1512), and Lynx pardinus (n = 197)]. We believe that
this data set may stimulate the publication of other European countries data sets which
would certainly contribute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore
assisting on the development of more accurate and tailored conservation management
strategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this data paper
when the data are used in publicationsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio
