Animals (Key 1)

Key 1

1. Limbs not modified into flippers or wings - 2

1. Limbs modified into flippers - 36

1. Limbs modified into wings - 57

2. Animal with spines - European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) (Linnaeus, 1758)

2. Animal without spines - 3

3. Forelimbs large and robust - European Mole (Talpa europaea) (Linnaeus, 1758)

3. Forelimbs not large and robust - 4

4. Ears long and prominent - 5

4. Ears not long and prominent - 7

5. Ears with black tips - 6

5. Ears without black tips - European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) (Linnaeus, 1758)

6. Fur orange-brown all year - Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus) (Pallas, 1778)

6. Fur grey-brown in summer, white in winter - Scottish Mountain Hare (Lepus timidus scoticus) (Hilzheimer, 1906)

6. Fur reddish-brown in summer, grey-brown in winter - Irish Mountain Hare (Lepus timidus hibernicus) (Bell, 1837)

7. Large prominent incisors present - 8

7. Large prominent incisors absent - 20

8. Tail large and paddle-like - Eurasian Beaver (Castor fiber) (Linnaeus, 1758)

8. Tail bushy - 9

8. Tail long and thin - 10

9. Tail one colour - Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) (Linnaeus, 1758)

9. Tail speckled and fringed white - Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) (Gmelin, 1788)

10. Tail furry - 11

10. Tail not furry - 12

11. Fur orange-brown - Hazel Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) (Linnaeus, 1758)

11. Fur grey - Edible Dormouse (Glis glis) (Linnaeus, 1766)

12. Ears mostly hidden by the fur - 13

12. Ears mostly not hidden by the fur - 15

13. Tail 60% of head and body length - Water Vole (Arvicola amphibius) (Linnaeus, 1758)

13. Tail 50% of head and body length - Bank Vole (Myodes glareolus) (Schreber, 1780)

13. Tail 30% of head and body length - 14

14. Fur greyish-brown - Field Vole (Microtus agrestis) (Linnaeus, 1761)

14. Fur yellowish-brown - Common Vole (Microtus arvalis) (Pallas, 1779)

15. Tail prehensile - Harvest Mouse (Micromys minutus) (Pallas, 1771)

15. Tail not prehensile - 16

16. Belly with an unbroken band of yellow - Yellow-necked Mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) (Melchior, 1834)

16. Belly without an unbroken band of yellow - 17

17. Belly paler than body - Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) (Linnaeus, 1758)

17. Belly same colour as body - 18

18. Body less than 10 cm - House Mouse (Mus musculus) (Linnaeus, 1758)

18. Body more than 10 cm - 19

19. Ears hairy on inside - Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus) (Berkenhout, 1769)

19. Ears not hairy on inside - Black Rat (Rattus rattus) (Linnaeus, 1758)

20. Carnassial teeth present - 21

20. Carnassial teeth absent - 27

21. Snout short - Wildcat (Felis silvestris) (Schreber, 1777)

21. Snout elongated - 22

22. Fur orange-brown - Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) (Linnaeus, 1758)

22. Fur black and white - Eurasian Badger (Meles meles) (Linnaeus, 1758)

22. Fur brown - 23

23. Tail thick and powerful - Otter (Lutra lutra) (Linnaeus, 1758)

23. Tail long and fluffy - 24

24. Chest with a yellowish white patch - Pine Marten (Martes martes) (Linnaeus, 1758)

24. Chest without a yellowish white patch - 25

25. Tail orange-brown with a black tip - Stoat (Mustela erminea) (Linnaeus, 1758)

25. Tail orange-brown without a black tip - Weasel (Mustela nivalis) (Linnaeus, 1766)

25. Tail dark brown - 26

26. Underfur creamy - Polecat (Mustela putorius) (Linnaeus, 1758)

26. Fur entirely dark brown - American Mink (Mustela vison) (Schreber, 1777)

27. Snout long and shrew-like - 28

27. Snout not shrew-like - 32

28. Teeth pigmented - 29

28. Teeth not pigmented - 31

29. Fur brown - 30

29. Fur black - Water Shrew (Neomys fodiens) (Pennant, 1777)

30. Side paler than back but darker than belly - Common Shrew (Sorex araneus) (Linnaeus, 1758)

30. Side same colour as back - Pygmy Shrew (Sorex minutus) (Linnaeus, 1766)

31. Belly pale grey - Lesser White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura suaveolens) (Pallas, 1811)

31. Belly yellowish-grey - Greater White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura russula) (Hermann, 1780)

32. Snout with disc of cartilage - Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) (Linnaeus, 1758)

32. Snout without disc of cartilage - 32

33. Tail present - 34

33. Tail vestigial - Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) (Linnaeus, 1758)

34. Rump buff-coloured with no black border - Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) (Linnaeus, 1758)

34. Rump buff-coloured with black border at top - Sika Deer (Cervus nippon) (Temminck, 1838)

34. Rump buff-coloured with black border on top, sides and tail - Fallow Deer (Dama dama) (Linnaeus, 1758)

34. Rump same colour as body with no black border - 35

35. Tail short and brown - Chinese Water Deer (Hydropotes inermis) (Swinhoe, 1870)

35. Tail flat and wide - Reeves’ Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) (Ogilby, 1839)

36. Tail not modified into flukes - 37

36. Tail modified into flukes - 38

37. Muzzle short and blunt - Harbour Seal (Phoca vitulina)

37. Muzzle long and straight - Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) (Fabricius, 1791)

38. Baleen present - 39

38. Teeth present - 45

39. Dorsal fin absent - 40

39. Dorsal fin present - 41

40. Callosities present on head and around blowhole - North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) (Müller, 1776)

40. Callosities absent - Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus) (Linnaeus, 1758)

41. Animal blackish - Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) (Borowski, 1781)

41. Animal bluish or grey - 42

42. Animal mottled - Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) (Linnaeus, 1758)

42. Animal not mottled - 43

43. Flippers without white markings - 44

43. Flippers with white markings - Minke Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) (Lacépède, 1804)

44. Right lip and palate with white markings - Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus) (Linnaeus, 1758)

44. Right lip and mouth cavity uniformly grey - Sei Whale (Balaenoptera borealis) (Lesson, 1828)

45. Dorsal fin small - 46

45. Dorsal fin tall - 52

46. Forehead large and bulbous - 47

46. Forehead sloping or slightly bulbous - 49

46. Forehead square-shaped - 50

47. Snout long - Northern Bottlenose Whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus) (Forster, 1770)

47. Snout short - 48

48. Animal white - Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) (Pallas, 1776)

48. Animal dark grey or black - Long-finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala melas) (Traill, 1809)

49. Beak relatively short - Cuvier’s Beaked Whale (Ziphius cavirostris) (Cuvier, 1823)

49. Beak relatively long - Sowerby’s Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon bidens) (Sowerby, 1804)

50. Head 1/6 body length - 51

50. Head 1/3 body length - Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) (Linnaeus, 1758)

51. Dorsal fin just behind centre of back - Pygmy Sperm Whale (Kogia breviceps) (Blainville, 1838)

51. Dorsal fin in centre of back - Dwarf Sperm Whale (Kogia sima) (Owen, 1866)

52. No beak - 53

52. Beak present - 54

53. Body with distinct black and white patches - Orca (Orcinus orca) (Linnaeus, 1758)

53. Body with darker and lighter areas but not distinct patches - 56

53. Body entirely black or grey - False Killer Whale (Pseudorca crassidens) (Owen, 1846)

54. Flanks without hourglass pattern or stripes - 55

54. Flanks with hourglass pattern - Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis) (Linnaeus, 1758)

54. Flanks striped - Striped Dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) (Meyen, 1833)

54. Flanks entirely grey - Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) (Montagu, 1821)

55. Flippers small and sickle-shaped - Atlantic White-sided Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus) (Gray, 1828)

55. Flippers large and not sickle-shaped - White-beaked Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) (Gray, 1846)

56. Teeth conical - Risso’s Dolphin (Grampus griseus) (Cuvier, 1812)

56. Teeth spade-like - Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) (Linnaeus, 1758)

57. Tail extending up to a half beyond the tail membrane - European Free-tailed Bat (Tadarida teniotis) (Rafinesque, 1814)

57. Tail included completely in the broad tail membrane or except for the last one or two vertebrae - 58

58. Nose-leaf present - 59

58. Nose-leaf absent - 63

59. Connecting process bluntly rounded in profile - 60

59. Connecting process pointed in profile - 61

60. Forearm >54 mm - Greater Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) (Schreber, 1774)

60. Forearm <43 mm - Lesser Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) (Bechstein, 1800)

61. Second phalanx of the fourth finger less than twice as long as the first - Blasius' Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus blasii) (Peters, 1867)

61. Second phalanx of the fourth finger more than twice as long as the first - 62

62. Lancet narrows +/- gradually to tip - Mediterranean Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus euryale) (Blasius, 1853)

62. Lancet abruptly narrowed above the middle to a distinctly linear tip - Mehely's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus mehelyi) (Matschie, 1901)

63. Only one pair of upper incisors - North American Hoary Bat (Aeorestes cinereus) (Palisot de Beauvois, 1796)

63. Two pairs of upper incisors - 64

64. Ears connected at their base by a fold of skin - 65

64. Ears not connected by a fold of skin - 69

65. Ears over 30 mm - 66

65. Ears shorter - Western Barbastelle (Barbastella barbastellus) (Schreber, 1774)

66. Thumb <6.5 mm - 67

66. Thumb <6.5 mm - 68

66. Thumb 6 - 6.5 mm - Sardinian Long-eared Bat (Plecotus sardus) (Mucedda, Kiefer, Pidinchedda and Veith, 2002)

67. Forearm length <38 mm in males, <39 mm in females - Mediterranean Long-eared Bat (Plecotus kolombatovici) (Dulic, 1980)

67. Forearm length >38 mm in males, >39 mm in females - Grey Long-eared Bat (Plecotus austriacus) (Fischer, 1829)

68. Long upright hairs on the whole hind foot and toes - Brown Long-eared Bat (Plecotus auritus) (Linnaeus, 1758)

68. Long upright hairs on the toes only - Mountain Long-eared Bat (Plecotus macrobullaris)

69. Forearm >50 mm - 70

69. Forearm <50 mm - 72

70. Ears >24.5 mm - 71

70. Easts >24.5 mm - Lesser Mouse-eared Bat (Myotis blythii) (Tomes, 1857)

71. Tragus with black spot at tip - Greater Mouse-eared Bat (Myotis myotis) (Borkhausen, 1797)

71. Tragus without black spot at tip - Maghreb Mouse-eared Bat (Myotis punicus) (Felten, Spitzenberger and Storch, 1977)

72. Ears >20 mm - Bechstein's Mouse-eared Bat (Myotis bechsteinii) (Kuhl, 1817)

72. Ears <20 mm - 73

73. Spur very long and curved into an S-shape - Natterer's Mouse-eared Bat (Myotis nattereri) (Kuhl, 1817)

73. Spur straight or only slightly curved - 74

74. Hind foot length is larger than tibia length - 75

74. Hind foot length half or less than half tibia length - 77

75. Forearm >42 mm - Pond Mouse-eared Bat (Myotis dasycneme) (Boie, 1825)

75. Forearm <42 mm - 76

76. Wing membrane inserted before ankle on the lower leg - Long-fingered Mouse-eared Bat (Myotis capaccinii) (Bonaparte, 1837)

76. Wing membrane inserted between the ankle and the middle of the sole of the hind foot - Daubenton's Mouse-eared Bat (Myotis daubentonii) (Kuhl, 1817)

77. Forearm mostly >37 mm - Geoffroy's Mouse-eared Bat (Myotis emarginatus) (Geoffroy, 1806)

77. Forearm mostly <37 mm - Alcathoe Whiskered Mouse-eared Bat (Myotis alcathoe) (von Helversen and Heller, 2001)