Threatened and Endangered: Status of the Allegheny Woodrat (Neotoma magister) in State Listings

The Allegheny woodrat (Neotoma magister) is known historically from fifteen states (AL, CT, GA, IN, KY, MD, MA, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TN, VA, WV). This table gives internet addresses, state ranking, and state status for the Allegheny woodrat in these states as of 2004, with some additional updates. The information on status designation and state rank comes directly from the internet site information.

An explanation of ranking systems follows the table.

About the name of this woodrat: For scientific name, most states (but not all) use Neotoma magister, in accordance with recent DNA studies that set this species apart from Neotoma floridana. Because the common name Eastern woodrat is already widely used for Neotoma floridana, it is logical to use the common name Allegheny woodrat for "our" species, and that is what most states now do. In addition to the Allegheny woodrat, two other woodrat entities are noted by some of these states: Neotoma floridana haematoreia and Neotoma floridana illinoensis. Those are subspecies of the Eastern woodrat, and are distinct from the woodrat in this table.

.	ALLEGHENY WOODRAT STATUS SOURCES	State	State
State	Internet site	Status	Rank
AL	ftp://ftp.abi.org/pub/nhp/us/al/mammals.html	No special designation	S3
CT	http://dep.state.ct.us/cgnhs/nddb/mammals.htm	Extirpated (Special Concern)
GA	http://georgiawildlife.dnr.state.ga.us/content/displaycontent.asp?txtDocument=89	(Not listed - presumably secure)
IN	http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/endangered/mammal.htm	Endangered
KY	http://www.naturepreserves.ky.gov/inforesources/reports_pubs.htm	Not listed -(secure)	S3S4
MA	http://www.state.ma.us/dfwele/dfw/nhesp/nhrare.htm	(Extirpated -not listed)
MD	http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/rtea.html	Endangered	S1
NC	ftp://ftp.abi.org/pub/nhp/us/nc/animals.txt	Species of Concern	S1S2
NJ	http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/tandespp.htm	Endangered	SHistorical
NY	http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/heritage/animals.htm	Endangered (extirpated)	SH
OH	http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/wildlife/pdf/pub316.pdf	Endangered
PA	http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/PGC/endangered/index.htm	Threatened
TN	http://www.state.tn.us/environment/nh/tnanimal.html	"in need of management"	S3
VA	http://www.dcr.state.va.us/dnh/rare.htm	Nat.Heritage Vertebrate Watchlist	S3
WV	http://www.dnr.state.wv.us/wvwildlife/species_checklist.htm	"Rare"	S3

NatureServe (formerly Association for Biodiversity Information) has comprehensive lists of animal species of concern and state programs at: http://www.natureserve.org/

STATUS RANKS:

The Allegheny woodrat (Neotoma magister) has a global ranking of G3G4 (G3=globally rare or uncommon, G4=globally widespread and apparently secure). It is not listed as a federal threatened or endangered species, because its status in several states is considered secure. State rankings in the table above are: SRANK:S1=critically imperiled in state, S2=imperiled in state, S3=rare or uncommon in state, S4=widespread and apparently secure in state, S5=widespread and secure in state. SH = of historical occurrence only (ie extirpated). Notice that this woodrat is already extirpated in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.