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ix Indiana’s State Mammal—a Proposal Indiana has a state bird—the cardinal—and a state tree—the tulip tree—but no state mammal. We therefore propose for the state mammal the Indiana myotis. The Indiana myotis was one of only two species of mammal originally described from Indiana. The other is the prairie vole, described by Wagner from New Harmony, Indiana, in 1842. The Indiana myotis was described from Wyandotte Cave by Gerritt S. Miller and Grover M. Allen in 1928. It is listed as endangered because its rangewide population has gone from about 880,000 in 1960 to about 380,000 today. Kentucky and Missouri used to have the largest populations, but the population has been decreasing for some time in those states, until today, when Indiana has more Indiana myotis than any other state. Therefore, because it was described from Indiana, because it has its largest population here, and because it takes its name from our state, we propose that the Indiana myotis be named the state mammal. Mammals.indb 9 3/31/10 3:08 PM Mammals.indb 10 3/31/10 3:08 PM ...

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