The paddlefish is an ancient, mostly cartilaginous fish with a smooth skin. It is a close relative of sturgeons. Although it is sometimes called a spoonbill or spoonbill cat, it is not closely related to catfish. Most species of paddlefish are now extinct, and fossil paddlefish from 60 million years ago have been found in the Missouri River basin near Fort Peck Reservoir, Montana (AFS website 2003).
Montana is home to one of the few remaining self-sustaining populations of paddlefish, and harbors the largest individual fish as well. Specimens have been taken weighing up to 150 pounds.
Amphibians are ectothermic vertebrate animals that live on both land and in water, lack scales, and produce external gelatinous eggs requiring moist conditions. Montana is home to breeding populations of almost 15 amphibian species.
Birds are endothermic vertebrate animals that possess feathers and produce external eggs. Montana is home to breeding populations of over 250 bird species. In addition, over 170 bird species visit our state during their spring and fall migration journeys.
Fish are aquatic, ectothermic animals with backbones and have fins and gills throughout life. Montana is home to breeding populations of over 85 fish species.
Invertebrates are animal species without backbones. Montana is home to breeding populations of around 10,000 invertebrates, including over 180 mollusk species and around 30 crustaceans.
Mammals are endothermic vertebrate animals that possess hair and mammary glands for the production of milk for feeding offspring. Montana is home to breeding populations of over 110 mammal species.
Reptiles are ectothermic vertebrate animals that possess scales and produce external amniotic eggs with membrane and yolk sac. 17 native reptile species have been confirmed as being present in Montana.
A monitoring project of military proportions produces an elusive population number and other critical information on northwestern Montana bears. Grizzly bears in the NCDE were listed as threatened in 1975 under the Endangered Species Act. Thirty years later, officials with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) needed to know the population size and its upward or downward trend over time to determine if the bear was ready to be considered for delisting. [Full Story]
Insects, earthworms, and grubs beware: Shrews are hungry—all the time. If I took a survey asking which Montana mammal was the most ferocious, I suspect a majority would say the grizzly bear. They’d be wrong. Pound-for-pound (or in this case, gram-for-gram), shrews make grizzlies look like pet llamas. A shrew is almost always hunting. And each day it kills its entire weight in prey. That would be like a grizzly killing and eating a cow elk or two mule deer bucks every 24 hours.
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Biologists and volunteers track the population fluctuations of Montana’s birds of prey. The survey began in 1977 in response to alarming declines in raptor populations across Montana. At the time, it was widely known that bald eagle, peregrine falcon, and prairie falcon numbers had dropped drastically. But there was scant information on Montana’s other birds of prey, such as the red-tailed hawk. [Full Story]
Ordinary Montanans with boundless patience and zeal dedicate themselves to an ancient sport once practiced by kings, sheiks, and emperors. Falconry is a sport that predates Montana and the rest of the United States by thousands of years. It was first practiced in Mesopotamia, now Iraq, as early as 2000 bc and later developed in Persia, India, China, Korea, and Japan. [Full Story]
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