List of species described by the Lewis and Clark Expedition

The Lewis and Clark Expedition described 178 new plants and 122 species and subspecies of animals.

Animals

Mammals

*Discovered:
** Black-tailed Dog ("Cynomys ludovicianus")
** Bushy-tailed Woodrat ("Neotoma cinerea")
** Grizzly Bear ("Ursus arctos horribilis" or "Ursus ferox")
** Mule Deer ("Odocoileus hemionus")
** Pronghorn ("Antilocapra americana")
** Swift Fox ("Vulpes velox")
** white-tailed Jackrabbit ("Lepus townsendii")
*Described:
** American Badger ("Taxidea taxus")
** Beaver ("Castor canadensis")
** Bighorn sheep ("Ovis canadensis auduboni")
** Bison ("Bison bison")
** Black Bear ("Ursus americanus")
** Columbian Ground Squirrel ("Spermophilus columbianus")
** Coyote ("Canis latrans")
** Eastern Cottontail ("Sylvilagus floridanus")
** Eastern Fox Squirrel ("Sciurus niger")
** Elk ("Cervus canadensis")
** Eastern Gray Squirrel ("Sciurus carolinensis")
** Gay Wolf ("Canis lupus" or "Canis nubilis")
** Long-tailed Weasel ("Mustela frenata")
** Muskrat ("Fiber zibethicus")
** Mountain Lion ("Puma concolor")
** Northern Pocket Gopher ("Thomomys talpoides")
** Northern River Otter ("Lontra canadensis")
** Northern Short-tailed Shrew ("Blarina brevicauda")
** Pacific-slope Black-tailed Deer
** Porcupine ("Erethizon dorsatum")
** Red Fox ("Vulpes vulpes")
** Richardson's Ground Squirrel or Flickertail ("Spermophilus richardsonii")
** Striped Skunk ("Mephitis mephitis")
** Thirteen-lined ground squirrel ("Spermophilus tridecemlineatus")
** White-tailed deer ("Odocoileus virginianus")

Birds

*Discovered:
** Black-billed Magpie ("Pica hudsonia")
** Clark's Nutcracker ("Nucifraga columbiana")
** Common Poorwill ("Phalaenoptilus nuttallii")
** Greater Sage-grouse ("Centrocercus urophasianus")
** Interior Least Tern ("Sterna antillarum athalassos")
** Lewis's Woodpecker ("Melanerpes lewis")
** McCown's Longspur ("Calcarius mccownii")
** Trumpeter Swan ("Cygnus buccinator")
*Described:
** American Avocet ("Recurvirostra americana")
** American Bittern ("Botaurus lentiginosus")
** American Crow ("Corvus brachyrhynchos")
** American Goldfinch ("Carduelis tristis")
** American Kestrel ("Falco sparverius")
** American Robin ("Turdus migratorius")
** American White Pelican ("Pelecanus erythrorhynchos")
** Bald Eagle ("Haliaeetus leucocephalus")
** Bank Swallow ("Riparia riparia")
** Belted Kingfisher ("Ceryle alcyon")
** Black-bellied Plover ("Pluvialis squatarola")
** Blue Grouse ("Dendragapus obscurus")
** Blue Jay ("Cyanocitta cristata")
** Brewer's Blackbird ("Euphagus cyanocephalus")
** Brown-headed Cowbird ("Molothrus ater")
** Canada Goose ("Branta canadensis")
** Carolina Parakeet ("Conuropsis carolinensis")
** Cedar Waxwing ("Bombycilla cedrorum")
** Cliff Swallow ("Hirundo pyrrhonota" or "Petrochelidon pyrrhonota")
** Common Nighthawk ("Chordeiles minor")
** Common Raven ("Corvus corax")
** Eastern Kingbird ("Tyrannus tyrannus")
** Great Blue Heron ("Ardea herodias")
** Great Egret ("Ardea alba")
** Greater Prairie-chicken ("Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus")
** Golden eagle ("Aquila chrysaetos")
** Great Horned Owl ("Bubo virginianus")
** Hairy Woodpecker ("Picoides villosus")
** Horned Lark ("Eremophila alpestris")
** Killdeer ("Charadrius vociferus")
** Lark sparrow ("Chondestes grammacus")
** Loggerhead Shrike ("Lanius ludovicianus")
** Long-billed Curlew ("Numenius americanus")
** Mallard ("Anas platyrhynchos")
** Merganser ("Mergus serrator")
** Mourning Dove ("Zenaida macroura")
** Northern Flicker ("Colaptes auratus")
** Northern Harrier ("Circus cyaneus") - tentative
** Osprey ("Pandion haliaetus")
** Passenger Pigeon ("Ectopistes migratorius")
** Pinyon jay ("Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus")
** Piping plover ("Charadrius melodus")
** Plains Sharp-tailed grouse ("Tympanuchus phasianellus jamesi")
** Red-headed Woodpecker ("Melanerpes erythrocephalus")
** Red-tailed Hawk ("Buteo jamaicensis")
** Red-winged Blackbird ("Agelaius phoeniceus")
** Ruffed Grouse ("Bonasa umbellus")
** Sandhill Crane ("Grus canadensis")
** Snow Goose ("Chen caerulescens")
** Sprague's Pipit ("Anthus spragueii")
** Upland Sandpiper ("Bartramia longicauda")
** Western Juniper Sparrow ("")
** Western meadowlark ("Sturnella neglecta")
** Whip-poor-will ("Caprimulgus vociferus")
** Whooping crane ("Grus americana")
** Wild Turkey ("Meleagris gallopavo")
** Willet ("Catoptrophorus semipalmatus")
** Wood Duck ("Aix sponsa")

Reptiles

*Discovered:
** Western rattlesnake ("Crotalus viridis")
** Western hognose snake ("Heterodon nasicus")
*Described:
** Bullsnake ("Pituophis catenifer")
** Spiny Softshell Turtle ("Apalone spinifera")
** Western Garter Snake ("Thamnophis elegans vagrans")

Fish

*Discovered:
** Blue catfish ("Ictalurus furcatus")
** Channel catfish ("Ictalurus punctatus")
** Cutthroat trout ("Salmo clarki" or "Onchorhynchus clarki")
** Goldeye ("Hiodon alosoides")
** Mountain sucker ("Prosopium williamsoni")
*Described:
** Common Northern Sucker ("Catastomus catostomus")
** Sauger ("Stizostedion canadensis")

Plants

*Discovered:
** Black greasewood ("Sarcobatus vermiculatus")
** Blue Flax ("Linum lewisii")
** Buffaloberry ("Shepherdia argentea")
** Curly-top gumweed ("Grindelia squarrosa")
** Fringed sagebrush ("Artemisia ludoviciana")
** Gumbo evening primrose ("Oenothera caespitosa")
** Indian tobacco ("Nicotiana quadrivalvus")
** Lanceleaf sage ("Salvia reflexa")
** Red false mallow ("Sphaeralcea coccinea")
** Shadscale ("Atriplex canescens")
** Silver-leaf Scurfpea ("Psoralea argophylla" or "Pediomelum argophylla")
** Snow-on-the-mountain ("Euphorbia marginata")
** White Milkwort ("Polygala alba")
** Wild Alfalfa ("Psoralidium tenuiflora" or "Psoralea tenuiflora")
*Described:
** Antelope bush ("Purshia tridentata")
** Aromatic Aster ("Aster oblongifolius")
** Aromatic Sumac aka Squaw bush ("Rhus aromatica")
** Bearberry aka Kinnikinnick ("Arctostaphylos uva-ursi")
** Bur Oak ("Quercus macrocarpa")
** Broom Snakeweed ("Gutierrezia sarothrae")
** Canada Milk-vetch ("Astragalus canadensis")
** Common Horsetail, aka Scouring rush ("Equisetum arvense")
** Common Juniper ("Juniperus communis")
** Common Monkey-flower ("Mimulus guttatus")
** Creeping Juniper ("Juniperus horizontalis")
** Dwarf Sagebrush ("Artemisia cana")
** Eastern Cottonwood ("Populus deltoides")
** False Indigo ("Amorpha fruticosa")
** Fire-on-the-Mountain ("Euphorbia cyathophora")
** Golden currant ("Ribes aureum")
** Large-flowered Clammyweed ("Polanisia dodecandra trachysperma")
** Long-leaved Sagebrush aka Mugwort ("Artemisia longifolia")
** Meadow Anemone ("Anemone canadensis")
** Missouri milk-vetch ("Astragalus missouriensis")
** Moundscale ("Atriplex gardneri")
** Needle-and-thread Grass aka Porcupine Grass ("Stipa comata")
** Pasture sagewort ("Artemisia frigida")
** Pin Cherry ("Prunus pennsylvanica")
** Ponderosa Pine ("Pinus ponderosa")
** Purple Coneflower ("Echinacea angustifolia")
** Purple Prairie-clover ("Petalostemon purpurea" or "Dalea purpurea")
** Rabbitbrush ("Ericameria nauseosa"; formerly "Chrysothamnus nauseosus")
** Raccoon Grape ("Ampelopsis cordata")
** Rigid Goldenrod ("Solidago rigida")
** Rocky Mountain Beeplant ("Cleome serrulata")
** Rough Gayfeather aka Large Button Snakeroot ("Liatris aspera")
** Silky Wormwood ("Artemisia dracunculus")
** Spiny Goldenweed ("Machaeranthera pinnatifida" or "Haplopappus spinulosus")
** Thick-spike Gayfeather aka Prairie Button Snakeroot ("Liatris pycnostachya")
** Western Red Cedar aka Rocky Mountain Juniper ("Juniperus scopulorum")
** Wild Four-o'clock ("Mirabilis nyctaginea")
** Wild Rice ("Zizania palustris")
** Wild Rose ("Rosa arkansana")

References

* [http://libtextcenter.unl.edu/examples/servlet/transform/tamino/Library/lewisandclarkjournals Lewis and Clark on the Great Plains: A Natural History] , by Paul A. Johnsgard
* "Plants of the Lewis and Clark Expedition", H. Wayne Phillips, 2003
* "Lewis and Clark: Pioneering Naturalists", Paul R. Cutright, 1969
* "Birds of the Lewis and Clark journals" -- "We Proceeded On (Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation)" 10 (2-3): 17-22., V.C. Holmgren, 1984