Fauna
Simplified schematic of an island's fauna - all its animal species, highlighted in boxes.
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.
Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna".
Paleontologists sometimes refer to a sequence of faunal stages, which is a series of rocks all containing similar fossils.
The name comes from Fauna, a Roman fertility and earth goddess, the Roman god Faunus, and the related forest spirits called Fauns. All three words are cognates of the name of the Greek god Pan, and panis is the Greek equivalent of fauna. Fauna is also the word for a book that catalogues the animals in such a manner. The term was first used by Linnaeus in the title of his 1747 work Fauna Suecica.
Subdivisions of fauna
Australian fauna. This image was likely first published in the first edition (1876–1899) of the Nordisk familjebok.
Infauna
Epifauna
Epifauna, also called epibenthos, are aquatic animals that live on the bottom substratum as opposed to within it, that is, the benthic fauna that live on top of the sediment surface at the seafloor.
Macrofauna
Macrofauna are benthic or soil organisms which are retained on a 0.5mm sieve. Studies in the deep sea define macrofauna as animals retained on a 0.3mm sieve to account for the small size of many of the taxa.
Megafauna
Megafauna are large animals of any particular region or time. For example, Australian megafauna.
Meiofauna
Meiofauna are small benthic invertebrates that live in both marine and fresh water environments. The term Meiofauna loosely defines a group of organisms by their size, larger than microfauna but smaller than macrofauna, rather than a taxonomic grouping. One environment for meiofauna is between grains of damp sand (see Mystacocarida).
In practice these are metazoan animals that can pass unharmed through a 0.5 – 1 mm mesh but will be retained by a 30 – 45 μm mesh,[1] but the exact dimensions will vary from researcher to researcher. Whether an organism passes through a 1 mm mesh also depends upon whether it is alive or dead.
Mesofauna
Mesofauna are macroscopic soil invertebrates such as arthropods, earthworms, and nematodes.
Microfauna
Microfauna are microscopic or very small animals (usually including protozoans and very small animals such as rotifers).
Other
Examples of Fauna in the Olleros district of Huarez,
Peru.
Other terms include avifauna, which means "bird fauna" and piscifauna (or ichthyofauna), which means "fish fauna".
Fauna treatises
Classic faunas
See also
References
- ↑ Fauna of Sandy Beaches
External links
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Fauna of Africa |
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Sovereign
states |
Algeria · Angola · Benin · Botswana · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Cameroon · Cape Verde · Central African Republic · Chad · Comoros · Democratic Republic of the Congo · Republic of the Congo · Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) · Djibouti · Egypt · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Ethiopia · Gabon · The Gambia · Ghana · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Kenya · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya · Madagascar · Malawi · Mali · Mauritania · Mauritius · Morocco · Mozambique · Namibia · Niger · Nigeria · Rwanda · São Tomé and Príncipe · Senegal · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Somalia · South Africa · Sudan · Swaziland · Tanzania · Togo · Tunisia · Uganda · Zambia · Zimbabwe
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States with limited
recognition |
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic · Somaliland
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Dependencies,
autonomies,
other territories |
Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla / Plazas de soberanía (Spain) · Madeira (Portugal) · Mayotte / Réunion (France) · Puntland (Somalia) · Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom) · Southern Sudan (Sudan) · Western Sahara · Zanzibar (Tanzania)
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Fauna of Asia |
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Sovereign
states |
Afghanistan · Armenia1 · Azerbaijan1 · Bahrain · Bangladesh · Bhutan · Brunei · Burma2 · Cambodia · People's Republic of China · Cyprus1 · East Timor3 · Egypt4 · Georgia4 · India · Indonesia · Iran · Iraq · Israel · Japan · Jordan · Kazakhstan4 · North Korea · South Korea · Kuwait · Kyrgyzstan · Laos · Lebanon · Malaysia · Maldives · Mongolia · Nepal · Oman · Pakistan · Philippines · Qatar · Russia4 · Saudi Arabia · Singapore · Sri Lanka · Syria · Tajikistan · Thailand · Turkey4 · Turkmenistan · United Arab Emirates · Uzbekistan · Vietnam · Yemen
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States with limited
recognition |
Abkhazia1 · Nagorno-Karabakh · Northern Cyprus · Palestine · Republic of China5 · South Ossetia1
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Dependencies,
autonomies,
other territories |
Aceh · Adjara1 · Akrotiri and Dhekelia · Altai · British Indian Ocean Territory · Buryatia · Christmas Island · Cocos (Keeling) Islands · Guangxi · Hong Kong · Inner Mongolia · Iraqi Kurdistan · Khakassia · Macau · Nakhchivan · Ningxia · Papua · Sakha Republic · Tibet · Tuva · West Papua · Xinjiang
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| 1 Sometimes included in Europe, depending on the border definitions. 2 Officially known as Myanmar. 3 Sometimes included in Oceania, and also known as Timor-Leste. 4 Transcontinental country. 5 Commonly known as Taiwan. |
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Fauna of Europe |
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Sovereign
states |
Albania · Andorra · Armenia1 · Austria · Azerbaijan1 · Belarus · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus1 · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Georgia1 · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Ireland · Italy · Kazakhstan2 · Latvia · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Macedonia · Malta · Moldova · Monaco · Montenegro · Netherlands · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Russia2 · San Marino · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey2 · Ukraine · United Kingdom (England • Northern Ireland • Scotland • Wales)
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States with limited
recognition |
Abkhazia1 · Kosovo · Nagorno-Karabakh Republic1 · Northern Cyprus1 · South Ossetia1 · Transnistria
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Dependencies,
other territories |
Adjara · Akrotiri and Dhekelia1 · Åland · Azores · Faroe Islands · Gagauzia · Gibraltar · Guernsey · Jan Mayen · Jersey · Madeira · Isle of Man · Nakhchivan1 · Svalbard · Vojvodina
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| 1 Partially or entirely in Asia, depending on the border definitions. 2 Transcontinental country. |
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Fauna of Oceania |
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| Sovereign states |
Australia · Cook Islands · East Timor1 · Fiji · Indonesia1 · Kiribati · Papua New Guinea · Marshall Islands · Federated States of Micronesia · Nauru · New Zealand · Niue · Palau · Samoa · Solomon Islands · Tonga · Tuvalu · Vanuatu
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Dependencies and
other territories |
American Samoa · Christmas Island · Cocos (Keeling) Islands · Easter Island · French Polynesia · Guam · Hawaii · New Caledonia · Norfolk Island · Northern Mariana Islands · Pitcairn Islands · Rotuma · Tokelau · Wallis and Futuna
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| 1 Transcontinental country. |
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Fauna of North America |
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| Sovereign states |
Antigua and Barbuda · Bahamas · Barbados · Belize · Canada · Costa Rica · Cuba · Dominica · Dominican Republic · El Salvador · Grenada · Guatemala · Haiti · Honduras · Jamaica · Mexico · Nicaragua · Panama1 · Saint Kitts and Nevis · Saint Lucia · Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · Trinidad and Tobago1 · United States
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Dependencies and
other territories |
Anguilla · Aruba1 · Bermuda · Bonaire · British Virgin Islands · Cayman Islands · Curaçao · Greenland · Guadeloupe · Martinique · Montserrat · Puerto Rico · Saint Barthélemy · Saint Martin · Saint Pierre and Miquelon · Saba · Sint Eustatius · Sint Maarten · Turks and Caicos Islands · United States Virgin Islands
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| 1 Territories also in or commonly considered to be part of South America. |
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Fauna of South America |
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| Sovereign states |
Argentina · Bolivia · Brazil · Chile · Colombia · Ecuador · Guyana · Panama1 · Paraguay · Peru · Suriname · Trinidad and Tobago1 · Uruguay · Venezuela
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Dependencies and
territories |
Aruba1 / Bonaire1 / Curaçao1 (Netherlands) · Falkland Islands / South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (United Kingdom) 2 · French Guiana (France)
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| 1 Territories also in or commonly considered to be part of North America. 2 Territories also in or commonly considered to be part of Antarctica. |
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