Fauna of Africa

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Male Hyrax

The Fauna of Africa, in its broader sense, is all the

giraffes‚ African buffalo, Blue wildebeest, zebras‚ Thomson's gazelles, Impala, Kudus, East African oryx, Nyala, Waterbucks, Hartebeest, antelope, African fish eagles, Crowned eagles, White-backed vulture, African scops owl, Pygmy falcon, North African ostrich, Grey crowned crane, Saddle-billed stork, Marabou stork, Shoebill, African spoonbill, Black-headed heron, Greater flamingo, Namaqua sandgrouse, African penguins
, and among many others.

Origins and history of African fauna

Whereas the earliest traces of life in fossil record of Africa date back to the earliest times,

Mesozoic era.

The continents Laurasia-Gondwana 200 million years ago

After that, four to six faunal assemblages, the so-called African Faunal Strata (AFSs) can be distinguished. The isolation of Africa was broken intermittently by discontinuous "filter routes" that linked it to some other Gondwanan continents (Madagascar, South America, and perhaps India), but mainly to Laurasia. Interchanges with Gondwana were rare and mainly "out-of-Africa" dispersals, whereas interchanges with Laurasia were numerous and bidirectional, although mainly from Laurasia to Africa. Despite these connections, isolation resulted in remarkable absences, poor diversity, and emergence of endemic taxa in Africa.[3] Madagascar separated from continental Africa during the break-up of Gondwanaland early in the Cretaceous, but was probably connected to the mainland again in the Eocene.[4]

The first Neogene faunal interchange took place in the Middle Miocene (the introduction of Myocricetodontinae, Democricetodontinae, and Dendromurinae).[5] A major terrestrial faunal exchange between North Africa and Europe began at about 6.1 Ma, some 0.4 Myr before the beginning of the Messinian salinity crisis[6](for example introduction of Murinae, immigrants from southern Asia)[7]

During the early

co-evolution of large animals alongside early humans provided enough time for them to develop effective defenses.[10] Its situation in the tropics spared it also from Pleistocene glaciations and the climate has not changed much.[11]

Invertebrates

Giant East African Snail

There are large gaps in human knowledge about African invertebrates. East Africa has a rich coral fauna

Subulinidae, Rhytididae
). 156 tardigrade species have been found,[21][22] and about 8000 species of arachnids. The African millipede Archispirostreptus gigas is one of the largest in the world. 20 genera of freshwater crabs are present.[23]

The soil animal communities tropical Africa are poorly known. A few ecological studies have been undertaken on macrofauna, mainly in West Africa.[24] Earthworms are being extensively studied in West and South Africa.[25][26]

Insects

A termite mound in Botswana

Approximately 100,000 species of insects have been described from

Mantophasmatodea
.

About 875 African species of dragonflies have been recorded.[30]

The migratory locust and desert locust have been serious threats to African economies and human welfare.

Africa has the biggest number of termite genera of all continents,[31] and over 1,000 termite species.

Of

Diptera, the number of described African species is about 17,000.[32] Natalimyzidae, a new family of acalyptrate flies has been recently described from South Africa.[33] Anopheles gambiae, Aedes aegypti and Tsetse fly
are important vectors of diseases. 1600 species of bees[34] and 2000 species of ants[35] among other Hymenopterans are known from Africa.

There live also 3,607 species of

centaurus beetle, manticora tiger beetles and enormous Goliath beetles
.

Butterflies

citrus swallowtail from Tanzania

Palaearctic region
and has a different species assemblage.

endemic to the Afrotropics and includes species rich genera such as Ornipholidotos, Liptenara, Pentila, Baliochila, Hypophytala, Teriomima, Deloneura and Mimacraea. The Miletinae are mostly African, notably Lachnocnema. Other endemic lycaenids include the genus Alaena. Endemic Nymphalidae include Euphaedra, Bebearia, Heteropsis, Precis, Pseudacraea, Bicyclus and Euxanthe. Endemic Pieridae include Pseudopontia paradoxa and Mylothris. Endemic skippers include Sarangesaand Kedestes. The highest species diversity is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
, home to 2,040 species 181 of which are endemic.

Fish

Latimeria, a living member of a long-thought-extinct group of fish

Africa is the richest continent of

freshwater fish, with about 3000 species.[37][38] The East African Great Lakes (Victoria, Malawi, and Tanganyika) are the center of biodiversity of many fish, especially cichlids (they harbor more than two-thirds of the estimated 2000 species in the family).[39] The West African coastal rivers region covers only a fraction of West Africa, but harbours 322 of West Africa's fish species, with 247 being restricted to this area and 129 being restricted to even smaller ranges. The central river's fauna comprises 194 fish species, with 119 endemics and only 33 restricted to small areas.[40] The marine diversity is greatest near the Indian Ocean shore with about 2000 species.[41]

Characteristic to African fauna are

Malapteruridae, Mochokidae, Schilbeidae), Osmeriformes (Galaxiidae), Cyprinodontiformes (Aplocheilidae, Poeciliidae) and Cypriniformes (Labeobarbus, Pseudobarbus, Tanakia
and others).

Amphibians

Endemic to Africa are the families

Pseudhymenochirus, Xenopus
). The 2002–2004 'Global Amphibian Assessment' by
IUCN, Conservation International and NatureServe revealed that for only about 50% of the Afrotropical amphibians, there is least concern about their conservation status; approximately 130 species are endangered, about one-fourth of which are at a critical stage. Almost all of the amphibians of Madagascar (238 species[42]) are endemic to that region.[43] The West African goliath frog
is the largest frog species in the world.

Reptiles

Western green mamba, a venomous snake

The center of

Poecilopholis, Dasypeltis etc.), the pythonids (Python), typhlopids (Typhlops) and leptotyphlopids (Leptotyphlops, Rhinoleptus
).

Of the

plated lizards and some monitor lizards are common. There are 12 genera and 58 species of African amphisbaenians (e.g. Chirindia, Zygaspis, Monopeltis, Dalophia).[44]

Several genera of

slender-snouted crocodile, and 1-3 species of dwarf crocodile
) are also present.

Birds

The grey parrot is native to West-African rainforests.

There live (temporarily or permanently) more than 2600 bird species in Africa (about 1500 of them passerines).[45] Some 114 of them are threatened species.[46]

The Afrotropic has various endemic

African barbets, African piculet, ground woodpecker, Dendropicos and Campethera. The birds of prey include the buzzards, harriers, Old World vultures, bateleur, Circaetus, Melierax and others. Trogons are represented by one genus (Apaloderma). African penguin is the only penguin species. Madagascar was once home to the now extinct elephant birds
.

Africa is home to numerous

Pitta, Uraeginthus, pied crow, white-necked raven, thick-billed raven, Cape crow and others). The red-billed quelea
is the most abundant bird species in the world.

Of the 589 species of birds (excluding seabirds) that breed in the

Palaearctic (temperate Europe and Asia), 40% spend the winter elsewhere. Of those species that leave for the winter, 98% travel south to Africa.[47]

See also:
Endemic birds of southern Africa

Mammals

A herd of African elephants

More than 1100 mammal species live in Africa.[48] Africa has three endemic orders of mammals, the

superorder), which includes the exclusively African orders, as well as others believed to be of African origin.[49] The East African plains
are well known for their diversity of large mammals.

African

Pronolagus
. Among the marine mammals there are several species of
speckle-throated otter, several mongooses, foxes and civets. The family Eupleridae is restricted to Madagascar
.

Vervet Monkey in Uganda
Vervet Monkey in Uganda

The African list of

true gazelles, hartebeest, wildebeest, dibatag, eland, Tragelaphus, Hippotragus, Neotragus, Raphicerus, Damaliscus). Other even-toed ungulates include giraffes, okapis, hippopotamuses, warthogs, giant forest hogs, red river hogs and bushpigs. Odd-toed ungulates are represented by three species of zebras, African wild ass, black and white rhinoceros. The biggest African mammal is the African bush elephant, the second largest being its smaller counterpart, the African forest elephant. Four species of pangolins can be found in Africa.[50]

African fauna contains 216 species of

Patas monkeys and talapoins. Lemurs and aye-aye are characteristic of Madagascar. See also Lists of mammals of Africa
.

See also

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External links

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