Fauna of Asia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Fauna of Asia is all the animals living in Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

and its surrounding seas and islands. Since there is no natural biogeographic boundary in the west between Europe and Asia, the term "fauna of Asia" is somewhat elusive. Asia is the eastern part of the Palearctic

Palearctic

The Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight ecozones dividing the Earth's surface.Physically, the Palearctic is the largest ecozone...

ecozone

Ecozone

An ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of the Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms.Ecozones delineate large areas of the Earth's surface within which organisms have been evolving in relative isolation over long periods of time, separated from...

(which in turn is part of the Holarctic

Holarctic

The Holarctic ecozone refers to the habitats found throughout the northern continents of the world as a whole. This region is divided into the Palearctic, consisting of Northern Africa and all of Eurasia, with the exception of Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, and the Nearctic,...

), and its South-Eastern part belongs to the Indomalaya ecozone (previously called the Oriental region). Asia shows a notable diversity of habitats, with significant variations in rainfall, altitude, topography, temperature and geological history, which is reflected in its richness of animal life.

Origins of Asian Fauna

The formation of the Asian fauna began in the Mesozoic

Mesozoic

The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...

with the splitting of Laurasia

Laurasia

In paleogeography, Laurasia was the northernmost of two supercontinents that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent from approximately...

n supercontinent. Asia blends elements from the both ancient supercontinents of Laurasia and Gondwana

Gondwana

In paleogeography, Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland, was the southernmost of two supercontinents that later became parts of the Pangaea supercontinent. It existed from approximately 510 to 180 million years ago . Gondwana is believed to have sutured between ca. 570 and 510 Mya,...

. Gondwanian elements were introduced from Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

and by India, which detached from Gondwana approximately 90 MYA, carrying its Gondwana-derived flora and fauna northward. Glaciation during the most recent ice age

Ice age

An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...

and the immigration of man affected the distribution of Asian fauna (see also Sahara pump theory

Sahara pump theory

The Sahara pump theory is a hypothesis that explains how flora and fauna migrated between Eurasia and Africa via a Levantine land bridge. The theory observes that extended periods of abundant rainfall lasting many thousands of years in Africa are associated with a "wet Sahara" phase, during which...

).
Eurasia and North America were many times connected by the Bering land bridge

Bering land bridge

The Bering land bridge was a land bridge roughly 1,000 miles wide at its greatest extent, which joined present-day Alaska and eastern Siberia at various times during the Pleistocene ice ages. Like most of Siberia and all of Manchuria, Beringia was not glaciated because snowfall was extremely light...

, and have very similar mammal

Mammal

Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

and bird faunas, with many Eurasian species having moved into North America, and fewer North American species having moved into Eurasia (many zoologists consider the Palearctic and Nearctic to be a single Holarctic

Holarctic

ecozone). See also List of extinct animals of Asia.

Zoogeographic regions

European-Siberian region

The boreal and temperate European-Siberian region is the Palearctic's largest region, which transitions from tundra

Tundra

In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...

in the northern reaches of Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

and Scandinavia

Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

to the vast taiga

Taiga

Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...

, the boreal coniferous forests which run across the continent. Liquid water is unavailable for much of the winter, and plants and many of the animals ungergo a winter dormancy in which metabolism is very slow. South of the taiga are a belt of temperate broadleaf and mixed forests

Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests

Mixed forests are a temperate and humid biome. The typical structure of these forests includes four layers. The uppermost layer is the canopy composed of tall mature trees ranging from 33 to 66 m high. Below the canopy is the three-layered, shade-tolerant understory that is roughly 9 to...

and temperate coniferous forests

Temperate coniferous forests

Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial biome found in temperate regions of the world with warm summers and cool winters and adequate rainfall to sustain a forest. In most temperate coniferous forests, evergreen conifers predominate, while some are a mix of conifers and broadleaf evergreen...

. This vast region is characterized by many shared plant and animal species. Some characteristic mammals are Siberian Roe Deer

Siberian Roe Deer

Capreolus pygargus, also known as the Siberian roe deer or eastern roe deer, is a species of roe deer found in northeastern Asia. In addition to Siberia and Mongolia, it is found in Kazakhstan, the Tian Shan Mountains, Eastern Tibet, the Korean peninsula, and northeastern China...

, Gray Wolf

Gray Wolf

The gray wolf , also known as the wolf, is the largest extant wild member of the Canidae family...

, Moose

Moose

The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...

and Wolverine

Wolverine

The wolverine, pronounced , Gulo gulo , also referred to as glutton, carcajou, skunk bear, or quickhatch, is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae . It is a stocky and muscular carnivore, more closely resembling a small bear than other mustelids...

Mediterranean Basin

The lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

in s western Asia are home to the Mediterranean basin

Mediterranean Basin

In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation...

ecoregions, which together constitute world's largest and most diverse mediterranean climate

Mediterranean climate

A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...

region of the world, with generally mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. The Mediterranean basin's mosaic of Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub

Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub

Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, defined by the World Wildlife Fund, characterized by dry summers and rainy winters. Summers are typically hot in low-lying inland locations but can be cool near some seas, as near San Francisco, which have a sea of cool waters...

are home to 13,000 endemic

Endemic (ecology)

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...

species. The Mediterranean basin is also one of the world's most endangered biogeographic regions; only 4% of the region's original vegetation remains, and human activities, including overgrazing, deforestation

Deforestation

Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....

, and conversion of lands for pasture, agriculture, or urbanization, have degraded much of the region. Conservation International

Conservation International

Conservation International is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, which seeks to ensure the health of humanity by protecting Earth's ecosystems and biodiversity. CI’s work focuses on six key initiatives that affect human well-being: climate, food security, freshwater...

has designated the Mediterranean basin as one of the world's biodiversity hotspot

Biodiversity hotspot

A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with a significant reservoir of biodiversity that is under threat from humans.The concept of biodiversity hotspots was originated by Norman Myers in two articles in “The Environmentalist” , revised after thorough analysis by Myers and others in...

Middle-East deserts

A great belt of deserts

Horse latitudes

Horse Latitudes or Subtropical High are subtropical latitudes between 30 and 35 degrees both north and south. This region, under a ridge of high pressure called the subtropical high, is an area which receives little precipitation and has variable winds mixed with calm.The consistently warm, dry...

, including the Arabian desert

Arabian Desert

The Arabian Desert is a vast desert wilderness stretching from Yemen to the Persian Gulf and Oman to Jordan and Iraq. It occupies most of the Arabian Peninsula, with an area of...

, separates the Palearctic, Afrotropic

Afrotropic

The Afrotropic is one of the Earth's eight ecozones. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the southern and eastern fringes of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly...

and true Asian ecoregions. This scheme includes these desert ecoregions in the palearctic ecozone; other biogeographers identify the ecozone boundary as the transition zone between the desert ecoregions and the Mediterranean basin ecoregions to the north, which places the deserts in the Afrotropic, while others place the boundary through the middle of the desert. Gazelle

Gazelle

A gazelle is any of many antelope species in the genus Gazella, or formerly considered to belong to it. Six species are included in two genera, Eudorcas and Nanger, which were formerly considered subgenera...

s, oryx

Oryx

Oryx is one of four large antelope species of the genus Oryx. Three of the species are native to arid parts of Africa, with a fourth native to the Arabian Peninsula. Their pelage is pale with contrasing dark markings in the face and on the legs, and their long horns are almost straight...

, sand cat

Sand Cat

The sand cat , also referred to as the "sand dune cat", is a small wild cat distributed over African and Asian deserts. The Sand cat lives in arid areas that are too hot and dry even for the African Wildcat: the Sahara, the Arabian Desert, and the deserts of Iran and...

s, and spiny-tailed lizards are some of the desert-desert-adapted species that survive in this extreme environment. Many species, such as the striped hyena

Striped Hyena

The Striped Hyena is a species of true hyena native to North and East Africa, the Caucasus, the Middle East, Middle and Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent...

, jackal

Jackal

Although the word jackal has been historically used to refer to many small- to medium-sized species of the wolf genus of mammals, Canis, today it most properly and commonly refers to three species: the black-backed jackal and the side-striped jackal of sub-Saharan Africa, and the golden jackal of...

and honey badger have become extinct in this area due to hunting

Hunting

Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...

, human encroachment and habitat destruction

Habitat destruction

Habitat destruction is the process in which natural habitat is rendered functionally unable to support the species present. In this process, the organisms that previously used the site are displaced or destroyed, reducing biodiversity. Habitat destruction by human activity mainly for the purpose of...

. Other species have been successfully re-introduced, such as the endangered Arabian oryx

Arabian Oryx

The Arabian Oryx or White Oryx is a medium sized antelope with a distinct shoulder hump, long straight horns, and a tufted tail. It is a bovid, and the smallest member of Oryx genus, native to desert and steppe areas of the Arabian peninsula...

and the sand gazelle.

Western and Central Asia

The Caucasus

Caucasus

The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...

mountains, which run between the Black Sea

Black Sea

The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

and the Caspian Sea

Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...

, are a particularly rich mix of coniferous, broadleaf, and mixed forests, and include the temperate rain forest

Temperate rain forest

Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive high rainfall.-Definition:For temperate rain forests of North America, Alaback's definition is widely recognized:-Global distribution:...

s of the Euxine-Colchic deciduous forests

Euxine-Colchic deciduous forests

The Euxine-Colchic deciduous forests ecoregion, in the Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Biome, is located along the southern shore of the Black Sea...

ecoregion.

Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

and the Iranian plateau

Iranian plateau

The Iranian plateau, or Iranic plateau, is a geological formation in Southwest Asia. It is the part of the Eurasian Plate wedged between the Arabian and Indian plates, situated between the Zagros mountains to the west, the Caspian Sea and the Kopet Dag to the north, the Hormuz Strait and Persian...

are home to dry steppe

Steppe

In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...

grasslands and desert

Desert

A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...

basins, with montane forests, woodlands, and grasslands in the region's high mountains and plateaux. In southern Asia the boundary of the Palearctic is largely altitudinal. The middle altitude foothills of the Himalaya between about 2000-2500 m form the boundary between the Palearctic and Indomalaya

Indomalaya

The Indomalaya ecozone is one of the eight ecozones that cover the planet's land surface. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia....

ecoregions.

East Asia

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

and Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

are more humid and temperate than adjacent Siberia and Central Asia, and are home to rich temperate coniferous, broadleaf, and mixed forests, which are now mostly limited to mountainous areas, as the densely populated lowlands and river basins have been converted to intensive agricultural and urban use. East Asia was not much affected by glaciation in the ice age

Ice age

s. In the subtropical southern parts of China and Japan, the Palearctic temperate forests transition to the subtropical and tropical forests of Indomalaya

Indomalaya

The Indomalaya ecozone is one of the eight ecozones that cover the planet's land surface. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia....

, creating a rich and diverse mix of plant and animal species. The mountains of southwest China

Mountains of Southwest China

The Mountains of Southwest China is a biodiversity hotspot designated by Conservation International which includes several temperate coniferous forests in southwestern China, which lie in the river valleys on the southeastern corner of the Tibetan plateau, between the alpine scrublands and steppes...

are also designated as a biodiversity hotspot

Biodiversity hotspot

, the Himalayas containing for example about 8% of the world’s bird species. In Southeastern Asia, high mountain range

Mountain range

A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...

s form tongues of Palearctic flora and fauna in northern Myanmar

Myanmar

Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

and southern China

China

. Isolated small outposts (sky island

Sky island

Sky islands are mountains that are isolated by surrounding lowlands of a dramatically different environment, a situation which, in combination with the altitudinal zonation of ecosystems, has significant implications for natural habitats. Endemism, vertical migration, and relict populations are...

s) occur as far south as central Myanmar

Myanmar

, northernmost Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

and the high mountains of Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

Indian Subcontinent

The Indian Subcontinent bioregion covers most of India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

, Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

, Bhutan

Bhutan

Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...

, and Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

. The Hindu Kush

Hindu Kush

The Hindu Kush is an mountain range that stretches between central Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. The highest point in the Hindu Kush is Tirich Mir in the Chitral region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.It is the westernmost extension of the Pamir Mountains, the Karakoram Range, and is a...

, Karakoram

Karakoram

The Karakoram, or Karakorum , is a large mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, India and China, located in the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan , Ladakh , and Xinjiang region,...

, Himalaya, and Patkai

Patkai

The Pat-kai meaning to Cut Chicken in Tai Ahom language are the hills on India's North Eastern border with Burma. They were created by the same tectonic processes that resulted in the formation of the Himalayain the Mesozoic . They are not as rugged as the Himalayas and its peaks are much lower...

ranges bound the bioregion on the northwest, north, and northeast; these ranges were formed by the collision of the northward-drifting Indian subcontinent with Asia beginning 45 million years ago. The Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and Himalaya are a major biogeographic boundary between the subtropical and tropical fauna of the Indian subcontinent and the temperate-climate Palearctic

Palearctic

The Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight ecozones dividing the Earth's surface.Physically, the Palearctic is the largest ecozone...

ecozone. The Western Ghats

Western Ghats

The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...

and Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

are important biodiversity hotspots.

Indochina

The Indochina bioregion includes most of mainland Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

, including Myanmar

Myanmar

, Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, Laos

Laos

Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...

, Vietnam

Vietnam

, and Cambodia

Cambodia

Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

, as well as the subtropical forests of southern China

China

. It covers the richest part of the Indomalaya ecozone, with dominant biomes of tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests , also known as tropical moist forests, are a tropical and subtropical forest biome....

and dry broadleaf forests

Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests

The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest biome, also known as tropical dry forest, is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive several hundred centimeters of rain per year, they have long dry seasons...

. New species and even families are often found there (e.g. Laotian rock rat

Laotian rock rat

The Laotian rock rat or kha-nyou , sometimes called the "rat-squirrel", is a rodent species of the Khammouan region of Laos. The species was first described in a 2005 article by Paulina Jenkins and coauthors, who considered the animal to be so distinct from all living rodents that they placed it...

).It is home to about 500 native mammal species. The bird fauna is also very diverse, with some 1,300 species. Over 500 reptile and over 300 amphibian species are aslso present, including numerous endemics. See also the Indo-Burma

Indo-Burma

Indo-Burma is a biodiversity hotspot designated by Conservation International, which extends from eastern India and southern China across Southeast Asia, and includes Australia, but excluding the Malay Peninsula...

biodiversity hotspot.

Sunda shelf and the Philippines

Malesia

Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the boundaries of the Indomalaya ecozone and Australasia ecozone, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom.-Floristic province:...

is a province which straddles the boundary between Indomalaya and Australasia

Australasia ecozone

The Australasian zone is an ecological region that is coincident, but not synonymous , with the geographic region of Australasia...

. It includes the Malay Peninsula

Malay Peninsula

The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...

and the western Indonesian islands (Sumatra

Sumatra

Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...

, Java

Java

Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

, Borneo

Borneo

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

and others, known as Sundaland

Sundaland

Sundaland is a biogeographical region of Southeastern Asia which encompasses the areas of the Asian continental shelf that was exposed during the last ice age. It included the Malay Peninsula on the Asian mainland, as well as the large islands of Borneo, Java, and Sumatra and their surrounding...

), the Philippines, the eastern Indonesian islands, and New Guinea. While the Malesia has much in common botanically, the portions east and west of the Wallace Line

Wallace Line

The Wallace Line separates the ecozones of Asia and Wallacea, a transitional zone between Asia and Australia. West of the line are found organisms related to Asiatic species; to the east, a mixture of species of Asian and Australian origin is present...

differ greatly in land animal species; Sundaland shares its fauna with mainland Asia, while the islands east of the Wallace line

Wallace Line

either lack land mammals, or are home to a land fauna derived from Australia, which includes marsupial

Marsupial

Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by giving birth to relatively undeveloped young. Close to 70% of the 334 extant species occur in Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands, with the remaining 100 found in the Americas, primarily in South America, but with thirteen in Central...

mammals and ratite

Ratite

A ratite is any of a diverse group of large, flightless birds of Gondwanan origin, most of them now extinct. Unlike other flightless birds, the ratites have no keel on their sternum—hence the name from the Latin ratis...

birds. The insects of New Guinea are however mainly of Asian origin.

Freshwater

Asia also contains several important freshwater ecoregions as well, including Rivers of Russia, which flow into the Arctic, Black, and Caspian seas, Siberia's Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is the world's oldest at 30 million years old and deepest lake with an average depth of 744.4 metres.Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, it is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the...

, the oldest and deepest lake on the planet(home to numerous endemic sponges, oligochaetes, and crustaceans and the Baikal seal), Khanka Lake

Khanka Lake

Khanka Lake , is a transboundary freshwater body located on the border between Primorsky Krai, Russia and Heilongjiang province, Northeast China . At its closest point, it is situated east of the city of Jixi, Heilongjiang...

, and Japan's Lake Biwa

Lake Biwa

is the largest freshwater lake in Japan, located in Shiga Prefecture , northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Because of its proximity to the ancient capital, references to Lake Biwa appear frequently in Japanese literature, particularly in poetry and in historical accounts of battles.-...

, Lake Dongting, Lake Tai and Lake Poyang

Lake Poyang

Poyang Lake , located in Jiangxi Province is the largest freshwater lake in China.It has a surface area of 3,585 km², a volume of 25 km³ and an average depth of eight meters. The lake provides a habitat for half a million migratory birds, and is a favorite destination for birding...

in China. The rivers of China are home to the critically endangered Finless Porpoise

Finless Porpoise

The finless porpoise is one of six porpoise species. In the waters around Japan, at the northern end of its range, it is known as the sunameri . A freshwater population found in the Yangtze River in China is known locally as the jiangzhu or "river pig". There is a degree of taxonomic uncertainty...

and Baiji

Baiji

Baiji may refer to:* The Baiji or Yangtze River Dolphin * Baiji, Iraq, a city of northern Iraq.* "Baiji" is the pinyin Romanization for Baekje....

. There are also several Asian lakes with saline or brackish water, and with peculiar fauna (Caspian Sea

Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...

, Lake Balkhash

Lake Balkhash

Lake Balkhash is one of the largest lakes in Asia and 12th largest continental lake in the world. It is located in southeastern Kazakhstan, in Central Asia, and belongs to an endorheic basin shared by Kazakhstan and China, with a small part in Kyrgyzstan. The basin drains into the lake via seven...

, Aral Sea

Aral Sea

The Aral Sea was a lake that lay between Kazakhstan in the north and Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan, in the south...

, Issyk Kul

Issyk Kul

Issyk Kul is an endorheic lake in the northern Tian Shan mountains in eastern Kyrgyzstan. It is the tenth largest lake in the world by volume and the second largest saline lake after the Caspian Sea. Although it is surrounded by snow-capped peaks, it never freezes; hence its name, which means "hot...

, Qinghai Lake

Qinghai Lake

Qinghai Lake , is a saline lake situated in the province of Qinghai, and is the largest lake in China. The names Qinghai and Kokonor both mean "Blue/Teal Sea/Lake" in Chinese and Mongolian. It is located about west of the provincial capital of Xining at 3,205 m above sea level in a depression...

).

South Asia is especially rich in freshwater life, with 10% of the world's fishes (over 2000 species).

Marine fauna

There are strong affinities and relationships between Mediterranean and Atlantic faunas. The deep-water fauna of the Mediterranean has no distinctive characteristics and is relatively poor. Both are a result of events after the Messinian salinity crisis

Messinian salinity crisis

The Messinian Salinity Crisis, also referred to as the Messinian Event, and in its latest stage as the Lago Mare event, was a geological event during which the Mediterranean Sea went into a cycle of partly or nearly complete desiccation throughout the latter part of the Messinian age of the Miocene...

. An invasion of Indian Ocean species has begun via the Suez Canal

Suez Canal

The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...

(see Lessepsian migration).

The Indo-Pacific

Indo-Pacific

The Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region of the Earth's seas, comprising the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia...

is a rich biogeographic

Biogeography

Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species , organisms, and ecosystems in space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities vary in a highly regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area...

region including most part of the Asian seas, comprising the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

, the western and central Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

(it does not include the temperate and polar regions of the Indian and Pacific oceans, and the Tropical Eastern Pacific

Tropical Eastern Pacific

The Tropical Eastern Pacific is one of the twelve marine realms that cover the shallow oceans of the world. The Tropical Eastern Pacific extends along the Pacific Coast of the Americas, from the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula in the north to northern Peru in the south...

, along the Pacific coast of the Americas

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

, is also a distinct marine realm).

Reptiles

Asia has a rich reptile

Reptile

Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...

fauna. Earless monitor

Lanthanotidae

The Earless monitor lizard is a semi-aquatic, brown lizard native to northern Borneo. It is the only species in the family Lanthanotidae, a group related to the true monitor lizards, as well as to the beaded lizards....

lizards, snakes of the Uropeltidae, Acrochordidae

Acrochordidae

The Acrochordidae are a monotypic family created for the genus Acrochordus. This is a group of primitive aquatic snakes found in Australia and Indonesia. Currently, 3 species are recognized.-Description:...

and Xenopeltidae

Xenopeltidae

The Xenopeltidae are a monotypic family of snakes created to the genus Xenopeltis, which is found in Southeast Asia. Its members are known for their highly iridescent scales. Currently, two species are recognized and no subspecies.-Description:...

families and Gavials

Gavialidae

Gavialidae is a family of reptiles within the order Crocodilia. Gavialidae consists of only one surviving species, the gharial , which is native to India. Many extinct species are also known...

are endemic to Asia.

The crocodile

Crocodile

A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...

s include Mugger Crocodile

Mugger Crocodile

The mugger crocodile , also called the Indian, Indus, Persian, or marsh crocodile, is found throughout the Indian subcontinent and the surrounding countries...

, Gharial

Gharial

The gharial , , also called Indian gavial or gavial, is the only surviving member of the once well-represented family Gavialidae, a long-established group of crocodilians with long, slender snouts...

, False gharial

False gharial

The false gharial , also known as the Malayan gharial, false gavial, or Tomistoma is a freshwater crocodile of the Crocodylidae family with a very thin and elongated snout...

and Saltwater Crocodile

Saltwater Crocodile

The saltwater crocodile, also known as estuarine or Indo-Pacific crocodile, is the largest of all living reptiles...

. The more common of the numerous snakes are Pipe snakes (Melanophidium
Melanophidium
Melanophidium is a genus of non-venomous shield tail snakes found in southern India. Currently, three species are recognized.-Geographic range:...

, Plectrurus
Plectrurus
Plectrurus is a genus of non-venomous shield tail snakes found in southern India. Currently, 4 species are recognized.-Species:*) Not including the nominate subspecies.T) Type species....

, Rhinophis
Rhinophis
Rhinophis is a genus of non-venomous shield tail snakes found in southern India and Sri Lanka. Currently, 14 species are recognized and no subspecies.-Species:*) Not including the nominate subspecies.T) Type species....

, Uropeltis
Uropeltis
Uropeltis is a genus of nonvenomous shield tail snakes found in southern India and Sri Lanka. Currently, 23 species are recognized.-Description:Eye in the ocular shield. No supraoculars. No temporals. No mental groove...

), Sea snakes, Elapids

Elapidae

Elapidae is a family of venomous snakes found in tropical and subtropical regions around the world, terrestrially in Asia, Australia, Africa, North America and South America and aquatically in the Pacific and Indian Oceans...

(King Cobra

King Cobra

The king cobra is the world's longest venomous snake, with a length up to 5.6 m . This species, which preys chiefly on other snakes, is found predominantly in forests from India through Southeast Asia to the Philippines and Indonesia...

, Bungarus
Bungarus
Bungarus, commonly referred to as kraits , is a genus of venomous elapid snakes found in South and South-East Asia. There are 12 species and 5 subspecies recognized.- Distribution :...

, Calliophis
Calliophis
Calliophis is a genus of venomous elapid snakes known commonly as oriental coral snakes or Asian coral snakes.Species in this genus are:* Calliophis beddomei M.A. Smith, 1943– Beddome's Coral Snake...

, Naja
Naja
Naja is a genus of venomous elapid snakes. Although there are several other genera that share the common name, Naja are the most recognized and most widespread group of snakes commonly known as cobras. The genus Naja consists of 20 to 22 species, but has undergone several taxonomic revisions in...

, Walterinnesia), Vipers

Viperidae

The Viperidae are a family of venomous snakes found all over the world, except in Antarctica, Australia, Ireland, Madagascar, Hawaii, various other isolated islands, and above the Arctic Circle. All have relatively long, hinged fangs that permit deep penetration and injection of venom. Four...

(Azemiops, Daboia
Daboia
Daboia is a monotypic genus of venomous Old World viper. The single species, D. russelii, is found in Asia throughout the Indian subcontinent, much of Southeast Asia, southern China and Taiwan...

, Dendrelaphis
Dendrelaphis
Dendrelaphis is a genus of colubrid snakes, which includes various tree snakes of Australia, New Guinea and Asia. There are over twenty described species in this genus.- Species :'...

, Echis
Echis
Echis is a genus of venomous vipers found in the dry regions of Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka. They have a characteristic threat display, rubbing sections of their body together to produce a "sizzling" warning sound...

, Hypnale
Hypnale
Hypnale is a genus of venomous pitvipers found in Sri Lanka and southwestern India. Three monotypic species are currently recognized . All members have a more or less upturned snouts that produce a hump-nosed effect.-Description:...

, Protobothrops, Trimeresurus
Trimeresurus
Trimeresurus is a genus of venomous pitvipers found in Asia from Pakistan, through India, China, throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. Currently 35 species are recognized...

, Ovophis
Ovophis
Ovophis is a genus of venomous pitvipers found in Asia. Three species are currently recognized.-Geographic range:Found in Asia in Nepal and Seven Sisters , India, eastward through Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, West Malaysia, Taiwan, Okinawa, Sumatra and Borneo.-Species:*) Not...

, Pseudocerastes
Pseudocerastes
Pseudocerastes is a monotypic genus created for a venomous viper species, P. persicus. This species is found throughout the Middle East and as far east as Pakistan, but not on the African mainland. Often referred to as the false horned viper because of the hornlike structures above their eyes that...

, Gloydius
Gloydius
Gloydius is a genus of venomous pitvipers found in Asia. Named after Howard Gloyd, this group is very similar to the North American genus Agkistrodon...

etc.), Colubrids (Achalinus
Achalinus
Achalinus is a genus of harmless colubrid colubrid snakes found in Japan, Taiwan, China and northern Vietnam. Nine species are currently recognized.-Species:*) Not including the nominate subspecies....

, Amphiesma
Amphiesma
Amphiesma is a genus of colubrid snakes, commonly known as keelbacks because of their keeled dorsal scales. They are all nonvenomous.-Geographic range:...

, Boiga
Boiga
Boiga is a large genus of mildly venomous, rear-fanged, colubrid snakes typically known as the cat-eyed snakes or just cat snakes. They are primarily found throughout southeast Asia, India and Australia, but due to their extremely hardy nature and adaptability have spread to many other suitable...

, Calamaria
Calamaria
Calamaria is a large genus of dwarf snakes of the family Colubridae. It contains sixty recognized species.-Description:Species in the genus Calamaria share the following characteristics. Maxillary teeth 8-11, subequal; anterior mandibular teeth a little longer than the posterior...

, Cerberus
Cerberus (snake)
Cerberus is a small genus of water snakes in the family colubridae. Member species are common inhabitants of Southeast Asia's mangrove habitat and mudflats. Its name is that of the dog-like Greek mythological creature Cerberus....

, Coluber
Coluber
Coluber is a genus of thin bodied, fast moving, colubrid snakes commonly known as racers. They are widespread around the world and vary greatly in habitat and behaviour. In the past, Coluber was a catch-all genus which included almost all snake species known at the time...

, Enhydris
Enhydris
Enhydris is a genus of slightly venomous colubrid snakes. Species include:* sea-leopard snake, Enhydris bocourti * Sind River snake, Enhydris chanardi Murphy & Voris, 2005...

, Lycodon
Lycodon
Lycodon is a genus of colubrid snakes, commonly known as wolf snakes. The New Latin name Lycodon is derived from the Greek words λύκος meaning wolf and δόν meaning tooth, and refers to the fang-like anterior maxillary and mandibular teeth.-Taxonomy:The genus Lycodon comprises 35 recognized...

, Oligodon
Oligodon
Oligodon, common name kukri snakes, is a genus of snakes native to East and South Asia.Oligodon species are egg eaters and are usually under 90 centimeters in length; different species display widely variable patterns and colorations. They subsist mostly by scavenging the eggs of birds and...

, Opisthotropis
Opisthotropis
Opisthotropis is a genus of snakes in the family Colubridae.It contains the following species:* Opisthotropis alcalai Brown & Leviton, 1961 - mountain keelback* Opisthotropis andersonii - Anderson's stream snake...

, Rhabdophis
Rhabdophis
Rhabdophis is a genus of snakes, generally called keelback snakes, found primarily in southeast Asia.- Species of Rhabdophis :* Rhabdophis adleri* Rhabdophis angeli* Rhabdophis auriculata...

, Pareas
Pareas
Pareas is a genus of snakes in the Colubridae family. They are all harmless to humans.- Species :It contains the following species:* Pareas boulengeri * Pareas carinatus Pareas is a genus of snakes in the Colubridae family. They are all harmless to humans.- Species :It contains the following...

, Psammophis
Psammophis
Psammophis is a genus of colubrid snakes.-Description:Maxillary teeth 10 to 13, one or two in the middle much enlarged and fang-like, preceded and followed by an interspace, the two posterior grooved. Anterior mandibular teeth long, posterior small. Head elongate and distinct from neck, with...

, Ptyas
Ptyas
Ptyas is a genus of colubrid snakes. This genus is one of several colubrid genera colloquially called "rat snakes" or "ratsnakes".-Species:Eight species are recognized.* Ptyas carinata – king korros...

, Sibynophis
Sibynophis
Sibynophis is a genus of colubrid snakes also called Many-toothed snakes....

, Spalerosophis
Spalerosophis
Spalerosophis is a small genus of snakes in the Colubridae family.-Geographic range:Member species are found in a wide range from Southern Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.-Species:It contains the following species:...

, Trachischium
Trachischium
Trachischium is a genus of colubrid snakes commonly known as worm-eating snakes.-Geographic range:They are found through montane regions of the countries of Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China.-Description:...

etc.) and Blind snakes

Typhlopidae

The Typhlopidae are a family of blind snakes. They are found mostly in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, the Americas, and all mainland Australia and various islands. The rostral scale overhangs the mouth to form a shovel like burrowing structure. They live underground in burrows, and since...

. The lizards include gecko

Gecko

Geckos are lizards belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from 1.6 cm to 60 cm....

s (Agamura
Agamura
Agamura is a genus of one gecko species from Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is commonly known as Spider Gecko. The name derives from its strikingly thin long limbs. It inhabits desert areas.-External links:* *...

, Alsophylax
Alsophylax
Alsophylax is a genus of small species of geckos from Central Asia, commonly known as Straight-fingered Geckos. The snout-vent length of these geckos is normally no more than 4cm...

, Asaccus
Asaccus
Asaccus is a genus of geckos, commonly known as Southwest Asian Leaf-toed Geckos.- Classification of genus Asaccus :*Musandam Leaf-toed Gecko, Asaccus caudivolvulus*Werner's Leaf-toed Gecko, Asaccus elisae...

, Calodactylodes
Calodactylodes
Calodactylodes is a genus of Gekkonidae family. It contains two species.*Indian Golden Gecko, Calodactylodes aureus*Sri Lankan Golden Gecko, Calodactylodes illingworthi...

, Cyrtodactylus
Cyrtodactylus
Cyrtodactylus is a diverse genus of Asian geckos, commonly known as bent-toed geckos or bow-fingered geckos. It has at least 135 described species at present, which makes it the largest of all gecko genera. Instead of possessing dilated digits like other geckos, members of Cyrtodactylus have...

, Chondrodactylus
Chondrodactylus
Chondrodactylus is genus of little known Comb-toed Geckos species. There are four species.*Chondrodactylus angulifer, Namib Giant Ground Gecko**Chondrodactylus angulifer angulifer**Chondrodactylus angulifer namibensis...

, Cnemaspis
Cnemaspis
Cnemaspis is a genus of diurnal gecko found in Asia. With around 75 species it is one of the most diverse genera of geckos or even lizards.-Description:...

, Cyrtopodion
Cyrtopodion
Cyrtopodion is a large genus of the Gekkonidae family. It has 37 described species.Species in this genus are:* Cyrtopodion agamuroides* Cyrtopodion amictopholis* Cyrtopodion baigii Masroor, 2008* Cyrtopodion battalensis...

, Dixonius
Dixonius
Dixonius is a genus of Asian geckos, commonly known as Leaf-toed Geckos.-Species:-References:Bauer, A. M., Good, D. A. & Branch, W. R. 1997. The taxonomy of the Southern African leaf-toed geckos , with a review of Old World “Phyllodactylus” and the description of five new genera...

, Gehyra
Gehyra
Gehyra is a genus of geckos known commonly as Web-toed Geckos or Dtellas. Dtellas are moderately-sized geckos; the species have a wide range of habitat, covering most of the Oceania and Melanesian Islands up to Ryukyu Islands and Thailand....

, Gekko
Gekko
Gekko is a genus of colorful and diverse Southeast Asian geckos commonly known as true geckos or calling geckos. Although species such as the Tokay Gecko are very widespread and common, some species in the same genus have a very small range and are considered rare or endangered.-External links:* ...

, Gonydactylus
Gonydactylus
- Classification of genus Gonydactylus :*Gonydactylus markuscombaii*Gonydactylus martinstolli*Gonydactylus nepalensis*Gonydactylus paradoxus...

, Hemidactylus
Hemidactylus
Hemidactylus is a genus of the family of typical geckos, Gekkonidae. It is the second-most speciose genus in the family, with about 90 described species, newfound ones being described every few years. These geckos are found in all the tropical regions of the world, extending into the subtropical...

, Hemiphyllodactylus
Hemiphyllodactylus
Hemiphyllodactylus is a genus of geckos ranging from India, China down to Southeast Asia and Oceania. They are commonly known as Half Leaf-fingered Geckos.-Classification of genus Hemiphyllodactylus:*Hemiphyllodactylus aurantiacus...

, Lepidodactylus
Lepidodactylus
Lepidodactylus is a large genus of small geckos, commonly known as Scaly-toed Geckos. Their habitat ranges from Southeast Asia to Indo-Australia and Oceania. There are 33 described species in this genus....

, Luperosaurus
Luperosaurus
Luperosaurus is a genus of geckos commonly known as Fringed Geckos. They are found in the Southeast Asian mainland and archipelago, extending from the Malay Peninsula, through the Philippines and Indonesia. These are small geckos, characterized by the flaps of skin on the front and rear of their...

, Perochirus
Perochirus
Perochirus is a genus of geckos endemic to Philippines, Oceania and Japan, commonly known as Tropical Geckos.-Classification of genus Perochirus:*Dumeril's Tropical Gecko, Perochirus ateles...

, Pristurus
Pristurus
Pristurus is a genus of geckos endemic to Arabia and Socotra Island as well as Middle East and Horn of Africa. They are commonly known as Rock Geckos .-Classification of genus Pristurus:*Abdel Kuri Rock Gecko, Pristurus abdelkuri...

, Teratolepis
Teratolepis
Teratolepis is a genus of geckos endemic to India, commonly known as Viper Geckos.-Classification of genus Teratolepis:*White-striped Viper Gecko, Teratolepis albofasciatus*Carrot-tail Viper Gecko, Teratolepis fasciata...

,etc.), Xenosauridae

Xenosauridae

The Xenosauridae is a family of lizards native to Central America and China. Also known as knob-scaled lizards, they have rounded, bumpy scales and osteoderms. Most species prefer moist or semi-aquatic habitats, although they are widespread within their native regions, with some even inhabiting...

(Shinisaurus), Monitor lizard

Monitor lizard

Monitor lizards are usually large reptiles, although some can be as small as in length. They have long necks, powerful tails and claws, and well-developed limbs. Most species are terrestrial, but arboreal and semiaquatic monitors are also known...

s, skink

Skink

Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae. Together with several other lizard families, including Lacertidae , they comprise the superfamily or infraorder Scincomorpha...

s. There are also about 100 species of turtle

Turtle

Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...

s and tortoise

Tortoise

Tortoises are a family of land-dwelling reptiles of the order of turtles . Like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise...

s (Russian Tortoise

Russian Tortoise

The Russian tortoise, Horsfield's tortoise or Central Asian tortoise is a species of tortoise that is a popular pet...

, Keeled Box Turtle, Batagur, Aspideretes
Aspideretes
Aspideretes is a genus of soft-shelled turtles . It has been found to be so closely related to the Burmese Peacock Softshell that it is probably better united with this species under Nilssonia, the older name...

, Chinemys
Chinemys
Chinemys is a genus of turtle in the family Geoemydidae . It is sometimes included in Mauremys, but they do not seem to be particularly close relatives.Species of the genus Chinemys are:...

, Chitra
Chitra (genus)
Chitra is a genus of turtles of the family Trionychidae.-Species:*Chitra chitra *Chitra chitra chitra...

, Cistoclemmys, Cuora
Cuora
Asian box turtles are turtles of the genus Cuora in the family Geoemydidae comprising 10–11 species with about the same number of subspecies. The keeled box turtle is often included in this genus but is also often placed in its own genus...

, Geochelone
Geochelone
Geochelone is a genus of tortoises.Geochelone tortoises, which are also known as typical tortoises or terrestrial turtles, can be found in Africa and Asia. They primarily eat plants.The genus consists of three extant species:...

, Heosemys
Heosemys
Heosemys is a genus of freshwater turtles in the family Geoemydidae . The genus Heosemys was split out of the related genus Geoemyda by McDowell in 1964.-Species:...

, Indotestudo
Indotestudo
Indotestudo is a genus of Asian tortoise in the Testudinidae family.It contains the following species:* Indotestudo elongata* Indotestudo forstenii* Indotestudo travancorica-References:...

, Kachuga
Kachuga
Kachuga is a defunct genus of turtles comprising the roofed turtles of South Asia. They are found in major south Asian rivers, including the Ganges, Indus and Barhamaputra rivers and their tributaries...

, Mauremys
Mauremys
Mauremys is a genus of turtle in the family Geoemydidae . Ocadia and Chinemys are included here by some scientists, but not by the majority nor by hobbyists.Species include:...

, Ocadia
Ocadia
Ocadia is a genus of turtle in the family Geoemydidae . It is sometimes included in Mauremys. It contains the following species:* Chinese Stripe-necked Turtle, Ocadia sinensis...

, Pangshura
Pangshura
Pangshura is a genus of Geoemydidae turtles found in South Asia. Three members were formerly in the genus Kachuga. A fourth member, Pangshura tatrotia, has been described in 2010.-Species:There are four described species:...

, Pelochelys
Pelochelys
Pelochelys is a genus of turtles of the family Trionychidae.-Species:* New Guinea giant softshell turtle - Pelochelys bibroni* Cantor's giant softshell turtle- Pelochelys cantorii...

, Rafetus
Rafetus
Rafetus is a genus of highly endangered softshell turtles in the Trionychidae family. According to most taxonomists, it contains the following 2 species:* Euphrates softshell turtle...

, Sacalia
Sacalia
Sacalia is a genus of turtle in the family Geoemydidae . Species include:* Beal's Eyed Turtle or Beal's Four-eyed Turtle, Sacalia bealei* Four-eyed Turtle, Sacalia quadriocellata...

etc.). See also List of reptiles of South Asia.

Birds

One bird family, the accentor

Accentor

The accentors are in the only bird family, the Prunellidae, which is completely endemic to the Palearctic. This small group of closely related passerines are all in a single genus Prunella...

s (Prunellidae) is endemic to the Palaearctic region. The Holarctic has four other endemic bird families: the divers or loon

Loon

The loons or divers are a group of aquatic birds found in many parts of North America and northern Eurasia...

s (Gaviidae), grouse

Grouse

Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes. They are sometimes considered a family Tetraonidae, though the American Ornithologists' Union and many others include grouse as a subfamily Tetraoninae in the family Phasianidae...

(Tetraoninae), auk

Auk

An auk is a bird of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. Auks are superficially similar to penguins due to their black-and-white colours, their upright posture and some of their habits...

s (Alcidae), and waxwing

Waxwing

The waxwings form the genus Bombycilla of passerine birds. According to most authorities, this is the only genus placed in the family Bombycillidae.-Description:Waxwings are characterised by soft silky plumage...

s (Bombycillidae). The Indomalayan has three endemic bird families, the fairy bluebirds (Irenidae), Megalaimidae

Megalaimidae

A family of birds comprising the Asian barbets, the Megalaimidae were once united with all other barbets in the Capitonidae but they have turned out to be distinct...

and Philippine creeper

Philippine creeper

The Philippine creepers or rhabdornises are small passerine birds. They are endemic to the Philippines. The group contains a single genus Rhabdornis with three species...

s (Rhabdornithidae). Other endemic Asian or mainly Asian families include Acrocephalidae

Acrocephalidae

Acrocephalidae is a family of oscine passerine birds, in the superfamily Sylvioidea....

, Aegithalidae, Certhiidae, Cettiidae

Cettiidae

Cettiidae is a newly validated family of small insectivorous songbirds , formerly placed in the Old World warbler "wastebin" assemblage. It contains the typical bush-warblers and their relatives. As common name, cettiid warblers is usually used.Its members occur mainly in Asia and Africa, ranging...

, Chloropseidae, Dromadidae, Eupetidae, Eurylaimidae, Hemiprocnidae, Hypocoliidae, Ibidorhynchidae, Muscicapidae, Phasianidae

Phasianidae

The Phasianidae is a family of birds which consists of the pheasants and partridges, including the junglefowl , Old World Quail, francolins, monals and peafowl. The family is a large one, and is occasionally broken up into two subfamilies, the Phasianinae, and the Perdicinae...

, Pityriaseidae, Podargidae, Tichodromadidae and Turdidae. Also characteristic are Pitta

Pitta (bird)

Pittas are a family, Pittidae, of passerine birds mainly found in tropical Asia and Australasia, although a couple of species live in Africa. Pittas are all similar in general structure and habits, and have often been placed in a single genus, although as of 2009 they are now split into three...

s, Bulbul

Bulbul

Bulbuls are a family, Pycnonotidae, of medium-sized passerine songbirds. Many forest species are known as greenbuls. The family is distributed across most of Africa and into the Middle East, tropical Asia to Indonesia, and north as far as Japan. A few insular species occur on the tropical islands...

s, Old World babbler

Old World babbler

The Old World babblers or timaliids are a large family of mostly Old World passerine birds. They are rather diverse in size and coloration, but are characterised by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian Subcontinent...

s, Cuckoo-shrike

Cuckoo-shrike

The cuckooshrikes and allies in the Campephagidae family are small to medium-sized passerine bird species found in the subtropical and tropical Africa, Asia and Australasia...

s, Drongo

Drongo

The drongos are a family of small passerine birds of the Old World tropics, the Dicruridae. This family was sometimes much enlarged to include a number of largely Australasian groups, such as the Australasian fantails, monarchs and paradise flycatchers...

s, Fantail

Fantail

Fantails are small insectivorous birds of southern Asia and Australasia belonging to the genus Rhipidura in the family Rhipiduridae...

s, Flowerpecker

Flowerpecker

The flowerpeckers are a family, Dicaeidae , of passerine birds. The family comprises two genera, Prionochilus and Dicaeum, with 44 species in total. The family has sometimes been included in an enlarged sunbird family Nectariniidae. The berrypeckers of the family Melanocharitidae and the painted...

, Helmetshrike

Helmetshrike

The helmetshrikes are smallish passerine bird species. These birds were included with the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, later on split between several presumably closely related groups such as bushshrikes and cuckoo-shrikes , but are now considered sufficiently distinctive to be separated...

s, Hornbill

Hornbill

Hornbills are a family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly-colored and sometimes has a casque on the upper mandible. Both the common English and the scientific name of the family...

, Nuthatch

Nuthatch

The nuthatches are a genus, Sitta, of small passerine birds belonging to the family Sittidae. Characterised by large heads, short tails, and powerful bills and feet, nuthatches advertise their territory using loud, simple songs...

, Oriole

Oriole

Orioles are colourful Old World passerine birds in the genus Oriolus, the namesake of the corvoidean family Oriolidae. They are not related to the New World orioles, which are icterids and, belonging to the superfamily Passeroidea songbirds, are quite unrelated to the true orioles.The orioles are...

s, Parrotbill

Parrotbill

The parrotbills are a group of peculiar birds native to East and Southeast Asia, though feral populations are known from elsewhere. They are generally small, long-tailed birds which inhabit reedbeds and similar habitat. They feed mainly on seeds, e.g. of grasses, to which their bill, as the name...

s, Shrike

Shrike

Shrikes are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of thirty-one species in three genera. The family name, and that of the largest genus, Lanius, is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes were also known as "butcher birds" because of their feeding habits...

s, Sunbird

Sunbird

The sunbirds and spiderhunters are a family, Nectariniidae, of very small passerine birds. There are 132 species in 15 genera. The family is distributed throughout Africa, southern Asia and just reaches northern Australia. Most sunbirds feed largely on nectar, but also take insects and spiders,...

s and Woodswallow

Woodswallow

Woodswallows are soft-plumaged, somber-coloured passerine birds. There is a single genus, Artamus, The woodswallows are either treated as a subfamily, Artaminae in an expanded family Artamidae, which includes the butcherbirds and Australian Magpie, or as the only genus in that family...

s. For a complete list, see List of Asian birds. See also: Endemic birds of the Indian Subcontinent, Endemic birds of Borneo

Endemic birds of Borneo

This article is one of a series providing information about endemism among birds in the World's various zoogeographic zones. For an overview of this subject see Endemism in birds.-Patterns of endemism:...

, Endemic birds of the Philippines

Endemic birds of the Philippines

Mammals

Two orders of mammals, the colugo

Colugo

Colugos are arboreal gliding mammals found in South-east Asia. There are just two extant species, which make up the entire family Cynocephalidae and order Dermoptera. They are the most capable of all gliding mammals, using flaps of extra skin between their legs to glide from higher to lower...

s (2 species) and treeshrew

Treeshrew

The treeshrews are small mammals native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. They make up the families Tupaiidae, the treeshrews, and Ptilocercidae, the pen-tailed treeshrews, and the entire order Scandentia. There are 20 species in 5 genera...

s (19 species), are endemic

Endemic (ecology)

to the Indomalaya ecozone, as are families Craseonycteridae (Kitti's Hog-nosed Bat), Diatomyidae

Diatomyidae

Diatomyidae is a family of hystricomorphous, sciurognathous rodents found in Asia. It is currently represented by a single known living species, Laonastes aenigmamus.- "Lazarus effect" :...

, Platacanthomyidae, Tarsiidae (tarsier

Tarsier

Tarsiers are haplorrhine primates of the genus Tarsius, a genus in the family Tarsiidae, which is itself the lone extant family within the infraorder Tarsiiformes...

s) and Hylobatidae (gibbon

Gibbon

Gibbons are apes in the family Hylobatidae . The family is divided into four genera based on their diploid chromosome number: Hylobates , Hoolock , Nomascus , and Symphalangus . The extinct Bunopithecus sericus is a gibbon or gibbon-like ape which, until recently, was thought to be closely related...

s). Large mammals characteristic of Indomalaya include the leopard

Leopard

The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...

, tiger

Tiger

The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...

s, wild Asian Water buffalo

Wild Asian Water Buffalo

The wild water buffalo also called Asian buffalo and Asiatic buffalo is a large bovine native to Southeast Asia...

s, Asian Elephant

Asian Elephant

The Asian or Asiatic elephant is the only living species of the genus Elephas and distributed in Southeast Asia from India in the west to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognized — Elephas maximus maximus from Sri Lanka, the Indian elephant or E. m. indicus from mainland Asia, and E. m....

, Indian Rhinoceros

Indian Rhinoceros

The Indian Rhinoceros is also called Greater One-horned Rhinoceros and Asian One-horned Rhinoceros and belongs to the Rhinocerotidae family...

, Javan Rhinoceros

Javan Rhinoceros

The Javan Rhinoceros or Lesser One-horned Rhinoceros is a member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant rhinoceroses...

, Malayan Tapir

Malayan Tapir

The Malayan Tapir , also called the Asian Tapir, is the largest of the four species of tapir and the only one native to Asia. The scientific name refers to the East Indies, the species' natural habitat...

. The other endemic Asian families include Ursidae (Giant Panda

Giant Panda

The giant panda, or panda is a bear native to central-western and south western China. It is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the panda's diet is 99% bamboo...

), Calomyscidae (mouse-like hamster

Mouse-like hamster

s) and Ailuridae (red panda

Red Panda

The red panda , is a small arboreal mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It is the only species of the genus Ailurus. Slightly larger than a domestic cat, it has reddish-brown fur, a long, shaggy tail, and a waddling gait due to its shorter front legs...

s). The Asian ungulates include bharal

Bharal

The bharal or Himalayan blue sheep or naur, Pseudois nayaur, is a caprid found in the high Himalayas of Nepal, Tibet, China, India, Pakistan, and Bhutan...

, Gaur

Gaur

The gaur , also called Indian bison, is a large bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. The species is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986 as the population decline in parts of the species' range is likely to be well over 70% over the last three generations...

, Blackbuck

Blackbuck

Blackbuck is a species of antelope native to the Indian subcontinent. Their range decreased sharply during the 20th century. Since 2003, the IUCN lists the species as near threatened....

, the wild yak

Yak

The yak, Bos grunniens or Bos mutus, is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia and Russia. In addition to a large domestic population, there is a small, vulnerable wild yak population...

and the Tibetan antelope

Tibetan antelope

The Tibetan antelope or chiru is a medium-sized bovid which is about in height at the shoulder. It is the sole species in the genus Pantholops and is placed in its own subfamily, Pantholopinae...

, Four-horned Antelope

Four-horned Antelope

The Four-horned Antelope , or Chousingha, is a small antelope found in open forest in India and Nepal. It is the only species currently classified in the genus Tetracerus.-Description:...

, ox-sheep (Ovibovini), takin

Takin

The Takin , also called cattle chamois or gnu goat, is a goat-antelope found in the Eastern Himalayas. There are four subspecies: B. taxicolor taxicolor, the Mishmi Takin; B. taxicolor bedfordi, the Shanxi or Golden Takin; B. taxicolor tibetana, the Tibetan or Sichuan Takin; and B. taxicolor...

, Kting Voar

Kting Voar

The Kting Voar, also known as the Khting Vor, Linh Dương, or Snake-eating Cow is a bovid mammal reputed to exist in Cambodia and Vietnam.- Characteristics :...

, several species of Muntjac

Muntjac

Muntjac, also known as Barking Deer and Mastreani Deer, are small deer of the genus Muntiacus. Muntjac are the oldest known deer, appearing 15–35 million years ago, with remains found in Miocene deposits in France, Germany and Poland....

, Bubalus
Bubalus
Bubalus is a genus of bovines, whose English name is buffalo. Species that belong to this genus are:* Subgenus Bubalus** Water Buffalo, Bubalus bubalis*** Carabao, Bubalus bubalis carabanesis...

and others. The goat-antelopes (Rupicaprini) are represented by the goral and the serow

Serow

Serow may refer to:*Three species of Asian ungulate in the genus Capricornis**Japanese Serow**Mainland Serow**Taiwan Serow* Serow, Iran, a city in Urmia County, West Azarbaijan Province, Iran*Alternative spelling of Serov...

. Asia's tropical forests accommodate one of the world's three principal primate communities, about 45 species including prosimian

Prosimian

Prosimians are a grouping of mammals defined as being primates, but not monkeys or apes. They include, among others, lemurs, bushbabies, and tarsiers. They are considered to have characteristics that are more primitive than those of monkeys and apes. Prosimians are the only primates native to...

s (the loris and tarsier), the leaf-eating langurs, the orang-utan of Borneo and Sumatra, and the gibbon

Gibbon

Human impact

Across Asia wildlife populations and habitats are being decimated by poorly controlled industrial and agricultural exploitation, by infrastructure development (construction of dams, roads and tourist facilities), and by illegal activities such as poaching and timber theft. The result is loss of biodiversity and loss of livelihoods. A culture of indiscriminate wildlife use combined with poverty, population growth and rapid economic development has created a wave of pressure on natural ecosystems. China’s spectacular economic growth, in particular, is straining the supply of natural resources throughout the region. Southeast Asia has the highest relative rate of deforestation of any major tropical region, and could lose three quarters of its original forests by 2100 and up to 42% of its biodiversity.

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