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India has some of the world's most biodiverse regions. The political boundaries of India encompass a wide range of ecozones—desert, high mountains, highlands, tropical and temperate forests, swamplands, plains, grasslands, areas surrounding rivers, as well as island archipelago. It hosts 3 biodiversity hotspots: the Western Ghats, the Himalayas and the Indo-Burma region. These hotspots have numerous endemic species.〔()〕 India, for the most part, lies within the Indomalaya ecozone, with the upper reaches of the Himalayas forming part of the Palearctic ecozone; the contours of 2000 to 2500m are considered to be the altitudinal boundary between the Indo-Malayan and Palearctic zones. India displays significant biodiversity. One of eighteen megadiverse countries, it is home to 7.6% of all mammalian, 12.6% of all avian, 6.2% of all reptilian, 4.4% of all amphibian, 11.7% of all fish, and 6.0% of all flowering plant species.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url = http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/hpg/cesmg/indiabio.html )〕 The region is also heavily influenced by summer monsoons that cause major seasonal changes in vegetation and habitat. India forms a large part of the Indomalayan biogeographical zone and many of the floral and faunal forms show Malayan affinities with only a few taxa being unique to the Indian region. The unique forms includes the snake family Uropeltidae found only in the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka. Fossil taxa from the Cretaceous show links to the Seychelles and Madagascar chain of islands.〔Jean-Claude Rage (2003) Relationships of the Malagasy fauna during the Late Cretaceous: Northern or Southern routes? Acta Paleontologica Polonica 48(4):661-662 (PDF )〕 The Cretaceous fauna include reptiles, amphibians and fishes and an extant species demonstrating this phylogeographical link is the purple frog. The separation of India and Madagascar is traditionally estimated to have taken place about 88 million years ago. However, there are suggestions that the links to Madagascar and Africa were present even at the time when the Indian subcontinent met Eurasia. India has been suggested as a ship for the movement of several African taxa into Asia. These taxa include five frog families (including the Myobatrachidae), three caecilian families, a lacertid lizard and freshwater snails of the family Potamiopsidae.〔Briggs, JC (2003) The biogeographic and tectonic history of India. Journal of Biogeography, 30:381–388〕 A fossil tooth of what is believed to be of from a lemur-like primate from the Bugti Hills of central Pakistan however has led to suggestions that the lemurs may have originated in Asia. These fossils are however from the Oligocene (30 million years ago) and have led to controversy.〔Marivaux L., Welcomme J.-L., Antoine P-O., Métais G., Baloch I.M., Benammi M., Chaimanee Y., Ducrocq S., and Jaeger J.-J. (2001) A fossil lemur from the Oligocene of Pakistan. Science, 294: 587–591.〕〔 (Oligocene Lemur fossil hints at Asian origin ). Retrieved February 2007.〕 Lemur fossils from India in the past led to theories of a lost continent called Lemuria. This theory however was dismissed when continental drift and plate tectonics became well established. The flora and fauna of India have been studied and recorded from early times in folk traditions and later by researchers following more formal scientific approaches (See Natural history in India). Game laws are reported from the third century BC.〔Krausman, PR & AJT Johnsingh (1990) Conservation and wildlife education in India. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 18:342-347〕 A little under 5% of this total area is formally classified under protected areas. India is home to several well-known large mammals, including the Asian elephant, Bengal tiger, Asiatic lion, leopard and Indian rhinoceros. Some of these animals are engrained in culture, often being associated with deities. These large mammals are important for wildlife tourism in India, and several national parks and wildlife sanctuaries cater to these needs. The popularity of these charismatic animals have helped greatly in conservation efforts in India. The tiger has been particularly important, and Project Tiger, started in 1972, was a major effort to conserve the tiger and its habitats.〔(Project Tiger ) Accessed Feb, 2007〕 Project Elephant, though less known, started in 1992 and works for elephant protection.〔(Project Elephant ) Accessed Feb, 2007〕 Most of India's rhinos today survive in the Kaziranga National Park. Some other well-known large Indian mammals are: ungulates such as the water buffalo, nilgai, gaur and several species of deer and antelope. Some members of the dog family such as the Indian wolf, Bengal fox, golden jackal and the dhole or wild dogs are also widely distributed. It is also home to the striped hyaena. Many smaller animals such as macaques, langurs and mongoose species are especially well known due to their ability to live close to or inside urban areas. ==Diversity== There is insufficient information about the invertebrate and lower forms of India, with significant work having been done only in a few groups of insects, notably the butterflies, odonates, hymenoptera, the larger coleoptera and heteroptera. Few concerted attempts to document the biodiversity have been made since the publication of ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma'' series. There are about 2,546 species of fishes (about 11% of the world species) found in Indian waters. About 197 species of amphibians (4.4% of the world total) and more than 408 reptile species (6% of the world total) are found in India. Among these groups the highest levels of endemism are found in the amphibians. There are about 1,250 species of birds from India, with some variations, depending on taxonomic treatments, accounting for about 12% of the world species.〔(WCMC website )〕 There are about 410 species of mammals known from India, which is about 8.86% of the world species.〔Nameer, PO (1998). Checklist of Indian mammals. Kerala Forest Department, Thiruvananthapuram〕 The World Conservation Monitoring Centre gives an estimate of about 15,000 species of flowering plants in India. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fauna of India」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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