Difference between revisions of "Fauna" - New World Encyclopedia

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For other uses of the term, see fauna (disambiguation).

Simplified schematic of an island's fauna - all its animal species, highlighted in boxes.

Fauna 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

Epifauna

Epifauna are animals that live upon the surface of sediments or soils.

Infauna

Infauna are aquatic animals that live within the bottom substratum rather than on its surface. Bacteria and microalgae may also live in the interstices of bottom sediments. On average, infaunal animals become progressively rarer with increasing water depth and distance from shore, whereas bacteria show more constancy in abundance, tending toward one billion cells per milliliter of interstitial seawater. (Infauna are benthos that live buried in underwater mud.)

Macrofauna

Macrofauna are benthic or soil organisms which are at least one millimeter in length.

Megafauna

The mammoths constitute an extinct genus of megafauna.

Megafauna are species of large animals (Greek μεγας, large, + modern Latin fauna, animal).

Definitions of what constitutes 'large' vary, with some authors using a 40 kg minimum,^[1] others 44 kg,^[2]^[3] 45 kg,^[4] 100 kg,^[5] or 250 kg.^[6] In the last case, they may be further subdivided into small (250–500 kg), medium (500–1,000 kg) and large (over 1,000 kg) megafauna.^[6] Others say that any particular limit is arbitrary, and do not favour a single minimum weight.^[7]

The term is also used to refer to particular groups of large animals, both to extant species and, more often, those that have become extinct in the geologically recent Quaternary period.

Megafauna animals are generally K-strategists, with great longevity, slow population growth rates, low death rates, and few or no natural predators capable of killing adults. These characteristics make megafauna highly vulnerable to human exploitation. Some authors have argued that this reproductive capacity and ecological behaviour are more important than size alone, with some much smaller animals with very low reproductive rates showing 'megafauna' characteristics, such as all Tachyglossidae (echidnas) and Megatherioidea (two-toed sloths) above 7 kg and 6 kg respectively, having become extinct in late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions.^[8]

Recent extinctions

Many species of megafauna have become extinct within the last million years, and, although some biologists dispute it, human hunting is often cited as the cause.^[9] Other theories for the cause of the extinctions are climatic change associated with glaciation and the questionable hyperdisease hypothesis.^[10]

Examples of megafauna

Domestic megafauna

Alpaca (Vicugna pacos)
Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus)
Chital (Axis axis)
Domestic buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)
Domestic Dog (Canis familaris)
Donkey (Equus asinus)
Dromedary Camel (Camelus dromedarius)
Guanaco (Lama guanicoe)
Cattle (Bos taurus)
Horse (Equus domesticus)
Pig (Sus scrofa)
Llama (Lama glama)
Sheep (Ovis aries)
Turkey (Melagris gallopavo)
Vicuña (Vicugna vicugna)

Freshwater megafauna

Chinook Salmon (Oncohynchus tshawtscha)
Giant Barb (Catlocarpio siamensis)
Wels Catfish (Silurus glanis)
Prionosuchus †

Oceanian megafauna

Antilopine Kangaroo (Marcopus antilopinus)
Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus)
Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
Bryde's Whale (Balaenoptera brydei)
Bluff Down Crocodile † (Quinkana)
Bluff Down Euryzygoma † (Euryzygoma dunese)
Bluff Down Giant Python †
Brolga (Grus rubicunda)
Bush Moa† (Anomalopteryx didifromis)
Carnivorous Kangaroo † (Propleopus oscillans)
Carpet Python (Morelia spilota)
Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius)
Congruus †
Dingo (Canis dingo)
Diprotodon †
Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Marcopus gigantea)
Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)
Eurapteryx†
Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus)
Genyornis † (Genyorns newtoni)
Giant Echidna † (Zaglossus hacketii)
Browsing Kangaroo † (Simosthenurus occidentalis)
Giant Maleefowl † (Leipoa gallinacea)
Giant Platypus † (Ornithorhynchus maximus)
Giant Koala † (Phascolarctos stroni)
Great Tasmanian Devil † (Sarcophilus laniarius)
Giant Wallaby † (Protemnodon otibandus)
Goanna (Varanus giganteus)
Gould's Monitor (Varanus gouldi)
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae )
King Island Emu † (Dromaius ater)
Killer Whale (Orcinus orca)

Megalania prisca †
Marsupial Lion † (genus Thylacoleo)
Moa †
Minke Whale (Balaeonptera acutorostrata)
New Zealand Eagle † (Harpagornis moorei)
New Zealand Giant Penguin † (Pachydyptes ponderosus)
New Zealand white shark † (Carcharodon angustidens)
Ninjemys oweni †
Pacyhornis †
Palorchestes †
Procoptodon †
Red Kangaroo (Marcopus rufus)
Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus)
Sei Whale (Balaenoptera borealis)
Stirton's Thunder Bird † (Dromornis stirtoni)
Tasmanian Tiger † (Thylacinus cynocephalus)
Taniwhasaurus †
Warrendja †
Wonambi †
Zygomaturus †

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. In practice these are organisms that can pass through a 1 mm mesh but will be retained by a 45 μm mesh, but the exact dimensions will vary from researcher to researcher. Whether an organism will pass through a 1 mm mesh will also depend upon whether it is alive or dead at the time of sorting.

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

Other terms include avifauna, which means "bird fauna" and piscifauna (or ichthyofauna), which means "fish fauna".

Fauna treatises

Classic faunas

Linnaeus, Carolus. Fauna Suecica. 1746

Credits

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↑ Defense of the Earth. Past consequences of climate change: Evolutionary history of the mammals.
↑ Stuart, A. J. (1991). Mammalian extinctions in the Late Pleistocene of northern Eurasia and North America. Biol. Rev. 66: 453–562.
↑ Anon. Quaternary Paleobiology Update. The Quaternary Times 29 (1): (1999).
↑ Corlett, R. T. (2006). Megafaunal extinctions in tropical Asia. Tropinet 17 (3): 1–3.
↑ Martin, P. S. & Steadman, D. W. (1999). Prehistoric extinctions on islands and continents. In: Extinctions in near time: causes, contexts and consequences (MacPhee, R. D. E., ed.), pp. 17–56. New York: Kluwer/Plenum.
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 Choquenot, D., & Bowman, D. M. J. S. (1998). Marsupial Megafauna, Aborigines and the Overkill Hypothesis: Application of Predator-Prey Models to the Question of Pleistocene Extinction in Australia. Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters 7 (3): 167-180.
↑ Wroe, S., Field, J., Fullagar, R., & Jermiin, L. S. (2004). Megafaunal extinction in the late Quaternary and the global overkill hypothesis. Alcheringa 28: 291-331.
↑ Johnson, C. N. (2002). Determinants of loss of mammal species during the Late Quaternary 'megafauna' extinctions: life history and ecology, but not body size. Proc. Biol. Sci. 269 (1506): 2221–2227.
↑ Diamond, J. (1997). Guns, Germs and Steel. Vintage ISBN 0-09-930278-0.
↑ Grayson, D. K., & Meltzer, D. J. (2003). A requiem for North American overkill. Journal of Archaeological Science 30: 585–593.

[defense-1] Defense of the Earth. Past consequences of climate change: Evolutionary history of the mammals.

[stuart-2] Stuart, A. J. (1991). Mammalian extinctions in the Late Pleistocene of northern Eurasia and North America. Biol. Rev. 66: 453–562.

[anon-3] Anon. Quaternary Paleobiology Update. The Quaternary Times 29 (1): (1999).

[corlett-4] Corlett, R. T. (2006). Megafaunal extinctions in tropical Asia. Tropinet 17 (3): 1–3.

[martin-5] Martin, P. S. & Steadman, D. W. (1999). Prehistoric extinctions on islands and continents. In: Extinctions in near time: causes, contexts and consequences (MacPhee, R. D. E., ed.), pp. 17–56. New York: Kluwer/Plenum.

[gebl-6] 6.0 ^6.1 Choquenot, D., & Bowman, D. M. J. S. (1998). Marsupial Megafauna, Aborigines and the Overkill Hypothesis: Application of Predator-Prey Models to the Question of Pleistocene Extinction in Australia. Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters 7 (3): 167-180.

[7] Wroe, S., Field, J., Fullagar, R., & Jermiin, L. S. (2004). Megafaunal extinction in the late Quaternary and the global overkill hypothesis. Alcheringa 28: 291-331.

[johnson-8] Johnson, C. N. (2002). Determinants of loss of mammal species during the Late Quaternary 'megafauna' extinctions: life history and ecology, but not body size. Proc. Biol. Sci. 269 (1506): 2221–2227.

[diamond-9] Diamond, J. (1997). Guns, Germs and Steel. Vintage ISBN 0-09-930278-0.

[grayson-10] Grayson, D. K., & Meltzer, D. J. (2003). A requiem for North American overkill. Journal of Archaeological Science 30: 585–593.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

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[9]

[10]

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 ===Megafauna===
-{{Main article|Megafauna}}
+[[Image:Mammoth.png|right|thumb|The [[mammoth]]s constitute an extinct genus of megafauna.]]
+'''Megafauna''' are species of large [[animal]]s ([[Greek language|Greek]] μεγας, large, + modern [[Latin]] fauna, animal).
+Definitions of what constitutes 'large' vary, with some authors using a 40 kg minimum,<ref name=defense>Defense of the Earth. [http://www.ukzn.ac.za/Biology/Uploads/69cd30f3-52c3-4f28-8c2c-3a99d006ab84/biol104lect6.pdf ''Past consequences of climate change: Evolutionary history of the mammals''.]</ref> others 44 kg,<ref name=stuart>Stuart, A. J. (1991). Mammalian extinctions in the Late Pleistocene of northern Eurasia and North America. ''Biol. Rev''. 66: 453–562.</ref><ref name=anon>Anon. [http://www.amqua.org/publications/quaternarytimes/v29n1/quaternary_paleobiology_update.htm Quaternary Paleobiology Update]. ''The Quaternary Times'' 29 (1): (1999).</ref> 45 kg,<ref name=corlett>Corlett, R. T. (2006). [http://www.atbio.org/tn_v17_n3_Sept_2006.pdf Megafaunal extinctions in tropical Asia]. ''Tropinet'' 17 (3): 1–3.</ref> 100 kg,<ref name=martin>Martin, P. S. & Steadman, D. W. (1999). Prehistoric extinctions on islands and continents. In: ''Extinctions in near time: causes, contexts and consequences'' (MacPhee, R. D. E., ed.), pp. 17–56. New York: Kluwer/Plenum.</ref> or 250 kg.<ref name=gebl>Choquenot, D., & Bowman, D. M. J. S. (1998). Marsupial Megafauna, Aborigines and the Overkill Hypothesis: Application of Predator-Prey Models to the Question of Pleistocene Extinction in Australia. ''Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters'' 7 (3): 167-180.</ref> In the last case, they may be further subdivided into small (250–500 kg), medium (500–1,000 kg) and large (over 1,000 kg) megafauna.<ref name=gebl/> Others say that any particular limit is arbitrary, and do not favour a single minimum weight.<ref name=>Wroe, S., Field, J., Fullagar, R., & Jermiin, L. S. (2004). [http://www.bio.usyd.edu.au/staff/swroe/Wroeetal2004MegafaunalextinctionintheLateQuaternary1.pdf Megafaunal extinction in the late Quaternary and the global overkill hypothesis]. ''Alcheringa'' 28: 291-331.</ref>
+The term is also used to refer to particular groups of large animals, both to extant species and, more often, those that have become [[extinction|extinct]] in the geologically recent [[Quaternary]] period.
+Megafauna animals are generally [[R/K selection theory|K-strategist]]s, with great longevity, slow population growth rates, low death rates, and few or no natural predators capable of killing adults. These characteristics make megafauna highly vulnerable to human exploitation. Some authors have argued that this reproductive capacity and ecological behaviour are more important than size alone, with some much smaller animals with very low reproductive rates showing 'megafauna' characteristics, such as all [[Tachyglossidae]] (echidnas) and [[Sloth|Megatherioidea]] (two-toed sloths) above 7 kg and 6 kg respectively, having become extinct in late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions.<ref name=johnson>Johnson, C. N. (2002). [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1691151&blobtype=pdf Determinants of loss of mammal species during the Late Quaternary 'megafauna' extinctions: life history and ecology, but not body size]. ''Proc. Biol. Sci''. 269 (1506): 2221–2227.</ref>
+===Recent extinctions===
+{{main|Pleistocene megafauna}}
+Many species of megafauna have become extinct within the last million years, and, although some biologists dispute it, human [[hunting]] is often cited as the cause.<ref name=diamond>Diamond, J. (1997). ''Guns, Germs and Steel''. Vintage ISBN 0-09-930278-0.</ref> Other theories for the cause of the extinctions are climatic change associated with [[Ice age|glaciation]] and the questionable hyperdisease hypothesis.<ref name=grayson>Grayson, D. K., & Meltzer, D. J. (2003). [http://www.unl.edu/rhames/courses/current/requiem-overkill.pdf A requiem for North American overkill]. ''Journal of Archaeological Science'' 30: 585–593.</ref>
+=== Examples of megafauna ===
+====Domestic megafauna====
+*[[Alpaca]] (''Vicugna pacos'')
+*[[Asian Elephant]] (''Elephas maximus'')
+*[[Chital]] (''Axis axis'')
+*[[Domestic buffalo]] (''Bubalus bubalis'')
+*[[Domestic Dog]] (''Canis familaris'')
+*[[Donkey]] (''Equus asinus'')
+*[[Dromedary Camel]] (''Camelus dromedarius'')
+*[[Guanaco]] (''Lama guanicoe'')
+*[[Cattle]] (''Bos taurus'')
+*[[Horse]] (''Equus domesticus'')
+*[[Pig]] (''Sus scrofa'')
+*[[Llama]] (''Lama glama'')
+*[[Sheep]] (''Ovis aries'')
+*[[Turkey (bird)|Turkey]] (''Melagris gallopavo'')
+*[[Vicuña]] (''Vicugna vicugna'')
+====Freshwater megafauna====
+*[[Chinook Salmon]] (''Oncohynchus tshawtscha'')
+*[[Giant Barb]] (''Catlocarpio siamensis'')
+*[[Wels Catfish]] (''Silurus glanis'')
+*[[Prionosuchus]] †
+====Oceanian megafauna====
+{{col-begin}}
+{{col-2}}
+*[[Antilopine Kangaroo]] (''Marcopus antilopinus'')
+*[[Australian Pelican]] (''Pelecanus conspicillatus'')
+*[[Blue Whale]] (''Balaenoptera musculus'')
+*[[Bryde's Whale]] (''Balaenoptera brydei'')
+*[[Quinkana|Bluff Down Crocodile]] † (Quinkana)
+*[[Euryzygoma|Bluff Down Euryzygoma]] † (''Euryzygoma dunese'')
+*[[Liasis|Bluff Down Giant Python]] †
+*[[Brolga]] (''Grus rubicunda'')
+*[[Bush Moa]]† (''Anomalopteryx didifromis'')
+*[[Propleopus|Carnivorous Kangaroo]] † (''Propleopus oscillans'')
+*[[Carpet Python]] (''Morelia spilota'')
+*[[Cassowary]] (''Casuarius casuarius'')
+*[[Congruus]] †
+*[[Dingo]] (''Canis dingo'')
+*[[Diprotodon]] †
+*[[Eastern Grey Kangaroo]] (''Marcopus gigantea'')
+*[[Emu]] (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'')
+*[[Eurapteryx]]†
+*[[Fin Whale]] (''Balaenoptera physalus'')
+*[[Genyornis]] † (''Genyorns newtoni'')
+*[[Zaglossus|Giant Echidna]] † (''Zaglossus hacketii)''
+*[[Simosthenurus|Browsing Kangaroo]] † (''Simosthenurus occidentalis'')
+*[[Leipoa|Giant Maleefowl]] † (''Leipoa gallinacea'')
+*[[Ornithorhynchus maximus|Giant Platypus]] † (''Ornithorhynchus maximus'')
+*[[Giant Koala]] † (''Phascolarctos stroni'')
+*[[Sarcophilus|Great Tasmanian Devil]] † (''Sarcophilus laniarius'')
+*[[Protemnodon|Giant Wallaby]] † (''Protemnodon otibandus'')
+*[[Goanna]] (''Varanus giganteus'')
+*[[Gould's Monitor]] (''Varanus gouldi'')
+*[[Humpback Whale]] (''Megaptera novaeangliae '')
+*[[King Island Emu]] † (''Dromaius ater'')
+*[[Killer Whale]] (''Orcinus orca'')
+{{col-2}}
+*''[[Megalania prisca]]'' †
+*[[Marsupial Lion]] † (genus ''Thylacoleo'')
+*[[Moa]] †
+*[[Minke Whale]] (''Balaeonptera acutorostrata'')
+*[[Haast's Eagle|New Zealand Eagle]] † (''Harpagornis moorei'')
+*[[New Zealand Giant Penguin]] † (''Pachydyptes ponderosus'')
+*[[New Zealand white shark]] † (''Carcharodon angustidens'')
+*[[Ninjemys oweni]] †
+*[[Pacyhornis]] †
+*[[Palorchestes]] †
+*[[Procoptodon]] †
+*[[Red Kangaroo]] (''Marcopus rufus'')
+*[[Saltwater Crocodile]] (''Crocodylus porosus'')
+*[[Sei Whale]] (''Balaenoptera borealis'')
+*[[Stirton's Thunder Bird]] † (''Dromornis stirtoni'')
+*[[Thylacine|Tasmanian Tiger]] † (''Thylacinus cynocephalus'')
+*[[Taniwhasaurus]] †
+*[[Warrendja]] †
+*[[Wonambi]] †
+*[[Zygomaturus]] †
+{{col-end}}
 ''Megafauna'' are large animals of any particular region or time. For example, [[Australian megafauna]].
@@ Line 71: / Line 164: @@
 [[Category:Animals]]
-{{credit|Fauna|221878209}}
+{{credit|Fauna|221878209|Megafauna|225491249}}

Fauna of South America
Sovereign states	Argentina · Bolivia · Brazil · Chile · Colombia · Ecuador · Guyana · Panama* · Paraguay · Peru · Suriname · Trinidad and Tobago* · Uruguay · Venezuela
Dependencies	Aruba* (Netherlands) · Falkland Islands (UK) · French Guiana (France) · Netherlands Antilles* (Netherlands) · South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (UK)