Global InformationFauna of Florida information
Florida hosts many types of fauna. From coral reefs of the Florida Keys to the cypress swamps of the Panhandle, the state's diverse habitats are home to a variety of wildlife. Florida is among the top five states in terms of endemic species.[1] There are over 700 terrestrial animals, 200 freshwater fish species, 1,000 marine fish and thousands of terrestrial insects and other invertebrates that inhabit the state.[2] Florida's peninsular geography spans from subtropical to tropical zones, which, combined with its distinctive geology and climate, contribute to habitat diversity and an array of species. The native wildlife that exists in the state are of temperate and tropical origin.
Florida once had a large number of species that formerly occupied the state in prehistoric and historic times, but became locally extinct or extirpated; such as the Florida short-faced bear, Florida black wolf, Dire wolf, Dexteria floridana, Florida bog lemming, Long-nosed peccary, Caribbean monk seal, Carolina parakeet, Great auk, Passenger pigeon, Ivory-billed woodpecker, Bachman's warbler, Dusky seaside sparrow, Pallid beach mouse, Chadwick Beach cotton mouse, Goff's pocket gopher, California condor, Island raccoon, Northern short-tailed shrew,[3] magpie, indigo snake,[4] northern leopard frog,[5] porcupine,[6] great black hawk,[7] red wolf, elk,[8] hog-nosed skunk, gray wolf,[9] underwood's bonneted bat, Pristine mustached bat, white-tailed jackrabbit,[10] band-tailed pigeon,[11] jaguar, margay, jabiru,[12] ocelot, ghost-faced bat, collared peccary,[13] great-tailed grackle, ringed kingfisher, common opossum,[14] gray-breasted crake, Northern jacana, yellow-headed caracara, ruffed grouse,[15] Southern lapwing and greater prairie chicken.[16]
- ^ "Species Diversity". Forest Service. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
- ^ "Wildlife Habitats". Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
- ^ "Blarina brevicauda". Fossilworks.
- ^ "Drymarchon corais". Fossilworks.
- ^ "Rana pipens". Fossilworks.
- ^ "Erethizon dorsatum". Fossilworks.
- ^ "Buteogallus urubitinga". Fossilworks.
- ^ Ray, C. E.; Olsen, S. J.; Gut, H. J. (1963). "Three Mammals New to the Pleistocene Fauna of Florida, and a Reconsideration of Five Earlier Records". Journal of Mammalogy. 44 (3): 373–395. doi:10.2307/1377207. JSTOR 1377207.
- ^ "Canis lupus". Fossilworks.
- ^ "Lepus townsendii". Fossilworks.
- ^ "Patagioenas fasciata". Fossilworks.
- ^ "Jabiru mycteria". Fossilworks.
- ^ Hulbert, Richard C.; Morgan, Gary S.; Kerner, Andrea (January 2009). Collared peccary (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Tayassuidae, Pecari) from the late Pleistocene of Florida. Museum of Northern Arizona. pp. 543–555.
- ^ "Didelphis marsupialis". Fossilworks.
- ^ "Bonasa umbellus". Fossilworks.
- ^ Morgan, Gary S.; Emsile, Steven D. (2010). "Tropical and western influences in vertebrate faunas from the Pliocene and Pleistocene of Florida". Quaternary International. 217 (1–2): 143-158. Bibcode:2010QuInt.217..143M. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2009.11.030. ISSN 1040-6182.