Endemic Species
A species that exists naturally only in one particular geographic location—nowhere else on Earth. Specialists so adapted to their niche that they can't survive outside it.
Used in the Books
This term appears in 1 chapter:
Biological Context
Madagascar's lemurs, Australia's marsupials, and Hawaii's honeycreepers are endemic—evolved in isolation and existing nowhere else naturally. Islands comprise 6.7% of Earth's land area but harbor 20% of biodiversity and account for 75% of recorded extinctions. Endemic species are highly vulnerable: they evolved without predators and lack defensive mechanisms against invasive species. Nearly half of Earth's critically endangered terrestrial vertebrates are island endemics. Conservation efforts targeting endemics show high returns—the Antiguan Racer population increased twenty-fold after invasive rat removal.