What endemic species are there in Mexico with examples

Mexico or, rather, the United Mexican States , is a country that is located in the southern part of North America. With an area of ​​1,964,375 km ^2, Mexico is the fourteenth largest country in the world and the third in Latin America. It is bounded by its coasts bathed by the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Gulf of Mexico together with the Caribbean Sea to the east. As for its inhabitants, it is the eleventh most populous country, with a population of approximately 124 million people in 2017.

Its relief is very rugged and has a large number of volcanoes. In addition, there are the Madre Oriental and Madre Occidental mountain ranges, which are an extension of the Rocky Mountains.

Mexico has a very diverse climatic variety where the average temperature is around 19ºC, although we can find both cold climates in the mountainous areas and very hot climates in the areas near its coasts. The country is also divided into two very different areas by the Tropic of Cancer: an area with a tropical climate and another with a more temperate climate.

It has a wet season between May and October during which it rains about 70 days a year, although in most of the country rainfall is scarce.

Before continuing with the article we must make a small parenthesis. Do you know what endemic species are ? An endemic species is one that refers to a species whose distribution is restricted to a specific geographic location and which is not naturally found in other regions of the world.

However, an endemism does not specify how restricted it is. By this we mean that the scale is very variable, an endemism can be its own from a mountain to an island or a continent. Similarly, here we are referring to species, but you can also refer to other larger groups such as genera or families. With all this, the general thing is that it is indicated which taxon we are referring to (species, subspecies, family …) and from where.

Expand this information with this other AgroCorrn article on endemic species: definition and examples .

As we said, Mexico is one of the most diverse countries in the world with 10% or 12% of the planet’s biodiversity that includes various species of vertebrates, invertebrates and plants.

Some examples of endemic invertebrates in Mexico are the canyon crab ( Pseudothelphusa dugesi ), the reigo ( Procambarus regiomontanus ), the hope butterfly ( Papilio esperanza) or the Federal District tarantula ( Hemirrhagus chilango ).

Within the endemic vertebrate animals of Mexico we collect below a sample of species classified by groups in descending order of the number of total species:

• Fish: in Mexico there are 2,692 species of fish, of which 271 are endemic. Some examples of them are the Julimes puppy ( Cyprinodon julimes ), the Alchichica charal ( Poblana Alchichica ) or Almoloya ( Poblana ferdebueni) or the Yucatecan sardine ( Fundulus persimilis ).
• Birds: of the 1,096 existing species, 125 are endemic. Some examples are the dwarf chara ( Cyanolyca nana ), the Tamaulipas owl ( Glaucidium sanchezi ), the long-eared trogon ( Euptilotis neoxenus ) or the mountain sparrow ( Xenospiza baileyi ).
• Reptiles: 864 species are registered, of which 493 are endemic, such as the Mexican spiny iguana ( Ctenosaura pectinata ), the mountain nauyaca ( Cerophidion barbouri ), the Balsas coral reef ( Micrurus laticollaris ), the four-swamp turtle ( Terrapene coahuila ) or the pygmy rattlesnake. mexicana ( Crotalus ravus ).
• Mammals: 535 species with 164 endemics, including the Cozumel raccoon ( Procyon pigmaeus ), the banana bat ( Musonycteris harrisoni) , the vaquita porpoise ( Phocoena sinus ) or the pygmy skunk ( Spilogale pymaea ).
• Amphibians: 361, with 174 endemic. Examples of amphibians in Mexico are the Mexican axolotl ( Ambystoma mexicanum ), the cecilia oaxagueña ( Dermophis oaxacae ), the frog of the Sierra Madre Occidental ( Lithobates sierramadrensis ), the salamadra of the Sierra de Juárez ( Cryptotriton adelos ) or the toad of large crest ( Bufo cristatus ).

Last but not least, some endemic plant species to Mexico are the Juárez fir ( Abies hickelii ), the Jalisco pine ( Pinus jaliscana ), the weeping stone pine ( Pinus pinceana ), the perennial corn ( Zea diploperennis ) , the Guadalupe palm ( Brahea edulis ), various species of “immortelle” ( Echeverria spp.) or the Tehuantepec soybean ( Beaucarnea stricta ).

If you liked knowing all this information about the endemic species of Mexico, we recommend that you also consult this other article about the 10 animals in danger of extinction in Mexico .

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