Endemic species
Found naturally in one region and nowhere else.
A species with one home
The Nilgiri tahr and the Lion-tailed macaque live naturally in India.
What do you think scientists find if they look for these two species naturally in other parts of the world?
What this lesson covers
The idea
Species that are restricted to particular regions of the world and are not found naturally anywhere else are called endemic species.
A species with one home
The Nilgiri tahr and the Lion-tailed macaque live naturally in India.
What do you think scientists find if they look for these two species naturally in other parts of the world?
- They are not found naturally anywhere else
- They are found naturally in many countries
- They are found naturally on all continents
Four species found only in India
Open each tab.
Endemic means one home
Each example lives naturally in India and nowhere else in the world. Plants and animals can both be endemic. India's varied landscape, from mountains to rainforests to coasts, gives a home to many such species.
Species that are restricted to particular regions of the world and are not found naturally anywhere else are called endemic species.
Notes
Endemic species are restricted to particular regions and are not found naturally anywhere else.
Check yourself
What is an endemic species?
What is true of the Lion-tailed macaque, the Nilgiri tahr and Neelakurinji?
Which endemic species is the Indian variety of the pitcher plant?
A species is found living naturally in India and also in Africa. Is it endemic to India?
- A species found naturally in every region of the world. An endemic species is the opposite: it is restricted to particular regions.
- A species that has disappeared. Endemic species are living species. The word describes where they are found, not whether they have disappeared.
- A species restricted to particular regions and not found naturally anywhere else — correct. Yes!
- They are found only in India — correct. Yes!
- They are found naturally in many countries. The book gives them as examples of species found only in India.
- They are found in India and in one other country. The book says they are found only in India, so there is no other country.
- Neelakurinji. Neelakurinji is also found only in India, but the book names Nepenthes khasiana as the Indian pitcher plant.
- Nepenthes khasiana — correct. Yes!
- Nilgiri tahr. The Nilgiri tahr is another example the book lists, but it is not the pitcher plant.
- Yes, because it lives in India. A species found naturally in other places too is not endemic to India.
- Yes, if it is a plant. Endemic can describe plants as well as animals, but the species must not be found naturally anywhere else.
- No, endemic species are not found naturally anywhere else — correct. Yes!