NAME: WARISHA QANDEEL

ROLL NO: 19
SUBJECT: ZOOGEOGRAPHY
TOPIC: PALAERTIC REGION
SUBMITTED TO: DR AKBAR KHAN
INSTITUTE OF ZOOLOGY
What is Palearctic Region:
THE REGION relating to, or being a biogeographic region or sub region that
includes Europe, Asia north of the Himalayas, and Africa north of the Sahara

EXTENT:
It is the largest zoogeographical region. It includes whole of Europe, northern
part of Africa, northern China, USSR, Japan, Iran, Afghanistan and Baluchistan
province of Pakistan. This region includes Europe, Russia up to pacific coast and
Mediterranean up to Sahara. Climate is temperate and polar in the north.
Eastern Asia is temperate with deciduous forests. In northern zone there are
grasslands (steppe) and interior portion is arid.

Fauna of Palearctic region:

Mammals.
There are 33 families of land mammals. Animals of word-wide distribution
which amounts to one-third of families are rabbits, mice dog family, shrews,
squirrels and cat family.Animals that are restricted to the Old World include
hedge hog, porcupine, civets, giant panda (Ailuropoda), hyena and pigs.Four
families are shared with Nearctic: beavers, jumping mice, flying squirrels,
mole (Talpa) and four shared with African region.Endemic mammals: mole rat
(Spalacidae) and Camel (Seleviniidae), dormice.African elements are wild
horses, the prezevalski’s horse is the only truly wild horse in the world.

Aves. There are 53 families of birds most of which are migratory. All birds
have wide distribution and are shared with Nearctic, Oriental and African
regions, e.g. pheasants, wrens, finches, warblers, sea birds, geese, birds of prey,
cranes, terns, gulls etc.

Hedge sparrow is restricted to this region.

Reptiles.
There is no endemic reptilian family. Lizard, Sinisaurus, and Alligartor
sinensis are endemic in China. There are lizards, snakes, Typhlops and sand
boa, Trionyx and emydine turtles.

Amphibia.
There are common newts, crested newt (Triton), Spanish newt and alpine
newt. The colourless Proteus is blind and lives in European caves. There are
European salamanders, Salamandra salamandra and S. atra and a species of
giant salamander (Megalobatrachus) in Japan and China that attains a length of
over 5 feet. Anurans are represented by frogs, toads, tree frogs. Male of the
midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans), which is found in France and Italy carried
eggs wrapped around his hind legs. Amphibians show affinities with Nearctic
Region.

Fishes.
Fish fauna also shows affinities with Nearctic. There is no endemic fish and carp
is the dominant family. There are carps, salmon, pikes, perches, eels
and Petromyzon that migrates from sea to the rivers to breed and the
ammocoete larva, commonly known as sand sleeper lives in mud for several
years in European rivers. Few species of toothless sturgeons immigrate from
sea to the rivers of Japan and Russia for laying eggs which are harvested to
prepare a delicacy called caviar.The fauna is a mixture of Old World tropics and
New World temperate.

Birds:
The Palearctic birds include hawks, ducks, stork, cuckoos, kingfishers, swifts,
swallows, thrushes, blackbirds, finches, grebes’ loon, etc. Moreover, there is a
variety of birds. There are no parrots. The only family restricted to this region is
the ‘hedgehog sparrow’ family. They are not present in any other region because
hedgehog sparrow is endanger specie

Reptiles:
The reptilian fauna includes turtles, tortoises, a few lizards, and snakes. Finally,
there is an alligator in China.

Amphibians:
Palearctic is important from the point of view that it has many tailed amphibians,
the newts, and salamanders. Of the tailless amphibian, the common toads and
frogs are widespread. They are large in number. In addition, there are few tree
frogs of both the hylid and polypeptide families.

Affinities:
The vertebrate fauna of Palearctic is not then vibrant. Its fauna’ characteristics are
summarized as a complex of Old world tropical families and new world
temperate. So, of Palearctic mammals, rabbits, murids, dogs, and bat families are
worldwide in distribution. Further, there are shrews, squirrels, mustelids, and cat
family members in every other region except Australia. The Palearctic shares
bears and deers with Nearctic, Neotropical, and also, Oriental. Besides, bovid with
Nearctic, Ethiopian, and Oriental. Families of hedgehogs, porcupines, civets,
hyenas, and also, pigs are only present in Ethiopian and Oriental regions. Pandas
and raccoons are only present in the Nearctic region. Hence, the camel family is
the only mammals family occurring in Palaearctic, which has a discontinuous
distribution. In addition, the relatives of camels, Vicunas and Guancoos, live in the
Neotropical region.

Vegetation of Palearctic region:

mallee
vegetation

mallee, also spelled mellee, scrubland plant community found in

southern Australia, composed primarily of woody shrubs and small trees of
the genus Eucalyptus. Mallee ecosystems are in areas with a Mediterranean
climate, largely found in Western Australia, the Eyre and York peninsulas of South
Australia, and the southwestern corners of Victoria and New South Wales. Mallee
is considered part of the Mediterranean vegetation biome, which includes North
American chaparral, Chilean matorral, Mediterranean maquis, and
the fynbos of South Africa.

The extensive scrublands of southwestern Australia have a rich and varied

vegetation, although only a few plant families are represented. Many of the
approximately 1,000 species of shrubs found there have spiny branches or leaves,
and most bear colourful flowers during the wet season. The dominant species are
commonly sclerophyllous, meaning that they have thick leathery leaves that
prevent water loss during the hot dry season. Most scrubland growth occurs
during the short rainy winter season. In addition to the eucalypts, other important
mallee genera include Acacia, Maleleuca, Allocasuarina, Hakea. and Tecticornia in
saline areas.

chaparral

chaparral, scrubland plant communities composed of broad-leaved evergreen

shrubs, bushes, and small trees usually less than 2.5 metres (about 8 feet) tall—
the characteristic vegetation of coastal and inland mountain areas of
southwestern North America. Chaparral is largely found in regions
of California and northern Mexico with a climate similar to that of the
Mediterranean area, characterized by hot dry summers and mild wet winters. The
name is sometimes used in place of a more general term, Mediterranean
vegetation, a biome type of similar vegetation that includes maquis around
the Mediterranean Sea, fynbos at the southern tip of Africa, mallees in
southwestern Australia, and the matorral in central Chile.
Mediterranean vegetation, biome of any dense scrubland composed of broad-
leaved evergreen shrubs, bushes, and small trees usually less than 2.5 metres
(about 8 feet) tall and growing in regions lying between 30° and 40° north and
south latitudes. These regions have a climate similar to that of the Mediterranean
area, which is characterized by hot dry summers and mild wet winters. Around
the Mediterranean Sea the ecosystems with this vegetation are called
macchie, maquis, or garigue; they are known as chaparral in southwestern North
America, as fynbos in southern Africa, as matorral in Chile, and as mallee in
southwestern Australia.
fynbos:

Mediterranean vegetation shows a number of adaptations to drought, grazing,

and frequent fire regimes. The small sclerophyllous leaves that characterize many
of the perennial trees and shrubs of this biome help conserve water and prevent
nutrient loss. The soils generally are of low fertility, and many plants have
mutualistic relationships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Some trees have thick
tough bark that is resistant to fire, such as the cork oak (Quercus suber) of the
Mediterranean region. Other plants, such as Australian grass
trees (Xanthorrhoea species) and South African aloes (Aloe), retain dense dead
leaves around their stems to serve as insulation against the heat of a wildfire.
Additionally, some plants have moist tissues that provide both thermal insulation
and protect against dehydration during a fire. This strategy is common in a
number of Protea species of the Cape floral region, which have corky tissues to
protect their buds from desiccation. Still others are actually rich in
flammable essential oils and readily resprout after fire. Grazing mammals are
common amid Mediterranean vegetation. They include deer, wild sheep and
goats, small antelope in southern Africa, and kangaroos in Australia.

SUBREGIONS OF PALAEARCTIC:
European. Northern and central Europe. Black sea. The fauna hedge hog,
shrew, mole and myogale (a mammal).
Mediterranean. Southern Europe. Arabian, Asia Minor, Afghanistan,
Baluchistan and parts of Russia. Fauna includes civets, hyena, hyrax.

Siberian. Northern Asia north of Himalaya having extreme climatic conditions.

Fauna includes yak, musk deer, mole, freshwater seal (Phoca sibirica) found in
Baikal lake.

Manchurian. Mongolia, Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Tibet and northern China.

The fauna contains Tibetan langur (Rhinopithecus), giant
panda (Ailuropus), Chinese water deer (Hydropotes), tufted deer (Elaphodus).

The Palearctic realm includes mostly boreal/subarctic-

climate and temperate-climate ecoregions, which run across Eurasia from
western Europe to the Bering Sea.
REGIONS:
Euro-Siberian region
The boreal and temperate Euro-Siberian region is the Palearctic's
largest biogeographic region, which transitions from tundra in the northern
reaches of Russia and Scandinavia to the vast taiga, the boreal coniferous forests
which run across the continent. South of the taiga are a belt of temperate
broadleaf and mixed forests and temperate coniferous forests. This vast Euro-
Siberian region is characterized by many shared plant and animal species, and has
many affinities with the temperate and boreal regions of the Nearctic
realm of North America. Eurasia and North America were often connected by
the Bering land bridge, and have very similar mammal and bird fauna, with many
Eurasian species having moved into North America, and fewer North American
species having moved into Eurasia. Many zoologists consider the Palearctic and
Nearctic to be a single Holarctic realm. The Palearctic and Nearctic also share
many plant species, which botanists call the Arcto-Tertiary Geoflora.
Mediterranean Basin
The lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea in southern Europe, north Africa, and
western Asia are home to the Mediterranean Basin ecoregions, which together
constitute the world's largest and most diverse mediterranean climate region of
the world, with generally mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. The
Mediterranean basin's mosaic of Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and
scrub are home to 13,000 endemic species. The Mediterranean basin is also one
of the world's most endangered biogeographic regions; only 4% of the region's
original vegetation remains, and human activities,
including overgrazing, deforestation, and conversion of lands for pasture,
agriculture, and urbanization, have degraded much of the region. Formerly the
region was mostly covered with forests and woodlands, but heavy human use has
reduced much of the region to the sclerophyll shrublands known
as chaparral, matorral, maquis, or garrigue. Conservation International has
designated the Mediterranean basin as one of the world's biodiversity hotspots.
Sahara and Arabian deserts
A great belt of deserts, including the Atlantic coastal desert, Sahara desert,
and Arabian desert, separates the Palearctic and Afrotropic ecoregions. This
scheme includes these desert ecoregions in the palearctic realm; other
biogeographers identify the realm boundary as the transition zone between the
desert ecoregions and the Mediterranean basin ecoregions to the north, which
places the deserts in the Afrotropic, while others place the boundary through the
middle of the desert.

Western and Central Asia

The Caucasus mountains, which run between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea,
are a particularly rich mix of coniferous, broadleaf, and mixed forests, and include
the temperate rain forests of the Euxine-Colchic deciduous forests ecoregion.
Central Asia and the Iranian plateau are home to
dry steppe grasslands and desert basins, with montane forests, woodlands, and
grasslands in the region's high mountains and plateaux. In southern Asia the
boundary of the Palearctic is largely altitudinal. The middle altitude foothills of
the Himalaya between about 2000–2500 m form the boundary between the
Palearctic and Indomalaya ecoregions.

East Asia
China, Korea and Japan are more humid and temperate than adjacent Siberia and
Central Asia, and are home to rich temperate coniferous, broadleaf, and mixed
forests, which are now mostly limited to mountainous areas, as the densely
populated lowlands and river basins have been converted to intensive agricultural
and urban use. East Asia was not much affected by glaciation in the ice ages, and
retained 96 percent of Pliocene[citation needed] tree genera, while Europe retained
only 27 percent. In the subtropical region of southern China and southern edge of
the Himalayas, the Palearctic temperate forests transition to the subtropical and
tropical forests of Indomalaya, creating a rich and diverse mix of plant and animal
species. The mountains of southwest China are also designated as a biodiversity
hotspot. In Southeastern Asia, high mountain ranges form tongues of Palearctic
flora and fauna in northern Indochina and southern China. Isolated small outposts
(sky islands) occur as far south as central Myanmar (on Nat Ma Taung, 3050 m),
northernmost Vietnam (on Fan Si Pan, 3140 m) and the high mountains
of Taiwan.
Freshwater
The realm contains several important freshwater ecoregions as well, including the
heavily developed rivers of Europe, the rivers of Russia, which flow into
the Arctic, Baltic, Black, and Caspian seas, Siberia's Lake Baikal, the oldest and
deepest lake on the planet, and Japan's ancient Lake Biwa.

REFRENCES
https://www.iaszoology.com/palaearctic/
https://biohavoc.com/palaearctic-region-fauna/
https://icmsedu.org/write-a-detailed-note-on-palearctic-region/
https://ocd.lcwu.edu.pk/cfiles/Zoology/M.Sc./Zoo-403/PALAEARTICREGION.pdf
https://biohavoc.com/palaearctic-region-fauna