Wildlife of Brazil

The toco toucan is an animal typical of the Brazilian savannas.

Many varieties of poison dart frogs such as this yellow-banded poison dart frog can be found in the

jungles of Brazil.

The wildlife of Brazil comprises all naturally occurring animals, plants,

and fungi in the South American country. Home to 60% of the Amazon Rainforest,

which accounts for approximately one-tenth of all species in the world,[1] Brazil is

considered to have the greatest biodiversity of any country on the planet. It has the
most known species of plants (55,000), freshwater fish (3,000),

and mammals (over 689). It also ranks third on the list of countries with the

most bird species (1,832) and second with the most reptile species (744). The

number of fungal species is unknown but is large. Approximately two-thirds of

all species worldwide are found in tropical areas, often coinciding with developing

countries such as Brazil. Brazil is second only to Indonesia as the country with the

most endemic species.

Biodiversity

In the animal kingdom, there is general consensus that Brazil has the highest

number of both terrestrial vertebrates and invertebrates of any country in the world.

This high diversity of fauna can be explained in part by the sheer size of Brazil and

the great variation in ecosystems such as Amazon Rainforest, Atlantic

Forest and Cerrado. The numbers published about Brazil's fauna diversity vary

from source to source, as taxonomists sometimes disagree about species

classifications, and information can be incomplete or out-of-date. Also, new

species continue to be discovered and some species go extinct in the wild. Brazil

has the highest diversity of primates (131 species) and freshwater fish (over 3000

species) of any country in the world. It also claims the highest number
of mammals with 775 species, the second highest number of amphibians with 517

species and butterflies with 3,150 species, the third highest number of birds with

1,622 species, and fifth number of reptiles with 468 species. There is a high

number of endangered species, many of which live in threatened habitats such as

the Atlantic Forest or the Amazon Rainforest.

Scientists have described between 96,660 and 128,843 invertebrate species in

Brazil. According to a 2005 estimate by Thomas M. Lewinsohn and Paulo I. Prado,

Brazil is home to around 9.5% of all the species and 13.1% of biota found in the

world; these figures are likely to be underestimates according to the authors.

Enough is known about Brazilian fungi to say with confidence that the number of

native species must be very high and very diverse: in work almost entirely limited

to the state of Pernambuco, during the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s, more than

3300 species were observed by a single group of mycologists. Given that current

best estimates suggest only about 7% of the world's true diversity of fungal species

has so far been discovered, with most of the known species having been described

from temperate regions, the number of fungal species occurring in Brazil is likely to

be far higher.
Because it encompasses many species-rich ecosystems for animals, fungi and

plants, Brazil houses many thousands of species, with many (if not most) of them

still undiscovered. Due to the relatively explosive economic and demographic rise

of the country in the last century, Brazil's ability to protect its environmental

habitats has increasingly come under threat. Extensive logging in the nation's

forests, particularly the Amazon, both official and unofficial, destroys areas the size

of a small country each year, and potentially a diverse variety of plants and

animals. However, as various species possess special characteristics, or are built

in an interesting way, some of their capabilities are being copied for use in

technology (see bionics), and the profit potential may result in a retardation of

deforestation.

Ecoregions

Brazil's immense area is subdivided into different ecoregions in several kinds

of biomes. Because of the wide variety of habitats in Brazil, from the jungles of

the Amazon Rainforest and the Atlantic Forest (which includes Atlantic Coast

restingas), to the tropical savanna of the Cerrado, to the xeric shrubland of

the Caatinga, to the world's largest wetland area, the Pantanal, there exists a wide

variety of wildlife as well.

Terrestrial mammals and reptiles

A jaguar

The wild canids found in Brazil are the maned wolf, bush dog, hoary fox, short-

eared dog, crab-eating fox and pampas fox. The felines found in Brazil are

the jaguar, the puma, the margay, the ocelot, the oncilla, and the jaguarundi. Other

notable animals include the giant anteater, several varieties

of sloths and armadillos, coati, giant river otter, tapir, peccaries, marsh

deer, Pampas deer, and capybara (the world's largest existing rodent). There are

around 131 (in 2022) primate species, including the howler monkey, the capuchin

monkey, and the squirrel monkey, the marmoset, and the tamarin.[2][10]

snake on the planet. This water boa has been measured up to 30 feet (9.1 m) long,

but historical reports note that native peoples and early European explorers claim

anacondas from 50 to 100 feet (30 m) long.

Invertebrates

There are 1107 known species of non-marine molluscs living in the wild in Brazil.

The second largest spider in the world, the Goliath birdeater (Theraphosa blondi),

can be found in some regions of Brazil.

Insects

It is calculated that Brazil has more insects than any country in the world. It is

estimated as having over 70,000 species of insects, with some estimates ranging

up to 15 million, with more being discovered almost daily. One 1996 report

estimated between 50,000 and 60,000 species of insects and spiders in a

single hectare of rainforest. About 520 thysanoptera species belonging to

six families in 139 genera are found in Brazil.

Birds

Brazil ranks third on the list of countries, behind Colombia and Peru, with the most

number of distinct bird species, having 1622 identified species, including over 70

species of parrots alone. It has 191 endemic birds.[5] The variety of types of birds is

vast as well, and include birds ranging from brightly colored parrots, toucans,

and trogons to flamingos, ducks, vultures, hawks, eagles, owls, swans,

and hummingbirds. There are also species of penguins that have been found in

Brazil.

The largest bird found in Brazil is the rhea, a flightless ratite bird, similar to

the emu.

Aquatic and amphibian

Brazil has over 3,000 identified species of freshwater fish and over 500 species

of amphibians.[5] As elsewhere in South America, the majority of the freshwater fish

species are characiforms (tetras and allies) and siluriforms (catfish), but there are

also many species from other groups such as the cyprinodontiforms and cichlids.

While the majority of Brazil's fish species are native to the Amazon, the Paraná–

Paraguay and the São Francisco river basins, the country also has an unusually

high number of troglobitic fish, with 25 species (15% of the total in the world)

known so far. The most well-known fish in Brazil is the piranha.

Other aquatic and amphibian animals found in Brazil include the pink dolphin (the

world's largest river dolphin), the caimans (such as the black caiman), and

the pirarucu (one of the world's largest river fish). Also familiar are the brightly

colored poison dart frogs.

Fungi
The diversity of Brazil's fungi - even the small amount known so far to scientists - is

astonishing. Using only conventional microscopy, and examining living leaves

collected from various plants, the mycologist Batista and his colleagues, working in

Pernambuco in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, regularly recorded more than one

fungal species, and sometimes up to ten on a single leaf. Although information

about fungi worldwide remains very fragmented, a preliminary estimate, based only

on the work of Batista, shows that the number of potentially endemic fungal

species in Brazil already exceeds 2000. Also, fungi is very often spotted in Brazil.

Plants

Princess flower

Brazil has 55,000 recorded plant species, the highest number of any

country. About 30% of these species are endemic to Brazil. The Atlantic

Forest region is home to tropical and subtropical moist forests, tropical dry

a wetland, and home to a known 3,500 species of plants. The Cerrado is

biologically the most diverse savanna in the world.

The pau-brasil tree (also known as brazilwood and the origin of the country's

name) was a common plant found along the Atlantic coast of Brazil. But excessive

logging of the prized timber and red dye from the bark pushed the pau-brasil

towards extinction. However, since the inception of synthetic dyes, the pau-brasil

has been harvested less.

All over Brazil, in all biomes, are hundreds of species of orchids, including those in

the genera Cattleya, Oncidium, and Laelia.

Cattleya aclandiae or Lady Ackland's cattleya

plants. The plants evolved to digest insects due to the oligotrophic (low level of

nutrients) soil of the tepui.

Threats to wildlife

"At bottom right and bottom center, deforestation and cultivation are evident by the regular, rectangular

shapes that delineate plots."

More than one-fifth of the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil has been completely

destroyed, and more than 70 mammals are endangered. The threat of extinction

comes from several sources, including deforestation and poaching. Extinction is

even more problematic in the Atlantic Forest, where nearly 93% of the forest has

been cleared. Of the 202 endangered animals in Brazil, 171 are in the Atlantic

Forest. Currently, 15.8 million acres of tropical ecosystem have been completely

eliminated to farm sugarcane for ethanol production. And additional 4.5 million

transportation energy is derived from ethanol, or various mixtures of ethanol and

petroleum-based fuels. Only about 15-20% comes from imported petroleum. This

massive national biofuel program has been devastating to tropical wildlife diversity,

and to the global climate/environment. With its acquisition of

BioEnergia, BP (British Petroleum) is planning to further expand Brazil's ethanol

program.