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One of the major innovations of this Hotspots reanalysis is the growing accuracy of data on their vertebrate species. This is largely due to major advances in the quantity and reliability of species distribution data.
For terrestrial vertebrates it is clear that island hotspots hold the most species as endemics, while amphibians are the class most apt to be hotspot endemics. Overall, 11,980 terrestrial vertebrate species are endemic to the hotspots (42 percent of all terrestrial vertebrates), while a total of 22,022
vertebrate species occur in the hotpots (77 percent of the world's total). Additionally, there are over 3,400 freshwater fish species endemic to the hotspots, which is likely to be an underestimate.
Another form of measurement is the percentage of endemic vertebrate species compared to a hotspot’s total number of vertebrate species occurring. Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands top the list with an astounding 81 percent of unique vertebrate species. Spectacular levels of vertebrate endemism are also found in New Zealand (72 percent), Caribbean (61 percent), and Polynesia-Micronesia (60 percent). These data are given in each of the individual
hotspot sections.
Search the
vertebrate species database.
Numbers of plant and vertebrate species endemic to any hotspot(s), and occurring in one or more hotspot(s)
| Total Worldwide |
300,000 |
4,735 |
9,918 |
8,199 |
5,743 |
12,070 |
| Endemic to One or More Hotspots |
150,371
(*) |
1,573 |
3,482 |
3,711 |
3,222 |
3,418
(*) |
| Percentage of All Species in Taxon |
50.1 |
33.2 |
35.1 |
45.3 |
56.1 |
28.3 |
| Occurring in One or More Hotspots |
- |
3,756 |
8,232 |
5,762 |
4,282 |
- |
| Percentage of All Species in Taxon |
- |
79.3 |
83.0 |
70.3 |
74.6 |
- |
| * Unlike endemism numbers for terrestrial vertebrates, which are exact, numbers of plants and freshwater fishes endemic to one or more hotspots are underestimates, accounting only for the sum of species endemic to each individual hotspot. |
Numbers of plant and vertebrate species endemic to any hotspot(s), and occurring in one or more hotspot(s)
| Total Worldwide |
300,000 |
4,735 |
9,918 |
8,199 |
5,743 |
12,070 |
| Endemic to One or More Hotspots |
150,371
(*) |
1,573 |
3,482 |
3,711 |
3,222 |
3,418
(*) |
| Percentage of All Species in Taxon |
50.1 |
33.2 |
35.1 |
45.3 |
56.1 |
28.3 |
| Occurring in One or More Hotspots |
- |
3,756 |
8,232 |
5,762 |
4,282 |
- |
| Percentage of All Species in Taxon |
- |
79.3 |
83.0 |
70.3 |
74.6 |
- |
| * Unlike endemism numbers for terrestrial vertebrates, which are exact, numbers of plants and freshwater fishes endemic to one or more hotspots are underestimates, accounting only for the sum of species endemic to each individual hotspot. |
% = Endemics as a percentage of world total