Diversity
There is insufficient information about the invertebrate and lower forms of India, with significant work having been done only in a few groups of insects, notably the butterflies, odonates, hymenoptera, the larger coleoptera and heteroptera. Few concerted attempts to document the biodiversity have been made since the publication of The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma series.
There are about 2,546 species of fishes (about 11% of the world species) found in Indian waters. About 197 species of amphibians (4.4% of the world total) and more than 408 reptile species (6% of the world total) are found in India. Among these groups the highest levels of endemism are found in the amphibians.
There are about 1,250 species of birds from India, with some variations, depending on taxonomic treatments, accounting for about 12% of the world species.
There are about 410 species of mammals known from India, which is about 8.86% of the world species.
The World Conservation Monitoring Centre gives an estimate of about 15,000 species of flowering plants in India.
Read more about this topic: Fauna Of India
Famous quotes containing the word diversity:
“What we have to do ... is to find a way to celebrate our diversity and debate our differences without fracturing our communities.”
—Hillary Rodham Clinton (b. 1947)
“We call the intention good which is right in itself, but the action is good, not because it contains within it some good, but because it issues from a good intention. The same act may be done by the same man at different times. According to the diversity of his intention, however, this act may be at one time good, at another bad.”
—Peter Abelard (1079–1142)
“... city areas with flourishing diversity sprout strange and unpredictable uses and peculiar scenes. But this is not a drawback of diversity. This is the point ... of it.”
—Jane Jacobs (b. 1916)