Fauna of Italy

Fauna Of Italy

Italy has one of the highest levels of faunal biodiversity in Europe with over 57,000 species recorded (more than a third of all European fauna).

This is due to Italy’s

  • Southerly geographical position, surrounded by the Mediterranean and Aegean seas. There is 8,000 km of coastline and the Italian peninsula is in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea, forming a corridor between central Europe and North Africa. Italy also receives species from the Balkans, Eurasia, the Middle East.
  • Varied geological structure.
  • High mountain ranges, especially the Alps and the Apennines.
  • Climate and habitat diversity - very broadly Alpine in the North, woodlands and river systems in Central Italy and Garigue (the Italian word is Gariga) and Maquis shrubland (in Italian, Macchia mediterranea) in the South.
  • High plant diversity (9,000 species - almost half Europe’s total).

86% of the Italian fauna is land-based, 14% is aquatic. Insects represent about two thirds of all of Italy’s fauna.

Read more about Fauna Of Italy:  Hotspot, Endemic Species, Mammals, Birds, Invertebrate Fauna, Marine Fauna, Introduced and Alien Species, Zoological Societies in Italy, Zoology Museums, Pleistocene Fauna, Conservation

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    —Louis Aragon (1897–1982)

    “The whole fauna of human fantasies, their marine vegetation, drifts and luxuriates in the dimly lit zones of human activity, as though plaiting thick tresses of darkness. Here, too, appear the lighthouses of the mind, with their outward resemblance to less pure symbols. The gateway to mystery swings open at the touch of human weakness and we have entered the realms of darkness. One false step, one slurred syllable together reveal a man’s thoughts.”
    —Louis Aragon (1897–1982)

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