Flora and Fauna
Very little of East Antarctica is not covered with ice, but the small areas that are (Antarctic oasis), including the McMurdo Dry Valleys inland, constitute a tundra-type biodiversity region known as Maudlandia Antarctic desert, after Queen Maud Land. Only a very limited plant life can survive here, certainly no trees or shrubs, and the flora consists of lichens, moss, and algae, adapted to the cold and wind, and living on, and between, the rocks.
The coasts are home to seabirds, penguins, and seals, which feed in the surrounding ocean, including the Emperor Penguin, which famously breeds in the cold, dark Antarctic winter.
Seabirds of the coast include Southern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialoides), the scavenging Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus), Cape Petrel (Daption capense), Snow Petrel (Pagodroma nivea), the small Wilson's Storm-petrel (Oceanites oceanicus), the large South Polar Skua (Catharacta maccormicki), and Antarctic petrel (Thalassoica antarctica).
The seals of the Antarctic Ocean include Leopard Seal (Hydrurga leptonyx), Weddell Seal (Leptonychotes weddellii), the huge Southern Elephant Seal (Mirounga leonina), Crabeater Seal (Lobodon carcinophagus), Ross Seal (Ommatophoca rossii).
There are no large land animals but bacteria, nematodes, springtails, mites, and midges live on the mosses and lichens.
Read more about this topic: East Antarctica
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