Visualizing Environmental Science

Endangered and Extinct Species 381

0

0 1000 2000 3000 kilometers

1000 2000 3000 miles

60 °S

30 °S

0 °

30 °N

60 °N

60 °S

30 °S

0 °

30 °N

60 °N

Polynesia/

Micronesia

California

Floristic

Province

Mesoamerica

Chocó/

Darién/

Western

Ecuador

Central

Chile

Tropical

Andes

Caribbean

Caucasus

Indo-Burma

Mediterranean

Basin

Brazil’s

Cerrado

Madagascar

Western

Ghats and

Sri Lanka

South-Central

China

Philippines

New

Caledonia

New

Zealand

Southwest

Australia

Sundaland Wallacea

Polynesia/

Micronesia

Brazil’s

Atlantic

Forest

West

African

Forests

Eastern Arc

and Coastal

Forests of

Tanzania/Kenya

Succulent

Karoo

Cape

Floristic

Province

Hotspots

Map by Con

servation International

Joel

Sartore/NG Image Collection

a. If you’ve visited a zoo and seen a black-

and-white ruffed lemur, you may know that

lemurs are found in nature only on Madagascar

and the small neighboring Comoro Islands.

However, most people do not realize that the

ruffed lemur comes from a biological hotspot.

(Photographed at Folsom Childrens’ Zoo in

Lincoln, Nebraska.)

b. Ecologists have identified Madagascar and neighboring islands as one of the world’s biological hotspots.

These hotspots, which are rich in endemic species, are at great risk from human activities. All of Madagascar’s

33 lemur species are currently in danger of extinction.

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