Endemism in the context of "Cosmopolitan species"

The Adriatic Sea (/ˌeɪdriˈætɪk/) is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the northwest and the Po Valley. The countries with coasts on the Adriatic are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, Montenegro, and Slovenia.

The Adriatic contains more than 1,300 islands, mostly located along its eastern coast. It is divided into three basins, the northern being the shallowest and the southern being the deepest, with a maximum depth of 1,233 metres (4,045 ft). The prevailing currents flow counterclockwise from the Strait of Otranto. Tidal movements in the Adriatic are slight, although larger amplitudes occur occasionally. The Adriatic's salinity is lower than the Mediterranean's because it collects a third of the fresh water flowing into the Mediterranean, acting as a dilution basin. The surface water temperatures generally range from 30 °C (86 °F) in summer to 12 °C (54 °F) in winter, significantly moderating the Adriatic Basin's climate. The Adriatic Sea sits on the Apulian or Adriatic Microplate. In the Late Oligocene, the Italian Peninsula first formed, separating the Adriatic Basin from the rest of the Mediterranean. The western coast is alluvial or terraced, while the eastern coast is highly indented with pronounced karstification. There are dozens of marine protected areas in the Adriatic, designed to protect the sea's habitats and biodiversity—more than 7,000 species are identified as native to the Adriatic, many of them endemic, rare and threatened ones.

Birds are a group of warm-blooded theropod dinosaurs constituting the class Aves, characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5.5 cm (2.2 in) bee hummingbird to the 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) common ostrich. There are over 11,000 living species and they are split into 44 orders. More than half are passerine or "perching" birds. Birds have wings whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which are modified forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have further evolved for swimming. The study of birds is called ornithology.

Birds evolved from earlier theropods, and thus constitute the only known living dinosaurs. Likewise, birds are considered reptiles in the modern cladistic sense of the term, and their closest living relatives are the crocodilians. Birds are descendants of the primitive avialans (whose members include Archaeopteryx) which first appeared during the Late Jurassic. According to some estimates, modern birds (Neornithes) evolved in the Late Cretaceous or between the Early and Late Cretaceous (100 Ma) and diversified dramatically around the time of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago, which killed off the pterosaurs and all non-ornithuran dinosaurs.

A megadiverse country is one of a group of nations that house the majority of Earth's species and high numbers of endemic species. Conservation International identified 17 megadiverse countries in 1998, all of which are located at least partially in tropical or subtropical regions.

Megadiversity means to exhibit great biodiversity. The main criterion for megadiverse countries is endemism at the level of species, genera and families. A megadiverse country must have at least 5,000 species of endemic plants and must border marine ecosystems.

Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country in the Indian Ocean that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's fourth-largest island, the second-largest island country, and the 46th-largest country overall. Its capital and largest city is Antananarivo.

Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from Africa during the Early Jurassic period, around 180 million years ago, and separated from the Indian subcontinent approximately 90 million years ago. This isolation allowed native plants and animals to evolve in relative seclusion; as a result, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot and one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries, with over 90% of its wildlife being endemic. The island has a subtropical to tropical maritime climate. Madagascar was first permanently settled during or before the mid-first millennium CE (roughly 500 to 700) by Austronesian peoples, presumably arriving on outrigger canoes from present-day Indonesia. These were joined around the ninth century by Bantu groups crossing the Mozambique Channel from East Africa. Other groups continued to settle on Madagascar over time, each one making lasting contributions to Malagasy cultural life. Consequently, there are 18 or more classified peoples of Madagascar, the most numerous being the Merina of the central highlands.

The Iskar (Bulgarian: Искър, pronounced [ˈiskɐr]; Latin: Oescus) is a right tributary of the Danube. With a length of 368 km, it is the longest river that runs entirely within Bulgaria. Originating as three forks in Balkan's highest mountain range Rila, the Iskar flows in a northern direction until its confluence with the Danube. As it flows northwards it fuels the largest artificial lake in the country, the Iskar Reservoir, forms the divide between the Vitosha and Plana Mountains in the west and the Sredna Gora mountain range in the east before entering the Sofia Valley, which contains the nation's capital Sofia. From there the Iskar runs through the Balkan Mountains, forming the spectacular 84 km long Iskar Gorge. As it crosses the mountains, its water course turns in a north-eastern direction at Lakatnik. North of the Balkan Mountains, the river crosses the Danubian Plain and finally flows into the Danube between the villages of Baykal and Gigen. Geologically, Iskar is the oldest river in the Balkan Peninsula.

Its watershed drains 8,617 km in the provinces of Sofia, Sofia City, Vratsa, Lovech and Pleven. The Iskar flows through nine towns and numerous villages. The Iskar river basin is home to more than 50 species of fish, including Cottus haemusi that is endemic to the upper Iskar and Vit drainages.

In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of the Earth, in appropriate habitats; most cosmopolitan species are known to be highly adaptable to a range of climatic and environmental conditions, though this is not always so. Killer whales (orcas) are among the most well-known cosmopolitan species on the planet, as they maintain several different resident and transient populations in every major oceanic body on Earth, from the Arctic Circle to Antarctica and every coastal and open-water region in-between. Such a taxon (usually a species) is said to have a cosmopolitan distribution, or exhibit cosmopolitanism, as a species; another example, the rock dove (commonly referred to as a 'pigeon'), in addition to having been bred domestically for centuries, now occurs in most urban areas around the world.

The extreme opposite of a cosmopolitan species is an endemic (native) species, or one found only in a single geographical location. Endemism usually results in organisms with specific adaptations to one particular climate or region, and the species would likely face challenges if placed in a different environment. There are far more examples of endemic species than cosmopolitan species; one example being the snow leopard, a species found only in Central Asian mountain ranges, an environment to which the cats have adapted over millions of years.

Lemurs (/ˈliːmərz/ LEE-mərz; from Latin lemurēs 'ghosts, spirits of the dead') are wet-nosed primates of the superfamily Lemuroidea (/ˌlɛmjʊˈrɔɪdiə/ LEM-yuu-ROY-dee-ə), divided into eight families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 extant species. They are endemic to the island of Madagascar. Most existing lemurs are small, with a pointed snout, large eyes, and a long tail. They usually live in trees and are active at night.

Lemurs share resemblance with other primates, but evolved independently from monkeys and apes. Due to Madagascar’s highly seasonal climate, lemur evolution has produced a level of species diversity rivaling that of any other primate group.