List of endemic species of Taiwan explained

The endemic species of Taiwan are organisms that are endemic to the island of Taiwan – that is, they naturally occur nowhere else on Earth.

Percentages of endemic species and subspecies in selected animal groups in Taiwan:

Category	Total species	Endemic species (& ssp.)	Percentages
Mammals	70	45	64%
Birds	450	84	19%
Reptiles	85	27	32%
Amphibians	37	17	46%
Freshwater fish	220	36	16%
Butterflies	400	50	13%
Total	1,257	252	20%

----Percentages of endemic plants of all living species in Taiwan.^[1]

Category	Total (native) species	Endemic species (& ssp.)	Percentages
Pteridophytes	629	72	11%
Gymnosperms	28	18	64%
Dicotyledons	2,410	750	31%
Monocotyledons	1,010	227	23%
Total	4,077	1,067	26%

Endemic fauna

Endemic mammals

Order: Carnivora (carnivorans)
- Formosan black bear – Ursus thibetanus formosanus
- Formosan ferret-badger – Melogale subaurantiaca (Swinhoe)
Order Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates)
- Formosan boar – Sus scrofa taivanus
- Formosan sika deer – Cervus nippon taiouanus
- Taiwan serow – Naemorhedus swinhoei (Gray)
Order Eulipotyphla (shrews and kin)
- Taiwanese mole shrew – Anourosorex yamashinai Kuroda
- Tada's shrew – Crocidura tadae Tokuda & Kano
- Formosan shrew – Episoriculus fumidus Thomas
- Koshun shrew – Chodsigoa sodalis Thomas
- Kano's mole – Mogera kanoana Kawada et al.
Order Rodentia (rodents)
- Formosan field vole – Apodemus semotus Thomas
- Spinous country-rat – Niviventer coxingi (Swinhoe)
- Formosan white-bellied rat – Niviventer culturatus (Thomas)
- Kikuchi's field vole – Microtus kikuchii (Kuroda)
- Formosan giant flying squirrel – Petaurista grandis (Swinhoe)
- Taiwan red-and-white giant flying squirrel – Petaurista lena Thomas
Order Primate (primates)
- Formosan macaque – Macaca cyclopis (Swinhoe)
Order Chiroptera (bats)
- Formosan long-eared bat – Plecotus taivanus Yoshiyuki
- Long-toed myotis – Myotis secundus Ruedi, Csorba, Lin & Chou
- Reddish myotis – Myotis soror Ruedi, Csorba, Lin & Chou
- Formosan mouse-eared bat – Myotis taiwanensis Linde
- Formosan broad-muzzled bat – Submyotodon latirostris Kishida
- Bicolored tube-nosed bat – Murina bicolor Kuo, Fang, Csorba & Lee
- Slender tube-nosed bat – Murina gracilis Kuo et al.
- Formosan tube-nosed bat – Murina puta Kishida
- Murina recondita Kuo, Fang, Csorba & Lee, 2009
- Yellow-necked bat – Thainycteris torquatus Gabor & Lee
- Formosan leaf-nosed bat – Hipposideros terasensis Kisida
- Formosan greater horseshoe bat – Rhinolophus formosae Sanborn
- Formosan lesser horseshoe bat – Rhinolophus monoceros Andersen

Endemic birds

See main article: Endemic birds of Taiwan. 32 endemic bird species and another 52 endemic subspecies of Taiwan have been identified (out of a total of 686 bird species). The thirty-two endemic species make up about 4.6 % of all birds living in Taiwan.

Order Passeriformes (passerines and relatives)
- Taiwan yellow tit – Machlolophus holsti
- Chestnut-bellied tit – Sittiparus castaneoventris
- White-whiskered laughingthrush – Garrulax morrisonianus (Ogilvie-Grant)
- White-throated laughingthrush – Pterorhinus albogularis
- Rusty laughingthrush – Pterorhinus poecilorhynchus
- White-eared sibia – Heterophasia auricularis (Swinhoe)
- Taiwan yuhina – Yuhina brunneiceps Ogilvie-Grant
- Taiwan scimitar babbler – Pomatorhinus musicus
- Black-necklaced scimitar babbler – Erythrogenys erythrocnemis
- Taiwan cupwing – Pnoepyga formosana
- Taiwan barwing – Actinodura morrisoniana Ogilvie-Grant
- Steere's liocichla – Liocichla steerii Swinhoe
- Morrison's fulvetta – Alcippe morrisonia
- Taiwan blue magpie – Urocissa caerulea (Gould)
- Styan's bulbul – Pycnonotus taivanus Styan
- Taiwan whistling thrush – Myophonus insularis Gould
- Collared bush robin – Tarsiger johnstoniae (Ogilvie-Grant)
- White-browed bush robin – Tarsiger indicus
- Taiwan bullfinch – Pyrrhula owstoni
- Taiwan rosefinch – Carpodacus formosanus
- Taiwan vivid niltava – Niltava vivida
- Taiwan thrush – Turdus niveiceps
- Taiwan shortwing – Brachypteryx goodfellowi
- Taiwan fulvetta – Fulvetta formosana
- Flamecrest – Regulus goodfellowi Ogilvie-Grant
- Taiwan bush warbler – Bradypterus alishanensis
- Taiwan hwamei – Garrulax taewanus
Order Galliformes (chicken-like birds)
- Taiwan partridge – Arborophila crudigularis (Swinhoe)
- Taiwan bamboo partridge – Bambusicola sonorivox
- Mikado pheasant – Syrmaticus mikado (Ogilvie-Grant)
- Swinhoe's pheasant – Lophura swinhoii (Gould)
Order Piciformes (woodpeckers and relatives)
- Taiwan barbet – Megalaima nuchalis

Endemic reptiles

Order Squamata (lizards and snakes)
- Formosan smooth skink – Scincella formosensis (Van Denburgh)
- Taiwan forest skink – Sphenomorphus taiwanensis Chen & Lue
- Plestiodon leucostictus (Hikida, 1988)
- Lanyu scaly-toed gecko – Lepidodactylus yami Ota
- Kikuchi's gecko – Gekko kikuchii (Oshima)
- Gekko guishanicus – Lin & Yao, 2016
- Short-legged japalure – Diploderma brevipes Gressitt
- Diploderma luei – Ota, Chen & Shang, 1998
- Maki's japalura – Diploderma makii Ota
- Swinhoe's japalura – Diploderma swinhonis Gunther
- Formosan legless lizard – Ophisaurus formosensis Kishida
- Formosa grass lizard – Takydromus formosanus Boulenger
- Sauteri grass lizard – Takydromus sauteri Van Denburgh
- Hsuehshan grass lizard – Takydromus hsuehshanensis Lin & Cheng
- Stejneger's grass lizard – Takydromus stejnegeri Van Denburgh
- Hengchun blind snake – Argyrophis koshunensis Oshima
- Atayal slug-eating snake – Pareas atayal You, Poyarkov & Lin, 2015
- Taiwan slug-eating snake – Pareas formosensis (Van Dengurgh)
- Formosa odd-scaled snake – Achalinus formosanus Boulenger
- Black odd-scaled snake – Achalinus niger Maki
- Maki's keelback – Hebius miyajimae Maki
- Swinhoe's grass snake – Rhabdophis swinhonis (Günther)
- Formosa coral snake – Sinomicrurus sauteri (Steindachner)
- Swinhoe's temperate Asian coralsnake – Sinomicrurus swinhoei (Van Dengurgh)
- Taiwan pit viper – Trimeresurus gracilis Oshima

Endemic amphibians

Order Anura (frogs and toads)
- Central Formosa toad – Bufo bankorensis
- Stejneger's narrow-mouthed toad – Micryletta steinegeri
- Swinhoe's brown frog – Odorrana swinhoana
- Taipa frog – Rana longicrus
- Sauter's brown frog – Rana sauteri
- Ota's stream tree frog – Buergeria otai
- Robust Buerger's frog – Buergeria robusta]]
- Kurixalus berylliniris
- Temple treefrog – Kurixalus idiootocus
- Kurixalus wangi
- Farmland green treefrog – Zhangixalus arvalis
- Orange-belly treefrog – Zhangixalus aurantiventris
- Moltrecht's green tree frog – Rhacophorus moltrechti
- Emerald green treefrog – Rhacophorus prasinatus
- Taipei tree frog – Zhangixalus taipeianus
Order Urodela (salamanders and newts)
- Alishan salamander – Hynobius arisanensis
- Formosan salamander – Hynobius formosanus
- Taiwan lesser salamander – Hynobius fuca
- Nanhu salamander – Hynobius glacialis
- Sonani's salamander – Hynobius sonani

Endemic freshwater fishes

Order Cypriniformes (minnows and carp)
- Taitung river loach – Hemimyzon taitungensis Tzeng & Shen
- Formosan river loach – Hemimyzon formosanus (Boulenger)
- Shen's river loach – Hemimyzon sheni Chen & Fang
- River loach – Formosania lacustris (Steindachner)
- Pulin river loach – Sinogastromyzon puliensis Liang
- Metzia mesembrinum (Regan)
- Pararasbora moltrechti Regan
- Acrossocheilus paradoxus (Günther)
- Lake Candidus dace – Candidia barbata (Regan)
- Microphysogobio alticorpus Banarescu & Nalbant
- Taiwan ku fish – Onychostoma alticorpus (Oshima)
- Freshwater minnow – Opsariichthys pachycephalus Günther
- Gobiobotia cheni Banarescu & Nalbant
- Microphysogobio brevirostris (Günther)
- Aphyocypris kikuchii (Oshima)
- Squalidus iijimae (Oshima)
Order Gobiiformes (gobies and their relatives)
- Goby – Cryptocentrus yatsui Tomiyama
- Goby – Myersina yangii (Chen)
- Goby – Rhinogobius candidianus Regan
- Goby – Rhinogobius gigas Aonuma & Chen
- Goby – Rhinogobius formosanus Oshima
- Goby – Rhinogobius nantaiensis Aonuma & Chen
- Goby – Rhinogobius henchuenensis Chen & Shao
- Goby – Rhinogobius delicatus Chen & Shao
- Goby – Rhinogobius maculafasciatus Chen & Shao
- Goby – Rhinogobius rubromaculatus Lee & Chang
- Goby – Rhinogobius lanyuensis Chen, Miller & Fang
Order Siluriformes (catfishes)
- Formosan torrent catfish – Liobagrus formosanus Regan
- Bagrid catfish – Pseudobagrus adiposalis Oshima
- Bagrid catfish – Pseudobagrus brevianalis Regan
Order Osmeriformes (smelts, galaxiids, and relatives)
- Ariake icefish – Neosalanx acuticeps Regan (endangered)^[2]
Order Salmoniformes (salmons and trouts)
- Formosan landlocked salmon – Oncorhynchus formosanus (Jordan & Oshima)

Endemic flora

Cultivated crops endemic to Taiwan:

External links

Notes and References

Hsieh . Chang-Fu . 2002 . Composition, endemism and phytogeographical affinities of the Taiwan Flora . Taiwania . 47 . 4 . 298–310 . 10.6165/tai.2002.47(4).298 . free .
https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/14562/110462698 Neosalanx acuticeps