Fauna of Turkey explained

The fauna of Türkiye is abundant and very varied. The wildlife of Türkiye includes a great diversity of plants and animals, each suited to its own particular habitat, as it is a large country with many geographic and climatic regions About 1500 species of vertebrates have been recorded in the country and around 19,000 species of invertebrate. The country acts as a crossroads with links to Europe, Asia, and the Near East, and many birds use the country as a staging post during migration.

Overview

Türkiye has a large range of habitat types and the diversity of its fauna is very great. There are nearly 1,500 species of vertebrate recorded of which over 100 species, mostly fish, are endemic. The country is on two major routes used by migratory birds which swells the numbers in spring and autumn. The invertebrates are also very diverse, with about 19,000 species being recorded including 4,000 endemics.^[1]

Invertebrates

Molluscs

See main article: List of non-marine molluscs of Turkey.

Insects

There are over 250 species of ant in Türkiye,^[2] 48 of which are endemic.^[3]

Arachnids

Vertebrates

Amphibians

Twenty-three species are endemic to Türkiye.

Reptiles

See main article: List of reptiles of Turkey. Twenty-three species are endemic to Türkiye.

Birds

See main article: List of birds of Turkey.

Mammals

See main article: List of mammals of Turkey. Eight species are endemic to Türkiye.^[4] Many species have declined in numbers, for example chamois, gazelle and mouflon, with shortage of staff to protect them claimed to be a factor.^[5] DNA of 15 endangered large mammals will be stored.^[6]

Fish

See also: Fishing in Turkey, List of fish of the Black Sea and List of fish of the Mediterranean Sea.

One hundred sixty-one species of freshwater fish are endemic to Türkiye.^[4]

Conservation

Conservation action plans for 100 species are due to be completed by the end of 2019.^[7]

Endangered species

• Mediterranean monk seal (Critically endangered) – less than 500 individuals all around the world
• Northern bald ibis (Critically endangered) – main groups live in Morocco and Türkiye
• Asia Minor spiny mouse (Critically endangered)
• Rana holtzi (Toros frog; Critically endangered) – endemic to Turkey
• Pseudophoxinus maeandricus (Sandıklı spring minnow; Critically endangered) – known from a single stream^[8]
• Anatolian leopard (Endangered)^[9]
• White-headed duck (Endangered)
• Red-breasted goose (Endangered)
• Loggerhead sea turtle (Endangered)
• Great bustard (Vulnerable)
• Dalmatian pelican (Vulnerable)
• Lesser kestrel (Vulnerable)
• Egyptian vulture (Vulnerable)
• Wild goat (Vulnerable)
• Greater spotted eagle (Vulnerable)
• Steppe eagle (Endangered)
• Eastern imperial eagle (Vulnerable)
• Saker falcon (Vulnerable)

Extinct and locally extinct fauna

The following species and populations have become extinct in Turkey in historical times.

• African darter, due to the drying up of Lake Amik
• Asiatic lion^[10]
• Caspian tiger, the last known individual was shot in 1974 in Hakkari Province^[11]
• Hydruntine, extinct species of wild ass. Youngest known specimens in Turkey date to the 1st millennium BC.^[12]
• Alburnus akili extinct species of fish formerly native to Lake Beyşehir, last seen in 1998, likely became extinct due to the introduction of invasive fish species
• Pseudophoxinus handlirschi extinct fish found in Lake Eğirdir, last seen in the 1980s, likely due to the introduction of invasive zander.

Küre and Kaçkar Mountains National Parks have been suggested for rewilding.^[13]

See also

• Fauna of Europe
• Fauna of Asia

External links

• National Biodiversity Database
• Fauna Turkey

Notes and References

1. Web site: Biodiversity in Turkey . 7 May 2012 . .
2. Web site: First annotated checklist of the ant fauna of Turkey (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). ResearchGate. en. 2019-06-15.
3. Web site: Turkey - AntWiki. www.antwiki.org. 2019-06-15.
4. Web site: Animals and Plants Unique to Turkey. lntreasures.com. 2019-06-15.
5. Web site: Shortage of staff to protect wildlife in Turkey: Official - Turkey News. Hürriyet Daily News. en. 2019-06-15.
6. Web site: Endangered wild animals to be protected at gene bank in Turkey. DailySabah. 28 August 2018. 2019-06-15.
7. Web site: Thousands of wild animals back to life. Hürriyet Daily News. en. 2019-06-15.
8. Freyhof, J. . 2014 . Pseudophoxinus maeandricus . 2014 . e.T61349A19010083 . 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T61349A19010083.en . 12 November 2021.
9. Stein, A.B. . Athreya, V. . Gerngross, P. . Balme, G. . Henschel, P. . Karanth, U. . Miquelle, D. . Rostro-Garcia, S. . Kamler, J.F. . Laguardia, A. . Khorozyan, I. . Ghoddousi, A. . 2020 . Panthera pardus . 2020 . e.T15954A163991139 . 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T15954A163991139.en . 12 November 2021.
10. Book: Üstay, A. H.. 1990 . Hunting in Turkey . BBA . Istanbul.
11. Book: Can, Ö. E. . 2004 . Status, conservation and management of large carnivores in Turkey . Strasbourg . Convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats .
12. Özkan . Mustafa . Gürün . Kanat . Yüncü . Eren . Vural . Kıvılcım Başak . Atağ . Gözde . Akbaba . Ali . Fidan . Fatma Rabia . Sağlıcan . Ekin . Altınışık . Ezgi N. . Koptekin . Dilek . Pawłowska . Kamilla . Hodder . Ian . Adcock . Sarah E. . Arbuckle . Benjamin S. . Steadman . Sharon R. . July 2024 . The first complete genome of the extinct European wild ass (Equus hemionus hydruntinus) . Molecular Ecology . en . 33 . 14 . 10.1111/mec.17440 . 0962-1083. free .
13. Web site: ERDÖNMEZ. Cihan. 2020. Yeniden Yabanlaştırma: Ekosistem Yönetiminde Bir Yaklaşım. tr.