Fauna of Asia

All the animals living in Asia and its surrounding seas and islands are considered the fauna of Asia. Since there is no natural biogeographic boundary in the west between Europe and Asia, the term "fauna of Asia" is somewhat elusive. Asia is the eastern part of the Palearctic ecozone (which in turn is part of the Holarctic), and its south-eastern part belongs to the Indomalaya ecozone (previously called the Oriental region). Asia shows a notable diversity of habitats, with significant variations in rainfall, altitude, topography, temperature and geological history, which is reflected in its richness of animal life.

The formation of the Asian fauna began in the Mesozoic with the splitting of Laurasian supercontinent. Asia blends elements from the both ancient supercontinents of Laurasia and Gondwana. Gondwanian elements were introduced from Africa and by India, which detached from Gondwana approximately 90 MYA, carrying its Gondwana-derived flora and fauna northward. Glaciation during the most recent ice age and the immigration of man affected the distribution of Asian fauna (see also Sahara pump theory). Eurasia and North America were many times connected by the Bering land bridge, and have very similar mammal and bird faunas, with many Eurasian species having moved into North America, and fewer North American species having moved into Eurasia (many zoologists consider the Palearctic and Nearctic to be a single Holarctic ecozone). See also List of extinct animals of Asia.

The boreal and temperate European-Siberian region is the Palearctic's largest region, which transitions from tundra in the northern reaches of Russia and Scandinavia to the vast taiga, the boreal coniferous forests which run across the continent. Liquid water is unavailable for much of the winter, and plants and many of the animals undergo a winter dormancy in which metabolism is very slow. South of the taiga are a belt of temperate broadleaf and mixed forests and temperate coniferous forests. This vast region is characterized by many shared plant and animal species. Some characteristic mammals are Siberian roe deer, gray wolf, moose and wolverine.

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