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a species that colonised the islands during the glacial retreat at the end of the last ice age (c. 9500 years ago); a species that was present when the English Channel was created (c. 8000 years ago); or, a species that was present in prehistory. This list includes mammals from the small islands around Great Britain and the Channel Islands.
Like many temperate areas, Great Britain has few snake species: the European adder is the only venomous snake to be found there. The other notable snakes found in Great Britain are the barred grass snake and the smooth snake. Great Britain has three native species of lizard: slowworms, sand lizards and viviparous lizards.
Alternatively species can also be native when they have flown or swum to Britain as is the case with many bird species which arrived after the submersion of the land bridge, a recent example is the collared dove which arrived in the 1950s, this also applies for plants which spread seed in the wind.
The mild winters mean that many species that cannot cope with harsher conditions can winter in Britain, and also that there is a large influx of wintering birds from the continent or beyond and even as far as South Africa. There are about 250 species regularly recorded in England, and another 300 that occur with varying degrees of rarity.
The grey squirrel is an introduced species in Great Britain, where it threatens the country's native red squirrel population. Islands, such as the British Isles, can be adversely affected by the introduction of non-native species. Often an island will have several distinct species not present on the nearest mainland, and vice versa.
The reptiles of Great Britain include three native snakes and three native lizards. A number of sea turtles visit Great Britain's shores. There are also at least seven introduced reptile species.
This is a list of amphibians of Great Britain. There are seven amphibian species native to Great Britain , in addition, there are a number of naturalized species. The natives comprise three newts , two toads and two frogs .
Britain receives a number of vagrants from Asia and North America. Some American gulls, ducks and waders are regular enough not to be considered rare, including the ring-billed gull, surf scoter and pectoral sandpiper. There is one endemic bird species found in Great Britain: the Scottish crossbill.