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The following is a list of native wild mammal species recorded in Antarctica. There are 23 mammal species in Antarctica, all of which are marine. Three are considered endangered, one is vulnerable, eight are listed as data deficient, and one has not yet been evaluated. [1] Domesticated species, such as the dogs formerly present, [2] are not ...
These two species live north of the sea ice, and breed in harems on beaches. The other four species can live on the sea ice. Crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinophagus) and Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) form breeding colonies, whereas leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) and Ross seals (Ommatophoca rossii) live solitary lives. Although these ...
The skull of the leopard seal. The leopard seal has a distinctively long and muscular body shape when compared to other seals. The overall length of adults is 2.4–3.5 m (7.9–11.5 ft) and their weight is in the range 200 to 600 kilograms (440 to 1,320 lb), making them the same length as the northern walrus but usually less than half the weight.
Polar ecosystems are particularly sensitive to climate change, where small changes in temperature result in greater changes in local hydrology, dramatically affecting ecosystem processes. [ 3 ] Soils in Antarctica are nearly two-dimensional habitats, with most biological activity limited to the top four or five inches by the permanently frozen ...
A small percentage of species may be cosmopolitan. [6] The majority of species live in damp habitats such as on lichens, liverworts, and mosses, and directly in soil and leaf litter. In freshwater and the sea they live on and in the bottom, such as in between particles or around seaweeds.
Most of Antarctica is covered with a thick layer of ice, with few species permanently living in the ice-covered areas. There are many species of penguins in the south polar region. Almost all animals in Antarctica find their food in the Southern Ocean surrounding the continent, and there is abundant marine life in the Southern Ocean. [2]
The continent of Antarctica is so cold that it has supported only 2 vascular plants for millions of years, and its flora presently consists of around 250 lichens, 100 mosses, 25–30 liverworts, and around 700 terrestrial and aquatic algal species, which live on the areas of exposed rock and soil around the shore of the continent.
The most common lichens are Usnea and Bryoria species. Antarctica's two flowering plant species, the Antarctic hair grass (Deschampsia antarctica) and Antarctic pearlwort (Colobanthus quitensis) are found on the northern and western parts of the Antarctic Peninsula, including offshore islands, where the climate is relatively mild.