What are the most biodiverse countries in the world? In today’s world, when plants and animals are disappearing faster than we’d like, it’s nice to see that some countries do their best to preserve the species they have in their territories, such as these 10 most biodiverse countries in the world.
What makes a country mega-diverse? Well, first of all, only a few countries in the world have enough biodiversity to rank this high. Biodiversity as a term includes all of the plant and animal species on the planet, with genetic differences, as well as the ecosystems where they can be found. In order for a nation to be on the mega-diverse list, they need to have at least 5,000 endemic plants and to have a marine ecosystem within its borders. Conservation International notes there are only 17 countries that fit the bill, accounting for 70% of the world’s flora and fauna. At the same time, their territories put together comprise under 10% of the world’s territory.
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If you like reading upon countries that differ from others in some way, don’t miss our article on 10 Most Barbaric Countries in the World.
In order to create our list today we took a look at these 17 countries and checked out how many types of plants, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles they have. Then, we ranked them by these, awarding points in accordance with their position on the chart. In the end, we added up the totals and came up with the 10 most biodiverse countries in the world.
10. Australia
Total – 48
First on the list of most biodiverse countries in the world is Australia, a rather large country with plenty of uninhabited land, which means it’s perfect for animals and plants to evolve and spread without much trouble. There’s a saying on the Internet about Australia, how everything there wants to kill you, what with the many animals and insects roaming around.
Well, Australia has over 34,000 plants – 20,000 vascular and 14,000 non-vascular – as well as an additional 250,000 species of fungi and 3,000 lichens. The list is just as diverse when it comes to animals, with 828 species of birds, 378 types of mammals, 207 species of amphibians and 440 types of reptiles.
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