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109-544: The zoo's specialization is African fauna , and has the largest group of African animals in Europe. The zoo is also one of the most important breeders of African ungulates in the world. Their rarest animals are northern white rhinoceros , which are now on loan (Last Chance to Survive Program) to Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. The zoo is the only one in the world where northern white rhinos have successfully given birth, with

218-642: A complex series of orogenic events assembled the eastern parts of Gondwana (eastern Africa, Arabian-Nubian Shield, Seychelles, Madagascar, India, Sri Lanka, East Antarctica, and Australia) c. 750 to 530 Ma . First, the Arabian-Nubian Shield collided with eastern Africa (in the Kenya-Tanzania region) in the East African Orogeny c. 750 to 620 Ma . Then Australia and East Antarctica were merged with

327-599: A continuous arc chain, the direction of subduction was different between the Australian-Tasmanian and New Zealand-Antarctica arc segments. Many terranes were accreted to Eurasia during Gondwana's existence, but the Cambrian or Precambrian origin of many of these terranes remains uncertain. For example, some Palaeozoic terranes and microcontinents that now make up Central Asia, often called the "Kazakh" and "Mongolian terranes", were progressively amalgamated into

436-746: A diversified assemblage of true insects. In Gondwana, in contrast, ice and, in Australia, volcanism decimated the Devonian flora to a low-diversity seed fern flora – the pteridophytes were increasingly replaced by the gymnosperms which were to dominate until the Mid-Cretaceous. Australia, however, was still located near the Equator during the Early Carboniferous, and during this period, temnospondyl and lepospondyl amphibians and

545-472: A few million years, reached its peak at c. 200 Ma , and coincided with the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event . The reformed Gondwanan continent was not precisely the same as that which had existed before Pangaea formed; for example, most of Florida and southern Georgia and Alabama is underlain by rocks that were originally part of Gondwana, but this region stayed attached to North America when

654-1352: A fraction of West Africa, but harbours 322 of West Africa's fish species, with 247 being restricted to this area and 129 being restricted to even smaller ranges. The central river's fauna comprises 194 fish species, with 119 endemics and only 33 restricted to small areas. The marine diversity is greatest near the Indian Ocean shore with about 2000 species. Characteristic to African fauna are Perciformes ( Lates , tilapias , Dichistiidae , Anabantidae , Mudskippers , Parachanna , Acentrogobius , Croilia , Glossogobius , Hemichromis , Nanochromis , Oligolepis , Oreochromis , Redigobius , Sarotherodon , Stenogobius and others), Gonorhynchiformes ( Kneriidae , Phractolaemidae ), some lungfishes ( Protopterus ), many Characiformes ( Distichodontidae , Hepsetidae , Citharinidae , Alestiidae ), Osteoglossiformes ( African knifefish , Gymnarchidae , Mormyridae , Pantodontidae ), Siluriformes ( Amphiliidae , Anchariidae , Ariidae , Austroglanididae , Clariidae , Claroteidae , Malapteruridae , Mochokidae , Schilbeidae ), Osmeriformes ( Galaxiidae ), Cyprinodontiformes ( Aplocheilidae , Poeciliidae ) and Cypriniformes ( Labeobarbus , Pseudobarbus , Tanakia and others). Endemic to Africa are

763-594: A gradual decline during the Triassic while ferns, though never dominant, managed to diversify. The brief period of icehouse conditions during the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event had a dramatic impact on dinosaurs but left plants largely unaffected. The Jurassic was mostly one of hot-house conditions and, while vertebrates managed to diversify in this environment, plants have left little evidence of such development, apart from Cheiroleidiacean conifers and Caytoniales and other groups of seed ferns. In terms of biomass,

872-480: A much older supercontinent, Rodinia , to amalgamate. One of those orogenic belts, the Mozambique Belt , formed 800 to 650 Ma and was originally interpreted as the suture between East (India, Madagascar, Antarctica, and Australia) and West Gondwana (Africa and South America). Three orogenies were recognised during the 1990s as a result of data sets compiled on behalf of oil and mining companies:

981-518: A north-east motion about 90 million years ago. While subduction direction changed, it remained oblique (and not perpendicular) to the coast of South America, and the direction change affected several subduction zone -parallel faults including Atacama , Domeyko and Liquiñe-Ofqui . Insular India began to collide with Asia circa 70 Ma , forming the Indian subcontinent , since which more than 1,400 km (870 mi) of crust has been absorbed by

1090-639: A number of species related to those of the laurissilva of Valdivia, through the connection of the Antarctic flora . These include gymnosperms and the deciduous species of Nothofagus , as well as the New Zealand laurel, Corynocarpus laevigatus , and Laurelia novae-zelandiae . New Caledonia and New Zealand became separated from Australia by continental drift 85 million years ago. The islands still retain plants that originated in Gondwana and spread to

1199-544: A pattern that reflects the Jurassic break-up of Pangaea. The Cretaceous saw the arrival of the angiosperms , or flowering plants, a group that probably evolved in western Gondwana (South America–Africa). From there the angiosperms diversified in two stages: the monocots and magnoliids evolved in the Early Cretaceous, followed by the hammamelid dicots . By the Mid-Cretaceous, angiosperms constituted half of

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1308-521: A peak in biodiversity – the end-Permian extinction was enormous and so was the radiation that followed. Two families of conifers, Podocarpaceae and Araucariaceae , dominated Gondwana in the Early Triassic, but Dicroidium , an extinct genus of fork-leaved seed ferns, dominated woodlands and forests of Gondwana during most of the Triassic. Conifers evolved and radiated during the period, with six of eight extant families already present before

1417-853: A series of events severally restricted the Proto-ACC: change to shallow marine conditions along the North Scotia Ridge; closure of the Fuegan Seaway, the deep sea that existed in Tierra del Fuego; and uplift of the Patagonian Cordillera. This, together with the reactivated Iceland plume , contributed to global warming. During the Miocene, the Drake Passage began to widen, and as water flow between South America and

1526-694: A single jaw from Australia. The closure of the Rheic Ocean and the formation of Pangaea in the Carboniferous resulted in the rerouting of ocean currents that initiated an Ice House period. As Gondwana began to rotate clockwise, Australia shifted south to more temperate latitudes. An ice cap initially covered most of southern Africa and South America but spread to eventually cover most of the supercontinent, save for northernmost Africa-South America and eastern Australia. Giant lycopod and horsetail forests continued to evolve in tropical Laurasia together with

1635-548: A vast range. South Africa has one of the highest proportions of Lycaenid butterflies (48%) for any region in the world with many species restricted in range. North Africa is in the Palaearctic region and has a different species assemblage. Genera which are species rich in Africa include Charaxes , Acraea , Colotis and Papilio , most notably Papilio antimachus and Papilio zalmoxis . The tribe Liptenini

1744-668: Is endemic to the Afrotropics and includes species rich genera such as Ornipholidotos , Liptenara , Pentila , Baliochila , Hypophytala , Teriomima , Deloneura and Mimacraea . The Miletinae are mostly African, notably Lachnocnema . Other endemic lycaenids include the genus Alaena . Endemic Nymphalidae include Euphaedra , Bebearia , Heteropsis , Precis , Pseudacraea , Bicyclus and Euxanthe . Endemic Pieridae include Pseudopontia paradoxa and Mylothris . Endemic skippers include Sarangesa and Kedestes . The highest species diversity

1853-468: Is especially rich in Afromontane regions, and there are some endemic families in Africa (e.g. Achatinidae , Chlamydephoridae ) but other tropical families are common too ( Charopidae , Streptaxidae , Cyclophoridae , Subulinidae , Rhytididae ). 156 tardigrade species have been found, and about 8000 species of arachnids . The African millipede Archispirostreptus gigas is one of the largest in

1962-474: Is home to many of the world's most famous fauna in human culture such as lions ‚ rhinos ‚ cheetahs ‚ giraffes ‚ antelope , hippos , leopards , zebras ‚ and African elephants among many others. Whereas the earliest traces of life in fossil record of Africa date back to the earliest times, the formation of African fauna as we know it today, began with the splitting up of the Gondwana supercontinent in

2071-549: Is home to numerous songbirds ( pipits , orioles , antpeckers , brubrus , cisticolas , nigritas , olivebacks , pytilias , green-backed twinspot , crimson-wings , seedcrackers , bluebills , firefinches , waxbills , amandavas , quailfinches , munias , weavers , tit-hylia , Amadina , Anthoscopus , Mirafra , Hypargos , Eremomela , Euschistospiza , Erythrocercus , Malimbus , Pitta , Uraeginthus , pied crow , white-necked raven , thick-billed raven , Cape crow and others). The red-billed quelea

2180-567: Is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , home to 2,040 species 181 of which are endemic. Africa is the richest continent of freshwater fish, with about 3000 species. The East African Great Lakes ( Victoria , Malawi , and Tanganyika ) are the center of biodiversity of many fish, especially cichlids (they harbor more than two-thirds of the estimated 2000 species in the family). The West African coastal rivers region covers only

2289-818: Is now the Transantarctic Mountains ): the Antarctic Peninsula , Marie Byrd Land , Zealandia , and Thurston Island ; the Falkland Islands and Ellsworth–Whitmore Mountains (in Antarctica) were rotated 90° in opposite directions; and South America south of the Gastre Fault (often referred to as Patagonia ) was pushed westward. The history of the Africa-Antarctica break-up can be studied in great detail in

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2398-576: Is now the southern Weddell Sea where initial break-up occurred during the Jurassic c. 180 to 160 Ma . Gondwana began to break up in the early Jurassic following the extensive and fast emplacement of the Karoo-Ferrar flood basalts c. 184 Ma . Before the Karoo plume initiated rifting between Africa and Antarctica , it separated a series of smaller continental blocks from Gondwana's southern, Proto-Pacific margin (along what

2507-541: Is presumed to have been linked to the subduction of cold oceanic lithosphere . During the mid to Late Cretaceous ( c.  90 million years ago ), the Andean orogeny changed significantly in character. Warmer and younger oceanic lithosphere is believed to have started to be subducted beneath South America around this time. Such kind of subduction is held responsible not only for the intense contractional deformation that different lithologies were subject to, but also

2616-711: Is restricted to Madagascar . The African list of ungulates is longer than in any other continent. The largest number of modern bovids is found in Africa ( African buffalo , duikers , impala , rhebok , Reduncinae , oryx , dik-dik , klipspringer , oribi , gerenuk , true gazelles , hartebeest , wildebeest , dibatag , eland , Tragelaphus , Hippotragus , Neotragus , Raphicerus , Damaliscus ). Other even-toed ungulates include giraffes , okapis , hippopotamuses , warthogs , giant forest hogs , red river hogs and bushpigs . Odd-toed ungulates are represented by three species of zebras , African wild ass , black and white rhinoceros . The biggest African mammal

2725-466: Is the African bush elephant , the second largest being its smaller counterpart, the African forest elephant . Four species of pangolins can be found in Africa. African fauna contains 216 species of primates . Four species of great apes ( Hominidae ) are endemic to Africa: both species of gorilla ( western gorilla , Gorilla gorilla , and eastern gorilla , Gorilla beringei ) and both species of

2834-587: Is the most abundant bird species in the world. Of the 589 species of birds (excluding seabirds) that breed in the Palaearctic (temperate Europe and Asia), 40% spend the winter elsewhere. Of those species that leave for the winter, 98% travel south to Africa. More than 1100 mammal species live in Africa. Africa has three endemic orders of mammals, the Tubulidentata ( aardvarks ), Afrosoricida ( tenrecs and golden moles ), and Macroscelidea ( elephant shrews ). The current mammalian phylogeny recognizes

2943-787: The Antarctic Peninsula increased, the renewed ACC resulted in cooler global climate. Since the Eocene, the northward movement of the Australian Plate has resulted in an arc-continent collision with the Philippine and Caroline plates and the uplift of the New Guinea Highlands . From the Oligocene to the late Miocene, the climate in Australia, dominated by warm and humid rainforests before this collision, began to alternate between open forest and rainforest before

3052-886: The Antongil Block in far eastern Madagascar, the Seychelles , and the Napier and Rayner Complexes in East Antarctica ). The Azania continent (much of central Madagascar , the Horn of Africa and parts of Yemen and Arabia) was an island in the Mozambique Ocean. The continent Australia/ Mawson was still separated from India, eastern Africa, and Kalahari by c. 600 Ma , when most of western Gondwana had already been amalgamated. By c. 550 Ma, India had reached its Gondwanan position, which initiated

3161-1014: The Australian Plate are now separated by the Capricorn Plate and its diffuse boundaries. During the opening of the Indian Ocean, the Kerguelen hotspot first formed the Kerguelen Plateau on the Antarctic Plate c. 118 to 95 Ma and then the Ninety East Ridge on the Indian Plate at c. 100 Ma . The Kerguelen Plateau and the Broken Ridge , the southern end of the Ninety East Ridge, are now separated by

3270-844: The Campbell Plateau , Chatham Rise , Lord Howe Rise , Norfolk Ridge , and New Caledonia , from West Antarctica c. 84 Ma . The opening of the South Atlantic Ocean divided West Gondwana (South America and Africa), but there is considerable debate over the exact timing of this break-up. Rifting propagated from south to north along Triassic–Early Jurassic lineaments, but intra-continental rifts also began to develop within both continents in Jurassic–Cretaceous sedimentary basins, subdividing each continent into three sub-plates. Rifting began c. 190 Ma at Falkland latitudes, forcing Patagonia to move relative to

3379-602: The Central Atlantic opened . Antarctica, the centre of the supercontinent, shared boundaries with all other Gondwana continents and the fragmentation of Gondwana propagated clockwise around it. The break-up was the result of the eruption of the Karoo-Ferrar igneous province , one of the Earth's most extensive large igneous provinces (LIP) c. 200 to 170 Ma , but the oldest magnetic anomalies between South America, Africa, and Antarctica are found in what

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3488-834: The Drake Passage and the deepening of the Tasman Gateway. The oldest oceanic crust in the Drake Passage, however, is 34 to 29 Ma -old which indicates that the spreading between the Antarctic and South American plates began near the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. Deep sea environments in Tierra del Fuego and the North Scotia Ridge during the Eocene and Oligocene indicate a "Proto-ACC" opened during this period. Later, 26 to 14 Ma ,

3597-598: The East African Orogeny ( 650 to 800 Ma ) and Kuunga orogeny (including the Malagasy Orogeny in southern Madagascar) ( 550 Ma ), the collision between East Gondwana and East Africa in two steps, and the Brasiliano orogeny ( 660 to 530 Ma ), the successive collision between South American and African cratons . The last stages of Gondwanan assembly overlapped with

3706-558: The East African Orogeny , the collision of India and Madagascar with East Africa, and culminating in c.   600 to 530 Ma with the overlapping Brasiliano and Kuunga orogenies, the collision of South America with Africa, and the addition of Australia and Antarctica, respectively. Eventually, Gondwana became the largest piece of continental crust of the Palaeozoic Era, covering an area of some 100,000,000 km (39,000,000 sq mi), about one-fifth of

3815-757: The Great American Interchange . The break-up of Gondwana can be said to continue in eastern Africa at the Afar Triple Junction , which separates the Arabian , Nubian , and Somali plates, resulting in rifting in the Red Sea and East African Rift . In the Early Cenozoic , Australia was still connected to Antarctica c. 35–40° south of its current location and both continents were largely unglaciated. A rift between

3924-803: The Himalayan - Tibetan orogen. During the Cenozoic, the orogen resulted in the construction of the Tibetan Plateau between the Tethyan Himalayas in the south and the Kunlun and Qilian mountains in the north. Later, South America was connected to North America via the Isthmus of Panama , cutting off a circulation of warm water and thereby making the Arctic colder, as well as allowing

4033-519: The Messinian salinity crisis (for example introduction of Murinae , immigrants from southern Asia ) During the early Tertiary , Africa was covered by a vast evergreen forest inhabited by an endemic forest fauna with many types common to southern Asia. In the Pliocene the climate became dry and most of the forest was destroyed, the forest animals taking refuge in the remaining forest islands. At

4142-845: The Ordovician . This is the Cuyania or Precordillera terrane of the Famatinian orogeny in northwest Argentina which may have continued the line of the Appalachians southwards. Chilenia terrane accreted later against Cuyania. The collision of the Patagonian terrane with the southwestern Gondwanan occurred in the late Paleozoic. Subduction-related igneous rocks from beneath the North Patagonian Massif have been dated at 320–330 million years old, indicating that

4251-456: The Paleogene (from around 66 to 23 million years ago (Ma)). Gondwana was not considered a supercontinent by the earliest definition, since the landmasses of Baltica , Laurentia , and Siberia were separated from it. To differentiate it from the Indian region of the same name (see § Name ), it is also commonly called Gondwanaland . Regions that were part of Gondwana shared floral and zoological elements that persist to

4360-481: The Pangaea supercontinent during the Carboniferous. Pangaea began to break up in the Mid-Jurassic when the Central Atlantic opened . In the western end of Pangaea, the collision between Gondwana and Laurasia closed the Rheic and Palaeo-Tethys oceans. The obliquity of this closure resulted in the docking of some northern terranes in the Marathon , Ouachita , Alleghanian , and Variscan orogenies, respectively. Southern terranes, such as Chortis and Oaxaca , on

4469-499: The Southeast Indian Ridge . Separation between Australia and East Antarctica began c. 132 Ma with seafloor spreading occurring c. 96 Ma . A shallow seaway developed over the South Tasman Rise during the Early Cenozoic and as oceanic crust started to separate the continents during the Eocene c. 35.5 Ma global ocean temperature dropped significantly. A dramatic shift from arc- to rift magmatism c. 100 Ma separated Zealandia , including New Zealand ,

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4578-442: The Uralian orogeny and Laurasia . Pangaea was finally amalgamated in the Late Carboniferous-Early Permian, but the oblique forces continued until Pangaea began to rift in the Triassic. In the eastern end, collisions occurred slightly later. The North China , South China , and Indochina blocks rifted from Gondwana during the middle Paleozoic and opened the Proto-Tethys Ocean . North China docked with Mongolia and Siberia during

4687-422: The Variscan orogeny close to the Carboniferous–Permian boundary. South-east Asia was made of Gondwanan and Cathaysian continental fragments that were assembled during the Mid-Palaeozoic and Cenozoic. This process can be divided into three phases of rifting along Gondwana's northern margin: first, in the Devonian, North and South China , together with Tarim and Quidam (north-western China) rifted, opening

4796-547: The West African crocodile , two species of slender-snouted crocodile , and 1-3 species of dwarf crocodile ) are also present. There live (temporarily or permanently) more than 2600 bird species in Africa (about 1500 of them passerines ). Some 114 of them are threatened species. The Afrotropic has various endemic bird families, including ostriches (Struthionidae), mesites , sunbirds , secretary bird (Sagittariidae), guineafowl (Numididae), and mousebirds (Coliidae). Also, several families of passerines are limited to

4905-417: The buzzards , harriers , Old World vultures , bateleur , Circaetus , Melierax and others. Trogons are represented by one genus ( Apaloderma ). African penguin is the only penguin species. Madagascar was once home to the now extinct elephant birds . Mauritius was once home to the now extinct endemic bird species, the being notably the Dodo bird and also the Mauritius blue pigeon . Africa

5014-951: The pythonids ( Python ), typhlopids ( Typhlops ) and leptotyphlopids ( Leptotyphlops , Rhinoleptus ). Of the lizards , many species of geckos ( day geckos , Afroedura , Afrogecko , Colopus , Pachydactylus , Hemidactylus , Narudasia , Paroedura , Pristurus , Quedenfeldtia , Rhoptropus , Tropiocolotes , Uroplatus ), Cordylidae , as well as Lacertidae ( Nucras , Lacerta , Mesalina , Acanthodactylus , Pedioplanis ), Agamas , skinks , plated lizards and some monitor lizards are common. There are 12 genera and 58 species of African amphisbaenians (e.g. Chirindia , Zygaspis , Monopeltis , Dalophia ). Several genera of tortoises ( Kinixys , Pelusios , Psammobates , Geochelone , Homopus , Chersina ), turtles ( Pelomedusidae , Cyclanorbis , Cycloderma , Erymnochelys ), and 5-7 species of crocodiles (the Nile crocodile ,

5123-403: The uplift and erosion known to have occurred from the Late Cretaceous onward. Plate tectonic reorganisation since the mid-Cretaceous might also have been linked to the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean . Another change related to mid-Cretaceous plate tectonic rearrangement was the change of subduction direction of the oceanic lithosphere that went from having south-east motion to having

5232-926: The Afrotropical amphibians, there is least concern about their conservation status; approximately 130 species are endangered, about one-fourth of which are at a critical stage. Almost all of the amphibians of Madagascar (238 species ) are endemic to that region. The West African goliath frog is the largest frog species in the world. The center of chameleon diversity is Madagascar. Snakes found in Africa include atractaspidids , elapids ( cobras , Aspidelaps , Boulengerina , Dendroaspis , Elapsoidea , Hemachatus , Homoroselaps and Paranaja ), viperines , ( Atheris , Bitis , Cerastes , Causus , Echis , Macrovipera , Montatheris , Proatheris , Vipera ), colubrids ( Dendrolycus , Dispholidus , Gonionotophis , Grayia , Hormonotus , Lamprophis , Psammophis , Leioheterodon , Madagascarophis , Poecilopholis , Dasypeltis etc.),

5341-879: The Afrotropics. These include rock-jumpers (Chaetopidae), bushshrikes (Malaconotidae), wattle-eyes , (Platysteiridae) and rockfowl (Picathartidae). Other common birds include parrots ( lovebirds , Poicephalus , Psittacus ), various cranes ( crowned cranes , blue crane , wattled crane ), storks ( marabous , Abdim's stork , saddle-billed stork ), herons ( slaty egret , black heron , goliath heron ), shoebill , bustards ( kori bustard , Neotis , Eupodotis , Lissotis ), sandgrouse ( Pterocles ), Coraciiformes ( bee-eaters , hornbills , Ceratogymna ), phasians , Congo peafowl , blue quail , harlequin quail , stone partridge , Madagascar partridge ). The woodpeckers and allies include honeyguides , African barbets , African piculet , ground woodpecker , Dendropicos and Campethera . The birds of prey include

5450-502: The Carboniferous–Permian, followed by South China. The Cimmerian blocks then rifted from Gondwana to form the Palaeo-Thethys and Neo-Tethys oceans in the Late Carboniferous, and docked with Asia during the Triassic and Jurassic. Western Pangaea began to rift while the eastern end was still being assembled. The formation of Pangaea and its mountains had a tremendous impact on global climate and sea levels, which resulted in glaciations and continent-wide sedimentation. In North America,

5559-405: The Early Cretaceous, and West Burma and Woyla during the Late Cretaceous. Gondwana's long, northern margin remained a mostly passive margin throughout the Palaeozoic. The Early Permian opening of the Neo-Tethys Ocean along this margin produced a long series of terranes, many of which were and still are being deformed in the Himalaya Orogeny . These terranes are, from Turkey to north-eastern India:

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5668-403: The Earth's surface. It fused with Euramerica during the Carboniferous to form Pangea . It began to separate from northern Pangea ( Laurasia ) during the Triassic , and started to fragment during the Early Jurassic (around 180 million years ago). The final stages of break-up, involving the separation of Antarctica from South America (forming the Drake Passage ) and Australia, occurred during

5777-448: The Equator during this period and remained a lifeless and barren landscape. West Gondwana drifted north during the Devonian , bringing Gondwana and Laurasia close together. Global cooling contributed to the Late Devonian extinction (19% of marine families and 50% of genera went extinct) and glaciation occurred in South America. Before Pangaea had formed, terrestrial plants, such as pteridophytes , began to diversify rapidly resulting in

5886-400: The Equator on landmasses then limited to Laurasia and, in Gondwana, to Australia. In the late Silurian, two distinctive lineages, zosterophylls and rhyniophytes , had colonised the tropics. The former evolved into the lycopods that were to dominate the Gondwanan vegetation over a long period, whilst the latter evolved into horsetails and gymnosperms . Most of Gondwana was located far from

5995-446: The Jurassic flora was dominated by conifer families and other gymnosperms that had evolved during the Triassic. The Pteridophytes that had dominated during the Palaeozoic were now marginalised, except for ferns. In contrast to Laurentia, very few insect fossils have been found in Gondwana, to a considerable extent because of widespread deserts and volcanism. While plants had a cosmopolitan distribution, dinosaurs evolved and diversified in

6104-406: The Kuunga orogeny (also known as the Pinjarra orogeny). Meanwhile, on the other side of the newly forming Africa, Kalahari collided with Congo and Rio de la Plata which closed the Adamastor Ocean . c. 540–530 Ma, the closure of the Mozambique Ocean brought India next to Australia–East Antarctica, and both North and South China were in proximity to Australia. As the rest of Gondwana formed,

6213-422: The Late Permian, many known from South Africa and Australia. Beetles and cockroaches remained minor elements in this fauna. Tetrapod fossils from the Early Permian have only been found in Laurasia but they became common in Gondwana later during the Permian. The arrival of the therapsids resulted in the first plant-vertebrate-insect ecosystem. During the Mid- to Late Triassic, hot-house conditions coincided with

6322-405: The Miocene, a warm and humid climate developed with pockets of rainforests in central Australia, but before the end of the period, colder and drier climate severely reduced this rainforest. A brief period of increased rainfall in the Pliocene was followed by drier climate which favoured grassland. Since then, the fluctuation between wet interglacial periods and dry glacial periods has developed into

6431-443: The Neoproterozoic to Palaeozoic phase of the Terra Australis Orogen , a series of terranes were rafted from the proto-Andean margin when the Iapteus Ocean opened, to be added back to Gondwana during the closure of that ocean. During the Paleozoic, some blocks which helped to form parts of the Southern Cone of South America, include a piece transferred from Laurentia when the west edge of Gondwana scraped against southeast Laurentia in

6540-441: The Palaeo-Tethys behind them. These terranes accreted to Asia during Late Devonian and Permian. Second, in the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian, Cimmerian terranes opened Meso-Tethys Ocean; Sibumasu and Qiangtang were added to south-east Asia during Late Permian and Early Jurassic. Third, in the Late Triassic to Late Jurassic, Lhasa , West Burma , Woyla terranes opened the Neo-Tethys Ocean; Lhasa collided with Asia during

6649-456: The South Atlantic (Brazil and Cameroon ) dating to around 120  million years ago , suggesting that some form of land connection still existed between Africa and South America as recently as the early Aptian . The first phases of Andean orogeny in the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous were characterised by extensional tectonics , rifting , the development of back-arc basins and the emplacement of large batholiths . This development

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6758-465: The Southern Hemisphere, has a "Gondwanan distribution" and is often described as an archaic, or relict , lineage. The distributions in the Proteaceae is, nevertheless, the result of both Gondwanan rafting and later oceanic dispersal. During the Silurian, Gondwana extended from the Equator (Australia) to the South Pole (North Africa and South America) whilst Laurasia was located on the Equator opposite to Australia. A short-lived Late Ordovician glaciation

6867-408: The Taurides in southern Turkey; the Lesser Caucasus Terrane in Georgia; the Sanand, Alborz, and Lut terranes in Iran; the Mangysglak or Kopetdag Terrane in the Caspian Sea; the Afghan Terrane; the Karakorum Terrane in northern Pakistan; and the Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes in Tibet. The Permian–Triassic widening of the Neo-Tethys pushed all these terranes across the Equator and over to Eurasia. During

6976-550: The base of the Absaroka sequence coincides with the Alleghanian and Ouachita orogenies and are indicative of a large-scale change in the mode of deposition far away from the Pangaean orogenies. Ultimately, these changes contributed to the Permian–Triassic extinction event and left large deposits of hydrocarbons, coal, evaporite, and metals. The breakup of Pangaea began with the Central Atlantic magmatic province (CAMP) between South America, Africa, North America, and Europe. CAMP covered more than seven million square kilometres over

7085-523: The best known group of insects. The caterpillars of mopani moth are part of the South African cuisine. Among the numerous species of African beetles are the famous sacred scarab , the centaurus beetle , manticora tiger beetles and enormous Goliath beetles . Hotspots for butterflies include the Congolian forests and the Guinean forest-savanna mosaic . Some butterflies ( Hamanumida daedalus , Precis , Eurema ) are grassland or savannah specialists. Many of these have very large populations and

7194-515: The biggest number of termite genera of all continents, and over 1,000 termite species. Of Diptera , the number of described African species is about 17,000. Natalimyzidae, a new family of acalyptrate flies has been recently described from South Africa . Anopheles gambiae , Aedes aegypti and tsetse fly are important vectors of diseases. 1600 species of bees and 2000 species of ants among other Hymenopterans are known from Africa. There live also 3,607 species of butterflies , being

7303-411: The break-up of Gondwanaland early in the Cretaceous , but was probably connected to the mainland again in the Eocene . The first Neogene faunal interchange took place in the Middle Miocene (the introduction of Myocricetodontinae , Democricetodontinae , and Dendromurinae ). A major terrestrial faunal exchange between North Africa and Europe began at about 6.1 Ma, some 0.4 Myr before the beginning of

7412-1257: The clade Afrotheria (often viewed as a superorder ), which includes the exclusively African orders, as well as others believed to be of African origin. The East African plains are well known for their diversity of large mammals. African Eulipotyphla include the subfamilies Myosoricinae and Crocidurinae . Hedgehogs include desert hedgehogs , Atelerix and others. The rodents are represented by African bush squirrels , African ground squirrels , African striped squirrels , gerbils , cane rats , acacia rats , Nesomyidae , springhare , mole rats , dassie rats , striped grass mice , sun squirrels , thicket rats , Old World porcupines , target rats , maned rats , Deomyinae , Aethomys , Arvicanthis , Colomys , Dasymys , Dephomys , Epixerus , Grammomys , Graphiurus , Hybomys , Hylomyscus , Malacomys , Mastomys , Mus , Mylomys , Myomyscus , Oenomys , Otomys , Parotomys , Pelomys , Praomys , Rhabdomys , Stenocephalemys and many others. African rabbits and hares include riverine rabbit , Bunyoro rabbit , Cape hare , scrub hare , Ethiopian highland hare , African savanna hare , Abyssinian hare and several species of Pronolagus . Among

7521-414: The colonisation of Gondwana. The Baragwanathia Flora, found only in the Yea Beds of Victoria, Australia, occurs in two strata separated by 1,700 m (5,600 ft) or 30 Ma; the upper assemblage is more diverse and includes Baragwanathia, the first primitive herbaceous lycopod to evolve from the zosterophylls. During the Devonian, giant club mosses replaced the Baragwanathia Flora, introducing

7630-478: The concept of panoramic enclosures, developed by Karl Hagenbeck in Hamburg . A part of the zoo's area was landscaped panoramically, with dry moats and paths between individual grassed exhibits not visible to the spectator. Visitors thus have the illusion of animals of many different species inhabiting one common exhibit. The main part of Vágner's concept was the "Safari," a 30-hectare area with visitors driving in their cars among free-roaming animals. This stage of

7739-492: The continent Kazakhstania in the late Silurian . Whether these blocks originated on the shores of Gondwana is not known. In the Early Palaeozoic, the Armorican terrane , which today form large parts of France, was part of either Peri-Gondwana or core Gondwana; the Rheic Ocean closed in front of it and the Palaeo-Tethys Ocean opened behind it. Precambrian rocks from the Iberian Peninsula suggest that it, too, formed part of core Gondwana before its detachment as an orocline in

7848-424: The continent became the arid or semiarid landscape it is today. The adjective "Gondwanan" is in common use in biogeography when referring to patterns of distribution of living organisms, typically when the organisms are restricted to two or more of the now-discontinuous regions that were once part of Gondwana, including the Antarctic flora . For example, the plant family Proteaceae , known from all continents in

7957-833: The development of rifts systems on both continents, including the Central African Rift System and the Central African Shear Zone which lasted until c. 85 Ma . At Brazilian latitudes spreading is more difficult to assess because of the lack of palaeo-magnetic data, but rifting occurred in Nigeria at the Benue Trough c. 118 Ma . North of the Equator the rifting began after 120.4 Ma and continued until c. 100 to 96 Ma . Dinosaur footprints representing identical species assemblages are known from opposite sides of

8066-556: The end of it. Bennettitales and Pentoxylales , two now extinct orders of gymnospermous plants, evolved in the Late Triassic and became important in the Jurassic and Cretaceous. It is possible that gymnosperm biodiversity surpassed later angiosperm biodiversity and that the evolution of angiosperms began during the Triassic but, if so, in Laurasia rather than in Gondwana. Two Gondwanan classes, lycophytes and sphenophytes , saw

8175-578: The endemic fauna and partly from steppe forms that adapted themselves to forest life, while the present savanna fauna is similarly explained. The isolation in past times has resulted in the presence of closely related subspecies in widely separated regions Africa, where humans originated, shows much less evidence of loss in the Pleistocene megafaunal extinction, perhaps because co-evolution of large animals alongside early humans provided enough time for them to develop effective defenses. Its situation in

8284-946: The eruption of the Deccan basalts , whose eruption site may survive as the Réunion hotspot . The Seychelles and the Maldives are now separated by the Central Indian Ridge . During the initial break-up in the Early Jurassic a marine transgression swept over the Horn of Africa covering Triassic planation surfaces with sandstone , limestone , shale , marls and evaporites . East Gondwana, comprising Antarctica, Madagascar, India, and Australia, began to separate from Africa. East Gondwana then began to break up c. 132.5 to 96 Ma when India moved northwest from Australia-Antarctica. The Indian Plate and

8393-563: The evolution of Voltziales , one of the few plant orders to survive the end-Permian extinction (57% of marine families and 83% of genera went extinct) and which came to dominate in the Late Permian and from whom true conifers evolved. Tall lycopods and horsetails dominated the wetlands of Gondwana in the Early Permian. Insects co-evolved with glossopterids across Gondwana and diversified with more than 200 species in 21 orders by

8502-869: The families Arthroleptidae , Astylosternidae , Heleophrynidae , Hemisotidae , Hyperoliidae , Petropedetidae , Mantellidae . Also widespread are Bufonidae ( Bufo , Churamiti , Capensibufo , Mertensophryne , Nectophryne , Nectophrynoides , Schismaderma , Stephopaedes , Werneria , Wolterstorffina ), Microhylidae ( Breviceps , Callulina , Probreviceps , Cophylinae , Dyscophus , Melanobatrachinae , Scaphiophryninae ), Rhacophoridae ( Chiromantis ), Ranidae ( Afrana , Amietia , Amnirana , Aubria , Conraua , Hildebrandtia , Lanzarana , Ptychadena , Strongylopus , Tomopterna ) and Pipidae ( Hymenochirus , Pseudhymenochirus , Xenopus ). The 2002–2004 'Global Amphibian Assessment' by IUCN , Conservation International and NatureServe revealed that for only about 50% of

8611-503: The fauna as a whole (it has been estimated that the African insects make up about 10-20% of the global insect species richness, and about 15% of new species descriptions come from Afrotropics ). The only endemic African insect order is Mantophasmatodea . About 875 African species of dragonflies have been recorded. The migratory locust and desert locust have been serious threats to African economies and human welfare. Africa has

8720-523: The few Onychophorans , Peripatopsis and Opisthopatus live in Africa. Greatest diversity of freshwater mollusks is found in East African lakes. Of marine snails, less diversity is present in Atlantic coast, more in tropical Western Indian Ocean region (over 3000 species of gastropods with 81 endemic species). Cowry shells have been used as a money by native Africans. The land snail fauna

8829-564: The first amniote reptilians evolved, all closely related to the Laurasian fauna, but spreading ice eventually drove these animals away from Gondwana entirely. The Gondwana ice sheet melted, and sea levels dropped during the Permian and Triassic global warming. During this period, the extinct glossopterids colonised Gondwana and reached peak diversity in the Late Permian when coal-forming forests covered much of Gondwana. The period also saw

8938-522: The first trees, and by the Late Devonian this first forest was accompanied by the progymnosperms , including the first large trees Archaeopteris . The Late Devonian extinction probably also resulted in osteolepiform fishes evolving into the amphibian tetrapods , the earliest land vertebrates, in Greenland and Russia. The only traces of this evolution in Gondwana are amphibian footprints and

9047-526: The flora in northeastern Australia. There is, however, no obvious connection between this spectacular angiosperm radiation and any known extinction event nor with vertebrate/insect evolution. Insect orders associated with pollination, such as beetles , flies , butterflies and moths , and wasps, bees, and ants , radiated continuously from the Permian-Triassic, long before the arrival of the angiosperms. Well-preserved insect fossils have been found in

9156-636: The fracture zones and magnetic anomalies flanking the Southwest Indian Ridge . The Madagascar block and the Mascarene Plateau , stretching from the Seychelles to Réunion , were broken off India, causing Madagascar and Insular India to be separate landmasses : elements of this break-up nearly coincide with the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event . The India–Madagascar–Seychelles separations appear to coincide with

9265-530: The genus Pan ( chimpanzee , Pan troglodytes , and bonobo , Pan paniscus ). Humans and their ancestors originated in Africa. Other primates include colobuses , baboons , geladas , vervet monkeys , guenons , macaques , mandrills , crested mangabeys , white-eyelid mangabeys , kipunji , Allen's swamp monkeys , Patas monkeys and talapoins . Lemurs and aye-aye are characteristic of Madagascar. See also Lists of mammals of Africa . Gondwana Gondwana ( / ɡ ɒ n d ˈ w ɑː n ə / )

9374-471: The great plains of East Africa . Despite logistical challenges and strenuous days of sea travel, the shipments of African animals had a high survival rate. While some of the imported animals travelled further to other zoos across Europe, most remained in Dvůr Králové, forming some of the largest breeding herds of antelopes, zebras, giraffes, buffalos and rhinos outside of Africa. The rhinos eventually became

9483-861: The lake deposits of the Santana Formation in Brazil, the Koonwarra Lake fauna in Australia, and the Orapa diamond mine in Botswana. Dinosaurs continued to prosper but, as the angiosperm diversified, conifers, bennettitaleans and pentoxylaleans disappeared from Gondwana c. 115 Ma together with the specialised herbivorous ornithischians , whilst generalist browsers, such as several families of sauropodomorph Saurischia , prevailed. The Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event killed off all dinosaurs except birds, but plant evolution in Gondwana

9592-551: The last calf being born in 2000. The zoo was established in 1946 on an area of 6.5 hectares to house a small collection of local fauna and was originally known as the East Bohemian Zoological Garden ( Czech : Východočeská zoologická zahrada ). After the first twenty years of its existence, the area had quadrupled and the animal collections had expanded. Nonetheless, before 1965 the institution's significance for environmental education and conservation

9701-494: The marine mammals there are several species of dolphins , 2 species of sirenians and seals (e.g. Cape fur seals ). Of the carnivorans there are 60 species, including the conspicuous hyenas , lions , leopards , cheetahs , serval , African wild dog as well as the less prominent and understudied Side-striped jackal , striped polecat , African striped weasel , caracal , honey badger , speckle-throated otter , several mongooses , foxes and civets . The family Eupleridae

9810-712: The mid- Mesozoic era . After that, four to six faunal assemblages, the so-called African Faunal Strata (AFSs) can be distinguished. The isolation of Africa was broken intermittently by discontinuous "filter routes" that linked it to some other Gondwanan continents ( Madagascar , South America , and perhaps India ), but mainly to Laurasia . Interchanges with Gondwana were rare and mainly "out-of-Africa" dispersals, whereas interchanges with Laurasia were numerous and bidirectional, although mainly from Laurasia to Africa. Despite these connections, isolation resulted in remarkable absences, poor diversity, and emergence of endemic taxa in Africa. Madagascar separated from continental Africa during

9919-701: The opening of the Iapetus Ocean between Laurentia and western Gondwana. During this interval, the Cambrian explosion occurred. Laurentia was docked against the western shores of a united Gondwana for a brief period near the Precambrian/Cambrian boundary, forming the short-lived and still disputed supercontinent Pannotia . The Mozambique Ocean separated the Congo – Tanzania – Bangweulu Block of central Africa from Neoproterozoic India (India,

10028-600: The other hand, remained largely unaffected by the collision along the southern shores of Laurentia. Some Peri-Gondwanan terranes, such as Yucatán and Florida , were buffered from collisions by major promontories. Other terranes, such as Carolina and Meguma , were directly involved in the collision. The final collision resulted in the Variscan- Appalachian Mountains , stretching from present-day Mexico to southern Europe. Meanwhile, Baltica collided with Siberia and Kazakhstania which resulted in

10137-561: The present arid regime. Australia has thus experienced various climate changes over a 15-million-year period with a gradual decrease in precipitation. The Tasman Gateway between Australia and Antarctica began to open c. 40 to 30 Ma . Palaeontological evidence indicates the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) was established in the Late Oligocene c. 23 Ma with the full opening of

10246-530: The present day. The continent of Gondwana was named by the Austrian scientist Eduard Suess , after the region in central India of the same name , which is derived from Sanskrit for "forest of the Gonds ". The name had been previously used in a geological context, first by H. B. Medlicott in 1872, from which the Gondwana sedimentary sequences ( Permian - Triassic ) are also described. Some scientists prefer

10355-760: The remaining Gondwana c. 570 to 530 Ma in the Kuunga Orogeny. The later Malagasy orogeny at about 550–515 Mya affected Madagascar, eastern East Africa and southern India. In it, Neoproterozoic India collided with the already combined Azania and Congo–Tanzania–Bangweulu Block, suturing along the Mozambique Belt. The 18,000 km-long (11,000 mi) Terra Australis Orogen developed along Gondwana's western, southern, and eastern margins. Proto-Gondwanan Cambrian arc belts from this margin have been found in eastern Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and Antarctica. Though these belts formed

10464-401: The same time a broad land-bridge connected Africa with Asia and there was a great invasion of animals of the steppe fauna into Africa. At the beginning of the Pleistocene a moist period set in and much of the forest was renewed while the grassland fauna was divided and isolated, as the forest fauna had previously been. The present forest fauna is therefore of double origin, partly descended of

10573-665: The still static remainder of South America and Africa, and this westward movement lasted until the Early Cretaceous 126.7 Ma . From there rifting propagated northward during the Late Jurassic c. 150 Ma or Early Cretaceous c. 140 Ma most likely forcing dextral movements between sub-plates on either side. South of the Walvis Ridge and Rio Grande Rise the Paraná and Etendeka magmatics resulted in further ocean-floor spreading c. 130 to 135 Ma and

10682-399: The subduction process initiated in the early Carboniferous. This was relatively short-lived (lasting about 20 million years), and initial contact of the two landmasses occurred in the mid-Carboniferous, with broader collision during the early Permian. In the Devonian, an island arc named Chaitenia accreted to Patagonia in what is now south-central Chile. Gondwana and Laurasia formed

10791-525: The term "Gondwanaland" for the supercontinent to make a clear distinction between the region and the supercontinent. The assembly of Gondwana was a protracted process during the Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic , which remains incompletely understood because of the lack of paleo-magnetic data. Several orogenies , collectively known as the Pan-African orogeny , caused the continental fragments of

10900-760: The tropics spared it also from Pleistocene glaciations and the climate has not changed much. There are large gaps in human knowledge about African invertebrates. East Africa has a rich coral fauna with about 400 known species. More than 400 species of Echinoderms and 500 species of Bryozoa live there too, as well as one Cubozoan species ( Carybdea alata ). Of nematodes , the Onchocerca volvulus , Necator americanus , Wuchereria bancrofti and Dracunculus medinensis are human parasites. Some of important plant-parasitic nematodes of crops include Meloidogyne , Pratylenchus , Hirschmanniella , Radopholus , Scutellonema and Helicotylenchus . Of

11009-636: The two developed but remained an embayment until the Eocene-Oligocene boundary when the Circumpolar Current developed and the glaciation of Antarctica began. Australia was warm and wet during the Palaeocene and dominated by rainforest. The opening of the Tasman Gateway at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary ( 33 Ma ) resulted in abrupt cooling but the Oligocene became a period of high rainfall with swamps in southeast Australia. During

11118-511: The world. 20 genera of freshwater crabs are present. The soil animal communities tropical Africa are poorly known. A few ecological studies have been undertaken on macrofauna, mainly in West Africa. Earthworms are being extensively studied in West and South Africa. Approximately 100,000 species of insects have been described from Sub-Saharan Africa , but there are very few overviews of

11227-579: The zoo's development was completed six years after Vágner retired in 1983. Specially adapted buses were introduced instead of private cars. Safari Park Dvůr Králové is a member of the Czech and Slovak Union of Zoological Gardens (UCSZ), founded in 1990, with 15 Czech and 4 Slovak member zoos. From 1995 to 2010, Safari Park Dvůr Králové was a member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). From 1997 to 2012, Safari Park Dvůr Králové

11336-544: The zoo's flagship species, and included the Northern White Rhinoceros , a subspecies of the White Rhino which, unlike the now abundant Southern White Rhinoceros , has been exterminated in the wild. Among them, the most famous of the animals was Sudan , the last known male Northern White Rhinoceros in the world. Vágner's idea of exhibiting large herds of African ungulates at the zoo was based on

11445-499: Was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent . The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America , Africa , Antarctica , Australia , Zealandia , Arabia , and the Indian Subcontinent . Gondwana was formed by the accretion of several cratons (large stable blocks of the Earth's crust), beginning c.   800 to 650 Ma with

11554-624: Was a member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). Fauna of Africa The fauna of Africa , in its broader sense, is all the animals living in Africa and its surrounding seas and islands. The more characteristic African fauna is found in the Afro-tropical realm . Lying almost entirely within the tropics , and equally to north and south of the equator creates favorable conditions for rich wildlife. Africa

11663-483: Was followed by a Silurian Hot House period. The End-Ordovician extinction , which resulted in 27% of marine invertebrate families and 57% of genera going extinct, occurred during this shift from Ice House to Hot House. By the end of the Ordovician, Cooksonia , a slender, ground-covering plant, became the first known vascular plant to establish itself on land. This first colonisation occurred exclusively around

11772-540: Was hardly affected. Gondwanatheria is an extinct group of non- therian mammals with a Gondwanan distribution (South America, Africa, Madagascar, India, Zealandia and Antarctica) during the Late Cretaceous and Palaeogene. Xenarthra and Afrotheria , two placental clades, are of Gondwanan origin and probably began to evolve separately c. 105 Ma when Africa and South America separated. The laurel forests of Australia, New Caledonia, and New Zealand have

11881-466: Was limited to the region. In 1965, Josef Vágner took over as the zoo's director. The transformation of the zoo initiated by Vágner influenced animal husbandry standards and zoo culture throughout Czechoslovakia and the world. An enthusiast of Africa, Vágner developed the previously unknown zoo into Europe's largest collection of African ungulates. Ten expeditions of Vágner resulted in more than 3,000 animals being imported to Czechoslovakia, mostly from

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