![]() ![]() It is a massive playground for tracking Colombia’s exceptional biodiversity – much of which is yet to be discovered – using environmental DNA (eDNA).īeing home to incredible natural treasures is one thing protecting them is another. ![]() Its many coastal and insular habitats provides shelter for an incredible number of marine species, with a huge diversity of marine mammals, fish and aquatic invertebrates. What’s more, it is the only South American country that opens onto both the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the north. With close to a million square kilometres of territorial waters and a coastline 3,000 kilometres in length, Colombia is also a maritime nation. Lastly the tepuis – table-top mountains with sheer drops – play their part in upping the country’s number of endemic species, as creatures there have long been isolated from those that remained in the forests at the foot of these cliffs.But Colombia’s great biodiversity cannot be explained by its terrestrial riches alone. As for the Colombian Andes, they add unique, high-elevation biodiversity, such as the famous Andean condor, the biggest bird of prey in the world, with a wingspan of more than three metres. To the west is the tail end of Panama’s wetlands, home to species typical of Central America, while in the south-west we find the borders of the Amazon Rainforest. ![]() The fourth biggest country in South America, Colombia stretches from the Andes to the Amazon Basin. To understand why there is such a diversity of flora and fauna, we need to examine the great variety of landscapes – and therefore ecosystems – in the region. In 2013, genetic analysis demonstrated that the olinguito, a small, omnivorous mammal sometimes called a “bear-cat”, is indeed a species in its own right. In 2015, another curious frog, Pristimantis macrummendozai, with yellow eyebrows and folds of skin that help it retain moisture, was discovered at high elevations in the Colombian Andes. In 2018, the tiny frog Hyloscirtus japreria – barely three centimetres in size – joined the long list of batrachians to be found in Colombia. The numbers keep going up as more discoveries are made. Among the more than 50,000 animal and plant species officially recorded in Colombia, some 9,000 are endemic, meaning that they are found nowhere else. Overshadowed by its neighbour Brazil, with its millions of square kilometres of Amazonian Rainforest, and not far from Costa Rica, a true sanctuary for flora and fauna alike, Colombia does not at first strike many as a country particularly rich in natural resources and biodiversity.Ĭolombia also has the greatest number of species per square kilometre.Īnd yet! Not only is it one of the 17 “megadiverse” countries (those with the greatest number of species in the world), Colombia also has the greatest number of species per square kilometre, and one in 10 of all species on Earth is found there! Here you will find more species of birds, butterflies and orchids than in any other country on the planet. ![]()
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