Large mammals characteristic of Indomalaya include the Asiatic lions,[1][2] tigers, wild Asian water buffalos, Asian elephant, Indian rhinoceros, Javan rhinoceros, Malayan tapir. See also: Endemic birds of the Indian Subcontinent, Endemic birds of Borneo, Endemic birds of the Philippines. Photo: Mark Dumont. This vast region is characterized by many shared plant and animal species. Cattle were first domesticated around 9,000 years ago. Liquid water is unavailable for much of the winter, and plants and many of the animals undergo a winter dormancy in which metabolism is very slow. The goat-antelopes (Rupicaprini) are represented by the goral and the serow. 2003. Since there is no natural biogeographic boundary in the west between Europe and Asia, the term "fauna of Asia" is somewhat elusive. The species is labeled as Least Concern. The earliest known site of domestication is Kazakhstan, where the Botai people used horses for transportation up to 6,000 years ago. They’re just 4 – 6 inches tall, but they’ve… as guards or vermine hunters, as status symbol, as food, as magic medicine or, in the better cases, as company. [9] The Southeast Asian region's biodiversity is arguably the most threatened, with some of the highest rates of forest loss combined with severe hunting pressure and a variety of other threats (Hughes, 2017). The largest land animal found in Asia is the Asiatic elephant. Asia - Asia - Animal life: The Himalayas, stretching from east to west, form a barrier that largely prevents the movement of fauna southward or northward. Koi fish are the only animals on this list that were developed primarily for decorative purposes. Malaysia is both mainland and insular, with a western … The slow loris is an omnivore forager, and one of three loris species. Here are eleven of Asia's all-star domesticates. The Indian Subcontinent bioregion covers most of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka. Goats are also remarkably efficient at clearing brush, a handy trait for farmers in arid lands. Asia. It covers the richest part of the Indomalayan realm, with dominant biomes of tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and dry broadleaf forests. This list only involves extinctions of the Holocene epoch. Mainland Southeast Asia is divided into the countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Vietnam, and the small city-state of Singapore at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula; Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, which occupy the eastern portion of the mainland, often are collectively called the Indochinese Peninsula. (2017) Understanding the drivers of Southeast Asian biodiversity loss, Ecosphere. Our US tax identification number is 31-1802788. South Asian Rainforest Indian rainforests are mainly found along the country's eastern coast. The only animal on this list that is not common outside of its home continent of Asia is the water buffalo. Two orders of mammals, the colugos (2 species) and treeshrews (19 species), are endemic to the Indomalayan realm, as are families Craseonycteridae (Kitti's hog-nosed bat), Diatomyidae, Platacanthomyidae, Tarsiidae (tarsiers) and Hylobatidae (gibbons). Mole. Even though the threat caused by deforestation is on the decline, these animals are still over-hunted for their meat. Wiley-Blackwell, 2005, Price, T. D., J. Zee, K. Jamdar, and N. Jamdar. The two types are genetically distinguishable from one another. Australian Animals Australia and the nearby islands are home to many animals not found anywhere else in the world. Camels also are used for meat, milk, blood, and hides. This scheme includes these desert ecoregions in the Palearctic realm; other biogeographers identify the boundary between realms as the transition zone between the desert ecoregions and the Mediterranean basin ecoregions to the north, which places the deserts in the Afrotropic, while others place the boundary through the middle of the desert. She has taught at the high school and university levels in the U.S. and South Korea. The middle altitude foothills of the Himalaya between about 2000–2500 m form the boundary between the Palearctic and Indomalaya ecoregions. The Mediterranean basin is also one of the world's most endangered biogeographic regions; only 4% of the region's original vegetation remains, and human activities, including overgrazing, deforestation, and conversion of lands for pasture, agriculture, or urbanization, have degraded much of the region. Humans likely tolerated the cats for their mouse-hunting skills, a commensal relationship that only very gradually developed into the adoration that modern-day humans often display for their feline companions. Millipede. [4] In Southeastern Asia, high mountain ranges form tongues of Palearctic flora and fauna in northern Myanmar and southern China. Although horses have been used across the world both for riding and for pulling chariots, carts, and carriages, nomadic peoples of Central Asia and Mongolia also relied on them for meat and for milk, which was fermented into the alcoholic drink called kumis. Of those, 38 are marine dolphins and 4 are river dolphins. Poaching of horns is an important reason for the decline in the number of the Indian Rhinoceros. Since there is no natural biogeographic boundary in the west between Europe and Asia, the term "fauna of Asia" is somewhat elusive. Asian elephants are generally more docile than their African counterparts and can be domesticated. The other endemic Asian families include Ursidae (giant panda, Asian black bear, sloth bear, sun bear), Calomyscidae (mouse-like hamsters) and Ailuridae (red pandas). Some archaeologists suggest that they may have been tamed first for cock-fighting, and only incidentally for meat, eggs, and feathers. Sheep soon became very important to people in Middle Eastern cultures from Babylon to Sumer to Israel; the Bible and other ancient texts make many references to sheep and shepherds. Laotian rock rat). Antarctic Animals Antarctic animals are adapted to life at very low temperatures. Less than 2,500 left in the wild! These countries have tropical rainforests, bamboo groves and mangrove forests suited for it. 6. The mountains of southwest China are also designated as a biodiversity hotspot, the Himalayas containing for example about 8% of the world’s bird species. Ecology, evolution, and conservation. The Manis javanica is a pangolin species found across Southeast Asia including Singapore. They're primarily found in Southeast Asia and prefer to avoid humans but can kill us with their bite. Animals that live in Asia and the oceans and seas surrounding the continent. Description: Once plentiful in Southeast Asia, many gibbon species are currently endangered, including the Lar Gibbon. Animal Domestication - Table of Dates and Places, History of the Domestication of Cows and Yaks, Pastoralism and Subsistence Methods Involving Herds of Animals, The Origin Histories of Dromedary and Bactrian Camels, The Domestication History of Chickens (Gallus domesticus), Lactose Intolerance and Lactase Persistence, Mammals: Definition, Photos, and Characteristics, Dairy Farming - the Ancient History of Producing Milk, The Origins and History of Rice in China and Beyond, History and Origins of Your Favorite Beverage, J.D., University of Washington School of Law, B.A., History, Western Washington University. Humans hunted horses for food as early as 35,000 years ago. Animals of Asia. South of the taiga are a belt of temperate broadleaf and mixed forests and temperate coniferous forests. Sunda Pangolin . A culture of indiscriminate wildlife use combined with poverty, population growth and rapid economic development has created a wave of pressure on natural ecosystems. The second largest animals in Asia are the several species of Asian rhinos. The formation of the Asian fauna began in the Mesozoic with the splitting of Laurasian supercontinent. Also characteristic are pittas, bulbuls, Old World babblers, cuckoo-shrikes, drongos, fantails, flowerpecker, helmetshrikes, hornbill, nuthatch, orioles, parrotbills, shrikes, sunbirds and woodswallows. Animals. Chickens were domesticated approximately 7,000 years ago and quickly spread to India and China. Isolated small outposts (sky islands) occur as far south as central Myanmar, northernmost Vietnam and the high mountains of Taiwan. Markhor. 5,000 Dogs, Other Animals Found Dead in Shipping Boxes—Pet Trade Likely to Blame. By Letter (A-to-Z) By Scientific Name; ... Found throughout Asia, India and China! Media in category "Animals of Western Asia" This category contains only the following file. Biodiversity in Sri Lanka and the Western Ghats. It includes the Malay Peninsula and the western Indonesian islands (Sumatra, Java, Borneo and others, known as Sundaland), the Philippines, the eastern Indonesian islands, and New Guinea. Discover Asian animals you've never heard of, and learn amazing facts about the ones you have! The Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and Himalaya are a major biogeographic boundary between the subtropical and tropical fauna of the Indian subcontinent and the temperate-climate Palearctic realm. Hist. This is the list of all animals of Asia (and spoken facts) kids will have to discover in the app. Horses like the Akhal Teke pictured here continue to hold great importance in Central Asian cultures. Asia's tropical forests accommodate one of the world's three principal primate communities, about 45 species including lorises, tarsiers, leaf-eating langurs, the orangutan of Borneo and Sumatra, and the gibbons. It is home to about 500 native mammal species. Asia shows a notable diversity of habitats, with significant variations in rainfall, altitude, topogra… Dr. Kallie Szczepanski is a history teacher specializing in Asian history and culture. Learn about all the amazing animals in Asia. Dogs are not only man's best friend; they are also one of our oldest friends in the animal world. Masked Palm Civet. African Animals Africa has many varied environments. The bird fauna is also very diverse, with some 1,300 species. Malesia is a province which straddles the boundary between the Indomalayan and Australasian realms. ), Xenosauridae (Shinisaurus), monitor lizards, skinks. The first goats were probably domesticated in the Zagros Mountains of Iran around 10,000 years ago. Water buffaloes were domesticated independently in two different countries—5,000 years ago in India, and 4,000 years ago in southern China. All the animals living in Asia and its surrounding seas and islands are considered the fauna of Asia. See also the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot. Thus, Asia north of the Himalayas, with parts of western Asia and most of East Asia, belongs to the Palearctic (Old World) subregion of the Holarctic zoogeographic region (roughly, the Northern Hemisphere north of the tropics). We use tame animals for meat, hide, milk, and wool, but also for companionship, for hunting, for riding, and even for pulling plows. The result is loss of biodiversity and loss of livelihoods. [7] An invasion of Indian Ocean species has begun via the Suez Canal (see Lessepsian migration). Gazelles, oryx, sand cats, and spiny-tailed lizards are some of the desert-desert-adapted species that survive in this extreme environment. ), colubrids (Achalinus, Amphiesma, Boiga, Calamaria, Cerberus, Coluber, Enhydris, Lycodon, Oligodon, Opisthotropis, Rhabdophis, Pareas, Psammophis, Ptyas, Sibynophis, Spalerosophis, Trachischium etc.) The rivers of China are home to the critically endangered finless porpoise and baiji. Another helpful feature of goats is their tough hide, which has long been used to make water and wine bottles for transporting liquids in desert regions. South Asia is especially rich in freshwater life, with 10% of the world's fishes (over 2000 species). Asian elephant. Animal markets appear like a variation of slave markets. Gondwanian elements were introduced from Africa and by India, which detached from Gondwana approximately 90 MYA, carrying its Gondwana-derived flora and fauna northward. New species and even families are often found there (e.g. The insects of New Guinea are however mainly of Asian origin.[6]. The Indomalayan has three endemic bird families, the fairy bluebirds (Irenidae), Megalaimidae and Philippine creepers (Rhabdornithidae). [10], C.B.Cox, P.D.Moore, Biogeography: An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach. 5. The Asia high mountains span the Altai, Tien Shan, Kunlun, Pamir, Hindu Kush, Karakorum, and Himalayas ranges. A surprising number of common domesticated animals actually originated in Asia. 100:394–410, Helgen, K.M., Groves, C.P. There are millions of known animal species in the world, and every year there are hundreds, if not thousands, more animal species being discovered. Eurasia and North America were many times connected by the Bering land bridge, and have very similar mammal and bird faunas, with many Eurasian species having moved into North America, and fewer North American species having moved into Eurasia (many zoologists consider the Palearctic and Nearctic to be a single Holarctic realm). These animals form matrilineal social groups where male members leave the group as they reach puberty. They grow up to 11 feet tall and can weigh up to 5 tons. Asian Elephant –Elephas maximus ... Plantanstidae, Pontoporiidae. Discover Indian animals you've never heard of, and learn amazing facts about the ones you have! Asia has a rich reptile fauna. They contain about 200 species of trees, 500 orchids, and many herbs and medicinal plants. Domestic cats are difficult to distinguish from their nearest wild relatives, and can still easily interbreed with such wild cousins as the African wildcat. Sumateran Tiger. Asian Animals Printouts of animals from Asia. The animal can be found in India and Nepal, particularly in the foothills of the Himalayas. Animals are bought for various reasons, e.g. This rare species can only be found in Southeast Asia, mainly in Borneo. Temperate Asia is the eastern part of the Palearctic realm (which in turn is part of the Holarctic), and its south-eastern part belongs to the Indomalayan realm (previously called the Oriental region). More than 5,000 pets found dead in cardboard boxes at Chinese depot after being stranded for a week. Cats likely began to hang around human settlements in the Middle East about 9,000 years ago, when agricultural communities started to store grain surpluses that attracted mice. Other animals commonly found in Southwest Asia include wolves and hyenas. Earless monitor lizards, snakes of the families Uropeltidae, Acrochordidae and Xenopeltidae and gavials are endemic to Asia. The langur eats leaves, flowers and fruit. Over 500 reptile and over 300 amphibian species are also present, including numerous endemics. Sumatran Tigers are one of the most vanishing species of wild animal and listed … [3] See also List of extinct animals of Asia. Mayfly. Other species have been successfully re-introduced, such as the endangered Arabian oryx and the sand gazelle. Though it is not aggressive, this nocturnal species, found in India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, is often a big problem for native people as it comes near human settlements, and is easily stepped on. Descended from Asian carp, which were raised in ponds as food fish, koi were selectively bred from carp with colorful mutations. Across Asia wildlife populations and habitats are being decimated by poorly controlled industrial and agricultural exploitation, by infrastructure development (construction of dams, roads and tourist facilities), and by illegal activities such as poaching and timber theft. The deep-water fauna of the Mediterranean has no distinctive characteristics and is relatively poor. For a complete list, see List of Asian birds. There are two types of domestic camels in Asia—the Bactrian camel, a shaggy beast with two humps native to the deserts of western China and Mongolia, and the one-humped dromedary that is usually associated with the Arabian Peninsula and India. Both are a result of events after the Messinian salinity crisis. The Western Ghats and Sri Lanka are important biodiversity hotspots.[5]. The Mediterranean basin's mosaic of Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub are home to 13,000 endemic species. Camels seem to have been domesticated fairly recently—only about 3,500 years ago at the earliest. Wild boars were brought onto the farm and tamed around 11,000 to 13,000 years ago in the area that is now Turkey and Iran, as well as southern China. Trends in Ecology& Evolution, Vol.19, Issue 12, 2004, Hughes, A. The Indochina bioregion China and Japan are more humid and temperate than adjacent Siberia and Central Asia, and are home to rich temperate coniferous, broadleaf, and mixed forests, which are now mostly limited to mountainous areas, as the densely populated lowlands and river basins have been converted to intensive agricultural and urban use. 10.1002/ecs2.1624, Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub, tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, Fauna & Flora International in the Asia-Pacific region, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fauna_of_Asia&oldid=991314042, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 29 November 2020, at 12:07. 0 0 Distribution and Habitat There are 42 species of dolphins found around the world. Prehistoric human hunters likely adopted wolf pups; the friendliest and most docile were kept as hunting companions and guard dogs, and gradually developed into domestic dogs. East Asia was not much affected by glaciation in the ice ages. India’s southwestern coast and the coastal areas and islands of Southeast Asia experience heavy rain throughout the year. In southern Asia the boundary of the Palearctic is largely altitudinal. See also List of reptiles of South Asia. Domestic cows are used for milk, meat, leather, blood, and also for their dung, which is used as fertilizer for crops. One bird family, the accentors (Prunellidae) is endemic to the Palaearctic region. In the morning, instead of finding a pile of ruined waste, Lindt found that the chocolate smelt wonderful and melted in the mouth, releasing rich flavours. Animals include tigers, leopards, clouded leopards, elephants, buffaloes, porcupines, mongooses, civets, gibbons, macaques and monkeys. The orangutan is the largest animal that lives in the trees. Early sheep were used for meat, milk, and leather; wooly sheep only appeared around 8,000 years ago in Persia (Iran). Animals. Bird species diversity along the Himalaya: a comparison of Himachal Pradesh with Kashmir J. Bombay Nat. Sodhi et al., Southeast Asian biodiversity: an impending disaster. 2005, R.J.Whittaker, J.M.Fernández-Palacios, Island Biogeography. When it comes to the seven continents - North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica - it has been observed that each of them have varying levels of diversity. Water buffalo are used across southern and southeastern Asia for meat, hide, dung, and horn, but also for pulling plows and carts. There are 2,500 known species worldwide! Southeast Asia's animal markets are notorious. The first sheep likely were tamed from wild mouflon in Mesopotamia, today's Iraq, some 11,000 to 13,000 years ago. The Holarctic has four other endemic bird families: the divers or loons (Gaviidae), grouse (Tetraoninae), auks (Alcidae), and waxwings (Bombycillidae). As with dogs, the domestication of pigs seems to have happened more than once and in different places, and again two of those places were the Middle East or the Near East, and China. Pigs are smart, adaptable creatures that breed easily in captivity and can convert household scraps, acorns, and other refuse into bacon. It’s rare to see an … https://www.planetdeadly.com/animals/dangerous-animals-asia They were used for milk and meat, as well as for dung which could be burned as fuel. The Caucasus mountains, which run between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, are a particularly rich mix of coniferous, broadleaf, and mixed forests, and include the temperate rain forests of the Euxine-Colchic deciduous forests ecoregion. The Indo-Pacific is a rich biogeographic region including most part of the Asian seas, comprising the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia (it does not include the temperate and polar regions of the Indian and Pacific oceans, and the Tropical Eastern Pacific, along the Pacific coast of the Americas, is also a distinct marine realm). Animals Asia Foundation, Limited Employer Identification Number: EIN31-1802788 Animals Asia Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax deductible to the extent permitted by the law. https://themysteriousworld.com/10-amazing-animals-found-only-in-africa Location(s): Indonesian Sumatra, Laos, Peninsular Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand Possibly extinct in China. It is found in southern Asia, China, western Indonesia, parts of India, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. https://www.thoughtco.com/domestic-animals-that-originated-in-asia-195149 These mountains harbor an amazing diversity of life. The Hindu Kush, Karakoram, Himalaya, and Patkai ranges bound the bioregion on the northwest, north, and northeast; these ranges were formed by the collision of the northward-drifting Indian subcontinent with Asia beginning 45 million years ago. DNA evidence suggests that dogs were domesticated as much as 35,000 years ago, with domestication taking place separately in both China and Israel. The lizards include geckos (Agamura, Alsophylax, Asaccus, Calodactylodes, Cyrtodactylus, Chondrodactylus, Cnemaspis, Cyrtopodion, Dixonius, Gehyra, Gekko, Gonydactylus, Hemidactylus, Hemiphyllodactylus, Lepidodactylus, Luperosaurus, Perochirus, Pristurus, Teratolepis, etc. A rare species of antelope known as the oryx is found on the fringes of the desert areas of the Arabian Peninsula. Kraits are found only in Asia, they eat not only small lizards but also snakes, including other kraits. They are found across Europe, Asia and Africa! Humans have domesticated dozens of different kinds of animals. Some characteristic mammals are Siberian roe deer, gray wolf, moose and wolverine. Central Asia and the Iranian plateau are home to dry steppe grasslands and desert basins, with montane forests, woodlands, and grasslands in the region's high mountains and plateaux. All the animals living in Asia and its surrounding seas and islands are considered the fauna of Asia. Other endemic Asian or mainly Asian families include Acrocephalidae, Aegithalidae, Certhiidae, Cettiidae, Chloropseidae, Dromadidae, Eupetidae, Eurylaimidae, Hemiprocnidae, Hypocoliidae, Ibidorhynchidae, Muscicapidae, Phasianidae, Pityriaseidae, Podargidae, Tichodromadidae and Turdidae. The boreal and temperate European-Siberian region is the Palearctic's largest region, which transitions from tundra in the northern reaches of Russia and Scandinavia to the vast taiga, the boreal coniferous forests which run across the continent. Map of Asia Global Holocene extinctions Mammalia. There are also about 100 species of turtles and tortoises (Russian tortoise, keeled box turtle, Batagur, Aspideretes, Chinemys, Chitra, Cistoclemmys, Cuora, Geochelone, Heosemys, Indotestudo, Mauremys, Pangshura, Pelochelys, Rafetus, Sacalia etc.). Asia blends elements from the both ancient supercontinents of Laurasia and Gondwana. From dog-sized deer to the 'Asian unicorn', a report by WWF has revealed that 13 ungulate species (animals with hooves) found in the Greater Mekong region are close to extinction The Asian ungulates include bharal, gaur, blackbuck, the wild yak and the Tibetan antelope, four-horned antelope, ox-sheep (Ovibovini), takin, kting voar, several species of muntjac, Bubalus and others. Many animals in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus originated, have died or are at risk of dying after residents evacuated their homes in the wake of the city's lockdown. In fact, some scientists call cats only semi-domesticated; until about 150 years ago, humans generally did not intervene in cat breeding to produce specific types of cats. Early ancestors of horses crossed the land bridge from North America to Eurasia. Asia also contains several important freshwater ecoregions as well, including Rivers of Russia, which flow into the Arctic, Black, and Caspian seas, Siberia's Lake Baikal, the oldest and deepest lake on the planet (home to numerous endemic sponges, oligochaetes, and crustaceans and the Baikal seal), Khanka Lake, and Japan's Lake Biwa, Lake Dongting, Lake Tai and Lake Poyang in China. The wild ancestors of domestic chickens are red and green junglefowl from the forests of Southeast Asia. Conservation International has designated the Mediterranean basin as one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. The more common of the numerous snakes are pipe snakes (Melanophidium, Plectrurus, Rhinophis, Uropeltis), sea snakes, Elapids (king cobra, Bungarus, Calliophis, Naja, Walterinnesia), vipers (Azemiops, Daboia, Dendrelaphis, Echis, Hypnale, Protobothrops, Trimeresurus, Ovophis, Pseudocerastes, Gloydius etc. The Eastern Himalayas alone contain some 10,000 species of plant, 900 species of bird, and 300 species of mammal—many of which are found nowhere else on the planet. The lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea in southwestern Asia are home to the Mediterranean basin ecoregions, which together constitute world's largest and most diverse mediterranean climate region of the world, with generally mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. [8] Southeast Asia has the highest relative rate of deforestation of any major tropical region, and could lose three quarters of its original forests by 2100 and up to 42% of its biodiversity. In the subtropical southern parts of China and Japan, the Palearctic temperate forests transition to the subtropical and tropical forests of Indomalaya, creating a rich and diverse mix of plant and animal species. Koi were first developed in China about 1,000 years ago, and the practice of breeding carp for color spread to Japan only in the nineteenth century. There are strong affinities and relationships between Mediterranean and Atlantic faunas. There are also several Asian lakes with saline or brackish water, and with peculiar fauna (Caspian Sea, Lake Balkhash, Aral Sea, Issyk Kul, Qinghai Lake). Some species have a poisonous bite! It is a critically endangered species that is threatened with poaching and habitat loss. While the Malesia has much in common botanically, the portions east and west of the Wallace Line differ greatly in land animal species; Sundaland shares its fauna with mainland Asia, while the islands east of the Wallace line either lack land mammals, or are home to a land fauna derived from Australia, which includes marsupial mammals and ratite birds. Many species, such as the striped hyena, jackal and honey badger have become extinct in this area due to hunting, human encroachment and habitat destruction. Sheep were among the earliest animals to be domesticated by humans. Science, vol 308, 8.apr. A great belt of deserts, including the Arabian desert, separates the Palearctic, Afrotropic and true Asian ecoregions. Only around 200 animals survived, animal activists say ... News World Asia. Glaciation during the most recent ice age and the immigration of man affected the distribution of Asian fauna (see also Sahara pump theory). China’s spectacular economic growth, in particular, is straining the supply of natural resources throughout the region. Oxford University Press, 2007, C.C.Emig, P.Geistdoerfer, The Mediterranean deep-sea fauna: historical evolution, bathymetric variations and geographical changes, Carnets de Géologie / Notebooks on Geology, 2004, N.S. They were a key form of cargo transport on the Silk Road and other trade routes in Asia. includes most of mainland Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia, as well as the subtropical forests of southern China. Asia shows a notable diversity of habitats, with significant variations in rainfall, altitude, topography, temperature and geological history, which is reflected in its richness of animal life. ... langurs are often found in towns. and blind snakes. Found throughout Asia, India and China! Soc. The crocodiles include mugger crocodile, gharial, false gharial and saltwater crocodile. Mayfly. Docile domestic cattle are descended from fierce ancestors—the long-horned and aggressive aurochs, now extinct, of the Middle East. The list of extinct animals of Asia features the animals that have become extinct along the history in the Asian Continent. It's Rare To See An Okapi And Their Unusual Markings Provide Great Camouflage. Temperate Asia is the eastern part of the Palearctic realm (which in turn is part of the Holarctic), and its south-eastern part belongs to the Indomalayan realm(previously called the Oriental region). Learn about all the amazing animals in India. The orangutan lives on the island of Borneo.