Fauna extinction in India:
- Among mammals, the following are considered extinct in India:
- Cheetah (Acionyx jubatus),
- Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensisi),
- Pink-headed duck (Rhodonessa caryophyllaceai) and
- Himalayan quail (Ophrysia supercililios).
- The four animals can be found in other parts of the world.
- Factors like “competition, predation, natural selection, and human induced factors like hunting, habitat degradation” are some of the important reasons that have led to these extinctions.
- India has about 6.49% of all the fauna species in the world.
Flora extinction in India:
- 18 species of plants — 4 non-flowering and 14 flowering — have gone extinct.
- The notable among them are Lastreopsis wattii , a fern in Manipur discovered by George Watt in 1882 and three species from the genus Ophiorrhiza (Ophiorrhiza brunonis , Ophiorrhiza caudate and Ophiorrhiza radican ), all discovered from peninsular India.
- Corypha taliera Roxb, a palm species discovered in Myanmar and the Bengal region by William Roxburgh is also extinct.
- India is home to 11.5% of all flora in the world.
