Neotropical realm facts for kids

The Neotropical realm

The Neotropical realm and its subdivisions

The Neotropical realm is one of Earth's eight main land areas defined by its unique plants and animals. It covers the tropical parts of the Americas. This includes all of South America and much of Central America. It also includes the Caribbean islands and some southern parts of North America.

What is the Neotropical Realm?

In biogeography, which is the study of where living things are found, the Neotropical realm is one of eight major land areas. This realm includes all of South America, Central America, and the Caribbean islands. It also covers parts of southern North America. For example, in Mexico, the Yucatán Peninsula and southern lowlands are part of it. Even southern Florida in the United States is considered Neotropical.

The Neotropical realm is special because its animals and plants are very different from those in the Nearctic realm (which covers most of North America). This is because the two continents were separated for a very long time. About two to three million years ago, the Isthmus of Panama formed. This land bridge connected North and South America. It led to a big event called the Great American Interchange. During this time, animals moved between the two continents.

The Neotropical realm has more tropical rainforests than any other region. These forests stretch from southern Mexico, through Central America, and into northern South America. They include the huge Amazon rainforest. These rainforests are incredibly important because they hold a massive amount of biodiversity. This means they are home to many different kinds of plants and animals.

These rainforests are also home to many indigenous peoples. These groups have their own cultures and ways of life. They often live by living off the land. Sadly, their traditional lands are shrinking. This is due to cities growing, new roads, farming, and logging. Even so, many different human cultures and languages still survive here. Protecting this realm is a big deal. It involves balancing new development with the rights of local people and the need to save nature.

Major Natural Regions

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) divides the Neotropical realm into smaller bioregions. These are like big neighborhoods of nature. Each bioregion has similar plants and animals, even if it includes different types of habitats.

Some important forest types found here include Laurel forests and cloud forests. These are found in places with lots of humidity and steady, mild temperatures. Tropical rainforests are very common in places like Amazonia, the Caribbean, Central America, and the Andes mountains.

Amazonia

The Amazonia bioregion is mostly covered by huge tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. This includes the giant Amazon rainforest. It stretches from the Andes mountains all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. This region also has tropical savannas and tropical dry forests.

Caribbean

The Caribbean bioregion includes all the islands in the Caribbean Sea. These islands have unique plants and animals.

Central America

The Central America bioregion connects North and South America. It is a narrow land bridge with many different habitats.

Central Andes

The Central Andes mountains are found in southern Ecuador, Peru, western Bolivia, and parts of Chile and Argentina. This region has high mountains and unique ecosystems.

Eastern South America

Eastern South America has many different landscapes. It includes the dry Caatinga shrublands in northeastern Brazil. It also has the wide Cerrado grasslands and savannas of the Brazilian Plateau. The Pantanal and Chaco grasslands are also here. The diverse Atlantic forests along Brazil's coast are special. They are separated from the Amazon forests and have their own unique plants and animals.

Northern Andes

The Northern Andes mountains are found in Ecuador and Colombia. This region has tall mountains and coastal areas.

Orinoco

The Orinoco region is mostly made up of humid forests and wetlands. It includes the area around the Orinoco River. This region covers most of Venezuela and parts of Colombia. It also includes Trinidad and Tobago.

Southern South America

The southern part of South America has temperate rain forests. These include the Valdivian temperate rain forests and Magellanic subpolar forests. These forests are a home for ancient plants that are also found in Antarctica. Examples include the southern beech (Nothofagus) and Araucaria pines like the monkey-puzzle tree. Sadly, these beautiful forests are in danger from logging. They are often replaced by fast-growing non-native trees.

History of the Realm

South America was once part of a huge supercontinent called Gondwana. This supercontinent also included Africa, Australia, India, New Zealand, and Antarctica. Because of this, the Neotropical realm shares many types of plants and animals with these other continents. This includes marsupial mammals and the Antarctic flora.

About 110 million years ago, Gondwana broke apart. South America separated from Africa and slowly moved north and west. Around 66 million years ago, a big event called the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event happened. This changed the plants and animals living there.

Much later, about two to three million years ago, South America connected with North America. This happened when the Isthmus of Panama formed. This connection allowed animals to move between the two continents. This event is known as the Great American Interchange. For example, ancestors of the Virginia opossum and the armadillo moved into North America. Animals like the ancestors of South America's camelids, such as the llama, moved south. Over time, many South American species died out because they couldn't compete with the new species from the north.

Unique Animals

The Neotropical realm is home to many animals found nowhere else.

There are 31 bird families that live only in the Neotropical realm. This is more than double any other realm! Some examples include tanagers, rheas, tinamous, curassows, antbirds, ovenbirds, toucans, and seriemas. Hummingbirds and wrens also first appeared in the Neotropics.

Mammal groups that originally lived only in the Neotropics include:

• Xenarthras: These are anteaters, sloths, and armadillos.
• New World monkeys.
• Solenodontidae, which are solenodons.
• Caviomorpha rodents: This group includes capybaras, guinea pigs, hutias, and chinchillas.
• American opossums (order Didelphimorphia) and shrew opossums (order Paucituberculata).

The Neotropical realm also has more unique fish families and subfamilies than any other realm. There are over 5,700 species of Neotropical fishes. The famous red-bellied piranha lives only in this realm. Some fish groups unique to the Neotropics include:

• Order Gymnotiformes: These are Neotropical electric fishes.
• Family Characidae: This includes tetras and their relatives.
• Family Loricariidae: These are armored catfishes.
• Subfamily Cichlinae: These are Neotropical cichlids.
• Subfamily Poeciliinae: This includes guppies and their relatives.

Other animal groups found mostly or only in the Neotropical region include:

• Caimans
• New World coral snakes
• Poison dart frogs
• Dactyloidae ("anoles")
• Rock iguanas (Cyclura)
• Many types of colorful butterflies like Agrias, Caligo, Morpho, and Heliconiini butterflies.
• Euglossini bees (often called orchid bees)
• Augochlorini bees
• Pseudostigmatidae ("giant damselflies")

Unique Plants

Many plant families are found only or mostly in the Neotropical realm. Some plant families that first appeared here include Bromeliaceae (like pineapples), Cannaceae (like canna lilies), and Heliconiaceae (like heliconias).

Many important food plants that we eat today first came from the Neotropics. These include:

• Potato (Solanum tuberosum)
• Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)
• Cacao tree (Theobroma cacao), which gives us cocoa and chocolate
• Maize (Zea mays), also known as corn
• Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis)
• Guava (Psidium guajava)
• Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus)
• Cotton (Gossypium barbadense)
• Cassava (Manihot esculenta)
• Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas)
• Amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus)
• Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa)

Neotropical Terrestrial Ecoregions