The study says rain is the most important factor in explaining animal diversity

Places with more rainfall tend to have a greater diversity of mammal, amphibian, and amphibian species the birds. Among tetrapods—a group of vertebrates that excludes fish—the caveat to this standard is reptiles. Like amphibians, these animals depend on high temperatures to survive.

The results are taken from research coordinated by a researcher from a university Tel Aviv In which many scientists from different parts of the world participated, including the University of São Paulo (University of the South Pacific). The results were published in the journal Zoological Society of London In December 2023.

According to the study, one of the regions with the greatest amount of biodiversity is the Amazon Basin – in the region Andes – and northeastern rainforests. Other sites that are also worth highlighting are south americaThe African Great Lakes and much of the southeast Asia.

In the case of the Andes, the wealth of fauna was provided by differences in altitude, forcing them to acquire different characteristics for survival as well as biodiversity.

The rugged terrain added to the sheer diversity of the forest Amazon It provided a unique environment of species richness, explained one of the study's authors and professor at the Institute of Biological Sciences at the University of the South Pacific, Marcio Martins. “In Brazil, the highest diversity of amphibians is found in the Serra do Divisor, in Acre, which is 200 kilometers from the Andes,” explains Martins.

But the same diversity is not found at altitudes above 4,000 meters in the Andes, because the cold makes it difficult for the animals to survive.

The difference is in width and variety

Many hypotheses consider it to be the main factor for… Biodiversity Between tetrapods is the distance of area relative to the equator. In this case, the closer to the region of the planet, the greater the number of different species.

However, according to the article, the areas closest to the equator correspond to those with the highest temperatures and precipitation, which means there is more biodiversity. The researchers believe that even at latitudes the same distance from the equator, the diversity of tetrapods is greater in the Southern Hemisphere.

The southern part of the globe has higher temperatures at southern latitudes, resulting in a larger ocean area than that in the north. Moreover, the arid areas are more extensive in the north.

Read the full study in the magazine Zoological Society of London.