Fauna 722672 221878209 2008-06-26T14:18:50Z KhanBot 6891585 robot Adding: [[is:Fána]] {{otheruses2|fauna}} [[Image:Fauna.png|frame|right|Simplified schematic of an island's fauna - all its animal species, highlighted in boxes.]] '''Fauna''' is all of the [[animal]] life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is '''''[[flora]]'''''. [[Zoology|Zoologists]] and [[paleontology|paleontologists]] use ''fauna'' to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "[[Sonoran Desert]] fauna" or the "[[Burgess shale]] fauna". Paleontologists sometimes refer to a sequence of [[faunal stage]]s, which is a series of rocks all containing similar fossils. The name comes from [[Fauna (goddess)|Fauna]], a Roman fertility and earth goddess, the Roman god [[Faunus]], and the related forest spirits called [[Faun]]s. All three words are cognates of the name of the Greek god [[Pan (mythology)|Pan]], and ''panis'' is the [[Greek language|Greek]] equivalent of fauna. ''Fauna'' is also the word for a book that catalogues the animals in such a manner. The term was first used by [[Carolus Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] in the title of his 1747 work ''Fauna Suecica''. ==Subdivisions of fauna== ===Epifauna=== ''Epifauna'' are animals that live upon the surface of [[sediment]]s or [[soil]]s. ===Infauna=== ''Infauna'' are aquatic animals that live within the bottom substratum rather than on its surface. Bacteria and microalgae may also live in the interstices of bottom sediments. On average, infaunal animals become progressively rarer with increasing water depth and distance from shore, whereas bacteria show more constancy in abundance, tending toward one billion cells per milliliter of interstitial seawater. (Infauna are benthos that live buried in underwater mud.) ===Macrofauna=== ''Macrofauna'' are [[benthic]] or soil organisms which are at least one millimeter in length. ===Megafauna=== {{Main article|Megafauna}} ''Megafauna'' are large animals of any particular region or time. For example, [[Australian megafauna]]. ===Meiofauna=== ''Meiofauna'' are small [[benthic]] [[invertebrate]]s that live in both marine and fresh water [[Ecosystem|environments]]. The term ''Meiofauna'' loosely defines a group of [[organism]]s by their size, larger than microfauna but smaller than macrofauna, rather than a taxonomic grouping. In practice these are organisms that can pass through a 1 mm [[mesh]] but will be retained by a 45 μm mesh, but the exact dimensions will vary from researcher to researcher. Whether an organism will pass through a 1 mm mesh will also depend upon whether it is alive or dead at the time of sorting. ===Mesofauna=== ''Mesofauna'' are macroscopic soil invertebrates such as [[arthropod]]s, [[earthworm]]s, and [[nematode]]s. ===Microfauna===<!-- This section is linked from [[Microfauna]] --> {{Main article|Microfauna}} ''Microfauna'' are microscopic or very small animals (usually including [[protozoa]]ns and very small animals such as [[rotifer]]s). ===Other=== Other terms include ''avifauna'', which means "[[bird]] fauna" and ''piscifauna'' (or ''ichthyofauna''), which means "[[fish]] fauna". == Fauna treatises == === Classic faunas === *[[Carolus Linnaeus|Linnaeus, Carolus]]. ''Fauna Suecica''. [[1746]] == See also == {{Wiktionary|fauna}} * [[Animal]] * [[Biome]] * [[Flora]] * [[Fauna and Flora Preservation Society]] * [[Gene pool]] * [[Genetic pollution]] * [[Genetic erosion]] {{Nature nav}} {{Africa topic|Fauna of}} {{Asia topic|Fauna of}} {{Europe topic|Fauna of}} {{Oceania topic|Fauna of}} {{North America topic|Fauna of}} {{South America topic|Fauna of}} [[Category:Animals]] [[Category:Ecological definitions]] [[bs:Fauna]] [[br:Fauna]] [[ca:Fauna]] [[cs:Fauna]] [[da:Fauna]] [[de:Fauna]] [[et:Loomastik]] [[el:Πανίδα]] [[es:Fauna]] [[eo:Bestaro]] [[fr:Faune (biologie)]] [[hr:Fauna (životinje)]] [[id:Fauna]] [[is:Fána]] [[it:Fauna]] [[he:פאונה]] [[lb:Déierewelt]] [[ms:Fauna]] [[nl:Fauna (dierenleven)]] [[ja:動物相]] [[no:Fauna]] [[oc:Fauna (biologia)]] [[pl:Fauna]] [[pt:Fauna]] [[ro:Faună]] [[simple:Animalia]] [[sk:Fauna]] [[sv:Fauna]] [[tr:Fauna]] [[zh:動物相]]