User:Morxenus
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Plants Of the estimated 10,000 species of plants in the Himalaya hotspot, about 3,160 are endemic, as are 71 genera. The largest family of flowering plants in the hotspot is the Orchidacea, with 750 species, and a large number of orchids, many representing rather young endemic species, have recently been reported from the hotspot, indicating that further exploration will probably reveal a much higher degree of plant endemism. The Eastern Himalaya is also a center of diversity for several widely distributed plant taxa. In the Himalaya Hotspot, a zone of permanent rock and ice begins at about 5,500-6,000 meters; in spite of these harsh conditions, there are records of vascular plants occurring at some of the highest elevations on Earth. Cushion plants have been recorded at more than 6,100 meters, while a high-altitude scree plant in the mustard family, Ermania himalayensis, was found at 6,300 meters on the slopes of Mt. Kamet in the northwestern Himalayas.
Mammals
About 300 mammal species have been recorded in the Himalayas, including a dozen that are endemic to the hotspot. Among the endemic species are the golden langur, restricted to a small area in the Eastern Himalaya. The only endemic genus in the hotspot is the Namadapha flying squirrel, described only from a single specimen from Namdapha National Park.
The alluvial grasslands support some of the highest densities of tigers in the world, while the Brahmaputra and Ganges rivers that flow along the foothills also support globally important populations of the freshwater Gangetic dolphin. Some of the world’s last remaining populations of wild water buffalo and swamp deer (Cervus duvaucelii, VU) are restricted to protected areas in southern Nepal and northeastern India. Reptiles Alhough there has been little systematic study of reptiles and amphibians in the Himalaya hotspot, at least 175 reptiles have been documented, of which nearly 50 are endemic. There is just one endemic genus, represented by a single species, the lizard, known only from the holotype. Other genera are well represented, and have many endemic species.
