Afrotropical realm

High school (ages 12+)
Geography

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/afrotropical-realm

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What kinds of animals live in the Afrotropical Realm?The realm is home to lions, elephants, colorful birds, lemurs, giraffes, antelopes, and many unique insects and plants.
2. Why is Madagascar so special in the Afrotropical Realm?Madagascar separated from Africa about 88 million years ago, and about 90% of its wildlife, like lemurs, is found nowhere else on Earth.

Biogeographic Realm: A large-scale geographical unit defined by its distinct evolutionary history and assemblage of flora and fauna.
Adaptive Radiation: The diversification of a single ancestral lineage into multiple species that occupy different ecological niches.
Keystone Species: A species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment relative to its abundance.