Europe Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Fauna=== {{main|Fauna of Europe}} [[File:Europe biogeography countries.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|[[Biogeography|Biogeographic regions]] of Europe and bordering regions]] Glaciation during the [[Quaternary glaciation|most recent ice age]] and the presence of humans affected the distribution of [[Fauna of Europe|European fauna]]. As for the animals, in many parts of Europe most large animals and top [[predator]] species have been hunted to extinction. The [[woolly mammoth]] was extinct before the end of the [[Neolithic]] period. Today [[wolf|wolves]] ([[carnivore]]s) and [[bear]]s ([[omnivore]]s) are endangered. Once they were found in most parts of Europe. However, deforestation and hunting caused these animals to withdraw further and further. By the Middle Ages the bears' habitats were limited to more or less inaccessible mountains with sufficient forest cover. Today, the [[European brown bear|brown bear]] lives primarily in the [[Balkan|Balkan peninsula]], Scandinavia and Russia; a small number also persist in other countries across Europe (Austria, Pyrenees etc.), but in these areas brown bear populations are fragmented and marginalised because of the destruction of their habitat. In addition, [[polar bear]]s may be found on [[Svalbard]], a Norwegian archipelago far north of Scandinavia. The [[Eurasian wolf|wolf]], the second-largest predator in Europe after the brown bear, can be found primarily in [[Central and Eastern Europe]] and in the Balkans, with a handful of packs in pockets of [[Western Europe]] (Scandinavia, Spain, etc.). [[File:Neandertal - Wisent.jpg|thumb|right|Once roaming the great temperate forests of Eurasia, [[European bison]] now live in nature preserves in [[Białowieża Forest]], on the border between [[Poland]] and [[Belarus]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ultimateungulate.com/artiodactyla/bison_bonasus.html|title=European bison, Wisent|access-date=19 January 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226095419/http://www.ultimateungulate.com/artiodactyla/bison_bonasus.html|archive-date=26 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8182000/8182104.stm | work=BBC News | first=Matt | last=Walker | title=European bison on 'genetic brink' | date=4 August 2009 | access-date=30 July 2022 | archive-date=6 July 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706045354/http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8182000/8182104.stm | url-status=live }}</ref>]] Other carnivores include the [[European wildcat]], [[red fox]] and [[arctic fox]], the [[golden jackal]], different species of [[marten]]s, the [[European hedgehog]], different species of reptiles (like snakes such as vipers and grass snakes) and amphibians, as well as different birds ([[owl]]s, [[hawk]]s and other birds of prey). Important European herbivores are snails, larvae, fish, different birds and mammals, like rodents, deer and roe deer, boars and living in the mountains, marmots, steinbocks, chamois among others. A number of insects, such as the [[small tortoiseshell]] butterfly, add to the biodiversity.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Bryant | first1 = S. | last2 = Thomas | first2 = C. | last3 = Bale | first3 = J. | year = 1997 | title = Nettle-feeding nymphalid butterflies: temperature, development and distribution | journal = Ecological Entomology | volume = 22 | issue = 4| pages = 390–398 | doi = 10.1046/j.1365-2311.1997.00082.x | bibcode = 1997EcoEn..22..390B | s2cid = 84143178 }}</ref> Sea creatures are also an important part of European flora and fauna. The sea flora is mainly [[phytoplankton]]. Important animals that live in European seas are [[zooplankton]], [[mollusc]]s, [[echinoderm]]s, different [[crustacean]]s, [[squid]]s and [[octopuses]], fish, [[dolphin]]s and [[whales]]. Biodiversity is protected in Europe through the Council of Europe's [[Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats|Bern Convention]], which has also been signed by the [[European Community]] as well as non-European states. {{anchor|Political geography}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page