Central America is a subregion of the Americas. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Central America usually consists of seven countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Within Central America is the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot, which extends from northern Guatemala to central Panama. Due to the presence of several active geologic faults and the Central America Volcanic Arc, there is a high amount of seismic activity in the region, such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, which has resulted in death, injury, and property damage.
Chusquea is a genus of evergreen bamboos in the grass family. Most of them are native to mountain habitats in Latin America, from Mexico to southern Chile and Argentina.
The cacomistle, also spelled cacomixtle, is a nocturnal, arboreal and omnivorous member of the carnivoran family Procyonidae. Its preferred habitats are wet, tropical, evergreen woodlands and mountain forests, though seasonally it will venture into drier deciduous forests.
The wildlife of Costa Rica comprises all naturally occurring animals, fungi and plants that reside in this Central American country. Costa Rica supports an enormous variety of wildlife, due in large part to its geographic position between North and South America, its neotropical climate, and its wide variety of habitats. Costa Rica is home to more than 500,000 species, which represent nearly 5% of the species estimated worldwide, making Costa Rica one of the 20 countries with the highest biodiversity in the world. Of these 500,000 species, a little more than 300,000 are insects.
Bangs's mountain squirrel is a poorly known species of tree squirrel, that only lives in Costa Rica and Panama. It can be found in mountain rain forests at an altitude between 1,900 and 2,600 metres, and lives mainly in the tree tops, but sometimes on the forest floor as well. One of its habitats is at the summit of the Poás Volcano in Costa Rica, in a Clusia forest that is almost inaccessible to humans.
The Honduran white bat, also called the Caribbean white tent-making bat, is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomatidae. It is the only member of the genus Ectophylla. The genus and the species were both scientifically described for the first time in 1892. It has distinctive, entirely white fur, which is only found in six of the roughly 1,300 known species of bat. It constructs "tents" out of understory plant leaves by strategically cutting the leaf ribs with its teeth; it roosts in these tents during the day. It is a specialist frugivore, consuming almost exclusively the fruits of one species of fig. Females can likely become pregnant twice per year, giving birth to one offspring at a time.
The peg-billed finch is a passerine bird endemic to the highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama. Despite its name, it is not a true finch, but now recognized as a member of the tanager family (Thraupidae), after being long placed in the Emberizidae. It is the only member of the genus Acanthidops. The scientific name commemorates the American ornithologist Spencer Fullerton Baird.
The dark long-tongued bat is a species of bat from South and Central America. It was formerly considered the only species within the genus Lichonycteris, but is now recognized as one of two species in that genus, along with the pale brown long-nosed bat. It is small species of bat, with adults weighing 6–11 g (0.21–0.39 oz) and having a total length of 46–63 mm (1.8–2.5 in).
Desmoncus is a genus of mostly climbing, spiny palms native to the Neotropics. The genus extends from Mexico in the north to Brazil and Bolivia in the south, with two species present in the southeastern Caribbean.
The bobo mullet, is a species of ray-finned fish of the mullet family Mugilidae. It is the only species in the genus Joturus, one of 17 mullet genera containing altogether about 80 species of ray-finned fish. It occurs in rivers, including brackish waters, in much of the Gulf of Mexico basin from Mexico as far south as Panama and the Caribbean coast of Colombia, as well as the West Indies and the United States state of Florida. The specific name honours the Cuban lexicographer and geographer Esteban Pichardo (1799-1879).
The tawny-faced quail is a species of bird in the family Odontophoridae, the New World quail. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.
Cryosophila is a genus of medium-sized fan palms that range from central Mexico to northern Colombia. Species in the genus can be readily distinguished from related genera by their distinctive downward-pointing spines on the stem, which are actually modified roots. They are known as the "root spine palms".
The grey-headed tanager is a widely distributed species of small Neotropical bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is the only member of the genus Eucometis.
The velvety fruit-eating bat, also known as Hart's little fruit bat, is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is the only species within the genus Enchisthenes. It is found in Central America, Mexico, the United States, and northern South America.
The Talamancan yellow-shouldered bat is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is found only in Costa Rica and Panama, and there are no subspecies.
Thaumatoneura inopinata is a species of damselfly, sometimes called the cascade damselfly or giant waterfall damsel, and the only member of the genus Thaumatoneura. It is unusual in flying among the falling water and spray from waterfalls in moist tropical or subtropical forests in Costa Rica.
Pelliciera rhizophorae, known as the tea mangrove, is a less-common species of mangroves found along the Pacific coast from the Gulf of Nicoya in Costa Rica to the Esmeraldas River in Ecuador, as well as within stands located in Nicaragua, Panama, and Colombia. During eras such as the Cenozoic, the species was prevalent. The mangrove hummingbirds of Costa Rica live off the relatively large quantity of nectar produced by its prolific blooms. Pelliciera rhizophorae is the only species in the genus Pelliciera which was previously recognized as the only genus in the family Pellicieraceae, but is now included in the family Tetrameristaceae.
Burton's yellow-shouldered bat is a species of leaf-nosed bat found in Panama and Costa Rica.
Mongeperipatus is a genus of velvet worms in the family Peripatidae from Costa Rica. The species in this genus are notable for their large size and for the degree of sexual dimorphism that they exhibit in the number of legs: females have 37 to 41 pairs, several more than the males, which have only 32 to 34 pairs. This genus is viviparous, with mothers supplying nourishment to their embryos through a placenta.
Mongeperipatus kekoldi is a large species of velvet worm in the Peripatidae family. Males of this species have 32 or 33 pairs of legs and females have 37 to 39, but these numbers are based on only a few specimens. The large known specimen, an adult female, was 18 cm (7.1 in) long. This species is endemic to Costa Rica where it lives near streams in forests and semi-altered habitats.
