Sky islands are isolated mountains surrounded by radically different lowland environments. The term originally referred to those found on the Mexican Plateau, and has extended to similarly isolated high-elevation forests. The isolation has significant implications for these natural habitats. The American Southwest region began warming up between c. 20,000 and 10,000 years BP and atmospheric temperatures increased substantially, resulting in the formation of vast deserts that isolated the sky islands. Endemism, altitudinal migration, and relict populations are some of the natural phenomena to be found on sky islands.
The Chiricahua Mountains massif is a large mountain range in southeastern Arizona which is part of the Basin and Range province of the west and southwestern United States and northwest Mexico; the range is part of the Coronado National Forest. The highest point, Chiricahua Peak, rises 9,759 feet (2,975 m) above sea level, approximately 6,000 feet (1,800 m) above the surrounding valleys. The range takes its name from the Chiricahua Apaches native to the region.
The Apache trout or Arizona trout, Oncorhynchus apache, is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. It is one of the Pacific trouts.
The Madrean pine–oak woodlands are subtropical woodlands found in the mountains of Mexico and the southwestern United States. They are a biogeographic region of the tropical and subtropical coniferous forests and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biomes, located in North America.
The Mexican wolf, also known as the lobo, is a subspecies of gray wolf native to southeastern Arizona and southern New Mexico in the United States, and northern Mexico. It once also ranged into western Texas. It is the smallest of North America's gray wolves, and is similar to the Great Plains wolf, though it is distinguished by its smaller, narrower skull and its darker pelt, which is yellowish-gray and heavily clouded with black over the back and tail. Its ancestors were likely the first gray wolves to enter North America after the extinction of the Beringian wolf, as indicated by its southern range and basal physical and genetic characteristics.
The Sierra Madre Occidental pine–oak forests are a Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of the Sierra Madre Occidental range from the southwest USA region to the western part of Mexico. They are home to a large number of endemic plants and important habitat for wildlife.
Luna Lake is a natural body of water that covers approximately 75 acres (0.30 km2) of land. It is located about three miles (5 km) southeast of Alpine, Arizona, at the elevation of 7,890 ft (2,400 m), and is the centerpiece of the Luna Lake Wildlife Area.
The thick-billed parrot is a medium-sized parrot endemic to Mexico that formerly ranged into the southwestern United States. Its position in parrot phylogeny is the subject of ongoing discussion; it is sometimes referred to as thick-billed macaw or thick-billed conure. In Mexico, it is locally called guacamaya ("macaw") or cotorra serrana. Classified internationally as Endangered through IUCN, the thick-billed parrot's decline has been central to multiple controversies over wildlife management. In 2018, the estimated wild population in Mexico was 1,700.
The fauna of Puerto Rico is similar to other island archipelago faunas, with high endemism, and low, skewed taxonomic diversity. Bats are the only extant native terrestrial mammals in Puerto Rico. All other terrestrial mammals in the area were introduced by humans, and include species such as cats, goats, sheep, the small Indian mongoose, and escaped monkeys. Marine mammals include dolphins, manatees, and whales. Of the 349 bird species, about 120 breed in the archipelago, and 47.5% are accidental or rare.
The Kanab ambersnail, formerly classified as Oxyloma haydeni kanabense or Oxyloma kanabense, is a small, air-breathing land snail belonging to the family Succineidae, the ambersnails. This terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc was previously considered a critically endangered subspecies or species. In 2013, a scientific investigations report by the United States Geological Survey concluded that the Kanab ambersnail is not a genetically distinct species. In June 2021, the Fish and Wildlife Service removed the Kanab ambersnail from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service list of endangered mammals and birds and classified it with other common ambersnails within the same taxa, officially negating its status as a distinct subspecies.
Henry Augustus Pilsbry was an American biologist, malacologist and carcinologist, among other areas of study. He was a dominant presence in many fields of invertebrate taxonomy for the better part of a century. For much of his career, his authority with respect to the classification of certain substantial groups of organisms was unchallenged: barnacles, chitons, North American terrestrial mollusks, and others.
The Vegas Valley leopard frog, also known as the Las Vegas leopard frog, is an extinct species of frog. It once occurred in the Las Vegas Valley, as well as Tule Springs, Clark County, southern Nevada in the United States, at elevations between 370 and 760 m. It was believed to be the only frog endemic to the United States to have become extinct in modern times.
The richness and variety of the wildlife of Ethiopia is dictated by the great diversity of terrain with wide variations in climate, soils, natural vegetation and settlement patterns. Ethiopia contains a vast highland complex of mountains and dissected plateaus divided by the Great Rift Valley, which runs generally southwest to northeast and is surrounded by lowlands, steppes, or semi-desert.
The Mexican fox squirrel is a species of tree squirrel found throughout the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico as far south as Jalisco — and northward into the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona, U.S.
Ashmunella is a genus of small, air-breathing, land snails in the family Polygyridae.
Sonorella is a genus of land snails in the subfamily Helminthoglyptinae. They are known commonly as talussnails or talus snails because most live in talus and similar habitat. They are distributed across the southwestern United States and adjacent Mexico. There are about 80 species.
The San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge is located on the U.S.-Mexico border in Cochise County, Arizona. Situated at 3,720 to 3,920 feet (1,130–1,190 m) elevation in the bottom of a wide valley, the refuge encompasses a portion of the headwaters of the Yaqui River, which drains primarily western Chihuahua and eastern Sonora, Mexico. The 2,309-acre (9.34 km2) ranch was acquired by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1982 to protect the water resources and provide habitat for endangered native fishes.
Ciénega Creek is an intermittent stream located in the Basin and Range region of southern Arizona, and is one of the most intact riparian corridors left in the state. It originates in the Canelo Hills and continues northwest about 50 miles (80 km) to an area just outside Tucson, where it becomes known as Pantano Wash. Pantano Wash continues through Tucson and eventually connects with the Rillito River.
Artie Lou Metcalf was an American malacologist.
Three Forks is a location in Apache County, Arizona where three forks of the Black River converge. It has an estimated elevation of 8,225 feet (2,507 m) above sea level.
