Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

is a West-African country rich in

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

Fauna

Mammals

Predators

There still is much debate about the status of many predator species in Guinea-Bissau. This is, in part, because much of the country remains unstudied, and because of the cryptic nature of many predator species. Lion, for instance, was listed as possibly extinct in Guinea-Bissau during the 2014 assessment of the lion by the

IUCN Red list of threatened species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...

. However, a picture of a lion was still recorded by a camera trap in 2016 the southeastern Boé region. *

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

(''Panthera leo'') *

Leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

(''Panthera pardus'') *

African wild dog The African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), also called the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine which is a native species to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus '' Ly ...

(''Lycaon pictus'') *

African golden cat The African golden cat (''Caracal aurata'') is a wild cat endemic to the rainforests of West and Central Africa. It is threatened due to deforestation and bushmeat hunting and listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. It is a close relative o ...

(''Caracal aurata'') *

Caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted e ...

(''Caracal caracal'') *

Serval The serval (''Leptailurus serval'') is a wild cat native to Africa. It is widespread in sub-Saharan countries, except rainforest regions. Across its range, it occurs in protected areas, and hunting it is either prohibited or regulated in ran ...

(''Leptailurus serval'') *

Spotted hyena The spotted hyena (''Crocuta crocuta''), also known as the laughing hyena, is a hyena species, currently classed as the sole extant member of the genus ''Crocuta'', native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as being of least concern by the IUC ...

African wildcat The African wildcat (''Felis lybica'') is a small wildcat species native to Africa, West and Central Asia up to Rajasthan in India and Xinjiang in China. It has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List in 2022. In Cyprus, an African wil ...

Primates

Western chimpanzee The western chimpanzee, or West African chimpanzee, (''Pan troglodytes verus'') is a Critically Endangered subspecies of the common chimpanzee. It inhabits western Africa, specifically Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Ghana, Guinea ...

(''Pan troglodytes verus'')

Herbivores

Red river hog The red river hog (''Potamochoerus porcus'') or bushpig (a named also used for the '' Potamochoerus larvatus''), is a wild member of the pig family living in Africa, with most of its distribution in the Guinean and Congolian forests. It is rarel ...

Warthog ''Phacochoerus'' is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs (pronounced ''wart-hog''). They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly cons ...

Birds

Blue-headed wood-dove The blue-headed wood dove (''Turtur brehmeri''), also known as the blue-headed dove, is a medium-sized (up to long), rufous brown wood-dove with bluish-grey head, iridescent green patches on wings, reddish bill, dark brown iris, and dark red fe ...

Iris glossy-starling The emerald starling (''Lamprotornis iris'') is also known as the iris glossy starling. It is a small starling with a metallic green crown, upper body, wings and tail. The ear-coverts and underparts are metallic purple. Both sexes are similar. Mo ...

Reptiles

*''

Bitis rhinoceros :''Common names: West African Gaboon viper, Gabino viperMallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. (2003). ''True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers''. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. 359 pp. .'' ''Bitis rhinoceros'' is ...

Marine life

The tropical marine environment of Guinea-Bissau is reported to have a high diversity of sea life, notably in and around the

Bijagós Archipelago The Bissagos Islands, also spelled Bijagós ( pt, Arquipélago dos Bijagós), are a group of about 88 islands and islets located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Guinea-Bissau. The archipelago was formed from the ancient delta of the Geb ...

. Fishes include the

African butter catfish The African butter catfish (''Schilbe mystus'') is a species of fish in the family Schilbeidae. It is native to many major river systems in Africa. Other common names for the fish include butter fish, butter barbel, African glass catfish, luban ...

, ''

Malapterurus occidentalis ''Malapterurus occidentalis'' is a species of electric catfish native to Gambia and Guinea-Bissau, where it occurs in the Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Af ...

'', '' Parablennius sierraensis'' (combtooth blenny), five ''

Synodontis ''Synodontis'' is the largest genus of mochokid catfishes. It is the biggest genus within the 10 genera and 190 different species in the family Mochokidae. ''Synodontis'' has over 131 different species within the genus. ''Synodontis'' are also k ...

'' catfish species including '' annectens'', '' ansorgii'', ''

nigrita Nigrita ( el, Νιγρίτα) is a town and a former municipality in the Serres regional unit, Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Visaltia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The ...

'', ''

schall Schall can refer to; People *Alvin Anthony Schall, American federal judge *Claus Schall (1757-1835), Danish violinist and composer *Eduardo Schall Jatyr, Brazilian basketball player *Ekkehard Schall (1930-2005), German stage and screen actor/dire ...

'' and '' waterloti'', the

Three-banded butterflyfish The three-banded butterflyfish (''Chaetodon robustus'') is a species of fish in the family Chaetodontidae. It inhabits the eastern-central Atlantic Ocean, in warm tropical waters from Mauritania down to Cape Verde and the Gulf of Guinea Th ...

and ''

Trachinus pellegrini ''Trachinus pellegrini'', the Cape Verde weever, is a fish of the family Trachinidae. Widespread in the eastern Atlantic along the coasts of Senegal to Nigeria, including the Canary Islands and Cape Verde, and also reported from Mauritania, it i ...

''. Turtles are also dominant especially the

West African mud turtle The West African mud turtle (''Pelusios castaneus''), also known as the West African side-necked turtle or swamp terrapin, is a species of turtle in the family Pelomedusidae. ''Pelusios castaneus'' is a freshwater species and is endemic to West a ...

Flora

Flora of Guinea-Bissau Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

References

External links

Biota of Guinea-Bissau

{{GuineaBissau-stub