FLORA AND FAUNA OF BRAZIL: MOST RELEVANT CHARACTERISTICS - BIOLOGY - 2025

It is estimated that the flora and fauna of Brazil is made up of 4 million species, but this figure could be higher since there is still much to explore, study and catalog.

Brazil is a country in South America that has 9% of the animals and 30% of the bird species in the world.

It has an area of ​​more than 8.5 million km², which constitutes almost the eastern half of South America (47% of the subcontinent). To that are added a few islands in the Atlantic Ocean.

That makes Brazil the fifth largest country in the world. It is also the fifth most populous country on the planet, with its 202 million inhabitants.

However, its population density is low since the highest concentration of people is located in its coastal territory.

Brazil shares a border with all the countries of South America, except for Ecuador and Chile. Its location in the tropics allows the climatic seasons to be less marked.

It is a country with different ecosystems, each with its well-defined characteristics that determine the flora and fauna that thrive there:

- Amazonia, with predominantly tropical vegetation.

- Center-west, a savanna-like ecosystem.

- Southern plateau, with pine forests.

- Mata Atlantica, another jungle area.

- Coasts, with its reefs and mangroves.

The 8 main plants in Brazil

Brazil has 46,454 plant species distributed as follows:

- Algae: 4753 species.

- Angiosperms: 33 062 species.

- Bryophytes: 1564 species.

- Fungi: 5718 species.

- Gymnosperms: 30 species.

- Ferns and lycophytes: 1327 species.

That number could rise if one considers the number of species that are not yet studied or cataloged.

In 2010 the Brazilian government published its Catalog of Plants and Fungi and a first online version of the List of Species of the Flora of Brazil.

1- Ip

It is a tree of medium height with a thick bark on the trunk, finger-shaped leaves with a common petiole flattened at its base and broad at the apex.

Its flowers are of an intense yellow color. It is a plant that is abundant in Rio de Janeiro and that blooms in October.

Its scientific name is tababuia speciosa and it is the national tree of Brazil.

2- Carnauba wax palm

Its scientific name is copernicia prunifera, but it is also known as palm carnaúba or carnaubeira.

It is an endemic plant of South America that belongs to the Arecaceae family, and grows in the Ceará region, northeast of Brazil.

It can grow up to 15 meters. Its crown is dense and round with 5 meters high and wide.

It has green fan-shaped leaves that can grow up to a meter wide. These sheets are covered with wax on both sides.

The flowers of the wax palm are yellowish brown in color and its fruits are round and brown to black in color.

The roots of Copernicia prunifera have diuretic properties. Its fruits are an excellent food for animals and its trunk has a useful wood in construction.

The wax that is extracted from its leaves is used in products to polish cars, surfboards, shoes and floors.

3- Papagaias

They are plants of the aroid family. They give yellow flowers and reddish fruits.

They have large shield-shaped leaves with long petioles and pinkish in the center and green around the edges.

4- Quaresmas

It is an endemic plant of Brazil with flowers with a very vivid violet color that blooms between February and April. Its scientific name is tibouchina granulosa.

It is distributed in the southeast of Brazil in the states of Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Paraná.

5- Cajú or merey

Cashew is also known as cashew, cashew, cashew, cashew or merey. Its scientific name is anacardium occidentale.

It is a tree native to Brazil that can reach a height of between 5 and 7 meters and can live for up to 30 years, although it bears fruits from 3. Its trunk branches at a very low height.

6- Trunk of Brazil

It is a plant of the dracena family, of vertical growth and leaves of different shades of green.

As it grows, it loses its leaves and reveals its robust and aesthetic stem, which makes it an ideal plant for interior decoration.

It is also easy to care because it does not require a lot of water. Although it keeps very well in sunlight, the ideal is not to receive it directly.

7- Ceibas

It is a tree native to the American continent of the Bombacaceae family.

Its fruit produces a kind of cotton called capoc that is used to fill pillows.

8- Araucaria

It is a resinous tree with needle-shaped or pointed leaves, which can reach 50 meters in height. It is also known by the name of umbrella pine.

Some other plants that can be observed in the Brazilian territory are: coconut palms, arachnid fern, chestnut, wild rubber tree and ipê tree.

The existence of the Red Book of the Flora of Brazil stands out, a document that contains the plant species in danger of extinction in the South American country.

The 3 most outstanding animals of Brazil

In 2015, the Brazilian government announced the publication of its Taxonomic Catalog of Brazilian Fauna, which gathers 116,000 species, grouping them into 28 major classifications.

Brazil is the second country with the largest number of amphibians, the third with the largest number of bird species, the fourth with reptiles, and the first with known species of mammals and freshwater fish.

1- Yarará

It is a poisonous snake of the Viperidae family, which can measure up to 150 centimeters in length.

Its body is light brown with dark spots in circular and angular shapes.

According to some scientists, its venom could be the basis for the development of a drug to control hypertension.

2- Red thrush

It is a bird that normally has a gray or brown color, but in this area it acquires a particular coloration. It is the national bird of Brazil.

It is small, arboreal and its song is melodious. It belongs to the Turdidae family and its scientific name is Turdus rufiventris.

3- Brazilian three-banded armadillo

It is a species of armadillo endemic to Brazil whose scientific name is tolypeutes tricinctus.

It inhabits the Brazilian region of the caatinga, a dry thorn scrub located in the northeast of Brazil, and in the shrubby savanna in the center of the country known as El Cerrado.

This armadillo is a species whose conservation status is considered vulnerable.

An adult specimen can weigh 1.5 kilograms and measure between 35 and 45 centimeters. It has a tail between 6 and 7 centimeters long and can be rolled into a ball.

Its upper part is covered by an armor composed of ossified dermal plates with keratin epidermal scales. These plates are connected by bands of flexible skin.

This armor creates a layer of air between the cover and the body of the animal that isolates it and allows it to thermoregulate to survive in arid climates.

The Brazilian three-banded armadillo mainly eats ants and termites, but it also eats mollusks, worms, and fruit.

Some of the other representative animals of the Brazilian fauna are:

- Parrot

- Jaguar

- Tapir

- Anteater

- Lazy

- Possums

- Anacondas

- Boas

- Brazilian tiger (onca)

- Muriqui

- Brazilian pink tarantula

- Green piranha or "cannibal fish"

References

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