Russia
Mammals
found only in
Russia include the Baikal Seal (ARKive),
the Snow Sheep (Ultimate
Ungulate), the Black-capped Marmot (Planet'
Mammiferes), the Palearctic Collared Lemming (SZMN),
the Wrangel Island Collared Lemming (sevin.ru),
the Siberian Brown Lemming (sevin.ru),
the Amur Brown Lemming (sevin.ru),
the Ciscaucasian Hamster (sevin.ru),
the Kamchatka Shrew (sevin.ru),
and the extinct Steller’s Sea Cow (Animal
Diversity Web).
Two spectacular large cat subspecies survive only in
the
Russian Far East as breeding populations: the Amur Tiger (Tigris
Foundation) and the Amur Leopard (ALTA).
Birds unique to Russia as breeding species include Steller's Sea Eagle (ARKive),
the Spoon-billed
Sandpiper (ARKive),
the Siberian Crane (ICF),
the Red-breasted Goose (ARKive),
the Baikal Teal (ARKive),
Nordmann's Greenshank (ARKive),
the Little Curlew (Oriental
Bird Images), the Yellow-browed Bunting (IBC),
the Dusky Thrush (Mangoverde),
and the extinct Spectacled Cormorant (Naturalis).
Reptiles restricted to Russia include the Magnificent Viper Vipera magnifica (Vipera
Caucasica), Orlov's Viper Vipera orlovi (ARKive),
and the Naryn Thin-toed Gecko Cyrtopodion
(or
Mediodactylus)
narynense (Google
Books).
Three families of freshwater fish occur solely in Lake Baikal: the
Abyssocottidae (zooex.baikal.ru)
with six endemic genera, the Cottocomephoridae (zooex.baikal.ru)
with three endemic genera, and the Comephoridae (zooex.baikal.ru).
Other endemic freshwater fish include the Long-finned Char (ARKive),
the Boganida Char (FishBase),
the Muksun (res.krasu.ru),
the Tugun (res.krasu.ru),
the Siberian Sculpin (sevin.ru),
and the Aphips Chub (Ittiofauna).
Endemic marine fish include the Navaga (eol),
Brashnikov’s Snailfish (fish.dvo.ru),
the Hook-eared Sculpin (fish.dvo.ru),
the Sea Cockscomb (fish.dvo.ru),
and an eelpout Lycodes
sigmatoides (fish.dvo.ru).
Invertebrate families exclusive to Lake Baikal include a sponge
Lubomirskiidae (Röpstorf),
snails
Baicaliidae (b-cabinet),
and several amphipod crustaceans: Macrohectopidae (zooex.baikal.ru),
Micruropidae (p. 2 of VIMS
pdf file), Acanthogammaridae (naturalsciences.be),
Eulimnogammaridae (naturalsciences.be),
and Pallaseidae (naturalsciences.be).
Endemic
Russian insects include a grasshopper Podisma
tyatiensis (SZMN),
the longhorned beetles Amarysius
duplicatus (zin.ru)
and Nadezhdiana villosa
(SZMN),
the ground beetles Jeannelius
birsteini (zin.ru)
and Carabus miroshnikovi
(Krasnodar
Krai Redbook), and
several butterflies: Goldia
pacifica (Picasa),
Parnassius arctica
(rusinsects.com),
and Erebia arctica
(rusinsects.com).
Endemic freshwater mussels include Dahurinaia
kurilensis (sevin.ru)
and Nodularia lebedevi
(sevin.ru).
Vascular plant species restricted to Russia include Rhododendron sichotense
(botsad.ru), Cassiope redowskii (plantarium.ru), Bergenia
pacifica (botsad.ru),
Ermania parryoides
(plantarium.ru),
Leontopodium
stellatum (Kamchatka
Red Book), Pulsatilla
magadanensis (Rufford),
Primula
sachalinensis (Sakhalin
Red Book), Campanula
komarovii (plantarium.ru),
Potentilla
beringensis (sevin.ru),
Hedysarum zundukii
(plantarium.ru),
Koeleria
karavajevii (sevin.ru),
Cotoneaster
cinnabarinus (plantarium.ru),
and Anemone uralensis (plantarium.ru).
Endemic genera include Microbiota
(botsad.ru), Miyakea (Sakhalin
Red Book), Tridactylina (plantarium.ru), Sajanella (plantarium.ru),
Borodinia
(sevin.ru),
Redowskia
(sevin.ru),
and Magadania
(sevin.ru).
Russia includes part of the Caucasus biodiversity hotspot (Biodiversity
Hotspots). Lake Baikal (BaikalScience.org)
is the world’s oldest lake and has extraordinary levels of
endemism including all of Russia's endemic families and over 1000
endemic animal species. The Russian Far East Temperate
Forests (WWF)
also are important for endemic species.