Fauna of the United States

There are 67 species of mammals in the park, including the gray wolf, the threatened lynx, and the grizzly bear.

For instance, large areas of land are made up of everything from sand dunes in the Central Basin and Range ecoregion, which makes up much of the State of Nevada, to the ecology of the North Cascades in Washington state, which has the largest concentration of active alpine glaciers in the lower 48.

The densely forested areas found in Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana have mostly species adapted to living in temperate climates, while Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, southern Utah, and New Mexico have a fauna resembling its position in the dry deserts with temperature extremes.

In most of the contiguous Western U.S. are mule deer, white-tailed antelope squirrels, cougars, American badgers, coyotes, hawks and several species of snakes and lizards are common.

In the dry, inland desert areas of states such as California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico there are some of the world's most venomous lizards, snakes and scorpions.

The American black bear occurs in most western states, including Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and Colorado.

The warmer climate allows for rich biodiversity ranging from cypress swamps in Louisiana to the thick bays and the longleaf pine biome of the South Carolina Lowcountry.

It is riddled along the way with countless salt marshes in every coastal state from the Carolinas, through Georgia to Texas, including the Mobile Delta that lies in the borders of Alabama.

Mammals of the region include the elk, the largest of which that was wiped out in the 1800s, but has been reintroduced and is making promising recoveries in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas.

The American black bear is native to much of the South, but are prevalent in Virginia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.

White-tailed deer, bobcat, coyote, wild boar, red and grey fox are other mammals that inhabit parts of every state in the region.

Many water-dwelling mammals inhabit the South including the American beaver, muskrat, river otter, and nutria, which is an invasive species and has decimated plant life in the swamps of Louisiana.

The southern range of the American red squirrel dips into the higher elevations of Virginia and North Carolina.

Other common mammals are the Virginia opossum, raccoon, striped and spotted skunk, groundhog and in parts of the South, the nine-banded armadillo.

The South is home to many coastal birds including gulls, rails, gallinules, skimmers, grebes, sandpipers, cranes, and herons.

Indigenous mammals include the American bison, eastern cottontail, black-tailed jackrabbit, plains coyote, black-tailed prairie dog, muskrat, opossum, raccoon, prairie chicken, wild turkey, white-tailed deer, swift foxes, pronghorn antelope, the Franklin's ground squirrel and several other species of ground squirrels.

The invasive wild boar is common in the South, while the American mink lives in every central state with the exception of Texas.

The least weasel is found around the Great Lakes as well as states such as Nebraska, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

The American black bear lives throughout most of New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, the Virginias, and parts of the Carolinas and Florida.

As well as turtles, the sea life consist of more than forty species of shark[15] and the Hawaiian spinner dolphin is widespread.

[17] The wildlife of Alaska is abundant, extremely diverse and includes for instance polar bears, puffins, moose, bald eagles, Arctic foxes, wolves, Canadian lynx, muskox, snowshoe hare, mountain goats, walrus and caribou.

Life zones in Alaska range from grasslands, mountains, tundra to thick forests, which leads to a huge diversity in terrain and geology throughout the state.

[20] The islands are also frequented by vagrant Asiatic birds, including the common rosefinch, Siberian rubythroat, bluethroat, lanceolated warbler, and the first North American record of the intermediate egret.

The avifauna includes 65 species of bird[21] where the more unusual distinctive ones are the blue-crowned lorikeet, the spotless crake, the many-colored fruit dove, the wattled honeyeater, tropical pigeons, the samoan starling, white tern, black noddy and the red-tailed tropicbird.

[23] Shortly after World War II, the brown tree snake was introduced to the island of Guam and caused much of the endemic wildlife to become extinct.

[25] Other introduced species include the Philippine deer, the Asiatic water buffalo, the marine toad and the giant African land snail.

Other common, but introduced species, include the collared kingfisher, the rufous fantail, the fairy tern and the uniform swiftlet.

The oceans are home to more than a thousand species of marine life,[26] including for instance the coconut crabs, the mahi-mahi, the barracuda, tridacna, marlin and tuna.

Extinct native mammals include the plate-toothed giant hutia and the Puerto Rican cave rat.

[28] The tropical Virgin Islands are home to a huge variety of wildlife, including many unique species endemic to the archipelago.

The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States and appears on its Great Seal . The bald eagle's range includes all of the contiguous United States and Alaska .
The raccoon is widespread throughout the lower 48 states.
Mountain lions live throughout the western U.S.
The American alligator is endemic to eight states in the Southeast, and is the official state reptile of Florida , Louisiana and Mississippi .
The pronghorn is the fastest land mammal in the Western Hemisphere and can reach speeds up to 55 mph. [ 8 ]
The groundhog is a common species in Iowa, Missouri, and eastern portions of Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma.
The American bison is the heaviest land animal in North America and can be as tall as 6.5 feet (2.0 m) and weigh over a ton. [ 9 ]
The white-tailed deer is common in all eastern states.
The American beaver is found throughout the U.S., except for Florida, Nevada and Hawaii.
The striped skunk lives throughout the continental United States .
The American black bear occurs in most states.
A green sea turtle ( honu in Hawaiian) swimming by coral reefs in Kona .
Grizzly bears are found throughout Alaska , parts of Montana and on the Canada–US border in Idaho . They are also found in Yellowstone National Park .
The blue-crowned lorikeet is a parrot found throughout the Samoan islands.
The Mona ground iguana is the largest native terrestrial lizard in Puerto Rico and is an endangered species.