Endemic Species

One species can be considered endemic when its distribution is restricted to a specific geographic location and it does not inhabit (naturally) any other area in the world. A species can be endemic from a very small area, such as a lagoon, to an entire continent. Endemic species appear when some type of natural barriers isolate a population of a certain species. With this conditions of non genetic exchange and thousands of years of evolution, species at both sides of the barrier can evolve completely different and become two different species. Endemic species are typically very vulnerable to the changes of natural conditions in their habitat since their genetic diversity to adapt to these changing conditions are typically very restricted.