science

Wildlife of Somaliland

Wildlife of Somaliland is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Wildlife of Somaliland rather than just read about it. In short: The wildlife of Somaliland includes the flora and fauna of Somaliland, which is extremely diverse due to the country's location between the temperate and the tropical zones. Somaliland is bordered by the Red Sea.

Key takeaways

Wildlife of Somaliland belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Wildlife of Somaliland to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Wildlife of Somaliland from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The wildlife of Somaliland includes the flora and fauna of Somaliland, which is extremely diverse due to the country's location between the temperate and the tropical zones. Somaliland is bordered by the Red Sea. The coastal region is more humid due to its proximity to the ocean. Somaliland is home to over 727 bird species and boasts over 177 species of mammals. Somaliland is home to a diverse variety of flora and fauna, from acacia trees, to birds, large cats, and reptiles large and small. In some areas, the mountains are covered with shrubs such as pyracantha, jasmine, poinsettia, and a varied assortment of evergreens. Caraway, carcade, cardamom, coriander, incense, myrrh, and red pepper are common.

Lexicology There are many forms of terminology and ways of describing the subphylums, metonyms and classifications of the various animals living within Somaliland. These include bahal ('creature'), doobjoog ('domestic animal/pet'), duurjoog/dugaag ('wild/undomesticated animal'), hangaguri ('general animal'), dalanga or its determiner form dalangihi ('chordate'), naasley ('mammal'), xasharaad ('insect'), beribiyood ('amphibian'), xamaarato ('reptile'), and noole ('organism').

Fauna

Mammals

Somaliland contains a variety of mammals due to its geographical and climatic diversity. Wild animals are found in every region. Among the latter are the lion, Sudan cheetah, reticulated giraffe, hamadryas baboon, civet, serval, African bush elephant, bushpig, Soemmerring's gazelle, antelope, ibex, kudu, dik-dik, oribi, reedbuck, Somali wild ass, Grévy's zebra and hyena. Since elephants are migratory, they are found in a variety of habitats, such as woodland, savanna, and tropical forest. Somaliland is home to a diverse variety of flora and fauna, from acacia trees, to birds, primates, large cats, and reptiles large and small. The yellow-spotted rock hyrax, which is found in savanna and rocky areas, looks much like a large rodent, but is actually related to elephants. The following mammals are found exclusively in Somaliland:

Pygmy gerbil Elephant shrew Berbera gerbil Greenwood's shrew Brockman's gerbil

Birds

Somaliland is currently home to about 727 bird species, of which ten are endemic to former Somalia, one has been introduced by humans and one is rare or accidental. Fourteen species are globally threatened. The following species of birds are found exclusively in Somalia as a whole:

Somali pigeon (Columba oliviae) Coastal boubou (Laniarius nigerrimus) Lesser hoopoe-lark (Alaemon hamertoni) Somali lark (Mirafra somalica) Sharpe's lark (Mirafra sharpei) Ash's lark (Mirafra ashi) Obbia lark (Spizocorys obbiensis) Somali thrush (Turdus ludoviciae) Somali golden-winged grosbeak (Rhynchostruthus louisae) Warsangli linnet (Linaria johannis)

Reptiles Somaliland has roughly 235 species of reptiles. Reptiles unique to Somaliland include Hughes' saw-scaled viper, Somali puff adder, Somali carpet viper, Schätti's racer, Scortecci's diadem snake, Somali sand boa, the angled worm lizard, Macfadyen's mastigure, Granchi's leaf-toed gecko, semaphore gecko, and a wall lizard from either Mesalina or Eremias. The colubrid snake Aprosdoketophis andreonei and Haacke-Greer's skink are endemic genera.

Fish

With 740 km of coastline facing the Red Sea, Somaliland waters are prime fishing grounds for highly migratory fish species such as tuna and tuna-like species, and a narrow but productive continental shelf is the home to several demersal fish and crustacean species. Fish species found exclusively in Somaliland include:

Cirrhitichthys randalli Symphurus fuscus Parapercis simulata Cociella somaliensis Pseudochromis melanotus

Flora The highlands, which in an almost continuous line traverse East Africa, have to a great extent isolated the flora of Somaliland in spite of the general resemblance of its climate and soil to the country on the western side of the band of high ground. The greater part of the country is covered either with tall coarse grasses, or more commonly with thick thorn-bush or jungle, among which rise occasional isolated, trees. The prevalent bush plants are khansa, acacias, aloes, and, especially Boswellia and Commiphora, which yield highly fragrant resins and balsams, such as myrrh, frankincense (olibanum) and balm of Gilead. Among the larger trees are the mountain cedar, reaching to 100 feet (30 m); the gob, which bears edible berries in appearance something like the cherry with the taste of an apple, grows to some 80 feet (24 m). There are patches of dense reeds, reaching 10 feet (3.0 m) high, and thickets of tamarisk along the river beds, and on either side the jungle is high and more luxuriant than on the open plateau. Of herbaceous plants, the kissenia, the sole representative of the order Loasaceae, which is common in America but very rare elsewhere, is found in Somaliland, which also possesses forms belonging to the eastern Mediterranean flora. The following vascular plant genera are found exclusively in Somaliland:

Boswellia occulta (Burseraceae) The new species Boswellia occulta is described from a small area in the El Afweyn District of Somaliland, where it is locally of considerable socio-economic importance. Although used for frankincense production by many generations of local harvesters, it has been unknown to science until now. Iphiona rotundifolia (Somali: gagabood) Euphorbia inculta (Somali: dibow) Odontanthera radians, a member of the family Apocynaceae, which is found in the coastal and subcoastal areas of Somaliland. (Somali: sobkax) Balanites rotundifolia (Somali: kulan) Boscia miminifolia (Somali: maygaag) Vachellia tortilis (Somali: qudhac) Eriostylos 1 sp. Polyrhabda 1 sp. Goydera 1 spp. Whitesloanea 1 sp. Puccionia 1 sp. Afrotrichloris 2 spp. Pseudozoysia 1 sp. Taeniorhachis 1 sp. Renschia 1 sp. Symphyochlamys 1 sp.

National animals

National animal: kudu

Notes

References Mazuch, Tomas (ed.). Venomous Snakes in Somaliland. Wilson, Don E.; Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. Retrieved 3 August 2009. "Somaliland Biodiversity Foundation". Retrieved 24 July 2021. "Boswellia occulta (Burseraceae), a new species of frankincense tree from Somalia (Somaliland)". doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.394.3.3. Retrieved 24 July 2021. "Animal Diversity Web". University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. 1995–2006. Retrieved 22 May 2007.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wildlife of Somaliland

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wildlife of Somaliland claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Wildlife of Somaliland before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Wildlife of Somaliland ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Wildlife of Somaliland

In research: Wildlife of Somaliland appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Wildlife of Somaliland in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Wildlife of Somaliland is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Biota of Somaliland, Wildlife by country, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wildlife of Somaliland outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Wildlife of Somaliland in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Wildlife of Somaliland means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Wildlife of Somaliland out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Wildlife of Somaliland in simple terms?

Why does Wildlife of Somaliland matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Wildlife of Somaliland?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Wildlife of Somaliland.