Endemic Species of India

India’s 2023 national environment tables report 14,770 endemic species across the source-defined floral groups and 1,582 endemic chordates. The same fauna table leaves endemic totals blank for protozoans and invertebrates, so it does not support a single all-fauna endemic total.^[S1]

{
  "type": "bar",
  "title": "Endemic share within 2023 vertebrate group totals",
  "description": "Percentages are calculated only from the paired total and endemic counts in the same 2023 national fauna table.",
  "unit": "percent",
  "orientation": "horizontal",
  "data": [
    {"label": "Amphibians", "value": 78.6},
    {"label": "Reptiles", "value": 56.3},
    {"label": "Fishes", "value": 18.6},
    {"label": "Mammals", "value": 12.1},
    {"label": "Birds", "value": 5.9}
  ],
  "source": "[S1] EnviStats India 2024, Table 5.2"
}

Endemism differs sharply among major taxonomic groups

The 2023 vertebrate data show the strongest endemic share among amphibians: 359 of 457 recorded species, or 78.6%. Reptiles follow at 427 of 758 species, or 56.3%. The corresponding shares are 18.6% for fishes, 12.1% for mammals and 5.9% for birds.^[S1] These percentages describe the taxonomic treatment and inventory represented in that national dataset; later specialist checklists can contain different totals.

The floral table shows a different pattern. Lichens have the highest endemic proportion among groups with paired counts, with 1,207 endemic species among 3,088 recorded species. Bryophytes reach 33.2% and fungi 31.8%. Angiosperms have a lower proportional value of 23.8%, but their 5,286 endemic species form the largest absolute endemic count in the table.^[S1]

{
  "type": "bar",
  "title": "Endemic share within 2023 floral-group totals",
  "description": "Percentages use paired species and endemic-species values from the same national floral table.",
  "unit": "percent",
  "orientation": "horizontal",
  "data": [
    {"label": "Lichens", "value": 39.1},
    {"label": "Bryophytes", "value": 33.2},
    {"label": "Fungi", "value": 31.8},
    {"label": "Algae", "value": 24.1},
    {"label": "Angiosperms", "value": 23.8},
    {"label": "Gymnosperms", "value": 19.3},
    {"label": "Pteridophytes", "value": 7.6}
  ],
  "source": "[S1] EnviStats India 2024, Table 5.1"
}

Why India does not have one interchangeable endemic-species total

The figure of 55,726 in the 2023 floral table is tied to that table’s biological coverage. It combines angiosperms, gymnosperms, pteridophytes, bryophytes, algae, fungi, lichens, and a virus-and-bacteria category. Its 14,770 endemic-species figure belongs to the same treatment.^[S1]

A later Botanical Survey of India inventory reports 56,177 documented floristic elements, including 22,368 angiosperms, 83 gymnosperms, 1,325 pteridophytes, 2,850 bryophytes, 9,117 algae, 15,986 fungi, 3,151 lichens and 1,297 microbes.^[S2] That later total should not be used as the denominator for the earlier 14,770 endemic count because the inventory version and category totals have changed.

The 2023 fauna table reports 93,854 invertebrate species and 7,119 chordate species. Endemic counts are supplied for chordates and their principal vertebrate groups, but the endemic field for invertebrates is blank.^[S1] A blank endemic field is not evidence of zero endemic invertebrates. It means the table cannot be used to calculate an all-fauna endemic count.

Where Indian endemism is concentrated

Western Ghats

The Western Ghats are the leading region for reptile endemism in the Zoological Survey of India’s 2025 reptile checklist.^[S4] Mammal ranges show the same geographic restriction in several lineages. The lion-tailed macaque, Macaca silenus, is recorded from Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, while the Nilgiri langur, Semnopithecus johnii, is restricted to the Western Ghats of those states.^[S6]

Amphibian endemism is especially concentrated in this mountain system. A Zoological Survey of India atlas published in 2013 listed 158 amphibian species as endemic to the Western Ghats.^[S7] Because amphibian taxonomy has continued to change, that atlas is best treated as a dated regional inventory rather than a current species-name authority. The national Amphibia Version 2.0 checklist provides the newer nomenclatural treatment.^[S8]

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands form the second major reptile-endemism region identified in the 2025 national reptile checklist.^[S4] Island restriction also appears repeatedly in birds and mammals. The Nicobar treeshrew, Tupaia nicobarica, is recorded from Great Nicobar and Little Nicobar and is treated as endemic to India.^[S6]

Botanical Survey of India work in the archipelago prepared distribution mapping and conservation assessments for 53 endemic tree species and reported 27 endemic-tree records during field surveys.^[S9] These records illustrate why island-level range information is more informative than a country-only range label for many Indian endemics.

Northeast India and Arunachal Pradesh

Northeast India is the third major reptile-endemism region identified in the 2025 reptile checklist.^[S4] The region also shows why a species occurring in a geographically restricted part of India is not automatically endemic to India.

The Sela macaque, Macaca selai, is recorded from Arunachal Pradesh and treated as endemic to India in the current mammal checklist. The Arunachal macaque, Macaca munzala, also occurs in Arunachal Pradesh, but its natural range extends into Bhutan and China; it therefore does not meet a country-endemic definition for India.^[S6]

Why endemic counts change between checklist versions

Animal Discoveries–2025 reported 483 species new to science and 226 species recorded in India for the first time, for 709 new faunal records, while documented faunal diversity reached 105,953 species. Fauna of India Checklist Version 3.0 was released at the same 2026 event.^[S3] New national inventory records should not automatically be interpreted as new Indian endemics; endemic status depends on the species’ natural range beyond the Indian record itself.

The large invertebrate inventory has no matching national endemic total

Invertebrates dominate the 2023 national fauna inventory numerically, with 93,854 recorded species compared with 7,119 chordates.^[S1] Yet the national table does not provide a corresponding endemic-invertebrate value. This creates an important boundary for country-level totals: specialist studies can document endemic insects, mollusks, arachnids and other invertebrates, but counts drawn from separate taxonomic publications cannot simply be added to the national chordate figure to manufacture an all-animal endemic total.

Current India-endemic bird checklist