The beetles of the Malvinas Islands and their adaptation to the environment.

The archipelago had only one terrestrial mammal upon the arrival of Europeans, the warrah. This was a kind of fox, and was found on both major islands.

 It was traditionally thought that Patagonian Indians once brought the warrah to the islands as a hunting dog. However, a 2009 DNA study by scientists at UCLA suggested that the warrah arrived on the islands long before humans made it to the New World, and that its nearest relative was the Maned Wolf, an extant South American canid.

 It became extinct in the mid 19th century as human settlement spread.

 14 species of marine mammals including Killer whales, Peale's dolphins, Southern elephant seals, and Southern sea lions frequent the surrounding waters. The elephant seal, the fur seal, and the sea lions all breed on the islands, and the largest elephant seal breeding site has over 500 animals in it. Other species, especially cetaceans, are also sometimes seen.

Five penguins walking up a grassy slope against the wind. 227 bird species have been seen on the islands, over 60 of which are known to breed on the islands. 21 of the resident species are land birds, and 18 are water birds. There are 22 species of seabirds which breed on the islands, and at least 18 annual migrators who breed elsewhere. There are two endemic species of bird, and 14 endemic subspecies.

There are five penguin species breeding on the islands, King penguins, rockhopper penguins, magellanic penguins, gentoo penguins, and macaroni penguins. Approximately 494,500 breeding pairs are thought to live on the island, 500 of which are King penguins.

 Five other species have been recorded, but do not have a breeding population. The largest breeding population of black-browed albatross is found on the islands, making up over 60% of the global black-browed albatross population. This is the only breeding species of albatross, although nine others have been recorded. Many species of Petrel also nest on the falklands. Most remaining bird colonies exist on remote offshore islands.

Inland, upland and ruddy-headed geese live near small freshwater ponds, along with Silver Teal, Chiloe Wigeon, and White-tufted Grebe. There are six species of herons and egrets that have been recorded, although only the black-crowned night heron is known to breed in the area.

    Carabidae.

        Migadopini
            Lissopterus hyadesii falklandicus
            Lissopterus quadrinotatus
            Migadops latus lebruni
            Pseudomigadops falklandicus
            Pseudomigadops fuscus fuscus
            Pseudomigadops fuscus sericeus
            Pseudomigadops handkei handkei
            Pseudomigadops handkei punctatus
   
    Curculionidae.

        Cyclominae
            Antarctobius abditus
            Antarctobius bidentatus
            Antarctobius falklandicus
            Antarctobius malvinensis
            Antarctobius vulsus
            Falklandiellus suffodens
            Falklandius antarcticus
            Falklandius goliath
            Falklandius kuscheli
            Falklandius turbificatus
            Germainiellus salebrosus
            Haversiella albolimbata
            Lanteriella microphtalma [endemic genus/species]
            Puranius championi
            Puranius exculpticollis
            Puranius scaber

 Entiminae.

             Caneorhinus biangulatus
            Cylydrorhinus caudiculatus
            Cylydrorhinus lemniscatus
            Malvinius compressiventris [endemic genus/species]
            Malvinius nordenskioeldi [endemic genus/species]
            Morronia brevirostris [endemic genus/species]

 

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