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Sciencing

Sciencing

The Earth is full of life, but which continent has the best biodiversity?

Sciencing
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73% Informative

Antarctica is the least biodiverse continent on Earth , with 18 penguin species.

Europe is less diverse than other heavily populated continents in terms of animal and plant life, but North America has the most variety of species.

Australia 's biggest claim to fame is the sheer numbers of endemic species that only live on this particular continent.

The Amazon rainforest alone is responsible for 10% of the whole planet's known biodiversity.

South Africa holds all the aces when it comes to sheer biodiversity, with over 5,400 known species of mammals and birds alone.

Latin American biodiversity has reduced by 94% between 1970 and 2020 , which has contributed to bringing Earth 's total biodiversity drop during this time.