Information about Neotropic

In biogeography, Neotropic or Neotropical refers to one of the world's eight terrestrial ecozones.

This ecozone includes South and Central America, the Mexican lowlands, the Caribbean islands, and southern Florida, because these regions share a large number of plant and animal groups.

It is sometimes used as a synonym for the tropical area of South America, although the ecozone also includes temperate southern South America. The Neotropical Floristic Kingdom excludes southernmost South America, which instead is placed in the Antarctic Kingdom.

The Neotropics is delimited by similarities in fauna or flora. Its fauna and flora are distinct from the Nearctic (which includes most of North America) because of the long separation of the two continents. The formation of the Isthmus of Panama joined the two continents 2 to 3 million years ago.

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The Neotropic Ecozone


The Neotropic includes more tropical rainforest (tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests) than any other ecozone, extending from southern Mexico through Central America and northern South America to southern Brazil, including the vast Amazon Rainforest. These rainforest ecoregions are one of the most important reserves of biodiversity on Earth. Extensive deforestation in the late 20th century has reduced this diversity to a degree.

These rainforests are also home to a diverse array of indigenous peoples, who to varying degrees persist in their autonomous and traditional cultures and subsistence within this environment. The number of these peoples who are as yet relatively untouched by external influences continues to decline significantly, however, along with the near-exponential expansion of urbanization, roads, pastoralism and forest industries which encroach on their customary lands and environment. Nevertheless amidst these declining circumstances this vast "reservoir" of human diversity continues to survive, albeit much depleted. In South America alone some 350-400 indigenous languages and dialects are still living (down from an estimated 1,500 at the time of first European contact), in about 37 distinct language families and a further number of unclassified and isolate languages. Many of these languages and their cultures are also endangered. Accordingly, conservation in the Neotropic zone is a hot political concern, and raises many arguments about development versus indigenous versus ecological rights and access to / ownership of natural resources.

Major ecological regions

The WWF subdivides the ecozone into bioregions, defined as "geographic clusters of ecoregions that may span several habitat types, but have strong biogeographic affinities, particularly at taxonomic levels higher than the species level (genus, family)."

Amazonia

The Amazonia bioregion is mostly covered by tropical moist broadleaf forest, including the vast Amazon rainforest, which stretches from the Andes Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, and the lowland forests of the Guyanas. The bioregion also includes tropical savanna and tropical dry forest ecoregions.

Caribbean

Central America

Central Andes

Eastern South America

Eastern South America includes the Caatinga xeric shrublands of northeastern Brazil, the broad Cerrado grasslands and savannas of the Brazilian Plateau, and the Pantanal and Chaco grasslands. The diverse Atlantic forests of eastern Brazil are separated from the forests of Amazonia by the Caatinga and Cerrado, and are home to a distinct flora and fauna.

Northern Andes

Orinoco

Southern South America

The temperate forest ecoregions of southwestern South America, including the temperate rain forests of the Valdivian temperate rain forests and Magellanic subpolar forests ecoregions, and the Juan Fernandez Islands and Desventuradas Islands, are a refuge for the ancient Antarctic flora, which includes trees like the southern beech (Nothofagus), podocarps, the alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides), and Araucaria pines like the monkey-puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana). These magnificent rainforests are endangered by extensive logging and their replacement by fast-growing non-native pines and eucalyptus.

History

South America was originally part of the supercontinent of Gondwana, which included Africa, Australia, India, New Zealand, and Antarctica, and the Neotropic shares many plant and animal lineages with these other continents, including Marsupial mammals and the Antarctic flora. After the final breakup of the Gondwana, South America drifted north and west, and was later joined with North America by the formation of the Isthmus of Panama, which allowed a biotic exchange between the two continents, the Great American Interchange. South American species like the ancestors of the Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) and the armadillo moved into North America, and North Americans like the ancestors of South America's camelids, including the llama (Lama glama), moved south. The long-term effect of the exchange was the extinction of many South American species, mostly by outcompetition by northern species.

Endemic animals and plants

Animals

Thirty-one bird families are endemic to the Neotropic ecozone, over twice the number of any other ecozone. They include rheas, tinamous, curassows, and toucans. Bird families originally unique to the Neotropics include hummingbirds (family Trochilidae) and wrens (family Troglodytidae).

Mammal groups originally unique to the Neotropics include: Examples of groups that are entirely or mainly restricted to the Neotropical region include

Plants

Plant families that originated in the Neotropic include Bromeliaceae, Cannaceae, and Heliconiaceae.

Plant species originally unique to the Neotropic include:

Neotropic Terrestrial Ecoregions

Neotropic Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests [ edit ]
Araucaria moist forests Argentina, Brazil
Atlantic Coast restingas Brazil
Bahia coastal forests Brazil
Bahia interior forests Brazil
Bolivian Yungas Bolivia, Peru
Caatinga enclaves moist forests Brazil
Caqueta moist forests Brazil, Colombia
Catatumbo moist forests Venezuela
Cauca Valley montane forests Colombia
Cayos Miskitos-San Andrs and Providencia moist forests Colombia, Nicaragua
Central American Atlantic moist forests Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama
Central American montane forests El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua
Chiapas montane forests Mexico
Chimalapas montane forests Mexico
Choc-Darin moist forests Colombia, Ecuador, Panama
Cocos Island moist forests Costa Rica
Cordillera La Costa montane forests Venezuela
Cordillera Oriental montane forests Colombia, Venezuela
Costa Rican seasonal moist forests Costa Rica, Nicaragua
Cuban moist forests Cuba
Eastern Cordillera Real montane forests Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Eastern Panamanian montane forests Colombia, Panama
Fernanda de Noronha-Atol das Rocas moist forests Brazil
Guayanan highlands forests Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela
Guianan moist forests Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela
Gurupa varzea Brazil
Hispaniolan moist forests Dominican Republic, Haiti
Iquitos varzea Bolivia, Brazil, Peru
Isthmian-Atlantic moist forests Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama
Isthmian-Pacific moist forests Costa Rica, Panama
Jamaican moist forests Jamaica
Japur-Solimoes-Negro moist forests Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela
Juru-Purus moist forests Brazil
Leeward Islands moist forests Antigua, British Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Nevis, Saint Kitts, British Virgin Islands
Madeira-Tapajs moist forests Bolivia, Brazil
Magdalena Valley montane forests Colombia
Magdalena-Urab moist forests Colombia
Maraj varzea Brazil
Maranho Babau forests Brazil
Mato Grosso tropical dry forests Brazil
Monte Alegre varzea Brazil
Napo moist forests Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Negro-Branco moist forests Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela
Northeastern Brazil restingas Brazil
Northwestern Andean montane forests Colombia, Ecuador
Oaxacan montane forests Mexico
Orinoco Delta swamp forests Guyana, Venezuela
Pantanos de Centla Mexico
Paramaribo swamp forests Guyana, Suriname
Paran-Paraba interior forests Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay
Pernambuco coastal forests Brazil
Pernambuco interior forests Brazil
Peruvian Yungas Peru
Petn-Veracruz moist forests Mexico
Puerto Rican moist forests Puerto Rico
Purus varzea Brazil
Purus-Madeira moist forests Brazil
Rio Negro campinarana Brazil, Colombia
Santa Marta montane forests Colombia
Serra do Mar coastal forests Brazil
Sierra de los Tuxtlas Mexico
Sierra Madre de Chiapas moist forest El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico
Solimes-Japur moist forest Brazil, Colombia, Peru
South Florida rocklands United States
Southern Andean Yungas Argentina, Bolivia
Southwest Amazon moist forests Bolivia, Brazil, Peru
Talamancan montane forests Costa Rica, Panama
Tapajs-Xingu moist forests Brazil
Tepuis Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela
Tocantins-Araguaia-Maranho moist forests Brazil
Trinidad and Tobago moist forests Trinidad and Tobago
Trindade-Martin Vaz Islands tropical forests Brazil
Uatuma-Trombetas moist forests Brazil, Guyana, Suriname
Ucayali moist forests Peru
Venezuelan Andes montane forests Colombia, Venezuela
Veracruz moist forests Mexico
Veracruz montane forests Mexico
Western Ecuador moist forests Colombia, Ecuador
Windward Islands moist forests Dominica, Grenada, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Xingu-Tocantins-Araguaia moist forests Brazil
Yucatn moist forests Belize, Guatemala, Mexico


Neotropic Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests [ edit ]
Apure-Villavicencio dry forests Venezuela
Atlantic dry forests Brazil
Bahamian dry forests Bahamas
Bajo dry forests Mexico
Balsas dry forests Mexico
Bolivian montane dry forests Mexico
Cauca Valley dry forests Colombia
Cayman Islands dry forests Cayman Islands
Central American dry forests Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua
Chaco Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay
Chiapas Depression dry forests Guatemala, Mexico
Chiquitano dry forests Bolivia, Brazil
Cuban dry forests Cuba
Ecuadorian dry forests Ecuador
Hispaniolan dry forests Dominican Republic, Haiti
Jalisco dry forests Mexico
Jamaican dry forests Jamaica
Lara-Falcn dry forests Venezuela
Leeward Islands dry forests Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles
Magdalena Valley dry forests Colombia
Maracaibo dry forests Venezuela
Maran dry forests Peru
Panamanian dry forests Panama
Pata Valley dry forests Colombia
Puerto Rican dry forests Puerto Rico
Revillagigedo Islands dry forests Mexico
Sierra de la Laguna dry forests Mexico
Sinaloan dry forests Mexico
Sinu Valley dry forests Colombia
Southern Pacific dry forests Mexico
Trinidad and Tobago dry forests Trinidad and Tobago
Tumbes-Piura dry forests Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Veracruz dry forests Mexico
Windward Islands dry forests Grenada, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Yucatn dry forests Mexico


Neotropic Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests [ edit ]
Bahamanian pine forests Bahamas
Belizian pine forests Belize
Central American pine-oak forests El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua
Cuban pine forests Cuba
Hispaniolan pine forests Dominican Republic, Haiti
Miskito pine forests Honduras, Nicaragua
Sierra de la Laguna pine-oak forests Mexico
Sierra Madre de Oaxaca pine-oak forests Mexico
Sierra Madre del Sur pine-oak forests Mexico
Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests Mexico


Neotropic Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests [ edit ]
Juan Fernandez Islands temperate forests Chile
Magellanic subpolar forests Argentina, Chile
Polylepis forestsBolivia, Peru
San Felix-San Ambrosio Islands temperate forests (Desventuradas Islands)Chile
Valdivian temperate rain forests Argentina, Chile


Neotropic Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands [ edit ]
Beni savannaBolivia
Campos Rupestres montane savannaBrazil
CerradoBolivia, Brazil, Paraguay
Clipperton Island shrub and grasslandsClipperton Island is an overseas territory of France
Crdoba montane savannaArgentina
Guyanan savannaBrazil, Guyana, Venezuela
Gran ChacoArgentina, Brazil, Paraguay
LlanosColombia, Venezuela
Uruguayan savannaArgentina, Brazil, Uruguay
Neotropic Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands [ edit ]
Argentine Espinal Argentina
Argentine Monte Argentina
Humid Pampas Argentina
Patagonian grasslands Argentina, Chile
Patagonian steppe Argentina, Chile
Semi-arid Pampas Argentina


Neotropic Flooded grasslands and savannas [ edit ]
Central Mexican wetlands Mexico
Cuban wetlands Cuba
Enriquillo wetlands Dominican Republic, Haiti
Everglades United States
Guayaquil flooded grasslands Ecuador
Orinoco wetlands Venezuela
Pantanal Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay
Paran flooded savanna Argentina
Southern Cone Mesopotamian savanna Argentina


Neotropic Montane grasslands and shrublands [ edit ]
Central Andean dry puna Argentina, Bolivia, Chile
Central Andean puna Argentina, Bolivia, Peru
Central Andean wet puna Bolivia, Peru
Cordillera Central pramo Ecuador, Peru
Cordillera de Merida pramo Venezuela
Northern Andean pramo Colombia, Ecuador
Santa Marta pramo Colombia
Talamanca Paramo Costa Rica, Panama
Southern Andean steppe Argentina, Chile
Zacatonal Mexico, Guatemala


Neotropic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub [ edit ]
Chilean Matorral Chile


Neotropic Deserts and xeric shrublands [ edit ]
Araya and Paria xeric scrub Venezuela
Aruba-Curaao-Bonaire cactus scrub Aruba, Bonaire, Curaao
Atacama desert Chile, Peru
Caatinga Brazil
Cayman Islands xeric scrub Cayman Islands
Cuban cactus scrub Cuba
Galpagos Islands xeric scrub Ecuador
Guajira-Barranquilla xeric scrub Colombia, Venezuela
La Costa xeric shrublands Venezuela
Leeward Islands xeric scrub Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Saint Barthelemy, Saba, US Virgin Islands
Malpelo Island xeric scrub Colombia
Motagua Valley thornscrub Guatemala
Paraguana xeric scrub Venezuela
San Lucan xeric scrub Mexico
Sechura desert Peru
Tehuacn Valley matorral Mexico
Windward Islands xeric scrub Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Peter and Saint Paul rocks Brazil


Neotropic Mangrove [ edit ]
Alvarado mangroves Mexico
Amap mangroves Brazil
Bahamian mangroves Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands
Bahia mangroves Brazil
Belizean Coast mangroves Belize
Belizean Reef mangroves Belize
Bocas del Toro-San Bastimentos Island-San Blas mangroves Costa Rica, Panama
Coastal Venezuelan mangroves Venezuela
Esmeraldes-Pacific Colombia mangroves Colombia, Ecuador
Florida mangroves United States
Greater Antilles mangroves Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico
Guianan mangroves French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela
Gulf of Fonseca mangroves El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua
Gulf of Guayaquil-Tumbes mangroves Ecuador, Peru
Gulf of Panama mangroves Panama
Ilha Grande mangroves Brazil
Lesser Antilles mangroves Lesser Antilles
Magdalena-Santa Marta mangroves Colombia
Manab mangroves Ecuador
Maranho mangroves Brazil
Marismas Nacionales-San Blas mangroves Mexico
Mayan Corridor mangroves Mexico
Mexican South Pacific Coast mangroves Mexico
Moist Pacific Coast mangroves Costa Rica, Panama
Mosquitia-Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast mangroves Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua
Northern Dry Pacific Coast mangroves El Salvador, Guatemala
Northern Honduras mangroves Guatemala, Honduras
Par mangroves Brazil
Petenes mangroves Mexico
Piura mangroves Peru
Ra Lagartos mangroves Mexico
Rio Negro-Rio San Sun mangroves Costa Rica, Nicaragua
Rio Piranhas mangroves Brazil
Rio So Francisco mangroves Brazil
Southern Dry Pacific Coast mangroves Costa Rica, Nicaragua
Tehuantepec-El Manchon mangroves Mexico
Trinidad mangroves Trinidad and Tobago
Usumacinta mangroves Mexico


Terrestrial biomes
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests  Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests  Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests  Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests  Temperate coniferous forests  Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub  Boreal forests/taiga  Mangrove  Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands  Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands  Flooded grasslands and savannas  Montane grasslands and shrublands  Deserts and xeric shrublands  Tundra


Ecozones
Afrotropic  Antarctic  Australasia  Indomalaya  Nearctic  Neotropic  Oceania  Palearctic

External links

  • Map of the ecozones
  • Eco-Index, a bilingual searchable reference of conservation and research projects in the Neotropics; a service of the Rainforest Alliance

Reference

  • Cox, C. Barry; Peter D. Moore (1985). Biogeography: An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach (Fourth Edition). Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.
  • Dinerstein, Eric; David Olson; Douglas J. Graham; et al. (1995). A Conservation Assessment of the Terrestrial Ecoregions of Latin America and the Caribbean. World Bank, Washington DC.
  • Schultz, J.: The Ecozones of the World, Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, 2n ed. 2005. ISBN 3540200142
  • Udvardy, M. D. F. (1975). A classification of the biogeographical provinces of the world. IUCN Occasional Paper no. 18. Morges, Switzerland: IUCN.
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of biodiversity over space and time. It aims to reveal where organisms live, at what abundance, and why.[1]
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An ecozone or biogeographic realm is the largest scale biogeographic division of the earth's surface based on the historic and evolutionary distribution patterns of plants and animals.
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Anthem
Himno Nacional Mexicano


Capital
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Official languages Spanish (
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Caribbean (Dutch: Cariben or Caraïben, or more commonly Antillen; French: Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Spanish: Caribe
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A floristic province is a geographic area with a relatively uniform composition of plant species. Adjacent floristic provinces do not usually have a sharp boundary, but rather a soft one, a transitional area in which many species from both regions overlap.
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South America is a continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean; North America and the Caribbean Sea lie
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Fauna is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.

Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g.
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flora (plural: floras or florae) has two meanings. The first meaning, or flora of an area or of time period, refers to all plant life occurring in an area or time period, especially the naturally occurring or indigenous plant life.
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For the thoroughbred racehorse see Nearctic (horse).

The Nearctic is one of the eight terrestrial ecozones dividing the Earth's land surface.

The Nearctic ecozone covers most of North America, including Greenland and the highlands of Mexico.
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North America is a continent [1] in the Earth's northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the south and west
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The Isthmus of Panama, also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking Central and South America. It was formed some 3 million years ago during the Pliocene epoch.
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Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forests, are a tropical and subtropical forest biome.

Tropical and subtropical forest regions with lower rainfall are home to tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests and
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Amazon Rainforest (Brazilian Portuguese: Floresta Amazônica or Amazônia; Spanish: Selva Amazónica or Amazonía) is a moist broadleaf forest in the Amazon Basin of South America.
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Biodiversity is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or for the entire Earth. Biodiversity is often used as a measure of the health of biological systems.
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EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001. Their greatest hit, their debut single "time after time", peaked at #13 in the Oricon singles chart.
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Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forest land for use such as arable land, pasture, urban use, logged area, or wasteland.[] Generally, the removal or destruction of significant areas of forest cover has resulted in a degraded environment with
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twentieth century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000, according to the Gregorian calendar. Some historians consider the era from about 1914 to 1991 to be the Short Twentieth Century.
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The term indigenous peoples has no universal, standard or fixed definition, but can be used about any ethnic group who inhabit the geographic region with which they have the earliest historical connection.
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Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate,") generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significant importance.
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subsistence techniques:
  • Hunting and Gathering techniques, also known as Foraging:
  • freeganism — involves gathering of discarded food in the context of an urban environment.

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Urbanization or Urbanisation (see difference in spelling) means the removal of the rural characteristics of a town or area, a process associated with the development of civilisation.
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Pastoralism is a form of farming, such as agriculture and horticulture. It is animal husbandry: the care, tending and use of animals such as camels, goats, cattle, yaks, llamas and sheep. It also contains a mobile element, moving the herds in search of fresh pasture and water.
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Forestry is the art, science, and practice of studying and managing forests and plantations, and related natural resources. Silviculture, a related science, involves the growing and tending of trees and forests.
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Indigenous languages of the Americas (or Amerindian Languages) are spoken by indigenous peoples from the southern tip of South America to Alaska and Greenland, encompassing the land masses which constitute the Americas.
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The first known Europeans to reach the Americas are believed to have been the Vikings ("Norse"), who established several colonies in the Americas from the 11th century. One Viking from Iceland, Leif Erikson established a short-lived settlement in Vinland, present day Newfoundland.
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A language family is a group of languages related by descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language. As with biological families, the evidence of relationship is observable shared characteristics.
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Unclassified languages are languages whose genetic affiliation has not been established, mostly due to lack of reliable data. The question of the genetic affiliation of languages belongs to the domain of historical linguistics.
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