Neighbors

The Eurasian Lynx is a medium-sized wild cat that is widely distributed from Northern, Central and Eastern Europe to Central Asia and Siberia, the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas. They have a relatively short, reddish or brown coat that is marked with black spots, with a number and pattern that are highly variable. The neck and chin are whitish. In winter the fur is much thicker and varies from silver-grey to greyish brown. It is the largest of the four lynx species, ranging in body length from 30–42 in in males; 29–39 in in females; and standing 22–30 in at the shoulder, and a tail that is 4.3–9.6 in long. Weights of both sexes in Russia range from 26 to 71 lb. This species has a least concerned status.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family: Felidae

Genus: Lynx

Species: Lynx lynx

Asiatic black bear, (Ursus thibetanus), also known as the Himalayan bear, Tibetan bear, or moon bear, is member of the bear family found from southern Iran to the Himalayas. The Asiatic black bears are omnivorous, eating insects, fruits, bees and honey, small mammals, and birds. They will only occasionally attack domestic animals. They have a glossy black, sometimes brownish, coat with a white mark shaped like a crescent moon on the chest. Its long, coarse neck and shoulder hair form a modified mane. During the summer, the Asiatic black bear lives mainly in the forested hills and mountains at elevations up to 11,800 ft, becoming fat by fall, then spends the winter at elevations of 5,000 ft or less and may sleep for most of the time. An adult males weigh 220-440 lbs, and a female about half as much. Their length averages about 51-75 in, along with a 3-4-in tail. The Asiatic black bear as a vulnerable species.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family: Ursidae

Genus: Ursus

Scientific Name: Ursus thibetanus

The Oriental white stork is also known as the Japanese white stork and the Far Eastern white stork. They have a body length of 43-45 inches and a wingspan of about 46 inches. The Oriental white stork has a distinctive black bill and long white wings with black tips. Male Oriental white storks, weigh about 11 pounds, and females about 10 pounds. Their diet is mainly made up of insects, fish, frogs, snails, small reptiles, and small mammals, such as rodents. The white stork is a migratory bird, that travels very long distances to relocate seasonally. It tends to be quite aggressive with other members of its species. The Oriental White Stork's are considered an endangered species.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Ciconiiformes

Family: Ciconiidae

Genus: Ciconia

Species: Ciconia boyciana

The yellow-breasted bunting (Emberiza aureola) is one of the most numerous bird species in the Far East and Eastern Siberia, common in Western Siberia, and in some places common in European Russia. The habitat of this bunting is various types of meadows and bogs, but mainly floodplain meadows. The breeding male has bright yellow underparts with black flank streaks, brown upperparts, black face and throat bar, and a pink lower mandible. The female has a heavily streaked grey-brown back and has less intensely yellow underparts. She has a whitish face with dark crown, eye and cheek stripes. The juvenile is similar, but the background color of the underparts and face are buff. The yellow-breasted bunting has a diet that of insects when feeding their young, and otherwise seeds. The species winters in large flocks in cultivated areas, rice fields and grasslands, preferring to roost in rice fields. They are considered an endangered species. Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Passeriformes

Family: Emberizidae

Genus: Emberiza

Species: Emberiza aureola

The Karakurt spider is one of the poisonous invertebrates of the family “black widows”. This spider is known to be notorious. The poison of a Karakurt spider can cause death of a person in just a few hours. They are widespread throughout Eurasia. On average, the female body get approximately two centimeters, and males are three times larger. Their body color is black with red spots, and round in shape, resembling a ball. These spiders prefer quiet areas, usually building refuge in vacant lots, the steppe regions, or on the banks of canals and streams.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Arachnida

Order: Araneae

Family: Theridiidae

Genus: Latrodectus

Species: Latrodectus tredecimguttatus

It is a rare event to actually sight one of these large, exotic-looking spiders! With a length of up to 4cm, the Lycosa singoriensis wolf spider is the largest Central European spider. They generally have a bright striped center on its grey to black front section, and there are two large and six small eyes on its head. The large eyes help the spider see while hunting, and the smaller ones can only take in light. This spider hides by day in burrows it has dug, and hunts at night. When active, this spider will flee to its burrow immediately upon the slightest trembling of the ground. One sign of the spider's presence in an ecosystem is the molt, which is sometimes found in front of an underground burrow. The species requires sandy soil with sparse vegetation and aridity to thrive. It prefers the far banks of salty pools. If vegetation has become too dense and high due to lack of grazing, the spider no longer has the living conditions it requires and will move on.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Arachnida

Order: Araneae

Family: Lycosidae

Genus: Lycosa

Species: Lycosa tarantula

The Siberian Carpet cypress is the only species of evergreen coniferous shrubs in the cypress family Cupressaceae. This plant is native and endemic to a limited area in the Russian Far East. The Siberian Carpet Cypress plant is a prostrate shrub growing 8-20in in height, and 6.6-16.4ft in spreading width. The foliage forms flat sprays with scale-like leaves. The cones are among the smallest of any conifer, green to brown in about 8 months from pollination. There seeds are 2 mm long, with no wing, with usually only one seed in each cone. The foliage sometimes turns brown in winter, giving the impression that the plant has died, but it will revive in spring. They are valued for there tolerance of drought, cold temperatures and winter conditions.

Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Pinophyta

Class: Pinopsida

Order: Pinales

Family: Cupressaceae

Genus: Microbiota

Species: Microbiota decussata

Tilia nasczokinii, commonly known as Nasczokin's lime, is a rare deciduous tree or shrub that is endemic to the Siberian region of the country. This tree can grow up to 65 feet tall, its trunk is a pale grey color, and the leaves are wide ovals that reach sizes up to 6 inches. The Nasczokin's lime tree produces a tiny whitish-yellow flowers that convert into a small, green, flattened fruit. Despite its name, this fruit is not a lime and has no known instances of cultivation.

Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Spermatophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Malvales

Family: Tiliaceae

Genus: Tilia

Species: Tilia nasczokinii

This cellular slime mold was formerly considered to be fungi following their discovery in 1869. Although they do resemble fungi in some respects, they have been included in the kingdom Protista. Individual cells resemble small amoebae in their movement and feeding, so they are referred to as myxamoebae. The vegetative phase consists of single-celled amoeboid forms that live in the soil, where they feed upon bacteria and other microbes, grow, and multiply until the available food supply is exhausted. When this happens, the amoeboid forms aggregate together in large numbers to form multi-celled pseudoplasmodia, which then give rise to fruiting bodies. These fruiting bodies consist of supportive stalks and unwalled sori containing propagative spores. Environmental factors such as elevation and pH appear to have a predominant effect on patterns of biodiversity.

Kingdom: Amoebozoa

Phylum: Mycetozoa Species

Class: Dictyostelia

Order: Dictyosteliida

Family: Dictyosteliidae

Genus: Dictyostelium

Species: Dictyostelium mucoroides

Red fly agaric is traditionally considered a highly dangerous and poisonous fungus. These mushrooms are known to be toxic but are used by shamans in northern cultures. The red fly agaric is from northern Europe and Asiam and native throughout the temerate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Amanita muscaria has been unintentionally introduced to many countries in the Southern Hemisphere, generally as a symbiont with pine and birch plantations. It is now associated with various deciduous and coniferous trees. Its cap may be orange or yellow, due to slow development of the purple pigment, with white or yellow warts which are removed by the rain.

Kingdom: Fungi

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Family: Amanitaceae

Genus: Amanita

Species: Amanita muscaria