Editing Geography of Jamaica (section)

==Vegetation and wildlife==
{{See also|Jamaica#Flora and fauna}}
{{expand section|date=July 2014}}
Although most of Jamaica's native vegetation has been stripped in order to make room for cultivation, some areas have been left virtually undisturbed since the time of European colonization.<ref name=":0" /> Indigenous vegetation can be found along the northern coast, from Rio Bueno to [[Discovery Bay, Jamaica|Discovery Bay]], in the highest parts of the Blue Mountains, and in the heart of the Cockpit Country.<ref name=":0" />

As in the case of vegetation, considerable loss of wildlife has occurred, beginning with the settlement of the [[Taíno]] in the region millennia ago. For example, the [[Caribbean monk seal]] (''Neomonachus tropicalis'') once occurred in Jamaican waters, and has now been driven to [[extinction]].<ref>Peter Saundry. 2010. [http://www.eoearth.org/article/Caribbean_monk_seal ''Caribbean monk seal''. Encyclopedia of Earth] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100814162030/http://www.eoearth.org/article/Caribbean_monk_seal |date=August 14, 2010 }}. eds. C. Michael Hogan and Cutler Cleveland. National council for Science and the Environment, Washington DC</ref> Mongooses (''[[Small Indian mongoose|Urva auropunctata]]''), introduced to Jamaica in 1872 to reduce rat populations that damaged commercial sugarcane (''[[Saccharum officinarum]]'') crops,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lewis|first=C.B.|date=November 1953|title=Rats and the Mongoose in Jamaica|journal=Oryx|volume=2|issue=3|pages=170–172|doi=10.1017/s003060530003619x|doi-access=free}}</ref> prey on several Jamaican species, including the critically endangered Jamaican iguana (''[[Cyclura collei]]''), and have been implicated in the historical population declines and extinctions of many others.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lewis|display-authors=etal|first=D.S.|date=May 2010|title=Conservation implications of small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus) predation in a hotspot within a hotspot: the Hellshire Hills, Jamaica|journal=Biological Invasions|volume=13|pages=25–33|doi=10.1007/s10530-010-9781-0|s2cid=42489556}}{{dead link|date=March 2019}}</ref>

Other wildlife species inhabiting the island include the West Indian manatee (''[[Trichechus manatus]]''), the American crocodile (''[[Crocodylus acutus]]''), and the endemic and endangered<ref name="Butterfly">{{Cite journal|last1=Lehnert|first1=Matthew S.|last2=Kramer|first2=Valerie R.|last3=Rawlins|first3=John E.|last4=Verdecia|first4=Vanessa|last5=Daniels|first5=Jaret C.|date=2017-07-10|title=Jamaica's Critically Endangered Butterfly: A Review of the Biology and Conservation Status of the Homerus Swallowtail (Papilio (Pterourus) homerus Fabricius)|journal=Insects|language=en|volume=8|issue=3|pages=68|doi=10.3390/insects8030068|pmid=28698508|pmc=5620688|doi-access=free}}</ref> Homerus swallowtail butterfly (''[[Papilio homerus]]''), which is the largest butterfly species in the Western Hemisphere.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lehnert|first=Matthew S.|date=2008|title=The population biology and ecology of the Homerus swallowtail, Papilio (Pterourus) homerus, in the Cockpit Country, Jamaica|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227006546|journal=Journal of Insect Conservation|volume=12|issue=2|pages=179–188|doi=10.1007/s10841-007-9103-8|s2cid=25263514}}</ref>