faun-, fauni-, fauna-, -fauna

(Latin: animal; a collective name for the animals of a certain region or time)

infaunal (adjective), more infaunal, most infaunal
A reference to creatures that live within the bottom layer or substance of a body of water.
littoral fauna and flora (s) (noun, littoral faunas and floras (pl)
Animals and plants inhabiting the sea-shore and the shallow sea near the shore.
macrofauna (s) (noun), macrofaunas (pl)
1. Widely distributed animals.
2. Animals of a habitat that contains a variety of environments and ecological niches capable of supporting a wide range of animals.
3. In zoology, animals visible to the naked eye.
Animals that are large enough to be seen without a microscope are known as macrofauna.
Word Info image © Copyright, 2006.
marine littoral faunal region (s) (noun), marine littoral faunal regions (pl)
A division of the earth's surface which includes all marine animals: A marine littoral faunal region is a geographical area of the zoosphere incorporating the entire number of marine creatures.
megafauna (s) (noun), megafaunas (pl)
1. Large or relatively large animals, as of a particular region or period, considered as a group.
2. Creatures that had the dual virtues of being dramatically large and coexistent with prehistoric humans who hunted mammoths and mastodons.

American megafauna once included: mammoths, camels, giant short-faced bears, giant armadillos, stag moose, glyptodonts (resembling giant armadillos), saber-toothed cats, dire wolves (larger and having more massive skulls than modern wolves), giant ground sloths, and horses, among others.

—Compiled from information located in
"Lost Giants" by Joel Achenbach; National Geographic; October, 2010; pages 91-109.
meiofauna (s) (noun), meiofaunas (pl)
1. The smaller, invertebrate animals of sea bottoms.
2. In zoology, a classification of animals that are intermediate in size between those that can easily be seen with the naked eye (macrofauna) and those that are microscopic (microfauna).
mesofauna (s) (noun), mesofaunas (pl)
The organism size category between tiny animals and large animals which includes such ground-dwelling creatures as mites, some insects, and their larvae, and springtails (any of numerous minute wingless primitive insects possessing a special abdominal appendage that act as springs to catapult them through the air and presents a nearly perpetual springing pattern; found in soil rich in organic debris or on the surface of snow or water).
microfauna (s) (noun), microfaunas (pl)
1. Tiny animals which are not visible to the naked eye of humans.
2. A localized group of animals.
3. The animals of a microhabitat or a small, specialized, habitat.
microfaunal (adjective)
A reference to tiny animals; especially, those invisible to the naked eye.
piscifauna (s) (noun), piscifaunas (pl)
A collective term for the native fishes of any district or country; the fish-fauna.
psammofauna (s) (noun), psammofaunas (pl)
Those animals associated with a sandy substratum or living within a sandy area.

Related "animal" units: anima-; therio-; zoo-.