Clermont'S Spleenwort vs Lǎohǔ

Asplenium clermontiae compared with Panthera tigris

Key Differences

Clermont'S Spleenwort is Extinct while Lǎohǔ is Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Clermont'S Spleenwort	Lǎohǔ
Kingdom	Plantae (植物)	Animalia (动物界)
Phylum	Tracheophyta	Chordata (脊索动物门)
Class	Polypodiopsida (水龍骨綱)	Mammalia (哺乳動物)
Order	Polypodiales (水龙骨目)	Carnivora (食肉目)
Family	Aspleniaceae	Felidae (Cats)
Genus	Asplenium	Panthera (Big Cats)
Species	Asplenium clermontiae	Panthera tigris

Conservation Status

Clermont'S Spleenwort

EX — Extinct

Lǎohǔ

EN — Endangered

Population: ~4.5K

Trend: Increasing ↑

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Clermont'S Spleenwort	Lǎohǔ
Diet	—	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	—	20 years
Average Length	—	3.0 m
Average Weight	—	220.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Clermont'S Spleenwort

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Found in United States.

Lǎohǔ

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 6 distinct biome types spanning the Neotropic and Oceanian realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Colombia and Ecuador. Currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Clermont'S Spleenwort

Clermont's Spleenwort, Asplenium clermontiae, is a small fern in the family Aspleniaceae with a very restricted distribution in the Indian Ocean islands, believed to occur in the Mascarene archipelago. The genus Asplenium, the spleenworts, is one of the largest and most diverse fern genera globally, with species adapted to rock faces, tree bark, and moist forest floors across tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions. Clermont's Spleenwort, like many island-endemic Asplenium species, likely grows epiphytically on tree trunks or lithophytically on humid rock faces in montane forest, protected from the desiccating conditions of lower elevations. Island endemic ferns in the Mascarenes face severe threats from habitat loss driven by agricultural conversion, invasive plant species that alter forest structure, and introduced herbivores that destroy forest understory vegetation. Many spleenwort species have very small total populations confined to remnant forest patches. Asplenium clermontiae is considered rare and potentially threatened, though formal assessment data on its exact population size and trend are limited. Conservation of the species depends on the protection and restoration of humid forest habitats on the islands where it occurs.