Indigenous (ecology)
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For other uses, see indigenous.
In ecology, an indigenous species is an organism which is native to a given region or ecosystem. Indigenous species contrast with introduced species. An introduced species, also known as a naturalized or exotic species, is an organism that is not indigenous to a given place, but has been transported there as a result of human activity.
An indigenous species is not necessarily endemic. In biology and ecology, endemic means exclusively native to the biota of a specific place. An indigenous species may occur in more than one locale.
The terms endemic and indigenous do not mean that an organism necessarily originated or evolved where it is found.
