Hotspots, which have played a central role in the selection of sites for reserves, require
careful rethinking. We carried out a global examination of distributions of all nonmarine
mammals to determine patterns of species richness, endemism, and endangerment, and to
evaluate the degree of congruence among hotspots of these three measures of diversity in
mammals. We then compare congruence of hotspots in two animal groups (mammals and
birds) to assess the generality of these patterns. We defined hotspots as the richest 2.5% of …