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Gigarcanum
''Gigarcanum delcourti'', formerly ''Hoplodactylus delcourti'', commonly known as Delcourt’s giant gecko, is an extinct species of gecko in the family Diplodactylidae. It is the largest known of all geckos, with a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of and an overall length (including tail) of at least . It is only known from a single taxidermied specimen collected in the 19th century that was rediscovered unlabelled in a museum in France. The origin of the specimen was undocumented. While originally suggested to have been from New Zealand and the ''kawekaweau'' of Māori oral tradition, DNA evidence from the specimen suggests that it originates from New Caledonia. History According to the report of Major W. G. Mair in 1873, in 1870, a Māori chief said that he had killed a ''kawekaweau'' he found under the bark of a dead rātā tree in the Waimana Valley in Te Urewera on the North Island of New Zealand. This is the only documented report of anyone ever seeing a ''kawekaweau'' alive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diplodactylidae
The Diplodactylidae are a Family (biology), family in the suborder Gekkota (geckos), with over 150 species in 25 Genus, genera. These geckos occur in Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia. Diplodactylids are the most ecologically diverse and widespread family of geckos in both Australia and New Caledonia, and are the only family of geckos found in New Zealand. Three diplodactylid genera (''Oedura'', ''Rhacodactylus'', and ''Hoplodactylus'') have recently been split into multiple new genera. In previous classifications, the family Diplodactylidae is equivalent to the subfamily Diplodactylinae. Habitat Like other geckos, Diplodactylidae often live in warm areas that are around the temperature of . They mostly live in rain forests, up in the trees for protection. However, they are also found in cooler climates such as those found in southern New Zealand, where they have been found to be active in temperatures ranging from 1.4 to 31.9C. Reproduction Viviparity is notable as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhacodactylus Leachianus
''Rhacodactylus leachianus'', Common name, commonly known as the New Caledonian giant gecko, Leach's giant gecko, leachianus gecko, or Leachie, is the largest living species of gecko and a member of the family Diplodactylidae. It is native to most of New Caledonia. Taxonomy The Specific name (zoology), specific name, ''leachianus'', is in honor of English Zoology, zoologist William Elford Leach. Historically, there have been three recognized subspecies of ''R. leachianus'' (including the nominotypical subspecies): ''R. l. aubrianus'', ''R. l. henkeli'' (first described by species:Robert Seipp, Seipp and species:Fritz Jürgen Obst, Obst in 1994), and ''R. l. leachianus''. However, based on recent molecular data, no populations of ''R. leachianus'' are granted subspecies status at the present time. Instead, locality based morphotypes are used to distinguish populations of ''R. leachianus.'' Description ''R. leachianus'' is the largest Extant taxon, extant gecko in the world and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hoplodactylus
''Hoplodactylus'' is a genus of geckos in the Family (biology), family Diplodactylidae. The genus is Endemism, endemic to New Zealand, one of the seven Genus, genera of geckos found only in New Zealand. ''Hoplodactylus'' comprises two species of large to gigantic brownish lizards. Description Species in this genus (now split into several genera) tend to have rather dull colouration with little variation on a generally brown/grey theme, although mottled greens are seen in some species, notably the forest gecko (''Mokopirirakau granulatus''). The one exception to this rule of general drabness in colouration is the striking "herring boned" colour pattern of green, brown, black and white that is displayed by the "Harlequin Gecko" (''Tukutuku rakiurae''). Although generally species of this genus cannot compete with those of ''Naultinus'' in terms of their vivid and beautiful colouration, ''Hoplodactylus'' species do have the ability to subtly change their skin colour pattern to gi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lille Natural History Museum
Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, and the main city of the Métropole Européenne de Lille, European Metropolis of Lille. The city of Lille proper had a population of 236,234 in 2020 within its small municipal territory of , but together with its French suburbs and exurbs the Lille metropolitan area (French part only), which extends over , had a population of 1,515,061 that same year (January 2020 census), the fourth most populated in France after Paris, Lyon, and Marseille. The city of Lille and 94 suburban French municipalities have formed since 2015 the Métropole Européenne de Lille, European Metropolis of Lille, an Indirect election, indirectly elected Métropole, metropolitan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trevor Worthy
Trevor Henry Worthy (born 3 January 1957) is an Australia-based paleozoologist from New Zealand, known for his research on moa and other extinct vertebrates. Biography Worthy grew up in Broadwood, Northland, and went to Whangarei Boys' High School. He began his career as a largely self-taught palaeontologist, after becoming interested in fossils through caving. Worthy completed his BSc and MSc at the University of Waikato, then did a second Master's degree at Victoria University of Wellington. In 1987, Worthy described three new leiopelmatid frog species from cave subfossils: the Aurora frog ('' Leiopelma auroraensis''), Markham's frog (''Leiopelma markhami''), and the Waitomo frog (''Leiopelma waitomoensis''). In the 1990s, he discovered several fossil bird species new to science, including the long-billed wren (''Dendroscansor decurvirostris'') in 1991, Scarlett's shearwater (''Puffinus spelaeus'') in 1991, and the Niue night heron (''Nycticorax kalavikai'') in 199 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extinct Reptiles Of New Zealand
Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its last member. A taxon may become functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to reproduce and recover. As a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively. This difficulty leads to phenomena such as Lazarus taxa, where a species presumed extinct abruptly "reappears" (typically in the fossil record) after a period of apparent absence. Over five billion species are estimated to have died out. It is estimated that there are currently around 8.7 million species of eukaryotes globally, possibly many times more if microorganisms are included. Notable extinct animal species include non-avian dinosaurs, saber-toothed cats, and mammoths. Through evolution, species arise through the process of speciation. Species become extinct when they are no longer able to survive in changing conditions or against superio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viviparous
In animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the mother, with the maternal circulation providing for the metabolic needs of the embryo's development, until the mother gives birth to a fully or partially developed juvenile that is at least metabolically independent. This is opposed to oviparity, where the embryos develop independently outside the mother in eggs until they are developed enough to break out as hatchlings; and ovoviviparity, where the embryos are developed in eggs that remain carried inside the mother's body until the hatchlings emerge from the mother as juveniles, similar to a live birth. Etymology The term "viviparity" and its adjective form "viviparous" both derive from the Latin ''vivus'', meaning "living"; and ''pario'', meaning "give birth to". Reproductive mode Five modes of reproduction have been differentiated in animals based on relations between zygote and parents. The five include two nonviviparous modes: ovuliparity ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings known as hatchlings with little or no embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method used by most animal species, as opposed to viviparous animals that develop the embryos internally and metabolically dependent on the maternal circulation, until the mother gives birth to live juveniles. Ovoviviparity is a special form of oviparity where the eggs are retained inside the mother (but still metabolically independent), and are carried internally until they hatch and eventually emerge outside as well-developed juveniles similar to viviparous animals. Modes of reproduction The traditional modes of reproduction include oviparity, taken to be the ancestral condition, traditionally where either unfertilised oocytes or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nocturnality
Nocturnality is a behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed senses of hearing, smell, and specially adapted eyesight. Some animals, such as ferrets, have eyes that can adapt to both low-level and bright day levels of illumination (see metaturnal). Others, such as bushbabies and (some) bats, can function only at night. Many nocturnal creatures including tarsiers and some owls have large eyes in comparison with their body size to compensate for the lower light levels at night. More specifically, they have been found to have a larger cornea relative to their eye size than diurnal creatures to increase their : in the low-light conditions. Nocturnality helps wasps, such as ''Apoica flavissima'', avoid hunting in intense sunlight. Diurnal animals, including humans (except for ni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Specific Name (zoology)
In zoological nomenclature, the specific name (also specific epithet, species epithet, or epitheton) is the second part (the second name) within the scientific name of a species (a binomen). The first part of the name of a species is the name of the genus or the generic name. The rules and regulations governing the giving of a new species name are explained in the article species description. For example, the scientific name for humans is ''Homo sapiens'', which is the species name, consisting of two names: ''Homo'' is the " generic name" (the name of the genus) and ''sapiens'' is the "specific name". Etymology Historically, ''specific name'' referred to the combination of what are now called the generic and specific names. Carl Linnaeus, who formalized binomial nomenclature, made explicit distinctions between specific, generic, and trivial names. The generic name was that of the genus, the first in the binomial, the trivial name was the second name in the binomial, and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhacodactylus
''Rhacodactylus'' is a genus of medium to large geckos of the Family (biology), family Diplodactylidae. All species in this genus are found on the islands that make up New Caledonia. Genus characteristics include long limbs and toes with well-developed Lamella (zoology), lamellae. Some webbing occurs on the hind limbs and toes. ''Rhacodactylus'' possess prehensile tails which also have lamellae to assist in climbing. These are for the most part arboreal geckos. ''Rhacodactylus'' are nocturnal geckos. The species are oviparous, egg layers with the exception of ''Rhacodactylus trachyrhynchus'' and ''R. trachycephalus'' which gives Viviparity, live birth, a characteristic only otherwise found in New Zealand geckos. They also feed on lizards, more so than any of the family. ''Rhacodactylus'' geckos are sexually dimorphic, with the males possessing larger preanal pores than the females as well as a distinct hemipenis pocket. Males tend to be stockier than females with the excepti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
