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Rhynchocyon Udzungwensis - StylizedPhylo
''Rhynchocyon'' is a genus of elephant shrew (or sengi) in the family Macroscelididae. Members of this genus are known colloquially as giant sengis. They are a ground-dwelling mammal, significantly larger than their relatives in the order Macroscelidea that live primarily in dense forests across eastern Africa. Habitats range from eastern Africa's coastal forests, Rift Valley highlands, and the Congo basin. The species is widely threatened, with two of four assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species. Habitat fragmentation from the growth of human settlements and activities are the primary threats to their populations. The genus contains the following five species and several subspecies: * Golden-rumped sengi, ''Rhynchocyon chrysopygus'' **''Rhynchocyon chrysopygus mandelai'' * Chequered sengi, ''Rhynchocyon cirnei'' **''Rhynchocyon cirnei shirensis'' **''Rhynchocyon cirnei reichardi'' **''Rhynchocyon cirnei hendersoni'' **''R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhynchocyon Petersi
The black and rufous sengi (''Rhynchocyon petersi''), the black and rufous elephant shrew, or the Zanj elephant shrew is one of the 17 species of elephant shrew found only in Africa. It is native to the lowland Montane ecosystems, montane and dense forests of Kenya and Tanzania. Like other members of the genus ''Rhynchocyon'', it is a relatively large species, with adults averaging about in length and in weight. Distribution and habitat The forests of the Eastern Arc Mountains are critical habitats for ''R. petersi''. The Chome Forest Reserve in Tanzania is an isolated, and largely undisturbed, habitat for the shrews. Populations densities in the Chome area are significantly lower than the surrounding areas, home to approximately 2700 ''R. petersi'', and is thought to be the result of restricted migration and illegal human activity. It was once listed by the IUCN Red List as vulnerable, but has since been changed to a status of least concern. However, its numbers are reportedly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thermoregulation
Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different. A thermoconforming organism, by contrast, simply adopts the surrounding temperature as its own body temperature, thus avoiding the need for internal thermoregulation. The internal thermoregulation process is one aspect of homeostasis: a state of dynamic stability in an organism's internal conditions, maintained far from thermal equilibrium with its environment (the study of such processes in zoology has been called physiological ecology). If the body is unable to maintain a normal human body temperature, normal temperature and it increases significantly above normal, a condition known as hyperthermia occurs. Humans may also experience lethal hyperthermia when the wet bulb temperature is sustained above for six hours. Work in 2022 established by experiment that a wet-bulb temperature exceeding 30.55°C caused uncompensab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sunning (behaviour)
Sunning or basking, sometimes also known as sunbathing, is a thermoregulatory or comfort behaviour used by humans and animals, especially birds, reptiles, and insects, to help raise their body temperature, reduce the energy needed for temperature maintenance or to provide comfort. They may also have additional functions of ridding animals of ectoparasites, bacteria, or excess moisture. Birds Birds adopt special postures when sunning, these may include spreading out their feathers, flattening their body on soil, showing either their upper parts to the Sun or facing the Sun. Some authors separate the behaviours into sun-basking and sun-exposure the former term used when the behaviour is strictly thermoregulatory in function while the latter term may be more appropriate if the behaviour serves functions other than raising body temperature. In some species, the sunbathing posture is adopted in very hot weather and the birds sometimes stay in close contact with hot soil. Birds may ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plant Litter
Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituent nutrients are added to the top layer of soil, commonly known as the litter layer or O-horizon ("O" for "organic"). Litter is an important factor in ecosystem dynamics, as it is indicative of ecological productivity and may be useful in predicting regional nutrient cycling and soil fertility. Characteristics and variability Litterfall is characterized as fresh, undecomposed, and easily recognizable (by species and type) plant debris. This can be anything from leaves, cones, needles, twigs, bark, seeds/nuts, logs, or reproductive organs (e.g. the stamen of flowering plants). Items larger than 2 cm diameter are referred to as coarse litter, while anything smaller is referred to as fine litter or litter. The type of litterfall is most ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diurnality
Diurnality is a form of plant and ethology, animal behavior characterized by activity during daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The common adjective used for daytime activity is "diurnal". The timing of activity by an animal depends on a variety of environmental factors such as the temperature, the ability to gather food by sight, the risk of predation, and the time of year. Diurnality is a cycle of activity within a 24-hour period; cyclic activities called circadian rhythms are endogenous cycles not dependent on external cues or environmental factors except for a zeitgeber. Animals active during twilight are crepuscular, those active during the night are nocturnal and animals active at sporadic times during both night and day are cathemerality, cathemeral. Plants that open their flowers during the daytime are described as diurnal, while those that bloom during nighttime are nocturnal. The timing of flower opening is often related to the time at whic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montane Ecosystems
Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial factor in shaping plant community, biodiversity, metabolic processes and ecosystem dynamics for montane ecosystems. Dense montane forests are common at moderate elevations, due to moderate temperatures and high rainfall. At higher elevations, the climate is harsher, with lower temperatures and higher winds, preventing the growth of trees and causing the plant community to transition to montane grasslands and shrublands or alpine tundra. Due to the unique climate conditions of montane ecosystems, they contain increased numbers of endemic species. Montane ecosystems also exhibit variation in ecosystem services, which include carbon storage and water supply. Life zones As elevation increases, the alpine climate, climate becomes co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or, in scientific literature, as an ''endemite''. Similarly, many species found in the Western ghats of India are examples of endemism. Endemism is an important concept in conservation biology for measuring biodiversity in a particular place and evaluating the risk of extinction for species. Endemism is also of interest in evolutionary biology, because it provides clues about how changes in the environment cause species to undergo range shifts (potentially expanding their range into a larger area or bec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhynchocyon Petersi - StylizedPhylo
''Rhynchocyon'' is a genus of elephant shrew (or sengi) in the family Macroscelididae. Members of this genus are known colloquially as giant sengis. They are a ground-dwelling mammal, significantly larger than their relatives in the order Macroscelidea that live primarily in dense forests across eastern Africa. Habitats range from eastern Coastal forests of eastern Africa, Africa's coastal forests, East African Rift, Rift Valley highlands, and the Congo Basin, Congo basin. The species is widely threatened, with two of four assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species. Habitat fragmentation from the growth of human settlements and activities are the primary threats to their populations. The genus contains the following five species and several subspecies: *Golden-rumped sengi, ''Rhynchocyon chrysopygus'' **''Rhynchocyon chrysopygus mandelai'' *Chequered sengi, ''Rhynchocyon cirnei'' **''Rhynchocyon cirnei shirensis'' **''Rhynchocyon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhynchocyon Udzungwensis - StylizedPhylo
''Rhynchocyon'' is a genus of elephant shrew (or sengi) in the family Macroscelididae. Members of this genus are known colloquially as giant sengis. They are a ground-dwelling mammal, significantly larger than their relatives in the order Macroscelidea that live primarily in dense forests across eastern Africa. Habitats range from eastern Africa's coastal forests, Rift Valley highlands, and the Congo basin. The species is widely threatened, with two of four assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species. Habitat fragmentation from the growth of human settlements and activities are the primary threats to their populations. The genus contains the following five species and several subspecies: * Golden-rumped sengi, ''Rhynchocyon chrysopygus'' **''Rhynchocyon chrysopygus mandelai'' * Chequered sengi, ''Rhynchocyon cirnei'' **''Rhynchocyon cirnei shirensis'' **''Rhynchocyon cirnei reichardi'' **''Rhynchocyon cirnei hendersoni'' **''R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
