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Stresemann's Bushcrow
Stresemann's bushcrow (''Zavattariornis stresemanni''), also known as the Abyssinian pie, bush crow, Ethiopian bushcrow, or by its generic name ''Zavattariornis'', is a rather starling-like bird, which is currently thought to be member of the crow family, Corvidae, though this is uncertain. It is slightly larger than the North American blue jay and is a bluish-grey in overall colour which becomes almost white on the forehead. The throat and chest are creamy-white with the tail and wings a glossy black. The black feathers have a tendency to bleach to brown at their tips. The iris of the bird is brown and the eye is surrounded by a band of naked bright blue skin. The bill, legs, and feet are black. Feeding is usually in small groups and the bird takes mainly insects. Breeding usually starts in March, with the birds building their nest high in an acacia tree. The birds usually lay five to six cream eggs with lilac blotches. The nest itself is globular in shape with a tubular entran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yabello Wildlife Sanctuary
Yabelo Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area and wildlife sanctuary in southern Ethiopia. It is located in the Borena Zone of the Oromia Region west of the town of Yabelo, having an area of 2,500 square kilometers and elevations ranging from 1430 to 2000 meters above sea level. The wildlife sanctuary borders on Borana National Park to the south. Ecology Flora The area of the sanctuary is notable for its red soils which have little organic matter. The general vegetation-type is '' Acacia'' savanna, the major trees being '' A. drepanolobium'' on black cotton soil, and '' A. brevispica'' and '' A. horrida'' on the slopes. There are also patches of ''Balanites aegyptiaca'', and several species of ''Commiphora'' and ''Terminalia'' at the lower altitudes. The higher parts of the hills were formerly covered with forest dominated by ''Juniperus procera'' and '' Olea europaea cuspidata''. Fauna Burchell's zebras are known to be abundant within the sanctuary along with small popul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Family (biology)
Family ( la, familia, plural ') is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between order and genus. A family may be divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae, but that family is commonly referred to as the "walnut family". What belongs to a family—or if a described family should be recognized at all—are proposed and determined by practicing taxonomists. There are no hard rules for describing or recognizing a family, but in plants, they can be characterized on the basis of both vegetative and reproductive features of plant species. Taxonomists often take different positions about descriptions, and there may be no broad consensus across the scientific community for some time. The publishing of new data and opin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic Species
Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example '' Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. '' Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sexually Dimorphic
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most animals and some plants. Differences may include secondary sex characteristics, size, weight, colour, markings, or behavioural or cognitive traits. These differences may be subtle or exaggerated and may be subjected to sexual selection and natural selection. The opposite of dimorphism is ''monomorphism'', which is when both biological sexes are phenotypically indistinguishable from each other. Overview Ornamentation and coloration Common and easily identified types of dimorphism consist of ornamentation and coloration, though not always apparent. A difference in coloration of sexes within a given species is called sexual dichromatism, which is commonly seen in many species of birds and reptiles. Sexual selection leads to the exaggerated d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ornithologist
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds. It has also been an area with a large contribution made by amateurs in terms of time, resources, and financial support. Studies on birds have helped develop key concepts in biology including evolution, behaviour and ecology such as the definition of species, the process of speciation, instinct, learning, ecological niches, guilds, island biogeography, phylogeography, and conservation. While early ornithology was principally concerned with descriptions and distributions of species, ornithologists today seek answers to very specific questions, often using birds as models to test hypotheses or predictions based on theories. Most modern biological theories apply across life forms, and the number of scientists ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erwin Stresemann
Erwin Friedrich Theodor Stresemann (22 November 1889, in Dresden – 20 November 1972, in East Berlin) was a German naturalist and ornithologist. Stresemann was an ornithologist of extensive breadth who compiled one of the first and most comprehensive accounts of avian biology of its time as part of the ''Handbuch der Zoologie'' (Handbook of Zoology). In the process of his studies on birds, he also produced one of the most extensive historical accounts on the development of the science of ornithology. He influenced numerous ornithologists around him and oversaw the development of ornithology in Germany as editor of the ''Journal für Ornithologie''. He also took an interest in poetry, philosophy and linguistics. He published a monograph on the Paulohi language based on studies made during his ornithological expedition to the Indonesian island. Early life Stresemann was born in Dresden to Richard, an apothecary and Marie. His grandfather Theodor owned the ''Zum Roten Adler'' ph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edoardo Zavattari
Edoardo Zavattari (21 October 1883, Tortona – 17 February 1972) (born 21 October 1883 in Tortona, in the province of Alexandria, in Piedmont and died on 17 February 1972 in Genoa) was an Italian zoologist who was a director at the Institute of Zoology in the Sapienza University of Rome from 1935 to 1953. He supported fascism and anti-semitism on the basis of his ideas from biology and was a signatory to the " Manifesto della Razza". Biography His first academic role was as a professor at the University of Pavia and then at the University of Rome, Edoardo Zavattari was the author of more than 300 scientific publications. Between 1926 and 1959, he made several expeditions, visiting all the continents for research, in particular in the North-Eastern Africa. The specimens he collected, were placed into 122 packages, two of which are now part of the collection of the ''Museo Civico di Zoologia'' in Rome. In particular, he published ''Prodromo della fauna della Libia'' (1934). While h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Relict (biology)
In biogeography and paleontology, a relict is a population or taxon of organisms that was more widespread or more diverse in the past. A relictual population is a population currently inhabiting a restricted area whose range was far wider during a previous geologic epoch. Similarly, a relictual taxon is a taxon (e.g. species or other lineage) which is the sole surviving representative of a formerly diverse group. Definition A relict (or relic) plant or animal is a taxon that persists as a remnant of what was once a diverse and widespread population. Relictualism occurs when a widespread habitat or range changes and a small area becomes cut off from the whole. A subset of the population is then confined to the available hospitable area, and survives there while the broader population either shrinks or evolves divergently. This phenomenon differs from endemism in that the range of the population was not always restricted to the local region. In other words, the species or grou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piapiac
The piapiac (''Ptilostomus afer'') is an African bird in the crow family, and is the only member of the genus ''Ptilostomus''. According to recent findings, it is most closely related to the Central Asian ground jays. Taxonomy In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the piapiac in his ''Ornithologie'' based on a specimen collected in Senegal. He used the French name ''La pie du Sénégal'' and the Latin ''Pica Senegalensis''. The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his '' Systema Naturae'' for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the piapiac. Linnaeus included a brie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pica (genus)
''Pica'' is the genus of seven species of birds in the family Corvidae in both the New World and the Old. They have long tails and have predominantly black and white markings. One species ranges widely from Europe through Asia, one occurs in western North America, one is restricted to California, one is restricted to southwestern Saudi Arabia, and one occurs across North Africa; the last two are often considered subspecies of the Eurasian. They were previously considered closely related to the blue and green magpies of Asia, but recent research suggests their closest relatives are instead the Eurasian crows. Taxonomy The genus ''Pica'' was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. He derived the name by tautonymy from the specific epithet of the Eurasian magpie ''Corvus pica'' introduced by Linnaeus in 1758. ''Pica'' is the Latin word for the Eurasian magpie. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2018 found that the Eurasian magpie consisted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ground Jay
The ground jays or ground choughs belong to a distinct group of the passerine order of birds in the genus ''Podoces'' of the crow family Corvidae. They inhabit high altitude semi-desert areas from central Asia to Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million .... Ground jays show adaptations to ground living such as long, strong legs adapted to fast running and the ability to leap and bound onto boulders and rocks with great agility. Their long, curved thick bills are adapted for digging and probing. While capable of flight (which they do infrequently and relatively weakly), they prefer running, and will readily perch on trees and bushes also. Species list The ground tit (''Pseudopodoces humilis''), previously Hume's ground jay, has changed its placement within th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wattled Starling
The wattled starling (''Creatophora cinerea'') is a nomadic resident bird in eastern and southern Africa. It is a species of grassland, open woodland, and cultivation. This is the only African starling that appears to show affinities with the Asian starlings, particularly the genus ''Sturnus''. Its bare face patches and ability to open-bill feed in grassland are unique amongst African starlings. It is the only member of the genus ''Creatophora''. This common species appears to be extending its range into West Africa and has also occurred in Arabia, Madagascar, and Seychelles. Description The wattled starling is 21 cm long, with a short tail and pointed wings. It has mainly grey plumage except for a white rump, and black flight feathers and tail. The breeding male has a white shoulder patch and a distinctive head pattern, with unfeathered yellow skin, and black forehead and throat wattles. The extent to which these seasonal features develop increases with the age of the bir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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