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Bairdops
''Bairdops'' is an extinct genus of mantis shrimp that lived during the Early Carboniferous period in what is now Scotland and the United States. Two named species are currently assigned to it. The type species, ''B. elegans'', has been collected from several Dinantian-aged localities in Scotland, and was first described in 1908 by British geologist Ben Peach as a species of ''Perimecturus''. The Generic name (biology), generic name was coined decades later in 1979 by American paleontologist Frederick Schram, and honors William Baird (physician), William Baird. A later species, ''B. beargulchensis'', was named in 1978 after the Serpukhovian-aged Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana where it was discovered. The two species were originally deemed close relatives based on their physical similarities, but several cladistic analyses published since 1998 have suggested the genus may be polyphyletic. A carnivore like all mantis shrimps, ''Bairdops'' handled food with its raptorial thoracic ap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perimecturus
''Perimecturus'' is an extinct genus of mantis shrimp that lived during the Early Carboniferous period in what is now Scotland and the United States. The first known specimens were collected near the River Esk, Dumfries and Galloway, River Esk in Glencartholm, Scotland, and the genus was named in 1908 by Ben Peach, making it the second genus of Paleozoic mantis shrimp to be described (only after ''Archaeocaris''). While many species have been classified in the genus since then, taxonomic revisions in the late 20th and 21st centuries have reassigned most of these to different genera, leaving two named species currently assigned to this genus. The type species, ''P. parki'', was first named in 1882 as a species of ''Anthrapalaemon'' and is known from the Viséan-aged Glencartholm Volcanic Beds of Scotland. Fossils of a later species, ''P. rapax'', have been found in the Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana and were first described by Frederick Schram. Unlike other Paleozoic mantis shrimp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bear Gulch Limestone
The Bear Gulch Limestone is a limestone-rich geological lens in central Montana, renowned for the quality of its late Mississippian-aged fossils. It is exposed over a number of outcrops northeast of the Big Snowy Mountains, and is often considered a component of the more widespread Heath Formation. The Bear Gulch Limestone reconstructs a diverse, though isolated, marine ecosystem which developed near the end of the Serpukhovian age. It is a lagerstätte, a particular type of rock unit with exceptional fossil preservation of both articulated skeletons and soft tissues. Bear Gulch fossils include a variety of fish, invertebrates, and algae occupying a number of different habitats within a preserved shallow bay. Fish include a high diversity of unusual chondrichthyans (cartilaginous fish) and one of the oldest known lampreys, along with other vertebrates. Invertebrates include numerous fossils of crustaceans, worms, cephalopods, and sea sponges, which are concentrated in different ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scavenger
Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding behavior. Scavengers play an important role in the ecosystem by consuming dead animal and plant material. ''Decomposers'' and detritivores complete this process, by consuming the remains left by scavengers. Scavengers aid in overcoming fluctuations of food resources in the environment. The process and rate of scavenging is affected by both biotic and abiotic factors, such as carcass size, habitat, temperature, and seasons. Etymology Scavenger is an alteration of ''scavager,'' from Middle English ''skawager'' meaning " customs collector", from ''skawage'' meaning "customs", from Old North French ''escauwage'' meaning "inspection", from ''schauwer'' meaning "to inspect", of Germanic origin; akin to Old English ''scēawian'' and German ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glencartholm
Glencartholm is a location in Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland, along the River Esk. The Glencartholm Volcanic Beds contain a Palaeozoic (specifically Carboniferous) fossil fish site of international importance. Discovered in 1879, most of the fossils were removed during the 1930s, but in the 1990s a further site east, named Mumbie, was excavated. This led to the identification of further fish beds, where over 200 specimens of ray-finned fish were collected, including one possible new species There is also a farmhouse known as Glencartholm, or Glencartholm Farmhouse, which is a listed building in the parish of Canonbie, not far from the border with England, and near Glencartholm Wood. The farm has an inscription celebrating the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Esk, Dumfries And Galloway
The River Esk ( gd, Easg), also known as the Border Esk, is a river in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, that enters the English county of Cumbria and flows into the Solway Firth. Course The river rises in the hills to the east of Moffat and its two main tributaries, the Black Esk and the White Esk, merge at the southern end of Castle O'er Forest. It flows south east through Eskdale past Langholm. Near Langholm the river is crossed by the Duchess Bridge which is said to be the oldest iron bridge in Scotland. The Esk merges with Liddel Water (which defines the border between Scotland and England. Before passing Longtown the river enters England and merges with the River Lyne and enters the Solway Firth near the mouth of the River Eden. It was formerly one of the boundaries of the Debatable Lands as marked by the Scots' Dike. Tributaries The various tributaries of the Esk are described proceeding downstream. The White Esk arises as the Glendearg and Tomleuchar burns m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stomatopod
Mantis shrimp, or stomatopods, are carnivorous marine crustaceans of the order Stomatopoda (). Stomatopods branched off from other members of the class Malacostraca around 340 million years ago. Mantis shrimp typically grow to around in length, while a few can reach up to . A mantis shrimp's carapace (the hard, thick shell that covers crustaceans and some other species) covers only the rear part of the head and the first four segments of the thorax. Varieties range in colour from shades of brown to vivid colours, with more than 450 species of mantis shrimp known. They are among the most important predators in many shallow, tropical and subtropical marine habitats. However, despite being common, they are poorly understood, as many species spend most of their lives sheltering in burrows and holes. Called "sea locusts" by ancient Assyrians, "prawn killers" in Australia, and now sometimes referred to as "thumb splitters"—because of the animal's ability to inflict painful wound ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscillation of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) between its limits to the north and south of the equator. Usually, the term monsoon is used to refer to the rainy phase of a seasonally changing pattern, although technically there is also a dry phase. The term is also sometimes used to describe locally heavy but short-term rains. The major monsoon systems of the world consist of the West African, Asia–Australian, the North American, and South American monsoons. The term was first used in English in British India and neighboring countries to refer to the big seasonal winds blowing from the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea in the southwest bringing heavy rainfall to the area. Etymology The etymology of the word monsoon is not w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equator
The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can also be used for any other celestial body that is roughly spherical. In spatial (3D) geometry, as applied in astronomy, the equator of a rotating spheroid (such as a planet) is the parallel (circle of latitude) at which latitude is defined to be 0°. It is an imaginary line on the spheroid, equidistant from its poles, dividing it into northern and southern hemispheres. In other words, it is the intersection of the spheroid with the plane perpendicular to its axis of rotation and midway between its geographical poles. On and near the equator (on Earth), noontime sunlight appears almost directly overhead (no more than about 23° from the zenith) every day, year-round. Consequently, the equator has a rather stable daytime temperature ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salinity
Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal to ‰). Salinity is an important factor in determining many aspects of the chemistry of natural waters and of biological processes within it, and is a thermodynamic state variable that, along with temperature and pressure, governs physical characteristics like the density and heat capacity of the water. A contour line of constant salinity is called an ''isohaline'', or sometimes ''isohale''. Definitions Salinity in rivers, lakes, and the ocean is conceptually simple, but technically challenging to define and measure precisely. Conceptually the salinity is the quantity of dissolved salt content of the water. Salts are compounds like sodium chloride, magnesium sulfate, potassium nitrate, and sodium bicarbonate which dissolve into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brackish Water
Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers. The word comes from the Middle Dutch root '' brak''. Certain human activities can produce brackish water, in particular civil engineering projects such as dikes and the flooding of coastal marshland to produce brackish water pools for freshwater prawn farming. Brackish water is also the primary waste product of the salinity gradient power process. Because brackish water is hostile to the growth of most terrestrial plant species, without appropriate management it is damaging to the environment (see article on shrimp farms). Technically, brackish water contains between 0.5 and 30 grams of salt per litre—more often expressed as 0.5 to 30 parts per thousand (‰), which is a specific ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marine Environments
Marine habitats are habitats that support marine life. Marine life depends in some way on the saltwater that is in the sea (the term ''marine'' comes from the Latin ''mare'', meaning sea or ocean). A habitat is an ecological or environmental area inhabited by one or more living species.Abercrombie, M., Hickman, C.J. and Johnson, M.L. 1966.''A Dictionary of Biology.'' Penguin Reference Books, London The marine environment supports many kinds of these habitats. Marine habitats can be divided into coastal and open ocean habitats. Coastal habitats are found in the area that extends from as far as the tide comes in on the shoreline out to the edge of the continental shelf. Most marine life is found in coastal habitats, even though the shelf area occupies only seven percent of the total ocean area. Open ocean habitats are found in the deep ocean beyond the edge of the continental shelf. Alternatively, marine habitats can be divided into pelagic and demersal zones. Pelagic habitats ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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