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Blue-bellied Roller
The blue-bellied roller (''Coracias cyanogaster'') is a member of the Coraciidae, roller family of birds which breeds across Africa in a narrow belt from Senegal to northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is resident, apart from some local seasonal movements, in mature moist savannah dominated by ''Isoberlinia'' trees. Taxonomy The blue-bellied roller was given the binomial name ''Coracias cyanogaster'' in 1816 by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier based on "Le Rollier à ventre bleu" that had been described and illustrated by François Levaillant in 1806. The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek ''kuanos'' meaning "dark-blue" with ''gastēr'' meaning "belly". Levaillant mistaken believed that the specimen had been collected on the island of Java. The species is resident in West-Africa and the type location (biology), type location was later designated as Senegal. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. Description The blue-bellied roller is a l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georges Cuvier
Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier was a major figure in natural sciences research in the early 19th century and was instrumental in establishing the fields of comparative anatomy and paleontology through his work in comparing living animals with fossils. Cuvier's work is considered the foundation of vertebrate paleontology, and he expanded Linnaean taxonomy by grouping classes into phylum, phyla and incorporating both fossils and living species into the classification. Cuvier is also known for establishing extinction as a fact—at the time, extinction was considered by many of Cuvier's contemporaries to be merely controversial speculation. In his ''Essay on the Theory of the Earth'' (1813) Cuvier proposed that now-extinct species had been wiped out by periodic catastr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds Of Central Africa
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the bee hummingbird to the common ostrich. There are over 11,000 living species and they are split into 44 orders. More than half are passerine or "perching" birds. Birds have wings whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which are modified forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have furth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coracias
''Coracias'' is a genus of the rollers, an Old World family of near passerine birds related to the kingfishers and bee-eaters. They share the colourful appearance of those groups, blues and browns predominating. The two outer front toes are connected, but not the inner one. Taxonomy The genus ''Coracias'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''korakías'' (), derived from ''korax'' (, ‘raven, crow’). Aristotle described the ''coracias'' as a bird as big as a crow with a red beak, which some believe to be the chough. The type species was designated as the European roller (''Coracias garrulus'') by George Robert Gray in 1855. Species Nine species are recognized: Former species Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus ''Coracias'': * Olive-backed oriole (as ''Coracias sagi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joka, Kolkata
Joka is a locality in South Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It is a part of greater Behala region. This place is mostly known for Indian Institute of Management Calcutta and ESIC Medical College and Hospital. Administration Joka and part of Pailan-Daulatpur (adjoining area of Joka) are a part of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The area is under jurisdiction of the Haridevpur Police Station and Thakurpukur Police Station of South West Division (Behala Division) of Kolkata Police. Geography Joka is bordered by Thakurpukur to the north, Pailan to the south, Asuti Maheshtala to the west and Nepalgunge, Rania to the East. Joka composed of many small areas like Diamond Park, Nabapally, 22 Bigha, Yani Sarani, Check Post, Sri Bardhan Pally, Bardhan Pally, Hanspukur, Rasapunjo, Kalua, Sonar Bangla etc. Demographics As per 2011 Census of India Joka had a total population of 9,302, of which 4,645 (50%) were males and 4,657 (50%) were females. Population below 6 years was 763. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological species. A series of Regional Red Lists, which assess the risk of extinction to species within a political management unit, are also produced by countries and organizations. The goals of the Red List are to provide scientifically based information on the status of species and subspecies at a global level, to draw attention to the magnitude and importance of threatened biodiversity, to influence national and international policy and decision-making, and to provide information to guide actions to conserve biological diversity. Major species assessors include BirdLife International, the Institute of Zoology (the research division of the Zoological Society of London), the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, and many Specialist Groups w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Least-concern Species
A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. They do not qualify as threatened, near threatened, or (before 2001) conservation dependent. Species cannot be assigned the "Least Concern" category unless they have had their population status evaluated. That is, adequate information is needed to make a direct, or indirect, assessment of its risk of extinction based on its distribution or population status. Evaluation Since 2001 the category has had the abbreviation "LC", following the IUCN 2001 Categories & Criteria (version 3.1). Before 2001 "least concern" was a subcategory of the " Lower Risk" category and assigned the code "LR/lc" or lc. Around 20% of least concern taxa (3261 of 15,636) in the IUCN database still use the code "LR/lc", which indicates they have not been re- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Lapwing
The northern lapwing (''Vanellus vanellus''), also known as the peewit or pewit, tuit or tewit, green plover, or (in Ireland and Great Britain) pyewipe or just lapwing, is a bird in the lapwing subfamily. It is common through temperate Palearctic, Eurosiberia. Taxonomy The northern lapwing was Species description, formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial nomenclature, binomial name ''Tringa vanellus''. The species is now placed with the other lapwings in the genus ''Vanellus'' that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The scientific name ''Vanellus'' is Medieval Latin for the northern lapwing and derives from ''vannus'', a Winnowing#In Greek culture, winnowing fan. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. The name ''lapwing'' has been variously attributed to the "lapping" sound its wings make in flight, f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shrike
Shrikes () are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 34 species in two genera. The family name, and that of the larger genus, '' Lanius'', is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also known as butcherbirds because of the habit, particularly of males, of impaling prey onto plant spines within their territories. These larders have multiple functions, attracting females and serving as food stores. The common English name shrike is from Old English , alluding to the shrike's shriek-like call. Taxonomy The family Laniidae was introduced (as the subfamily Lanidia) in 1815 by the French polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque. The type genus '' Lanius'' had been introduced by Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of nam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jackdaw
Jackdaws are two species of bird in the genus ''Coloeus'' closely related to, but generally smaller than, crows and ravens ('' Corvus''). They have a blackish crown, wings, and tail, with the rest of their plumage paler.Madge & Burn (1994) 136–138. The word ''Coloeus'' is Neo-Latin, from the Ancient Greek for jackdaws: ' (). They come from Asia, Europe, Africa and Siberia (the one not in Asia?). Taxonomy While some authors consider ''Coloeus'' a subgenus of ''Corvus'', others have classified ''Coloeus'' as a distinct genus in the family Corvidae. Following '' Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide'', the International Ornithological Congress has also reassigned the two Jackdaw species from the genus ''Corvus'' to the genus ''Coloeus''. Species The eastern species is smaller than the western jackdaw, and in eastern adults, the pale areas of the plumage are almost white, whereas in the western bird, these areas are pale grey. The iris is pale in western jackdaw and dark ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coraciidae
Coraciidae () is a family of Old World birds, which are known as rollers because of the aerial acrobatics some of these birds perform during courtship or territorial flights. The family contains 13 species and is divided into two genera. Rollers resemble crows in size and build, and share the colourful appearance of kingfishers and bee-eaters, blues and pinkish or cinnamon browns predominating. The two inner front toes are connected, but not the outer one. They are mainly insect eaters, with ''Eurystomus'' species taking their prey on the wing, and those of the genus ''Coracias'' diving from a perch to catch food items from on the ground, like giant shrikes. Although living rollers are birds of warm climates in the Old World, fossil records show that rollers were present in North America during the Eocene. They are monogamous and nest in an unlined hole in a tree or in masonry, and lay 2–4 eggs in the tropics, 3–6 at higher latitudes. The eggs, which are white, hatch after 17 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
