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Blue Waxbill
The blue waxbill (''Uraeginthus angolensis''), also called southern blue waxbill, blue-breasted waxbill, southern cordon-bleu, blue-cheeked cordon-bleu, blue-breasted cordon-bleu and Angola cordon-bleu, is a common species of estrildid finch found in Southern Africa. It is also relatively commonly kept as an aviary bird. Taxonomy The blue waxbill was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Fringilla angolensis''. Linnaeus based his description on the "Blue-Belly'd Finch" that had been described and illustrated in 1750 by the English naturalist George Edwards in his ''A Natural History of Uncommon Birds''. Edwards had viewed a caged bird in London that had come from Angola. This species is now placed in the genus ''Uraeginthus'' that was introduced by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1851. Three subspecies are recognised: * ''U. a. angolensis'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – Sã ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms. He is known as the "father of modern taxonomy". Many of his writings were in Latin; his name is rendered in Latin as and, after his 1761 ennoblement, as . Linnaeus was born in Råshult, the countryside of Småland, in southern Sweden. He received most of his higher education at Uppsala University and began giving lectures in botany there in 1730. He lived abroad between 1735 and 1738, where he studied and also published the first edition of his ' in the Netherlands. He then returned to Sweden where he became professor of medicine and botany at Uppsala. In the 1740s, he was sent on several journeys through Sweden to find and classify plants and animals. In the 1750s and 1760s, he continued to coll ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania. According to the United Nations, Tanzania has a population of million, making it the most populous country located entirely south of the equator. Many important hominid fossils have been found in Tanzania, such as 6-million-year-old Pliocene hominid fossils. The genus Australopithecus ranged across Africa between 4 and 2 million years ago, and the oldest remains of the genus '' Homo'' are found near Lake Olduvai. Following the rise of ''Homo erectus'' 1.8 million years ago, humanity sprea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boscia Albitrunca
''Boscia albitrunca'', commonly known as the shepherd tree or shepherd's tree ( af, Witgat, st, Mohlôpi, tn, Motlôpi, ve, Muvhombwe, xh, Umgqomogqomo, zu, Umvithi), is a protected tree in South Africa. The species epithet "albitrunca" refers to the oftentimes white trunk. Traditionally, the shepherd tree was used by Dutch settlers, "boers", to create a variant of coffee that is derived from the roots of the tree. It is an evergreen tree native to southern and tropical Africa, living in the hot, dry, and often brackish low-lying areas, sometimes on abundant lime or occasionally found in rocky terrain. It is a common tree of the Kalahari, bushveld and lowveld. It is one of the most important forage trees in the Kalahari. Description This tree grows up to tall but is usually much smaller. It has a prominent, sturdy white trunk frequently with strips of rough, dark-coloured bark. The crown is often browsed by antelope and all grazers that can reach the foliage, resulting in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed on the axis of a plant. The modifications can involve the length and the nature of the internodes and the phyllotaxis, as well as variations in the proportions, compressions, swellings, adnations, connations and reduction of main and secondary axes. One can also define an inflorescence as the reproductive portion of a plant that bears a cluster of flowers in a specific pattern. The stem holding the whole inflorescence is called a peduncle. The major axis (incorrectly referred to as the main stem) above the peduncle bearing the flowers or secondary branches is called the rachis. The stalk of each flower in the inflorescence is called a pedicel. A flower that is not part of an inflorescence is called a solitary flower and its stalk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black-chested Prinia
The black-chested prinia (''Prinia flavicans'') is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is dry savanna. Prinias are small warblers that can be distinguished from other warblers by their long tails often held in a near-vertical position. All species are sexually monomorphic. There are four species in the ''Prinia'' genus in southern Africa. The three other species are as follows: tawny-flanked prinia (''Prinia subflava''), Karoo prinia (''Prinia maculosa''), and Drakensberg prinia (''Prinia hypoxantha''). Of these four, the black-chested prinia is the only species that has different breeding and non-breeding plumages. The black-chested prinia is aptly named for the charcoal-colored breast band apparent in its breeding plumage. Description Appearance Black-chested prinias are small, long-tailed warblers whose body sizes range from 13 to 15 centimeters. They a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spectacled Weaver
The spectacled weaver (''Ploceus ocularis'') is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It is found widely in woodland, forest edge and gardens of central, eastern and south-eastern Africa, but is absent from the most arid regions (such as the Karoo) and dense, primary rainforest. This common species breeds in solitary pairs, and both sexes are bright yellow, have an olive-yellow back, black "spectacles" and pale eyes. The male has a black throat. Gallery File:Spectacled Weaver.jpg, File:Ploceus ocularis, nes, c, Iphithi NR.jpg, References * Craig 2010. Family Ploceidae. pp. 74–197 in: del Hoyo, Elliott and Christie, eds. 2010. Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. T .... Vol. 15. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. External links ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scarlet-chested Sunbird
The scarlet-chested sunbird (''Chalcomitra senegalensis'') is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. Range It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Taxonomy In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the scarlet-chested sunbird in his ''Ornithologie'' based on a specimen collected in Senegal. He used the French name ''Le grimpereau violet du Sénégal'' and the Latin ''Certhia Senegalensis Violacea''. 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 bi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pseudomyrmex
''Pseudomyrmex'' is a genus of stinging, wasp-like ants in the subfamily Pseudomyrmecinae. They are large-eyed, slender ants, found mainly in tropical and subtropical regions of the New World. Distribution and habitat ''Pseudomyrmex'' is predominantly Neotropical in distribution, but a few species are known from the Nearctic region. Most species are generalist twig nesters, for instance, ''Pseudomyrmex pallidus'' may nest in the hollow stems of dead grasses, twigs of herbaceous plants, and in dead, woody twigs. However, the genus is best known for several species that are obligate mutualists with certain species of ''Acacia''. Other species have evolved obligate mutualism with other trees; for example ''Pseudomyrmex triplarinus'' is obligately dependent on any of a few trees in the genus '' Triplaris''.Larrea-Alcázar, D. M. and J. A. Simonetti. (2007)Why are there few seedlings beneath the myrmecophyte ''Triplaris americana''?. ''Acta Oecologica'' 32(1) 112–18. Species ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belonogaster Juncea
''Belonogaster juncea'' is a typical quasisocial paper wasp from sub-saharan Africa and south-western Asia. It is the type species for the genus ''Belonogaster''. Breeding The nest is similar in form to that of the ''Polistes'' paper wasp's nest and is started in a similar way. However, as ''B. juncea'' is quasisocial no foundress wasp becomes a dominant queen and all foundresses are full egg-layers, as are any daughters which can mate with males and then join the nest working and laying alongside their mothers. In Cameroon, '' B. juncea juncea'' mostly nests in buildings, but nests nave been constructed in the shelter of large boulders. Nests were started throughout the year either by a single female or by groups of two to eight females. Predation and disease meant that only half of the colonies in one study produced at least one adult offspring, and only 10% were able to produce males from the 15% that managed to rear any sexual individuals. Queen succession When the original ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dichrostachys Cinerea
''Dichrostachys cinerea'', known as sicklebush, Bell mimosa, Chinese lantern tree or Kalahari Christmas tree (South Africa), is a legume of the genus '' Dichrostachys'' in the family Fabaceae. Other common names include omubambanjobe (Tooro Uganda), acacia Saint Domingue (French), el marabú (Cuba), " Mpangara" (Shona), Kalahari-Weihnachtsbaum (German of former South West Africa), kéké or mimosa clochette (Réunion). Etymology The generic name ''Dichrostachys'' means 'two-colored spike', referring to its two-colored inflorescence, from the Ancient Greek ''δί-'' (''di-'', 'twice'), ''χροός'' (''khroos'', 'color'), and ''στάχυς'' (''stakhus'', 'ear of grain'). The specific name ''cinerea'' refers to the greyish hairs of the typical subspecies, from the Latin ''cinereus'' ('ashes'). Distribution It is native to Africa, Indian subcontinent and North Australia and introduced to the Caribbean and parts of Southeast Asia. In Ethiopia, the species is common in the Nech ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mopane
''Colophospermum mopane'', commonly called mopane, mopani, balsam tree, butterfly tree, or turpentine tree, is a tree in the legume family ( Fabaceae), that grows in hot, dry, low-lying areas, in elevation, in the far northern parts of southern Africa. The tree only occurs in Africa and is the only species in genus ''Colophospermum''. Its distinctive butterfly-shaped (bifoliate) leaf and thin seed pod make it easy to identify. In terms of human use it is, together with camel thorn and leadwood, one of the three regionally important firewood trees. Range and habit It is native to Southern Africa, including Southern Angola, Zambia, Southern Malawi, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and northern South Africa. It grows in alkaline (high lime content) soils which are shallow and not well drained. It also grows in alluvial soils (soil deposited by rivers). Where it occurs, it is often the dominant tree species, frequently forming homogeneous stands. In Northern South Africa a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vachellia Tortilis
''Vachellia tortilis'', widely known as ''Acacia tortilis'' but now attributed to the genus ''Vachellia'', is the umbrella thorn acacia, also known as ''umbrella thorn'' and Israeli babool, a medium to large canopied tree native to most of Africa, primarily to the savanna and Sahel of Africa (especially the Somali peninsula and Sudan), but also occurring in the Middle East. Distribution and growing conditions ''Vachellia tortilis'' is widespread in Africa, being found in countries like Tunisa, Morocco, Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe, Djibouti, and Botswana. It tends to grow in areas where temperatures vary from and rainfall is anywhere from about per year. Characteristics In extremely arid conditions, it may occur as a small, wiry bush. It grows up to in height. The tree carries leaves that grow to approx. in length with between 4 and 10 pair of pinnae each with up to 15 pairs of leaflets. Flowers are small and white, highly aromatic, and occur in tight clusters. Seed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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