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Cairina
The Muscovy duck (''Cairina moschata'') is a duck native to the Americas, from the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas and Mexico south to Argentina and Uruguay. The species has been domesticated, and feral Muscovy ducks can be found locally in New Zealand, Australia, the United States, and in Central and Eastern Europe. Description It is a large duck, with the males significantly larger than the females. The males are long and weigh up to ; females are long and weight, roughly half the weight of the males. The wingspan is from . The plumage is predominantly black, with large white patches on the wing; the back and wing feathers being iridescent and glossy in males, while the females are more drab. Muscovy ducks have long claws on their feet and a wide, flat tail. On the head, the male has a short crest on the nape. The bill is black with a speckling of pale pink. A blackish or dark red knob can be seen at the bill base, which is similar in colour to the bare skin of the face. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-winged Duck
The white-winged duck or white-winged wood duck (''Asarcornis scutulata'') is a large species of duck, formerly placed in the genus ''Cairina'' with the Muscovy duck (''Cairina moschata'') and allied with the dabbling ducks. However, mtDNA cytochrome ''b'' and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 sequence analysis indicate that the anatomical similarity to the Muscovy duck is deceiving and that the species is appropriately placed in a monotypic genus, as ''Asarcornis scutulata'', which is evolutionarily closer to the redhead (''Aythya americana'', one of the diving ducks). Description This is one of the largest living species of duck next only to the steamer ducks which are heavier. The Muscovy duck also attains sizes that nearly rival the white-winged duck, but may average a bit smaller in a wild state. Length is and wingspan is . Males weigh , while females weigh . [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Domestic Muscovy Duck
The Muscovy or Barbary is the domestic form of the wild Muscovy duck, ''Cairina moschata''. There are a number of local or regional breeds, and drakes of these are commonly cross-bred with mallard-derived domestic ducks to produce the hybrids called mulards. History The Muscovy had been domesticated by various indigenous peoples of the Americas well before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492. Characteristics Domestic Muscovy drakes weigh some . The duck is much smaller, typically about half the size of the drake, with a weight of . Recognised colour varieties include five solid colours – black, blue, chocolate, lavender and white – and eight 'magpie' colours, in which the whole back from the tail to the shoulders and the underside from below the tail to the breast is coloured black, blue, chocolate or lavender, the remainder being white. In the standard magpie colourings the crown of the head is also coloured; in the white-headed magpie colours the head is w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duck
Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form taxon; they do not represent a monophyletic group (the group of all descendants of a single common ancestral species), since swans and geese are not considered ducks. Ducks are mostly aquatic birds, and may be found in both fresh water and sea water. Ducks are sometimes confused with several types of unrelated water birds with similar forms, such as loons or divers, grebes, gallinules and coots. Etymology The word ''duck'' comes from Old English 'diver', a derivative of the verb 'to duck, bend down low as if to get under something, or dive', because of the way many species in the dabbling duck group feed by upending; compare with Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German 'to dive'. This word replaced ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perching Duck
The term perching ducks is used colloquially to mean any species of ducks distinguished by their readiness to perch high in trees. Until the late 20th century, perching ducks meant ''Cairinini'', a tribe of ducks in the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae, grouped together on the basis of their readiness to perch high in trees. It has been subsequently shown that the grouping is paraphyletic and their apparent similarity results from convergent evolution, with the different members more closely related to various other ducks than to each other. Perching duck species include: Plectropterinae * Spur-winged goose ''Plectropterus gambensis'' Tadorninae * Salvadori's teal ''Salvadorina waigiuensis'' (initially placed in Anatinae) * Blue duck ''Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos'' * Torrent duck ''Merganetta armata'' Anatinae * Brazilian teal ''Amazonetta brasiliensis'' Species that were formerly in the Cairinini tribe, and do not have an identified current subfamily include: * Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dabbling Duck
The Anatinae are a subfamily of the family Anatidae (swans, geese and ducks). Its surviving members are the dabbling ducks, which feed mainly at the surface rather than by diving. The other members of the Anatinae are the extinct moa-nalo, a young but highly apomorphic lineage derived from the dabbling ducks. There has been much debate about the systematical status and which ducks belong to the Anatinae. Some taxonomic authorities only include the dabbling ducks and their close relatives, the extinct moa-nalos. Alternatively, the Anatinae are considered to include most "ducks", and the dabbling ducks form a tribe Anatini within these. The classification as presented here more appropriately reflects the remaining uncertainty about the interrelationships of the major lineages of Anatidae (waterfowl). Systematics The dabbling duck group, of worldwide distribution, was delimited in a 1986 study to include eight genera and some 50–60 living species. However, Salvadori's teal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Systema Naturae
' (originally in Latin written ' with the Orthographic ligature, ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Sweden, Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomenclature, was partially developed by the Bauhin brothers, Gaspard Bauhin, Gaspard and Johann Bauhin, Johann, Linnaeus was the first to use it consistently throughout his book. The first edition was published in 1735. The full title of the 10th edition (1758), which was the most important one, was ', which appeared in English in 1806 with the title: "A General System of Nature, Through the Three Grand Kingdoms of Animals, Vegetables, and Minerals, Systematically Divided Into their Several Classes, Orders, Genera, Species, and Varieties, with their Habitations, Manners, Economy, Structure and Peculiarities". The 10th edition of Systema Naturae, tenth edition of this book (1758) is considered the starting point of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropics
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's axial tilt; the width of the tropics (in latitude) is twice the tilt. The tropics are also referred to as the tropical zone and the torrid zone (see geographical zone). Due to the overhead sun, the tropics receive the most solar energy over the course of the year, and consequently have the highest temperatures on the planet. Even when not directly overhead, the sun is still close to overhead throughout the year, therefore the tropics also have the lowest seasonal variation on the planet; "winter" and "summer" lose their temperature contrast. Instead, seasons are more commonly divided by precipitation variations than by temperature variations. The tropics maintain wide diversity of local climates, such as rain forests, monsoons, sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Culinary
Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking, and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called chefs or cooks, although, at its most general, the terms culinary artist and culinarian are also used. Expert chefs are in charge of making meals that are both aesthetically beautiful and delicious. This often requires understanding of food science, nutrition, and diet. Delicatessens and relatively large institutions like hotels and hospitals rank as their principal workplaces after restaurants. History The origins of culinary arts began with primitive humans roughly 2 million years ago. Various theories exist as to how early humans used fire to cook meat. According to anthropologist Richard Wrangham, author of ''Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human'', primitive humans simply tossed a raw hunk of meat into the flames and watched it sizzle. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Fleming (naturalist)
John Fleming FRSE FRS FSA (10 January 1785 – 18 November 1857) was a Scottish Free Church minister, naturalist, zoologist and geologist. He named and described several species of mollusc. During his life he tried to reconcile theology with science. Fleming Fjord in Greenland was named after him. Life Fleming was born on Kirkroads Farm near Bathgate in Linlithgowshire, the son of Alexander Fleming and his wife Catherine Nimmo. After studying divinity at the University of Edinburgh he graduated in 1805. He was licensed to preach by the Church of Scotland and ordained as minister of Bressay in the Shetland Islands in 1808. In 1810 he translated to the parish of Flisk in Fife and in 1832 translated to Clackmannan. In 1808, he became a member of the Wernerian Society, a learned society devoted to the study of natural history. Fleming became a member of the Royal Society of London on 25 February 1813 (he was not granted fellowship). In 1814, he was awarded an honorary doct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musk
Musk is a class of aromatic substances commonly used as base notes in perfumery. They include glandular secretions from animals such as the musk deer, numerous plants emitting similar fragrances, and artificial substances with similar odors. ''Musk'' was a name originally given to a substance with a strong odor obtained from a gland of the musk deer. The substance has been used as a popular perfume fixative since ancient times and is one of the most expensive animal products in the world. The name originates from the Late Greek μόσχος 'moskhos', from Persian ''mushk'' and Sanskrit मुष्क muṣka () derived from Proto-Indo-European noun ''múh₂s'' meaning "mouse". The deer gland was thought to resemble a scrotum. The term is applied to various plants and animals of similar smell (e.g., muskox) and has come to encompass a wide variety of aromatic substances with similar odors, despite their often differing chemical structures and molecular shapes. Natural musk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
