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Calabresi's Bullfrog
Calabresi's bullfrog (''Pyxicephalus obbianus'') is a species of frogs in the family Pyxicephalidae. It is endemic to northeastern and central Somalia. This uncommon species breeds in temporary ponds. Outside the breeding season, it is fossorial A fossorial animal () is one that is adapted to digging and which lives primarily (but not solely) underground. Examples of fossorial vertebrates are Mole (animal), moles, badgers, naked mole-rats, meerkats, armadillos, wombats, and mole salamand ..., and little is known about its habitat. It is assumed live in dry savannah and semi-arid habitats. Significant threats to it are unlikely, although livestock grazing, and perhaps fire and droughts, might have an impact. References Pyxicephalus Frogs of Africa Amphibians of Somalia Endemic fauna of Somalia Amphibians described in 1927 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Ranoidea-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enrica Calabresi
Enrica Calabresi (10 November 1891, in Ferrara – 20 January 1944, in Castelfiorentino) was an Italian zoologist, herpetologist, and entomologist. Her family was part of the Jewish community which has played an important role in Ferrara, continuously since the Middle Ages. Life Calabresi was the last of four children of Vito Calabresi and Ida Fano, a family that was part of the wealthy Jewish bourgeoisie of Ferrara, Italy. In 1909, Calabresi enrolled in the Faculty of Mathematics of the Free University of Ferrara to study science. She graduated from the University of Florence in natural sciences on 1 July 1914 with a thesis on the hedgehog, ''Sul comportamento del condrioma nel pancreas e nelle ghiandole salivari del riccio durante il letargo invernale e l’attività estiva'' n the Behavior of the Chondriome in the Pancreas and in the Salivary Glands of the Hedgehog during Winter Hibernation and Summer Activity Scientist Beginning on 1 February 1914, before graduating, s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough skin texture due to wart-like parotoid glands tend to be called toads, but the distinction between frogs and toads is informal and purely cosmetic, not from taxonomy (biology), taxonomy or evolutionary history. Frogs are widely distributed, ranging from the tropics to subarctic regions, but the greatest concentration of species diversity is in tropical rainforest and associated wetlands. They account for around 88% of extant amphibian species, and are one of the five most diverse vertebrate orders. The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is known from the Early Triassic of Madagascar (250Myr, million years ago), but molecular clock, molecular clock dating suggests their divergent evolution, divergence from other amphibians may exte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pyxicephalidae
The Pyxicephalidae are a Family (biology), family of frogs currently found in sub-Saharan Africa. However, in the Eocene, the taxon ''Thaumastosaurus'' lived in Europe. Classification The Pyxicephalidae contain two subfamilies, with a total of 12 genera. This family was formerly considered part of the family Ranidae. Family Pyxicephalidae * Subfamily ''Cacosterninae'' ** Genus ''Amietia'' (16 species) ** Genus ''Anhydrophryne'' (3 species) ** Genus ''Arthroleptella'' (10 species) – moss frogs ** Genus ''Cacosternum'' (16 species) ** Genus ''Microbatrachella'' (monotypic) – micro frog ** Genus ''Natalobatrachus'' (monotypic) ** Genus ''Nothophryne'' (5 species) – mongrel frogs ** Genus ''Poyntonia'' (monotypic) ** Genus ''Strongylopus'' (10 species) ** Genus ''Tomopterna'' (16 species) *Subfamily ''Pyxicephalinae'' ** Genus ''Aubria'' (2 species) – Masako fishing frog, brown ball frog ** Genus ''Pyxicephalus'' (4 species) – African bull frogs, pixie frog ** Genus †''Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemism
Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or, in scientific literature, as an ''endemite''. Similarly, many species found in the Western ghats of India are examples of endemism. Endemism is an important concept in conservation biology for measuring biodiversity in a particular place and evaluating the risk of extinction for species. Endemism is also of interest in evolutionary biology, because it provides clues about how changes in the environment cause species to undergo range shifts (potentially expanding their range into a larger area or b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Somalia
Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, and the Indian Ocean to the east. Somalia has the longest coastline on Africa's mainland. Somalia has an estimated population of 18.1 million, of which 2.7 million live in the capital and largest city, Mogadishu. Around 85% of Somalia's residents are ethnic Somali people, Somalis. The official languages of the country are Somali language, Somali and Arabic, though Somali is the Languages of Somalia, primary language. Somalia has historic and religious ties to the Arab world. The people in Somalia are mainly Muslims, following the Sunni Islam, Sunni branch.. In antiquity, Somalia was an important commercial center. During the Middle Ages, several powerful Somali empires dominated the regional trade, including th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fossorial
A fossorial animal () is one that is adapted to digging and which lives primarily (but not solely) underground. Examples of fossorial vertebrates are Mole (animal), moles, badgers, naked mole-rats, meerkats, armadillos, wombats, and mole salamanders. Among invertebrates, many molluscs (e.g., clams), insects (e.g., beetles, wasps, bees), and arachnids (e.g. spiders) are fossorial. Prehistoric evidence The physical adaptation of fossoriality is widely accepted as being widespread among many Prehistory, prehistoric Phylum, phyla and Taxon, taxa, such as bacteria and early eukaryotes. Furthermore, fossoriality has evolved independently multiple times, even within a single Family (biology), family. Fossorial animals appeared simultaneously with the colonization of land by arthropods in the late Ordovician period (over 440 million years ago). Other notable early burrowers include ''Eocaecilia'' and possibly ''Dinilysia''. The oldest example of burrowing in synapsids, the lineag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pyxicephalus
''Pyxicephalus'' (πυξίς, ''pyxis'' = "(round) box," κεφαλή, ''kephalē'' = "head") is a genus of true frogs from Sub-Saharan Africa, commonly referred to as African bull frogs or bull frogs. They are very large (''P. adspersus'') to large (remaining species) frogs, with females significantly smaller than males. They may take decades to reach their full size potential and they are some of the longest-living frogs, possibly able to reach ages as high as 45 years. These bulky and voracious predators will eat any animal (including small vertebrates and conspecifics) they can fit in their large mouth that has two fang-like projections on the lower jaw, but they are themselves commonly eaten by humans, predatory birds, mammals and monitor lizards. They remain hidden—they are fossorial—for much of the year, but emerge to breed in temporary pools after rains. The tadpoles often are guarded by the male. Species There are five recognized sub species: ''P. edulis'' has long ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frogs Of Africa
The fauna of Africa are all the animals living in Africa and its surrounding seas and islands. The more characteristic African fauna are found in the Afro-tropical realm. Lying almost entirely within the tropics, and stretching equally north and south of the equator creates favorable conditions for variety and abundance of wildlife. Africa is home to many of the world's most recognizable fauna such as lions‚ rhinoceroses‚ cheetahs‚ giraffes‚ antelope, hippopotamuses, leopards, zebras‚ and elephants, among many others. Origins and history of African fauna Whereas the earliest traces of life in fossil record of Africa date back to the earliest times, the formation of African fauna as we know it today, began with the splitting up of the Gondwana supercontinent in the mid-Mesozoic era. After that, four to six faunal assemblages, the so-called African Faunal Strata (AFSs) can be distinguished. The isolation of Africa was broken intermittently by discontinuous "filter routes" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphibians Of Somalia
Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniotic, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all tetrapods, but excluding the amniotes (tetrapods with an amniotic membrane, such as modern reptiles, birds and mammals). All extant taxon, extant (living) amphibians belong to the monophyletic subclass (biology), subclass Lissamphibia, with three living order (biology), orders: Anura (frogs and toads), Urodela (salamanders), and Gymnophiona (caecilians). Evolved to be mostly semiaquatic, amphibians have adapted to inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living in freshwater ecosystem, freshwater, wetland or terrestrial ecosystems (such as riparian woodland, fossorial and even arboreal habitats). Their biological life cycle, life cycle typically starts out as aquatic animal, aquatic larvae with gills known as tadpoles, but some species have developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic Fauna Of Somalia
Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or, in scientific literature, as an ''endemite''. Similarly, many species found in the Western ghats of India are examples of endemism. Endemism is an important concept in conservation biology for measuring biodiversity in a particular place and evaluating the risk of extinction for species. Endemism is also of interest in evolutionary biology, because it provides clues about how changes in the environment cause species to undergo range shifts (potentially expanding their range into a larger area or becomin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphibians Described In 1927
Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniotic, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all tetrapods, but excluding the amniotes (tetrapods with an amniotic membrane, such as modern reptiles, birds and mammals). All extant (living) amphibians belong to the monophyletic subclass Lissamphibia, with three living orders: Anura (frogs and toads), Urodela (salamanders), and Gymnophiona (caecilians). Evolved to be mostly semiaquatic, amphibians have adapted to inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living in freshwater, wetland or terrestrial ecosystems (such as riparian woodland, fossorial and even arboreal habitats). Their life cycle typically starts out as aquatic larvae with gills known as tadpoles, but some species have developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this. Young amphibians generally undergo metamorphosis from an aquatic larval form with gills to an air-breathing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
