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Cerro De La Muerte
Cerro de la Muerte is a mountain peak of a massif in Costa Rica, it is located within the Tapantí — Cerro de la Muerte Massif National Park, and is the highest point on the Pan-American Highway. Toponymy Its name means "Mountain of Death", "Hill of Death" or "Summit of Death," since in the past crossing the mountains from the Valle Central meant a three- or four-day journey, on foot or on horseback, and many ill-prepared travelers succumbed to the cold and rain. However, the peak is now easily accessible since the Pan American Highway runs close by. Description A drivable track from the highway (Kilometer 89) leads to a peak, with its cluster of telecommunications aerials. A short hike is also available from the highway to another peak marked with a barrel. A sign marks the high point of the highway ( Route 2) at , from where the vehicle track and hiking trail begin. At this altitude, overnight temperatures can dip below freezing, but the sun soon raises the temperatures in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime boundary, maritime border with Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around five million in a land area of nearly . An estimated people live in the capital and largest city, San José, Costa Rica, San José, with around two million people in the surrounding metropolitan area. The sovereign state is a Presidential system, presidential republic. It has a long-standing and stable Constitution of Costa Rica, constitutional democracy and a highly educated workforce. The country spends roughly 6.9% of its budget (2016) on education, compared to a global average of 4.4%. Its economy, once heavily dependent on agriculture, has diversified to include sectors such as finance, corporate services for foreign companies, pharmaceut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lady's Slipper
Cypripedioideae is a subfamily of orchids commonly known as lady's slipper orchids, lady slipper orchids or slipper orchids. Cypripedioideae includes the genera ''Cypripedium, Mexipedium, Paphiopedilum, Phragmipedium'' and '' Selenipedium''. They are characterised by the slipper-shaped pouches (modified labella) of the flowers – the pouch traps insects so they are forced to climb up past the staminode, behind which they collect or deposit pollinia, thus fertilizing the flower. There are approximately 165 species in the subfamily. Description All representatives of the Cypripedioideae are perennial, herbaceous plants. The fleshy roots sometimes possess a veil. The leaves are arranged spirally or in two rows, the shoot is slender or compressed. In the bud, the leaves are rolled and the leaf blade is plikat (folded) or the leaves are folded in the bud, smooth and leathery. There is no dividing tissue between leaf and shoot. The inflorescence of the Cypripedioideae are termin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cerro De La Muerte Biological Station
The Cerro de la Muerte Biological Station is one of the several field stations for biological research that exist in Costa Rica. Located at 3,200 m elevation (approximately 10,500 feet) on the southeastern slope of the Cerro Bellavista (one of the highest points in the ''Cordillera de Talamanca''), this is the biological station located at the highest elevation in Costa Rica and perhaps in all of Central America. Mr. Federico Valverde, the owner of the station is a former herpetologist from the University of Costa Rica who decided to protect these lands and offer them to the scientific community. For this reason, the station is only open for research and academic purposes. This offers an opportunity for scientists that are interested in studying the higher oak forests ranging from 3,100 – 3,400 m (approximately 10,000-11,000 feet) as well as the páramo ecosystem above the tree line. The mission of the station is to protect the natural beauty of the páramo, to conduct long-term ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volcano Junco
The volcano junco (''Junco vulcani'') is a New World sparrow endemic to the Talamancan montane forests of Costa Rica and western Panama. This junco breeds above the timberline, typically at altitudes above 3,000 m, but there is an isolated population at 2,100 m on the Caribbean slope of Costa Rica and forest clearance on Cerro de la Muerte has allowed this species to descend to 2,600 m. The habitat is open grassy or brushy areas with some stunted scrubs. The nest is a neat, lined cup constructed on the ground under a log, bush or rock, or in a cavity on a vegetated bank. The female lays two brown-spotted pale blue eggs. The volcano junco is on average 16 cm long and weighs 28 g. The adult has brown upperparts with dark streaking especially on the back. The wings and tail feathers are dark fringed. The underparts are grey. The sides of the head are grey with a black mask through the eye, a yellow iris, and a pink bill and legs. Young birds are brighter bro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peg-billed Finch
The peg-billed finch (''Acanthidops bairdi'') is a passerine bird endemic to the highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama. Despite its name, it is not a true finch, but now recognized as a member of the tanager family (Thraupidae), after being long placed in the Emberizidae. It is the only member of the genus ''Acanthidops''. The scientific name commemorates the American ornithologist Spencer Fullerton Baird. Taxonomy The peg-billed finch was formally described in 1882 by the American ornithologist Robert Ridgway from a specimen collected near the Irazú Volcano in Costa Rica. To accommodate the new species Ridgway introduced the genus ''Acanthidops'' and coined the binomial name ''Acanthidops bairdi''. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ''akanthis'' meaning "spiky" with ''ōps'' meaning "face". The specific epithet honours the American naturalist Spencer Fullerton Baird Spencer Fullerton Baird (; February 3, 1823 – August 19, 1887) was an American naturalist, orni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black-billed Nightingale-thrush
The black-billed nightingale-thrush (''Catharus gracilirostris'') is a small thrush endemic to the highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama. Its position in the genus ''Catharus'' is somewhat equivocal, but it is apparently closer to the hermit thrush than to the other nightingale-thrushes except the russet nightingale-thrush and/or the ruddy-capped nightingale-thrush (Winker & Pruett, 2006). It is found in the undergrowth of wet mountain oak forests and second growth, typically from above 1350 m altitude to patches of scrubbery beyond the timberline. The nest is a bulky lined cup constructed 1–5 m high in a scrub or small tree, and the typical clutch is 2 brown-blotched greenish-blue eggs. This small species is in length and weighs . The adult has olive- brown upperparts, a grey crown, paler grey underparts, becoming whitish on the belly, and an olive breast band. Its bill is black. The juvenile is darker on the head and underparts, has a brown breast band, and the belly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sooty Robin
The sooty thrush (''Turdus nigrescens'') is a large thrush endemic to the highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama. It was formerly known as the sooty robin. This is an abundant bird of open areas and oak forest edge normally above 2200 m altitude. It builds a heavy grass-lined cup nest in a tree 2–8 m above the ground, and the female lays two unmarked greenish-blue eggs between March and May. The sooty thrush resembles other ''Turdus'' thrushes in general appearance and habits. It is 24–25.5 cm long, and weighs 96 g on average. The adult male is brownish-black with black wings and tail, and a black area between the orange bill and the eye. The legs and bare eye ring are orange and the iris is pale grey. The female is similar but browner and somewhat paler, and has yellow-orange bare parts. The juvenile resembles the adult female but has buff or orange streaks on the head and upperparts and dark spotting on the underparts. Two superficially similar relatives share t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Timberline Wren
The timberline wren (''Thryorchilus browni'') is a species of bird in the family Troglodytidae. It is found in Costa Rica and western Panama. Taxonomy and systematics The timberline wren is the only member of genus ''Thryorchilus'', but its taxonomy at the subspecies level is unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) considers it to be monotypic. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's ''Birds of the World'' lists three subspecies, but notes that this treatment is disputed and that timberline wren should be "perhaps better considered monotypic."Kroodsma, D. E. and D. Brewer (2020). Timberline Wren (''Thryorchilus browni''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.timwre1.01 retrieved July 16, 2021 The Clements taxonomy and the Handbook of Birds of the World list the same three subspecies without comment.Clements, J. F. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiery-throated Hummingbird
The fiery-throated hummingbird (''Panterpe insignis'') is a species of hummingbird in the "mountain gems" tribe Lampornithini in subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world'' Version 5. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip xls zipped 1 MBretrieved 27 May 2021 Taxonomy and systematics The fiery-throated hummingbird is the only member of genus ''Panterpe''. It has two subspecies, the nominate ''P. i. insignis'' and ''P. i. eisenmanni''. Description The fiery-throated hummingbird is long. Males weigh and females . Within each subspecies the male and female are alike. All have a mostly black bill with a pink base to the mandible and a small white spot behind the eye. The nominate ''P. i. insignis'' has a glittering royal blue crown and the rest o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic (ecology)
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 bec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight Bird skeleton, 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 Order (biology), orders. More than half are passerine or "perching" birds. Birds have Bird wing, 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 Flightless bird, loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemism, endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Resplendent Quetzal
The resplendent quetzal (''Pharomachrus mocinno'') is a small bird found in Central America and southern Mexico that lives in tropical forests, particularly montane cloud forests. They are part of the family Trogonidae and have two recognized subspecies, ''P. m. mocinno'' and ''P. m. costaricensis''. Like other quetzals, the resplendent is mostly omnivorous; its diet mainly consists of fruits of plants in the laurel family, Lauraceae, but it occasionally also preys on insects, lizards, frogs and snails. The species is well known for its colorful and complex plumage that differs substantially between sexes. Males have iridescent green plumes, a red lower breast and belly, black innerwings and a white undertail, whilst females are duller and have a shorter tail. Grey lower breasts, bellies, and bills, along with bronze-green heads are characteristic of females. These birds hollow holes in decaying trees or use ones already made by woodpeckers as a nest site. They are known to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
