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Newts
A newt is a salamander in the subfamily Pleurodelinae. The terrestrial juvenile phase is called an eft. Unlike other members of the family Salamandridae, newts are semiaquatic, alternating between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Not all aquatic salamanders are considered newts, however. More than 100 known species of newts are found in North America, Europe, North Africa and Asia. Newts metamorphose through three distinct developmental life stages: aquatic larva, terrestrial juvenile (eft), and adult. Adult newts have lizard-like bodies and return to the water every year to breed, otherwise living in humid, cover-rich land habitats. Newts are threatened by habitat loss, fragmentation and pollution. Several species are endangered, and at least one species, the Yunnan lake newt, has become extinct recently. Etymology The Old English name of the animal was , (of unknown origin), resulting in Middle English ; this word was transformed irregularly into , , or . The initial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alpine Newt
The alpine newt (''Ichthyosaura alpestris'') is a species of newt native to continental Europe and Introduced species, introduced to Great Britain and New Zealand. Adults measure and are usually dark grey to blue on the back and sides, with an orange belly and throat. Males are more conspicuously coloured than the drab females, especially during breeding season. The alpine newt occurs at high altitude as well as in the lowlands. Living mainly in forested land habitats for most of the year, the adults migrate to puddles, ponds, lakes or similar water bodies for breeding. Males court females with a ritualised courtship display, display and deposit a spermatophore. After fertilisation, females usually fold their eggs into leaves of water plants. The aquatic larvae grow up to in around three months before metamorphosis, metamorphosing into terrestrial juvenile efts, which mature into adults at around three years. In the southern range, the newts sometimes do not metamorphose but ke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metamorphose
Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically developmental biology, develops including birth, birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell cell growth#Cell division, growth and cellular differentiation, differentiation. Some insects, jellyfish, fish, amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans, cnidarians, echinoderms, and tunicates undergo metamorphosis, which is often accompanied by a change of nutrition source or behavior. Animals can be divided into species that undergo complete metamorphosis ("Holometabolism, holometaboly"), incomplete metamorphosis ("Hemimetabolism, hemimetaboly"), or no metamorphosis ("Ametabolism, ametaboly"). Generally organisms with a larval stage undergo metamorphosis, and during metamorphosis the organism loses larval characteristics. Etymology The word ''metamorphosis'' derives from Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek , "transformation, transform ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pleurodeles Waltl BUD
''Pleurodeles'' is a genus of three species, the ribbed newts: The Iberian ribbed newt is the most common of the three species, and the most frequently used as a model organism by scientists. However, its numbers in the wild are declining, and in 2006 it became a near threatened species. The other two species are in fact threatened, with ''P. nebulosus'' considered vulnerable to extinction and ''P. poireti'' classified as an endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv .... The numbers of all three species are declining in the wild. Livestock agriculture is an ongoing major cause of habitat loss and degradation, and of water pollution, for all three species. References Newts Amphibian genera Taxa named by Karl Michahelles {{Salamandri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salamander
Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten extant salamander families are grouped together under the order Urodela, the sole surviving order from the group Caudata. ''Urodela'' is a scientific Latin term based on the Ancient Greek : ourà dēlē "conspicuous tail". ''Caudata'' is the Latin for "tailed ones", from : "tail". Salamander diversity is highest in eastern North America, especially in the Appalachian Mountains; most species are found in the Holarctic realm, with some species present in the Neotropical realm. Salamanders never have more than four toes on their front legs and five on their rear legs, but some species have fewer digits and others lack hind limbs. Their permeable skin usually makes them reliant on habitats in or near water or other cool, damp places. So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salamandridae
Salamandridae is a Family (biology), family of salamanders consisting of true salamanders and newts. Salamandrids are distinguished from other salamanders by the lack of rib or costal grooves along the sides of their bodies and by their rough skin. Their skin is very granular because of the number of poison glands. They also lack nasolabial grooves. Most species of Salamandridae have moveable eyelids but lack lacrimal glands. Nearly all salamandrids produce a potent toxin in their skin, with some species being deadly to many other animal species. With a few exceptions, salamandrids have patterns of bright and contrasting colours, most of these are to warn potential predators of their toxicity. They have four well-developed limbs, with four toes on the fore limbs, and (in most cases) five toes on the hind limbs. They vary from in length. Many species within this family reproduce by method of internal fertilization. Additionally, there are many species-specific courtship rituals t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lacertidae
The Lacertidae are the family of the wall lizards, true lizards, or sometimes simply lacertas, which are native to Afro-Eurasia. It is a diverse family with at about 360 species in 39 genera. They represent the dominant group of reptiles found in Europe. Habitat The European and Mediterranean species of lacertids live mainly in forest and scrub habitats. ''Eremias'' and ''Ophisops'' species replace these in the grassland and desert habitats of Asia. African species usually live in rocky, arid areas. '' Holaspis'' species are among the few arboreal lacertids, and its two species, '' Holaspis guentheri'' and '' Holaspis laevis'', are gliders (although apparently poor ones), using their broad tail and flattened body as an aerofoil. Description Lacertids are small to medium-sized lizards. Most species are less than 9cm long, excluding the tail. The largest living species, '' Gallotia stehlini'', reaches 46cm, and some extinct forms were larger still. They are primarily insect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macbeth
''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambitions and power. It was first published in the Folio of 1623, possibly from a prompt book, and is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy. Scholars believe ''Macbeth'', of all the plays that Shakespeare wrote during the reign of King James I, contains the most allusions to James, patron of Shakespeare's acting company. In the play, a brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to violence by his wife, Macbeth murders the king and takes the Scottish throne for himself. Then, racked with guilt and paranoia, he commits further violent murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion, soon becoming a tyrannical ruler. The bloo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Wilkins
John Wilkins (14 February 1614 – 19 November 1672) was an English Anglican ministry, Anglican clergyman, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, and author, and was one of the founders of the Royal Society. He was Bishop of Chester from 1668 until his death. Wilkins is one of the few persons to have headed a college at both the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. He was a polymath, although not one of the most important scientific innovators of the period. His personal qualities were brought out, and obvious to his contemporaries, in reducing political tension in English Interregnum, Interregnum Oxford, in founding the Royal Society on non-partisan lines, and in efforts to reach out to Nonconformist (Protestantism), Protestant Nonconformists. He was one of the founders of the new natural theology compatible with the Modern science, science of the time. He is particularly known for ''An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language'' (1668) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from Germanic parent language, pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic branches during the fifth century BC to fifth century AD: West Germanic languages, West Germanic, East Germanic languages, East Germanic and North Germanic languages, North Germanic. North Germanic remained in language contact, contact with the other branches over a considerable time, especially with the Ingvaeonic languages (including History of English, English), which arose from West Germanic dialects, and had remained in contact with the Proto-Norse language, Norse. A defining feature of Proto-Germanic is the completion of the process described by Grimm's law, a set of sound changes that occurred between its status as a dialect of Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
