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Georgia Blind Salamander
The Georgia blind salamander (''Eurycea wallacei'') is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae (the "lungless salamanders"). It is endemic to the south-eastern United States where its natural habitats are inland karsts, caves and subterranean habitats (other than caves). It is listed as "Endangered" by the IUCN and is threatened by habitat loss. Taxonomy The Georgia blind salamander was originally described as a member of the monotypic genus '' Haideotriton'', but was later placed in the genus ''Eurycea''. Distribution The Georgia blind salamander is found in underground habitats in the Southeastern United States. Its precise distribution is unknown, however the first specimen to be examined scientifically was discovered in 1939 in water pumped from a deep well in Albany, Georgia. The only other locality in Georgia from which it is known is the Climax Cave, near Climax, Georgia, in Decatur County. The salamander is also known from at least eight locations near Mari ... [...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] |
Ostracod
Ostracods, or ostracodes, are a Class (biology), class of the crustacean, Crustacea (class Ostracoda), sometimes known as seed shrimp. Some 33,000 species (only 13,000 of which are extant taxon, extant) have been identified,Brandão, S.N.; Antonietto, L.S; Nery, D.G.; Santos, S.G.; Karanovic, I. (2023). World Ostracoda Database. Accessed at https://www.marinespecies.org/ostracoda on 2023-09-12. grouped into 7 valid orders. They are small crustaceans, typically around in size, but varying from , the latter in the case of the marine ''Gigantocypris.'' The largest known freshwater species is ''Megalocypris princeps'', which reach 8 mm in length. In most cases, their bodies are flattened from side to side and protected by a bivalve-like valve or "shell" made of chitin, and often calcium carbonate. The family Entocytheridae and many planktonic forms do not have calcium carbonate. The hinge of the two valves is in the upper (dorsal) region of the body. Ostracods are grouped toget ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cave Salamander
A cave salamander is a type of salamander that primarily or exclusively inhabits caves, a group that includes several species. Some of these animals have developed special, even extreme, adaptations to their subterranean environments. Some species have only rudimentary (or even absent) eyes (''blind salamanders''). Others lack pigmentation, rendering them a pale yellowish or pinkish color (e.g., '' Eurycea rathbuni''). With the notable exception of the olm (''Proteus anguinus''), all "cave salamanders" are members of the family Plethodontidae ("lungless salamanders"). Almost all of them are paedomorphic and therefore never undergo metamorphosis, but it is not clear if this happened before or after they adapted to an existence in caves, as some species that don't live in caves are also paedomorphic. History The first dedicated scientific study of a cave animal was focused upon a cave salamander, '' Proteus anguinus''. It was originally identified as a "dragon's larva" by Johann ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water Table
The water table is the upper surface of the phreatic zone or zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with groundwater, which may be fresh, saline, or brackish, depending on the locality. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated. The portion above the water table is the vadose zone. It may be visualized as the "surface" of the subsurface materials that are saturated with groundwater in a given vicinity. In coarse soils, the water table settles at the surface where the water Hydraulic head, pressure head is equal to the atmospheric pressure (where gauge pressure = 0). In soils where capillary action is strong, the water table is pulled upward, forming a capillary fringe. The groundwater may be from precipitation or from more distant groundwater flowing into the aquifer. In areas with sufficient precipitation, water infiltrates through pore spaces in the soil, passing through t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Florida Caverns State Park
Florida Caverns State Park is a state park of Florida in the United States, part of the Florida State Parks system. It is located in the Florida Panhandle near Marianna. It is the only Florida state park with air-filled caves accessible to the public.Florida Caverns State Park, Introduction. Florida State Parks. The in the park have s, , and |
Brown Bullhead
The brown bullhead (''Ameiurus nebulosus'') is a fish of the family Ictaluridae that is widely distributed in North America. It is a species of bullhead catfish and is similar to the black bullhead (''Ameiurus melas'') and yellow bullhead (''Ameiurus natalis''). It was originally described as ''Pimelodus nebulosus'' by Charles Alexandre Lesueur in 1819, and is also referred to as ''Ictalurus nebulosus''. The brown bullhead is also widely known as the "mud pout", "horned pout", "hornpout", or simply "mud cat", a name also used with the other bullhead species. The brown bullhead is important as a clan symbol of the Ojibwe people. In their tradition, the bullhead or is one of six beings that came out of the sea to form the original clans. Appearance The brown bullhead grows to be approximately in length and is a darker brown-green dorsally, growing lighter green and yellow towards the ventral surface. The belly is off-white or cream, and the fish has no scales. Additionall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Eel
The American eel (''Anguilla rostrata'') is a facultative catadromous eel found on the eastern coast of North America. Anguillidae, Freshwater eels are fish belonging to the Elopomorpha, elopomorph superorder, a group of Phylogenetics, phylogenetically ancient teleosts. The American eel has a slender, supple, snake-like body that is covered with a mucus layer, which makes the eel appear to be naked and slimy despite the presence of minute Fish scale, scales. A long dorsal fin runs from the middle of the back and is continuous with a similar ventral fin. Pelvic fins are absent, and relatively small pectoral fin, pectoral fins can be found near the midline, followed by the head and gill covers. Variations exist in coloration, from olive green, brown shading to greenish-yellow and light gray or white on the belly. Eels from clear water are often lighter than those from dark, Blackwater river, tannic acid streams. The eel lives in fresh water and estuaries and only leaves these habi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dougherty Plain Blind Crayfish
''Cambarus cryptodytes'', the Dougherty Plain cave crayfish or Apalachicola cave crayfish, is a small, freshwater crayfish endemic to Florida and Georgia in the United States. It is an underground species known only from waters associated with the Floridan aquifer. Description The Dougherty Plain cave crayfish grows to a length of about with antennae twice this length. It is a colourless species with unpigmented eyes, segmented cephalothorax and abdomen, a pair of slender chelae (claws) with a row or two of tubercles and long slender appendages. The rostrum is long and unadorned with tubercles or spines. Distribution The Dougherty Plain cave crayfish is known from springs, wells and cave systems in the karst limestone region of Dougherty Plain in the Southeastern United States. It has been found in Dougherty County and Decatur County in Georgia and Jackson County and Washington County in Florida. It is likely also to be present in other Georgia counties which lie between the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and 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 (" holometaboly"), incomplete metamorphosis (" hemimetaboly"), or no metamorphosis (" 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 , "transformation, transforming", from ('), "after" and ('), "form". Hormonal control In insects, growth and metamorphosis are controlled by hormones synthesized by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neoteny
Neoteny (), also called juvenilization,Montagu, A. (1989). Growing Young. Bergin & Garvey: CT. is the delaying or slowing of the Physiology, physiological, or Somatic (biology), somatic, development of an organism, typically an animal. Neoteny in humans, Neoteny in modern humans is more significant than in other primates. In progenesis or paedogenesis, sexual development is accelerated. Both neoteny and progenesis result in paedomorphism (as having the form typical of children) or paedomorphosis (changing towards forms typical of children), a type of heterochrony. It is the retention in adults of traits previously seen only in the young. Such retention is important in evolutionary biology, domestication, and evolutionary developmental biology. Some authors define paedomorphism as the retention of larval traits, as seen in salamanders.Schell, S. C. ''Handbook of Trematodes of North America North of Mexico'', 1985, pg. 22 History and etymology Julius Kollmann created the term ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
