|
Hemignathus Procerus
''Hemignathus'' is a genus of Hawaiian honeycreepers in the subfamily Carduelinae of the family Fringillidae. All species are endemic to Hawaii. Extinctions Many of its species became extinct during the 19th and 20th centuries due to a combination of habitat destruction, introduced predators, and most importantly mosquito-borne diseases. The ʻakiapōlāʻau (''Hemignathus wilsoni'') may be the last surviving species in the genus. One species, the giant nukupu'u (''Hemignathus vorpalis''), is known only from fossils, and became extinct in prehistoric times when Polynesian settlers deforested the lowlands for agriculture. Taxonomy There are 5 species in this genus, 4 of which are extinct or possibly extinct: * Maui nukupuʻu, ''Hemignathus affinis'' - critically endangered or extinct, debated 1896 or 1990s * Kauaʻi nukupuʻu, ''Hemignathus hanapepe'' - critically endangered or extinct, debated 1899 or 1990s * Oʻahu nukupuʻu, ''Hemignathus lucidus'' - extinct, 1800s * Gian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maui Nukupuʻu
The Maui nukupuu (''Hemignathus affinis'') is a species of nukupuʻu Hawaiian honeycreeper that was endemic to the island of Maui in the Hawaiian Islands. The small, five-inch-long bird lived only in eastern Maui, where it was dependent on high-elevation mesic and wet forests of ōhia lehua (''Metrosideros polymorpha'') and koa (''Acacia koa''). These two species of trees attract insects, causing the Maui nukupuu to have a higher chance of finding a meal near these trees. It was last sighted in the late 1990's, and is most likely extinct. Description The males were colored green on the nape and head, and yellow on its face, neck, belly, and bottom. The females were completely olive green and were quieter than their male counterparts. Juveniles were gray and green. The bird's inch-long bill was used to peck for insects in the tree's bark. Population This species existed in the Hanawi Area Reserve from 3,000 feet to 4,500 feet above sea level. It formerly survived at lower ele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mosquito
Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, one pair of wings, three pairs of long hair-like legs, and specialized, highly elongated, piercing-sucking mouthparts. All mosquitoes drink nectar from flowers; females of some species have in addition adapted to drink blood. The group diversified during the Cretaceous period. Evolutionary biology, Evolutionary biologists view mosquitoes as micropredators, small animals that Parasitism, parasitise larger ones by drinking their blood without immediately killing them. Parasitology, Medical parasitologists view mosquitoes instead as Disease vector, vectors of disease, carrying protozoan parasites or bacterial or virus, viral pathogens from one Host (biology), host to another. The mosquito life cycle cons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic Fauna Of Hawaii
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] |
Hawaiian Honeycreepers
Hawaiian honeycreepers are a group of small birds endemic to Hawaii. They are members of the finch family Fringillidae, closely related to the rosefinches (''Carpodacus''), but many species have evolved features unlike those present in any other finch. Their great morphological diversity is the result of adaptive radiation in an insular environment. Many have been driven to extinction since the first humans arrived in Hawaii, with extinctions increasing over the last two centuries following European discovery of the islands, with habitat destruction and especially invasive species being the main causes. Taxonomy Before the introduction of molecular phylogenetic techniques, the relationship of the Hawaiian honeycreepers to other bird species was controversial. The honeycreepers were sometimes categorized as a family Drepanididae,Clements, J. 2007. ''The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World.'' 6th ed. other authorities considered them a subfamily, Drepanidinae, of Frin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hemignathus
''Hemignathus'' is a genus of Hawaiian honeycreepers in the subfamily Carduelinae of the family Fringillidae. All species are endemic to Hawaii. Extinctions Many of its species became extinct during the 19th and 20th centuries due to a combination of habitat destruction, introduced predators, and most importantly mosquito-borne diseases. The ʻakiapōlāʻau (''Hemignathus wilsoni'') may be the last surviving species in the genus. One species, the giant nukupu'u (''Hemignathus vorpalis''), is known only from fossils, and became extinct in prehistoric times when Polynesian settlers deforested the lowlands for agriculture. Taxonomy There are 5 species in this genus, 4 of which are extinct or possibly extinct: * Maui nukupuʻu, ''Hemignathus affinis'' - critically endangered or extinct, debated 1896 or 1990s * Kauaʻi nukupuʻu, ''Hemignathus hanapepe'' - critically endangered or extinct, debated 1899 or 1990s * Oʻahu nukupuʻu, ''Hemignathus lucidus'' - extinct, 1800s * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holocene Extinction
The Holocene extinction, also referred to as the Anthropocene extinction or the sixth mass extinction, is an ongoing extinction event caused exclusively by human activities during the Holocene epoch. This extinction event spans numerous families of plants and animals, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates, impacting both terrestrial and marine life, marine species. Widespread degradation of biodiversity hotspots such as coral reefs and rainforests has exacerbated the crisis. Many of these extinctions are undocumented, as the species are often undiscovered before their extinctions. Current extinction rates are estimated at 100 to 1,000 times higher than natural background extinction rates and are accelerating. Over the past 100–200 years, biodiversity loss has reached such alarming levels that some conservation biologists now believe humankind, human activities have triggered a mass extinction, or are on the cusp of doing so. As such, after the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kauaʻi Nukupuʻu
The Kauai nukupuu (''Hemignathus hanapepe'') is an extinct species of nukupuʻu once found throughout parts of the Hawaiian island of Kauai. It was an insect eater that picked out its tiny prey from tree bark. The males were yellowish with brown wings, while the females were grayish brown with a yellow throat streak. Conservation The species was abundant until the 19th century, when the loss of its lowland forests to slash and burn farming methods damaged its habitat. By 1889, this bird was very rare, though it could still be found in small flocks in the higher forests. The last confirmed sighting was in 1899; if the species survived after this time, it likely became confined to the Alakaʻi Wilderness Preserve. From 1984-1998, it was recorded several times in this area, but later analysis of these sightings indicates that almost all these observations were likely of Kauaʻi ʻamakihi (''Chlorodrepanis stejnegeri''). It was also feared that the winds from Hurricane Iniki in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agriculture
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in the cities. While humans started gathering grains at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers only began planting them around 11,500 years ago. Sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle were domesticated around 10,000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. In the 20th century, industrial agriculture based on large-scale monocultures came to dominate agricultural output. , small farms produce about one-third of the world's food, but large farms are prevalent. The largest 1% of farms in the world are greater than and operate more than 70% of the world's farmland. Nearly 40% of agricultural land is found on farms larger than . However, five of every six farm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. About 31% of Earth's land surface is covered by forests at present. This is one-third less than the forest cover before the expansion of agriculture, with half of that loss occurring in the last century. Between 15 million to 18 million hectares of forest, an area the size of Bangladesh, are destroyed every year. On average 2,400 trees are cut down each minute. Estimates vary widely as to the extent of deforestation in the tropics. In 2019, nearly a third of the overall tree cover loss, or 3.8 million hectares, occurred within humid tropical primary forests. These are areas of mature rainforest that are especially important for biodiversity and carbon storage. The direct cause of most deforestation is agriculture by far. More than ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polynesians
Polynesians are an ethnolinguistic group comprising closely related ethnic groups native to Polynesia, which encompasses the islands within the Polynesian Triangle in the Pacific Ocean. They trace their early prehistoric origins to Island Southeast Asia and are part of the larger Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, with an Urheimat in Taiwan. They speak the Polynesian languages, a branch of the Oceanic subfamily within the Austronesian language family. The Indigenous Māori people form the largest Polynesian population, followed by Samoans, Native Hawaiians, Tahitians, Tongans, and Cook Islands Māori. , there were an estimated 2 million ethnic Polynesians (both full and part) worldwide. The vast majority either inhabit independent Polynesian nation-states (Samoa, Niue, Cook Islands, Tonga, and Tuvalu) or form minorities in countries such as Australia, Chile (Easter Island), New Zealand, France (French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna), and the United States (Hawaii and Am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giant Nukupuʻu
The giant nukupuu (''Hemignathus vorpalis'') is an extinct species of finch in the family Fringillidae, which is only known from fossil remains. It was endemic to Hawaii. Its extinction is believed to have occurred within the last 3000 years, but exact timing and reasons remain unclear. It was larger and had a different bill morphology than the remaining members of the genus ''Hemignathus ''Hemignathus'' is a genus of Hawaiian honeycreepers in the subfamily Carduelinae of the family Fringillidae. All species are endemic to Hawaii. Extinctions Many of its species became extinct during the 19th and 20th centuries due to a combina ...''. References * James, Helen F., & Olson, Storrs L. (2003). ''A giant new species of nukupuu (Fringillidae: Drepanidini: Hemignathus) from the island of Hawaii.'' The Auk. 120(4): 970–981. Hemignathus Hawaiian honeycreepers Extinct birds of Hawaii Endemic fauna of Hawaii Holocene extinctions Birds described in 2003 Taxa named by Helen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ʻAkiapolaʻau
The akiapōlāau (''Hemignathus wilsoni''), pronounced ''ah-kee-ah-POH-LAH-OW'', is a species of Hawaiian honeycreeper that is endemic to the island of Hawaii. Its natural habitats are dry and montane moist forests, and the only bird species on the island to occupy the woodpecker niche. The bird is in length, and has an unusually curved beak-(a specialist species). The akiapolaau is a pudgy bird which has a whitish bottom and tail, black legs, yellow chest, orangish head, black face mask and bill and gray black wings. The male's song is either a loud, short ''pit-er-ieu'' or a rapid ''warba-warba''. Its various calls include an upslurred whistle, a short ''cheedle-ee'' warble, and a short ''sweet''. Due to the recent disappearance of the Kauai nukupuu in the 1900s and the Maui nukupu u in the 1990s, leading to fears that they may be extinct, the akiapōlāau may be the last of its genus. It is the only member of the subgenus ''Heterorhynchus'', which has a woodpecker-lik ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
