|
Littorina Saxatilis
''Littorina saxatilis'', common name the rough periwinkle, is a species of small sea snail, a marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusc in the family Littorinidae, the winkles or periwinkles. First identified in the 1700s, it has been misidentified as a new species 112 times. Distribution This species is native to the shores of the North Atlantic Ocean, including Hudson Bay, Baffin Island, Greenland, and the Barents Sea, south along the American East Coast to Chesapeake Bay, and along the European coast to the Straits of Gibraltar. Only one population of this intertidal species occurred in the Mediterranean basin i.e., Venice lagoon. The Venice population represents the earliest confirmed introduction of an exotic species in the Mediterranean Sea. Abiotic environmental features such as salinity and water temperature have influenced the past and current distributions of this snail and limited its invasion of the Mediterranean Sea. This species has also been introduced to San Franci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giuseppe Olivi
Giuseppe Olivi (18 March 1769 – 24 August 1795) was an Italian abbot and naturalist. He was born at Chioggia and was the author of ''Zoologia Adriatica'' (1792). He died in Padua when he was only 26. Biography Olivi was born in Chioggia in 1769. He was educated in Choggia under the tutelage of Francesco and Giuseppe Fabris. Despite only having taken minor orders, he wore ecclesiastical garments and adopted the title of abbot. He had wide interests, which stretched from chemistry, where he supported the theories of Antoine Lavoisier, passing through mineralogy and agriculture, to botany, with particular reference to algae. He stood out among the late eighteenth century Italian naturalists in his independent outlook, questioning the theories prevalent at the time, and considering the ecological aspects of the animals he studied, and the impact they had on the environment. Olivi was interested in the infusoria discovered by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, the microscopic living organisms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gastropod Shell
The gastropod shell is part of the body of many gastropods, including snails, a kind of mollusc. The shell is an exoskeleton, which protects from predators, mechanical damage, and dehydration, but also serves for muscle attachment and calcium storage. Some gastropods appear shell-less (slugs) but may have a remnant within the mantle, or in some cases the shell is reduced such that the body cannot be retracted within it (semi-slug). Some snails also possess an operculum that seals the opening of the shell, known as the Aperture (mollusc), aperture, which provides further protection. The study of mollusc shells is known as conchology. The biological study of gastropods, and other molluscs in general, is malacology. Shell morphology terms vary by species group. Shell layers The gastropod shell has three major layers secreted by the Mantle (mollusc), mantle. The calcareous central layer, ostracum, is typically made of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) precipitated into an organic matrix ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Montagu (naturalist)
George Montagu (1753 – 20 June 1815) was a British military officer and ornithologist. He was known for his pioneering ''Ornithological Dictionary'' of 1802, which for the first time accurately defined the status of Britain's birds. He is remembered today for species such as the Montagu's harrier, named after him. Life and work George Montagu was born to James Montagu (1713–1790), who was great-great-grandson of Lord James Montagu (d. 1665), who was younger son of Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester. Montagu is best known for his ''Ornithological Dictionary'' (1802) and his contributions to early knowledge of British birds. He showed that many previously accepted species were invalid, either because they were birds in summer or winter plumage or males and females of the same species. His study of harriers resulted in the discovery that the Montagu's harrier was breeding in southern England. He was also involved in the first British records of cirl bunting, whose breeding ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Internal Fertilization
Internal fertilization is the union of an egg and sperm cell during sexual reproduction inside the female body. Internal fertilization, unlike its counterpart, external fertilization, brings more control to the female with reproduction. For internal fertilization to happen there needs to be a method for the male to introduce the sperm into the female's reproductive tract. Most taxa that reproduce by internal fertilization are gonochoric. Male mammals, reptiles, and certain other vertebrates transfer sperm into the female's vagina or cloaca through an intromittent organ during copulation. In most birds, the cloacal kiss is used, the two animals pressing their cloacas together while transferring sperm. Salamanders, spiders, some insects and some molluscs undertake internal fertilization by transferring a spermatophore, a bundle of sperm, from the male to the female. Following fertilization, the embryos are laid as eggs in oviparous organisms, or continue to develop inside the r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbivore
A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat non-vascular autotrophs such as mosses, algae and lichens, but do not include those feeding on decomposed plant matters (i.e. detritivores) or macrofungi (i.e. fungivores). As a result of their plant-based diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouth structures ( jaws or mouthparts) well adapted to mechanically break down plant materials, and their digestive systems have special enzymes (e.g. amylase and cellulase) to digest polysaccharides. Grazing herbivores such as horses and cattles have wide flat- crowned teeth that are better adapted for grinding grass, tree bark and other tougher lignin-containing materials, and many of them evolved rumination or cecotropic behaviors to better extract nutrients from plants. A larg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism
Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP-PCR or AFLP) is a PCR-based tool used in genetics research, DNA fingerprinting, and in the practice of genetic engineering. Developed in the early 1990s by Pieter Vos, AFLP uses restriction enzymes to digest genomic DNA, followed by ligation of adaptors to the sticky ends of the restriction fragments. A subset of the restriction fragments is then selected to be amplified. This selection is achieved by using primers complementary to the adaptor sequence, the restriction site sequence and a few nucleotides inside the restriction site fragments (as described in detail below). The amplified fragments are separated and visualized on denaturing on agarose gel electrophoresis, either through autoradiography or fluorescence methodologies, or via automated capillary sequencing instruments. Although AFLP should not be used as an acronym, it is commonly referred to as "Amplified fragment length polymorphism". However, the resulting data are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desiccation Tolerance
Desiccation tolerance refers to the ability of an organism to withstand or endure extreme dryness, or drought-like conditions. Plants and animals living in arid or periodically arid environments such as temporary streams or ponds may face the challenge of desiccation, therefore physiological or behavioral adaptations to withstand these periods are necessary to ensure survival. In particular, insects occupy a wide range of ecologically diverse niches and, so, exhibit a variety of strategies to avoid desiccation. In general, desiccation resistance in insects is measured by the change in mass during dry conditions. The overall mass difference between measurements before and after aridity exposure is attributed to body water loss, as respiratory water loss is generally considered negligible. Desiccation and plants Desiccation tolerant plants include ''Craterostigma plantagineum'', ''Lindernia brevidens'' and '' Ramonda serbica''. Desiccation sensitive plants include members of ''Ara ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crab
Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek language, Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen#Arthropoda, abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the Thorax (arthropod anatomy), thorax. Their exoskeleton is often Sclerotization, thickened and hard. They generally have Arthropod leg, five pairs of legs, and they have "Pincers (tool), pincers" or "claws" on the ends of the frontmost pair, scientifically termed the ''chelae''. They are present in all the world's oceans, Freshwater crab, in freshwater, and Terrestrial crab, on land, often hiding themselves in small crevices or burrowing into sediment. Crabs are omnivores, feeding on a variety of food, including a significant proportion of Algae eater, algae, as well as Detritivore, detritus and other invertebrates. Crab meat, Crabs are widely consumed by humans as food, with over 1.5 million tonnes Crab fisheries, caught annually. True crabs first appeared ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecotype
Ecotypes are organisms which belong to the same species but possess different phenotypical features as a result of environmental factors such as elevation, climate and predation. Ecotypes can be seen in wide geographical distributions and may eventually lead to speciation. Definition In evolutionary ecology, an ecotype,Greek: ''οίκος'' = home and ''τύπος'' = type, coined by Göte Turesson in 1922 sometimes called ecospecies, describes a genetically distinct geographic variety, Population biology, population, or Race (biology), race within a species, which is genotypically Adaptation, adapted to specific environmental conditions. Typically, though ecotypes exhibit Phenotype, phenotypic differences (such as in Morphology (biology), morphology or physiology) stemming from environmental heterogeneity, they are capable of interbreeding with other geographically adjacent ecotypes without loss of fertility or vigor.''Ecology: From individuals to ecosystems'' by Begon, Townsen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galicia (Spain)
Galicia ( ; or ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain and nationalities and regions of Spain, historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, it includes the provinces of Spain, provinces of La Coruña (province), A Coruña, Lugo (province), Lugo, Ourense (province), Ourense, and Pontevedra (province), Pontevedra. Galicia is located in Atlantic Europe. It is bordered by Portugal to the south, the Spanish autonomous communities of Castile and León and Asturias to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Cantabrian Sea to the north. It had a population of 2,705,833 in 2024 and a total area of . Galicia has over of coastline, including its offshore islands and islets, among them Cíes Islands, Ons Island, Ons, Sálvora, Cortegada Island, which together form the Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park, and the largest and most populated, A Illa de Arousa. The area now called Galicia was first in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barnacle
Barnacles are arthropods of the subclass (taxonomy), subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacean, Crustacea. They are related to crabs and lobsters, with similar Nauplius (larva), nauplius larvae. Barnacles are exclusively marine invertebrates; many species live in shallow and tidal waters. Some 2,100 species have been described. Barnacle adults are Sessility (motility), sessile; most are Filter feeder, suspension feeders with hard calcareous shells, but the Rhizocephala are parasitic castration, specialized parasites of other crustaceans, with reduced bodies. Barnacles have existed since at least the mid-Carboniferous, some 325 million years ago. In folklore, barnacle geese were once held to emerge fully formed from goose barnacles. Both goose barnacles and the Austromegabalanus psittacus, Chilean giant barnacle are fished and eaten. Barnacles are economically significant as biofouling on ships, where they cause hydrodynamic Drag (physics), drag, reducing efficiency. Ety ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bedrock
In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of bedrock is often called an outcrop. The various kinds of broken and weathered rock material, such as soil and subsoil, that may overlie the bedrock are known as regolith. Engineering geology The surface of the bedrock beneath the soil cover (regolith) is also known as ''rockhead'' in engineering geology, and its identification by digging, drilling or geophysical methods is an important task in most civil engineering projects. Superficial deposits can be very thick, such that the bedrock lies hundreds of meters below the surface. Weathering of bedrock Exposed bedrock experiences weathering, which may be physical or chemical, and which alters the structure of the rock to leave it susceptible to erosion. Bedrock may also experience subsur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
