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Madeira Finch
The Madeira finch (''Goniaphea leucocephala'') is a hypothetical species of recently extinct small passerine bird from the Portugal, Portuguese archipelago of Madeira, which is biogeography, biogeographically part of Macaronesia. It should not be confused with the extant Madeira chaffinch (''Fringilla maderensis''). Discovery The only known account is the 1823 description and illustration of a bird by United Kingdom, British author Thomas Edward Bowdich, published by his widow Sarah Bowdich Lee in the 1825 book ''Excursions in Madeira and Porto Santo, during the autumn of 1823, while on his third voyage to Africa''. No remains of this bird survive; if collected it was probably lost while en route to Europe, as it happened to most of Bowdich's specimens.Hume, J.P. (2017) ''Extinct Birds.'' Bloomsbury Publishing, 560 pages. Description Bowdich's original text and footnote read: Taxonomy Bowdich's concern that ''G. leucocephala'' might not be native to Madeira was echoed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goniaphea Leucocephala
The Madeira finch (''Goniaphea leucocephala'') is a hypothetical species of recently extinct small passerine bird from the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira, which is biogeographically part of Macaronesia. It should not be confused with the extant Madeira chaffinch (''Fringilla maderensis''). Discovery The only known account is the 1823 description and illustration of a bird by British author Thomas Edward Bowdich, published by his widow Sarah Bowdich Lee in the 1825 book ''Excursions in Madeira and Porto Santo, during the autumn of 1823, while on his third voyage to Africa''. No remains of this bird survive; if collected it was probably lost while en route to Europe, as it happened to most of Bowdich's specimens.Hume, J.P. (2017) ''Extinct Birds.'' Bloomsbury Publishing, 560 pages. Description Bowdich's original text and footnote read: Taxonomy Bowdich's concern that ''G. leucocephala'' might not be native to Madeira was echoed by other authors that placed it on the N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gracula
''Gracula'' is a genus of mynas, tropical members of the starling family of birds found in southern Asia and introduced to Florida in the United States. Taxonomy The genus ''Gracula'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. The genus name is from Latin ''graculus'', an unknown bird sometimes identified as the western jackdaw. Of the seven species listed by Linnaeus, George Robert Gray, George Gray designated the common hill myna (''Gracula religiosa'') as the type species. Until recently only two species were recognised, ''G. religiosa'' and ''G. ptilogenys''. Previously, all ''Gracula'' were considered to belong to a very variable species commonly called the hill myna. Three additional subspecies of ''G. religiosa'' are increasingly being considered as distinct species. Formerly, the Sri Lanka hill myna was considered to be a subspecies of the common hill myna, but today al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Songbird
A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5,000 or so speciesEdwards, Scott V. and John Harshman. 2013. Passeriformes. Perching Birds, Passerine Birds. Version 06 February 2013 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Passeriformes/15868/2013.02.06 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/ ccessed 2017/12/11 found all over the world, in which the vocal organ typically is developed in such a way as to produce a diverse and elaborate bird song. Songbirds form one of the two major lineages of extant perching birds (~4,000 species), the other being the Tyranni (~1,000 species), which are most diverse in the Neotropics and absent from many parts of the world. The Tyranni have a simpler syrinx musculature, and while their vocalizations are often just as complex and striking as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemism
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 b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended from a Common descent, common ancestor is now generally accepted and considered a fundamental scientific concept. In a joint presentation with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this Phylogenetics, branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding.. Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history and was honoured by Burials and memorials in Westminster Abbey, burial in Westminster Abbey. Darwin's early interest in nature led him to neglect his medical education at the University of Edinburgh Medical Schoo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quail
Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New World quail are placed in the family Odontophoridae. The species of buttonquail are named for their superficial resemblance to quail, and form the family Turnicidae in the order Charadriiformes. The king quail, an Old World quail, often is sold in the pet trade, and within this trade is commonly, though mistakenly, referred to as a "button quail". Many of the common larger species are farm-raised for table food or egg consumption, and are hunted on game farms or in the wild, where they may be released to supplement the wild population, or extend into areas outside their natural range. In 2007, 40 million quail were produced in the United States. New World *Genus '' Callipepla'' ** Scaled quail, (commonly called blue quail) ''Callip ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rail (bird)
Rails (avian family Rallidae) are a large, Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan family (biology), family of small- to medium-sized terrestrial and/or semi-amphibious birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity in its forms, and includes such ubiquitous species as the crakes, coots, and gallinule; other rail species are extremely rare or endangered. Many are associated with wetland habitats, some being semi-aquatic like waterfowl (such as the coot), but many more are wading birds or shorebirds. The ideal rail habitats are marsh areas, including rice paddy, rice paddies, and flooded fields or open forest. They are especially fond of dense vegetation for nesting.Horsfall & Robinson (2003): pp. 206–207 The rail family is found in every Terrestrial animal, terrestrial habitat with the exception of dry desert, Polar climate, polar or freezing regions, and Alpine climate, alpine areas (above the snow line). Members of Rallidae occur on every continent except Antarctica. N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flightless Bird
Flightless birds are birds that cannot Bird flight, fly, as they have, through evolution, lost the ability to. There are over 60 extant species, including the well-known ratites (ostriches, emus, cassowary, cassowaries, Rhea (bird), rheas, and Kiwi (bird), kiwis) and penguins. The smallest flightless bird is the Inaccessible Island rail (length 12.5 cm, weight 34.7 g). The largest (both heaviest and tallest) flightless bird, which is also the largest living bird in general, is the common ostrich (2.7 m, 156 kg). Many domesticated birds, such as the domestic chicken and domestic duck, have lost the ability to fly for extended periods, although their ancestral species, the red junglefowl and mallard, respectively, are capable of extended flight. A few particularly bred birds, such as the Broad Breasted White turkey, have become totally flightless as a result of selective breeding; the birds were bred to grow massive breast meat that weighs too much for the bird's wings ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Thomas Lowe
Richard Thomas Lowe (1802–1874) was an English botanist, ichthyologist, malacologist, and clergyman. In 1825 he graduated from Christ's College, Cambridge, and in the same year he took holy orders. In 1832 he became a clergyman in the Madeira Islands, where he was also a part-time naturalist, extensively studying the local flora and fauna. He wrote a book on the Madeiran flora. He died in 1874 when the ship he was on was wrecked off the Isles of Scilly. Taxa Lowe named and described numerous molluscan taxa, including: * '' Caseolus'', a land snail genus and eight species within it * '' Lemniscia'', a land snail A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have gastropod shell, shel ... genus and two species within it See also * :Taxa named by Richard Thomas Lowe References * Notes 1802 birt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Redpoll
The redpoll (''Acanthis flammea'') is a species of small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Acanthis''. It breeds in the Arctic and north temperate Holarctic tundra and taiga. The redpoll was formerly widely treated as three species: the common or mealy redpoll, the arctic or hoary redpoll (''A. hornemanni''), and the lesser redpoll (''A. cabaret''). Taxonomy The redpoll was listed in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Fringilla flammea''. The specific epithet ''flammea'' is Latin meaning "flame-coloured". Linnaeus also described the redpoll as ''Fringilla linaria'' on the same page, but the earlier name ''flammea'' has priority. The redpoll was previously placed in the genus ''Carduelis''. Molecular phylogenetic studies showed that it formed a distinct lineage, so it was moved to the resurrected genus ''Acanthis'' that had been introd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subfossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in amber, hair, petrified wood and DNA remnants. The totality of fossils is known as the ''fossil record''. Though the fossil record is incomplete, numerous studies have demonstrated that there is enough information available to give a good understanding of the pattern of diversification of life on Earth. In addition, the record can predict and fill gaps such as the discovery of ''Tiktaalik'' in the arctic of Canada. Paleontology includes the study of fossils: their age, method of formation, and evolutionary significance. Specimens are sometimes considered to be fossils if they are over 10,000 years old. The oldest fossils are around 3.48 billion years to 4.1 billion years old. Early edition, published online before print. The o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fringillidae
The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches generally have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usually resident and do not migrate. They have a worldwide native distribution except for Australia and the polar regions. The family Fringillidae contains more than two hundred species divided into fifty genera. It includes the canaries, siskins, redpolls, serins, grosbeaks and euphonias, as well as the morphologically divergent Hawaiian honeycreepers. Many birds in other families are also commonly called "finches". These groups include the estrildid finches ( Estrildidae) of the Old World tropics and Australia; some members of the Old World bunting family ( Emberizidae) and the New World sparrow family ( Passerellidae); and the Darwin's finches of the Galapagos islands, now considered members of the tanager family (Thra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
