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Praemancalla
Mancallinae is an extinct subfamily of prehistoric flightless alcids that lived on the Pacific coast of today's California and Mexico from the late Miocene epoch to the early Pleistocene (ranging from at least 7.4 million to 470,000 years ago). They are sometimes collectively referred to as Lucas auks after the scientist who described the first species, Frederic Augustus Lucas. Description They had evolved along somewhat similar lines as the great auk, their North Atlantic ecological counterpart, but their decidedly stubbier wings were in some aspects more convergent with penguins. Compared with the subarctic great auk, they were also smaller (''see also:'' Bergmann's Rule): ''Praemancalla'' species have been estimated to have weighed about 3 kg. Most ''Mancalla'' forms weighed somewhat less (about 2.4 kg), with ''M. milleri'' being a smaller (1.65 kg) and ''M. emlongi'' a much larger bird (3.8 kg) than the rest. The last species thus stood around 55–60&n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alcodes
Mancallinae is an extinct subfamily of prehistoric flightless alcids that lived on the Pacific coast of today's California and Mexico from the late Miocene epoch to the early Pleistocene (ranging from at least 7.4 million to 470,000 years ago). They are sometimes collectively referred to as Lucas auks after the scientist who described the first species, Frederic Augustus Lucas. Description They had evolved along somewhat similar lines as the great auk, their North Atlantic ecological counterpart, but their decidedly stubbier wings were in some aspects more convergent with penguins. Compared with the subarctic great auk, they were also smaller (''see also:'' Bergmann's Rule): ''Praemancalla'' species have been estimated to have weighed about 3 kg. Most ''Mancalla'' forms weighed somewhat less (about 2.4 kg), with ''M. milleri'' being a smaller (1.65 kg) and ''M. emlongi'' a much larger bird (3.8 kg) than the rest. The last species thus stood around 55–60&nb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Praemancalla
Mancallinae is an extinct subfamily of prehistoric flightless alcids that lived on the Pacific coast of today's California and Mexico from the late Miocene epoch to the early Pleistocene (ranging from at least 7.4 million to 470,000 years ago). They are sometimes collectively referred to as Lucas auks after the scientist who described the first species, Frederic Augustus Lucas. Description They had evolved along somewhat similar lines as the great auk, their North Atlantic ecological counterpart, but their decidedly stubbier wings were in some aspects more convergent with penguins. Compared with the subarctic great auk, they were also smaller (''see also:'' Bergmann's Rule): ''Praemancalla'' species have been estimated to have weighed about 3 kg. Most ''Mancalla'' forms weighed somewhat less (about 2.4 kg), with ''M. milleri'' being a smaller (1.65 kg) and ''M. emlongi'' a much larger bird (3.8 kg) than the rest. The last species thus stood around 55–60&n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Auk
The great auk (''Pinguinus impennis''), also known as the penguin or garefowl, is an Extinction, extinct species of flightless bird, flightless auk, alcid that first appeared around 400,000 years ago and Bird extinction, became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus ''Pinguinus''. It was not closely related to the Penguin, penguins of the Southern Hemisphere, which were named for their resemblance to this species. It bred on rocky, remote islands with easy access to the ocean and a plentiful food supply, a rarity in nature that provided only a few breeding sites for the great auks. During the non-breeding season, the auk foraged in the waters of the North Atlantic, ranging as far south as northern Spain and along the coastlines of Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Ireland, and Great Britain. The bird was tall and weighed about , making it the largest alcid to survive into the modern era, and the second-largest member ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern marine invertebrates than the Pliocene has. The Miocene followed the Oligocene and preceded the Pliocene. As Earth went from the Oligocene through the Miocene and into the Pliocene, the climate slowly cooled towards a series of ice ages. The Miocene boundaries are not marked by distinct global events but by regionally defined transitions from the warmer Oligocene to the cooler Pliocene Epoch. During the Early Miocene, Afro-Arabia collided with Eurasia, severing the connection between the Mediterranean and Indian Oceans, and allowing the interchange of fauna between Eurasia and Africa, including the dispersal of proboscideans and Ape, hominoids into Eurasia. During the late Miocene, the conn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paraphyletic
Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In contrast, a monophyletic grouping (a clade) includes a common ancestor and ''all'' of its descendants. The terms are commonly used in phylogenetics (a subfield of biology) and in the tree model of historical linguistics. Paraphyletic groups are identified by a combination of synapomorphies and symplesiomorphies. If many subgroups are missing from the named group, it is said to be polyparaphyletic. The term received currency during the debates of the 1960s and 1970s accompanying the rise of cladistics, having been coined by zoologist Willi Hennig to apply to well-known taxa like Reptilia (reptiles), which is paraphyletic with respect to birds. Reptilia contains the last common ancestor of reptiles and all descendants of that ancestor exc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhinoceros Auklet
The rhinoceros auklet (''Cerorhinca monocerata'') is a seabird and a close relative of the puffins. It is the only extant species of the genus ''Cerorhinca''. Given its close relationship with the puffins, the common name rhinoceros puffin has been proposed for the species. It ranges widely across the North Pacific, feeding on small fish and nesting in Bird colony, colonies. Its name is derived from a horn-like extension of the beak (the anatomic term for this extension is the Beak#Rhamphotheca, rhamphotheca). This horn is only present in breeding adults, and like the elaborate sheath on the bill of puffins is shed every year. This horn also possesses fluorescent properties, which is likely involved in reproductive signalling. The rhinoceros auklet (also known as the rhino auklet, horn-billed puffin, or unicorn puffin), is a medium-sized auk with a large, strong, orange/brown bill (with the 'horn' protruding from it). The plumage is dark on top and paler below; breeding adults ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puffin
Puffins are any of three species of small alcids (auks) in the bird genus ''Fratercula''. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crevices among rocks or in burrows in the soil. Two species, the tufted puffin and horned puffin, are found in the North Pacific Ocean, while the Atlantic puffin is found in the North Atlantic Ocean. All puffin species have predominantly black or black and white plumage, a stocky build, and large beaks that get brightly colored during the breeding season. They shed the colorful outer parts of their bills after the breeding season, leaving a smaller and duller beak. Their short wings are adapted for swimming with a flying technique underwater. In the air, they beat their wings rapidly (up to 400 times per minute) in swift flight, often flying low over the ocean's surface. Etymology The English name "puffin" – puffed in the sense of swoll ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alcidae
Auks or alcids are birds of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the murres, guillemots, auklets, puffins, and murrelets. The family contains 25 extant or recently extinct species that are divided into 11 genera. Auks are found throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Apart from the extinct great auk, all auks can fly, and are excellent swimmers and divers (appearing to "fly" in water), but their walking appears clumsy. Names Several species have different English names in Europe and North America. The two species known as "murres" in North America are called "guillemots" in Europe, and the species called little auk in Europe is referred to as dovekie in North America. Etymology The word "auk" is derived from Icelandic ''álka'' and Norwegian ''alka'' or ''alke'' from Old Norse ''ālka'' from Proto-Germanic *''alkǭ'' (sea-bird, auk). Taxonomy The family name Alcidae comes from the genus '' Alca'' given by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clade
In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach to taxonomy adopted by most biological fields. The common ancestor may be an individual, a population, or a species (extinct or Extant taxon, extant). Clades are nested, one in another, as each branch in turn splits into smaller branches. These splits reflect evolutionary history as populations diverged and evolved independently. Clades are termed ''monophyletic'' (Greek: "one clan") groups. Over the last few decades, the cladistic approach has revolutionized biological classification and revealed surprising evolutionary relationships among organisms. Increasingly, taxonomists try to avoid naming Taxon, taxa that are not clades; that is, taxa that are not Monophyly, monophyletic. Some of the relationships between organisms that the molecul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bergmann's Rule
Bergmann's rule is an ecogeographical rule that states that, within a broadly distributed taxonomic clade, populations and species of larger size are found in colder environments, while populations and species of smaller size are found in warmer regions. The rule derives from the relationship between size in linear dimensions meaning that both height and volume will increase in colder environments. Bergmann's rule only describes the overall size of the animals, but does not include body proportions like Allen's rule does. Although originally formulated in relation to species within a genus, it has often been recast in relation to populations within a species. It is also often cast in relation to latitude. It is possible that the rule also applies to some plants, such as '' Rapicactus''. The rule is named after nineteenth century German biologist Carl Bergmann, who described the pattern in 1847, although he was not the first to notice it. Bergmann's rule is most often applied t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subarctic
The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of hemiboreal regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Fennoscandia, Northwestern Russia, Siberia, and the Cairngorms. Generally, subarctic regions fall between 50°N and 70°N latitude, depending on local climates. Precipitation is usually low, and vegetation is characteristic of the taiga. Daylight at these latitudes is quite extreme between summer and winter due to its high latitude. Near the summer solstice for instance, subarctic regions can experience an all-night period of either civil, nautical, or astronomical twilight (or in the northern reaches full daylight), since the sun never dips more than 18 degrees below the horizon. Noctilucent clouds are best observed within this range of latitude. Climate and soils Subarctic temperatures are above for at least one and at most three months of the year. Precipitation tends to be low due to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holotype Specimen Of Mancalla Vegrandis
A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several examples, but explicitly designated as the holotype. Under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), a holotype is one of several kinds of name-bearing types. In the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) and ICZN, the definitions of types are similar in intent but not identical in terminology or underlying concept. For example, the holotype for the butterfly '' Plebejus idas longinus'' is a preserved specimen of that subspecies, held by the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. In botany and mycology, an isotype is a duplicate of the holotype, generally pieces from the same individual plant or samples from the same genetic individual. A holotype is not necessarily "typic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
