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Spur-winged Geese
The spur-winged goose (''Plectropterus gambensis'') is a large, Sub-Saharan African waterbird in the family Anatidae, which includes geese and shelducks. However, ''P. gambensis'' developed unique environmental adaptations, which resulted in the evolution of several anatomical features that are not shared with other anatids; thus, the species has been classified one step further into its own subfamily, the Plectropterinae. Description Adults are long, and weigh an average of (rarely up to ), with ganders (males) being noticeably larger than the geese. The wingspan can range from .Ogilvie & Young, ''Wildfowl of the World''. New Holland Publishers (2004), One source claims the average weight of males is around and the weight of females is around . However, 11 individuals that were banded in South Africa, were found to average only , with a range of .''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses, 2nd Edition'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (2008), . Another South African-bas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chobe National Park
Chobe National Park is Botswana's first national park, and also the most Biodiversity, biologically diverse. Located in the north of the country, it is Botswana's third largest park, after Central Kalahari Game Reserve and Gemsbok National Park. This park is noted for having a population of lions which prey on elephants, mostly calves or juveniles, but also subadults. History The original inhabitants of this area were the San people, San bushmen (also known as the Basarwa people in Botswana). They were nomadic hunter-gatherers who were constantly moving from place to place to find food sources, namely fruit, water and wild animals. Nowadays one can find San rock art, San paintings inside rocky hills of the park. At the beginning of the 20th century, the region that would become Botswana was divided into different land tenure systems. At that time, a major part of the park's area was classified as crown land. The idea of a national park which would protect the varied local wild ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Barren Goose
The Cape Barren goose (''Cereopsis novaehollandiae''), sometimes also known as the pig goose, is a species of goose endemic to southern Australia. It is a distinctive large, grey bird that is mostly terrestrial and is not closely related to other extant members of the subfamily Anserinae. Taxonomy and history The indigenous Jardwadjali people of western Victoria refer to this species as ''toolka''. The Noongar / Nyungar people of south-western Western Australia use the name ''bibib.'' The Cape Barren goose was first formally described by English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 as ''Cereopsis N. Hollandiae''. The species had been earlier reported from the Bass Strait by George Bass and Matthew Flinders in 1798, who referred to it as a " Brent or Barnacle Goose". The taxonomic placement of this species is not yet fully resolved. It is now generally recognised as being a member of the subfamily Anserinae, however, it has also been associated with Tadorninae. When placed with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legumes. After being harvested, dry grains are more durable than other staple foods, such as starchy fruits (plantain (cooking), plantains, breadfruit, etc.) and tubers (sweet potatoes, cassava, and more). This durability has made grains well suited to industrial agriculture, since they can be mechanically harvested, transported by rail or ship, stored for long periods in silos, and mill (grinding), milled for flour or expeller pressing, pressed for Seed oil, oil. Thus, the grain market is a major global commodity market that includes crops such as maize, rice, soybeans, wheat and other grains. Cereal and non-cereal grains In the grass family, a grain (narrowly defined) is a caryopsis, a fruit with its wall fused on to the single seed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aquatic Plant
Aquatic plants, also referred to as hydrophytes, are vascular plants and Non-vascular plant, non-vascular plants that have adapted to live in aquatic ecosystem, aquatic environments (marine ecosystem, saltwater or freshwater ecosystem, freshwater). In lakes, rivers and wetlands, aquatic vegetations provide cover for aquatic animals such as fish, amphibians and aquatic insects, create substrate (marine biology), substrate for benthic invertebrates, produce oxygen via photosynthesis, and serve as food for some herbivorous wildlife. Familiar examples of aquatic plants include Nymphaeaceae, waterlily, Nelumbo, lotus, duckweeds, mosquito fern, floating heart, water milfoils, Hippuris, mare's tail, water lettuce, water hyacinth, and algae. Aquatic plants require special adaptation (biology), adaptations for prolonged inundation in water, and for buoyancy, floating at the water surface. The most common adaptation is the presence of lightweight internal packing cells, aerenchyma, but floa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sedge
The Cyperaceae () are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as wikt:sedge, sedges. The family (biology), family is large; botanists have species description, described some 5,500 known species in about 90 genus, generathe largest being the "true wikt:sedge, sedges" (genus ''Carex''), with over 2,000 species. Distribution Cyperaceae species are widely distributed with the centers of diversity for the group occurring in tropical Asia and tropical South America. While sedges grow in almost all environments, many thrive in wetlands or in poor soils. Community (ecology), Ecological communities dominated by sedges are known as s or as sedge meadows. Classification Some species superficially resemble the closely related Juncaceae , rushes and the more distantly related grasses. Features distinguishing members of the sedge family from grasses or rushes are stems with triangular cross-sections (with occasional exceptions, a notable example be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grass
Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and pasture. The latter are commonly referred to collectively as grass. With around 780 genera and around 12,000 species, the Poaceae is the fifth-largest :plant families, plant family, following the Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, Fabaceae and Rubiaceae. The Poaceae are the most economically important plant family, including staple foods from domesticated cereal crops such as maize, wheat, rice, oats, barley, and millet for people and as forage, feed for livestock, meat-producing animals. They provide, through direct human consumption, just over one-half (51%) of all dietary energy; rice provides 20%, wheat supplies 20%, maize (corn) 5.5%, and other grains 6%. Some members of the Poaceae are used as building materials ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cantharidin
Cantharidin is an odorless, colorless fatty substance of the terpenoid class, which is secreted by many species of blister beetles. Its main current use in pharmacology is treating molluscum contagiosum and warts topically. It is a burn agent, poisonous in large doses. It has been historically used as an aphrodisiac (in potions sold under the name #Aphrodisiac preparations, "Spanish fly"). In its natural form, cantharidin is secreted by the male blister beetle, and given to the female as a copulatory gift during mating. Afterwards, the female beetle covers her eggs with it as a defense against predators. Poisoning from cantharidin is a significant veterinary concern, especially in horses, but it can also be poisonous to humans if taken internally (where the source is usually experimental self-exposure). Externally, cantharidin is a potent vesicant (blistering agent), exposure to which can cause severe chemical burns. Properly dosed and applied, the same properties have also be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blister Beetle
Blister beetles are beetles of the family (biology), family Meloidae, so called for their defensive secretion of a blistering agent, cantharidin. About 7,500 species are known worldwide. Many are conspicuous and some are aposematism, aposematically colored, announcing their toxicity to would-be predators. Description Blister beetles are hypermetamorphic, going through several larval stages, the first of which is typically a mobile triungulin. The larvae are insectivorous, mainly attacking bees, though a few feed on grasshopper eggs. While sometimes considered parasitoids, in general, the meloid larva apparently consumes the immature host along with its provisions, and can often survive on the provisions alone; thus it is not an obligatory parasitoid, but rather a facultative parasitoid, or simply a kleptoparasite. The adults sometimes feed on flowers and leaves of plants of such diverse families as the Amaranthaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and Solanaceae. Cantharidin, a poisono ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toxic Bird
Toxic birds are birds that use toxins to defend themselves from predators. Although no known bird actively injects or produces venom, toxic birds sequester poison from animals and plants they consume, especially poisonous insects. Species include the pitohui and ifrita birds from Papua New Guinea, the European quail, the spur-winged goose, Hoopoe, hoopoes, the bronzewing pigeon, and the red warbler. The pitohui, the ifrita, and the Rufous shrikethrush, rufous or little shrikethrush all sequester batrachotoxin in their skin and feathers. The African spur-winged goose is toxic to eat as it sequesters poison in its tissues, from the blister beetles that it feeds on. European quail are also known to be toxic and are able to cause coturnism at certain stages in their migrations. Initial research The first research done on toxic birds was published in 1992 by Dumbacher ''et al.'', which found traces of the neurotoxin homobatrachotoxin, a steroid alkaloid with the ability to polarize Na+ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zambezi River
The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of the Nile's. The river rises in Zambia and flows through eastern Angola, along the north-eastern border of Namibia and the northern border of Botswana, then along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe to Mozambique, where it crosses the country to empty into the Indian Ocean. The Zambezi's most noted feature is Victoria Falls. Its other falls include the Chavuma Falls at the border between Zambia and Angola and Ngonye Falls near Sioma in western Zambia. The two main sources of hydroelectric power on the river are the Kariba Dam, which provides power to Zambia and Zimbabwe, and the Cahora Bassa Dam in Mozambique, which provides power to Mozambique and South Africa. Additionally, two smaller power stations are along the Zambezi River i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
