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Vanikoro Island Thrush
Vanikoro island thrush (''Turdus vanikorensis''), also known as the Vanuatu island thrush, is a species of passerine in the family Turdidae. It is found in Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and formerly New Caledonia. Until 2024, it was considered to be multiple subspecies of island thrush. Taxonomy The Vanikoro island thrush was first described as ''Turdus vanikorensis'' in 1832 by French naturalists Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard. It was later considered to be a subspecies of Island thrush. Following a 2023 phylogenic study, the island thrush was split into 17 different species, including the Vanikoro island thrush by the IOC and Clements checklist. There are currently eight recognized subspecies: * ''Turdus vanikorensis vanikorensis'' Quoy & Gaimard, 1832 - Found on the islands of Vanikoro and Santa Cruz in the Solomon Islands, and Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu * ''Turdus vanikorensis whitneyi'' Mayr, 1941 - Found on Gaua Island in Vanuatu * ''Turdus vanikorensis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pentecost (island)
Pentecost is one of the 83 islands that make up the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu. It lies due north of capital Port Vila. Pentecost is known as in French and in Bislama. The island was known in its native languages by names such as ''Vanu Aroaroa'', although these names are not in common use today. Pentecost has also been referred to as ''Raga'' or ''Araga'', a tribal name that originated in the north but is now widely applied to the whole island. In old sources, it is occasionally referred to as Whitsuntide Island. Geography Pentecost is a lush, mountainous island which stretches north to south over some . It has an area of . The mountain range, of which the highest is Mount Vulmat (), marks the dividing line between the humid, rainy eastern coast and the more temperate western coast. The coastal plains, cross-cut by small torrents, are generally very green and ideally suited for plantations and livestock. The climate on Pentecost is humid tropical. The average an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Baker Tristram
Henry Baker Tristram FRS (11 May 1822 – 8 March 1906) was an English clergyman, Bible scholar, traveller and ornithologist. As a parson-naturalist he was an early, but short-lived, supporter of Darwinism, attempting to reconcile evolution and creation. Biography He was the son of the Rev. Henry Baker Tristram, born at Eglingham vicarage, near Alnwick, Northumberland. He studied at Durham School and Lincoln College, Oxford. In 1846 he was ordained a priest. Diplomatic, scientific and missionary work Tristram was secretary to the governor of Bermuda from 1847 to 1849. He explored the Sahara desert, and in 1858 visited Palestine, returning there in 1863 and 1872, and dividing his time between natural history observations and identifying localities mentioned in the Old and New Testaments. In 1873 he became canon of Durham Cathedral. In 1881 he travelled again to Palestine, the Lebanon, Mesopotamia, and Armenia. He also made a second voyage to Japan to visit his daughter, K ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edgar Leopold Layard
Edgar Leopold Layard MBOU, (23 July 1824 – 1 January 1900) was a British diplomat and a naturalist mainly interested in ornithology and to a lesser extent the molluscs. He worked for a significant part of his life in Ceylon and later in South Africa, Fiji and New Caledonia. He studied the zoology of these places and established natural history museums in Sri Lanka and South Africa. Several species of animals are named after him. Early life and education Born in the Berti Palace, Florence, Italy, to an English family of Huguenot descent, Layard was the youngest of seven sons (two of the earlier siblings died in infancyLayard, E.L. Unpublished autobiography. MS at Blacker-Wood library, McGill University, Canada.) of Henry Peter John Layard of the Ceylon Civil Service (the son of Charles Peter Layard, dean of Bristol, and grandson of Daniel Peter Layard the physician) with his wife Marianne, a daughter of Nathaniel Austen, banker, of Ramsgate. Through her, he was part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nguna
Nguna Island is an outer island off the north coast of Efate, Vanuatu in Undine Bay. It is neighbored to the east by Pele Island and to the west by Moso Island. Geography The island is bisected by two extinct volcano craters, the highest of which is the peak of Mount Taputoara at tall. ThNguna-Pele Marine Protected Area Networkwas established in 2003 as a way to conserve and protect the fragile and unique reef environment around the Nguna and Pele Islands. Sixteen communities on the two islands work together to maintain several small marine and terrestrial closures that have been established by area chiefs, village councils, local NGOs, and the assistance of a Peace Corps volunteer. Population Nguna is home to thirteen villages, which are located on the north, east, and south of the island, with west Nguna largely uninhabited. The total population was approximately 1,300 according to the 2009 census. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Efate
Efate (), also known as Île Vate (), is an island in the Pacific Ocean which is part of the Shefa Province in Vanuatu. Geography It is the most populous (approx. 66,000) island in Vanuatu. Efate's land area of makes it Vanuatu's third largest island. Its geological past was heavily volcanic, meaning that a lava shelf surrounds much of the island. Most inhabitants of Efate live in Port Vila, the national capital. Its highest mountain is Mount McDonald with a height of . History Captain James Cook named it Sandwich Island "in honour of my noble patron, the Earl of Sandwich" on his 1774 voyage on . Coconut trees were planted on Efate in the mid-1800s. During World War II, Efate served an important role as a United States military base. On March 13, 2015, Port Vila, Vanuatu, Port Vila, the island's largest human settlement and the capital of Vanuatu, bore extensive damage from Cyclone Pam. In December 2024, 2024 Port Vila earthquake, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake reportedly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanua Lava
Vanua Lava is the second largest of the Banks Islands in Torba Province, Vanuatu, after slightly larger Gaua. It is located about 120 km north-northeast of Espiritu Santo and north of Gaua. Name The name ''Vanua Lava'' comes from the Mota language, which was used as the primary language of the Melanesian Mission. Locally, the island is called ''Vōnōlav'' / in Vurës and Mwesen, ''Vunulava'' in Vera'a, and ''Vunulāv'' in Lemerig. In the immigrant language Mwotlap, it is referred to as ''Apnōlap'' (with the locative prefix ''a-''). Cognates in other Torres-Banks languages include Lo-Toga ''Venielave'' and Lakon ''Vanōlav'' . All of these terms come from a Proto-Torres–Banks form *'' βanua laβa'' "Large Land". History Vanua Lava was first sighted by Europeans during the Spanish expedition of Pedro Fernández de Quirós from 25 to 29 April 1606. The island’s name was then charted as ''Portal de Belén'' (“Nativity scene” in Spanish). Vanua Lava was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ureparapara
Ureparapara (also known as ''Parapara'' for short; once known as ''Bligh Island'') is the third largest island in the Banks group of northern Vanuatu, after Gaua and Vanua Lava. The climate on the island is humid tropical. The average annual rainfall exceeds 4000 mm. Ureparapara is subject to frequent earthquakes and cyclones. Geography Ureparapara island is an old volcanic cone that has been breached by the sea on its east coast. The resulting bay is known as ''Divers' Bay'', and as ''Löyöp'' in the local language of the same name. Apart from this indentation, the island is circular in shape, with a diameter of . The land area is . History The first recorded European who arrived to Ureparapara was the Spanish explorer Pedro Fernández de Quirós on 15 June 1606. He first named the island ''Pilar de Zaragoza''; however, later on, it is charted as ''Nuestra Señora de Montserrate'' both by him and his chaplain Fray Martin de Munilla. In 1789, the island was rediscove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rennell Island
Rennell Island, locally known as Mugaba, is the main island of two inhabited islands that make up the Rennell and Bellona Province in the nation state of Solomon Islands. Rennell Island has a land area of and is about long and wide. It is the second largest raised coral atoll in the world with the largest lake in the insular Pacific, Lake Tegano, a lake that is listed as a World Heritage Site. Rennell Island has a population of about 1,840 persons of Polynesian descent who primarily speak Rennellese, Pijin and some English. Rennell and Bellona Islands are two of the few islands in the otherwise Melanesian Solomon Islands archipelago classified as a Polynesian outlier. The island lies south of Honiara and north-east of Brisbane. The provincial capital, Tigoa, is at the western end of the island. Bauxite mining and logging on the west side of the island was poorly regulated, resulted in spills, and seriously damaged the ecology and economy of the island between 201 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emae
Emae is an island in the Shepherd Islands, Shefa, Vanuatu. Geography Maunga Lasi is the highest peak at 644 m. It forms the northern rim of the (mostly) underwater volcano of Makura, which also covers the nearby islands of Makura and Mataso. It is long and up to wide, with an area of . Population The island supports a population of about 750, growing at 3.1% per year. The main settlement is Makata. The principal economic activity is subsistence agriculture. The GDP of the island is $457 per capita. Unlike the surrounding islands populated by Melanesians, Emae and Makura are Polynesian outliers. The island's language, also called Emae, is in the Futunic language family, which includes most of the outliers in Vanuatu. North Efate, one of the other languages of the archipelago, is used as a second language. Many of the islanders now live in Port Vila. The crowning of four Emae chiefs in 2004 occurred there, and many of the tribal chiefs live there. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epi (island)
Epi (or Épi, Api; formerly known as Tasiko or Volcano Island) is an island in Shefa Province, Vanuatu, at the north end of the Shepherd Islands. The island is long northwest–southeast, and wide, with an area of . Its shoreline measures 130 km. In 1986 it had a population of 3,035 but in 2009 it had increased to 5,200. Geology and Geography The island is of volcanic origin, and its highest point, Mount Pomare, which reaches a height of 833 m above sea level, is a quaternary volcano. It lies 13 km from the more prominent Lopévi volcano. To the east is the largely underwater East Epi volcano. The neighboring islets are Tefala (Vanuatu), Tefala, Namuka, and Lamen (island), Lamen. On the northwest edge of the island is the sandy beach Lamen Bay, and the nearby small island of Lamen (island), Lamen (pop. 500). The bay has some coral reefs which are the habitat of the dugong. On the west coast is Cape Forland. In the southeast is Valesdir. In the northeast is Dru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lopevi
Lopevi (or Lopévi) is an uninhabited island in Malampa Province, Vanuatu. It lies to the southeast of Ambrym and east of Paama. Geography Lopevi consists of the 7-km-wide cone of the active stratovolcano by the same name. It reaches a peak of 1413 m above sea level, the tallest point in central Vanuatu. It has erupted at least 22 times since 1862. The island was formerly inhabited, but in 1960 the population moved to nearby Paama or Epi because of the recurrent danger. Lopevi is on the New Hebrides Plate, where it lies above the subducted Australian Plate The Australian plate is or was a major tectonic plate in the eastern and, largely, southern hemispheres. Originally a part of the ancient continent of Gondwana, Australia remained connected to India and Antarctica until approximately when Indi ... to the west. Because there are no earthquakes between 50 and 200 km below the Earth's surface, it is thought that the subducted plate has fractured, and does not ap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
