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Violet Turaco
The violet turaco, also known as the violaceous plantain eater (''Tauraco violaceus''), is a large turaco, a group of African otidimorphae. Characteristics These are unmistakable birds, but shy and often inconspicuous in the treetops. They are approximately long, including a long tail and a bill. They boast a winglength of and weigh approximately . The plumage is glossy violet, except for the yellow forehead, chestnut crown and white ear coverts; the bill is thick and red. In flight, the violet turaco's crimson primary flight feathers contrast with the violet plumage. The red colour in the wings is typical of turacos. Habitat It is resident of West Africa, and has an extremely large range from Senegal through to Nigeria, with isolated populations in Chad and the Central African Republic. It occurs in tropical savannas, wetlands, woodlands and forests. Diet Diet consists of fruit, and they are quite partial to figs, but they will also eat leaves, buds, flowers, insects, snail ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacksonville Zoo
The Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens is located at the river delta, mouth of the Trout River (Florida), Trout River, near where it flows into the St. Johns River, in Jacksonville, Florida. The zoo occupies approximately and has over 2,000 animals and 1,000 plant species in its collection. The zoo has grown from a small collection in Springfield (Jacksonville), Springfield into one of the city's premier attractions, with more than one million visits annually. The Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens' marquee attractions are the Range of the Jaguar, which won the 2005 Association of Zoos and Aquariums, AZA Exhibit of the year award and the Land of the Tiger, which opened in 2014 and features an innovative walk-through trail system for the zoo's tigers. The zoo's other exhibits include the Plains of East Africa, highlighting African savanna animals; Lorikeet Landing; Primate Forest, featuring two of the four genera of Hominidae, great apes, as well as several species of le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Erdmann Isert
Paul Erdmann Isert (1756 – 21 January 1789) was a German-Danish surgeon, botanist and planter He was the first scientist to identify the bird Red Bishop (Euplectes orix franciscana (Isert)'. He is also known for his attempts to end the Danish-Norwegian slave trade. Biography Isert was born in Angermünde, Brandenburg, but educated in Berlin. He was appointed Chief Surgeon to Christiansborg (Osu, Accra) in Danish Guinea, arriving there in 1783. He sought this position because of his burning desire to collect plant specimens from West Africa. Once there, realizing that the inhabitants had no written language, he felt it his duty to record – for future generations – details of all aspects of life on the Gold Coast, as he observed them, thus creating an ethnographic, as well as botanical, work. After nearly three years on the Gold Coast Isert abruptly determined to leave the country on the first possible ship back to Europe. This was due to his extreme frustration at being h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turaco
The turacos make up the bird family Musophagidae ( "banana-eaters"), which includes '' plantain-eaters'' and '' go-away-birds''. In southern Africa both turacos and go-away-birds are commonly known as loeries. They are semi-zygodactylous: the fourth (outer) toe can be switched back and forth. The second and third toes, which always point forward, are conjoined in some species. Musophagids often have prominent crests and long tails; the turacos are noted for peculiar and unique pigments giving them their bright green and red feathers. Traditionally, this group has been allied with the cuckoos in the order Cuculiformes, but the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy raises this group to a full order Musophagiformes. They have been proposed to link the hoatzin to the other living birds, but this was later disputed. Recent genetic analyses have strongly supported the order ranking of Musophagiformes. Musophagidae is one of very few bird families endemic to Africa, one other being the mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otidimorphae
Otidimorphae is a clade of birds that contains the orders Cuculiformes (cuckoos), Musophagiformes (turacos), and Otidiformes (bustards) identified in 2014 by genome analysis. George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 named the clade uniting turacos and bustards as Musophagotides, defining it in the ''PhyloCode The ''International Code of Phylogenetic Nomenclature'', known as the ''PhyloCode'' for short, is a formal set of rules governing phylogenetic nomenclature. Its current version is specifically designed to regulate the naming of clades, leaving the ...'' as "the least inclusive crown clade containing '' Otis tarda'' and '' Musophaga violacea'', but not '' Grus grus'' or '' Mesitornis variegatus''". While the bustards seem to be related to the turacos, other genetic studies have found the cuckoos to be closer to the bustards than the turacos are. References Neognathae {{bird-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of grasses. Four savanna forms exist; ''savanna woodland'' where trees and shrubs form a light canopy, ''tree savanna'' with scattered trees and shrubs, ''shrub savanna'' with distributed shrubs, and ''grass savanna'' where trees and shrubs are mostly nonexistent.Smith, Jeremy M.B.. "savanna". Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Sep. 2016, https://www.britannica.com/science/savanna/Environment. Accessed 17 September 2022. Savannas maintain an open canopy despite a high tree density. It is often believed that savannas feature widely spaced, scattered trees. However, in many savannas, tree densities are higher and trees are more regularly spaced than in forests.Manoel Cláudio da ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cooperative Breeding
Cooperative breeding is a social system characterized by alloparental care: offspring receive care not only from their parents, but also from additional group members, often called helpers. Cooperative breeding encompasses a wide variety of group structures, from a breeding pair with helpers that are offspring from a previous season, to groups with multiple breeding males and females ( polygynandry) and helpers that are the adult offspring of some but not all of the breeders in the group, to groups in which helpers sometimes achieve co-breeding status by producing their own offspring as part of the group's brood. Cooperative breeding occurs across taxonomic groups including birds, mammals, fish, and insects. Costs for helpers include a fitness reduction, increased territory defense, offspring guarding and an increased cost of growth. Benefits for helpers include a reduced chance of predation, increased foraging time, territory inheritance, increased environmental conditions and an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guinea
Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sierra Leone and Liberia to the south. It is sometimes referred to as Guinea-Conakry, after its capital Conakry, to distinguish it from other territories in the Guinea (region), eponymous region, such as Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea. Guinea has a population of 14 million and an area of . Formerly French Guinea, it achieved independence in 1958. Guinea has a history of military coup d'état, coups d'état.Nicholas Bariyo & Benoit FauconMilitary Faction Stages Coup in Mineral-Rich Guinea ''Wall Street Journal'' (5 September 2021).Krista LarsonEXPLAINER: Why is history repeating itself in Guinea's coup? Associated Press (7 September 2021).Danielle PaquettHere's what we know about the unfolding coup in Guinea ''Washington Post'' (6 Septembe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and environments ranging from savannas to rainforests. As of the 2023 census, Sierra Leone has a population of 8,460,512. Freetown is its capital and largest city. Sierra Leone is a presidential republic, with a unicameral parliament and a directly elected president. It is a secular state. Its Constitution of Sierra Leone, constitution provides for the separation of state and religion and freedom of conscience. Muslims constitute three-quarters of the population, and there is a significant Christian minority. Notably, religious tolerance is very high. Sierra Leone's current territorial configuration was established in two phases: in 1808, the coastal Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate, Sierra Leone Colony was founded as a place to resettle retu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liberia
Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Liberia border, its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and southwest. It has a population of around 5.5million and covers an area of . The official language is English. Languages of Liberia, Over 20 indigenous languages are spoken, reflecting the country's ethnic and cultural diversity. The capital and largest List of cities in Liberia, city is Monrovia. Liberia began in the early 19th century as a project of the American Colonization Society (ACS), which believed that black people would face better chances for freedom and prosperity in Africa than in the United States. Between 1822 and the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, more than 15,000 freed and free-born African Americans, along with 3,198 Afro-Caribbeans, relocated to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to the east. Ghana covers an area of , spanning diverse ecologies, from coastal savannas to tropical rainforests. With nearly 35 million inhabitants, Ghana is the second-most populous country in West Africa. The capital and largest city is Accra; other significant cities include Tema, Kumasi, Sunyani, Ho, Cape Coast, Techiman, Tamale, and Sekondi-Takoradi. The earliest kingdoms to emerge in Ghana were Bonoman in the south and the Kingdom of Dagbon in the north, with Bonoman existing in the area during the 11th century. The Asante Empire and other Akan kingdoms in the south emerged over the centuries. Beginning in the 15th century, the Portuguese Empire, followed by other European powers, contested the area for trading r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atlanta Zoo
Zoo Atlanta (sometimes referred as Atlanta Zoo) is an Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited zoo in Atlanta, Georgia. The current president and CEO of Zoo Atlanta is Raymond B. King. History Zoo Atlanta was founded in 1889, when businessman George V. Gress purchased a bankrupt traveling circus and donated the animals to the city of Atlanta. City leaders opted to house the collection in Grant Park, which remains the zoo's present location. Original residents of the zoo included a black bear, a raccoon, a jaguar, a hyena, a gazelle, a Mexican hog, lionesses, monkeys, and camels. The zoo's collection expanded in the 1930s with the personal donation of a private menagerie owned by Asa G. Candler, Jr. The 1950s and 1960s were decades of renovation and construction at the zoo, but by the early 1970s, many of its exhibits and facilities were outdated and showing signs of disrepair. In 1970, a small group of concerned citizens founded the Atlanta Zoological Society in h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tauraco
''Tauraco'' is a genus of turacos. It contains the "typical" or green turacos; though their plumage is not always green all over, the presence of significant amounts of turacoverdin-colored plumage generally sets ''Tauraco'' species apart from other Musophagidae. Indeed, as opposed to any other known birds, ''Tauraco'' turacos are the only living bird taxa that have any significant green pigment whatsoever, as the greens of many parrots etc. are due to structural color, not pigment. Their genus name was derived from a native West African name. Taxonomy The genus ''Tauraco'' was introduced in 1779 by the Polish naturalist Jan Krzysztof Kluk. The type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ... was later designated as the Guinea turaco. Species The genus contain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
