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Yellow-faced Whipsnake
The yellow-faced whip snake (''Demansia psammophis'') is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae, a family containing many dangerous snakes. ''D. psammophis'' is endemic to Australia, found throughout the continent in a variety of habitats from coastal fringes to interior arid scrubland. Taxonomy The yellow-faced whip snake is part of the genus ''Demansia'', a group of venomous snakes in the family Elapidae. This genus is composed of whip snakes, characterized by their large eyes and whip-like tail. The genus ''Demansia'' is commonly found in the Southern hemisphere around Australia and equatorial countries such as Papua New Guinea. 15 species are assigned to the genus ''Demansia''. Description ''D. psammophis'' is a thin snake with a narrow head. It grows up to a total length (tail included) of , averaging around , females being slightly smaller than males. Characterized by its narrow yellowish head, pale ring around the eyes, and a dark marking curving along the up ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hermann Schlegel
Hermann Schlegel (10 June 1804 – 17 January 1884) was a German ornithologist, herpetologist and ichthyologist. Early life and education Schlegel was born at Altenburg, the son of a brassfounder. His father collected butterflies, which stimulated Schlegel's interest in natural history. The discovery, by chance, of a buzzard's nest led him to the study of birds, and a meeting with Christian Ludwig Brehm. Schlegel started to work for his father, but soon tired of it. He travelled to Vienna in 1824, where, at the university, he attended the lectures of Leopold Fitzinger and Johann Jacob Heckel. A letter of introduction from Brehm to Joseph Natterer gained him a position at the Naturhistorisches Museum. Ornithological career One year after his arrival, the director of this natural history museum, Carl Franz Anton Ritter von Schreibers, recommended him to Coenraad Jacob Temminck, director of the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, natural history museum of Leiden, who was seeking an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceous plant, herbs. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica and are found in most ecoregions of the Earth. Furthermore, grasslands are one of the largest biomes on Earth and dominate the landscape worldwide. There are different types of grasslands: natural grasslands, semi-natural grasslands, and agricultural grasslands. They cover 31–69% of the Earth's land area. Definitions Included among the variety of definitions for grasslands are: * "...any plant community, including harvested forages, in which grasses and/or legumes make up the dominant vegetation." * "...terrestrial ecosystems dominated by herbaceous and shrub vegetation, and maintained by fire, grazing, drought and/or freezing temperatures." (Pilot Assessm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Albert Boulenger
George Albert Boulenger (19 October 1858 – 23 November 1937) was a Belgian-British zoologist who described and gave scientific names to over 2,000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Boulenger was also an active botanist during the last 30 years of his life, especially in the study of roses. Life Boulenger was born in Brussels, Belgium, the only son of Gustave Boulenger, a Belgian public notary, and Juliette Piérart, from Valenciennes. He graduated in 1876 from the Free University of Brussels (1834–1969), Free University of Brussels with a degree in natural sciences, and worked for a while at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, as an assistant naturalist studying amphibians, reptiles, and fishes. He also made frequent visits during this time to the ''National Museum of Natural History (France), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle'' in Paris and the Natural History Museum, London, British Museum in London. Boulenger develop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold Cogger
Harold George "Hal" Cogger (born 4 May 1935) is an Australian herpetologist. He was curator of reptiles and amphibians at the Australian Museum from 1960 to 1975, and Deputy Director of the museum from 1976 to 1995. He has written extensively on Australian herpetology, and was the first author to create a field guide for all Australian frogs and reptiles. Cogger was made an honorary Doctor of Science in 1997. At least eight reptile taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ... have been named after Cogger, including one genus, six species, and one subspecies: '' Coggeria'', '' Ctenotus coggeri'', '' Emoia coggeri'', '' Geomyersia coggeri'', '' Hydrophis coggeri'', '' Lampropholis coggeri'', '' Oedura coggeri'', and '' Diporiphora nobbi coggeri''. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological species. A series of Regional Red Lists, which assess the risk of extinction to species within a political management unit, are also produced by countries and organizations. The goals of the Red List are to provide scientifically based information on the status of species and subspecies at a global level, to draw attention to the magnitude and importance of threatened biodiversity, to influence national and international policy and decision-making, and to provide information to guide actions to conserve biological diversity. Major species assessors include BirdLife International, the Institute of Zoology (the research division of the Zoological Society of London), the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, and many Specialist Groups w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Least Concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. They do not qualify as threatened, near threatened, or (before 2001) conservation dependent. Species cannot be assigned the "Least Concern" category unless they have had their population status evaluated. That is, adequate information is needed to make a direct, or indirect, assessment of its risk of extinction based on its distribution or population status. Evaluation Since 2001 the category has had the abbreviation "LC", following the IUCN 2001 Categories & Criteria (version 3.1). Before 2001 "least concern" was a subcategory of the " Lower Risk" category and assigned the code "LR/lc" or lc. Around 20% of least concern taxa (3261 of 15,636) in the IUCN database still use the code "LR/lc", which indicates they have not been re- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skink
Skinks are a type of lizard belonging to the family (biology), family Scincidae, a family in the Taxonomic rank, infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. Skinks are characterized by their smaller legs in comparison to typical lizards and are found in different habitats except arctic and subarctic regions. Etymology The word ''skink'', which entered the English language around 1580–1590, comes from classical Greek and Latin , names that referred to various specific lizards. Description Skinks look like lizards of the family Lacertidae (sometimes called ''true lizards''), but most species of skinks have no pronounced neck and relatively small legs. Several genera (e.g., ''Typhlosaurus'') have no limbs at all. This is not true for all skinks, however, as some species such as the Tribolonotus gracilis, red-eyed crocodile skink have a head that is ve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Demansia Psammophis Berowra Creek
''Demansia'' is a genus of venomous snakes of the family Elapidae. Members of the genus are commonly known as whip snakes or whipsnakes, as are members of several other genera. Description All species of the genus ''Demansia'' are gray, brown, gray-green, or beige, save for ''Demansia psammophis'' (yellow-faced whip snake), which may be cream-coloured. Whip snakes are long and slender. They have large eyes and relatively small heads that are only slightly wider than their bodies. All species in the genus ''Demansia'' are venomous. Distribution Whip snakes of the genus ''Demansia'' are found in Australia, Papua New Guinea in the area around Port Moresby, and nearby islands. Diet ''Demansia'' whip snakes eat mainly lizards. They are diurnal (active in the day) and use their keen eyesight to hunt. Their prey dies quickly from the effects of the snake's venom. Interaction with humans In 2007 a man died after being bitten by a whip snake in Victoria. Their bites are generally r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nocturnality
Nocturnality is a behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed senses of hearing, smell, and specially adapted eyesight. Some animals, such as ferrets, have eyes that can adapt to both low-level and bright day levels of illumination (see metaturnal). Others, such as bushbabies and (some) bats, can function only at night. Many nocturnal creatures including tarsiers and some owls have large eyes in comparison with their body size to compensate for the lower light levels at night. More specifically, they have been found to have a larger cornea relative to their eye size than diurnal creatures to increase their : in the low-light conditions. Nocturnality helps wasps, such as ''Apoica flavissima'', avoid hunting in intense sunlight. Diurnal animals, including humans (except for ni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snout–vent Length
Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the most common measurement taken in herpetology, being used for all amphibians, lepidosaurs, and crocodilia Crocodilia () is an order of semiaquatic, predatory reptiles that are known as crocodilians. They first appeared during the Late Cretaceous and are the closest living relatives of birds. Crocodilians are a type of crocodylomorph pseudosuchia ...ns (for turtles, carapace length (CL) and plastral length (PL) are used instead). The SVL differs depending on whether the animal is struggling or relaxed (if alive), or various other factors if it is a preserved specimen. For fossils, an osteological correlate such as precaudal length must be used. When combined with weight and body condition, SVL can help deduce age and sex. Advantag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vitellogenesis
Vitellogenesis is the process of yolk protein formation in the oocytes during sexual maturation. The term ''vitellogenesis'' comes from the Latin language, Latin ''vitellus'' ("egg yolk"). Yolk proteins, such as lipovitellin and phosvitin, provides maturing oocytes with the metabolic energy required for development. Vitellogenins are the precursor proteins that lead to yolk protein accumulation in the oocyte. In vertebrates, estrogen and vitellogenin production have a positive correlation. When estrogen production in the ovary is increased via the activation of the Hypothalamo-pituitary portal system, hypothalmo-pituitary axis it leads to heightened vitellogenin production in the liver. Vitellogenin production in the liver is the first step of vitellogenesis. Once Vitellogenins are released into the blood stream where they are then transported to the growing oocyte where they lead to yolk protein production. The transport of vitellogenins into the maturing oocyte is done via endocy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clutch (eggs)
A clutch of eggs is the group of eggs produced by birds, amphibians, or reptiles, often at a single time, particularly those laid in a nest. In birds, destruction of a clutch by predators (or removal by humans, for example the California condor breeding program) results in ''double-clutching''. The technique is used to double the production of a species' eggs, in the California condor case, specifically to increase population size. Size Clutch size differs greatly between species, sometimes even within the same genus. It may also differ within the same species due to many factors including habitat, health, nutrition, predation pressures, and time of year. Clutch size variation can also reflect variation in optimal reproduction effort. In birds, clutch size can vary within a species due to various features (age and health of laying female, ability of male to supply food, and abundance of prey), while some species are determinant layers, laying a species-specific number of egg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
