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Giant Moa
The giant moa (''Dinornis'') is an extinct genus of birds belonging to the moa family. As with other moa, it was a member of the order Dinornithiformes. It was endemic to New Zealand. Two species of ''Dinornis'' are considered valid, the North Island giant moa (''Dinornis novaezealandiae'') and the South Island giant moa (''Dinornis robustus''). In addition, two further species (new lineage A and lineage B) have been suggested based on distinct DNA lineages. Description ''Dinornis'' may have been the tallest bird that ever lived, with the females standing around tall,Wood, Gerald (1983) and weighing an estimated Amadon, D. (1947) or Campbell Jr., K. & Marcus, L. (1992) in various estimates. However, the males of the genus were much smaller, only around . Feather remains are reddish brown and hair-like, and covered most of the body except the lower legs and most of the head (plus a small portion of the neck below the head). While no feathers have been found from moa chicks, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Pleistocene
The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as the Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently defined as the time between 129,000 and c. 11,700 years ago. The late Pleistocene equates to the proposed Tarantian Age of the geologic time scale, preceded by the officially ratified Chibanian (commonly known as the Middle Pleistocene). The beginning of the Late Pleistocene is the transition between the end of the Penultimate Glacial Period and the beginning of the Last Interglacial around 130,000 years ago (corresponding with the beginning of Marine Isotope Stage 5). The Late Pleistocene ends with the termination of the Younger Dryas, some 10th millennium BC, 11,700 years ago when the Holocene Epoch began. The term Upper Pleistocene is currently in use as a p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Island Giant Moa
The South Island giant moa (''Dinornis robustus'') is an extinct species of moa in the genus ''Dinornis'', known in Māori language, Māori by the name moa nunui. It was one of the tallest-known bird species to walk the Earth, exceeded in weight only by the heavier but shorter extinct elephant bird of Madagascar. Taxonomy Moa were Ratite, ratites: large, flightless birds with a sternum, but lacking a Keel (bird anatomy), keel. They also had a distinctive jaw and palate. The origin of these birds is becoming clearer, and it is now believed that early, flighted ancestors of these birds dispersed into the Southern Hemisphere, where most flightless ratites have been found. Despite being geographically closer to the kiwi (bird), kiwi, phylogenetic analyses based on recovered DNA show moa to have been closest to the Central and South American tinamous. South island giant moa belong to the genus ''Dinornis'', and are placed within their own family, Dinornithidae, along with their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pachyornis Geranoides
''Pachyornis'' is an extinct genus of ratites from New Zealand which belongs to the moa family. Like all ratites, ''Pachyornis'' is a flightless bird with a sternum that lacks a keel. They also have a distinctive palate. The genus currently contains three currently recognised species: the type species, ''Pachyornis geranoides'', ''P. elephantopus'' and ''P. australis''. Two distinct genetic lineages, one each recovered from the North and South Island, could possibly expand this number to five in the future. The three species of ''Pachyornis'' are the most stoutly built and heavy-legged across all species of Dinornithiformes, the species that exhibits the most extreme morphology of the genus is the heavy-footed moa ''P. elephantopus''. ''Pachyornis'' was generally similar to the eastern moa or the broad-billed moa of the genus ''Euryapteryx'', but differed in having a pointed bill and being more heavyset. At least one species, ''P. australis'', is assumed to have had a crest of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pachyornis Elephantopus
The heavy-footed moa (''Pachyornis elephantopus'') is an extinct species of moa from the lesser moa family. The heavy-footed moa was widespread across the South Island of New Zealand, and inhabited lowland environments like shrublands, dunelands, grasslands, and forests. Moa are ratites, flightless birds with a sternum without a keel. They also have a distinctive palate.Davies, S. J. J. F. (2003) The heavy-footed moa was about tall, and weighed as much as .Olliver, Narena (2005) Three complete or partially complete moa eggs in museum collections are considered eggs of the heavy-footed moa, all sourced from Otago. These eggs have an average length of and a width of , making these the second-largest moa eggs, behind the single South Island giant moa egg specimen. Taxonomy The heavy-footed moa was originally described as ''Dinornis elephantopus'' by the biologist Richard Owen in 1856 from leg bones found by Walter Mantell at Awamoa, near Oamaru, and given by him to the Natur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pachyornis Australis
''Pachyornis'' is an extinct genus of ratites from New Zealand which belongs to the moa family. Like all ratites, ''Pachyornis'' is a flightless bird with a sternum that lacks a keel. They also have a distinctive palate. The genus currently contains three currently recognised species: the type species, ''Pachyornis geranoides'', ''P. elephantopus'' and ''P. australis''. Two distinct genetic lineages, one each recovered from the North and South Island, could possibly expand this number to five in the future. The three species of ''Pachyornis'' are the most stoutly built and heavy-legged across all species of Dinornithiformes, the species that exhibits the most extreme morphology of the genus is the heavy-footed moa ''P. elephantopus''. ''Pachyornis'' was generally similar to the eastern moa or the broad-billed moa of the genus ''Euryapteryx'', but differed in having a pointed bill and being more heavyset. At least one species, ''P. australis'', is assumed to have had a crest of l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pachyornis
''Pachyornis'' is an extinct genus of ratites from New Zealand which belongs to the moa family. Like all ratites, ''Pachyornis'' is a flightless bird with a sternum that lacks a keel. They also have a distinctive palate. The genus currently contains three currently recognised species: the type species, ''Pachyornis geranoides'', ''P. elephantopus'' and ''P. australis''. Two distinct genetic lineages, one each recovered from the North and South Island, could possibly expand this number to five in the future. The three species of ''Pachyornis'' are the most stoutly built and heavy-legged across all species of Dinornithiformes, the species that exhibits the most extreme morphology of the genus is the heavy-footed moa ''P. elephantopus''. ''Pachyornis'' was generally similar to the eastern moa or the broad-billed moa of the genus ''Euryapteryx'', but differed in having a pointed bill and being more heavyset. At least one species, ''P. australis'', is assumed to have had a crest of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megalapteryx Didinus
The upland moa (''Megalapteryx didinus'') is an extinct species of moa that was endemic to New Zealand. The species was named by Richard Owen in 1883, and belongs to the ratites, a group of flightless birds with no keel on the sternum. Of all moa species, ''Megalapteryx didinus'' has the best-preserved specimens, which occasionally also show impressions of soft tissue. The upland moa lived on the South Island of New Zealand, and was predominantly found in alpine and sub-alpine environment where it fed on flowers, herbs and other vegetation. After the Māori arrived in New Zealand and started hunting it, the species went extinct around 1500 CE. It was the last remaining moa species. Taxonomy The upland moa was named as ''Dinornis didinus'' in 1883 by Richard Owen from mummified material found in 1878 by H. L. Squires in Queenstown, New Zealand and subsequently sent to the British Museum. The holotype specimen consists of a mummified head and partial neck, and two mummified legs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cladogram
A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an Phylogenetic tree, evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to descendants, nor does it show how much they have changed, so many differing evolutionary trees can be consistent with the same cladogram. A cladogram uses lines that branch off in different directions ending at a clade, a group of organisms with a last common ancestor. There are many shapes of cladograms but they all have lines that branch off from other lines. The lines can be traced back to where they branch off. These branching off points represent a hypothetical ancestor (not an actual entity) which can be inferred to exhibit the traits shared among the terminal taxa above it. This hypothetical ancestor might then provide clues about the order of evolution of various features, adaptation, and other e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herb
Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distinguishes herbs from spices. ''Herbs'' generally refers to the leafy green or flowering parts of a plant (either fresh or dried), while ''spices'' are usually dried and produced from other parts of the plant, including seeds, bark, roots and fruits. Herbs have a variety of uses including culinary, medicinal, aromatic and in some cases, spiritual. General usage of the term "herb" differs between culinary herbs and medicinal herbs; in medicinal or spiritual use, any parts of the plant might be considered "herbs", including leaves, roots, flowers, seeds, root bark, inner bark (and cambium), resin and pericarp. The word "herb" is pronounced in Commonwealth English, but is standard among American English speakers as well as those from regio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montane Ecosystems
Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial factor in shaping plant community, biodiversity, metabolic processes and ecosystem dynamics for montane ecosystems. Dense montane forests are common at moderate elevations, due to moderate temperatures and high rainfall. At higher elevations, the climate is harsher, with lower temperatures and higher winds, preventing the growth of trees and causing the plant community to transition to montane grasslands and shrublands or alpine tundra. Due to the unique climate conditions of montane ecosystems, they contain increased numbers of endemic species. Montane ecosystems also exhibit variation in ecosystem services, which include carbon storage and water supply. Life zones As elevation increases, the alpine climate, climate becomes co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vegetation
Vegetation is an assemblage of plants and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular Taxon, taxa, life forms, structure, Spatial ecology, spatial extent, or any other specific Botany, botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader than the term ''Flora (plants), flora'' which refers to species richness, species composition. Perhaps the closest synonym is ''plant community'', but "vegetation" can, and often does, refer to a wider range of spatial scales than that term does, including scales as large as the global. Primeval redwood forests, coastal mangrove stands, sphagnum bogs, desert soil crusts, Road verge, roadside weed patches, wheat fields, cultivated gardens and lawns; all are encompassed by the term "vegetation". The vegetation type is defined by characteristic dominant species, or a common aspect of the assemblage, such as an elevation range or environmental commonality. The contemporary use of "vegetation" app ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haast's Eagle
Haast's eagle (''Hieraaetus moorei'') is an Extinction, extinct species of eagle that lived in the South Island of New Zealand, commonly accepted to be the of Māori mythology.Giant eagle (''Aquila moorei''), Haast's eagle, or Pouakai . Museum of New Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 27 October 2010. It is the largest eagle known to have existed, with an estimated weight of , compared to the next-largest and extant harpy eagle (''Harpia harpyja''), at up to . Its massive size is explained as an evolutionary response to the size of its prey—the flightless moa—the largest of which could weigh . Haast's eagle became extinct around 1445, following the Māori history#Settlement of New Zealand, arrival of the Māori, who hunted moa to extincti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
