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Magnificent Tree Frog
The magnificent tree frog (''Ranoidea splendida''), also known as the splendid tree frog, is a species of tree frog first described in 1977. It has a limited range, only occurring on the north-western coast of Australia in the Northern Territory and the Kimberley, Western Australia. It has a similar appearance to, and can be confused with, the closely related White's tree frog. Description The magnificent tree frog is a relatively large tree frog, with the males reaching a length ( SVL) of 10.4 cm (4.1 in) and the females 10.6 cm (4.2 in)."Litoria splendida (SVL = 118 m " They have olive to bright green dorsal surfaces with white ventral surfaces. The undersides of the feet and legs are bright yellow. Most specimens have white or sulphur-coloured dots on their backs, of varying densities. The older magnificent tree frogs can be distinguished from White's tree frogs by the presence of very large parotoid glands, which cover the entire top of their heads and dr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Margaret M
Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Old Iranian. It has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular throughout the Middle Ages. It became less popular between the 16th and 18th century, but became more common again after this period, becoming the second-most popular female name in the United States in 1903. Since this time, it has become less common, but was still the ninth-most common name for women of all ages in the United States as of the 1990 census. Margaret has many diminutive forms in many languages, including Daisy, Greta, Gretchen, Maggie, Madge, Maisie, Marge, Margie, Margo, Margot, Marnie, Meg, Megan, Molly, Peggy, and Rita. Etymology Margaret is derived via French () and Latin () from (), via Persian ''murwārīd'', meaning "pearl". Margarita (given name) traces the etymology further as مروارید, ''morvārīd'' in modern Persian, derived from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Axanthism
Axanthism is a mutation that interferes with an animal's ability to produce yellow pigment. The mutation affects the amount of xanthophores and carotenoid vesicles, sometimes causing them to be completely absent. Erythrophores and iridophores, which are responsible for red coloration and light reflecting pigments respectively, may also be affected. Axanthism is most obvious in green animals, specifically amphibians, making them appear blue. Green coloration in animals is caused by iridiphores reflecting blue wavelengths of light back through the carotenoids in the xanthophores. In the absence of xanthophores and carotenoids, the blue light is unaltered and reflected back normally. Animals that are normally yellow will appear white if affected with axanthism. While axanthism commonly makes green animals blue, it can also make the animal gray or even black, making it appear as if the animal has melanism; though they can be distinguished by how axanthic animals are slightly lighter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphibians Described In 1977
Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniotic, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all tetrapods, but excluding the amniotes (tetrapods with an amniotic membrane, such as modern reptiles, birds and mammals). All extant (living) amphibians belong to the monophyletic subclass Lissamphibia, with three living orders: Anura (frogs and toads), Urodela (salamanders), and Gymnophiona (caecilians). Evolved to be mostly semiaquatic, amphibians have adapted to inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living in freshwater, wetland or terrestrial ecosystems (such as riparian woodland, fossorial and even arboreal habitats). Their life cycle typically starts out as aquatic larvae with gills known as tadpoles, but some species have developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this. Young amphibians generally undergo metamorphosis from an aquatic larval form with gills to an air-breathing a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphibians Of Western Australia
The Amphibians of Western Australia are represented by two families of frogs. Of the 78 species found, most within the southwest, 38 are unique to the state. 15 of the 30 genera of Australian frogs occur; from arid regions and coastlines to permanent wetlands. Frog species in Western Australia have not suffered the major declines of populations and diversity of many parts of the world. No species is recorded as having become extinct, despite over 50% of recent worldwide extinctions being Australian. Three species are listed as Threatened, two as Vulnerable and '' Anstisia alba'' as Critically endangered. Threats to the species include the fungal disease Chytridiomycosis, though no infection has yet been recorded, and damage to habitat from altered land use and fire regimes. These processes have caused decline in many populations, however, some have successfully colonized newly created habitats such as dams or suburban gardens. Species such as '' Litoria moorei'' (Motorbike ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ranoidea (genus)
''Ranoidea'' is a genus of frogs in the subfamily Pelodryadinae. They are found in Australia, New Guinea, and two nearby groups of islands: the Maluku Islands, and the Louisiade Archipelago. The circumscription of this taxon is still controversial. Taxonomy Species in this genus were until recently placed in the then-paraphyletic genus ''Litoria''; many of them had been placed in even larger '' Hyla'' before. However, in 2016 Duellman and colleagues split ''Litoria'' into several genera. The systematic and taxonomic conclusions based on Duellman ''et al.'' should be treated with caution, because 78.9% of individuals (397/503) used in the concatenated analyses had less than half of the gene sequences available for the 19 genes used. Missing data can be problematic in phylogenetic analyses (e.g.) and lead to erroneous conclusions about systematic relationships. Additionally, there is no mention of checking for base-composition bias amongst taxa (non-stationarity), which can also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wet Season
The wet season (sometimes called the rainy season or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used as a euphemism by tourist authorities. Areas with wet seasons are dispersed across portions of the tropics and subtropics. Under the Köppen climate classification, for tropical climates, a wet season month is defined as a month where average precipitation is or more. In contrast to areas with savanna climates and monsoon regimes, Mediterranean climates have wet winters and dry summers. Dry and rainy months are characteristic of tropical seasonal forests: in contrast to tropical rainforests, which do not have dry or wet seasons, since their rainfall is equally distributed throughout the year.Elisabeth M. Benders-Hyde (2003)World Climates.Blue Planet Biomes. Retrieved on 2008-12-27. Some areas with pronounced rainy seasons will see a break ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giant Tree Frog
The white-lipped tree frog (''Nyctimystes infrafrenatus'') is a species of frog in the subfamily Pelodryadinae. It is the world's largest tree frog (the Cuban tree frog reaches a similar maximum size) and is found in Australia. Other common names include the New Guinea treefrog, giant tree frog, and Australian giant treefrog. Description The white-lipped tree frog reaches in length. Females are larger than males, and have thicker skin in correlation with the difference in body size. Its dorsal surface is usually bright green, although the colour changes depending on the temperature and background, and can be brown. The ventral surface is off-white. The lower lip has a distinctive white stripe (giving this species its name), which continues to the shoulder. The white stripes on the trailing edges of the lower leg may turn pink in the breeding male. The white-lipped tree frog has large toe pads, which aid it to climb. The toes are completely webbed, and the hands are partially ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charnley River–Artesian Range Wildlife Sanctuary
Charnley River–Artesian Range Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area covering about in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is situated about east of Derby and north west of Halls Creek, and is accessed via the Gibb River Road. It is named after the Charnley River that flows through the property. It is operated as a sanctuary by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), a public charity. The sanctuary occupies the former Charnley River Station, a pastoral lease that operated as a cattle station and was formerly known as the Beverley Springs Station, along with land owned by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and managed jointly with the AWC. The AWC leases part of the land to Australian Capital Equity (ACE) after selling the cattle to them, and ACE now operates a cattle station on part of the land, excluding key areas such as rivers. The AWC operates a wilderness camp and interpretation centre in the sanctuary, and visitors can hike and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tree Frog
A tree frog (or treefrog) is any species of frog that spends a major portion of its lifespan in trees, known as an arboreal state. Several lineages of frogs among the Neobatrachia suborder have given rise to treefrogs, although they are not closely related to each other. Millions of years of convergent evolution have resulted in very similar morphology even in species that are not very closely related. Furthermore, tree frogs in seasonally arid environments have adapted an extra-epidermal layer of lipid and mucus as an evolutionary convergent response to accommodate the periodic dehydration stress. Description As the name implies, these frogs are typically found in trees or other high-growing vegetation. They do not normally descend to the ground, except to mate and spawn, though some build foam nests on leaves and rarely leave the trees at all as adults, and '' Eleutherodactylus'' has evolved direct development and therefore does not need water for a tadpole stage. Tree fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parotoid Gland
The parotoid gland (alternatively, paratoid gland) is an external skin gland on the back, neck, and shoulder of some frogs (especially toads), and salamanders. It can secrete a number of milky alkaloid substances (depending on the species) known collectively as bufotoxins, which act as neurotoxins to deter predation. These cutaneous glands are called parotoid as they are somewhat similarly positioned to mammalian parotid glands, parotid gland, although the latter have a different function, excreting saliva within the mouth rather than externally excreted defensive chemicals. A study of the parotoid glands of the Colorado River toad in 1976 found that the parotoid glands were "composed of numerous Lobe (anatomy), lobules", each of which is a separate unit with a Lumen (anatomy), lumen surrounded by a double cell layer. The cell layers have interlocking microvilli. The study found that the outer cell layer resembled smooth muscle cells, with some organelles hypothesised to "function ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sulphur
Sulfur (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundance of the chemical elements, abundant, Polyvalency (chemistry), multivalent and Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetallic. Under standard conditions for temperature and pressure, normal conditions, sulfur atoms form octasulfur, cyclic octatomic molecules with the chemical formula octasulfur, S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow, crystalline solid at room temperature. Sulfur is the tenth most abundant element by mass in the universe and the fifth most common on Earth. Though sometimes found in pure, native element minerals, native form, sulfur on Earth usually occurs as sulfide minerals, sulfide and sulfate minerals. Being abundant in native form, sulfur was known in ancient times, being mentioned for its uses in Outline of ancient India, ancient India, ancient G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
