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Northern Giant Petrel
The northern giant petrel (''Macronectes halli''), also known as Hall's giant petrel, is a large, predatory seabird of the southern oceans. Its range overlaps broadly with the range of the related southern giant petrel (''Macronectes giganteus''), albeit slightly further to the north. Taxonomy The northern giant petrel was species description, formally described in 1912 by the Australian born ornithologist Gregory Mathews as a subspecies of the southern giant petrel with the trinomial name ''Macronectes giganteus halli''. The specific epithet ''halli'' was chosen to honour the Australian ornithologist Robert Hall (ornithologist), Robert Hall who had described the birds breeding on the Kerguelen Islands. The northern giant petrel is now considered to be a separate species and has the binomial name ''Macronectes halli''. It is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ''makros'' meaning "great" and ''nēktēs'' meaning "swimmer". The name "pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Georgia Island
South Georgia is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east–west direction, South Georgia is around long and has a maximum width of . The terrain is mountainous, with the central ridge rising to at Mount Paget. The northern coast is indented with numerous bays and fjords, serving as harbor, harbours. Discovered by Europeans in 1675, South Georgia had no indigenous population due to its harsh climate and remoteness. Captain James Cook in made the first landing, survey and mapping of the island. On 17 January 1775, Cook claimed it a British possession, naming it "Isle of Georgia" after George III, King George III. Through its history of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, history, it served as a whaling and seal hunting base, with intermittent population scattere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Procellariiformes
Procellariiformes is an order (biology), order of seabirds that comprises four family (biology), families: the albatrosses, the Procellariidae, petrels and shearwaters, and two families of storm petrels. Formerly called Tubinares and still called tubenoses in English, procellariiforms are often referred to collectively as the petrels, a term that has been applied to all members of the order,Warham, J. (1996). ''The Behaviour, Population, Biology and Physiology of the Petrels''. London: Academic Press, or more commonly all the families except the albatrosses.Brooke, 2004. They are almost exclusively pelagic (feeding in the open ocean), and have a cosmopolitan distribution across the world's oceans, with the highest species diversity, diversity being around New Zealand. Procellariiforms are seabird colony, colonial, mostly nesting on remote, predator-free islands. The larger species nest on the surface, while most smaller species nest in natural cavities and burrows. They exhibit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chatham Islands
The Chatham Islands ( ; Moriori language, Moriori: , 'Misty Sun'; ) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island, administered as part of New Zealand, and consisting of about 10 islands within an approximate radius, the largest of which are Chatham Island and Pitt Island, Pitt Island (''Rangiauria''). They include New Zealand's easternmost point, the Forty-Fours. Some of the islands, formerly cleared for farming, are now preserved as Protected areas of New Zealand, nature reserves to conservation in New Zealand, conserve some of the unique flora and fauna. The islands were uninhabited when the Moriori people arrived around 1500 CE and developed Nunuku-whenua, a peaceful way of life. In 1835, members of the Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama Māori iwi from the North Island of New Zealand invaded the islands and Moriori genocide, nearly exterminated the Moriori, slavery, enslaving the survivors. In the period of European colonisation, the New ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Georgia And The South Sandwich Islands
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) is a British Overseas Territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote and inhospitable collection of islands, consisting of South Georgia and a chain of smaller islands known as the South Sandwich Islands. South Georgia is long and wide and is by far the largest island in the territory. The South Sandwich Islands lie about southeast of South Georgia. The territory's total land area is . The Falkland Islands are about west from its nearest point. The South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited, and a very small non-permanent population resides on South Georgia. There are no scheduled passenger flights or ferries to or from the territory, although visits by cruise liners to South Georgia are increasingly popular, with several thousand visitors each summer. The United Kingdom claimed sovereignty over South Georgia in 1775 and the South Sandwich Islands in 1908. The territory of "South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macronectes Halli -Salisbury Plain, South Georgia, British Overseas Territories, UK-8
Giant petrels form a genus, ''Macronectes'', from the family Procellariidae, which consists of two living and one extinct species. They are the largest birds in this family. Both extant species in the genus are native to the Southern Hemisphere. Giant petrels are extremely aggressive predators and scavengers, inspiring another common name, the stinker. Seamen and whalers also referred to the giant petrel as the molly-hawk, gong, glutton bird and nelly. They are the only member of their family that is capable of walking on land. Taxonomy The genus ''Macronectes'' was introduced in 1905 by the American ornithologist Charles Wallace Richmond to accommodate what is now the southern giant petrel. It replaced the previous genus ''Ossifraga'' which was found to have been earlier applied to a different group of birds. The name ''Macronectes'' combines the Ancient Greek ''makros'' meaning "great" and ''nēktēs'' meaning "swimmer". The present-day giant petrels are two large seabirds fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salt Gland
The salt gland is an organ (anatomy), organ for excreting excess salt (chemistry), salts. It is found in the cartilaginous fishes subclass elasmobranchii (sharks, rays, and skates), seabirds, and some reptiles. Salt glands can be found in the rectum of sharks. Birds and reptiles have salt glands located in or on the skull, usually in the eyes, nose, or mouth. These glands are lobed containing many secretory tubules which radiate outward from the excretory canal at the center. Secretory tubules are lined with a single layer of epithelial cells. The diameter and length of these glands vary depending on the salt uptake of the species. Salt glands maintain osmoregulation, salt balance and allow marine vertebrates to drink seawater. Active transport via sodium–potassium pump, found on the basolateral membrane, moves salt from the blood into the gland, where it is excreted as a concentrated Solution (chemistry), solution. In birds The avian salt gland has two main ducts: a medi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proventriculus
The proventriculus is part of the digestive system of birds.Encarta World English Dictionary orth American Edition(2007). ''Proventriculus''. Source: (accessed: December 18, 2007) An analogous organ exists in invertebrates and insects. Birds The proventriculus is a standard part of avian anatomy and is a rod-shaped organ, located between the esophagus and the gizzard of most birds. It is generally a glandular part of the stomach that may store and/or commence the digestion of food before it progresses to the gizzard. The primary function of the proventriculus is to secrete hydrochloric acid (HCl) and digestive enzymes such as pepsinogen into the digestive compartments that will churn the ingested material through muscular mechanisms. Thomas Cecere (College of Veterinary Medicine of Virginia Tech) says of the proventriculus: The proventriculus is the glandular portion of the avian compound stomach, and a rather peculiar organ it is. There's nothing like it in mammals. Sec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triglycerides
A triglyceride (from ''wikt:tri-#Prefix, tri-'' and ''glyceride''; also TG, triacylglycerol, TAG, or triacylglyceride) is an ester derived from glycerol and three fatty acids. Triglycerides are the main constituents of body fat in humans and other vertebrates as well as vegetable fat. They are also present in the blood to enable the bidirectional transference of Adipose tissue, adipose fat and blood glucose from the liver and are a major component of sebum, human skin oils. Many types of triglycerides exist. One specific classification focuses on Saturated and unsaturated compounds, saturated and unsaturated types. Saturated fats have ''no'' C=C groups; unsaturated fats feature one or more C=C groups. Unsaturated fats tend to have a lower melting point than saturated analogues; as a result, they are often liquid at room temperature. Chemical structure The three fatty acids substituents can be the same, but they are usually different. The positions of the three fatty acids a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wax Ester
A wax ester (WE) is an ester of a fatty acid and a fatty alcohol. Wax esters are the main components of three commercially important waxes: carnauba wax, candelilla wax, and beeswax.. Wax esters are formed by combining one fatty acid with one fatty alcohol: :RCOOH + R'OH RCOOR' + H2O Some wax esters are saturated, and others contain unsaturated centers. Saturated wax esters have higher melting points and are more likely to be solid at room temperature. Unsaturated wax esters have a lower melting point and are more likely to be liquid at room temperature. Both fatty acids and fatty alcohols may be made of different carbon chain length. In the end, there are many different possible combinations of fatty acids and fatty alcohols and each combination will have a unique set of properties in terms of steric orientation and phase transition. The chain lengths of fatty acids and fatty alcohols in naturally occurring wax esters vary. The fatty acids in wax esters derived from plant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stomach Oil
Stomach oil is the light oil composed of neutral dietary lipids found in the proventriculus (fore-gut) of birds in the order Procellariiformes. All albatrosses, procellarids (gadfly petrels and shearwaters) and northern and austral storm petrels use the oil. The only Procellariiformes that do not are the diving petrels. The chemical make up of stomach oil varies from species to species and between individuals, but almost always contains both wax esters and triglycerides. Other compounds found in stomach oil include glycerol ethers, pristane and squalene. Stomach oil has low viscosity and will solidify into a hard wax if allowed to cool. It was once thought that stomach oil was a secretion of the proventriculus, but it is now known to be a residue of the diet created by digestion of the prey items such as krill, squid, copepods and fish. It is thought to serve several functions for Procellariiformes, primarily as an energy store; its calorific value is aroun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Petrels
Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the phylogenetic order Procellariiformes. Description Petrels are a monophyletic group of marine seabirds, sharing a characteristic of a nostril arrangement that results in the name "tubenoses". Petrels encompass three of the four extant families within the Procellariiformes order, namely Procellariidae (fulmarine petrels, gadfly petrels, diving petrels, prions, and shearwaters), Hydrobatidae (northern storm petrels), and Oceanitidae (austral storm petrels). The remaining family in Procellariiformes is the albatross family, Diomedeidae. Etymology The word ''petrel'' (first recorded in that spelling 1703) comes from earlier (''ca.'' 1670) ''pitteral''; the English explorer William Dampier wrote the bird was so called from its way of flying with its feet just skimming the surface of the water, recalling Saint Peter's walk on the sea of Galilee (Matthew xiv.28); if so, it likely was formed in English as a diminutive of Peter (< Old (?) < ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
