|
Prion (bird)
The prions () or whalebirds are small petrels in the genera ''Pachyptila'' and '' Halobaena''. They form one of the four groups within the Procellariidae along with the gadfly petrels, shearwaters and fulmarine petrels. The name comes from the Greek ', meaning "saw", a reference of the serrated edges of the birds' saw-like bill. They are found in the Southern Ocean and breed on a number of subantarctic islands. Prions grow long, and have blue-grey upper parts and white underparts. Three species of prion have flattened bills with a fringe of lamellae that act as strainers for zooplankton.Maynard, B. J. (2003) All prions are marine and feed on small crustacea such as copepods, ostracods, decapods, and krill, as well as some fish such as myctophids and nototheniids. List of species * ''Pachyptila'' ** ''Pachyptila turtur'', fairy prion ** ''Pachyptila belcheri'', slender-billed prion ** ''Pachyptila crassirostris'', fulmar prion ** ''Pachyptila vittata'', broad-billed pri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pachyptila
''Pachyptila'' is a genus of seabirds in the family (biology), family Procellariidae and the order (biology), order Procellariiformes. The members of this genus and the blue petrel form a sub-group called Prion (bird), prions. They range throughout the southern hemisphere, often in the much cooler higher latitudes. Three species, the broad-billed prion (''Pachyptila vittata''), the Antarctic prion (''Pachyptila desolata'') and the fairy prion (''Pachyptila turtur''), range into the subtropics. Taxonomy The genus ''Pachyptila'' was introduced in 1811 by the German zoologist Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger. The name combines the Ancient Greek ''pakhus '' meaning "dense" or "thick" with ''ptilon'' meaning "feather" or "plumage". The type species was subsequently designated as the broad-billed prion by English naturalist Prideaux John Selby in 1840. The English name "prion" comes from the Ancient Greek (', "saw"), in reference to the serrated edges of its beak, bill. All the members of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Decapoda
The Decapoda or decapods, from Ancient Greek δεκάς (''dekás''), meaning "ten", and πούς (''poús''), meaning "foot", is a large order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, and includes crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, and prawns. Most decapods are scavengers. The order is estimated to contain nearly 15,000 extant species in around 2,700 genera, with around 3,300 fossil species. Nearly half of these species are crabs, with the shrimp (about 3,000 species) and Anomura including hermit crabs, king crabs, porcelain crabs, squat lobsters (about 2500 species) making up the bulk of the remainder. The earliest fossils of the group date to the Devonian. Anatomy Decapods can have as many as 38 appendages, arranged in one pair per body segment. As the name Decapoda (from the Greek , ', "ten", and , '' -pod'', "foot") implies, ten of these appendages are considered legs. They are the pereiopods, found on the last five thoracic segments. In many decapods, one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in amber, hair, petrified wood and DNA remnants. The totality of fossils is known as the ''fossil record''. Though the fossil record is incomplete, numerous studies have demonstrated that there is enough information available to give a good understanding of the pattern of diversification of life on Earth. In addition, the record can predict and fill gaps such as the discovery of '' Tiktaalik'' in the arctic of Canada. Paleontology includes the study of fossils: their age, method of formation, and evolutionary significance. Specimens are sometimes considered to be fossils if they are over 10,000 years old. The oldest fossils are around 3.48 billion years to 4.1 billion years old. Early edition, published online before prin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Petrel
The blue petrel (''Halobaena caerulea'') is a small seabird in the shearwater and petrel family (biology), family, Procellariidae. This small petrel is the only member of the genus ''Halobaena'', but is closely allied to the prion (bird), prions. It is distributed across the Southern Ocean but breeds at a few island sites, all close to the Antarctic Convergence zone. Taxonomy The blue petrel was first described in 1777 by the German naturalist Georg Forster in his book ''A Voyage Round the World''. He had accompanied James Cook on Cook's Second voyage of James Cook, second voyage to the Pacific. Forster did not give the blue petrel a binomial name, but when the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin updated Carl Linnaeus's ''Systema Naturae'' in 1789 he included a brief description of the bird, coined the binomial name ''Procellaria caerulea'' and cited Forster's book. The blue petrel is now the only species placed in the genus ''Halobaena'' that was introduced for the blue pet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MacGillivray's Prion
MacGillivray's prion (''Pachyptila macgillivrayi'') is a species of small petrel (a prion) in the Southern Ocean. It is found on Roche Quille, off Saint Paul Island and on Gough Island in the Tristan da Cunha group, south-central Atlantic Ocean. It was formerly present on Amsterdam Island in the central South Indian Ocean. The population on Saint Paul Island has been increasing since the 1990s eradication of introduced rats and rabbits, but is still likely smaller than the original size. MacGillivray's prion was formerly considered to be conspecific with Salvin's prion but is now considered to be a separate species based on molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ... analysis and a comparison of the bill morphologies that was published in 2022. Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salvin's Prion
Salvin's prion (''Pachyptila salvini''), also known as the medium-billed prion, is a species of seabird in the petrel family Procellariidae. Taxonomy Salvin's prion is a member of the genus ''Pachyptila'' and of the subgenus ''Salviprion'' Mathews, 1943. Along with the blue petrel, they make up the prions. They in turn are members of the family Procellariidae, and the order Procellariiformes. The prions are small and typically eat just zooplankton;Maynard, B. J. (2003) however as a member of the Procellariiformes, they share certain identifying features. First, they have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns. Although the nostrils on the prion are on top of the upper bill. The bills of Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into between 7 and 9 horny plates. They produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This is used against predators as well as an energy rich food source for chick ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antarctic Prion
The Antarctic prion (''Pachyptila desolata'') also known as the dove prion, or totorore in Māori, is the largest of the prions, a genus of small petrels of the Southern Ocean. Taxonomy The Antarctic prion was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it with the other petrels in the genus ''Procellaria'' and coined the binomial name ''Procellaria desolata''. Gmelin based his description on the "brown-banded petrel" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham from a specimen supplied by the naturalist Joseph Banks that had been collected on the "Isle of Desolation", now the Kerguelen Islands. The Antarctic prion is now one of seven prions placed in the genus ''Pachyptila'' that was introduced in 1811 by the German zoologist Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ''pakhus '' meaning "dense" or "thic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broad-billed Prion
The broad-billed prion (''Pachyptila vittata'') is a small pelagic seabird in the shearwater and petrel family, Procellariidae. It is the largest prion, with grey upperparts plumage, and white underparts. The sexes are alike. It ranges from the southeast Atlantic to New Zealand mainly near the Antarctic Convergence. In the south Atlantic it breeds on Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island; in the south Pacific it breeds on islands off the south coast of South Island, New Zealand and on the Chatham Islands. It has many other names that have been used such as blue-billed dove-petrel, broad-billed dove-petrel, long-billed prion, common prion, icebird, and whalebird. Taxonomy The broad-billed prion was described in 1777 by the German naturalist Georg Forster in his book ''A Voyage Round the World''. He had accompanied James Cook on Cook's second voyage to the Pacific. He included a brief description: "the blue petrel, so called from its having a blueish-grey colour, and a band of blackis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fulmar Prion
The fulmar prion (''Pachyptila crassirostris'') is a species of seabird in the family Procellariidae, found in the southern oceans. Etymology Its common name "prion" (not to be confused with the misfolded proteins of the same name) means "saw", referring to the bill; "fulmar" means "foul-gull". The species was once assigned under the now-obsolete genus ''Fulmariprion'' (from "fulmar" and "prion"). The genus ''Pachyptila'' means "thick feathers". Its specific name ''crassirostris'' means "thick-beaked". Taxonomy The fulmar prion is a member of the genus ''Pachyptila'' – and along with the blue petrel – makes up the prions. They in turn are members of the family Procellariidae and the order Procellariiformes. The prions are small and typically eat zooplankton;Maynard, B. J. (2003) however, as a member of the Procellariiformes, they share certain identifying features. First, they have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns, although the nostrils on t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slender-billed Prion
The slender-billed prion (''Pachyptila belcheri'') or thin-billed prion, is a species of petrel, a seabird in the family Procellariidae. It is found in the southern oceans. Taxonomy The slender-billed prion was species description, formally described in 1912 by the Australian born ornithologist Gregory Mathews under the binomial name ''Heteroprion belcheri''. The prion is now placed with the other prions in the genus ''Pachyptila'' that was introduced in 1811 by the German zoologist Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ''pakhus '' meaning "dense" or "thick" with ''ptilon'' meaning "feather" or "plumage". The specific epithet ''belcheri'' was chosen in recognition of the Australian judge and amateur ornithologist Charles Frederic Belcher, Charles Belcher who had found the first specimens dead on a beach near the town of Geelong in the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The species is considered to be monotypic: no subspecies a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fairy Prion
The fairy prion (''Pachyptila turtur'') is a small seabird with the standard prion plumage of blue-grey upperparts with a prominent dark "M" marking and white underneath. The sexes are alike. It is a small prion which frequents the low subantarctic and subtropic seas. Taxonomy The fairy prion was formally described in 1820 by the German naturalist Heinrich Kuhl under the binomial name ''Procellaria turtur''. It is now placed with the other prions in the genus ''Pachyptila'', introduced in 1811 by Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ''pakhus '', meaning "dense" or "thick", with ''ptilon'', meaning "feather" or "plumage". The specific epithet ''turtur'' is Latin for " turtle dove". The word comes from the Ancient Greek word , meaning "a saw", which refers to the serrated edges of its bill. The fairy prion is a member of the genus ''Pachyptila'' and of the subgenus ''Pseudoprion'' Coues, 1866. Along with the blue petrel, they make up the prions. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nototheniid
: ''In some scientific literature, the term "cod icefish" is used to identify members of this family. This should not be confused with the term "icefish," which refers to the "white-blooded" fishes of the family Channichthyidae. See Icefish (other).'' Nototheniidae, the notothens or cod icefishes, is a family of ray-finned fishes, part of the suborder Notothenioidei which is traditionally placed within the order Perciformes. They are largely found in the Southern Ocean. Taxonomy Nototheniidae was described as a family in 1861 by the German-born British ichthyologist Albert Günther with the type genus being ''Notothenia'' which had been described in 1844 by Sir John Richardson with the species ''Notothenia coriiceps'' which Richardson had also described in 1844 subsequently being designated as the type in 1862 by Theodore Nicholas Gill. The name ''Notothenia'' means "coming from the south", a reference to the Antarctic distribution of the genus. They are traditionally ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
