1.
Steenbok
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The steenbok is a common small antelope of southern and eastern Africa. It is sometimes known as the steinbuck or steinbok, Steenbok resemble small Oribi, standing 45–60 cm at the shoulder. Their pelage is any shade from fawn to rufous, typically rather orange, the underside, including chin and throat, is white, as is the ring around the eye. Ears are large with finger-marks on the inside, males have straight, smooth, parallel horns 7–19 cm long. There is a black crescent-shape between the ears, a black bridge to the glossy black nose, and a black circular scent-gland in front of the eye. The tail is not usually visible, being only 4–6 cm long, there are two distinct clusters in steenbok distribution. In East Africa, it occurs in central and southern Kenya and it was formerly widespread in Uganda, but is now possibly extinct there. In Southern Africa, it occurs in Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and they are said to favour unstable or transitional habitats. Steenbok typically browse on vegetation, but are also adept at scraping up roots. In central Kruger National Park, Steenbok show a preference for forbs. They will also take fruits and only very rarely graze on grass and they are almost entirely independent of drinking water, gaining the moisture they need from their food. During cool periods, steenbok are active throughout the day, however, during hotter periods, while resting, they may be busy grooming, ruminating or taking brief spells of sleep. At the first sign of trouble, steenbok typically lie low in the vegetation, if a predator or perceived threat comes closer, a steenbok will leap away and follow a zigzag route to try to shake off the pursuer. Escaping steenbok frequently stop to look back, and flight is alternated with prostration during extended pursuit and they are known to take refuge in the burrows of Aardvarks. Known predators include African wild cat, caracal, jackals, leopard, martial eagle, Steenbok are typically solitary, except for when a pair come together to mate. However, it has suggested that pairs occupy consistent territories while living independently, staying in contact through scent markings. Scent marking is primarily through dung middens, territories range from 4 hectares to one square kilometre. The male is aggressive during the females oestrus, engaging in bluff-and-bluster type displays with rival males—prolonged contests invariably involve well-matched individuals, breeding occurs throughout the year, although more fawns are born November to December in the southern spring–summer, some females may breed twice a year
2.
Conservation status
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The conservation status of a group of organisms indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Various systems of conservation status exist and are in use at international, multi-country, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the best known worldwide conservation status listing and ranking system. Also included are species that have gone extinct since 500 AD, when discussing the IUCN Red List, the official term threatened is a grouping of three categories, critically endangered, endangered, and vulnerable. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category, Data deficient – Not enough data to make an assessment of its risk of extinction Not evaluated – Has not yet been evaluated against the criteria. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora aims to ensure that trade in specimens of wild animals. Many countries require CITES permits when importing plants and animals listed on CITES, in the European Union, the Birds and Habitats Directives are the legal instruments that evaluate the conservation status within the EU of species and habitats. NatureServe conservation status focuses on Latin America, United States, Canada, and it has been developed by scientists from NatureServe, The Nature Conservancy, and the network of natural heritage programs and data centers. It is increasingly integrated with the IUCN Red List system and its categories for species include, presumed extinct, possibly extinct, critically imperiled, imperiled, vulnerable, apparently secure, and secure. The system also allows ambiguous or uncertain ranks including inexact numeric ranks, NatureServe adds a qualifier for captive or cultivated only, which has a similar meaning to the IUCN Red List extinct in the wild status. The Red Data Book of the Russian Federation is used within the Russian Federation, in Australia, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 describes lists of threatened species, ecological communities and threatening processes. The categories resemble those of the 1994 IUCN Red List Categories & Criteria, prior to the EPBC Act, a simpler classification system was used by the Endangered Species Protection Act 1992. Some state and territory governments also have their own systems for conservation status, in Belgium, the Flemish Research Institute for Nature and Forest publishes an online set of more than 150 nature indicators in Dutch. In Canada, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada is a group of experts that assesses and designates which wild species are in danger of disappearing from Canada. Under the Species at Risk Act, it is up to the federal government, in China, the State, provinces and some counties have determined their key protected wildlife species. There is the China red data book, in Finland, a large number of species are protected under the Nature Conservation Act, and through the EU Habitats Directive and EU Birds Directive. In Germany, the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation publishes red lists of endangered species, india has the Wild Life Protection Act,1972, Amended 2003 and the Biological Diversity Act,2002. In Japan, the Ministry of Environment publishes a Threatened Wildlife of Japan Red Data Book, in the Netherlands, the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality publishes a list of threatened species, and conservation is enforced by the Nature Conservation Act 1998. Species are also protected through the Wild Birds and Habitats Directives, in New Zealand, the Department of Conservation publishes the New Zealand Threat Classification System lists
3.
Least Concern
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A least concern species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as evaluated but not qualified for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, near threatened, 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, since 2001 the category has had the abbreviation LC, following the IUCN2001 Categories & Criteria. However, around 20% of least concern taxa in the IUCN database use the code LR/lc, prior to 2001 least concern was a subcategory of the Lower Risk category and assigned the code LR/lc or. While least concern is not considered a red listed category by the IUCN, the number of animal species listed in this category totals 14033. There are also 101 animal subspecies listed and 1500 plant taxa, there are also two animal subpopulations listed, the Australasian and Southern African subpopulations of spiny dogfish. No fungi or protista have the classification, though only four species in those kingdoms have been evaluated by the IUCN, humans qualify for this category, and in 2008 were formally assessed as such by the IUCN
4.
IUCN Red List
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The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, founded in 1964, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the main authority on the conservation status of species. A series of Regional Red Lists are produced by countries or organizations, the IUCN Red List is set upon precise criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of thousands of species and subspecies. These criteria are relevant to all species and all regions of the world, the aim is to convey the urgency of conservation issues to the public and policy makers, as well as help the international community to try to reduce species extinction. Major species assessors include BirdLife International, the Institute of Zoology, the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, collectively, assessments by these organizations and groups account for nearly half the species on the Red List. The IUCN aims to have the category of every species re-evaluated every five years if possible, the 1964 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants used the older pre-criteria Red List assessment system. Plants listed may not, therefore, appear in the current Red List, IUCN advise that is best to check both the online Red List and the 1997 plants Red List publication. The 2006 Red List, released on 4 May 2006 evaluated 40,168 species as a whole, plus an additional 2,160 subspecies, varieties, aquatic stocks, on 12 September 2007, the World Conservation Union released the 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Russ Mittermeier, chief of Swiss-based IUCNs Primate Specialist Group, stated that 16,306 species are endangered with extinction,188 more than in 2006, the Red List includes the Sumatran orangutan in the Critically Endangered category and the Bornean orangutan in the Endangered category. The study shows at least 1,141 of the 5,487 mammals on Earth are known to be threatened with extinction, and 836 are listed as Data Deficient. The Red List of 2012 was released 19 July 2012 at Rio+20 Earth Summit, nearly 2,000 species were added, the IUCN assessed a total of 63,837 species which revealed 19,817 are threatened with extinction. With 3,947 described as endangered and 5,766 as endangered. At threat are 41% of amphibian species, 33% of reef-building corals, 30% of conifers, 25% of mammals, the IUCN Red List has listed 132 species of plants and animals from India as Critically Endangered. Extinct – No known individuals remaining, extinct in the wild – Known only to survive in captivity, or as a naturalized population outside its historic range. Critically endangered – Extremely high risk of extinction in the wild, Endangered – High risk of extinction in the wild. Vulnerable – High risk of endangerment in the wild, near threatened – Likely to become endangered in the near future. Does not qualify for a more at-risk category, widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category. Data deficient – Not enough data to make an assessment of its risk of extinction, Not evaluated – Has not yet been evaluated against the criteria
5.
Taxonomy (biology)
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Taxonomy is the science of defining groups of biological organisms on the basis of shared characteristics and giving names to those groups. The exact definition of taxonomy varies from source to source, but the core of the remains, the conception, naming. There is some disagreement as to whether biological nomenclature is considered a part of taxonomy, the broadest meaning of taxonomy is used here. The word taxonomy was introduced in 1813 by Candolle, in his Théorie élémentaire de la botanique, the term alpha taxonomy is primarily used today to refer to the discipline of finding, describing, and naming taxa, particularly species. In earlier literature, the term had a different meaning, referring to morphological taxonomy, ideals can, it may be said, never be completely realized. They have, however, a value of acting as permanent stimulants. Some of us please ourselves by thinking we are now groping in a beta taxonomy, turrill thus explicitly excludes from alpha taxonomy various areas of study that he includes within taxonomy as a whole, such as ecology, physiology, genetics, and cytology. He further excludes phylogenetic reconstruction from alpha taxonomy, thus, Ernst Mayr in 1968 defined beta taxonomy as the classification of ranks higher than species. This activity is what the term denotes, it is also referred to as beta taxonomy. How species should be defined in a group of organisms gives rise to practical and theoretical problems that are referred to as the species problem. The scientific work of deciding how to define species has been called microtaxonomy, by extension, macrotaxonomy is the study of groups at higher taxonomic ranks, from subgenus and above only, than species. While some descriptions of taxonomic history attempt to date taxonomy to ancient civilizations, earlier works were primarily descriptive, and focused on plants that were useful in agriculture or medicine. There are a number of stages in scientific thinking. Early taxonomy was based on criteria, the so-called artificial systems. Later came systems based on a complete consideration of the characteristics of taxa, referred to as natural systems, such as those of de Jussieu, de Candolle and Bentham. The publication of Charles Darwins Origin of Species led to new ways of thinking about classification based on evolutionary relationships and this was the concept of phyletic systems, from 1883 onwards. This approach was typified by those of Eichler and Engler, the advent of molecular genetics and statistical methodology allowed the creation of the modern era of phylogenetic systems based on cladistics, rather than morphology alone. Taxonomy has been called the worlds oldest profession, and naming and classifying our surroundings has likely been taking place as long as mankind has been able to communicate
6.
Animal
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Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia. The animal kingdom emerged as a clade within Apoikozoa as the group to the choanoflagellates. Animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and independently at some point in their lives and their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later in their lives. All animals are heterotrophs, they must ingest other organisms or their products for sustenance, most known animal phyla appeared in the fossil record as marine species during the Cambrian explosion, about 542 million years ago. Animals can be divided broadly into vertebrates and invertebrates, vertebrates have a backbone or spine, and amount to less than five percent of all described animal species. They include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, the remaining animals are the invertebrates, which lack a backbone. These include molluscs, arthropods, annelids, nematodes, flatworms, cnidarians, ctenophores, the study of animals is called zoology. The word animal comes from the Latin animalis, meaning having breath, the biological definition of the word refers to all members of the kingdom Animalia, encompassing creatures as diverse as sponges, jellyfish, insects, and humans. Aristotle divided the world between animals and plants, and this was followed by Carl Linnaeus, in the first hierarchical classification. In Linnaeuss original scheme, the animals were one of three kingdoms, divided into the classes of Vermes, Insecta, Pisces, Amphibia, Aves, and Mammalia. Since then the last four have all been subsumed into a single phylum, in 1874, Ernst Haeckel divided the animal kingdom into two subkingdoms, Metazoa and Protozoa. The protozoa were later moved to the kingdom Protista, leaving only the metazoa, thus Metazoa is now considered a synonym of Animalia. Animals have several characteristics that set apart from other living things. Animals are eukaryotic and multicellular, which separates them from bacteria and they are heterotrophic, generally digesting food in an internal chamber, which separates them from plants and algae. They are also distinguished from plants, algae, and fungi by lacking cell walls. All animals are motile, if only at life stages. In most animals, embryos pass through a stage, which is a characteristic exclusive to animals. With a few exceptions, most notably the sponges and Placozoa and these include muscles, which are able to contract and control locomotion, and nerve tissues, which send and process signals
7.
Chordate
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Chordates are deuterostomes, as during the embryo development stage the anus forms before the mouth. They are also bilaterally symmetric coelomates, in the case of vertebrate chordates, the notochord is usually replaced by a vertebral column during development, and they may have body plans organized via segmentation. There are also additional extinct taxa, the Vertebrata are sometimes considered as a subgroup of the clade Craniata, consisting of chordates with a skull, the Craniata and Tunicata compose the clade Olfactores. Of the more than 65,000 living species of chordates, the worlds largest and fastest animals, the blue whale and peregrine falcon respectively, are chordates, as are humans. Fossil chordates are known from at least as early as the Cambrian explosion, Hemichordata, which includes the acorn worms, has been presented as a fourth chordate subphylum, but it now is usually treated as a separate phylum. The Hemichordata, along with the Echinodermata, form the Ambulacraria, the Chordata and Ambulacraria form the superphylum Deuterostomia, composed of the deuterostomes. Attempts to work out the relationships of the chordates have produced several hypotheses. All of the earliest chordate fossils have found in the Early Cambrian Chengjiang fauna. Because the fossil record of early chordates is poor, only molecular phylogenetics offers a prospect of dating their emergence. However, the use of molecular phylogenetics for dating evolutionary transitions is controversial and it has also proved difficult to produce a detailed classification within the living chordates. Attempts to produce family trees shows that many of the traditional classes are paraphyletic. While this has been known since the 19th century, an insistence on only monophyletic taxa has resulted in vertebrate classification being in a state of flux. Although the name Chordata is attributed to William Bateson, it was already in prevalent use by 1880, ernst Haeckel described a taxon comprising tunicates, cephalochordates, and vertebrates in 1866. Though he used the German vernacular form, it is allowed under the ICZN code because of its subsequent latinization, among the vertebrate sub-group of chordates the notochord develops into the spine, and in wholly aquatic species this helps the animal to swim by flexing its tail. In fish and other vertebrates, this develops into the spinal cord, the pharynx is the part of the throat immediately behind the mouth. In fish, the slits are modified to form gills, a muscular tail that extends backwards behind the anus. This is a groove in the wall of the pharynx. In filter-feeding species it produces mucus to gather food particles, which helps in transporting food to the esophagus and it also stores iodine, and may be a precursor of the vertebrate thyroid gland
8.
Mammal
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Mammals are any vertebrates within the class Mammalia, a clade of endothermic amniotes distinguished from reptiles by the possession of a neocortex, hair, three middle ear bones and mammary glands. All female mammals nurse their young with milk, secreted from the mammary glands, Mammals include the largest animals on the planet, the great whales. The basic body type is a quadruped, but some mammals are adapted for life at sea, in the air, in trees. The largest group of mammals, the placentals, have a placenta, Mammals range in size from the 30–40 mm bumblebee bat to the 30-meter blue whale. With the exception of the five species of monotreme, all modern mammals give birth to live young, most mammals, including the six most species-rich orders, belong to the placental group. The largest orders are the rodents, bats and Soricomorpha, the next three biggest orders, depending on the biological classification scheme used, are the Primates, the Cetartiodactyla, and the Carnivora. Living mammals are divided into the Yinotheria and Theriiformes There are around 5450 species of mammal, in some classifications, extant mammals are divided into two subclasses, the Prototheria, that is, the order Monotremata, and the Theria, or the infraclasses Metatheria and Eutheria. The marsupials constitute the group of the Metatheria, and include all living metatherians as well as many extinct ones. Much of the changes reflect the advances of cladistic analysis and molecular genetics, findings from molecular genetics, for example, have prompted adopting new groups, such as the Afrotheria, and abandoning traditional groups, such as the Insectivora. The mammals represent the only living Synapsida, which together with the Sauropsida form the Amniota clade, the early synapsid mammalian ancestors were sphenacodont pelycosaurs, a group that produced the non-mammalian Dimetrodon. At the end of the Carboniferous period, this group diverged from the line that led to todays reptiles. Some mammals are intelligent, with some possessing large brains, self-awareness, Mammals can communicate and vocalize in several different ways, including the production of ultrasound, scent-marking, alarm signals, singing, and echolocation. Mammals can organize themselves into fission-fusion societies, harems, and hierarchies, most mammals are polygynous, but some can be monogamous or polyandrous. They provided, and continue to provide, power for transport and agriculture, as well as commodities such as meat, dairy products, wool. Mammals are hunted or raced for sport, and are used as model organisms in science, Mammals have been depicted in art since Palaeolithic times, and appear in literature, film, mythology, and religion. Defaunation of mammals is primarily driven by anthropogenic factors, such as poaching and habitat destruction, Mammal classification has been through several iterations since Carl Linnaeus initially defined the class. No classification system is accepted, McKenna & Bell and Wilson & Reader provide useful recent compendiums. Though field work gradually made Simpsons classification outdated, it remains the closest thing to a classification of mammals
9.
Even-toed ungulate
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The even-toed ungulates are ungulates whose weight is borne equally by the third and fourth toes. By contrast, odd-toed ungulates, such as horses, bear their weight primarily on their third toe, the aquatic cetaceans evolved from within even-toed ungulates, and therefore modern taxonomic classification sometimes combines Artiodactyla and Cetacea into Cetartiodactyla. The oldest fossils of even-toed ungulates date back to the early Eocene, since these findings almost simultaneously appeared in Europe, Asia, and North America, it is very difficult to accurately determine the origin of artiodactyls. The fossils are classified as belonging to the family Dichobunidae, their best-known and these were small animals, some as small as a hare, with a slim build, lanky legs, and a long tail. The hind legs were longer than the front legs. The early to middle Eocene saw the emergence of the ancestors of most of todays mammals, two formerly widespread, but now extinct, families of even-toed ungulates were Enteledontidae and Anthracotheriidae. Entelodonts existed from the middle Eocene to the early Miocene in Eurasia and they had a stocky body with short legs and a massive head, which was characterized by two humps on the lower jaw bone. Anthracotheres had a large, porcine build, with short legs and this group appeared in the middle Eocene up until the Pliocene, and spread throughout Eurasia, Africa, and North America. Anthracothereres are thought to be the ancestors of hippos, and, likewise, hippopotamuses appeared in the late Miocene and occupied Africa and Asia – they never got to the Americas. The camels were, during parts of the Cenozoic, limited to North America. Among the North American camels were groups like the stocky, short-legged Merycoidodontidae and they first appeared in the late Eocene and developed a great diversity of species in North America. Only in the late Miocene or early Pliocene did they migrate from North America into Eurasia, the North American varieties became extinct around 10,000 years ago. Suina have been around since the Eocene, in the late Eocene or the Oligocene, two families stayed in Eurasia and Africa, the peccaries, which became extinct in the Old World, exist today only in the Americas. South America was settled by even-toed ungulates only in the Pliocene, with only the peccaries, lamoids, and various species of capreoline deer, South America has comparatively fewer artiodactyl families than other continents. The classification of artiodactyls was hotly debated because the ocean-dwelling cetaceans evolved from the land-dwelling even-toed ungulates, some semiaquatic even-toed ungulates are more closely related to the ocean-dwelling cetaceans than to the other even-toed ungulates. This makes the Artiodactyla as traditionally defined an invalid paraphyletic taxon, since it includes animals descended from a common ancestor, phylogenetic classification only recognizes monophyletic taxa, that is, groups that descend from a common ancestor and include all its descendants. To address this problem, the traditional order Artiodactyla and infraorder Cetacea are sometimes subsumed into the more inclusive Cetartiodactyla taxon, an alternative approach is to include both land-land dwelling even toed ungulates and ocean-dwelling cetaceans in a revised Artiodactyla taxon. Order Artiodactyla/Clade CetartiodactylaSuborder Tylopoda Family †Anoplotheriidae, molecular biology involves sequencing an organisms DNA and RNA and comparing the sequence with that of other living beings – the more similar they are, the more closely they are related
10.
Bovidae
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The Bovidae are the biological family of cloven-hoofed, ruminant mammals that includes bison, African buffalo, water buffalo, antelopes, gazelles, sheep, goats, muskoxen, and domestic cattle. A member of family is called a bovid. With 143 extant species and 300 known extinct species, the family Bovidae consists of eight major subfamilies apart from the disputed Peleinae and Pantholopinae, the family evolved 20 million years ago, in the early Miocene. The bovids show great variation in size and pelage colouration, excepting some domesticated forms, all male bovids have two or more horns, and in many species females possess horns, too. Most bovids bear 30 to 32 teeth, social activity and feeding usually peak during dawn and dusk. Bovids typically rest before dawn, during midday, and after dark and they have various methods of social organisation and social behaviour, which are classified into solitary and gregarious behaviour. Bovids use different forms of vocal, olfactory, and tangible communication, most species alternately feed and ruminate throughout the day. While small bovids forage in dense and closed habitat, larger species feed on vegetation in open grasslands. Mature bovids mate at least once a year and smaller species may even mate twice, the greatest diversities of bovids occur in Africa. The maximum concentration of species is in the savannas of eastern Africa, other bovid species also occur in Europe, Asia, and North America. Bovidae includes three of the five domesticated mammals whose use has spread outside their original ranges, namely cattle, sheep, dairy products such as milk, butter, and cheese are manufactured largely from domestic cattle. Bovids also provide leather, meat, and wool, the name Bovidae was given by the British zoologist John Edward Gray in 1821. The word Bovidae is the combination of the prefix bov- and the suffix -idae, the family Bovidae is placed in the order Artiodactyla. It includes 143 extant species, accounting for nearly 55% of the ungulates, molecular studies have supported monophyly in the family Bovidae. The number of subfamilies in Bovidae is disputed, with suggestions of as many as ten, in addition, three extinct subfamilies are known, Hypsodontinae, Oiocerinae and the subfamily Tethytraginae, which contains Tethytragus. In 1992, Alan W. Boodonts have somewhat primitive teeth, resembling those of oxen, a controversy exists about the recognition of Peleinae and Patholopinae, comprising the genera Pelea and Pantholops respectively, as subfamilies. Pantholops, earlier classified in the Antilopinae, was placed in its own subfamily. However, molecular and morphological analysis supports the inclusion of Pantholops in Caprinae, below is a cladogram based on Gatesy et al. and Gentry et al
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Caprinae
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Subfamily Caprinae is part of the ruminant family Bovidae, consisting of mostly medium-sized bovids. A member of this subfamily is called a caprine, within this subfamily Caprinae, a prominent tribe Caprini includes sheep, goat, and ibex. Some earlier taxonomies considered Caprinae a separate family called Capridae, but now it is considered a subfamily within the Bovidae family. The European mouflon is thought to be the ancestor of the domestic sheep. Many species have become extinct since the last ice age, probably largely because of human interaction, of the survivors, Five are classified as endangered, Eight as vulnerable, Seven as of concern and needing conservation measures, but at lower risk, and Seven species are secure. Members of the group vary considerably in size, from just over 1 m long for a full-grown grey goral, to almost 2.5 m long for a musk ox, musk oxen in captivity have reached over 650 kg. The resource-defenders are the primitive group, they tend to be smaller in size, dark in colour, males and females fairly alike, have long, tassellated ears, long manes. They tend to be larger, highly social, and rather than mark territory with scent glands, no sharp line divides the groups, but a continuum varies from the serows at one end of the spectrum to sheep, true goats, and musk oxen at the other. The goat-antelope, or caprid, group is known from as early as the Miocene, when members of the group resembled the modern serow in their general body form
12.
Capra (genus)
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Capra is a genus of mammals, the goats or wild goats, composed of up to nine species, including the wild goat, the markhor, and several species known as ibex. The domestic goat is a subspecies of the wild goat. Evidence of goat domestication dates back more than 8,500 years, wild goats are animals of mountain habitats. They are very agile and hardy, able to climb on bare rock, the Rocky Mountain goat is in a separate genus, Oreamnos. All members of the Capra genus are bovids, and more specifically caprids, as such they are ruminants, meaning they chew the cud, and have four-chambered stomachs which play a vital role in digesting, regurgitating, and redigesting their food. The genus has sometimes taken to include Ovis and Ammotragus. In this smaller genus, some authors have recognized two species, the markhor on one side and all other forms included in one species on the other side. Recent studies based on mitochondrial DNA suggest that the Siberian ibex and the Nubian ibex represent distinct species, the Alpine ibex forms a group with the Spanish ibex. The West Caucasian tur appears to be closely related to the wild goat than to the East Caucasian tur. The markhor is relatively separated from other forms—previously it had been considered to be a separate branch of the genus. Almost all wild species are allopatric —the only geographical overlaps are the wild goat with the East Caucasian tur. In both cases, the species do not usually interbreed in the wild, but in captivity, all Capra species can interbreed. Along with sheep, goats were among the first domesticated animals, the domestication process started at least 10,000 years ago in what is now northern Iran. Easy human access to hair, meat, and milk were the primary motivations. Goat skins were used until the Middle Ages for water and wine bottles when traveling and camping. Evidence of the ibex is widely present in the record, particularly in the Near East. Ibex motifs are common on cylinder seals and pottery, both painted and embossed. Excavations from Minoan Crete at Knossos, for example, have yielded specimens from about 1800 BC, from the similar age a gold jewelry ibex image was found at the Akrotiri archaeological site on Santorini in present-day Greece
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Binomial nomenclature
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Such a name is called a binomial name, a binomen, binominal name or a scientific name, more informally it is also called a Latin name. The first part of the name identifies the genus to which the species belongs, for example, humans belong to the genus Homo and within this genus to the species Homo sapiens. The formal introduction of system of naming species is credited to Carl Linnaeus. But Gaspard Bauhin, in as early as 1623, had introduced in his book Pinax theatri botanici many names of genera that were adopted by Linnaeus. Although the general principles underlying binomial nomenclature are common to these two codes, there are differences, both in the terminology they use and in their precise rules. Similarly, both parts are italicized when a binomial name occurs in normal text, thus the binomial name of the annual phlox is now written as Phlox drummondii. In scientific works, the authority for a name is usually given, at least when it is first mentioned. In zoology Patella vulgata Linnaeus,1758, the original name given by Linnaeus was Fringilla domestica, the parentheses indicate that the species is now considered to belong in a different genus. The ICZN does not require that the name of the person who changed the genus be given, nor the date on which the change was made, in botany Amaranthus retroflexus L. – L. is the standard abbreviation used in botany for Linnaeus. – Linnaeus first named this bluebell species Scilla italica, Rothmaler transferred it to the genus Hyacinthoides, the ICN does not require that the dates of either publication be specified. Prior to the adoption of the binomial system of naming species. Together they formed a system of polynomial nomenclature and these names had two separate functions. First, to designate or label the species, and second, to be a diagnosis or description, such polynomial names may sometimes look like binomials, but are significantly different. For example, Gerards herbal describes various kinds of spiderwort, The first is called Phalangium ramosum, Branched Spiderwort, is aptly termed Phalangium Ephemerum Virginianum, Soon-Fading Spiderwort of Virginia. The Latin phrases are short descriptions, rather than identifying labels, the Bauhins, in particular Caspar Bauhin, took some important steps towards the binomial system, by pruning the Latin descriptions, in many cases to two words. The adoption by biologists of a system of binomial nomenclature is due to Swedish botanist and physician Carl von Linné. It was in his 1753 Species Plantarum that he first began using a one-word trivial name together with a generic name in a system of binomial nomenclature. This trivial name is what is now known as an epithet or specific name
14.
Carl Linnaeus
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Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linné, was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who formalised the modern system of naming organisms called binomial nomenclature. He is known by the father of modern taxonomy. Many of his writings were in Latin, and his name is rendered in Latin as Carolus Linnæus, Linnaeus was born in the countryside of Småland, in southern Sweden. He received most of his education at Uppsala University. He lived abroad between 1735 and 1738, where he studied and also published a first edition of his Systema Naturae in the Netherlands and he then returned to Sweden, where he became professor of medicine and botany at Uppsala. In the 1740s, he was sent on journeys through Sweden to find and classify plants. In the 1750s and 1760s, he continued to collect and classify animals, plants, and minerals, at the time of his death, he was one of the most acclaimed scientists in Europe. The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau sent him the message, Tell him I know no man on earth. The German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote, With the exception of Shakespeare and Spinoza, Swedish author August Strindberg wrote, Linnaeus was in reality a poet who happened to become a naturalist. Among other compliments, Linnaeus has been called Princeps botanicorum, The Pliny of the North and he is also considered as one of the founders of modern ecology. In botany, the abbreviation used to indicate Linnaeus as the authority for species names is L. In older publications, sometimes the abbreviation Linn. is found, Linnæus was born in the village of Råshult in Småland, Sweden, on 23 May 1707. He was the first child of Nicolaus Ingemarsson and Christina Brodersonia and his siblings were Anna Maria Linnæa, Sofia Juliana Linnæa, Samuel Linnæus, and Emerentia Linnæa. One of a line of peasants and priests, Nils was an amateur botanist, a Lutheran minister. Christina was the daughter of the rector of Stenbrohult, Samuel Brodersonius, a year after Linnæus birth, his grandfather Samuel Brodersonius died, and his father Nils became the rector of Stenbrohult. The family moved into the rectory from the curates house, even in his early years, Linnæus seemed to have a liking for plants, flowers in particular. Whenever he was upset, he was given a flower, which calmed him. Nils spent much time in his garden and often showed flowers to Linnaeus, soon Linnæus was given his own patch of earth where he could grow plants
15.
10th edition of Systema Naturae
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The 10th edition of Systema Naturae is a book written by Carl Linnaeus and published in two volumes in 1758 and 1759, which marks the starting point of zoological nomenclature. In it, Linnaeus introduced binomial nomenclature for animals, something he had already done for plants in his 1753 publication of Species Plantarum, before 1758, most biological catalogues had used polynomial names for the taxa included, including earlier editions of Systema Naturae. The first work to consistently apply binomial nomenclature across the kingdom was the 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Names published before that date are unavailable, even if they would otherwise satisfy the rules, during Linnaeus lifetime, Systema Naturae was under continuous revision. The Animal Kingdom, Animals enjoy sensation by means of an organization, animated by a medullary substance, perception by nerves. They have members for the different purposes of life, organs for their different senses and they all originate from an egg. Their external and internal structure, their anatomy, habits, instincts. The list has been broken down into the six classes Linnaeus described for animals, Mammalia, Aves, Amphibia, Pisces, Insecta. These classes were created by studying the internal anatomy, as seen in his key. Warm, red blood Viviparous, Mammalia Oviparous, Aves Heart with 1 auricle,1 ventricle, cold, red blood Lungs voluntary, Amphibia External gills, Pisces Heart with 1 auricle,0 ventricles. Linnaeus described mammals as, Animals that suckle their young by means of lactiferous teats, in external and internal structure they resemble man, most of them are quadrupeds, and with man, their natural enemy, inhabit the surface of the Earth. The largest, though fewest in number, inhabit the ocean and they are areal, vocal, swift and light, and destitute of external ears, lips, teeth, scrotum, womb, bladder, epiglottis, corpus callosum and its arch, and diaphragm. They breathe by means of gills, which are united by a bony arch, swim by means of radiate fins. Many of them are without a head, and most of them without feet. They are principally distinguished by their tentacles, by the Ancients they were not improperly called imperfect animals, as being destitute of ears, nose, head, eyes and legs, and are therefore totally distinct from Insects. In addition to repeating the species he had listed in his Species Plantarum. The species from Species Plantarum were numbered sequentially, while the new species were labelled with letters, new plant species described in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae include, The original 1758 Systema Naturae Linnaeus 1758 Classification of Animals on the Taxonomicon
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Mountain
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A mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area, usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is steeper than a hill. Mountains are formed through tectonic forces or volcanism and these forces can locally raise the surface of the earth. Mountains erode slowly through the action of rivers, weather conditions, a few mountains are isolated summits, but most occur in huge mountain ranges. High elevations on mountains produce colder climates than at sea level and these colder climates strongly affect the ecosystems of mountains, different elevations have different plants and animals. Because of the less hospitable terrain and climate, mountains tend to be used less for agriculture and more for resource extraction and recreation, the highest mountain on Earth is Mount Everest in the Himalayas of Asia, whose summit is 8,850 m above mean sea level. The highest known mountain on any planet in the Solar System is Olympus Mons on Mars at 21,171 m, there is no universally accepted definition of a mountain. Elevation, volume, relief, steepness, spacing and continuity have been used as criteria for defining a mountain, whether a landform is called a mountain may depend on local usage. The highest point in San Francisco, California, is called Mount Davidson, notwithstanding its height of 300 m, similarly, Mount Scott outside Lawton, Oklahoma is only 251 m from its base to its highest point. Whittows Dictionary of Physical Geography states Some authorities regard eminences above 600 metres as mountains, in addition, some definitions also include a topographical prominence requirement, typically 100 or 500 feet. For a while, the US defined a mountain as being 1,000 feet or taller, any similar landform lower than this height was considered a hill. However, today, the United States Geological Survey concludes that these terms do not have technical definitions in the US, using these definitions, mountains cover 33% of Eurasia, 19% of South America, 24% of North America, and 14% of Africa. As a whole, 24% of the Earths land mass is mountainous, there are three main types of mountains, volcanic, fold, and block. All three types are formed from plate tectonics, when portions of the Earths crust move, crumple, compressional forces, isostatic uplift and intrusion of igneous matter forces surface rock upward, creating a landform higher than the surrounding features. The height of the feature makes it either a hill or, if higher and steeper, major mountains tend to occur in long linear arcs, indicating tectonic plate boundaries and activity. Volcanoes are formed when a plate is pushed below another plate, at a depth of around 100 km, melting occurs in rock above the slab, and forms magma that reaches the surface. When the magma reaches the surface, it builds a volcanic mountain. Examples of volcanoes include Mount Fuji in Japan and Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, the magma does not have to reach the surface in order to create a mountain, magma that solidifies below ground can still form dome mountains, such as Navajo Mountain in the US
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Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
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Alps
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The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc, Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,810 m is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains about a hundred peaks higher than 4000 metres, the altitude and size of the range affects the climate in Europe, in the mountains precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m. Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era, a mummified man, determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991. By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established, Hannibal famously crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800 Napoleon crossed one of the passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, in World War II, Adolf Hitler kept a base of operation in the Bavarian Alps throughout the war. The Alpine region has a cultural identity. The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, at present, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors. The English word Alps derives from the Latin Alpes, maurus Servius Honoratus, an ancient commentator of Virgil, says in his commentary that all high mountains are called Alpes by Celts. The term may be common to Italo-Celtic, because the Celtic languages have terms for high mountains derived from alp and this may be consistent with the theory that in Greek Alpes is a name of non-Indo-European origin. According to the Old English Dictionary, the Latin Alpes might possibly derive from a pre-Indo-European word *alb hill, Albania, a name not native to the region known as the country of Albania, has been used as a name for a number of mountainous areas across Europe. In Roman times, Albania was a name for the eastern Caucasus, in modern languages the term alp, alm, albe or alpe refers to a grazing pastures in the alpine regions below the glaciers, not the peaks. An alp refers to a mountain pasture where cows are taken to be grazed during the summer months and where hay barns can be found. The Alps are a crescent shaped geographic feature of central Europe that ranges in a 800 km arc from east to west and is 200 km in width, the mean height of the mountain peaks is 2.5 km. The range stretches from the Mediterranean Sea north above the Po basin, extending through France from Grenoble, the range continues onward toward Vienna, Austria, and east to the Adriatic Sea and Slovenia. To the south it dips into northern Italy and to the north extends to the border of Bavaria in Germany
19.
Snow line
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The climatic snow line is the point above which snow and ice cover the ground throughout the year. The actual snow line may seasonally be significantly lower, the interplay of altitude and latitude affects the precise placement of the snow line at a particular location. At or near the equator, it is situated at approximately 4,500 meters above sea level. In addition, the location to the nearest coastline can influence the altitude of the snow line. A higher altitude is necessary to lower the temperature further against the surroundings. Furthermore, large-scale oceanic currents such as the North Atlantic Current can have significant affects over large areas, the highest mountain in the world below the snow line is Ojos del Salado. Compare the usage of snow line indicating the boundary between snow and non-snow, Frost line Frost line Glacier High Alps Ice cap climate Tree line Charlesworth J. K. With special reference to its glaciation, vol. I, london, Edward Arnold Ltd,700 pp. Flint, R. F. New York, xiii+553+555 pp. Kalesnik, S. V, uchpedgiz, Leningrad,328 pp. Tronov, M. V. Voprosy svyazi mezhdu klimatom i oledeneniem, izdatelstvo Tomskogo Universiteta, Tomsk,202 pp. Wilhelm, F. Schnee- und Gletscherkunde, De Gruyter, Berlin,414 pp
20.
Agonistic behaviour
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Agonistic behaviour is any social behaviour related to fighting. The term has broader meaning than aggressive behaviour because it includes threats, displays, retreats, placation, the term was coined by Scott and Fredericson in 1951. Agonistic behaviour is seen in animal species because resources including food, shelter. Some forms of behaviour are between contestants who are competing for access to the same resources, such as food or mates. Although agonistic behaviour varies among species, agonistic interaction consists of three kinds of behaviours, threat, aggression, and submission and these three behaviours are functionally and physiologically interrelated with aggressive behaviour yet fall outside the narrow definition of aggressive behaviour. While any one of these divisions of behaviours may be alone in an interaction between two animals, they normally occur in sequence from start to end. The type of agonistic behaviour observed, whether it be aggressive or submissive, for instance, size is usually a good predictor of fighting success, and many animals will display to flaunt their size. Animals are better able to assess their next form of action by judging the opponents size. In aggressive behaviour by male stalk-eyed flies the males square off by displaying their eyes, females show a strong preference for mating with males with longer eyestalks. Due to the preference, males have evolved to compete with each other for mating rights. In the threat display the two face each other head-to-head, with their forelegs spread outward and parallel to the eyestalks. This behaviour allows each individual to judge the distance between its competitors eyes, eyestalk length increases with body size, and males with shorter eyestalks will usually retreat. A further distance between the eyes conveys a bigger size, and a better chance of winning. Physical fighting is actually rare between animals and it would seem that normally the more aggressive an animal is, the more it has to gain. However, in a normal scenario if an animal is too aggressive it might face a high cost such as severe injury or death. Unless an animal has an indication that they will win without injury, or the resources are valuable enough for the risk of death. An animal must weigh the costs and benefits of fighting. If the costs are too high, avoiding a fight is preferable, for animals, display is any behaviour modified by evolution that is used to convey information
21.
Local extinction
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Local extinction, or extirpation, is the condition of a species that ceases to exist in the chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinctions, local extinctions may be followed by a replacement of the species taken from other locations, wolf reintroduction is an example of this. Local extinctions mark a change in the ecology of an area, the area of study chosen may reflect a natural subpopula, political boundaries, or both. The Cetacean Specialist Group of the IUCN has assessed the threat of an extinction of the Black Sea stock of Harbour Porpoise that touches six different countries. COSEWIC, by contrast, investigates wildlife only in Canada, so only the risk of a Canadian local extinction even for species that cross into the United States or other countries. Other subpopulations may be divided by political or country boundaries. Many crocodilian species have experienced localized extinction, particularly the saltwater crocodile, which has been extirpated from Vietnam, Thailand, Java, often a subpopulation of a species will also be a subspecies. However, similar studies are not carried out where a population is at risk. In all,119 stocks or subpopulations across 69 species have been assessed by the IUCN in 2006, no plant or fungi subpopulations have been assessed by the IUCN. Major environmental events, such as volcanic eruptions, may lead to large numbers of local extinctions, such as with the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption, extinction List of extinct animals Threatened species Genocide
22.
Gran Paradiso National Park
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Gran Paradiso National Park is an Italian national park in the Graian Alps, between the Aosta Valley and Piedmont regions. The park is named after Gran Paradiso mountain, which is located in the park, in the early 19th century, due to hunting, the Alpine ibex only survived in the Gran Paradiso area. Approximately 60 individual ibex survived, here, due to the alarming decrease in the ibex population, Victor Emmanuel, soon to be King of Italy, declared the Royal Hunting Reserve of the Gran Paradiso in 1856. A protective guard was created for the ibex, paths laid out for the ibex are still used today as part of 724 kilometres of marked trails and mule tracks. In 1920 Victor Emmanuel IIs grandson King Victor Emmanuel III donated the parks original 21 square kilometres, and it was Italys first national park. There were approximately 4,000 ibex in the park when it was protected, despite the presence of the park, ibex were poached until 1945, when only 419 remained. Their protection increased, and there are now almost 4,000 in the park, the park is located in the Graian Alps in the regions of Piedmont and Aosta Valley in north-west Italy. It encompasses 703 square kilometres of alpine terrain, 10% of the parks surface area is wooded. 16. 5% is used for agriculture and pasture, 24% is uncultivated,9. 5% of the parks surface area is occupied by 57 glaciers. The parks mountains and valleys were sculpted by glaciers and streams, altitudes in the park range from 800-4,061 metres, with an average altitude of 2,000 metres. Valley floors in the park are forested, there are alpine meadows at higher altitudes. There are rocks and glaciers at altitudes higher than the meadows, Gran Paradiso is the only mountain entirely within the boundaries of Italy that is over 4,000 metres high. Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn can be seen from its summit, in 1860, John Cowell became the first person to reach the summit. To the west, the park shares a boundary with Frances Vanoise National Park, combined, the two parks form the largest protected area in Western Europe. They co-operate in managing the population, which moves across their shared boundary seasonally. The parks woods are important because they provide shelter for a number of animals. They are a defence against landslides, avalanches, and flooding. The two main types of woods found in the park are coniferous and deciduous woods, the deciduous European beech forests are common on the Piedmont side of the park, and are not found on the dryer Valle dAosta side
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Aosta Valley
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The Aosta Valley is a mountainous semi-autonomous region in northwestern Italy. It is bordered by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France to the west, Valais, Switzerland to the north, covering an area of 3,263 km2 and with a population of about 128,000 it is the smallest, least populous, and least densely populated region of Italy. It is the only Italian region that is not sub-divided into provinces, provincial administrative functions are provided by the regional government. The region is divided into 74 comuni, the Aosta Valley is an Alpine valley which with its tributary valleys includes the Italian slopes of Mont Blanc, Monte Rosa, Gran Paradiso and the Matterhorn, its highest peak is Mont Blanc. The region is cold in the winter, especially when compared with other places in the Western Alps. Winter temperatures average around −3 °C or −4 °C, and summers between 13 °C and 15 °C, the snow season starts in November and lasts until March. Mist is common during the morning from April until October, the main communities in this area are Gressoney-Saint-Jean, Brusson and Gressoney-La-Trinité. The valleys above 1600 metres usually have a Cold Continental Climate, in this climate the snow season is very long, as long as 8 or 9 months at the highest points. During the summer, mist occurs almost every day and these areas are the wettest in the western Alps. Temperatures are low, between −7 °C and −3 °C in January, and in July between 10 °C and 13 °C. In this area is the town of Rhêmes-Notre-Dame. which may be the coldest town in the Western Alps, areas between 2000 metres and 3500 metres usually have a Tundra Climate, where every month has an average temperature below 10 °C. Temperature averages in Pian Rosà, at 3400 metres high, are −11.6 °C in January and 1.4 °C in July and it is the coldest place in Italy where the climate is verifiable. In the past, above 3500 metres, all months were having a temperature below freezing. In recent years there was a rise in temperatures. See as an example the data for Pian Rosà, the first inhabitants of the Aosta Valley were Celts and Ligures, whose language heritage remains in some local placenames. Thus, the name Valle dAosta literally means Valley of Augustus, saint Anselm of Canterbury was born in Aosta in 1033 or 1034. In the mid-13th century Emperor Frederick II made the County of Aosta a duchy, the region remained part of Savoy lands, with the exceptions of French occupations from 1539 to 1563, later in 1691, then between 1704 and 1706. As part of the Kingdom of Sardinia it joined the new Kingdom of Italy in 1861 and it was also ruled by the First French Empire between 1800 and 1814
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Maurienne
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Maurienne is one of the provinces of Savoy, corresponding to the arrondissement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in France. It is also the name of the capital of the province. The Maurienne valley is one of the transverse valleys of the Alps. The river which has shaped the valley since the last glaciation is the Arc, the valley begins at the village of Écot, at the foot of the Col de lIseran, and ends at the confluence of the Arc and the Isère in the commune of Aiton. The mountains on the side are the Dauphiné Alps and the Cottian Alps. On the northern side are the part of the Graian Alps known as the Vanoise, the capital, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, lies at the confluence of the Arc and the Arvan River. Part of the road and rail route between Lyon and Turin runs through the valley. Numerous ski resorts line the valley, from the villages like Albiez-Montrond to the purpose-built resorts, dating from the 1970s like Le Corbier. The Vanoise National Park and its surroundings are a major tourist attraction. Alpine ibex, grey wolves, lynx, royal eagles or vultures are among the rare species that live in the numerous valleys of Maurienne. The region has numerous traces of habitation since the Paleolithic. In 1032, Humbert the White-Handed received the Maurienne, his land, from Conrad II the Salian whom he had helped in his Italian campaigns against Aribert. The House of Savoy maintained their independence as counts and then dukes until Savoy was linked with the Kingdom of Sardinia, which included Piedmont in north-western Italy. In the Maurienne are a series of five forts, La Barrière de lEsseillon, the Maurienne was not incorporated into France until 1860, as part of the political agreement with Napoleon III that brought about the unification of Italy. Despite this, the Maurienne and the Tarantaise valleys are classified as French towns and lands of Art and it lies along the Italian border around 45 km near Mont Cenis. The principal town is Modane, an old town, at the mouth of the Fréjus Road Tunnel. Much of the Haute-Maurienne is included in the Vanoise National Park and this borders the Gran Paradiso National Park of Italy. The two parks are important areas for ibexes, chamois, and golden eagles, the lammergeier was recently reintroduced into the area and it appears that wolves have reached the region within the past five years
25.
Vanoise National Park
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Vanoise National Park, is a French national park between the Tarentaise and Maurienne valleys in the French Alps, containing the Vanoise massif. It was created in 1963, and is the first French national park, the Vanoise National Park is in the département of Savoie. Small villages like Champagny-le-Haut, Termignon, La Chiserette, Bramans, Sollières-Sardières, Friburge, Pralognan-la-Vanoise and Séez, the park is bordered by several large French ski resorts. On the Italian side of the border, the park is continued by the Gran Paradiso National Park, together, these two parks cover over 1250 km², making the area the largest alpine national park. The park is known for its population of Alpine ibex, bouquetin in French. The alpine chamois, like the ibex, spend most of the year above the tree line and they descend the snow line in early spring and late fall to enjoy the grass uncovered by the ice and snow. Alpine marmot, wolf, Eurasian lynx, mountain hare, Eurasian badger, ermine, there are more than 100 bird species in the protected area. Birds of prey include bearded vulture, golden eagle and Eurasian eagle-owl, other birds found in the park are black woodpeckers, rock ptarmigans, Alpine accentors, nutcrackers, choughs and black grouses. The wallcreeper is found on steep cliffs especially for nesting, Vanoise Massif Official website of the Vanoise National Park
26.
IUCN
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The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, lobbying. IUCNs mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of resources is equitable. Over the past decades, IUCN has widened its focus beyond conservation ecology and now incorporates issues related to equality, poverty alleviation. Unlike other international NGOs, IUCN does not itself aim to mobilize the public in support of nature conservation and it tries to influence the actions of governments, business and other stakeholders by providing information and advice, and through lobbying and partnerships. The organization is best known to the public for compiling and publishing the IUCN Red List. IUCN has a membership of over 1200 governmental and non-governmental organizations, some 11,000 scientists and experts participate in the work of IUCN commissions on a voluntary basis. It employs approximately 1000 full-time staff in more than 60 countries and its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland. IUCN has observer and consultative status at the United Nations, and plays a role in the implementation of several conventions on nature conservation. It was involved in establishing the World Wide Fund for Nature, in the past, IUCN has been criticized for placing the interests of nature over those of indigenous peoples. In recent years, its relations with the business sector have caused controversy. It was previously called the International Union for Protection of Nature, establishment In 1947, the Swiss League for the Protection of Nature organised an international conference on the protection of nature in Brunnen. It is considered to be the first government-organized non-governmental organization, the initiative to set up the new organisation came from UNESCO and especially from its first Director General, the British biologist Julian Huxley. At the time of its founding IUPN was the international organisation focusing on the entire spectrum of nature conservation Early years. Its secretariat was located in Brussels and its first work program focused on saving species and habitats, increasing and applying knowledge, advancing education, promoting international agreements and promoting conservation. Providing a solid base for conservation action was the heart of all activities. IUPN and UNESCO were closely associated and they jointly organized the 1949 Conference on Protection of Nature. In preparation for this conference a list of endangered species was drawn up for the first time
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Genus
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A genus is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms in biology. In the hierarchy of classification, genus comes above species. In binomial nomenclature, the name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus. Felis catus and Felis silvestris are two species within the genus Felis, Felis is a genus within the family Felidae. The composition of a genus is determined by a taxonomist, the standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. Moreover, genera should be composed of units of the same kind as other genera. The term comes from the Latin genus, a noun form cognate with gignere, linnaeus popularized its use in his 1753 Species Plantarum, but the French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort is considered the founder of the modern concept of genera. The scientific name of a genus may be called the name or generic epithet. It plays a role in binomial nomenclature, the system of naming organisms. The rules for the names of organisms are laid down in the Nomenclature Codes. The standard way of scientifically describing species and other lower-ranked taxa is by binomial nomenclature, the generic name forms its first half. For example, the gray wolfs binomial name is Canis lupus, with Canis being the name shared by the wolfs close relatives. The specific name is written in lower-case and may be followed by names in zoology or a variety of infraspecific names in botany. Especially with these names, when the generic name is known from context. Because animals are typically only grouped within subspecies, it is written as a trinomen with a third name. Dog breeds, meanwhile, are not scientifically distinguished, there are several divisions of plant species and therefore their infraspecific names generally include contractions explaining the relation. For example, the genus Hibiscus includes hundreds of other species apart from the Rose of Sharon or common garden hibiscus, Rose of Sharon doesnt have subspecies but has cultivars that carry desired traits, such as the bright white H. syriaca Diana. Hawaiian hibiscus, meanwhile, includes several separate species, since not all botanists agree on the divisions or names between species, it is common to specify the source of the name using author abbreviations
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Ovis
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This article refers to the sheep genus. For the species referred to as sheep, see sheep. Ovis is a genus of mammals, part of the subfamily of the ruminant family Bovidae. Its five or more highly sociable species are known as sheep, the domestic sheep is one member of the genus, and is thought to be descended from the wild mouflon of central and southwest Asia. Female sheep are called ewes, males are called rams, the adjective applying to sheep is ovine, and the collective term for sheep is flock or mob. The term herd is also used in this sense. Many specialist terms relating to sheep are used. Sheep are usually stockier than most other bovines, and their horns are usually divergent, Sheep have scent glands on their faces and feet. Communication through the scent glands is not well understood, but is thought to be important for sexual signaling, males can smell females that are fertile and ready to mate, and rams mark their territories by rubbing scent on rocks. Like other ruminants, they have four-chambered stomachs, which play a role in digesting food, they eructate. Domestic sheep are used for their wool, milk, and meat, six species and numerous subspecies of sheep are currently recognised, although some subspecies have also been considered full species. These are the ones, Wild sheep are mostly found in hilly or mountainous habitats. They are fairly small compared to other ungulates, in most species and their diets consist mainly of grasses, as well as other plants and lichens. Like other bovids, their digestive systems enable them to digest and live on low-quality, Sheep conserve water well and can live in fairly dry environments. The bodies of wild sheep are covered by a coat of hair to protect them from cold. This coat contains long, stiff hairs, called kemps, over a short, woolly undercoat and this woolly undercoat has been developed in many domestic sheep breeds into a fleece of long wool, with selection against kemp hairs in these breeds. The fleece covers the body and is used for fibre, Sheep are social animals and live in groups, called flocks. This helps them to avoid predators and stay warm in bad weather by huddling together, flocks of sheep need to keep moving to find new grazing areas and more favourable weather as the seasons change
29.
Miocene
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The Miocene is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about 23.03 to 5.333 million years ago. The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell and its name comes from the Greek words μείων and καινός and means less recent because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene Epoch and is followed by the Pliocene Epoch, the earth went from the Oligocene through the Miocene and into the Pliocene, with the climate slowly cooling towards a series of ice ages. The Miocene boundaries are not marked by a single distinct global event, the apes arose and diversified during the Miocene, becoming widespread in the Old World. By the end of this epoch, the ancestors of humans had split away from the ancestors of the chimpanzees to follow their own evolutionary path, as in the Oligocene before it, grasslands continued to expand and forests to dwindle in extent. In the Miocene seas, kelp forests made their first appearance, the plants and animals of the Miocene were fairly modern. The Miocene faunal stages from youngest to oldest are typically named according to the International Commission on Stratigraphy, Two subdivisions each form the lower, middle, continents continued to drift toward their present positions. Mountain building took place in western North America, Europe, both continental and marine Miocene deposits are common worldwide with marine outcrops common near modern shorelines. Well studied continental exposures occur in the North American Great Plains, India continued to collide with Asia, creating dramatic new mountain ranges. The Tethys Seaway continued to shrink and then disappeared as Africa collided with Eurasia in the Turkish–Arabian region between 19 and 12 Ma. The subsequent uplift of mountains in the western Mediterranean region and a fall in sea levels combined to cause a temporary drying up of the Mediterranean Sea near the end of the Miocene. The global trend was towards increasing aridity caused primarily by global cooling reducing the ability of the atmosphere to absorb moisture, climates remained moderately warm, although the slow global cooling that eventually led to the Pleistocene glaciations continued. Although a long-term cooling trend was well underway, there is evidence of a period during the Miocene when the global climate rivalled that of the Oligocene. The Miocene warming began 21 million years ago and continued until 14 million years ago, by 8 million years ago, temperatures dropped sharply once again, and the Antarctic ice sheet was already approaching its present-day size and thickness. Greenland may have begun to have large glaciers as early as 7 to 8 million years ago, life during the Miocene Epoch was mostly supported by the two newly formed biomes, kelp forests and grasslands. This allows for more grazers, such as horses, rhinoceroses, ninety five percent of modern plants existed by the end of this epoch. The higher organic content and water retention of the deeper and richer grassland soils, with long term burial of carbon in sediments, produced a carbon and this, combined with higher surface albedo and lower evapotranspiration of grassland, contributed to a cooler, drier climate. The expansion of grasslands and radiations among terrestrial herbivores correlates to fluctuations in CO2
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Pliocene
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The Pliocene Epoch is the epoch in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58 million years BP. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era, the Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch.588 to 1.806 million years ago, and is now included in the Pleistocene. As with other geologic periods, the geological strata that define the start and end are well identified but the exact dates of the start. The boundaries defining the Pliocene are not set at an easily identified worldwide event, the upper boundary was set at the start of the Pleistocene glaciations. The Pliocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell, the name comes from the Greek words πλεῖον and καινός and means roughly continuation of the recent, referring to the essentially modern marine mollusc faunas. H. W. Fowler called the term a regrettable barbarism, in the official timescale of the ICS, the Pliocene is subdivided into two stages. From youngest to oldest they are, Piacenzian Zanclean The Piacenzian is sometimes referred to as the Late Pliocene, in the system of North American Land Mammal Ages include Hemphillian, and Blancan. The Blancan extends forward into the Pleistocene, South American Land Mammal Ages include Montehermosan, Chapadmalalan and Uquian. In the Paratethys area the Pliocene contains the Dacian and Romanian stages, as usual in stratigraphy, there are many other regional and local subdivisions in use. In Britain the Pliocene is divided into the stages, Gedgravian, Waltonian, Pre-Ludhamian, Ludhamian, Thurnian, Bramertonian or Antian, Pre-Pastonian or Baventian, Pastonian and Beestonian. The exact correlations between these stages and the ICS stages is still a matter of detail. The formation of an Arctic ice cap is signaled by a shift in oxygen isotope ratios and ice-rafted cobbles in the North Atlantic. Mid-latitude glaciation was probably underway before the end of the epoch, the global cooling that occurred during the Pliocene may have spurred on the disappearance of forests and the spread of grasslands and savannas. Continents continued to drift, moving from positions possibly as far as 250 km from their present locations to positions only 70 km from their current locations, africas collision with Europe formed the Mediterranean Sea, cutting off the remnants of the Tethys Ocean. The border between the Miocene and the Pliocene is also the time of the Messinian salinity crisis, Sea level changes exposed the land-bridge between Alaska and Asia. Pliocene marine rocks are exposed in the Mediterranean, India. Elsewhere, they are exposed largely near shores, the change to a cooler, dry, seasonal climate had considerable impacts on Pliocene vegetation, reducing tropical species worldwide. Deciduous forests proliferated, coniferous forests and tundra covered much of the north, tropical forests were limited to a tight band around the equator, and in addition to dry savannahs, deserts appeared in Asia and Africa
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Pleistocene
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The Pleistocene is the geological epoch which lasted from about 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the worlds most recent period of repeated glaciations. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the end of the last glacial period, the Pleistocene is the first epoch of the Quaternary Period or sixth epoch of the Cenozoic Era. In the ICS timescale, the Pleistocene is divided into four stages or ages, all of these stages were defined in southern Europe. In addition to this subdivision, various regional subdivisions are often used. Charles Lyell introduced the term pleistocene in 1839 to describe strata in Sicily that had at least 70% of their molluscan fauna still living today and this distinguished it from the older Pliocene Epoch, which Lyell had originally thought to be the youngest fossil rock layer. The Pleistocene has been dated from 2.588 million to 11,700 years before present and it covers most of the latest period of repeated glaciation, up to and including the Younger Dryas cold spell. The end of the Younger Dryas has been dated to about 9640 BC, the IUGS has yet to approve a type section, Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point, for the upper Pleistocene/Holocene boundary. The proposed section is the North Greenland Ice Core Project ice core 75°06 N 42°18 W, the lower boundary of the Pleistocene Series is formally defined magnetostratigraphically as the base of the Matuyama chronozone, isotopic stage 103. Above this point there are notable extinctions of the calcareous nanofossils, Discoaster pentaradiatus, the Pleistocene covers the recent period of repeated glaciations. The name Plio-Pleistocene has, in the past, been used to mean the last ice age. The revised definition of the Quaternary, by pushing back the date of the Pleistocene to 2.58 Ma. Pleistocene climate was marked by repeated glacial cycles in which continental glaciers pushed to the 40th parallel in some places and it is estimated that, at maximum glacial extent, 30% of the Earths surface was covered by ice. In addition, a zone of permafrost stretched southward from the edge of the sheet, a few hundred kilometres in North America. The mean annual temperature at the edge of the ice was −6 °C, during interglacial times, such as at present, drowned coastlines were common, mitigated by isostatic or other emergent motion of some regions. The effects of glaciation were global, antarctica was ice-bound throughout the Pleistocene as well as the preceding Pliocene. The Andes were covered in the south by the Patagonian ice cap, there were glaciers in New Zealand and Tasmania. The current decaying glaciers of Mount Kenya, Mount Kilimanjaro, glaciers existed in the mountains of Ethiopia and to the west in the Atlas mountains. In the northern hemisphere, many glaciers fused into one, the Cordilleran ice sheet covered the North American northwest, the east was covered by the Laurentide
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Spanish ibex
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The Iberian ibex, Spanish ibex, Spanish wild goat, or Iberian wild goat is a species of ibex with four subspecies. Of these, two can still be found on the Iberian Peninsula, but the two are now extinct. The Portuguese subspecies became extinct in 1892 and the Pyrenean subspecies became extinct in 2000, an ongoing project to clone to the Pyrenean subspecies resulted in one clone being born alive in January 2009. This is the first taxon to become un-extinct, although the clone died a few minutes after birth due to defects in lungs. The Iberian ibex Capra pyrenaica populates the Iberian Peninsula and consisted originally of four subspecies, however, with recent extinctions occurring within the last century, only two of the subspecies still exist. These two subspecies of ibexes, C. p. hispanica and C. p. victoriae, C. pyrenaica are strong mountainous animals characterized by their large and flexible hooves and short legs. These physical adaptations allow them to be able to run and leap on bare, rocky, rough and this gives them an advantage over potential predators that possibly cannot reach them because of the terrain. The Iberian ibex also shows sexual dimorphism, with males being greater in size and weight. The horns of the ibexes are different among wild caprids as they curve out and up and then back, inward, the annual horn growth is influenced principally by age but can also be contributed by environmental factors and the growth made in the previous year. Even though the female ibexes are smaller, they have a faster ossification process, Iberian ibex establish two types of social groups, male-only groups and females with young juvenile groups. It is during rutting season that the males interact with the females in order to reproduce, allocation to testes mass was greatest in the rutting season, particularly at ages that are associated with a subordinate status and a coursing, rather than mate-guarding, reproductive strategy. Mixed groups are common during the rest of the winter. During the birth season, the yearling are separated from the groups at the time of the new births. The males are the first to separate and return to their groups while the female yearlings eventually return to their mothers. The Spanish ibex has a way of signaling others when a potential predator has been spotted. First the ibex will have a posture with its ears. The caller will then signal the other ibexes in the group with one or more alarm calls, once the group has heard the alarm calls, they will flee to another area that is usually an advantageous vantage point like a rocky slope where the predator cannot reach. Interestingly, the ibex usually flees in a coordinated fashion that is led by an experienced adult female in female-juvenile groups
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Nubian ibex
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The Nubian ibex is a desert-dwelling goat species found in mountainous areas of Algeria, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Yemen, Lebanon and Sudan. It is generally considered to be a subspecies of the Alpine ibex, the wild population is estimated at 1,200 individuals. Nubian ibexes stand around 65–75 cm tall at the shoulder and weigh around 50 kilograms, Nubian ibexes are a light tan color, with a white underbelly, in males there is also a dark brown stripe down the back. Nubian ibexes have long thin horns which extend up and then backwards, in males these reach around a metre in length while in females they are much smaller. Nubian ibexes live in dry mountainous terrain where they eat mainly grasses and leaves and are preyed upon by leopards, eagles. Nubian ibexes are social and herds tend to consist of females, young, the males are solitary or form more transitory bands of up to eight individuals. During the breeding season males join the female-based herds for the six to eight week rut, large males then do battle with much clashing of horns. Nubian ibexes are diurnal, meaning they are active during the day, on 16 March 1959, the British established the Yob Wildlife Reserve in northern Eritrea specifically to protect significant populations of Nubian ibex in the area. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified the Nubian ibex as vulnerable and this is on the basis that there are fewer than 10,000 mature individuals and the population is declining. Threats faced by the animal include competition with livestock for water and fodder, hunting pressure, the Biblical heroine Yaels name means Ibex in Hebrew. The Nubian ibex in particular was in the BBC documentary Life, and featured prominently in the popular television documentary series Planet Earth
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Walia ibex
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The walia ibex is an endangered species of ibex. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the Alpine ibex, if the population were to increase, the surrounding mountain habitat would be sufficient to sustain only 2,000 ibex. The adult walia ibexs only known predator is the hyena. However, young ibex are often hunted by a variety of fox, the ibex are members of the goat family, and the walia ibex is the southernmost of todays ibexes. In the late 1990s, the walia ibex went from endangered to endangered due to the declining population. The walia ibex is known as the Abyssinian ibex. These animals have a chocolate-brown to chestnut-brown coat coloration, greyish-brown muzzle, the belly and insides of the legs are white, and black and white patterns stretch upon the legs of these animals. The males weigh 80–125 kg and have large horns which curve backwards. These horns are used for dominance disputes between males, the males also have distinguished black beards. The length of the walia ibex beard varies with age, the older males have longer, thicker beards than the young ones. Females also have horns, but they are shorter and thinner, females are smaller and lighter in color. The horns on both males and females are rigid, the overall size of the walia ibex is smaller and slimmer than the alpine ibex. Walia ibex live in herds ranging from five to 20 animals, breeding usually takes place during late fall and early winter. The following spring, the female will give birth to one or two offspring, a herd of walia ibex was noted to travel one half of a kilometer up to two kilometers per day. The walia ibex lives in steep, rocky cliff areas between 2,500 and 4,500 m high. Their habitats are forests, subalpine grasslands, and scrub. Their diets include bushes, herbs, lichens, shrubs, grasses and they are often seen standing on their hind legs to get to young shoots of giant heath. Walia ibex are most active in the morning and evening, males live in bachelor groups and females live in groups with their offspring
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Siberian ibex
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The Siberian ibex is a species of ibex that lives in central Asia. It has traditionally been treated as a subspecies of the Alpine ibex and it is the longest and heaviest members of the genus Capra, though its shoulder height is surpassed by the markhor. Siberian ibexes are large and heavily built goats, although sizes vary greatly. Males are between 88 and 110 cm in height, and weigh between 60 and 130 kg. Females are noticeably smaller, with heights between 67 and 92 cm, and weights between 34 and 56 kg, the nose is straight in profile, the neck short, and the back straight. The neck is particularly thick and muscular in males. Both sexes have beards, although the males beard is more pronounced, both sexes also possess a large scent gland, about 3 cm across, beneath the tail. The females horns are small, and grey-brown in colour. Those of fully-grown males are black and typically measure about 115 cm, both sexes have circular rings around their horns that represent annual growth, but males also have large transverse ridges along the front surface. The exact shape of the horns varies considerably between individuals, the colouration is also variable, from dark brown to light tan, with some reddish individuals. There is usually a stripe of darker hair down the centre of the back and onto the tail, the undersides are paler, and, in the winter, mature males becoming much darker with white patches. Females and infants are generally more bland in colour than the adult males, during the rut, the males spend considerable effort courting females, and they are often emaciated from lack of grazing by the time it ends. Courtship lasts for over 30 minutes, and consists of licking, ritualised postures, males compete for dominance during the rut, rearing up on their hind legs and clashing their horns together. Gestation lasts 170 to 180 days, and usually results in the birth of a kid, although twins occur in up to 14% of births. Newborn kids weigh about 3 kg, and grow rapidly during their first year, the horns are visible after about three to four weeks. They begin to eat grass as little as eight days after birth, but do not do so regularly until they are one month old. Males are sexually mature at eighteen months, but do not reach their adult size for nine years. Females first breed in their second year, males typically live for ten years in the wild, and females for up to seventeen years
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Berner Oberland
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The Berner Oberland, is the higher part of the canton of Bern, Switzerland, in the southern end of the canton, and one of the cantons five administrative regions. The mountain range in the Berner Oberland south of the Aare, the flag of the Berner Oberland consists of a black eagle in a gold field over two fields in the cantonal colours of red and black. The Swiss German dialects spoken in the Berner Oberland are Highest Alemannic German, contrasting with the High Alemannic Bernese German spoken in Bern, in the short-lived Helvetic Republic, the Berner Oberland had been a separate canton. Prehistorically the Berner Oberland was crossed by hunters or traders, the Romans settled along the river and the lakes. They used a number of alpine passes including, the Brünig, Susten, Grimsel, Lötschen, Gemmi, Rawil, Sanetsch, during the High Middle Ages, a number of Berner Oberland villages grew around valley parish churches which were religious and cultural centers within each surrounding valley. During Middle Ages, the Berner Oberland first belonged to the Kingdom of Burgundy followed by the Dukes of Zähringen, after the extinction of the Zähringen line, the Berner Oberland was ruled by a number of local Barons. For a time, some of the Walser barons ruled portions of the Berner Oberland, the Saanen valley was ruled by the Counts of Gruyères. Portions of the passes were held, until the 19th century. The expansionist policy of the city of Bern led them into the Berner Oberland, through conquest, purchase, mortgage or marriage politics Bern was able to acquire the majority of the Berner Oberland from the indebted local barons between 1323 and 1400. Under Bernese control, the five valleys enjoyed extensive rights and far-reaching autonomy in the Bäuerten and Talverbänden, throughout the Late Middle Ages, the Berner Oberland, as a whole or in part, revolted several times against Bernese authority. During the Middle Ages, the settlement pattern in the Berner Oberland was somewhat consistent, a main settlement grew on the valley floor below an elevation near 1,100 m. This main settlement had a market and often a castle or other fortifications and this market town was surrounded by scattered villages, hamlets and individual farm houses to an elevation of 1,600 m. During the 14th-16th centuries, the Berner Oberland villages began extensive trading with the Bernese grain producing towns in the lowlands. This allowed the villages to renounce self-sufficiency in grain and focus on raising cattle in the high alpine pastures. They then exported cattle over the passes into Italy and into the Bernese lowlands, around 1500, in addition to the seven medieval markets, eleven new cattle markets opened to allow the Berner Oberland villagers to sell their cattle. After the Napoleonic invasion of Switzerland in 1798, the old Bernese order was fractured, within this new canton, historic borders and traditional rights were not considered. As there had no previous separatist feeling amongst the conservative population. In 1729, Albrecht von Haller published the poem Die Alpen about his travels through the alpine regions and this combined with other reports and alpine paintings started the tourism industry in the Berner Oberland
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Moult
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Moulting can involve shedding the epidermis, pelage, or other external layer. In some groups, other parts may be shed, for example. In birds, moulting is the replacement of feathers by shedding old feathers while producing new ones. Feathers are dead structures at maturity which are gradually abraded and need to be replaced, adult birds moult at least once a year, although many moult twice and a few three times each year. It is generally a slow process as birds rarely shed all their feathers at any one time, the number and area of feathers that are shed varies. In some moulting periods, a bird may renew only the feathers on the head and body, shedding the wing, some species of bird become flightless during an annual wing moult and must seek a protected habitat with a reliable food supply during that time. The process of moulting in birds is as follows, First, as the pin feathers become full feathers, other feathers are shed. This is a process that occurs in many phases. It is usually symmetrical, with feather loss equal on each side of the body, because feathers make up 4–12% of a birds body weight, it takes a large amount of energy to replace them. For this reason, moults often occur immediately after the breeding season, the plumage produced during this time is called postnuptial plumage. Prenuptial moulting occurs in red-collared widowbirds where the males replace their nonbreeding plumage with breeding plumage and it is thought that large birds can advance the moult of severely damaged feathers. In some countries, flocks of commercial layer hens are force-moulted to reinvigorate egg-laying and this causes a body weight loss of 25 to 35%, which stimulates the hen to lose her feathers, but also reinvigorates egg-production. Some flocks may be force-moulted several times, in 2003, more than 75% of all flocks were force-moulted in the US. Other methods of inducing a moult include low-density diets or dietary manipulation to create an imbalance of a particular nutrient, the most important among these include manipulation of minerals including sodium, calcium, iodine and zinc, with full or partially reduced dietary intakes. The most familiar example of moulting in reptiles is when snakes shed their skin and this is usually achieved by the snake rubbing its head against a hard object, such as a rock or piece of wood, causing the already stretched skin to split. This is similar to how one might remove a sock from ones foot by grabbing the open end, the snakes skin is often left in one piece after the moulting process, including the discarded brille, so that the moult is vital for maintaining the animals quality of vision. The skins of lizards, in contrast, generally fall off in pieces, in arthropods, such as insects, arachnids and crustaceans, moulting is the shedding of the exoskeleton, typically to let the organism grow. The new exoskeleton is soft but hardens after the moulting of the old exoskeleton
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Withers
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The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species it is the tallest point of the body, the withers in horses are formed by the dorsal spinal processes of roughly the 3rd through 11th thoracic vertebrae, which are unusually long in this area. The processes at the withers can be more than 12 inches long, since they do not move relative to the ground, the withers are used as the measuring point for the height of a horse. Horses are commonly measured in hands – one hand is 4 inches, horse heights are extremely variable, from small pony breeds to large draft breeds. The height at the withers of an average Thoroughbred is 16 hands, the withers of the horse are considered in evaluating conformation. Generally, a horse should have well-defined withers, as they are considered an important attachment point for the muscles of the torso, more importantly, the dorsal spinal processes provide an attachment for the muscles that support the shoulder and neck. Horses do not have a clavicle, so the shoulder can freely rotate backwards, if the vertebrae of the withers are long, the shoulder is more free to move backwards. This allows for an increase of stride length, therefore, the withers have a direct impact on one of the most important points of conformation, the shoulder. In dogs, the height of the withers is often used to determine the dogs jump height in various dog sports and it is also often a determining factor in whether the dog conforms to the show-quality standards for its breed. Zebras have very low withers, making it far more difficult for a saddle to stay in place, inflammation of the bursae in this region is called fistulous withers
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Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
40.
French Alps
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The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, at 4,808 metres, Mont Blanc, on the French-Italian border, is the highest mountain in the Alps, and the highest Western European mountain. Notable towns in the French Alps include Grenoble, Chamonix, Annecy, Chambéry, Évian-les-Bains, the largest connected ski areas are, Les Trois Vallées,338 slopes,600 km of pistes. Portes du Soleil,288 slopes,650 km of slopes not entirely connected, paradiski, Champagny-en-Vanoise,239 slopes,420 km of slopes. Via Lattea,214 slopes,400 km of slopes, Évasion Mont-Blanc,183 slopes,420 km of slopes not entirely connected. Espace Killy,137 slopes,300 km of slopes, grand Massif,134 slopes,265 km of slopes. Les Aravis,133 slopes,220 km of slopes not entirely connected, Les Grandes Rousses,117 slopes,236 km of slopes. Serre Chevalier,111 slopes,250 km of slopes, La Forêt Blanche,104 slopes,180 km of slopes. Les Sybelles,96 slopes,310 km of slopes, valloire and Valmeinier,83 slopes,150 km of slopes. Grand Domaine,82 slopes,150 km of slopes Espace San Bernardo,73 slopes,150 km of slopes, Les Deux Alpes and La Grave,69 slopes,220 km of slopes. The other large ski areas are, Le Val dArly,150 km of slopes, in the winter, these include skiing and snowboarding as well as alternatives such as snowshoeing, sledging. There is a range of activities that happen such as gliding which most happens during the summer months. Summer activities include hiking, mountaineering, biking and rock climbing, roger Frison-Roche, Les montagnes de la terre. Sergio Marazzi, Atlante Orografico delle Alpi, pavone Canavese, Priuli & Verlucca editori. ISBN 978-88-8068-273-8 Sergio Marazzi, La Suddivisione orografica internazionale unificata del Sistema Alpino - article with maps and illustrations, PDF
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Reintroduction
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Species reintroduction is the deliberate release of a species into the wild, from captivity or other areas where the animal survives. A species that needs reintroduction is usually one whose existence has become threatened or endangered in the wild, however, reintroduction of a species can also be for pest control. For example, wolves being reintroduced to an area because of an overpopulation of elk or deer. Because reintroduction may involve returning native species to localities where they had been extirpated, Reintroduction has been practiced for many years. Reintroduction and translocation are both important tools for population and species management, translocation moves wild-caught animals from one natural location to another, while reintroduction moves captive-born animals into their natural historical range. Much of the research required to obtain reproduction will also be critical for reintroduction. More behavioral research to select the best candidates and prepare them for the different challenges that await them in nature will be essential also. Behaviorists will again play a role in post-release monitoring to determine the behavioral deficiencies that limit the success of reintroductions. There may be no other conservation action where the skills of behavioral researchers are more essential than reintroduction, in situ conservation means on site. In-situ conservation is the conservation of species diversity within normal and natural habitats, the challenge in using in-situ methods is to expand our vision of protected areas to include multiple use and extractive reserves to develop new models for conservation. In-Situ conservation uses innovative proposals such as damaged ecosystems to preserve rare, endangered, ex-situ conservation means literally, off-site conservation. It is the process of protecting an endangered species of plant or animal outside of its natural habitat, capturing and relocating part of a population from a threatened habitat and placing it in a new location where it may have a better chance of survival is one example. Ex-situ conservation should only be used when In-Situ conservation cannot, zoos are one of the most conventional methods of ex-situ conservation. Depending on their size and location, zoos receive between a few tens of thousands to several million visitors annually, zoos provide education to the public about the many endangered species and explain the factors contributing the threats they face in their native habitats. Through ex-situ conservation methods they provide protected specimens for breeding and reintroduction into the wild and it has been suggested that this method should be used only when necessary and when In-Situ conservation is not possible. Reintroduction biology is new and continues to be a work in progress, in other words, successful reintroduction programs should yield viable and self-sustainable populations on the long-term. The IUCN/SSC Re-introduction Specialist Group & Environment Agency, in their 2011 Global Re-introduction Perspectives,184 case studies were reported on a range of species which included invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and plants. Assessments from all of the studies included goals, success indicators, project summary, major difficulties faced, major lessons learned, the Siberian tiger population has rebounded from 40 individuals in the 1940s to around 500 in 2007
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European Alps
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The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc, Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,810 m is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains about a hundred peaks higher than 4000 metres, the altitude and size of the range affects the climate in Europe, in the mountains precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m. Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era, a mummified man, determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991. By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established, Hannibal famously crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800 Napoleon crossed one of the passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, in World War II, Adolf Hitler kept a base of operation in the Bavarian Alps throughout the war. The Alpine region has a cultural identity. The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, at present, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors. The English word Alps derives from the Latin Alpes, maurus Servius Honoratus, an ancient commentator of Virgil, says in his commentary that all high mountains are called Alpes by Celts. The term may be common to Italo-Celtic, because the Celtic languages have terms for high mountains derived from alp and this may be consistent with the theory that in Greek Alpes is a name of non-Indo-European origin. According to the Old English Dictionary, the Latin Alpes might possibly derive from a pre-Indo-European word *alb hill, Albania, a name not native to the region known as the country of Albania, has been used as a name for a number of mountainous areas across Europe. In Roman times, Albania was a name for the eastern Caucasus, in modern languages the term alp, alm, albe or alpe refers to a grazing pastures in the alpine regions below the glaciers, not the peaks. An alp refers to a mountain pasture where cows are taken to be grazed during the summer months and where hay barns can be found. The Alps are a crescent shaped geographic feature of central Europe that ranges in a 800 km arc from east to west and is 200 km in width, the mean height of the mountain peaks is 2.5 km. The range stretches from the Mediterranean Sea north above the Po basin, extending through France from Grenoble, the range continues onward toward Vienna, Austria, and east to the Adriatic Sea and Slovenia. To the south it dips into northern Italy and to the north extends to the border of Bavaria in Germany
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Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
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List of mammals of Switzerland
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This is a list of the mammal species recorded in Switzerland. These are the species in Switzerland, of which 0 are critically endangered,0 are endangered,4 are vulnerable. The following tags are used to each species conservation status as assessed by the IUCN. Species assessed using this system have the following instead of Near Threatened and Least Concern categories, Rodents make up the largest order of mammals and they have two incisors in the upper and lower jaw which grow continually and must be keep short by gnawing. Most rodents are small though the capybara can weigh up to 45 kg, though they can resemble rodents, and were classified as a superfamily in that order until the early 20th century, they have since been considered a separate order. They differ from rodents in a number of characteristics, such as having four incisors in the upper jaw rather than two. The hedgehogs are easily recognised by their spines while gymnures look more like large rats, family, Erinaceidae Subfamily, Erinaceinae Genus, Erinaceus European hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus LR/lc The shrew-forms are insectivorous mammals. The shrews and solenodons closely resemble mice while the moles are stout-bodied burrowers, bat species account for about 20% of all mammals. They have a skull shape and dentition. There are about 220 artiodactyl species, including many that are of economic importance to humans. For example, Alpine ibex, extinct around 1850 and reintroduced since 1911, brown bear, collapsing since the fifteenth century because of hunting, last brown bear killed in 1904. Brown bears coming from Italy were observed in Switzerland in 2005 for the first time, eurasian lynx, last observation around 1900 and reintroduced since the 1970s. Eurasian beaver, extinct in the century and reintroduced since 1956. Grey wolf, extinct in the twentieth century, naturally coming back from Italy since the 1990s. Eurasian otter, last observation in 1989, naturally coming back in the 2010s. Some species of mammals were almost extinct, such as the red deer around 1850, bearded vulture hunted until extinction in the nineteenth century, reintroduced since 1986. White stork, extinct in the 1950s and reintroduced, European pond turtle, extinct at the beginning of the twentieth century and reintroduced since 2010. Some species were almost extinct, such as the golden eagle, smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
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Austria
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Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.7 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, the territory of Austria covers 83,879 km2. The terrain is mountainous, lying within the Alps, only 32% of the country is below 500 m. The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, other local official languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene. The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty, from the time of the Reformation, many northern German princes, resenting the authority of the Emperor, used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion. Following Napoleons defeat, Prussia emerged as Austrias chief competitor for rule of a greater Germany, Austrias defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz, during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany. In 1867, the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary, Austria was thus the first to go to war in the July Crisis, which would ultimately escalate into World War I. The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919, in 1938 Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss. This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Germany was occupied by the Allies, in 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral, today, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states. The capital and largest city, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, is Vienna, other major urban areas of Austria include Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck. Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $43,724, the country has developed a high standard of living and in 2014 was ranked 21st in the world for its Human Development Index. Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, joined the European Union in 1995, Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the euro currency in 1999. The German name for Austria, Österreich, meant eastern realm in Old High German, and is cognate with the word Ostarrîchi and this word is probably a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into a local dialect. Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976, the word Austria is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century. Accordingly, Norig would essentially mean the same as Ostarrîchi and Österreich, the Celtic name was eventually Latinised to Noricum after the Romans conquered the area that encloses most of modern-day Austria, around 15 BC. Noricum later became a Roman province in the mid-first century AD, heers hypothesis is not accepted by linguists. Settled in ancient times, the Central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes, the Celtic kingdom of Noricum was later claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province
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