1.
Hawaiian religion
–
Hawaiian religion encompasses the indigenous religious beliefs and practices of the Native Hawaiians. It is polytheistic and animistic, with a belief in deities and spirits, including the belief that spirits are found in non-human beings and objects such as animals, the waves. Hawaiian religion originated among the Tahitians and other Pacific islanders who landed in Hawaiʻi between 500 and 1300 AD, today, Hawaiian religious practices are protected by the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. Traditional Hawaiian religion is unrelated to the modern New Age practice known as Huna, Hawaiian religion is polytheistic, with four deities most prominent, Kāne, Kū, Lono and Kanaloa. Other notable deities include Laka, Kihawahine, Haumea, Papahānaumoku, in addition, each family is considered to have one or more guardian spirits known as ʻaumakua that protected family. The Kumulipo is divided two sections, night, or pō, and day, or ao, with the former corresponding to divinity. This, in turn, illustrates the transition of mankind from being symbols for the gods into the keeper of these symbols in the form of idols, the Kumulipo was recited during the time of Makahiki, to honor the god of fertility, Lono. The kahuna were well respected, educated individuals that made up a social class that served the King. Selected to serve many practical and governmental purposes, Kahuna often were healers, navigators, builders, prophets/temple workers and they also talked with the spirits. Kahuna Kūpaʻiulu of Maui in 1867 described a ritual to heal someone ill due to hoʻopiʻopiʻo. He said a kapa was shaken, then, If the evil spirit suddenly appears and possesses the patient, then he or she can be immediately saved by the conversation between the practitioner and that spirit. Pukui and others believed kahuna did not have mystical transcendent experiences as described in other religions, although a person who was possessed would go into a trance-like state, it was not an ecstatic experience but simply a communion with the known spirits. Kapu refers to a system of taboos designed to separate the pure from the potentially unclean. Thought to have arrived with Pāʻao, a priest or chief from Tahiti who arrived in Hawaiʻi sometime around 1200 AD, the spiritually pure or laʻa, meaning sacred and unclean or haumia were to be separated. During times of war, the first two men to be killed were offered to the gods as sacrifices, other Kapus included Mālama ʻĀina, meaning caring of the land and Niʻaupiʻo. The Hawaiian islands are all children of Papa, Wākea and Hoʻohokukalani so basically meaning that they are siblings of the Hawaiian chiefs. Second child of Wākea and Hoʻohokukalani became the first Aliʻi Nui and this came to be called Niʻaupiʻo, the chiefly incest to create the godly child. Punishments for breaking the kapu could include death, although if one could escape to a puʻuhonua, kāhuna nui mandated long periods when the entire village must have absolute silence
2.
Household deity
–
A household deity is a deity or spirit that protects the home, looking after the entire household or certain key members. It has been a belief in pagan religions as well as in folklore across many parts of the world. The second type of household deities are those that are not one singular deity, but a type, or species of animistic deity, who usually have lesser powers than major deities. This type was common in the religions of antiquity, such as the Lares of ancient Roman religion, the Gashin of Korean shamanism and these survived Christianisation as fairy-like creatures existing in folklore, such as the Anglo-Scottish Brownie and Slavic Domovoi. Household deities were usually worshipped not in temples but in the home and they could also be found on domestic objects, such as cosmetic articles in the case of Tawaret. The more prosperous houses might have a shrine to the household god. The gods would be treated as members of the family and invited to join in meals, or be given offerings of food, in many religions, both ancient and modern, a god would preside over the home. Certain species, or types, of household deities existed, an example of this was the Roman Lares. Many European cultures retained house spirits into the modern period, because of their immediacy they had arguably more influence on the day-to-day affairs of men than the remote gods did. For centuries Christianity fought a war against these lingering minor pagan deities. For example, Martin Luthers Tischreden have numerous quite serious references to dealing with kobolds, drawing the picture with broader strokes. Under these conditions, the spirits of the family-ancestors only are worshipped, --each family propitiating its own dead, finally, with the union of all the clans or tribes under one supreme head, there is developed the custom of propitiating the spirits of national, rulers. This third form of the cult becomes the obligatory religion of the country, but it does not replace either of the preceding cults, the three continue to exist together. As stated in the Wikipedia article on Shinto, Whenever a child is born in Japan, after death an ujiko becomes a family spirit, or family kami. Many Japanese houses still have a shrine (kamidana where offerings are made to ancestral kami, Edward Burnett Tylor, one of the main founders of the discipline of cultural anthropology, spoke of survivals, vestiges of earlier evolutionary stages in a cultures development. He also coined the term animism, in contradistinction to both Herbert Spencer and Edward Burnett Tylor, who defended theories of animistic origins of ancestor worship, Émile Durkheim saw its origin in totemism. Freud preferred to emphasize the implications of the reification of metaphysical forces. This emphasis underscores, rather than weakens, the ancestral component, the doyen of European folklorists Jacob Grimm did not hesitate to equate the Roman lar familiaris to the brownie
3.
Veneration of the dead
–
The veneration of the dead, including ones ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, the social or non-religious function of ancestor veneration is to cultivate kinship values, such as filial piety, family loyalty, and continuity of the family lineage. Ancestor veneration occurs in societies with every degree of social, political, and technological complexity, ancestor reverence is not the same as the worship of a deity or deities. In some Afro-diasporic cultures, ancestors are seen as being able to intercede on behalf of the living, as spirits who were once human themselves, they are seen as being better able to understand human needs than would a divine being. In other cultures, the purpose of ancestor veneration is not to ask for favors, some cultures believe that their ancestors actually need to be provided for by their descendants, and their practices include offerings of food and other provisions. Others do not believe that the ancestors are even aware of what their descendants do for them, most cultures who practice ancestor veneration do not call it ancestor worship. In English, the word usually refers to the reverent love. However, in cultures, this act of worship does not confer any belief that the departed ancestors have become some kind of deity. Rather, the act is a way to respect, honor, in this regard, many cultures and religions have similar practices. Some may visit the graves of their parents or other ancestors, leave flowers and pray to them in order to honor and remember them, however, this would not be considered as worshipping them since the term worship shows no such meaning. This is consistent with the meaning of the veneration in English. Although there is no accepted theory concerning the origins of ancestor veneration. Although some historians claim that ancient Egyptian society was a “death cult” because of its tombs and mummification rituals. The philosophy that “this world is but a vale of tears” and this was not to say that they were unacquainted with the harshness of life, rather, their ethos included a sense of continuity between this life and the next. Tombs were housing in the Hereafter and so they were constructed and decorated. Mummification was a way to preserve the corpse so the ka of the deceased could return to receive offerings of the things s/he enjoyed while alive, if mummification was not affordable, a “ka-statue” in the likeness of the deceased was carved for this purpose. The Blessed Dead were collectively called the akhu, or “shining ones” and they were described as “shining as gold in the belly of Nut and were indeed depicted as golden stars on the roofs of many tombs and temples. If the heart was in balance with the Feather of Maat, at this point only was the ka deemed worthy to be venerated by the living through rites and offerings
4.
Shark
–
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorpha and are the group to the rays. Under this broader definition, the earliest known sharks date back to more than 420 million years ago, acanthodians are often referred to as spiny sharks, though they are not part of Chondrichthyes proper, they are a paraphyletic assemblage leading to cartilaginous fish as a whole. Since then, sharks have diversified into over 500 species, Sharks are found in all seas and are common to depths of 2,000 metres. They generally do not live in freshwater although there are a few exceptions, such as the bull shark and the river shark. Sharks have a covering of dermal denticles that protects their skin from damage and they have numerous sets of replaceable teeth. Well-known species such as the white shark, tiger shark, blue shark, mako shark. Many shark populations are threatened by human activities, until the 16th century, sharks were known to mariners as sea dogs. The etymology of the shark is uncertain. One theory is that it derives from the Yucatec Maya word xok, however, the Middle English Dictionary records an isolated occurrence of the word shark in a letter written by Thomas Beckington in 1442, which rules out a New World etymology. Evidence for the existence of sharks dates from the Ordovician period, 450–420 million years ago, before land vertebrates existed and before many plants had colonized the continents. Only scales have been recovered from the first sharks and not all agree that these are from true sharks. The oldest generally accepted shark scales are from about 420 million years ago, the first sharks looked very different from modern sharks. The majority of sharks can be traced back to around 100 million years ago. Most fossils are of teeth, often in large numbers, partial skeletons and even complete fossilized remains have been discovered. Estimates suggest that sharks grow tens of thousands of teeth over a lifetime, the teeth consist of easily fossilized calcium phosphate, an apatite. When a shark dies, the decomposing skeleton breaks up, scattering the apatite prisms, preservation requires rapid burial in bottom sediments. Among the most ancient and primitive sharks is Cladoselache, from about 370 million years ago, which has been found within Paleozoic strata in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee
5.
Pueo
–
The pueo is a subspecies of the short-eared owl that is endemic to Hawaii. The pueo is one of more famous of the physical forms assumed by ʻaumākua in Hawaiian culture. Pueo is listed by the state of Hawaiʻi as a species on the island of Oʻahu. This taxon was first named by Andrew Bloxam and he saw it, although did not collect a specimen, while in the Hawaiian Islands in 1825 as the naturalist on board HMS Blonde. It is now considered to be a subspecies of the owl, Asio flammeus. Pueo nest on the ground, which makes their eggs and young susceptible to predation by the introduced small Asian mongoose and other predators, pueo are strongly affected by light pollution. They are often killed in accidents in which they dive toward the headlights of cars. Many such collisions have been reported on Interstate H-3 and other newly built roadways in areas which once held high populations of pueo, the cause of sick owl syndrome is unknown, it is suspected that pesticide toxicity may be responsible, particularly through secondary rodenticide poisoning. However, it has also hypothesized that the cause may be an infectious agent, seizure-like confusion due to light pollution. More information with sounds produced by the pueo Article on the pueo by Veronica S. Schweitzer
6.
Mary Kawena Pukui
–
Mary Abigail Kawenaʻulaokalaniahiʻiakaikapoliopelekawahineʻaihonuaināleilehuaapele Wiggin Pukui, known as Kawena, was a Hawaiian scholar, dancer, composer, and educator. She was born in the Kaʻū district of the Island of Hawaiʻi, to Mary Paʻahana Kanakaʻole, in the traditional custom of hānai, she was initially reared by her mother’s parents. Her great grandmother Keliʻipaʻahana was a kahuna pule in the Pele line, keliiPaahanas parents were the High Chief KU or Kauhi and High Chiefess Naai Hunalii. KeliiPaahana was interned in Halemaumau in 1869 in the Kau district and she married the High Chief KeliiKanakaole the son of King Kamehameha I and Queen Wahinepio also known as Ka haku haakoi of the Piilani and Liloa line. Family is known to inherit the sacred Alii Moe Kapu, upon the death of her grandmother Nalii Poai moku she returned to live with her parents and spoke both Hawaiian and English. She was educated in the Hawaiian Mission Academy, and taught Hawaiiana at Punahou School, Pukui was fluent in the Hawaiian language, and from the age of 15 collected and translated folk tales, proverbs and sayings. She worked at the Bernice P. Bishop Museum from 1938–1961 as an ethnological assistant and she also taught Hawaiian to several scholars and served as informant for numerous anthropologists. She published more than 50 scholarly works and she is the co-author of the definitive Hawaiian-English Dictionary, Place Names of Hawaii, and The Echo of Our Song, a translation of old chants and songs. Her book, ʻŌlelo Noʻeau, contains nearly 3,000 examples of Hawaiian proverbs and poetical sayings, the two-volume set Nānā i ke Kumu, Look to the Source, is an invaluable resource on Hawaiian customs and traditions. She was a chanter and hula expert, and wrote lyrics and she is often credited with making the Hawaiian Renaissance of the 1970s possible. She was named a Living Treasure of Hawaii by the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaiʻi in 1977, in 1995 she was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame. In order of first publication,1933, Hawaiian Folk Tales, honolulu, HI, University Press of Hawaii. »Partial preview of Place Names of Hawaii,1972, Nānā i ke Kumu, Look to the Source, Vols. 1 and 2, with Haertig and Lee 1972, Native Planters in Old Hawaii, Their Life, Lore, honolulu, Bishop Museum Press, Revised edition. Elbert, Samuel H, Pūkui, Mary Kawena, honolulu, HI, University of Hawaii Press. Honolulu, HI, University of Hawaii Press, Pukui, Mary Kawena, Elbert, Samuel H, Mookini, Esther T. Nishizawa, Yū. Honolulu, HI, University of Hawaii Press, Pukui, Mary Kawena, Elbert, Samuel H, Mookini, Esther T. Nishizawa, Yu Mapuana. New Pocket Hawaiian Dictionary with a Concise Grammars and Given Names in Hawaiian, honolulu, HI, University of Hawaii Press
7.
Sea turtle
–
Sea turtles, sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines. The seven extant species of sea turtles are, the green, loggerhead, Kemps ridley, olive ridley, hawksbill, flatback, the majority of a sea turtles body is protected by its shell. The turtles shell is divided two sections, carapace and plastron. The shell is made up of plates called scutes. The leatherback is the sea turtle that does not have a hard shell. Instead, it bears a mosaic of bony plates beneath its leathery skin, in general, sea turtles have a more fusiform body plan than their terrestrial or freshwater counterparts. The reduced volume of a body means sea turtles can not retract their head, legs. However this more stream-line body plan reduces drag in the water, the leatherback is the largest species of sea turtle. Measuring 2-3 meters in length, and 1-1.5 m in width, other species are smaller, being mostly 60-120 cm and proportionally narrower. Sea turtles, along with turtles and tortoises, are part of the order Testudines. All species except the leatherback are in the family Cheloniidae, the leatherback is the only extant member of the family Dermochelyidae. The origin of sea turtles back to the Late Jurassic with genera such as Plesiochelys. In Africa, the first marine turtle is Angolachelys, from the Turonian of Angola, however, neither of these are related to extant sea turtles, the oldest representative of the lineage leading to these was Desmatochelys padillai, from the Early Cretaceous. A lineage of unrelated marine testudines, the pleurodire bothremydids, also survived well into the Cenozoic, Sea turtles constitute a single radiation that became distinct from all other turtles at least 110 million years ago. The flatback sea turtle is found solely on the northern coast of Australia, the Kemps ridley sea turtle is found solely in the Gulf of Mexico and along the East Coast of the United States. Sea turtles are found in the waters over continental shelves. During the first three to five years of life, sea turtles spend most of their time in the pelagic zone floating in seaweed mats, Green sea turtles in particular are often found in Sargassum mats, in which they find shelter and food. Once the sea turtle has reached adulthood it moves closer to the shore, females will come ashore to lay their eggs on sandy beaches during the nesting season
8.
Gecko
–
Geckos are lizards belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from 1.6 to 60 cm, most geckos cannot blink, but they often lick their eyes to keep them clean and moist. They have a fixed lens within each iris that enlarges in darkness to let in more light, Geckos are unique among lizards in their vocalizations. They use chirping sounds in social interactions with other geckos and they are the most species-rich group of lizards, with about 1,500 different species worldwide. The New Latin gekko and English gecko stem from the Indonesian-Malay gēkoq, all geckos, excluding the Eublepharidae family, lack eyelids and instead have a transparent membrane, which they lick to clean. Nocturnal species have an excellent night vision, their vision is 350 times more sensitive than human color vision. The nocturnal geckos evolved from diurnal species which had lost the eye rods, the gecko eye therefore modified its cones that increased in size into different types both single and double. Three different photopigments have been retained and are sensitive to UV, blue and they also use a multifocal optical system that allows them to generate a sharp image for at least two different depths. Most gecko species can lose their tails in defense, a process called autotomy, many species are well known for their specialised toe pads that enable them to climb smooth and vertical surfaces, and even cross indoor ceilings with ease. Geckos are well-known to people who live in regions of the world. These become part of the menagerie and are often welcomed, as they feed on insects, including moths. Unlike most lizards, geckos are usually nocturnal, the largest species, the kawekaweau, is only known from a single, stuffed specimen found in the basement of a museum in Marseille, France. This gecko was 60 cm long and it was endemic to New Zealand. The smallest gecko, the Jaragua sphaero, is a mere 1.6 cm long and was discovered in 2001 on an island off the coast of the Dominican Republic. Geckos occur in various patterns and colors, and are among the most colorful lizards in the world, some species can change colour and may be lighter in colour at night. Some species are parthenogenic, which means the female is capable of reproducing without copulating with a male and this improves the geckos ability to spread to new islands. However, in a situation where a single female gecko populates an entire island, the geckos mating call sounds like a shortened bird chirping which attracts males, when they are nearby. Like other reptiles, geckos are ectothermic, producing very little metabolic heat, essentially a geckos body temperature is dependent on its environment
9.
Lizard
–
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 6,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic as it excludes the snakes which are also squamates, Lizards typically have four legs feet and external ears, though some are legless, while snakes lack both of these characteristics. Lizards and snakes share a movable quadrate bone, distinguishing them from the sphenodonts, Lizards form about 60% of all the species of extant non-avian reptiles. Some extinct varanids reached great size, The giant monitor Megalania is estimated to have reached up to 7 m long, vision, including color vision, is particularly well developed in most lizards. Most lizards communicate using body language, using specific postures, gestures, and movements to define territory, resolve disputes, some species of lizards also use pheromones or bright colors, such as the iridescent patches on the belly of Sceloporus. These colors are visible to predators, so are often hidden on the underside or between scales and only revealed when necessary. The particular innovation in this respect is the dewlap, a colored patch of skin on the throat. When a display is needed, a lizard can erect the hyoid bone of its throat, anoles are particularly famous for this display, with each species having specific colors, including patterns only visible under ultraviolet light, as many lizards can see UV light. Lizard tails are often a different and dramatically more vivid color than the rest of the body so as to potential predators to strike for the tail first. Many lizards, including geckos and skinks, are capable of shedding part of their tails through a process called autotomy. This is an example of the pars pro toto principle, sacrificing a part for the whole, the detached tail writhes and wiggles, creating a deceptive sense of continued struggle, distracting the predators attention from the fleeing prey animal. The lizard partially regenerates its tail over a period of weeks, a 2014 research identified 326 genes involved in the regeneration of lizard tails. The new section contains cartilage rather than bone, and the skin may be discolored compared to the rest of the body, most lizards are oviparous, though in some species the eggs are retained until the live young emerge. Parthenogenesis occurs in at least 50 species and may be more widespread in the group. Sexual selection in lizards shows evidence of mate choice, favouring males display fitness indicators. However, doubt has been raised over the age of Tikiguania because it is almost indistinguishable from modern agamid lizards, the Tikiguania remains may instead be late Tertiary or Quaternary in age, having been washed into much older Triassic sediments. Lizards are most closely related to the Rhynchocephalia, which appeared in the Late Triassic, mitochondrial phylogenetics suggest that the first lizards evolved in the late Permian. It had been thought on the basis of data that iguanid lizards diverged from other squamates very early on
10.
Short-eared owl
–
The short-eared owl is a species of typical owl. Owls belonging to genus Asio are known as the eared owls and these ear tufts may or may not be visible. Asio flammeus will display its tufts when in a defensive pose, the short-eared owl is found in open country and grasslands. The scientific name is from Latin, the genus name Asio is a type of eared owl, and flammeus means flame-coloured. The short-eared owl is a medium-sized owl measuring 34–43 cm in length and it has large eyes, a big head, a short neck, and broad wings. Its bill is short, strong, hooked and black and its plumage is mottled tawny to brown with a barred tail and wings. The upper breast is significantly streaked and its flight is characteristically floppy due to its irregular wingbeats. The short-eared owl may also be described as moth or bat-like in flight, wingspans range from 85 to 110 cm. Females are slightly larger than males, over much of its range, short-eared owls occurs with the similar-looking long-eared owl. At rest, the ear-tufts of long-eared owl serve to distinguish the two. The iris-colour differs, yellow in short-eared, and orange in long-eared, and the surrounding the eyes is vertical on long-eared. Overall the short-eared tends to be a paler, sandier bird than the long-eared, the short-eared owl also differs structurally from the long-eared, having longer, slimmer wings, the long-eared owl has wings shaped more like those of a tawny owl. The long-eared owl generally has different habitat preferences from the short-eared, the short-eared owl is often most regularly seen flying about in early morning or late day as it hunts over open habitats. A. flammeus breeds in Europe, Asia, North and South America, the Caribbean, Hawaii and it is partially migratory, moving south in winter from the northern parts of its range. The short-eared owl is known to relocate to areas of higher rodent populations and it will also wander nomadically in search of better food supplies during years when vole populations are low. Sexual maturity is attained at one year, breeding season in the northern hemisphere lasts from March to June, peaking in April. During this time these owls may gather in flocks, during breeding season, the males make great spectacles of themselves in flight to attract females. The male swoops down over the nest flapping its wings in a courtship display, the short-eared owl nests on the ground in prairie, tundra, savanna, or meadow habitats
11.
Manoa
–
Mānoa is a valley and a residential neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. The neighborhood is approximately three miles east and inland from downtown Honolulu and less than a mile from Ala Moana, similar to many Honolulu neighborhoods, Mānoa consists of an entire valley, running from Mānoa Falls at the mauka end to King Street. The valley receives almost daily rain, even during the dry season, seeing rainbows in the valley is a common occurrence, and is the source of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa sports team names, the Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine. The neighborhood is composed of houses built before the 1960s. Mānoa is home to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, the campus of the University of Hawaiʻi System. The University has several faculty and student residence areas in Mānoa, the central shopping area of Mānoa is the Mānoa Marketplace which features a farmers market several days of the week. More recent development has seen housing on parts of the Diamond Head side valley wall. Mānoa stream begins at the base of Mānoa Falls and runs through the valley before joining Palolo stream to form the Manoa-Palolo drainage canal, floods caused by high rainfall have plagued the residents living along Mānoa stream. Most recent was on October 30,2004 when Mānoa stream overflowed causing millions of dollars in damages to residential homes, Mānoa is the site of the first sugarcane and coffee plantations in the Hawaiian Islands. John Wilkinson tended the first crops in 1825, brought on the ship HMS Blonde, Hawaiʻi is the only state in the United States that produces coffee commercially. For more history see coffee production in Hawaii, Mānoa means thick, solid, vast, depth or thickness in the Hawaiian language. There is another valley named Mānoa on the shore of Kauaʻi. There are many associated with Manoa, one very well known legend is the story of Kahalaopuna. Kahalaopuna was born to Kahaukani and Kauakuahine, Kahaukani is the wind of Manoa and Kauakuahine is the rain of Manoa. Kakaukani and Kauakuahine were brother and sister, both born to Akaaka and Nalehuaakaaka, kaua‘i Educational Association for Science and Astronomy Lyon Arboretum Mānoa Falls Salvation Army Waiʻoli Tea Room University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Manoa-Makiki travel guide from Wikivoyage
12.
Oahu
–
Oʻahu or Oahu /oʊˈɑːhu/, known as The Gathering Place, is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to about two-thirds of the population of the U. S. state of Hawaii, the state capital, Honolulu, is on Oʻahus southeast coast. Along with the rest of the Hawaiian Islands, Oahu is one of the largest and northernmost islands of Polynesia, in the greatest dimension, this volcanic island is 44 miles long and 30 miles across. The length of the shoreline is 227 miles, the island is the result of two separate shield volcanoes, the Waiʻanae and Koʻolau Ranges, with a broad valley or saddle between them. The highest point is Kaʻala in the Waiʻanae Range, rising to 4,003 feet above sea level, the island was home to the Kunia Regional SIGINT Operations Center from 1941 to 2012, it is now home to the National Security Agencys Hawaii Cryptologic Center. The island is home to 953,207 people in 2010, Oʻahu has for a long time been known as the Gathering Place. The term Oʻahu has no confirmed meaning in Hawaiian, other than that of the place itself, ancient Hawaiian tradition attributes the names origin in the legend of Hawaiʻiloa, the Polynesian navigator credited with discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. The story relates that he named the island after a son, residents of Oʻahu refer to themselves as locals, no matter their ancestry. The city of Honolulu—largest city, state capital, and main deepwater marine port for the State of Hawaiʻi—is located here. As a jurisdictional unit, the island of Oʻahu is in the Honolulu County, although as a place name. Well-known features found on Oʻahu include Waikīkī, Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Hanauma Bay, Kāneʻohe Bay, Kailua Bay, being roughly diamond-shaped, surrounded by ocean and divided by mountain ranges, directions on Oʻahu are not generally described with the compass directions found throughout the world. Locals instead use directions originally using Honolulu as the central point, to go ewa means traveling toward the western tip of the island, Diamond Head is toward the eastern tip, mauka is inland and makai toward the sea. Oʻahu is also known for having the longest rain shower in history, kaneohe Ranch, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi reported 247 straight days with rain from August 27,1993 to April 30,1994. The island has many one of them being rainbow state. This is because rainbows are a sight in Hawaiʻi due to the frequent rain showers. The average temperature in Oʻahu is around 70 to 85 degrees, the weather during the winter is cooler, but still warm with the average temperature of 68-78 degrees. The windward side is known for some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, lanikai Beach on the windward coast of Oʻahu has been consistently ranked among the best beaches in the world. The 300-year-old Kingdom of Oʻahu was once ruled by the most ancient aliʻi in all of the Hawaiian Islands, the first great king of Oʻahu was Mailikukahi, the lawmaker, who was followed by many generation of monarchs
13.
Kau, Hawaii
–
Kaʻū is the southernmost district of Hawaii County, Hawaii, located on the island of Hawaiʻi. Kaʻū was one of the six districts of ancient Hawaii on the island. It includes the areas of South Point, Hawaiian Ocean View Estates, Hawaiian Ocean View Ranchos, now known as Ocean View, Nīnole, Waiʻōhinu, Naʻālehu. The district contains much of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, including the volcanoes Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, to the east of Kaʻū is the Puna District, and to the west is the South Kona District. Sugar cane was a crop until 1996. Now coffee is growing in importance, with the Kaʻū Coffee Festival held in Pāhala, the southernmost point of the US is at Ka Lae Point in the Kaʻū District. However, although Palmyra Atoll is an incorporated territory by the United States federal government and not part of a state within the US. Kau shares much in common with the district of Puna, Hawaii, both districts are situated on active volcanoes and contains large sections of land that are in Lava Flow Hazard Zones 1 and 2. Additionally, new lava zones 11,12, and 13 are being established to account for current flow activity to reduce redlining
14.
Puna, Hawaii
–
Puna is one of the 9 districts of Hawaii County on the Island of Hawaiʻi. It is located on the side of the island and shares borders with South Hilo district in the north. With a size of just under 320,000 acres, Puna is slightly smaller than the island of Kauaʻi, the affordable housing prices have led to an enormous increase in developments in Puna, and have made this district the fastest growing area on the Big Island. In the last 20 years the population has grown by nearly 20,000 people, homeowners Insurance can be more difficult to secure in the parts of Puna that are located in Lava Flow Hazard Zones 1 or 2. The entire Kīlauea rift zone region is in Zone 1, while the slope is in Zone 2. Most home insurance companies will not cover homes in Zone 1 or 2 for values over $350,000. Most of the destruction of private property in Hawaiʻi since the 20th century has occurred in lower Puna, including the destruction of sections of Kapoho, Royal Gardens, Kalapana. Approximately 50 square miles out of the 500 square miles of Puna have been covered by lava flows, living in Puna has other some unique considerations. For example, most homes in Puna rely on rainwater catchment for their household water and this lack of water availability for firefighting is also an issue with insurance companies. Also of importance is increasing popularity of recreation and personal development opportunities. The climate is a tropical climate with abundant rainfall, especially in the northern parts. The terrain is characterized by gentle slopes with no defined waterways, although rainfall is occasionally very heavy, flooding is rare due to the slope and porosity of the volcanic rock. The vegetation ranges from rainforest to desert shrub and coastal strand, large areas of native forest are present in the Wao Kele o Puna and Kahauala tracts. The current eruption has been going on since 1983, as of October 4,2014, the Current Volcano Alert Level was set at WARNING, due to lava flowing towards the village of Pahoa. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, when constructed, had two entrances, the entrance from lower Puna was cut off in 1986, and several miles of the road along the ocean were covered by several flows that occurred over the course of the eruption. Tourists are particularly interested in observing the lava when it is flowing into the ocean, to find out where the flow is currently going and best places to park, consult the links provided. Lava flows have continued to add new land to the old shoreline in an intermittent fashion, with constantly changing directions. In early September it appeared that the flow was en route to the small community of Kaohe Homesteads.8 of a mile away
15.
Hawaiian crow
–
The Hawaiian crow or ʻalalā is a species of bird in the crow family, Corvidae, that is currently extinct in the wild. It is about the size of the crow at 48–50 centimetres in length, but with more rounded wings. It has soft, brownish-black plumage and long, bristly throat feathers, today, the Hawaiian crow is considered the most endangered of the family Corvidae. They are recorded to have lived up to 18 years in the wild, some Native Hawaiians consider the Hawaiian crow an ʻaumakua. The species is known for flying ability and resourcefulness. It is thought that introduced diseases, such as Toxoplasma gondii, avian malaria, before the Hawaiian crow became extinct in the wild, the species was found only in the western and southeastern parts of Hawaii. It inhabited dry and mesic forests on the slopes of Mauna Loa, Ōhiʻa lehua and koa were important tree species in its wild habitat. Extensive understory cover was necessary to protect the alala from predation by the Hawaiian Hawk, nesting sites of the ‘alala received 600–2,500 millimetres of annual rainfall. Fossil remains indicate that the Hawaiian crow used to be abundant on all the main islands of Hawaii. The Hawaiian crow was also preyed on by rats and the small Asian mongooses, feral cats that introduced Toxoplasma gondii to the birds can also prey on chicks that are unable to fly. As of 2012, the Hawaiian crows current population is 114 birds, the omnivorous Hawaiian crow is a generalist species, eating various foods as they become available. The main portion of their diet, and 50% of their activity is spent foraging on trunks, branches, and foliage for invertebrates such as isopods, land snails. They feed in a fashion, flaking bark and moss from trunks or branches to expose hidden insects, foraging mostly on ohia and koa. Fruits are the second most dominant component in the Hawaiian crows diet, the crows often collect kepau and olapa fruit clusters. Although hoawa and alani fruits have hard outer coverings, crows continue to exert energy prying them open, passerine nestlings and eggs are consumed most frequently in April and May, during their breeding season. Other prey include red-billed leiothrix, Japanese white-eye, Hawaiʻi ʻamakihi, ʻiʻiwi, ‘elepaio, the ʻalalā also commonly forages on flowers, especially from February through May. Nectar to feed the young are obtained from the flower, oha kepau. Crows also foraged various plant parts, including the petals of kolea, koa
16.
Hawaiian hawk
–
The Hawaiian hawk or ʻio is a raptor of the Buteo genus endemic to Hawaiʻi, currently restricted to the Big Island. Buteos tend to be recognized by their bulky bodies relative to their overall length. The ʻio is the hawk that is native to Hawaiʻi, and fossil evidence indicates that it inhabited the island of Hawaiʻi, Molokaʻi, Oʻahu. Today, it is known to breed only on the Big Island, the species is protected as an endangered species in the United States. However, the IUCN classifies the species as Near Threatened, the Hawaiian hawk measures approximately 40 to 46 centimeters in length. The female, which weighs 605 g on average, is larger than the male, two color phases exist, a dark phase, and a light color phase. Feet and legs are yellowish in adults and greenish in juveniles, during breeding season one of the pair, possibly the female, has a distinctive yellow forecap area just above the upper mandible. Common threats to the ʻio are illegal shootings, the degradation of their native forest habitat, poisoning, vehicle collisions, starvation and this solitary hawk remains in and defends its territories year round. They nest from March through September, and usually lay one egg. The female does the majority of sitting during the 38 days of incubation, after the egg is hatched, the female only allows the male to visit when delivering food to the nest. The chick fledges at seven or eight weeks, fifty to seventy percent of the nests successfully fledge young. The ʻio usually hunts from a position, but can also dive on prey from the air. It feeds on rats, small birds, stream animals, crickets, praying mantises, millipedes, centipedes, lizards such as jacksons chameleon and it will also feed on the Hawaiian crow, a Hawaiian bird which is extinct in the wild. They are opportunistic predators and are versatile in their feeding habits and they have a shrill and high-pitched call much like their Hawaiian name, eeeh-oh. They are very noisy during the breeding season, the Hawaiian hawk was a royal symbol in Hawaiian legend, and it is sometimes called “ʻiolani, ” or “exalted hawk”, which was the name of Kamehameha IV and the ʻIolani Palace. Hawaiian Hawk / Buteo solitarius / ʻIo. Fish and Wildlife Pacific Office, United States Fish and Wildlife Service
17.
Hawaii (island)
–
Hawaiʻi is the largest island located in the U. S. state of Hawaii. It is the largest and the southeastern-most of the Hawaiian Islands, with an area of 4,028 square miles, it is larger than all of the other islands in the archipelago combined and is the largest island in the United States. However, it only has 13% of Hawaiis people, the island of Hawaii is the third largest island in Polynesia, behind the two main islands of New Zealand. The island is referred to as the Island of Hawaiʻi. Administratively, the island is encompassed by Hawaiʻi County. As of the 2010 Census the population was 185,079, the county seat and largest city is Hilo. There are no incorporated cities in Hawaiʻi County, Hawaiʻi is said to have been named after Hawaiʻiloa, the legendary Polynesian navigator who first discovered it. The name is cognate with Savaii, the name of the largest island of Samoa, cook was killed on the Big Island at Kealakekua Bay on 14 February 1779, in a mêlée which followed the theft of a ships boat. Hawaiʻi was the island of Paiʻea Kamehameha, later known as Kamehameha the Great. Kamehameha united most of the Hawaiian islands under his rule in 1795, after years of war, and gave the kingdom. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 5,086 square miles. The countys land area comprises 62.7 percent of the land area. It is the highest percentage by any county in the United States, in greatest dimension, the island is 93 miles across and has a land area of 4,028 square miles comprising 62% of the Hawaiian Islands land area. Measured from its sea floor base to its highest peak, Mauna Kea is the worlds tallest mountain, taller than Mount Everest is, the Island of Hawaiʻi is built from five separate shield volcanoes that erupted somewhat sequentially, one overlapping the other. Geologists now consider these outcrops to be part of the building of Mauna Loa. Another volcano which has disappeared below the surface of the ocean is Māhukona. Because Mauna Loa and Kīlauea are active volcanoes, the island of Hawaii is still growing, between January 1983 and September 2002, lava flows added 543 acres to the island. Lava flowing from Kīlauea has destroyed several towns, including Kapoho in 1960, in 1987 lava filled in Queens Bath, a large, L-shaped, freshwater pool in the Kalapana area
18.
Monarch flycatcher
–
The monarchs comprise a family of over 100 passerine birds which includes shrikebills, paradise flycatchers, and magpie-larks. Monarchids are small songbirds with long tails. They inhabit forest or woodland across sub-Saharan Africa, south-east Asia, Australasia, many species decorate their cup-shaped nests with lichen. Some of the one hundred or more species making up the family were assigned to other groups. The magpie-lark, for example, was assigned to the family as the white-winged chough. On that basis they were included as a subfamily of the Dicruridae, along with the fantails. More recently, the grouping has been refined somewhat as the concept of Corvida has proven paraphyletic. The narrower Core corvine group now comprises the crows and ravens, shrikes, birds of paradise, fantails, monarchs, drongos, the monarchs are small to medium-sized insectivorous passerines, many of which hunt by flycatching. They are mostly birds and possess broad bills. The bills of some species are large and the heavy-set bills of the shrikebills are used to probe dead wood. The plumage of the ranges from sombre, such as the almost monochrome black monarch, to spectacular. The tails are long and spectacularly so in the paradise flycatchers in the genus Terpsiphone. In some species, for example the Malagasy paradise flycatcher, the males have two or more colour morphs, the monarchs have a mostly Old World distribution. In the western end of their range they are distributed through sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar and they also occur in South and Southeastern Asia, north to Japan, down to New Guinea and most of Australia. The family has managed to reach many Pacific islands, and several endemic genera occur across Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia as far as Hawaii, the other paradise flycatcher genus, Trochocercus, is restricted to Africa. The other exclusively Asian genus is the Hypothymis monarchs, the remaining genera are predominantly found in the Austro-Papuan and Oceania regions. Other Pacific genera are the shrikebills and the Mayrornis monarchs, both of which are found in Melanesia and west Polynesia, and the Pomarea monarchs which are exclusively Polynesian in origin, the majority of the family is found in forest and woodland habitats. Species that live in open woodlands tend to live in the higher levels of the trees but, in denser forest, live in the middle
19.
Canoe
–
A canoe is a lightweight narrow boat, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel using a single-bladed paddle. In International Canoe Federation nomenclature used in some European countries such as the United Kingdom the term refers to kayaks. Canoes are used for racing, whitewater canoeing, touring and camping, freestyle, the intended use of the canoe dictates its hull shape and length and construction material. Historically, canoes were dugouts or made of bark on a wood frame, most modern canoes are made of molded plastic or composites such as fiberglass. Until the mid-1800s the canoe was an important means of transport for exploration and trade, canoeing has been part of the Olympics since 1936. In places where the played a key role in history, such as the northern United States, Canada, and New Zealand. Canoes can be adapted to many purposes, for example with the addition of sails, outboard motors, the word canoe comes from the Carib kenu, via the Spanish canoa. Constructed between 8200 and 7600 BC, and found in the Netherlands, the Pesse canoe may be the oldest known canoe, excavations in Denmark reveal the use of dugouts and paddles during the Ertebølle period. Australian Aboriginal people made canoes using a variety of materials, including bark, the indigenous people of the Amazon commonly used Hymenaea trees. Many indigenous peoples of the Americas built bark canoes and they were usually skinned with birch bark over a light wooden frame, but other types could be used if birch was scarce. At a typical length of 4.3 m and weight of 23 kg, although susceptible to damage from rocks, they are easily repaired. When you reach them you load canoe and baggage upon your shoulders and go overland until the navigation is good, and then you put your canoe back into the water, and embark again. American painter, author and traveler George Catlin wrote that the canoe was the most beautiful. Native American groups of the north Pacific coast made dugout canoes in a number of styles for different purposes, from western red-cedar or yellow-cedar, different styles were required for ocean-going vessels versus river boats, and for whale-hunting versus seal-hunting versus salmon-fishing. The Quinault of Washington State built shovel-nose canoes, with double bows, the Kootenai of British Columbia province made sturgeon-nosed canoes from pine bark, designed to be stable in windy conditions on Kootenay Lake. The first explorer to cross the North American continent, Alexander Mackenzie, used extensively, as did David Thompson. Its dimensions were, length approximately 11 m, beam 1.2 to 1.8 m and it could carry 60 packs weighing 41 kg, and 910 kg of provisions. With a crew of eight or ten, they could make three knots over calm waters, four to six men could portage it, bottom up
20.
Hawaiian honeycreeper
–
Hawaiian honeycreepers are small, passerine birds endemic to Hawaiʻi. They are closely related to the rosefinches in the genus Carpodacus and their great morphological diversity is the result of adaptive radiation in an insular environment. Before the introduction of molecular techniques, the relationship of the Hawaiian honeycreepers to other bird species was controversial. The honeycreepers were sometimes categorized as a family Drepanididae, other authorities considered them a subfamily, Drepanidinae, of Fringillidae, the finch family. The entire group was also called Drepanidini in treatments where buntings and American sparrows are included in the finch family, most recently, the entire group has been subsumed into the finch subfamily Carduelinae. The group is divided into three tribes, but only very provisionally so, several taxa appear to be too basal to really place into one of these, and others are best considered incertae sedis. Some unusual forms never seen alive by scientists, such as Xestospiza or Vangulifer, members of Psittirostrini, known as Hawaiian finches, are granivorous with thick finch-like bills, and songs like those of cardueline finches. The group once covered the islands, finch-billed drepanids include the Laysan finch, the Nihoa finch, the Maui parrotbill and the palila, which may be the last remaining species left alive in this group. Extinct species include the four koa finches, the ʻōʻū, Hemignathini includes the Hawaiʻi creeper and its allies, such as the nukupuʻu. These are generally green-plumaged birds with bills, and feed on nectar. Members of this group usually have green, yellow, orange, red, species in the tribe Drepanidini are nectarivorous, and their songs contain nasal squeaks and whistles. Members of this group often have red black, yellow, white, the male Hawaiian honeycreepers are more brightly colored than the females in the Psittirostrini, but in the Hemignathini, they often look very similar. The flowers of the native ʻōhiʻa lehua are favored by a number of nectarivorous honeycreepers, many species of this subfamily have been noted to have a plumage odor that has been termed the Drepanidine odor, and is suspected to have a role in making the bird distasteful to predators. The term prehistoric indicates species that became extinct between the human settlement of Hawaiʻi and European contact in 1778. Molecular phylogeny of the finches and Hawaiian honeycreepers. Hawaiian Honeycreepers information, including 4 species with videos and 11 with photographs at the Internet Bird Collection
21.
Featherwork
–
Featherwork is the working of feathers into a work of art or cultural artifact. This was especially elaborate among the peoples of Oceania and the Americas, such as the Incas, feathered cloaks and headdresses include the ʻahuʻula capes and mahiole helmets were worn by Hawaiian royalty, many are now on display at the Bishop Museum, and other museums across the world. Kāhili are a type of feathered standard, another symbol of royalty, immediately after the conquest existing objects such as Montezumas headdress, now in Vienna, were admired in the courts of Europe. The Maori of New Zealand used featherwork to construct cloaks for clothing and to decorate kete, coyotlinahual, Aztec patron god of featherworkers The Feather Book of Dionisio Minaggio, a 17th-century Italian book of images made entirely from bird feathers Living the Ancient Hawaiian Way
22.
Hawaiian gallinule
–
The Hawaiian gallinule is an endangered chicken-sized water bird in the rail family. It is a subspecies of the common gallinule that is endemic to the tropical Hawaiian Islands of the north-central Pacific Ocean and it is dependent on freshwater wetland habitats with dense emergent vegetation for nesting. Once found on most of the islands of the Hawaiian archipelago, it has undergone a major population and range decline and is now a resident breeder only on Kauai. Despite being hunted for food, it was mythologised as the keeper of fire in Hawaiian religion and it is likely that the Hawaiian gallinule is descended from stray migrant common gallinules from North America. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of the common moorhen and it is distinguished from other subspecies by a larger frontal shield and a red blush on the front and sides of the tibiotarsus. The Hawaiian gallinule has dark upperparts, black head and neck, dark slate-blue underparts, with mostly white undertail coverts. It has a red frontal shield over a red, yellow-tipped. The long, sturdy legs and long-toed feet are mainly yellowish-green, the body length of the gallinule is about 33 cm. The average body mass of adult birds is 350 g, immature birds are olive- to greyish-brown, with duller pale yellow to brown bills. The gallinule is easily distinguished from the only bird in its range. Its vocalisations have been described as “chicken-like cackling calls and croaks which are louder and higher pitched than the coot’s”, the gallinules are secretive birds, spending much time in dense wetland vegetation. While feeding in the open they will seek cover when disturbed. Despite the lack of webbing or lobes on their toes, the birds are good swimmers and they moult over a period of about 25 days each year, normally between June and September, when they are unable to fly and so more vulnerable to predation. Breeding may occur throughout the year, peaking from March to August, it is affected by water levels, nesting pairs are territorial, with territory size measured at 850–2400 m2. Nests are generally sited inconspicuously within dense vegetation above shallow, standing, the nests are constructed on platforms of flattened or folded vegetation close to the water surface, with flooding being a major cause of nesting failure. Nests are about 26 cm across, with a diameter of 16 cm. Average egg size is 44.1 mm x 31.5 mm. Clutch size is five or six. When the chicks hatch, the adults eat or remove the eggshells from the vicinity of the nest site
23.
Octopus
–
The octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. It has two eyes and four pairs of arms and, like other cephalopods, it is bilaterally symmetric and it has a beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms. It has no internal or external skeleton, allowing it to squeeze through tight places, octopuses are among the most intelligent and behaviorally diverse of all invertebrates. Octopuses inhabit diverse regions of the ocean, including reefs, pelagic waters. They trail their eight arms behind them as they swim, all octopuses are venomous, but only one group, the blue-ringed octopuses, is known to be deadly to humans. Around 300 species are recognized, which is over one-third of the number of known cephalopod species. The term octopus may also be used to specifically to the genus Octopus. Octopuses appear in mythology as sea monsters like the Kraken of Norway and the Akkorokamui of the Ainu, a battle with an octopus appears in Victor Hugos book Toilers of the Sea, inspiring other works such as Ian Flemings Octopussy. Octopuses appear in Japanese erotic art, shunga and they are eaten in many parts of the world, especially the Mediterranean and the Asian seas. The scientific Latin term octopus was derived from Ancient Greek ὀκτώπους, related to the word octopus are the terms Octopoda and the adjectival octopoid. The standard pluralized form of octopus in the English language is octopuses /ˈɒktəpʊsɪz/, the alternative plural octopi – which misguidedly assumes it is a Latin -us-word – is considered grammatically incorrect. It is nevertheless used frequently enough to make it notable, and was acknowledged by the descriptivist Merriam-Webster 11th Collegiate Dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary lists octopuses, octopi, and octopodes, in order, labeling octopodes as rare. The underside of the arms are covered in circular, adhesive suckers, while often called tentacles, the arms of octopuses are often distinguished from the pair of feeding tentacles found in squid and cuttlefish. The bulbous and hollow mantle is fused to the back of the head, Most of the vital organs are contained in the mantle while the central brain is located in the head. The eyes of the octopus are located at the top of the head, anatomical and embryological evidence shows that the tentacles are part of the ventral side, while the abdomen is dorsal, the head forms forms the anterior and the mantle posterior. The mouth of an octopus, located underneath the tentacles, contains a hard beak on the outside and a radula. Both of these structures are made of chitin, Most of the octopus body is made of soft material allowing it to lengthen, contract, and contort itself
24.
Eel
–
An eel is any fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes, which consists of four suborders,20 families,111 genera and about 800 species. The term eel is used for some other similarly shaped fish, such as electric eels and spiny eels. Eels are elongated fish, ranging in length from 5 cm in the eel to 4 m in the slender giant moray. Adults range in weight from 30 g to well over 25 kg and they possess no pelvic fins, and many species also lack pectoral fins. The dorsal and anal fins are fused with the caudal fin, eels swim by generating body waves which travel the length of their bodies. They can swim backwards by reversing the direction of the wave, most eels live in the shallow waters of the ocean and burrow into sand, mud, or amongst rocks. A majority of eel species are nocturnal, thus are rarely seen, sometimes, they are seen living together in holes, or eel pits. Some species of eels live in deeper water on the continental shelves. Only members of the Anguilla regularly inhabit fresh water, but they, too, the heaviest true eel is the European conger. The maximum size of species has been reported as reaching a length of 3 m. Other eels are longer, but do not weigh as much, such as the giant moray which reaches 4 m. Eels begin life as flat and transparent larvae, called leptocephali, Eel larvae drift in the surface waters of the sea, feeding on marine snow, small particles that float in the water. Eel larvae then metamorphose into glass eels and then become elvers before finally seeking out their juvenile, freshwater elvers travel upstream and are forced to climb up obstructions, such as weirs, dam walls, and natural waterfalls. Lady Colin Campbell found, at Ballisodare, the eel fisheries were greatly improved by the hanging of loosely plaited grass ladders over barriers and this classification follows FishBase in dividing the eels into 20 families. Additional families included in other classifications are noted below the family with which they are synomized in the Fish Base system, identifying the origin of the freshwater species has been problematic. Genomic studies indicate they are a group which originated among the deep-sea eels. The electric eel of South America is not a true eel, freshwater eels and marine eels are commonly used in Japanese cuisine, foods such as unadon and unajū are popular, but expensive. Eels are also popular in Chinese cuisine, and are prepared in many different ways
25.
Mouse
–
A mouse is a small rodent characteristically having a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail and a high breeding rate. The best known species is the common house mouse. It is also a popular pet, in some places, certain kinds of field mice are locally common. They are known to invade homes for food and shelter, domestic mice sold as pets often differ substantially in size from the common house mouse. This is attributable both to breeding and to different conditions in the wild, the most well known strain, the white lab mouse, has more uniform traits that are appropriate to its use in research. The American white-footed mouse and the mouse, as well as other common species of mouse-like rodents around the world. These, however, are in other genera, cats, wild dogs, foxes, birds of prey, snakes and even certain kinds of arthropods have been known to prey heavily upon mice. Nevertheless, because of its adaptability to almost any environment. Mice, in contexts, can be considered vermin which are a major source of crop damage, causing structural damage. In North America, breathing dust that has come in contact with mouse excrement has been linked to hantavirus, primarily nocturnal animals, mice compensate for their poor eyesight with a keen sense of hearing, and rely especially on their sense of smell to locate food and avoid predators. Mice build intricate burrows in the wild and these burrows typically have long entrances and are equipped with escape tunnels or routes. In at least one species, the design of a burrow is a genetic trait. Breeding onset is at about 50 days of age in females and males, although females may have their first estrus at 25–40 days. Mice are polyestrous and breed year round, ovulation is spontaneous, the duration of the estrous cycle is 4–5 days and estrus itself lasts about 12 hours, occurring in the evening. Vaginal smears are useful in timed matings to determine the stage of the estrous cycle, mating is usually nocturnal and may be confirmed by the presence of a copulatory plug in the vagina up to 24 hours post-copulation. The presence of sperm on a smear is also a reliable indicator of mating. Female mice housed together tend to go into anestrus and do not cycle, if exposed to a male mouse or the pheromones of a male mouse, most of the females will go into estrus in about 72 hours. This synchronization of the cycle is known as the Whitten effect
26.
Rat
–
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. True rats are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, many members of other rodent genera and families are also referred to as rats, and share many characteristics with true rats. Rats are typically distinguished from mice by their size, generally, when someone discovers a large muroid rodent, its common name includes the term rat, while if it is smaller, the name includes the term mouse. The muroid family is broad and complex, and the common terms rat, scientifically, the terms are not confined to members of the Rattus and Mus genera, for example, the pack rat and cotton mouse. The best-known rat species are the black rat and the brown rat, the group is generally known as the Old World rats or true rats, and originated in Asia. Rats are bigger than most Old World mice, which are their relatives, the term rat is also used in the names of other small mammals which are not true rats. Examples include the North American pack rats, a number of species loosely called kangaroo rats, Rats such as the bandicoot rat are murine rodents related to true rats, but are not members of the genus Rattus. Male rats are called bucks, unmated females are called does, pregnant or parent females are called dams, a group of rats is referred to as a mischief. The common species are opportunistic survivors and often live with and near humans, therefore and they may cause substantial food losses, especially in developing countries. However, the distributed and problematic commensal species of rats are a minority in this diverse genus. Many species of rats are island endemics and some have become endangered due to loss or competition with the brown. Wild rodents, including rats, can carry many different zoonotic pathogens, such as Leptospira, Toxoplasma gondii, another zoonotic disease linked to the rat is the foot-and-mouth disease. The average lifespan of any given rat depends on species is being discussed. The black and brown rats diverged from other Old World rats during the beginning of the Pleistocene in the forests of Asia, specially bred rats have been kept as pets at least since the late 19th century. Pet rats are typically variants of the brown rat, but black rats. Pet rats behave differently from their wild counterparts depending on how many generations they have kept as pets. Pet rats do not pose any more of a risk than pets such as cats or dogs. Tamed rats are generally friendly and can be taught to perform selected behaviors, in 1895, Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts established a population of domestic albino brown rats to study the effects of diet and for other physiological studies
27.
Dog
–
The domestic dog is a member of genus Canis that forms part of the wolf-like canids, and is the most widely abundant carnivore. The dog and the extant gray wolf are sister taxa, with modern wolves not closely related to the wolves that were first domesticated, the dog was the first domesticated species and has been selectively bred over millennia for various behaviors, sensory capabilities, and physical attributes. Their long association with humans has led dogs to be attuned to human behavior. Dogs vary widely in shape, size and colours, dogs perform many roles for people, such as hunting, herding, pulling loads, protection, assisting police and military, companionship and, more recently, aiding handicapped individuals. This influence on society has given them the sobriquet mans best friend. The term domestic dog is used for both domesticated and feral varieties. The English word dog comes from Middle English dogge, from Old English docga, the term may possibly derive from Proto-Germanic *dukkōn, represented in Old English finger-docce. The word also shows the familiar petname diminutive -ga also seen in frogga frog, picga pig, stagga stag, wicga beetle, worm, the term dog may ultimately derive from the earliest layer of Proto-Indo-European vocabulary. In 14th-century England, hound was the word for all domestic canines, and dog referred to a subtype of hound. It is believed this dog type was so common, it became the prototype of the category hound. By the 16th century, dog had become the general word, the word hound is ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *kwon-, dog. This semantic shift may be compared with in German, where the corresponding words Dogge, a male canine is referred to as a dog, while a female is called a bitch. The father of a litter is called the sire, and the mother is called the dam, the process of birth is whelping, from the Old English word hwelp, the modern English word whelp is an alternate term for puppy. A litter refers to the offspring at one birth which are called puppies or pups from the French poupée, doll. The term dog typically is applied both to the species as a whole, and any male member of the same. An adult female is a bitch, in some countries, especially in North America, dog is used instead due to the vulgar connotation of bitch. An adult male capable of reproduction is a stud, an adult female capable of reproduction is a brood bitch, or brood mother. Immature males or females are pups or puppies, a group of pups from the same gestation period is a litter
28.
Caterpillar
–
Caterpillars /ˈkætərˌpɪlər/ are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera. As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, caterpillars of most species are herbivorous, but not all, some are insectivorous, even cannibalistic. Some feed on other products, for example clothes moths feed on wool. Caterpillars as a rule are voracious feeders and many of them are among the most serious of agricultural pests. In fact many moth species are best known in their caterpillar stages because of the damage cause to fruits and other agricultural produce, whereas the moths are obscure. Conversely, various species of caterpillar are valued as sources of silk, as human or animal food, the origins of the word caterpillar date from the early 16th century. They derive from Middle English catirpel, catirpeller, probably an alteration of Old North French catepelose, cate, cat + pelose, caterpillars have soft bodies that can grow rapidly between moults. Only the head capsule is hardened, the mandibles are tough and sharp for chewing leaves. Behind the mandibles of the caterpillar are the spinnerets, for manipulating silk, antennae are present on either side of the labrum, but small and relatively inconspicuous. Some larvae of the Hymenoptera order can appear like the caterpillars of the Lepidoptera, such larvae are mainly seen in the sawfly family. Caterpillars can be confused with the larvae of sawflies, lepidopteran larvae can be differentiated by, the numbers of pairs of pro-legs, sawfly larvae have 6 while caterpillars have up to 5 pairs. The number of stemmata, the larvae have only two, while a caterpillar has six. The presence of crochets on the prolegs, these are absent in the Symphyta, sawfly larvae have an invariably smooth head capsule with no cleavage lines, while lepidopterous caterpillars bear an inverted Y or V. Many animals feed on caterpillars as they are rich in protein, as a result, caterpillars have evolved various means of defense. The appearance of a caterpillar can often repel a predator, its markings and certain body parts can make it seem poisonous, or bigger in size and thus threatening, some types of caterpillars are indeed poisonous. Caterpillars have evolved defenses against physical conditions such as cold, hot or dry environmental conditions, some Arctic species like Gynaephora groenlandica have special basking and aggregation behaviours apart from physiological adaptations to remain in a dormant state. Many caterpillars are cryptically colored and resemble the plants on which they feed and they may even have parts that mimic plant parts such as thorns. Their size varies from as little as 1 mm to about 75 millimetres, some look like objects in the environment such as bird droppings
29.
Rock (geology)
–
Rock or stone is a natural substance, a solid aggregate of one or more minerals or mineraloids. For example, granite, a rock, is a combination of the minerals quartz, feldspar. The Earths outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock, rock has been used by mankind throughout history. The minerals and metals found in rocks have been essential to human civilization, three major groups of rocks are defined, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. The scientific study of rocks is called petrology, which is a component of geology. At a granular level, rocks are composed of grains of minerals, the aggregate minerals forming the rock are held together by chemical bonds. The types and abundance of minerals in a rock are determined by the manner in which the rock was formed, many rocks contain silica, a compound of silicon and oxygen that forms 74. 3% of the Earths crust. This material forms crystals with other compounds in the rock, the proportion of silica in rocks and minerals is a major factor in determining their name and properties. Rocks are geologically classified according to such as mineral and chemical composition, permeability, the texture of the constituent particles. These physical properties are the end result of the processes that formed the rocks, over the course of time, rocks can transform from one type into another, as described by the geological model called the rock cycle. These events produce three general classes of rock, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic, the three classes of rocks are subdivided into many groups. However, there are no hard and fast boundaries between allied rocks, hence the definitions adopted in establishing rock nomenclature merely correspond to more or less arbitrary selected points in a continuously graduated series. Igneous rock forms through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava and this magma can be derived from partial melts of pre-existing rocks in either a planets mantle or crust. Typically, the melting of rocks is caused by one or more of three processes, an increase in temperature, a decrease in pressure, or a change in composition, igneous rocks are divided into two main categories, plutonic rock and volcanic. Plutonic or intrusive rocks result when magma cools and crystallizes slowly within the Earths crust, a common example of this type is granite. Volcanic or extrusive rocks result from magma reaching the surface either as lava or fragmental ejecta, the chemical abundance and the rate of cooling of magma typically forms a sequence known as Bowens reaction series. Most major igneous rocks are found along this scale, about 64. 7% of the Earths crust by volume consists of igneous rocks, making it the most plentiful category. Of these, 66% are basalts and gabbros, 16% are granite, only 0. 6% are syenites and 0. 3% peridotites and dunites
30.
Cowry
–
Cowry or cowrie, plural cowries, is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. The word cowry is also used to refer only to the shells of these snails. Many people throughout history have found the very rounded, shiny, porcelain-like shells of cowries pleasing to look at, indeed, the term porcelain derives from the old Italian term for the cowrie shell due to their similar translucent appearance. The cowry was the shell most widely used worldwide as shell money, cowry shell money was important at one time or another in the trade networks of Africa, South Asia, and East Asia. Some species in the family Ovulidae are also referred to as cowries. In the British Isles the local Trivia species are sometimes called cowries, the Ovulidae and the Triviidae are somewhat closely related to Cypraeidae. The shells of cowries are usually smooth and shiny and more or less egg-shaped, with a flat surface which shows a long, narrow, slit-like opening. The narrower end of the cowry shell is the anterior end. The spire of the shell is not visible in the shell of most species, but is visible in juveniles. Nearly all cowries have a porcelain-like shine, with exceptions such as Hawaiis granulated cowry. Lengths range from 5 mm for some species up to 19 cm for the Atlantic deer cowry, the word cowrie comes from Hindi कौड़ी and ultimately from Sanskrit कपर्द. Cowry shells, especially Monetaria moneta, were used for centuries as currency in Africa, after the 1500s, however, it became even more common. Western nations, chiefly through the trade, introduced huge amounts of Maldivian cowries in Africa. The Ghanaian unit of currency known as the Ghanaian cedi was named after cowry shells, starting over three thousand years ago, cowry shells, or copies of the shells, were used as Chinese currency. They were also used as means of exchange in India, the Classical Chinese character for money originated as a stylized drawing of a Maldivian cowrie shell. Words and characters concerning money, property or wealth usually have this as a radical, before the Spring and Autumn period the cowrie was used as a type of trade token awarding access to a feudal lords resources to a worthy vassal. There is some debate about how the Ojibway traded for or found these shells, so far inland and so far north, oral stories and birch bark scrolls seem to indicate that the shells were found in the ground, or washed up on the shores of lakes or rivers. Petroforms in the Whiteshell Provincial Park may be as old as 8,000 years, cowry shells are also worn as jewelry or otherwise used as ornaments or charms
31.
Plant
–
Plants are mainly multicellular, predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. The term is generally limited to the green plants, which form an unranked clade Viridiplantae. This includes the plants, conifers and other gymnosperms, ferns, clubmosses, hornworts, liverworts, mosses and the green algae. Green plants have cell walls containing cellulose and obtain most of their energy from sunlight via photosynthesis by primary chloroplasts and their chloroplasts contain chlorophylls a and b, which gives them their green color. Some plants are parasitic and have lost the ability to produce amounts of chlorophyll or to photosynthesize. Plants are characterized by sexual reproduction and alternation of generations, although reproduction is also common. There are about 300–315 thousand species of plants, of which the great majority, green plants provide most of the worlds molecular oxygen and are the basis of most of Earths ecologies, especially on land. Plants that produce grains, fruits and vegetables form humankinds basic foodstuffs, Plants play many roles in culture. They are used as ornaments and, until recently and in variety, they have served as the source of most medicines. The scientific study of plants is known as botany, a branch of biology, Plants are one of the two groups into which all living things were traditionally divided, the other is animals. The division goes back at least as far as Aristotle, who distinguished between plants, which generally do not move, and animals, which often are mobile to catch their food. Much later, when Linnaeus created the basis of the system of scientific classification. Since then, it has become clear that the plant kingdom as originally defined included several unrelated groups, however, these organisms are still often considered plants, particularly in popular contexts. When the name Plantae or plant is applied to a group of organisms or taxon. The evolutionary history of plants is not yet settled. Those which have been called plants are in bold, the way in which the groups of green algae are combined and named varies considerably between authors. Algae comprise several different groups of organisms which produce energy through photosynthesis, most conspicuous among the algae are the seaweeds, multicellular algae that may roughly resemble land plants, but are classified among the brown, red and green algae. Each of these groups also includes various microscopic and single-celled organisms
32.
International Standard Book Number
–
The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
