1.
Balaur bondoc
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Balaur bondoc is a species of theropod dinosaur which lived in what is now Romania during the late Cretaceous period. It is the species of the monotypic genus Balaur which was described by scientists in August 2010, and was named after the balaur. The specific name bondoc means stocky, so Balaur bondoc means stocky dragon in Romanian and this name refers to the greater musculature that Balaur had compared to its relatives. The genus is known from two partial skeletons including the type specimen, as with other dinosaurs from Hațeg, such as Magyarosaurus, a dwarf sauropod, its strange features have been argued to show the effects of its island habitat on its evolution. Balaur is a genus of theropod dinosaurs estimated to have lived about 70 million years ago in the late Cretaceous, the bones of this species were shorter and heavier than those of other basal paravians. In addition to its feet, the type specimen of Balaur is unique for its status of being the most complete theropod fossil from the late Cretaceous of Europe. It also possesses a number of additional autapomorphies, including a reduced and presumably nonfunctional third finger. The partial skeleton was collected from the red floodplain mudstone of the Sebeș Formation of Romania and it consists of a variety of vertebrae, as well as much of pectoral and pelvic girdles, and a large part of the limbs. It is the first reasonably complete and well-preserved theropod from the Late Cretaceous of Europe and it is similar in size to Velociraptor, with Balaurs recovered skeletal elements suggesting an overall length of around 1. 8–2.1 metres. Balaur had re-evolved a functional first toe used to support its weight and it had short and stocky feet and legs, and large muscle attachment areas on the pelvis which indicate that it was adapted for strength rather than speed. Csiki et al. describe this novel body plan as a example of aberrant morphology developed in island-dwelling taxa. The stocky feet are exemplified by the length of the metatarsus being only two times its width and it is 1.5 times wider than the lower leg. Both traits are unique in the Theropoda, the skeleton of Balaur also shows extensive fusion of limb bones. Wrist bones and the metacarpals are fused into a carpometacarpus, the shinbone, calf bone and the upper ankle bones have been fused into a tibiotarsus and the lower ankle bones and the metatarsals into a tarsometatarsus. The degree of fusion is typical for the Avialae, the branch of the birds. The first small bones belonging to Balaur bondoc consisted of six elements of the front limbs, later it received the holotype inventory number EME VP.313. The discovery was made by the geologist and paleontologist Mátyás Vremir of the Transylvanian Museum Society of Cluj Napoca who sent them for analysis to Zoltán Csiki of the University of Bucharest. The findings were described on August 31,2010, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the 1997 specimens indicate an individual about 45% longer than the holotype, they were also found in a younger stratum
2.
European dragon
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European dragons are legendary creatures in folklore and mythology among the overlapping cultures of Europe. Some depictions show dragons with feathered wings, crests, ear frills, fiery manes, ivory spikes running down its spine, others have no legs or multiple heads. In folktales, dragons blood often contains magical properties, keeping them alive for longer or giving them magical power, for example, in the opera Siegfried, dragons blood allows Siegfried to understand the language of the Forest Bird. The typical dragon protects a cavern or castle filled with gold, an evil dragon is often associated with a great hero who tries to slay it, and a good one is said to give wise advice. Though a winged creature, the dragon is generally to be found in its underground lair, possibly, the dragons of European and Mid-Eastern mythology stem from the cult of snakes found in religions throughout the world. Dragon is derived from the Latin word draco, as in the constellation, Draco, roman dragons evolved from serpentine Greek ones, combined with the dragons of the Near East, in the mix that characterized the hybrid Greek/Eastern Hellenistic culture. From Babylon, the muš-ḫuššu was a representation of a Near Eastern dragon. Johns Book of Revelation—Greek literature, not Roman—describes Satan as a dragon, flaming red, with seven heads. Much of Johns literary inspiration is late Hebrew and Greek, with the jaws facing into the wind, the silken body inflated and rippled, resembling a windsock. Several vague incarnations of evil in the Old Testament were given the translation draco in Jeromes Vulgate, to changes in meaning. Dragons in Greek mythology often guard treasure such as Ladon, a hundred headed dragon which guarded the tree of Herdias until he was slain by Heracles, likewise Python guarded the oracle of Delphi until he was likewise slain by Apollo out of revenge for Python tormenting his mother. The Lerneaen Hydra, a multiple headed serpentine swamp monster is said to be a dragon, being killed by Heracles later, but the matter if hes a true dragon or not is still over controversy. Dragons are usually shown in modern times with a body like a huge lizard and this traces back to the continental dragon, commonly referred to as a fire-breathing dragon. The continental, like many other European dragons, has bat-like wings growing from its back and it has been speculated that accounts of spitting cobras may be the origin of the myths of continental dragons. In Western folklore, dragons are usually portrayed as evil, with the mainly in Asturian and Welsh folklore. This is in contrast to Asian dragons, who are depicted as more benevolent creatures. In the modern period, the European dragon is depicted as a huge fire-breathing, scaly and horned lizard-like creature, with wings. It is sometimes shown with feathered wings, crests, fiery manes, ivory spikes running down its spine, Dragons blood often has magical properties, for example, in the opera Siegfried it let Siegfried understand the language of the Forest Bird
3.
Polycephaly
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Polycephaly is the condition of having more than one head. The term is derived from the Greek stems poly meaning many, a polycephalic organism may be thought of as one being with a supernumerary body part, or as two or more beings with a shared body. Two-headed animals and three-headed animals are the type of multi-headed creatures seen in the real world. In humans, there are two different forms of twinning that can lead to two heads being supported by a single torso, in dicephalus parapagus dipus, the two heads are side by side. In craniopagus parasiticus, the two heads are joined directly to other, but only one head has a functional torso. Survival to adulthood is rare, but does occur in forms of dicephalus parapagus dipus. There are many occurrences of multi-headed animals in mythology, in heraldry and vexillology, the double-headed eagle is a common symbol, though no such animal is known to have ever existed. Two-headed people and animals, though rare, have long known to exist. In humans, as in animals, partial twinning can result in formation of two heads supported by a single torso. Two different ways this can happen are dicephalus parapagus, where there are two side by side, and craniopagus parasiticus, where the heads are joined directly. In dicephalus parapagus dipus, the two heads are side by side, on a torso with two legs, with varying levels of twinning of organs and structures within the torso, the shared body may have four arms altogether, or three arms, or two arms only. There are Greek-based medical terms for the variations, e. g. dibrachius means two-armed, both heads may contain a fully formed brain, or one may be anencephalic. If carried to term, dicephalus parapagus twins are usually stillborn, survival to adulthood does however occasionally occur in cases where the twins are born with three to four arms. Chances of survival are improved if two complete hearts are present, separation surgery is contraindicated, except in cases where one of the twins is clearly dying. Giacomo and Giovanni Battista Tocci, were dicephalus parapagus dipus twins who survived to adulthood, each had his own pair of arms. They learned to speak several languages, but never learned to walk, Abigail and Brittany Hensel, born in 1990, are another instance of dicephalus parapagus dipus twins who grew up. They were born with two arms, plus a vestigial third arm, which was surgically removed. Each twin has her own head, heart and spine
4.
Wallachia
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Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians, Wallachia is traditionally divided into two sections, Muntenia and Oltenia. Wallachia as a whole is referred to as Muntenia through identification with the larger of the two traditional sections. In 1417, Wallachia accepted the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire, in 1859, Wallachia united with Moldavia to form the United Principalities, which adopted the name Romania in 1866 and officially became the Kingdom of Romania in 1881. In the Early Middle Ages, in Slavonic texts, the name of Zemli Ungro-Vlahiskoi was also used as a designation for its location, official designations of the state were Muntenia and Țara Românească. The traditional Hungarian name for Wallachia is Havasalföld, or literally Snowy Lowlands, in Ottoman Turkish, the term Eflâk Prensliği, or simply Eflâk افلاق, appears. Mavrovlachi is another name of the Balkan Vlachs or Aromanians, both names could come from a confusion, Kara Iflak, the Turkish name of Wallachia, means land of Wallachians, but later kara was misconstrued as kara. Later, the Turks renamed Moldavia and Wallachia as Kara Iflak and Ak Iflak according to the Turkish cardinal points symbolism, north is symbolized by black, and west is symbolized by white. Ardeal/Erdel was the name of Transylvania, and Kara Iflak, Northern Wallachia was either Wallachia, north of the Balkan territories inhabited by Vlachs, the second explanation is typologically better. In the Second Dacian War western Oltenia became part of the Roman province of Dacia, the Roman limes was initially built along the Olt River, before being moved slightly to the east in the 2nd century—during which time it stretched from the Danube up to Rucăr in the Carpathians. The Roman line fell back to the Olt in 245 and, in 271, in 328, the Romans built a bridge between Sucidava and Oescus which indicates that there was a significant trade with the peoples north of the Danube. A short period of Roman rule in the area is attested under Emperor Constantine I, the period of Goth rule ended when the Huns arrived in the Pannonian Plain and, under Attila, attacked and destroyed some 170 settlements on both sides of the Danube. Wallachia was under the control of the First Bulgarian Empire from its establishment in 681, in 1241, during the Mongol invasion of Europe, Cuman domination was ended—a direct Mongol rule over Wallachia was not attested, but it remains probable. His successor was his brother Bărbat.1334, Basarab was succeeded by Nicolae Alexandru, followed by Vladislav I. Under Radu I and his successor Dan I, the realms in Transylvania, as the entire Balkan Peninsula became an integral part of the growing Ottoman Empire, Wallachia became engaged in frequent confrontations in the final years of Mircea the Elders reign. Mircea initially defeated the Ottomans in several battles, driving away from Dobruja and briefly extending his rule to the Danube Delta, Dobruja. He swung between alliances with Sigismund of Hungary and Jagiellon Poland, and accepted a treaty with the Ottomans in 1417, after Mehmed I took control of Turnu Măgurele. The two ports remained part of the Ottoman state, with interruptions, until 1829
5.
Bellerophon
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Bellerophon or Bellerophontes is a hero of Greek mythology. Bellerophon was born at Corinth and was the son of the mortal Eurynome by either her husband Glaucus, one possible etymology that has been suggested is, Βελλεροφόντης from βέλεμνον, βελόνη, βέλος and -φόντης from φονεύω. However, Geoffrey Kirk says that Βελλεροφόντης means slayer of Belleros, Belleros could have been a Lycian, a local daimon or a Corinthian nobleman—Bellerophons name clearly invited all sorts of speculation. The Iliad vi. 155–203 contains a narrative told by Bellerophons grandson Glaucus, named for his great-grandfather. Bellerophons father was Glaucus, who was the king of Corinth, Bellerophons grandsons Sarpedon and the younger Glaucus fought in the Trojan War. In the Epitome of pseudo-Apollodorus, a genealogy is given for Chrysaor that would make him a double of Bellerophon, he too is called the son of Glaucus the son of Sisyphus. Chrysaor has no myth save that of his birth, from the neck of Medusa. From this moment we hear no more of Chrysaor, the rest of the tale concerning the stallion only, perhaps also for his brothers sake, by whom in the end he let himself be caught, the immortal horse by his mortal brother. Proetus, by virtue of his kingship, cleansed Bellerophon of his crime, the wife of the king, whether named Anteia or Stheneboea, took a fancy to him, but when he rejected her, she accused Bellerophon of attempting to ravish her. Before opening the tablets, Iobates feasted with Bellerophon for nine days, the Chimera was a fire-breathing monster whose make-up comprised the body of a goat, the head of a lion and the tail being a serpent. This monster had terrorized the nearby countryside, on his way he encountered the famous Corinthian seer Polyeidos who gave him advice about his oncoming battle. Polyeidos told Bellerophon that he would have need of Pegasus, to obtain the services of the untamed winged horse, Polyeidos told Bellerophon to sleep in the temple of Athena. While Bellerophon slept, he dreamed that Athena set a golden bridle beside him, saying Sleepest thou, come, take this charm for the steed and show it to the Tamer thy father as thou makest sacrifice to him of a white bull. It was there when he awoke, Bellerophon had to approach Pegasus while it drank from a well, Polyeidos told him which well—the never-failing Pirene on the citadel of Corinth, the city of Bellerophons birth. Other accounts say that Athena brought Pegasus already tamed and bridled, or that Poseidon the horse-tamer, secretly the father of Bellerophon, brought Pegasus, Bellerophon mounted his steed and flew off to where the Chimera was said to dwell. When he arrived in Lycia, the Chimera was truly ferocious and he felt the heat of the breath the Chimera expelled, and was struck with an idea. He got a block of lead and mounted it on his spear. Then he flew head-on towards the Chimera, holding out the spear as far as he could, before he broke off his attack, he managed to lodge the block of lead inside the Chimeras throat
6.
Serbo-Croatian
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It is a pluricentric language with four mutually intelligible standard varieties. South Slavic dialects historically formed a continuum, the turbulent history of the area, particularly due to expansion of the Ottoman Empire, resulted in a patchwork of dialectal and religious differences. Due to population migrations, Shtokavian became the most widespread in the western Balkans, Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs differ in religion and were historically often part of different cultural circles, although a large part of the nations have lived side by side under foreign overlords. Serbo-Croatian was standardized in the mid-19th-century Vienna Literary Agreement by Croatian and Serbian writers and philologists, from the very beginning, there were slightly different literary Serbian and Croatian standards, although both were based on the same Shtokavian subdialect, Eastern Herzegovinian. In the 20th century, Serbo-Croatian served as the language of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The breakup of Yugoslavia affected language attitudes, so that social conceptions of the language separated on ethnic, since the breakup of Yugoslavia, Bosnian has likewise been established as an official standard in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and there is an ongoing movement to codify a separate Montenegrin standard. Serbo-Croatian thus generally goes by the ethnic names Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, like other South Slavic languages, Serbo-Croatian has a simple phonology, with the common five-vowel system and twenty-five consonants. Its grammar evolved from Common Slavic, with inflection, preserving seven grammatical cases in nouns, pronouns. Verbs exhibit imperfective or perfective aspect, with a complex tense system. Serbo-Croatian is a language with flexible word order, subject–verb–object being the default. It can be written in Serbian Cyrillic or Gajs Latin alphabet, whose thirty letters mutually map one-to-one, throughout the history of the South Slavs, the vernacular, literary, and written languages of the various regions and ethnicities developed and diverged independently. Prior to the 19th century, they were collectively called Illyric, Slavic, at that time, Serb and Croat lands were still part of the Ottoman and Austrian Empires. Officially, the language was called variously Serbo-Croat, Croato-Serbian, Serbian and Croatian, Croatian and Serbian, Serbian or Croatian, Croatian or Serbian, today, use of the term Serbo-Croatian is controversial due to the prejudice that nation and language must match. Old Church Slavonic was adopted as the language of the liturgy and this language was gradually adapted to non-liturgical purposes and became known as the Croatian version of Old Slavonic. The two variants of the language, liturgical and non-liturgical, continued to be a part of the Glagolitic service as late as the middle of the 19th century, the earliest known Croatian Church Slavonic Glagolitic manuscripts are the Glagolita Clozianus and the Vienna Folia from the 11th century. Serbo-Croatian competed with the established literary languages of Latin and Old Slavonic in the west and Persian. Old Slavonic developed into the Serbo-Croatian variant of Church Slavonic between the 12th and 16th centuries, the Baška tablet from the late 11th century was written in Glagolitic. It is a stone tablet found in the small Church of St. Lucy
7.
Maniraptora
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Maniraptora is a clade of coelurosaurian dinosaurs that includes the birds and the non-avian dinosaurs that were more closely related to them than to Ornithomimus velox. It contains the major subgroups Avialae, Deinonychosauria, Oviraptorosauria and Therizinosauria, Ornitholestes and the Alvarezsauroidea are also often included. Together with the next closest sister group, the Ornithomimosauria, Maniraptora comprises the more inclusive clade Maniraptoriformes, maniraptorans first appear in the fossil record during the Jurassic Period, and are regarded as surviving today as living birds. Maniraptorans are characterized by arms and three-fingered hands, as well as a half-moon shaped bone in the wrist. Maniraptorans are the only known to have breast bones. In 2004, Tom Holtz and Halszka Osmólska pointed out six other maniraptoran characters relating to specific details of the skeleton, unlike most other saurischian dinosaurs, which have pubic bones that point forward, several groups of maniraptorans have an ornithischian-like backwards-pointing hip bone. A backward-pointing hip characterizes the therizinosaurs, dromaeosaurids, avialans, modern pennaceous feathers and remiges are known in the advanced maniraptoran group Aviremigia. More primitive maniraptorans, such as therizinosaurs, preserve a combination of simple downy filaments, thus it appears as if some form of feathers or down-like integument would have been present in all maniraptorans, at least when they were young. Maniraptora is the dinosaur group known to include flying members. Powered and/or gliding flight is believed to have present in some types of dromaeosaurid, such as Rahonavis. Zhenyuanlong suni, a dromaeosaurids, was too heavy to fly but still had wings with feathers required for flying, gregory S. Paul has suggested that this might be the case. Paul has gone as far as to propose that Therizinosauria, Alvarezsauroidea, scientists have traditionally assumed that maniraptorans were ancestrally hypercarnivorous, that is, that most non-avialan species primarily ate and hunted only other vertebrates. Most other groups fell somewhere in between the two extremes, with alvarezsaurids and some avialans being insectivorous, and with advanced oviraptorosaurs and troodontids being omnivorous. The Maniraptora was originally named by Jacques Gauthier in 1986, for a clade defined as all dinosaurs closer to modern birds than to the ornithomimids. Gauthier noted that this group could be characterized by their long forelimbs and hands. Most subsequent studies have not followed this definition, however, preferring the earlier branch-based definition, the branch-based definition usually includes the major groups Deinonychosauria, Oviraptorosauria, Therizinosauria, and Aves. Other taxa often found to be maniraptorans include the alvarezsaurs, Ornitholestes, several taxa have been assigned to the Maniraptora more definitively, though their exact placement within the group remains uncertain. These forms include the scansoriopterygids, Pedopenna, and Yixianosaurus, in 1993, Perle and colleagues coined the name Metornithes to include alvarezsaurids and modern birds, which the researchers believed were members of the Avialae
8.
Theropoda
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Theropoda or theropods are a group of saurischian dinosaurs. Theropods were ancestrally carnivorous, although a number of theropod groups evolved herbivory, omnivory, piscivory, in the Jurassic, birds evolved from small specialized coelurosaurian theropods, and are today represented by 10,000 living species. Theropods exhibit a range of diets, from insectivores to herbivores and carnivores. Strict carnivory has always considered the ancestral diet for theropods as a group. However, discoveries in the late 20th and early 21st centuries showed that a variety of diets existed even in more basal lineages, all early finds of theropod fossils showed them to be primarily carnivorous. For example, a Compsognathus longipes fossil was found with a lizard in its stomach, the first confirmed non-carnivorous fossil theropods found were the therizinosaurs, originally known as segnosaurs. First thought to be prosauropods, these enigmatic dinosaurs were later proven to be highly specialized, therizinosaurs possessed large abdomens for processing plant food, and small heads with beaks and leaf-shaped teeth. Further study of maniraptoran theropods and their relationships showed that therizinosaurs were not the early members of this group to abandon carnivory. Several other lineages of early maniraptors show adaptations for an omnivorous diet, oviraptorosaurs, ornithomimosaurs and advanced troodontids were likely omnivorous as well, and some early theropods appear to have specialized in catching fish. Diet is largely deduced by the morphology, tooth marks on bones of the prey. Some theropods, such as Baryonyx, Lourinhanosaurus, ornithomimosaurs, and birds, are known to use gastroliths, the majority of theropod teeth are blade-like, with serration on the edges, called ziphodont. Others are pachydont or phyllodont depending on the shape of the tooth or denticles, the morphology of the teeth is distinct enough to tell the major families apart, which indicate different diet strategies. The folds helped the teeth stay in place longer, especially as theropods evolved into larger sizes and had more force in their bite, Mesozoic theropods were also very diverse in terms of skin texture and covering. Feathers or feather-like structures are attested in most lineages of theropods, however, outside the coelurosaurs, feathers may have been confined to the young, smaller species, or limited parts of the animal. Many larger theropods had skin covered in small, bumpy scales, in some species, these were interspersed with larger scales with bony cores, or osteoderms. This type of skin is best known in the ceratosaur Carnotaurus, the coelurosaur lineages most distant from birds had feathers that were relatively short and composed of simple, possibly branching filaments. Simple filaments are also seen in therizinosaurs, which also possessed large, more fully feathered theropods, such as dromaeosaurs, usually retain scales only on the feet. Some species may have mixed feathers elsewhere on the body as well, scansoriopteryx preserved scales near the underside of the tail, and Juravenator may have been predominantly scaly with some simple filaments interspersed
9.
Lernaean Hydra
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The Lernaean Hydra or Hydra of Lerna, more often known simply as the Hydra, was a serpentine water monster in Greek and Roman mythology. Its lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid, which was also the site of the myth of the Danaids, Lerna was reputed to be an entrance to the Underworld and archaeology has established it as a sacred site older than Mycenaean Argos. In the canonical Hydra myth, the monster is killed by Heracles, more known as Hercules, using sword and fire. According to Hesiod, the Hydra was the offspring of Typhon and it possessed many heads, the exact number of which varies according to the source. Later versions of the Hydra story add a feature to the monster, for every head chopped off. The Hydra had poisonous breath and blood so virulent that even its scent was deadly, the oldest extant Hydra narrative appears in Hesiods Theogony, while the oldest images of the monster are found on a pair of bronze fibulae dating to ca.700 BCE. In both these sources, the motifs of the Hydra myth are already present, a multi-headed serpent that is slain by Heracles. While the fibulae portray a six-headed Hydra, its number of heads was first fixed in writing by Alcaeus, simonides, writing a century later, increased the number to fifty, while Euripides, Virgil and others did not bother to give an exact figure. Heraclitus the paradoxographer rationalized the myth by suggesting that the Hydra would have been a single-headed snake accompanied by its offspring, like the initial number of heads, the monsters capacity to regenerate lost heads varies with time and author. The first mention of this ability of the Hydra occurs with Euripides, palaephatus, Ovid and Diodorus Siculus concur with Euripides, while Servius has the Hydra grow back three heads each time, the Suda does not give a number. Depictions of the dating to ca.500 BCE show it with a double tail as well as multiple heads, suggesting the same regenerative ability at work. The Hydra had many parallels in ancient Near Eastern religions, the constellation is also sometimes associated in Babylonian contexts with Marduks dragon, the Mushhushshu. Eurystheus sent Heracles to slay the Hydra, which Hera had raised just to slay Heracles, upon reaching the swamp near Lake Lerna, where the Hydra dwelt, Heracles covered his mouth and nose with a cloth to protect himself from the poisonous fumes. He shot flaming arrows into the Hydras lair, the spring of Amymone and he then confronted the Hydra, wielding either a harvesting sickle, a sword, or his famed club. The chthonic creatures reaction to this decapitation was botanical, two back, an expression of the hopelessness of such a struggle for any but the hero. The weakness of the Hydra was that it was only if it retained at least one head. The details of the struggle are explicit in the Bibliotheca, realizing that he could not defeat the Hydra in this way and his nephew then came upon the idea of using a firebrand to scorch the neck stumps after each decapitation. Heracles cut off each head and Iolaus cauterized the open stumps, seeing that Heracles was winning the struggle, Hera sent a giant crab to distract him
10.
Sheltopusik
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The sheltopusik, also spelled scheltopusik, also commonly called Pallas glass lizard or the European legless lizard, is a species of large glass lizard found from southern Europe to Central Asia. The common names, sheltopusik and scheltopusik, come from Russian, желтопузик, the sheltopusik was previously included in the genus Ophisaurus, but has been placed in its own genus Pseudopus. It was originally described in 1775 by Peter Simon Pallas as Lacerta apoda, the sheltopusik can reach a length of 135 cm. Small rear legs are visible near the cloaca. Though the legs are barely discernible, the sheltopusik can be distinguished from a snake by its ears, eyelids. Pseudopus apodus inhabits open country, such as grassland or sparsely wooded hills. It consumes arthropods and small mammals, snails and slugs appear to be its favorite prey, which may explain why it is particularly active in wet weather, although it prefers a dry habitat. Due to its size, the sheltopusik tends to respond to harassment by hissing, biting and it is less likely to drop off its tail than some other species that display caudal autotomy. However, these displays of caudal autotomy are responsible for the name glass lizard. The released tail may break into pieces, leading to the myth that the lizard can shatter like glass, in reality, if the tail is lost, it grows back slowly, but is shorter and darker, it may grow back to full length as it grows. Sheltopusiks are frequently available in the pet trade, though rarely captive-bred. They make hardy captives, capable of living up to 50 years, about 10 weeks after mating, the female P. apodus lays about eight eggs which she hides under bark or a stone, and often guards them. The young hatch after 45 –55 days and they average about 15 cm long and usually start to eat after four days. List of reptiles of Italy The Scheltopusik, Pseudopus apodus, Natural History, Glass Lizard - Glass Snake - Legless Lizard. A Field Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Britain and Europe, catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum Natural History). London, Trustees of the British Museum, xiii +497 pp. + Plates I-XXIV. Novi Comentarii Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae 19, 435-454 + Plates IX-X
11.
Aion: Upheaval
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Aion is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game released by NCSOFT. The game combines PvP and PvE in a game environment. As of May 20,2009, Aion had 3.5 million subscribers in Asia, aIONs first major expansion pack was released to North America and Europe on September 7,2010 under the name AION, Assault on Balaurea. On February 29,2012 AION changed publisher in Europe while North American Truly Free launched on April 11,2012 with no restrictions, Aions second major expansion was released in North America on June 26,2013 under the name Aion, Dark Betrayal. Its most recent expansion was launched on July 13,2016 under the name Aion, many of the skills acquired as characters progress may only be performed in a certain order, or chain. Generally the skills located farther along in the chain are more powerful than those at the beginning, the PvPvE gameplay of Aion revolves around battles within the Abyss and Balaurea. Within these zones are fortresses which can be controlled by individual Legions, battle to control these castles involves combat against players of the opposing faction and computer controlled NPCs at the same time, using siege weapons obtained from PvE raid content. Legions in control of a castle are entitled to funding from taxes and players within the faction get specials from NPCs and discounts for travel and vendor items. The game currently does not allow factions to fight against those of their own race, except for casual duels or in the Arena, the participation in PvP is rewarded with Abyss Points in the game. The game ranks players as battles are won against fellow players based on their participation in the Abyss, certain items can be purchased with these points such as high-end armor and weapons. This is referred to as the Abyss Rank system, and there can only be a number of high-ranking players per server. The highest-ranking players compete for the relatively few rank positions available, players of a very high rank are also granted the ability to transform into what is known as a Guardian General, a form that bestows an exceedingly large boost to certain stats. Abyss points are gained by killing other players in combat, higher points are awarded for a kill of a much higher ranked player than for killing an equal or lower ranked player. Abyss Points can also be earned by completing quests and by selling certain items. In 4.5 patch, a new Glory Point system is introduced and it replaced the Abyss Point ranking system, turning Abyss Points into a currency to be spent instead of a factor defines players rank. You can get these points from sieges or pvp and pve instances. Player cant get these points from killing the opposite faction, Glory points arent useable as currency to buy new items, but they do decrease a certain amount daily, and the amount of lost points depends on the players rank. There are six subclasses, and eleven main classes in the game, players start the game by choosing one of the six primary classes, Warrior, Mage, Scout, Priest, Technist or Muse
12.
Railgun
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A railgun is an electromagnetic projectile launcher based on principles similar to those of the homopolar motor. Railguns are being researched as weapons that would use neither explosives nor propellant, the absence of explosive propellants or warheads to store and handle, as well as the low cost of projectiles compared to conventional weaponry come as additional advantages. In addition, many arguments in favor of EM guns revolve around the assumption that greater muzzle velocity is always better. Parametric relationships between range, payload weight, and launch velocity show that this is not an argument for many suggested EM gun applications. In its simplest form, the railgun differs from an electric motor in that no use is made of additional field windings. This basic configuration is formed by a loop of current. These arrangements reduce the current required for a given acceleration, in electric motor terminology, augmented railguns are usually series-wound configurations. The armature may be a part of the projectile, but it may also be configured to accelerate a separate. Solid, metallic sliding conductors are often the form of railgun armature. A plasma armature is formed by an arc of ionised gas that is used to push a solid, a hybrid armature uses a pair of plasma contacts to interface a metallic armature to the gun rails. Solid armatures may also transition into hybrid armatures, typically after a particular velocity threshold is exceeded, a railgun requires a pulsed DC power supply. For potential military applications, railguns are usually of interest because they can achieve much greater muzzle velocities than guns powered by conventional chemical propellants, therefore, typical military railgun designs aim for muzzle velocities in the range of 2000–3500 m/s with muzzle energies of 5–50 MJ. For comparison, 50MJ is equivalent to the energy of a school bus weighing 5 metric tons. However, if the barrel is magnetic, i. e. produces a magnetic field perpendicular to the current flow, another light gas gun, the Combustion Light Gas Gun in a 155 mm prototype form was projected to achieve 2500 m/s with a.70 caliber barrel. Such a development would then convey a military advantage in that the elimination of explosives from any military weapons platform will decrease its vulnerability to enemy fire. In 1918, French inventor Louis Octave Fauchon-Villeplee invented a cannon which is an early form of railgun. He filed for a US patent on 1 April 1919, which was issued in July 1922 as patent no.1,421,435 Electric Apparatus for Propelling Projectiles. In his device, two parallel busbars are connected by the wings of a projectile, and the whole surrounded by a magnetic field
