1.
Taxonomy (biology)
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Taxonomy is the science of defining groups of biological organisms on the basis of shared characteristics and giving names to those groups. The exact definition of taxonomy varies from source to source, but the core of the remains, the conception, naming. There is some disagreement as to whether biological nomenclature is considered a part of taxonomy, the broadest meaning of taxonomy is used here. The word taxonomy was introduced in 1813 by Candolle, in his Théorie élémentaire de la botanique, the term alpha taxonomy is primarily used today to refer to the discipline of finding, describing, and naming taxa, particularly species. In earlier literature, the term had a different meaning, referring to morphological taxonomy, ideals can, it may be said, never be completely realized. They have, however, a value of acting as permanent stimulants. Some of us please ourselves by thinking we are now groping in a beta taxonomy, turrill thus explicitly excludes from alpha taxonomy various areas of study that he includes within taxonomy as a whole, such as ecology, physiology, genetics, and cytology. He further excludes phylogenetic reconstruction from alpha taxonomy, thus, Ernst Mayr in 1968 defined beta taxonomy as the classification of ranks higher than species. This activity is what the term denotes, it is also referred to as beta taxonomy. How species should be defined in a group of organisms gives rise to practical and theoretical problems that are referred to as the species problem. The scientific work of deciding how to define species has been called microtaxonomy, by extension, macrotaxonomy is the study of groups at higher taxonomic ranks, from subgenus and above only, than species. While some descriptions of taxonomic history attempt to date taxonomy to ancient civilizations, earlier works were primarily descriptive, and focused on plants that were useful in agriculture or medicine. There are a number of stages in scientific thinking. Early taxonomy was based on criteria, the so-called artificial systems. Later came systems based on a complete consideration of the characteristics of taxa, referred to as natural systems, such as those of de Jussieu, de Candolle and Bentham. The publication of Charles Darwins Origin of Species led to new ways of thinking about classification based on evolutionary relationships and this was the concept of phyletic systems, from 1883 onwards. This approach was typified by those of Eichler and Engler, the advent of molecular genetics and statistical methodology allowed the creation of the modern era of phylogenetic systems based on cladistics, rather than morphology alone. Taxonomy has been called the worlds oldest profession, and naming and classifying our surroundings has likely been taking place as long as mankind has been able to communicate
2.
Animal
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Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia. The animal kingdom emerged as a clade within Apoikozoa as the group to the choanoflagellates. Animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and independently at some point in their lives and their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later in their lives. All animals are heterotrophs, they must ingest other organisms or their products for sustenance, most known animal phyla appeared in the fossil record as marine species during the Cambrian explosion, about 542 million years ago. Animals can be divided broadly into vertebrates and invertebrates, vertebrates have a backbone or spine, and amount to less than five percent of all described animal species. They include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, the remaining animals are the invertebrates, which lack a backbone. These include molluscs, arthropods, annelids, nematodes, flatworms, cnidarians, ctenophores, the study of animals is called zoology. The word animal comes from the Latin animalis, meaning having breath, the biological definition of the word refers to all members of the kingdom Animalia, encompassing creatures as diverse as sponges, jellyfish, insects, and humans. Aristotle divided the world between animals and plants, and this was followed by Carl Linnaeus, in the first hierarchical classification. In Linnaeuss original scheme, the animals were one of three kingdoms, divided into the classes of Vermes, Insecta, Pisces, Amphibia, Aves, and Mammalia. Since then the last four have all been subsumed into a single phylum, in 1874, Ernst Haeckel divided the animal kingdom into two subkingdoms, Metazoa and Protozoa. The protozoa were later moved to the kingdom Protista, leaving only the metazoa, thus Metazoa is now considered a synonym of Animalia. Animals have several characteristics that set apart from other living things. Animals are eukaryotic and multicellular, which separates them from bacteria and they are heterotrophic, generally digesting food in an internal chamber, which separates them from plants and algae. They are also distinguished from plants, algae, and fungi by lacking cell walls. All animals are motile, if only at life stages. In most animals, embryos pass through a stage, which is a characteristic exclusive to animals. With a few exceptions, most notably the sponges and Placozoa and these include muscles, which are able to contract and control locomotion, and nerve tissues, which send and process signals
3.
Arthropod
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An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda, which includes the insects, arachnids, myriapods, arthropods are characterized by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chitin, often mineralised with calcium carbonate. The arthropod body plan consists of segments, each with a pair of appendages, the rigid cuticle inhibits growth, so arthropods replace it periodically by moulting. Their versatility has enabled them to become the most species-rich members of all guilds in most environments. They have over a million described species, making up more than 80% of all described living species, some of which. Arthropods range in size from the microscopic crustacean Stygotantulus up to the Japanese spider crab, arthropods primary internal cavity is a hemocoel, which accommodates their internal organs, and through which their haemolymph – analogue of blood – circulates, they have open circulatory systems. Like their exteriors, the organs of arthropods are generally built of repeated segments. Their nervous system is ladder-like, with paired ventral nerve cords running through all segments and their heads are formed by fusion of varying numbers of segments, and their brains are formed by fusion of the ganglia of these segments and encircle the esophagus. The respiratory and excretory systems of arthropods vary, depending as much on their environment as on the subphylum to which they belong, arthropods also have a wide range of chemical and mechanical sensors, mostly based on modifications of the many setae that project through their cuticles. Aquatic species use internal or external fertilization. Almost all arthropods lay eggs, but scorpions give birth to live young after the eggs have hatched inside the mother, arthropod hatchlings vary from miniature adults to grubs and caterpillars that lack jointed limbs and eventually undergo a total metamorphosis to produce the adult form. The level of care for hatchlings varies from nonexistent to the prolonged care provided by scorpions. The evolutionary ancestry of arthropods dates back to the Cambrian period, the group is generally regarded as monophyletic, and many analyses support the placement of arthropods with cycloneuralians in a superphylum Ecdysozoa. Overall however, the relationships of Metazoa are not yet well resolved. Likewise, the relationships between various groups are still actively debated. Arthropods contribute to the food supply both directly as food, and more importantly indirectly as pollinators of crops. Some species are known to spread disease to humans, livestock. The word arthropod comes from the Greek ἄρθρον árthron, joint, and πούς pous, i. e. foot or leg, arthropods are invertebrates with segmented bodies and jointed limbs
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Insect
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Insects are a class of hexapod invertebrates within the arthropod phylum that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body, three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and one pair of antennae. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet, including more than a million described species, the number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million, and potentially represent over 90% of the differing animal life forms on Earth. Insects may be found in all environments, although only a small number of species reside in the oceans. The life cycles of insects vary but most hatch from eggs, insect growth is constrained by the inelastic exoskeleton and development involves a series of molts. The immature stages can differ from the adults in structure, habit and habitat, Insects that undergo 3-stage metamorphosis lack a pupal stage and adults develop through a series of nymphal stages. The higher level relationship of the Hexapoda is unclear, fossilized insects of enormous size have been found from the Paleozoic Era, including giant dragonflies with wingspans of 55 to 70 cm. The most diverse insect groups appear to have coevolved with flowering plants, adult insects typically move about by walking, flying or sometimes swimming. As it allows for rapid yet stable movement, many insects adopt a tripedal gait in which they walk with their legs touching the ground in alternating triangles, Insects are the only invertebrates to have evolved flight. Many insects spend at least part of their lives under water, with adaptations that include gills. Some species, such as water striders, are capable of walking on the surface of water, Insects are mostly solitary, but some, such as certain bees, ants and termites, are social and live in large, well-organized colonies. Some insects, such as earwigs, show maternal care, guarding their eggs, Insects can communicate with each other in a variety of ways. Male moths can sense the pheromones of female moths over great distances, other species communicate with sounds, crickets stridulate, or rub their wings together, to attract a mate and repel other males. Lampyridae in the beetle order communicate with light, humans regard certain insects as pests, and attempt to control them using insecticides and a host of other techniques. Some insects damage crops by feeding on sap, leaves or fruits, a few parasitic species are pathogenic. Some insects perform complex ecological roles, blow-flies, for example, help consume carrion, Many other insects are considered ecologically beneficial as predators and a few provide direct economic benefit. Silkworms and bees have been used extensively by humans for the production of silk and honey, in some cultures, people eat the larvae or adults of certain insects. Insect first appears documented in English in 1601 in Hollands translation of Pliny, translations of Aristotles term also form the usual word for insect in Welsh, Serbo-Croatian, Russian, etc. The evolutionary relationship of insects to other animal groups remains unclear, in the Pancrustacea theory, insects, together with Entognatha, Remipedia, and Cephalocarida, make up a natural clade labeled Miracrustacea
5.
Beetle
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Beetles are a group of insects that form the order Coleoptera, in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings is hardened into wing-cases, elytra, the Coleoptera, with about 400,000 species, is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described insects and 25% of all known animal life-forms, new species are discovered frequently. The largest of all families, the Curculionidae with some 70,000 member species and they are found in almost every habitat except the sea and the polar regions. They interact with their ecosystems in several ways, beetles often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. Beetles typically have a hard exoskeleton including the elytra, though some such as the rove beetles have very short elytra while blister beetles have softer elytra. Some, such as, stag beetles have a sexual dimorphism. Many beetles are aposematic, with colours and patterns warning of their toxicity. Many beetles, including those that live in places, have effective camouflage. Beetles are prominent in human culture, from the sacred scarabs of ancient Egypt to beetlewing art and use as pets or fighting insects for entertainment, many beetle groups are brightly and attractively coloured making them objects of collection and decorative displays. Over 300 species are used as food, mostly as larvae, species widely consumed include mealworms, however, the major impact of beetles on human life is as agricultural, forestry, and horticultural pests. Serious pests include the boll weevil of cotton, the Colorado potato beetle, the coconut hispine beetle, most beetles, however, do not cause economic damage and many, such as the lady beetles and dung beetles are beneficial by helping to control insect pests. The name of the order, Coleoptera, comes from the Greek koleopteros, given to the group by Aristotle for their elytra, hardened shield-like forewings, from koleos, sheath. The English name beetle comes from the Old English word bitela, little biter, related to bītan, another Old English name for beetle is ceafor, chafer, used in names such as cockchafer, from the Proto-Germanic *kabraz-. Beetles are by far the largest order of insects, the roughly 400,000 species make up about 40% of all species so far described. The four estimates made use of host-specificity relationships, ratios with other taxa, plant, beetle ratios, and extrapolations based on body size by year of description. The heaviest beetle, indeed the heaviest insect stage, is the larva of the beetle, Goliathus goliatus, which can attain a mass of at least 115 g. Adult male goliath beetles are the heaviest beetle in its stage, weighing 70–100 g. Adult elephant beetles, Megasoma elephas and Megasoma actaeon often reach 50 g and 10 cm, the longest beetle is the Hercules beetle Dynastes hercules, with a maximum overall length of at least 16.7 cm including the very long pronotal horn
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Seta
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In biology, setae /ˈsiːtiː/ are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body and they help, for example, earthworms to attach to the surface and prevent backsliding during peristaltic motion. These hairs are what make it difficult to pull a worm straight from the ground, setae in oligochaetes are largely composed of chitin. They are classified according to the limb to which they are attached, for instance, notosetae are attached to notopodia, crustaceans have mechano- and chemosensory setae. Setae are especially present on the mouthparts of crustaceans and can also be found on grooming limbs, in some cases, setae are modified into scale like structures. Setae on the legs of krill and other small crustaceans help them to gather phytoplankton and it captures them and allows them to be eaten. Insect setae are variously called hairs, macrotrichia, or chaetae and they are unicellular and formed by the outgrowth of a single epidermal cell. They are generally hollow and project through a secondary or accessory cell as it develops, the setal membrane is not cuticularized and movement is possible. This serves to protect the body, the pads on a geckos feet are small hair-like processes that play a role in the animals ability to cling to vertical surfaces. The micrometer-scale setae branch into nanometer-scale projections called spatulae, gekkos seta, According to Kellar Autumn, Two front feet of a tokay gecko can withstand 20.1 N of force parallel to the surface with 227 mm2 of pad area. In mycology, setae refer to dark brown, thick-walled, thorn-like cystidia found in corticioid and poroid fungi in the family Hymenochaetaceae, though mainly microscopic, the setae of some species may be sufficiently prominent to be visible with a hand lens. In botany, seta refers to the supporting the capsule of a moss or liverwort. The seta is part of the sporophyte and has a short foot embedded in the gametophyte on which it is parasitic, setae are not present in all mosses, but in some species they may reach 15 to 20 centimeters in height. In the diatom family Chaetocerotaceae, seta refers to the hairlike outgrowths of the valve and these setae have a different structure than the valve. Such setae may prevent rapid sinking and also protect the cells from grazing, Synthetic setae are a class of synthetic adhesives that detach at will, sometimes called resetable adhesives, yet display substantial stickiness. The development of synthetic materials is a matter of current research. Chaeta Synthetic setae Van der Waals force
7.
Antenna (biology)
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Antennae, sometimes referred to as feelers, are paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods. Antennae are connected to the first one or two segments of the arthropod head and they vary widely in form, but are always made of one or more jointed segments. While they are sensory organs, the exact nature of what they sense. Functions may variously include sensing touch, air motion, heat, vibration, antennae are sometimes modified for other purposes, such as mating, brooding, swimming, and even anchoring the arthropod to a substrate. Larval arthropods have antennae that differ from those of the adult, many crustaceans, for example, have free-swimming larval forms that use their antennae for swimming. Except the chelicerates and proturans, which have none, all non-crustacean arthropods have a pair of antennae. Crustaceans bear two pairs of antennae, the pair attached to the first segment of the head are called primary antennae or antennules. This pair is generally uniramous, but is biramous in crabs and lobsters, the pair attached to the second segment are called secondary antennae or simply antennae. The second antennae are biramous, but many species later evolved uniramous pairs. The second antennae may be reduced, apparently absent, or modified to such an extent that they no longer resemble antennae. The subdivisions of crustacean antennae have many names, including flagellomeres, annuli, articles, the terminal ends of crustacean antennae have two major categorizations, segmented and flagellate. An antenna is considered segmented if each of the annuli is separate from those around it and has individual muscle attachments. Flagellate antennae, on the hand, have muscle attachments only around the base. There are several notable uses of antennae in crustaceans. Many crustaceans have a larval stage called a nauplius, which is characterized by its use of antennae for swimming. Barnacles, a highly modified crustacean, use their antennae to attach to rocks, insects evolved from prehistoric crustaceans, and they have secondary antennae like crustaceans, but not primary antennae. Antennae are the primary olfactory sensors of insects and are accordingly well-equipped with a variety of sensilla. Paired, mobile, and segmented, they are located between the eyes on the forehead, embryologically, they represent the appendages of the second head segment
8.
Arthropod leg
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The arthropod leg is a form of jointed appendage of arthropods, usually used for walking. Homologies of leg segments between groups are difficult to prove and are the source of much argument, some authors posit up to eleven segments per leg for the most recent common ancestor of extant arthropods but modern arthropods have eight or fewer. It has been argued that the ancestral leg need not have been so complex, the appendages of arthropods may be either biramous or uniramous. A uniramous limb comprises a series of segments attached end-to-end. A biramous limb, however, branches into two, and each consists of a series of segments attached end-to-end. The external branch of the appendages of crustaceans is known as the exopod or exopodite, other structures aside from the latter two are termed exites and endites. Exopodites can be distinguished from exites by the possession of internal musculature. The exopodites can sometimes be missing in some groups. The legs of insects and myriapods are uniramous, in crustaceans, the first antennae are uniramous, but the second antennae are biramous, as are the legs in most species. For a time, possession of uniramous limbs was believed to be a shared, derived character and it is now believed that several groups of arthropods evolved uniramous limbs independently from ancestors with biramous limbs, so this taxon is no longer used. The situation is identical in scorpions, but with the addition of a pre-tarsus beyond the tarsus, the claws of the scorpion are not truly legs, but are pedipalps, a different kind of appendage that is also found in spiders and is specialised for predation and mating. In Limulus, there are no metatarsi or pretarsi, leaving six segments per leg, the legs of crustaceans are divided primitively into seven segments, which do not follow the naming system used in the other groups. They are, coxa, basis, ischium, merus, carpus, propodus, in some groups, some of the limb segments may be fused together. The claw of a lobster or crab is formed by the articulation of the dactylus against an outgrowth of the propodus, crustacean limbs also differ in being biramous, whereas all other extant arthropods have uniramous limbs. Myriapods have seven-segmented walking legs, comprising coxa, trochanter, prefemur, femur, tibia, tarsus, myriapod legs show a variety of modifications in different groups. In all centipedes, the first pair of legs is modified into a pair of venomous fangs called forcipules, in most millipedes, one or two pairs of walking legs in adult males are modified into sperm-transferring structures called gonopods. In some millipedes, the first leg pair in males may be reduced to tiny hooks or stubs, insects and their relatives are hexapods, having six legs, connected to the thorax, each with five components. In order from the body they are the coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia, each is a single segment, except the tarsus which can be from three to seven segments, each referred to as a tarsomere
9.
Scarabaeidae
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The family Scarabaeidae as currently defined consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide, often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family is unstable, with numerous competing theories. Many of the subfamilies listed here probably not be recognized very much longer, as they will likely be reduced in status below subfamily rank. Other families have been removed recently, and are universally accepted. Scarabs are stout-bodied beetles, many with bright colours, measuring between 1.5 and 160 mm. They have distinctive, clubbed antennae composed of plates called lamellae that can be compressed into a ball or fanned out like leaves to sense odours, the front legs of many species are broad and adapted for digging. The C-shaped larvae, called grubs, are yellow or white. Most adult beetles are nocturnal, although the flower chafers and many leaf chafers are active during the day, the grubs mostly live underground or under debris, so are not exposed to sunlight. Many scarabs are scavengers that recycle dung, carrion, or decaying plant material, others, such as the Japanese beetle, are devastating agricultural pests. Some of the well-known beetles from the Scarabaeidae are Japanese beetles, dung beetles, June beetles, rose chafers, rhinoceros beetles, Hercules beetles and Goliath beetles. Several members of family have structurally coloured shells which act as left-handed circular polarisers. In Ancient Egypt, the dung beetle now known as Scarabaeus sacer was revered as sacred, scarab artifact Grapevine beetle Dung beetle - Scarabaeidae dung beetles play an important role in temperate and tropical environments RU Ehlers. Current and Future Use of Nematodes in Biocontrol, Practice and Commercial Aspects with Regard to Regulatory Policy Issues, Biocontrol Science and Technology Volume 6, Issue 3,1996
10.
Scavenger
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Scavenging or Saprophagy is both a carnivorous and a herbivorous feeding behavior in which the scavenger feeds on dead animal and plant material present in its habitat. The eating of carrion from the species is referred to as cannibalism. Scavengers play an important role in the ecosystem by consuming the dead animal, decomposers and detritivores complete this process, by consuming the remains left by scavengers. Obligate scavenging is very rare in the kingdom, due to the difficulty of finding enough carrion without expending too much energy. In vertebrates, only vultures and possibly some pterosaurs are obligate scavengers, well-known invertebrate scavengers of animal material include burying beetles and blowflies, which are obligate scavengers, and yellowjackets. Most scavenging animals are facultative scavengers that gain most of their food through other methods, especially predation. Many large carnivores that hunt regularly, such as hyenas, but also animals rarely thought of as scavengers, such as African lions, leopards, jackals and they may also use their size and ferocity to intimidate the original hunters. Scavenger wild dogs and crows frequently exploit roadkill, scavengers of dead plant material include termites that build nests in grasslands and then collect dead plant material for consumption within the nest. The interaction between scavenging animals and humans is today most commonly in suburban settings with animals such as opossums, polecats. In some African towns and villages, scavenging from hyenas is also common, animals which consume feces, such as dung beetles, are referred to as coprovores. Animals that collect particles of dead organic material of both animal and plant origin are referred to as detritivores. In humans, necrophagy is taboo in most societies, many instances have occurred in history, especially in war times, where necrophagy was a survival behavior. In the 1950s, Louis Binford suggested that humans were obtaining meat via scavenging. In 2010, Dennis Bramble and Daniel Lieberman however proposed that humans used long-distance running to hunt, pursuing a single animal until it died of exhaustion. Such behavior has been suggested as an adaptation to ensure a supply that in turn made large brains possible. The eating of meat, a practice known as anthropophagy, is extremely taboo in almost every culture. Scavenger appears as an occupation in the 1911 Census of England and this job title was used to describe someone who cleans the streets and removes refuse, generally a workman employed by the local public health authority. Young people in developing countries revert to scavenging to develop skills in order to operate in hostile economic contexts
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Pollen
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Pollen is a fine to coarse powdery substance comprising pollen grains which are male microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce male gametes. If pollen lands on a compatible pistil or female cone, it germinates, individual pollen grains are small enough to require magnification to see detail. The study of pollen is called palynology and is useful in paleoecology, paleontology, archaeology. Pollen in plants is used for transferring haploid male genetic material from the anther of a flower to the stigma of another in cross-pollination. In a case of self-pollination, this takes place from the anther of a flower to the stigma of the same flower. Pollen itself is not the male gamete, each pollen grain contains vegetative cells and a generative cell. In flowering plants the vegetative tube cell produces the pollen tube, pollen is produced in the microsporangia in the male cone of a conifer or other gymnosperm or in the anthers of an angiosperm flower. Pollen grains come in a variety of shapes, sizes. Pollen grains of pines, firs, and spruces are winged, the smallest pollen grain, that of the forget-me-not, is around 6 µm in diameter. Wind-borne pollen grains can be as large as about 90–100 µm, in angiosperms, during flower development the anther is composed of a mass of cells that appear undifferentiated, except for a partially differentiated dermis. As the flower develops, four groups of cells form within the anther. The fertile sporogenous cells are surrounded by layers of cells that grow into the wall of the pollen sac. Some of the cells grow into nutritive cells that supply nutrition for the microspores that form by meiotic division from the sporogenous cells, in a process called microsporogenesis, four haploid microspores are produced from each diploid sporogenous cell, after meiotic division. After the formation of the four microspores, which are contained by callose walls, the exine is what is preserved in the fossil record. Two basic types of microsporogenesis are recognised, simultaneous and successive, in simultaneous microsporogenesis meiotic steps I and II are completed prior to cytokinesis, whereas in successive microsporogenesis cytokinesis follows. While there may be a continuum with intermediate forms, the type of microsporogenesis has systematic significance, the predominant form amongst the monocots is successive, but there are important exceptions. During microgametogenesis, the unicellular microspores undergo mitosis and develop into mature microgametophytes containing the gametes, in some flowering plants, germination of the pollen grain may begin even before it leaves the microsporangium, with the generative cell forming the two sperm cells. Except in the case of submerged aquatic plants, the mature pollen grain has a double wall
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Dermestes
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Dermestes is a genus of beetles in the family Dermestidae, the skin beetles. The larvae of these feed on dead and dried animal material, including dead bodies, dried meat and fish, and body parts such as bone, hair, skin. They are pests of museums, where they feed on such as dried insects. They may be useful in settings as well, where they are used to clean tissue from skeletons. Some species may play a role in forensic entomology when they are found on human corpses, as of 2013 there are about 92 species
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Mammal
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Mammals are any vertebrates within the class Mammalia, a clade of endothermic amniotes distinguished from reptiles by the possession of a neocortex, hair, three middle ear bones and mammary glands. All female mammals nurse their young with milk, secreted from the mammary glands, Mammals include the largest animals on the planet, the great whales. The basic body type is a quadruped, but some mammals are adapted for life at sea, in the air, in trees. The largest group of mammals, the placentals, have a placenta, Mammals range in size from the 30–40 mm bumblebee bat to the 30-meter blue whale. With the exception of the five species of monotreme, all modern mammals give birth to live young, most mammals, including the six most species-rich orders, belong to the placental group. The largest orders are the rodents, bats and Soricomorpha, the next three biggest orders, depending on the biological classification scheme used, are the Primates, the Cetartiodactyla, and the Carnivora. Living mammals are divided into the Yinotheria and Theriiformes There are around 5450 species of mammal, in some classifications, extant mammals are divided into two subclasses, the Prototheria, that is, the order Monotremata, and the Theria, or the infraclasses Metatheria and Eutheria. The marsupials constitute the group of the Metatheria, and include all living metatherians as well as many extinct ones. Much of the changes reflect the advances of cladistic analysis and molecular genetics, findings from molecular genetics, for example, have prompted adopting new groups, such as the Afrotheria, and abandoning traditional groups, such as the Insectivora. The mammals represent the only living Synapsida, which together with the Sauropsida form the Amniota clade, the early synapsid mammalian ancestors were sphenacodont pelycosaurs, a group that produced the non-mammalian Dimetrodon. At the end of the Carboniferous period, this group diverged from the line that led to todays reptiles. Some mammals are intelligent, with some possessing large brains, self-awareness, Mammals can communicate and vocalize in several different ways, including the production of ultrasound, scent-marking, alarm signals, singing, and echolocation. Mammals can organize themselves into fission-fusion societies, harems, and hierarchies, most mammals are polygynous, but some can be monogamous or polyandrous. They provided, and continue to provide, power for transport and agriculture, as well as commodities such as meat, dairy products, wool. Mammals are hunted or raced for sport, and are used as model organisms in science, Mammals have been depicted in art since Palaeolithic times, and appear in literature, film, mythology, and religion. Defaunation of mammals is primarily driven by anthropogenic factors, such as poaching and habitat destruction, Mammal classification has been through several iterations since Carl Linnaeus initially defined the class. No classification system is accepted, McKenna & Bell and Wilson & Reader provide useful recent compendiums. Though field work gradually made Simpsons classification outdated, it remains the closest thing to a classification of mammals
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Bird
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Birds, a subgroup of Reptiles, are the last living examples of Dinosaurs. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5 cm bee hummingbird to the 2.75 m ostrich. They rank as the class of tetrapods with the most living species, at ten thousand. Birds are the closest living relatives of crocodilians, the fossil record indicates that birds evolved from feathered ancestors within the theropod group of saurischian dinosaurs. True birds first appeared during the Cretaceous period, around 100 million years ago, Birds, especially those in the southern continents, survived this event and then migrated to other parts of the world while diversifying during periods of global cooling. Primitive bird-like dinosaurs that lie outside class Aves proper, in the broader group Avialae, have been found dating back to the mid-Jurassic period, around 170 million years ago. Birds have wings which are more or less developed depending on the species, the digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have evolved for swimming. Many species annually migrate great distances, Birds are social, communicating with visual signals, calls, and bird songs, and participating in such social behaviours as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking, and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of species are socially monogamous, usually for one breeding season at a time, sometimes for years. Other species have breeding systems that are polygynous or, rarely, Birds produce offspring by laying eggs which are fertilised through sexual reproduction. They are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents, most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching. Some birds, such as hens, lay eggs even when not fertilised, songbirds, parrots, and other species are popular as pets. Guano is harvested for use as a fertiliser, Birds prominently figure throughout human culture. About 120–130 species have become extinct due to human activity since the 17th century, human activity threatens about 1,200 bird species with extinction, though efforts are underway to protect them. Recreational birdwatching is an important part of the ecotourism industry, the first classification of birds was developed by Francis Willughby and John Ray in their 1676 volume Ornithologiae. Carl Linnaeus modified that work in 1758 to devise the taxonomic classification system currently in use, Birds are categorised as the biological class Aves in Linnaean taxonomy. Phylogenetic taxonomy places Aves in the dinosaur clade Theropoda, Aves and a sister group, the clade Crocodilia, contain the only living representatives of the reptile clade Archosauria
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Bee
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Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their role in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the European honey bee, for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently considered as a clade Anthophila. There are nearly 20,000 known species of bees in seven to nine recognized families, though many are undescribed and they are found on every continent except Antarctica, in every habitat on the planet that contains insect-pollinated flowering plants. Some species including honey bees, bumblebees, and stingless bees live socially in colonies, Bees are adapted for feeding on nectar and pollen, the former primarily as an energy source and the latter primarily for protein and other nutrients. Most pollen is used as food for larvae, Bee pollination is important both ecologically and commercially, the decline in wild bees has increased the value of pollination by commercially managed hives of honey bees. The most common bees in the Northern Hemisphere are the Halictidae, or sweat bees, vertebrate predators of bees include birds such as bee-eaters, insect predators include beewolves and dragonflies. Human beekeeping or apiculture has been practised for millennia, since at least the times of Ancient Egypt, apart from honey and pollination, honey bees produce beeswax, royal jelly and propolis. Bees have appeared in mythology and folklore, again since ancient times, and they feature in works of literature as varied as Virgils Georgics, Beatrix Potters The Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse, yeatss poem The Lake Isle of Innisfree. Bee larvae are included in the Javanese dish botok tawon, where they are steamed with shredded coconut. The ancestors of bees were wasps in the family Crabronidae, which were predators of other insects. The switch from insect prey to pollen may have resulted from the consumption of insects which were flower visitors and were partially covered with pollen when they were fed to the wasp larvae. This same evolutionary scenario may have occurred within the vespoid wasps, until recently, the oldest non-compression bee fossil had been found in New Jersey amber, Cretotrigona prisca of Cretaceous age, a corbiculate bee. A bee fossil from the early Cretaceous, Melittosphex burmensis, is considered an extinct lineage of pollen-collecting Apoidea sister to the modern bees. Derived features of its place it clearly within the bees. By the Eocene there was considerable diversity among eusocial bee lineages. The highly eusocial corbiculate Apidae appeared roughly 87 Mya, and the Allodapini around 53 Mya, the Colletidae appear as fossils only from the late Oligocene to early Miocene. The Melittidae are known from Palaeomacropis eocenicus in the Early Eocene, the Megachilidae are known from trace fossils from the Middle Eocene. The Andrenidae are known from the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, around 34 Mya, the Halictidae first appear in the Early Eocene with species found in amber
16.
Wasp
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A wasp is any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. The Apocrita have an evolutionary ancestor and form a clade, wasps as a group do not form a clade. The most commonly known wasps, such as jackets and hornets, are in the family Vespidae and are eusocial, living together in a nest with an egg-laying queen. Eusociality is favoured by the unusual system of sex determination in Hymenoptera. However, the majority of species are solitary, with each adult female living and breeding independently. Many of the wasps are parasitoidal, meaning that they raise their young by laying eggs on or in other insects. Unlike true parasites, the larvae eventually kill their hosts. Solitary wasps parasitize almost every pest insect, making wasps valuable in horticulture for biological pest control of such as whitefly in tomatoes. Wasps first appeared in the record in the Jurassic. They are a successful and diverse group of insects with tens of thousands of described species, the largest social wasp is the Asian giant hornet, at up to 5 centimetres in length, among the largest solitary wasps is the giant scoliid of Indonesia, Megascolia procer. Some are predators, whether to feed themselves or to provision their nests, many, notably the cuckoo wasps, are kleptoparasites, laying eggs in the nests of other wasps. The name Wasp has been used for warships and other military equipment. The wasps are a paraphyletic grouping of hundreds of thousands of species, consisting of the narrow-waisted Apocrita without the ants. The Hymenoptera also contain the somewhat wasplike but unwaisted Symphyta, the sawflies, Hymenoptera in the form of Symphyta first appeared in the fossil record in the Lower Triassic. Apocrita, wasps in the sense, appeared in the Jurassic. Fig wasps with modern features first appeared in the Lower Cretaceous of the Crato Formation in Brazil. The Vespidae include the extinct genus Palaeovespa, seven species of which are known from the Eocene rocks of the Florissant fossil beds of Colorado, also found in Baltic amber are crown wasps of the genus Electrostephanus. Wasps are a group, estimated at over a hundred thousand described species around the world
17.
Mantidae
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Mantidae is the largest family of the order Mantodea, commonly known as praying mantises, most are tropical or subtropical. Historically, this was the family in the order. Technically, however, mantid refers only to members of the Mantidae family, many species are found in North America, the three most common being the European Mantis, the Chinese Mantis, and the Carolina Mantis. Of these, only the last is native to the continent - the European, many mantises prey on Polybia occidentalis, a swarm founding wasp. As the wasps leave the nest to forage, the mantises will prey on them, list of mantis genera and species Flower mantis Key to Mantidae Genera Tree of Life - Mantidae Naturess Best Masked Flower Image North American mantids MantisOnline. eu, All about praying mantids
18.
Cereal
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A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain, composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grains are grown in quantities and provide more food energy worldwide than any other type of crop and are therefore staple crops. Edible grains from plant families, such as buckwheat, quinoa. In their natural form, cereals are a source of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, oils. When refined by the removal of the bran and germ, the endosperm is mostly carbohydrate. In some developing nations, grain in the form of rice, wheat, millet, in developed nations, cereal consumption is moderate and varied but still substantial. The word cereal is derived from Ceres, the Roman goddess of harvest, agriculture allowed for the support of an increased population, leading to larger societies and eventually the development of cities. It also created the need for organization of political power, as decisions had to be made regarding labor and harvest allocation and access rights to water. Agriculture bred immobility, as populations settled down for long periods of time, early Neolithic villages show evidence of the development of processing grain. The Levant is the ancient home of the ancestors of wheat, barley and peas, there is evidence of the cultivation of figs in the Jordan Valley as long as 11,300 years ago, and cereal production in Syria approximately 9,000 years ago. During the same period, farmers in China began to farm rice and millet, using man-made floods, fiber crops were domesticated as early as food crops, with China domesticating hemp, cotton being developed independently in Africa and South America, and Western Asia domesticating flax. The first cereal grains were domesticated by early primitive humans, about 8,000 years ago, they were domesticated by ancient farming communities in the Fertile Crescent region. Emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, and barley were three of the so-called Neolithic founder crops in the development of agriculture, around the same time, millets and rices were starting to become domesticated in East Asia. Sorghum and millets were also being domesticated in sub-Saharan West Africa, while each individual species has its own peculiarities, the cultivation of all cereal crops is similar. Most are annual plants, consequently one planting yields one harvest, wheat, rye, triticale, oats, barley, and spelt are the cool-season cereals. These are hardy plants grow well in moderate weather and cease to grow in hot weather. The warm-season cereals are tender and prefer hot weather, barley and rye are the hardiest cereals, able to overwinter in the subarctic and Siberia. Many cool-season cereals are grown in the tropics, however, some are only grown in cooler highlands, where it may be possible to grow multiple crops per year
19.
Forensic entomology
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It is the application and study of insect and other arthropod biology to criminal matters. It also involves the application of the study of arthropods, including insects, arachnids, centipedes, millipedes, Forensic entomology can be divided into three subfields, urban, stored-product and medico-legal/medico-criminal entomology. Historically, there have been accounts of applications for, and experimentation with. The concept of forensic entomology dates back to at least the 13th century, however, only in the last 30 years has forensic entomology been systematically explored as a feasible source for evidence in criminal investigations. Sung Tzu was a Judicial Intendant who lived in China 1188-1251 AD, in 1247 AD Sung Tzu wrote a book entitled Washing Away of Wrongs as a handbook for coroners. In this book Sung Tzu depicts several cases in which he notes on how a person died. He explains in detail on how to examine a corpse both before and after burial and he also explains the process of how to determine a probable cause of death. The main purpose of book was to be used as a guide for other investigators so they could assess the scene of the crime effectively. In 1668, Italian physician Francesco Redi disproved the theory of spontaneous generation, the accepted theory of Redis day claimed that maggots developed spontaneously from rotting meat. In an experiment, he used samples of rotting meat that were fully exposed to the air, partially exposed to the air. Redi showed that both fully and partially exposed rotting meat developed fly maggots, whereas rotting meat that was not exposed to air did not develop maggots. This discovery completely changed the way people viewed the decomposition of organisms and prompted further investigations into insect life cycles, Dr. Louis François Etienne Bergeret was a French hospital physician, and was the first to apply forensic entomology to a case. In a case report published in 1855 he stated a general life cycle for insects, nevertheless, these assumptions led him to the first application of forensic entomology in an estimation of post-mortem interval. His report used forensic entomology as tool to prove his hypothesis on how, the first systematic study in forensic entomology was conducted in 1881 by Hermann Reinhard, a German medical doctor who played a vital role in the history of forensic entomology. He exhumed many bodies and demonstrated that the development of different types of insect species could be tied to buried bodies. Reinhard conducted his first study in east Germany, and collected many Phorid flies from this initial study, reinhards works and studies were used extensively in further forensic entomology studies. In his second book he did work on the theory of predictable waves. By counting numbers of live and dead mites that developed every 15 days and comparing this with his initial count on the infant, in this book he asserted that exposed corpses were subject to eight successional waves, whereas buried corpses were only subject to two waves
20.
Home-stored product entomology
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Home stored product entomology is the study of insects which infest foodstuffs stored in the home. It deals with the prevention, detection and eradication of the pests, the five major categories of insects considered in this article are flour beetles, the drugstore beetle, the sawtoothed grain beetle, the Indian meal moth and fruit flies. This is an important branch of forensic entomology because consumers who find contaminated products may choose to take action against the producers. Suitably qualified entomologists are likely to be able to determine the identity of contaminant species, even when no insects are found and they should also be able to determine whether the foodstuff was contaminated before or after purchase. In the United States, companies are required by the U. S, two different types of beetles are classified as flour beetles, the red flour beetle and the confused flour beetle. Both are similar in physical characteristics and they are flat and oval in shape and usually range around 1/8 inch long. Their exoskeletons are reddish brown with a shiny and smooth texture, the eggs, larvae, and pupae resemble each other closely in physical features, as well. The eggs usually tend to be a color, or at times even colorless. They are very small in size and have an outer covering that causes certain food particles to stick to them. The larvae have six legs, with two pointy projections toward the caudal end, finally, the pupal stage is usually a white or brownish color. The beetle life cycle lasts three years or more, with the larval stage ranging anywhere from 20 to over 100 days. Beetles usually breed in damaged grain, grain dust, high-moisture wheat kernels, the female flour beetle can lay between 300 and 400 eggs during her lifetime. The flour beetles mainly infest grains, including, but not limited to, cereal, corn meal oats, rice, flour and this type of beetle is the most abundant insect pest of flour mills across the United States. Their small size allows them to maneuver through cracks and crevices and get into the home, once they are present in areas with potential food sources, they can infest material such as flour, resulting in a sharp odor or moldy flavor. The red flour beetle is able to fly short distances and the flour beetle is unable to fly. While the confused flour beetle is commonly found in the northern United States. The red flour beetle and the flour beetle are commonly used as a model organisms, to study genetics. The genome of the red flour beetle has been sequenced and this beetle is related to the commonly known cigarette beetle
21.
Natural history museum
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Some museums have public exhibits to share the beauty and wonder of the natural world with the public, these are referred to as public museums. Some museums feature non-natural history collections in addition to their collections, such as ones related to history, art. Renaissance cabinets of curiosities were private collections that typically included exotic specimens of natural history, sometimes faked, the first natural history museum was possibly that of Swiss scholar Conrad Gessner, established in Zürich in the mid-16th century. The Muséum National dHistoire Naturelle, established in Paris in 1635, was the first natural history museum to take the form that would be recognized as a history museum today. Early natural history museums offered limited accessibility, as they were private collections or holdings of scientific societies. The Ashmolean Museum, opened in 1683, was the first natural history museum to grant admission to the general public, see List of natural history museums for examples grouped by country
22.
Violin
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The violin is a wooden string instrument in the violin family. It is the smallest and highest-pitched instrument in the family in regular use, smaller violin-type instruments are known, including the violino piccolo and the kit violin, but these are virtually unused in the 2010s. The violin typically has four strings tuned in fifths, and is most commonly played by drawing a bow across its strings. Violins are important instruments in a variety of musical genres. They are most prominent in the Western classical tradition and in varieties of folk music. They are also used in genres of folk including country music and bluegrass music. Electric violins are used in forms of rock music, further. The violin is sometimes called a fiddle, particularly in Irish traditional music and bluegrass. The violin was first known in 16th-century Italy, with further modifications occurring in the 18th and 19th centuries. In Europe it served as the basis for stringed instruments used in classical music, the viola. According to their reputation, the quality of their sound has defied attempts to explain or equal it, many of these trade instruments were formerly sold by Sears, Roebuck and Co. and other mass merchandisers. A person who makes or repairs violins is called a luthier or violinmaker, the parts of a violin are usually made from different types of wood and on the use of a pickup and an amplifier and speaker). Violins can be strung with gut, Perlon or other synthetic, the earliest stringed instruments were mostly plucked. Similar and variant types were probably disseminated along East-West trading routes from Asia into the Middle East, the first makers of violins probably borrowed from various developments of the Byzantine lira. These included the rebec, the Arabic rebab, the vielle, the earliest pictures of violins, albeit with three strings, are seen in northern Italy around 1530, at around the same time as the words violino and vyollon are seen in Italian and French documents. One of the earliest explicit descriptions of the instrument, including its tuning, is from the Epitome musical by Jambe de Fer, by this time, the violin had already begun to spread throughout Europe. The violin proved very popular, both among street musicians and the nobility, the French king Charles IX ordered Andrea Amati to construct 24 violins for him in 1560, one of these noble instruments, the Charles IX, is the oldest surviving violin. The Messiah or Le Messie made by Antonio Stradivari in 1716 remains pristine and it is now located in the Ashmolean Museum of Oxford
23.
Bow (music)
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In music, a bow is a tensioned stick with hair affixed to it which is moved across some part of a musical instrument causing vibration, which the instrument emits as sound. The vast majority of bows are used with string instruments, such as the violin, although some bows are used with musical saws and other bowed idiophones. A bow consists of a specially shaped stick with other material forming a ribbon stretched between its ends, which is used to stroke the string and create sound, different musical cultures have adopted various designs for the bow. For instance, in some bows a single cord is stretched between the ends of the stick, in the Western tradition of bow making—bows for the instruments of the violin and viol families—a hank of horsehair is normally employed. The manufacture of bows is considered a craft, and well-made bows command high prices. Part of the bow makers skill is the ability to high quality material for the stick. Historically, Western bows have been made of wood from Brazil. Carbon fiber bows have become popular, and some of the better carbon fiber bows are now comparable to fine pernambuco sticks. For the frog, which holds and adjusts the near end of the horsehair, ebony is most often used, but other materials, often decorative, were used as well, such as ivory and tortoiseshell. Materials such as mother of pearl or abalone shell are used on the slide which covers the mortise. Sometimes Parisian eyes are used, with the circle of shell surrounded by a metal ring, near the frog is the grip, which is made of a wire, silk, or whalebone wrap and a thumb cushion made of leather or snakeskin. The tip plate of the bow may be made of bone, ivory, mammoth ivory, or metal, a bow maker or archetier typically uses between 150 and 200 hairs from the tail of a horse for a violin bow. Bows for other members of the family typically have a wider ribbon. There is a widely held belief among string players, neither proven nor disproven scientifically, lower quality bows often use nylon or synthetic hair. Rosin, or colophony, a hard, sticky substance made from resin, is applied to the bow hair to increase friction. In making a bow, the greater part of the woodworking is done on a straight stick. According to James McKean, the bow maker graduates the stick in precise gradations so that it is evenly flexible throughout and these gradations were originally calculated by François Tourte, discussed below. In order to shape the curve or camber of the bow stick, the maker carefully heats the stick in an alcohol flame, a metal or wooden template is used to get the models exact curve and shape while heating
24.
Larva
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A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a phase of their life cycle. The larvas appearance is very different from the adult form. A larva often has unique structures and organs that do not occur in the adult form and their diet may also be considerably different. Larvae are frequently adapted to separate from adults. For example, some such as tadpoles live almost exclusively in aquatic environments. By living in an environment, larvae may be given shelter from predators. Animals in the stage will consume food to fuel their transition into the adult form. In some species like barnacles, adults are immobile but their larvae are mobile, some larvae are dependent on adults to feed them. In many eusocial Hymenoptera species, the larvae are fed by female workers, in Ropalidia marginata the males are also capable of feeding larvae but they are much less efficient, spending more time and getting less food to the larvae. The larvae of species can become pubescent and do not develop further into the adult form. This is a type of neoteny and it is a misunderstanding that the larval form always reflects the groups evolutionary history. This could be the case, but often the stage has evolved secondarily. In these cases the form may differ more than the adult form from the groups common origin. Within Insects, only Endopterygotes show different types of larvae, several classifications have been suggested by many entomologists, and following classification is based on Antonio Berlese classification in 1913. There are four types of endopterygote larvae types, Apodous larvae - no legs at all and are poorly sclerotized. Based on sclerotization, three forms are recognized. Eucephalous - with well sclerotized head capsule, found in Nematocera, Buprestidae and Cerambycidae families
25.
Human
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Modern humans are the only extant members of Hominina tribe, a branch of the tribe Hominini belonging to the family of great apes. Several of these hominins used fire, occupied much of Eurasia and they began to exhibit evidence of behavioral modernity around 50,000 years ago. In several waves of migration, anatomically modern humans ventured out of Africa, the spread of humans and their large and increasing population has had a profound impact on large areas of the environment and millions of native species worldwide. Humans are uniquely adept at utilizing systems of communication for self-expression and the exchange of ideas. Humans create complex structures composed of many cooperating and competing groups, from families. Social interactions between humans have established a wide variety of values, social norms, and rituals. These human societies subsequently expanded in size, establishing various forms of government, religion, today the global human population is estimated by the United Nations to be near 7.5 billion. In common usage, the word generally refers to the only extant species of the genus Homo—anatomically and behaviorally modern Homo sapiens. In scientific terms, the meanings of hominid and hominin have changed during the recent decades with advances in the discovery, there is also a distinction between anatomically modern humans and Archaic Homo sapiens, the earliest fossil members of the species. The English adjective human is a Middle English loanword from Old French humain, ultimately from Latin hūmānus, the words use as a noun dates to the 16th century. The native English term man can refer to the species generally, the species binomial Homo sapiens was coined by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th century work Systema Naturae. The generic name Homo is a learned 18th century derivation from Latin homō man, the species-name sapiens means wise or sapient. Note that the Latin word homo refers to humans of either gender, the genus Homo evolved and diverged from other hominins in Africa, after the human clade split from the chimpanzee lineage of the hominids branch of the primates. The closest living relatives of humans are chimpanzees and gorillas, with the sequencing of both the human and chimpanzee genome, current estimates of similarity between human and chimpanzee DNA sequences range between 95% and 99%. The gibbons and orangutans were the first groups to split from the leading to the humans. The splitting date between human and chimpanzee lineages is placed around 4–8 million years ago during the late Miocene epoch, during this split, chromosome 2 was formed from two other chromosomes, leaving humans with only 23 pairs of chromosomes, compared to 24 for the other apes. There is little evidence for the divergence of the gorilla, chimpanzee. Each of these species has been argued to be an ancestor of later hominins
26.
Skulls Unlimited International
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Skulls Unlimited International, Inc. is a commercial supplier of osteological specimens located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Skulls Unlimited provides a skull cleaning service, using dermestid beetles to strip the flesh from skulls, the bones are later whitened using hydrogen peroxide. Skulls Unlimited processes approximately 25,000 skull specimens per year, in the summer of 1986, Jay Villemarette found himself out of work after being laid off from his auto body job and started considering the possibility of working full-time with skulls. In June of that year he established Skulls Unlimited International and his fascination with skulls and bones began when he was seven years old, after he found a dog skull in the woods near his home. That interest, along with encouragement from his father, led Villemarette to begin collecting other animal skulls, after graduating from high school, he collected and sold skulls in his spare time while working as an auto body technician. As sales grew, Villemarette and his wife Kim began to clean skulls in their kitchen, over the years this business has been featured in several television programs including, Taboo, Living with the Dead Season 8, Episode 5. Air Date, June 17,2012 Auction Kings, Les Paul Guitar/Giant Bat Season 3, air Date, Jun.14,2012 Modern Marvels, Built by Hand Season 18, Episode 2. Air Date, Oct.10,2011 Skeleton, Inc, air Date, Sept.18,2011 Weird, True and Freaky, Eternally Stuffed Season 3, Episode 12. Air Date, Nov.23,2010 Dirty Jobs, Skull Cleaner Season 2, air Date, July 11,2006 MSNBC Investigates, Shades of Obsession Season 1, Episode 115. Air Date, April 17,2001 Ripleys Believe It or Not, air Date, Feb.14,2001 In 2004, Skulls Unlimited was invited to participate in the Discovery Channels Young Scientists Challenge in Washington D. C. This televised event was hosted by the Mythbusters, Adam Savage, in January 2013, Villemarette guest starred on John Hodgmans podcast Judge John Hodgman as an expert witness to comment on the hobby of collecting skeletons and taxidermied animals. In 2004, Skulls Unlimited started construction on a new 12, 000-square-foot building that now houses Skulls Unlimiteds corporate offices and The Museum of Osteology. The museum opened to the public on October 1,2010 and exhibits over 300 real skeletons and over 400 real skulls, focusing on the form and function of the skeletal system. On May 1,2015, Skulls Unlimited opened a museum, Skeletons, Animals Unveiled, in Orlando. Official site Entrepreneur. com Want to be disgustingly happy
27.
Oklahoma City
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Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U. S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 27th among United States cities in population, the population grew following the 2010 Census, with the population estimated to have increased to 631,346 as of July 2015. Oklahoma Citys city limits extend into Canadian, Cleveland, and Pottawatomie counties, the city ranks as the eighth-largest city in the United States by land area. Oklahoma City has the largest municipal population of any city in the Great Plains region of the central United States as well as all neighboring states to Oklahoma, excluding Texas, lying in the Great Plains region, Oklahoma City features one of the largest livestock markets in the world. Oil, natural gas, petroleum products and related industries are the largest sector of the local economy, the city is situated in the middle of an active oil field and oil derricks dot the capitol grounds. The federal government employs large numbers of workers at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City is on the I-35 Corridor, which is one of the primary travel corridors south into neighboring Texas and Mexico and north towards Wichita and Kansas City. Located in the Frontier Country region of the state, the citys northeast section lies in a region known as the Cross Timbers. The city was founded during the Land Run of 1889, the city was the scene of the April 19,1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, in which 168 people died. It was the deadliest terror attack in the history of the United States until the attacks of September 11,2001, and remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U. S. history. Oklahoma City was settled on April 22,1889, when the known as the Unassigned Lands was opened for settlement in an event known as The Land Run. Some 10,000 homesteaders settled the area that would become the capital of Oklahoma, the town grew quickly, the population doubled between 1890 and 1900. Early leaders of the development of the city included Anton Classen, John Shartel, Henry Overholser, by the time Oklahoma was admitted to the Union in 1907, Oklahoma City had surpassed Guthrie, the territorial capital, as the population center and commercial hub of the new state. Soon after, the capital was moved from Guthrie to Oklahoma City, before World War II, Oklahoma City developed major stockyards, attracting jobs and revenue formerly in Chicago and Omaha, Nebraska. With the 1928 discovery of oil within the city limits, Oklahoma City became a center of oil production. Post-war growth accompanied the construction of the Interstate Highway System, which made Oklahoma City a major interchange as the convergence of I-35, I-40 and it was also aided by federal development of Tinker Air Force Base. In 1950, the Census Bureau reported citys population as 8. 6% black and 90. 7% white, patience Latting was elected Mayor of Oklahoma City in 1971, becoming the citys first female mayor. Latting was also the first woman to serve as mayor of a U. S. city with over 350,000 residents. As with many other American cities, center city population declined in the 1970s and 1980s as families followed newly constructed highways to move to housing in nearby suburbs
28.
Carrion
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Carrion is the decaying dead flesh of an animal. Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems, examples of carrion-eaters include vultures, hawks, eagles, hyenas, Virginia opossum, Tasmanian devils, coyotes, and Komodo dragons. Carrion begins to decay the moment of the death, and it will increasingly attract insects. Not long after the animal has died, its body will begin to exude a foul odor caused by the presence of bacteria, some plants and fungi smell like decomposing carrion and attract insects that aid in reproduction. Plants that exhibit this behavior are known as carrion flowers, stinkhorn mushrooms are examples of fungi with this characteristic. Sometimes carrion is used to describe an infected carcass that is diseased, another example can be found in Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe when the title character kills an unknown bird for food but finds its flesh was carrion, and fit for nothing
29.
Degree day
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A degree day is a measure of heating or cooling. Total degree days from a starting date are used to plan the planting of crops and management of pests. A degree day is computed as the integral of a function of time that varies with temperature. The function is truncated to upper and lower limits that vary by organism, heating degree days are typical indicators of household energy consumption for space heating. The air temperature in a building is on average 2 °C to 3 °C higher than that of the air outside, a temperature of 18 °C indoors corresponds to an outside temperature of about 15.5 °C. If the air temperature outside is 1 °C below 15.5 °C, if the outside temperature is 1 °C below the average temperature it is accounted as 1 degree-day. The sum of the degree days over periods such as a month or a heating season is used in calculating the amount of heating required for a building. Degree Days are also used to air conditioning usage during the warm season
30.
Holometabolism
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Holometabolism, also called complete metamorphism, is a form of insect development which includes four life stages – as an embryo or egg, a larva, a pupa and an imago or adult. Holometabolism is a trait of all insects in the superorder Endopterygota. In some species the life cycle prevents larvae from competing with adults because they inhabit different ecological niches. In some insects, the adults can protect and feed the younger stages, there are four general developmental stages, each with its own morphology. The first stage is from the fertilization of the egg inside the mother until the embryo hatches, the insect starts as a single cell and then develops into the larval form before it hatches. The second stage lasts from hatching or birth until the larva pupates, in most species this mobile stage is worm-like in form. Such larvae can be one of several varieties, elateriform, eruciform, scarabaeiform. Other species however may be campodeiform and this stage is variously adapted to gaining and accumulating the materials and energy necessary for growth and metamorphosis. The third stage is from pupation until eclosion, the pupae of most species hardly move at all, although the pupae of some species, such as mosquitoes, are mobile. In preparation for pupation, the larvae of many species construct a cocoon of silk or other material. There are three types of pupae, obtect, exarate, and coarctate, obtect pupae are compact, with the legs and other appendages enclosed. Exarate pupae have their legs and other free and extended. Coarctate pupae develop inside the larval skin, in this stage, the insects physiology and functional structure, both internal and external, change drastically. Adult holometabolous insects usually have wings and functioning reproductive organs, in this stage, reproduction is the top priority for queens and males. Around 45% to 60% of all living species are holometabolan insects. Juveniles and adult forms of insects often occupy different ecological niches. This fact is considered a key driver in the unusual evolutionary diversification of form, according to the latest phylogenetic reconstructions, holometabolan insects are monophyletic, which suggests that the evolutionary innovation of complete metamorphosis occurred only once. Paleontological evidence shows that the first winged insects appeared in the Paleozoic, carboniferous fossil samples already display a remarkable diversity of species with functional wings
31.
Egg
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An egg is the organic vessel containing the zygote in which an animal embryo develops until it can survive on its own, at which point the animal hatches. An egg results from fertilization of an ovum, most arthropods, vertebrates, and mollusks lay eggs, although some do not, such as scorpions and most mammals. Reptile eggs, bird eggs, and monotreme eggs are laid out of water, eggs laid on land or in nests are usually kept within a favorable temperature range while the embryo grows. When the embryo is developed it hatches, i. e. breaks out of the eggs shell. Some embryos have an egg tooth with which to crack, pip. The largest recorded egg is from a shark, and was 30 cm ×14 cm ×9 cm in size. At 1.5 kg and up to 17.8 cm ×14 cm, the bee hummingbird produces the smallest known bird egg, which weighs half of a gram. The eggs laid by some reptiles and most fish can be smaller. Reproductive structures similar to the egg in other kingdoms are termed spores, or in spermatophytes seeds, several major groups of animals typically have readily distinguishable eggs. The most common strategy for fish is known as oviparity. Typically large numbers of eggs are laid at one time and the eggs are left to develop without parental care. When the larvae hatch from the egg, they carry the remains of the yolk in a yolk sac which continues to nourish the larvae for a few days as they learn how to swim. Once the yolk is consumed, there is a point after which they must learn how to hunt. A few fish, notably the rays and most sharks use ovoviviparity in which the eggs are fertilized, however the larvae still grow inside the egg consuming the eggs yolk and without any direct nourishment from the mother. The mother then gives birth to relatively mature young, in certain instances, the physically most developed offspring will devour its smaller siblings for further nutrition while still within the mothers body. This is known as intrauterine cannibalism, the eggs of fish and amphibians are jellylike. Cartilagenous fish eggs are fertilized internally and exhibit a variety of both internal and external embryonic development. Most fish species spawn eggs that are fertilized externally, typically with the male inseminating the eggs after the female lays them and these eggs do not have a shell and would dry out in the air
32.
Pupa
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A pupa is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation. The pupal stage is only in holometabolous insects, those that undergo a complete metamorphosis, going through four life stages, embryo, larva, pupa. The pupae of different groups of insects have different names such as chrysalis for the pupae of butterflies, pupae may further be enclosed in other structures such as cocoons, nests or shells. In the life of an insect the pupal stage follows the larval stage and it is during the time of pupation that the adult structures of the insect are formed while the larval structures are broken down. The adult structures, imaginal discs, then grow to become the adult structures, pupae are inactive, and usually sessile. However, the pupae may be exarate or obtect and they have a hard protective coating and often use camouflage to evade potential predators. Pupation may last weeks, months or even years, for example, it is two weeks in monarch butterflies. The pupa may enter dormancy or diapause until the season for the adult insect. In temperate climates pupae usually stay dormant during winter, while in the tropics pupae usually do so during the dry season, anise swallowtails sometimes emerge after years as a chrysalis. Insects emerge from pupae by splitting the pupal case, and the process of pupation is controlled by the insects hormones. Most butterflies emerge in the morning, in mosquitoes the emergence is in the evening or night. In fleas the process is triggered by vibrations that indicate the presence of a suitable host. Prior to emergence, the adult inside the exoskeleton is termed pharate. Once the pharate adult has eclosed from the pupa, the empty pupal exoskeleton is called an exuvia, in most hymenopterans the exuvia is so thin, pupae are usually immobile and are largely defenseless. To overcome this, a feature is concealed placement. There are some species of Lycaenid butterflies who are protected in their pupal stage by ants, another means of defense by pupae of other species is the capability of making sounds or vibrations to scare potential predators. A few species use chemical defenses including toxic secretions, the pupae of social hymenopterans are protected by adult members of the hive. Examples are pupae of the orders Neuroptera, Mecoptera, Trichoptera, adecticous pupa - pupae without articulated mandibles
33.
Adult
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Biologically, an adult is a human or other organism that has reached sexual maturity. In human context, the term adult additionally has meanings associated with social and legal concepts, in contrast to a minor, a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of majority and is therefore regarded as independent, self-sufficient, and responsible. Human adulthood encompasses psychological adult development, conversely, one may legally be an adult but possess none of the maturity and responsibility that may define an adult character. In different cultures there are events that relate passing from being a child to becoming an adult or coming of age. This often encompasses the passing a series of tests to demonstrate that a person is prepared for adulthood, or reaching a specified age, most modern societies determine legal adulthood based on reaching a legally specified age without requiring a demonstration of physical maturity or preparation for adulthood. Historically and cross-culturally, adulthood has been determined primarily by the start of puberty, in the past, a person usually moved from the status of child directly to the status of adult, often with this shift being marked by some type of coming-of-age test or ceremony. After the social construct of adolescence was created, adulthood split into two forms, biological adulthood and social adulthood, thus, there are now two primary forms of adults, biological adults and social adults. Depending on the context, adult can indicate either definition, thus, the base definition of the word adult is the period beginning at puberty. Puberty generally begins around 10 or 11 years of age for girls and 11 or 12 years of age for boys, legally, adulthood means that one can engage in a contract. One can distinguish the legality of acts of a person, or of enabling a young person to carry out that act, by selling, renting out, showing, permitting entrance, allowing participation. There may be distinction between commercially and socially enabling, sometimes there is the requirement of supervision by a legal guardian, or just by an adult. Sometimes there is no requirement, but rather a recommendation, with regard to films with violence, etc. Some cultures in Africa define adulthood at age 13, according to Jewish tradition, adulthood is reached at age 13 for Jewish boys and girls, they are expected to demonstrate preparation for adulthood by learning the Torah and other Jewish practices. The Christian Bible and Jewish scripture contain no age requirement for adulthood or marrying, which includes engaging in sexual activity. The 1983 Code of Canon Law states, A man before he has completed his year of age
34.
Apterygota
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Their first known occurrence in the fossil record is during the Devonian period, 417–354 million years ago. The nymphs go through little or even no metamorphosis, hence they resemble the adult specimens and their skin is thin, making them appear translucent. Currently, no species are listed as being at conservation risk, the primary characteristic of the apterygotes is they are primitively wingless. While some other insects, such as fleas, also lack wings, by contrast, the apterygotes are a primitive group of insects that diverged from other ancient orders before wings evolved. Apterygotes, however, have the capacity for directed, aerial gliding descent from heights. Apterygotes also have a number of primitive features not shared with other insects. Males deposit sperm packages, or spermatophores, rather than fertilizing the female internally, when hatched, the young closely resemble adults and do not undergo any significant metamorphosis, and lack even an identifiable nymphal stage. They continue to molt throughout life, undergoing multiple instars after reaching sexual maturity, apterygotes possess small appendages, referred to as styli, on some of their abdominal segments, but play no part in locomotion. They also have long, paired abdominal cerci and a median, tail-like caudal filament. The composition and classification of Apterygota changed over time, by the mid-20th century, the subclass included four orders. With the advent of a more rigorous cladistic methodology, the subclass was proven paraphyletic, the most notable synapomorphy proving the monophyly of Thysanura+Pterygota is the absence of intrinsic antennal muscles, which connect the antennomeres in entognaths, myriapods, and crustaceans. For this reason, the group is often termed the Amyocerata. Moreover, the Thysanura are now assumed to be closely related to the Pterygota than to the Archaeognatha. Firefly Encyclopedia of Insects and Spiders, edited by Christopher OToole, ISBN 1-55297-612-2,2002
35.
Hemimetabolism
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These groups go through gradual changes, there is no pupal stage. The nymph often somewhat resembles the adult stage but lacks wings, the Orders that contain hemimetabolous insects are, Hemiptera Orthoptera Mantodea Some Blattodea Dermaptera Odonata. Phasmatodea Phthiraptera Ephemeroptera Plecoptera Isoptera Grylloblattodea Thysanoptera In aquatic entomology, different terminology is used when categorizing insects with incomplete metamorphosis, paurometabolism refers to insects whose nymphs occupy the same environment as the adults, as in the family Gerridae of Hemiptera. The hemimetabolous insects are those whose nymphs, called naiads, occupy aquatic habitats while the adults are terrestrial and this includes all members of the orders Plecoptera, Ephemeroptera, and Odonata. Aquatic entomologists use this categorization because it specifies whether the adult will occupy an aquatic or semi aquatic habitat and this classification system is similar to previously used nomenclature in terrestrial entomology
36.
Abdomen
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The abdomen constitutes the part of the body between the thorax and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The region occupied by the abdomen is termed the abdominal cavity, in arthropods it is the posterior tagma of the body, it follows the thorax or cephalothorax. The abdomen stretches from the thorax at the diaphragm to the pelvis at the pelvic brim. The pelvic brim stretches from the joint to the pubic symphysis and is the edge of the pelvic inlet. The space above this inlet and under the thoracic diaphragm is termed the abdominal cavity, the boundary of the abdominal cavity is the abdominal wall in the front and the peritoneal surface at the rear. The abdomen contains most of the organs of the digestive tract. Hollow abdominal organs include the stomach, the intestine. Organs such as the liver, its attached gallbladder, and the function in close association with the digestive tract. The spleen, kidneys, and adrenal glands also lie within the abdomen, along with blood vessels including the aorta. Anatomists may consider the urinary bladder, uterus, fallopian tubes, finally, the abdomen contains an extensive membrane called the peritoneum. A fold of peritoneum may completely cover certain organs, whereas it may only one side of organs that usually lie closer to the abdominal wall. Anatomists call the type of organs retroperitoneal. For example, the stomach of ruminants is divided into four chambers – rumen, in vertebrates, the abdomen is a large cavity enclosed by the abdominal muscles, ventrally and laterally, and by the vertebral column dorsally. Lower ribs can also enclose ventral and lateral walls, the abdominal cavity is upper part of the pelvic cavity. It is attached to the cavity by the diaphragm. Structures such as the aorta, inferior vena cava and esophagus pass through the diaphragm, both the abdominal and pelvic cavities are lined by a serous membrane known as the parietal peritoneum. This membrane is continuous with the visceral peritoneum lining the organs, the abdomen in vertebrates contains a number of organs belonging, for instance, to the digestive tract and urinary system. There are three layers of the abdominal wall and they are, from the outside to the inside, external oblique, internal oblique, and transverse abdominal
37.
Thorax (insect anatomy)
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The thorax is the midsection of the insect body. It holds the head, legs, wings and abdomen and it is also called mesosoma in other arthropods. In dragonflies and damselflies the mesothorax and metathorax are fused together to form the synthorax, in some insect pupae, like the mosquitoes, the head and thorax can be fused in a cephalothorax. Members of sub order Apocrita in the order Hymenoptera have the first segment of the abdomen fused with the thorax, which is called the propodeum
38.
Fly
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True flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek di = two, and ptera = wings. Insects of this use only a single pair of wings to fly. Diptera is an order containing an estimated 1,000,000 species including horse-flies, crane flies, hoverflies and others. Flies have a head, with a pair of large compound eyes. Their wing arrangement gives them great manoeuvrability in flight, and claws, Flies undergo complete metamorphosis, the eggs are laid on the larval food-source and the larvae, which lack true limbs, develop in a protected environment, often inside their source of their food. The pupa is a capsule from which the adult emerges when ready to do so. Diptera is one of the insect orders and are of considerable ecological. Flies are important pollinators, second only to the bees and their Hymenopteran relatives, Flies may have been among the evolutionarily earliest pollinators responsible for early plant pollination. Flies can be annoyances especially in parts of the world where they can occur in large numbers. Larger flies such as flies and screwworms cause significant economic harm to cattle. Blowfly larvae, known as gentles, and other larvae, known more generally as maggots, are used as fishing bait. They are also used in medicine in debridement to clean wounds, dipterans are endopterygotes, insects that undergo radical metamorphosis. They belong to the Mecopterida, alongside the Mecoptera, Siphonaptera, Lepidoptera and Trichoptera, the possession of a single pair of wings distinguishes most true flies from other insects with fly in their names. However, some true flies such as Hippoboscidae have become secondarily wingless and this cladogram represents the current consensus view. The first true dipterans known are from the Middle Triassic, and they became widespread during the Middle, modern flowering plants did not appear until the Cretaceous, so the original dipterans must have had a different source of nutrition other than nectar. The basal clades in the Diptera include the Deuterophlebiidae and the enigmatic Nymphomyiidae, three episodes of evolutionary radiation are thought to have occurred based on the fossil record. Many new species of lower Diptera developed in the Triassic, about 220 million years ago, many lower Brachycera appeared in the Jurassic, some 180 million years ago. A third radiation took place among the Schizophora at the start of the Paleogene,66 million years ago, the phylogenetic position of Diptera has been controversial
39.
Maggot
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Maggot is not a technical term and should not be taken as such, in many standard textbooks of entomology it does not appear in the index at all. In many non-technical texts the term is used for insect larvae in general, other sources have coined their own definitions, for example. The term applies to a grub when all trace of limbs has disappeared, and. Applied to the footless larvae of Diptera. Anglers use maggots usually provided by suppliers to catch non-predatory fish. Maggots are the most popular bait for anglers in Europe, anglers throw handfuls into the swim they are targeting, attracting the fish to the area. The angler will then use the largest or most attractive maggots on the hook, commercial maggot breeders from the UK sell their maggots to tackle dealers throughout the E. U. and North America. In North America, maggots have been used primarily as ice fishing bait, recently, however, live maggots of certain species of flies have been applied since antiquity as an effective means of wound debridement. In controlled and sterile settings by medical practitioners, maggot therapy introduces live, currently the only maggots cleared for marketing in the United States are larvae of Calliphorid flies of the species Phaenicia sericata. This species of maggots is most widely used in the world as well and they feed on the dead or necrotic tissue, leaving sound tissue largely unharmed. Studies have also shown that maggots are used to kill bacteria, there are three midgut lysozymes of P. sericata that have been confirmed to show antibacterial effects in maggot debridement therapy. The study demonstrated that the majority of Gram-positive bacteria were destroyed in vivo within the section of the P. sericata midgut where lysozymes are produced. During the passage through the intestine of the maggots, the ability of bacteria to survive drastically decreased, as of 2008, maggot therapy was being used in around 1,000 medical centers in Europe and over 300 medical centers in the United States. The presence and development of maggots on a corpse are useful in the estimation of time elapsed since death, depending on the species and the conditions, maggots may be observed on a body within 24 hours. The eggs are directly on the food source and when the eggs hatch. By studying the insects present at a scene, forensic entomologists can determine the approximate time of death. Insects are usually useful after an interval of approximately 25–80 hours. After this interval, this becomes less reliable. As with fleas and ticks, maggots can be a threat to pets and livestock
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Ward, Artemas (1911). The Grocer's Encyclopedia.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the 
