1.
Virginia Zoological Park
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The Virginia Zoological Park is a 53-acre zoo located adjacent to Lafayette Park in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. The zoo opened in 1900, and was accredited by the Association of Zoos, in 1892, the City of Norfolk purchased the 65 acres that was currently occupied by Lafayette Park. In 1900, the park began acquiring animals to exhibit, and by 1901 its collection exceeded 200 animals, including mammals, birds, in 1974, the facility was fenced off from the city park, and renamed Lafayette Zoological Park. Though fenced off, residents of the nearby LaValette Avenue could see the elephant exhibit from their homes. Newcomers, unfamiliar with the fact that a zoo was in the location, between 1974 and 1980, most of the zoos old exhibits were renovated. Also in 1974, the Friends of the Zoo was established to act as an organization for the development of the zoo. In 1989 it was renamed as the Virginia Zoological Society and established as a non-profit organization, in 1985, Lafayette Zoological Park was renamed the Virginia Zoological Park at Norfolk. In 1987, the zoo gained accreditation from the Association of Zoos, in 1992, a Master Plan was adopted by City of Norfolk and Virginia Zoological Society. Plans included a new Education Complex and Visitor Center, as well as African, North American, Australian, South American, in 2005, the zoo got its third elephant named Cita. In 2011, Part I of Phase IV opens, Trail of the Tiger exhibit opens with various fauna of India, Trail of the Tiger This exhibit was opened in 2011. It features animals from Asia, and nearly doubles the number of animals at the zoo. The exhibit includes a boardwalk over the Asian forest. Another viewing area allows views of the otters and tigers. Okavango Delta Named after the real life Okavango Delta in Africa, media related to Virginia Zoological Park at Wikimedia Commons Official website
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Norfolk, Virginia
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Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2010 census, the population was 242,803, in 2015, Norfolk is located at the core of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, named for the large natural harbor of the same name located at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. It is one of nine cities and seven counties that constitute the Hampton Roads metro area, officially known as the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, the city is bordered to the west by the Elizabeth River and to the north by the Chesapeake Bay. It also shares borders with the independent cities of Chesapeake to its south. Norfolk is one of the oldest cities in Hampton Roads, and is considered to be the historic, urban, financial, the city has a long history as a strategic military and transportation point. The largest Navy base in the world, Naval Station Norfolk, is located in Norfolk along with one of NATOs two Strategic Command headquarters. As the city is bordered by multiple bodies of water, Norfolk has many miles of riverfront and bayfront property, including beaches on the Chesapeake Bay. It is linked to its neighbors by a network of Interstate highways, bridges, tunnels. In 1619, the Governor of the Virginia Colony, Sir George Yeardley incorporated four jurisdictions, termed citties and these formed the basis for colonial representative government in the newly minted House of Burgesses. What would become Norfolk was put under the Elizabeth Cittie incorporation, in 1634 King Charles I reorganized the colony into a system of shires. The former Elizabeth Cittie became Elizabeth City Shire, after persuading 105 people to settle in the colony, Adam Thoroughgood was granted a large land holding, through the head rights system, along the Lynnhaven River in 1636. When the South Hampton Roads portion of the shire was separated, one year later, it was split into two counties, Upper Norfolk and Lower Norfolk, chiefly on Thoroughgoods recommendation. This area of Virginia became known as the place of entrepreneurs, the House of Burgesses established the Towne of Lower Norfolk County in 1680. In 1691, a final county subdivision took place when Lower Norfolk County split to form Norfolk County, in 1730, a tobacco inspection site was located here. By 1775, Norfolk developed into what contemporary observers argued was the most prosperous city in Virginia and it was an important port for exporting goods to the British Isles and beyond. In part because of its merchants numerous trading ties with other parts of the British Empire, after fleeing the colonial capital of Williamsburg, Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of Virginia, tried to reestablish control of the colony from Norfolk. Dunmore secured small victories at Norfolk but was forced into exile by the American rebels and his departure brought an end to more than 168 years of British colonial rule in Virginia. On New Years Day,1776, Lord Dunmores fleet of three ships shelled the city of Norfolk for more than eight hours, the damage from the shells and fires started by the British and spread by the patriots destroyed over 800 buildings, almost two-thirds of the city
3.
Conservation status
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The conservation status of a group of organisms indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Various systems of conservation status exist and are in use at international, multi-country, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the best known worldwide conservation status listing and ranking system. Also included are species that have gone extinct since 500 AD, when discussing the IUCN Red List, the official term threatened is a grouping of three categories, critically endangered, endangered, and vulnerable. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category, Data deficient – Not enough data to make an assessment of its risk of extinction Not evaluated – Has not yet been evaluated against the criteria. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora aims to ensure that trade in specimens of wild animals. Many countries require CITES permits when importing plants and animals listed on CITES, in the European Union, the Birds and Habitats Directives are the legal instruments that evaluate the conservation status within the EU of species and habitats. NatureServe conservation status focuses on Latin America, United States, Canada, and it has been developed by scientists from NatureServe, The Nature Conservancy, and the network of natural heritage programs and data centers. It is increasingly integrated with the IUCN Red List system and its categories for species include, presumed extinct, possibly extinct, critically imperiled, imperiled, vulnerable, apparently secure, and secure. The system also allows ambiguous or uncertain ranks including inexact numeric ranks, NatureServe adds a qualifier for captive or cultivated only, which has a similar meaning to the IUCN Red List extinct in the wild status. The Red Data Book of the Russian Federation is used within the Russian Federation, in Australia, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 describes lists of threatened species, ecological communities and threatening processes. The categories resemble those of the 1994 IUCN Red List Categories & Criteria, prior to the EPBC Act, a simpler classification system was used by the Endangered Species Protection Act 1992. Some state and territory governments also have their own systems for conservation status, in Belgium, the Flemish Research Institute for Nature and Forest publishes an online set of more than 150 nature indicators in Dutch. In Canada, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada is a group of experts that assesses and designates which wild species are in danger of disappearing from Canada. Under the Species at Risk Act, it is up to the federal government, in China, the State, provinces and some counties have determined their key protected wildlife species. There is the China red data book, in Finland, a large number of species are protected under the Nature Conservation Act, and through the EU Habitats Directive and EU Birds Directive. In Germany, the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation publishes red lists of endangered species, india has the Wild Life Protection Act,1972, Amended 2003 and the Biological Diversity Act,2002. In Japan, the Ministry of Environment publishes a Threatened Wildlife of Japan Red Data Book, in the Netherlands, the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality publishes a list of threatened species, and conservation is enforced by the Nature Conservation Act 1998. Species are also protected through the Wild Birds and Habitats Directives, in New Zealand, the Department of Conservation publishes the New Zealand Threat Classification System lists
4.
Least Concern
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A least concern species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as evaluated but not qualified for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, near threatened, species cannot be assigned the Least Concern category unless they have had their population status evaluated. That is, adequate information is needed to make a direct, or indirect, since 2001 the category has had the abbreviation LC, following the IUCN2001 Categories & Criteria. However, around 20% of least concern taxa in the IUCN database use the code LR/lc, prior to 2001 least concern was a subcategory of the Lower Risk category and assigned the code LR/lc or. While least concern is not considered a red listed category by the IUCN, the number of animal species listed in this category totals 14033. There are also 101 animal subspecies listed and 1500 plant taxa, there are also two animal subpopulations listed, the Australasian and Southern African subpopulations of spiny dogfish. No fungi or protista have the classification, though only four species in those kingdoms have been evaluated by the IUCN, humans qualify for this category, and in 2008 were formally assessed as such by the IUCN
5.
IUCN Red List
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The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, founded in 1964, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the main authority on the conservation status of species. A series of Regional Red Lists are produced by countries or organizations, the IUCN Red List is set upon precise criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of thousands of species and subspecies. These criteria are relevant to all species and all regions of the world, the aim is to convey the urgency of conservation issues to the public and policy makers, as well as help the international community to try to reduce species extinction. Major species assessors include BirdLife International, the Institute of Zoology, the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, collectively, assessments by these organizations and groups account for nearly half the species on the Red List. The IUCN aims to have the category of every species re-evaluated every five years if possible, the 1964 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants used the older pre-criteria Red List assessment system. Plants listed may not, therefore, appear in the current Red List, IUCN advise that is best to check both the online Red List and the 1997 plants Red List publication. The 2006 Red List, released on 4 May 2006 evaluated 40,168 species as a whole, plus an additional 2,160 subspecies, varieties, aquatic stocks, on 12 September 2007, the World Conservation Union released the 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Russ Mittermeier, chief of Swiss-based IUCNs Primate Specialist Group, stated that 16,306 species are endangered with extinction,188 more than in 2006, the Red List includes the Sumatran orangutan in the Critically Endangered category and the Bornean orangutan in the Endangered category. The study shows at least 1,141 of the 5,487 mammals on Earth are known to be threatened with extinction, and 836 are listed as Data Deficient. The Red List of 2012 was released 19 July 2012 at Rio+20 Earth Summit, nearly 2,000 species were added, the IUCN assessed a total of 63,837 species which revealed 19,817 are threatened with extinction. With 3,947 described as endangered and 5,766 as endangered. At threat are 41% of amphibian species, 33% of reef-building corals, 30% of conifers, 25% of mammals, the IUCN Red List has listed 132 species of plants and animals from India as Critically Endangered. Extinct – No known individuals remaining, extinct in the wild – Known only to survive in captivity, or as a naturalized population outside its historic range. Critically endangered – Extremely high risk of extinction in the wild, Endangered – High risk of extinction in the wild. Vulnerable – High risk of endangerment in the wild, near threatened – Likely to become endangered in the near future. Does not qualify for a more at-risk category, widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category. Data deficient – Not enough data to make an assessment of its risk of extinction, Not evaluated – Has not yet been evaluated against the criteria
6.
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
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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
8.
Chordate
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Chordates are deuterostomes, as during the embryo development stage the anus forms before the mouth. They are also bilaterally symmetric coelomates, in the case of vertebrate chordates, the notochord is usually replaced by a vertebral column during development, and they may have body plans organized via segmentation. There are also additional extinct taxa, the Vertebrata are sometimes considered as a subgroup of the clade Craniata, consisting of chordates with a skull, the Craniata and Tunicata compose the clade Olfactores. Of the more than 65,000 living species of chordates, the worlds largest and fastest animals, the blue whale and peregrine falcon respectively, are chordates, as are humans. Fossil chordates are known from at least as early as the Cambrian explosion, Hemichordata, which includes the acorn worms, has been presented as a fourth chordate subphylum, but it now is usually treated as a separate phylum. The Hemichordata, along with the Echinodermata, form the Ambulacraria, the Chordata and Ambulacraria form the superphylum Deuterostomia, composed of the deuterostomes. Attempts to work out the relationships of the chordates have produced several hypotheses. All of the earliest chordate fossils have found in the Early Cambrian Chengjiang fauna. Because the fossil record of early chordates is poor, only molecular phylogenetics offers a prospect of dating their emergence. However, the use of molecular phylogenetics for dating evolutionary transitions is controversial and it has also proved difficult to produce a detailed classification within the living chordates. Attempts to produce family trees shows that many of the traditional classes are paraphyletic. While this has been known since the 19th century, an insistence on only monophyletic taxa has resulted in vertebrate classification being in a state of flux. Although the name Chordata is attributed to William Bateson, it was already in prevalent use by 1880, ernst Haeckel described a taxon comprising tunicates, cephalochordates, and vertebrates in 1866. Though he used the German vernacular form, it is allowed under the ICZN code because of its subsequent latinization, among the vertebrate sub-group of chordates the notochord develops into the spine, and in wholly aquatic species this helps the animal to swim by flexing its tail. In fish and other vertebrates, this develops into the spinal cord, the pharynx is the part of the throat immediately behind the mouth. In fish, the slits are modified to form gills, a muscular tail that extends backwards behind the anus. This is a groove in the wall of the pharynx. In filter-feeding species it produces mucus to gather food particles, which helps in transporting food to the esophagus and it also stores iodine, and may be a precursor of the vertebrate thyroid gland
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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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Carnivora
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Carnivora is a diverse scrotiferan order that includes over 280 species of placental mammals. Its members are referred to as carnivorans, whereas the word carnivore can refer to any meat-eating organism.9 m in length. Some carnivorans, such as cats and pinnipeds, depend entirely on meat for their nutrition, carnivorans have teeth and claws adapted for catching and eating other animals. Many hunt in packs and are social animals, giving them an advantage over larger prey, carnivorans are split into two suborders, feliforms and caniforms. Carnivorans all share the same arrangement of teeth in which the last upper premolar, carnivorans have had this arrangement for over 60 million years with many adaptions, and these dental adaptions help identify carnivoran species and groupings of species. Carnivorans evolved in North America out of members of the family Miacidae about 42 million years ago and they soon split into cat-like and dog-like forms. Their molecular phylogeny shows the extant Carnivora are a monophyletic group, the last premolar of the upper jaw and first molar of the lower are termed the carnassials or sectorial teeth. These blade-like teeth occlude with an action for shearing and shredding meat. Carnassials are most highly developed in the Felidae and the least developed in the Ursidae, carnivorans have six incisors and two conical canines in each jaw. The only two exceptions to this are the sea otter, which has four incisors in the jaw, and the sloth bear. The number of molars and premolars is variable between species, but all teeth are deeply rooted and are diphyodont. Incisors are retained by carnivorans and the incisor is commonly large. Carnivorans have either four or five digits on each foot, with the first digit on the forepaws, also known as the dew claw, being vestigial in most species and absent in some. Most species are plain in coloration, lacking the flashy spotted or rosetted coats like many species of felids and viverrids have. This is because Canoidea tend to range in the temperate and subarctic biomes, most are terrestrial, although a few species, like procyonids, are arboreal. All families except the Canidae and a few species of Mustelidae are plantigrade, diet is varied and most tend to be omnivorous to some degree, and thus the carnassial teeth are less specialized. Canoidea have more premolars and molars in an elongated skull and this is because these species tend to range in tropical habitats, although a few species do inhabit temperate and subarctic habitats. Many are arboreal or semiarboreal, and the majority are digitigrade, diet tends to be more strictly carnivorous, especially in the family Felidae
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Canidae
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The biological family Canidae /ˈkænᵻdiː/ is a lineage of carnivorans that includes domestic dogs, wolves, foxes, jackals, dingoes, and many other extant and extinct dog-like mammals. A member of family is called a canid. The cat-like feliforms and dog-like caniforms emerged within the Carnivoramorpha 43 million years before present, the caniforms included the fox-like Leptocyon genus whose various species existed from 34 million years before present before branching 11.9 million YBP into Vulpini and Canini. Canids are found on all continents except Antarctica, having arrived independently or accompanied human beings over extended periods of time, canids vary in size from the 2-m-long gray wolf to the 24-cm-long fennec fox. The body forms of canids are similar, typically having long muzzles, upright ears, teeth adapted for cracking bones and slicing flesh, long legs and they are mostly social animals, living together in family units or small groups and behaving cooperatively. Typically, only the dominant pair in a group breeds, canids communicate by scent signals and by vocalizations. One canid, the dog, long ago entered into a partnership with humans. In the history of the carnivores, the family Canidae is represented by the two extinct subfamilies designated as Hesperocyoninae and Borophaginae, and the extant subfamily Caninae and this subfamily includes all living canids and their most recent fossil relatives. The fox-like canids, which include the kit fox, red fox, Cape fox, Arctic fox, the South American canids, including the bush dog, hoary fox, crab-eating fox and maned wolf. Various monotypic taxa, including the bat-eared fox, gray fox, DNA analysis shows that the first three form monophyletic clades. The wolf-like canids and the South American canids together form the tribe Canini, molecular data imply a North American origin of living Canidae some ten million years ago and an African origin of wolf-like canines, with the jackals being the most basal of this group. The South American clade is rooted by the wolf and bush dog. The grey fox and island fox are basal to the other clades, the cladogram below is based on the phylogeny of Lindblad-Toh et al, modified to incorporate recent findings on Canis and Vulpes species. The Canidae today includes a group of some 34 species ranging in size from the maned wolf with its long limbs to the short-legged bush dog. Modern canids inhabit forests, tundra, savannahs and deserts throughout tropical, in some species, genetic divergence has been suppressed by the high level of gene flow between different populations and where the species have hybridized, large hybrid zones exist. Carnivorans evolved from miacoids about 55 million years ago during the late Paleocene, some five million years later, the carnivorans split into two main divisions, caniforms and feliforms. By 40 Mya, the first member of the dog family proper had arisen, called Prohesperocyon wilsoni, its fossilized remains have been found in what is now the southwestern part of Texas. The chief features which identify it as a canid include the loss of the third molar
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Vulpes
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Vulpes is a genus of the Canidae. The members of this genus are referred to as true foxes. The word fox occurs on the names of species. True foxes are distinguished members of the genus Canis, such as dogs, wolves, coyotes. They have black, triangular markings between their eyes and noses, and the tips of their tails are often a different color from the rest of their pelts, the typical lifespan for this genus is between two and four years, but can reach up to a decade. For animals commonly known as foxes, but which are not true foxes, foxes of this group possess eyes with pupils that retract into vertical slits in bright light. The red fox, Ruppells fox, and Tibetan sand fox possess white-tipped tails, the Arctic foxs tail-tip is of the same color as the rest of the tail Blanfords fox usually possesses a black-tipped tail, but a small number of specimens possess a light-tipped tail. The other foxes in this group all possess black-tipped or dark-tipped tails, the deposits where these fossils are found are about 7 million years old, which might make them the earliest Canidae in the Old World. Two other extinct, less documented fossils are known, V. praeglacialis, V. praeglacialis was discovered in the Petralona Cave in Chalkidiki, Greece. The age of the deposits makes it the earliest occurrence of Vulpes in Europe, V. hassani is found in a Miocene-Pliocene deposit in northwestern Africa. In the Pleistocene, Vulpes had a wide distribution, with eight species found in North America. Of these eight, six are not fossil, and three still remain in North America. The remaining three moved on to sections of Africa over time. V. stenognathus is extinct, but has extant sister taxa including V. chama, V. rueppellii, V. velox, and V. vulpes, Blanfords fox dwells in section of the Middle East including Afghanistan, Egypt, Turkestan, Iran, Pakistan, and Israel. The Cape fox is found in the south of Africa, including Zimbabwe, Botswana. They thrive in semiarid and arid environments with rich grasslands, corsac foxes live in central Asia. Like V. chama and V. cana, they do best in semiarid deserts and this fox is within the holarctic clade of foxes. This clade also contains the Arctic fox, swift fox, and their possible ancestor is V. praecorsac, meaning they may have had a much wider distribution in the past
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Binomial nomenclature
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Such a name is called a binomial name, a binomen, binominal name or a scientific name, more informally it is also called a Latin name. The first part of the name identifies the genus to which the species belongs, for example, humans belong to the genus Homo and within this genus to the species Homo sapiens. The formal introduction of system of naming species is credited to Carl Linnaeus. But Gaspard Bauhin, in as early as 1623, had introduced in his book Pinax theatri botanici many names of genera that were adopted by Linnaeus. Although the general principles underlying binomial nomenclature are common to these two codes, there are differences, both in the terminology they use and in their precise rules. Similarly, both parts are italicized when a binomial name occurs in normal text, thus the binomial name of the annual phlox is now written as Phlox drummondii. In scientific works, the authority for a name is usually given, at least when it is first mentioned. In zoology Patella vulgata Linnaeus,1758, the original name given by Linnaeus was Fringilla domestica, the parentheses indicate that the species is now considered to belong in a different genus. The ICZN does not require that the name of the person who changed the genus be given, nor the date on which the change was made, in botany Amaranthus retroflexus L. – L. is the standard abbreviation used in botany for Linnaeus. – Linnaeus first named this bluebell species Scilla italica, Rothmaler transferred it to the genus Hyacinthoides, the ICN does not require that the dates of either publication be specified. Prior to the adoption of the binomial system of naming species. Together they formed a system of polynomial nomenclature and these names had two separate functions. First, to designate or label the species, and second, to be a diagnosis or description, such polynomial names may sometimes look like binomials, but are significantly different. For example, Gerards herbal describes various kinds of spiderwort, The first is called Phalangium ramosum, Branched Spiderwort, is aptly termed Phalangium Ephemerum Virginianum, Soon-Fading Spiderwort of Virginia. The Latin phrases are short descriptions, rather than identifying labels, the Bauhins, in particular Caspar Bauhin, took some important steps towards the binomial system, by pruning the Latin descriptions, in many cases to two words. The adoption by biologists of a system of binomial nomenclature is due to Swedish botanist and physician Carl von Linné. It was in his 1753 Species Plantarum that he first began using a one-word trivial name together with a generic name in a system of binomial nomenclature. This trivial name is what is now known as an epithet or specific name
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Nocturnal
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Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by activity during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is nocturnal, versus diurnal meaning the opposite, nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed senses of hearing, smell, and specially adapted eyesight. Such traits can help such as the Helicoverpa zea moths avoid predators. Some animals, such as cats and ferrets, have eyes that can adapt to both lowlevel and bright day levels of illumination, others, such as bushbabies and bats, can function only at night. Many nocturnal creatures including tarsiers and some owls have large eyes in comparison to their size to compensate for the lower light levels at night. More specifically, they have found to have a larger cornea relative to their eye size than diurnal creatures to increase their visual sensitivity in the low-light conditions. Nocturnality helps wasps, such as Apoica flavissima, avoid hunting in intense sunlight, diurnal animals, including squirrels and songbirds, are active during the daytime. Crepuscular species, such as rabbits, skunks, cats, tigers, cathemeral species, such as fossas and lions, are active both in the day and at night. While most humans are diurnal, for personal and social/cultural reasons some people are temporarily or habitually nocturnal. The most known creatures to be nocturnal include cats, rodents, and owls, while it is difficult to say which came first, nocturnality or diurnality, there is a leading hypothesis out in the evolutionary biology community. A recent study attempts to answer the question as to why so many modern day mammals retain these nocturnal characteristics even though they are not active at night, the anomaly to this theory were anthropoids, who appeared to have the most divergence from nocturnality than all organisms examined. While most mammals didnt exhibit the characteristics expected of a nocturnal creature, reptiles. A larger cornea and pupil correlated well with whether these two classes of organisms were nocturnal or not, being active at night is a form of niche differentiation, where a species niche is partitioned not by the amount of resources but by the amount of time. Hawks and owls can hunt the same field or meadow for the same rodents without conflict because hawks are diurnal and this means they are not in competition for each others prey. Nocturnality is a form of crypsis, an adaptation to avoid or enhance predation, one of the reasons that lions prefer to hunt at night is that many of their prey species have poor night vision. Many species of rodents, such as the Large Japanese Field Mouse, are active at night because most of the dozen or so birds of prey that hunt them are diurnal. There are many species that exhibit some nocturnal behaviors. For example, many seabirds and sea turtles only gather at breeding sites or colonies at night to reduce the risk of predation to themselves and/or their offspring, another reason for nocturnality is avoiding the heat of the day
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Fox
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Foxes are small-to-medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. Foxes are slightly smaller than a domestic dog, with a flattened skull, upright triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout. Twelve species belong to the group of Vulpes genus of true foxes. Foxes live on every continent except Antarctica, by far the most common and widespread species of fox is the red fox with about 47 recognized subspecies. The global distribution of foxes, together with their reputation for cunning, has contributed to their prominence in popular culture and folklore in many societies around the world. The hunting of foxes with packs of hounds, long an established pursuit in Europe, the word fox comes from Old English, which derived from Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz. This in turn derives from Proto-Indo-European *puḱ-, meaning ’thick-haired, tail’. Male foxes are known as dogs, tods or reynards, females as vixens, a group of foxes is referred to as a skulk, leash, or earth. Foxes are generally smaller than members of the family Canidae such as wolves, jackals. For example, in the largest species, the red fox, males weigh on average between 4.1 and 8.7 kg, while the smallest species, the fennec fox, weighs just 0.7 to 1.6 kg. Fox-like features typically include a face, pointed ears, an elongated rostrum. Foxes are digitigrade, and thus, walk on their toes, unlike their dog relatives, foxes have partially retractable claws. Fox vibrissae, or whiskers, are black, the whiskers on the muzzle, mystaciae vibrissae, average 100-110mm long, while the whiskers everywhere else on the head average to be shorter in length. Whiskers are also on the forelimbs and average 40mm long, pointing downward and backward, other physical characteristics vary according to habitat and adaptive significance. Fox species differ in fur color, length, and density, coat colors range from pearly white to black and white to black flecked with white or grey on the underside. Fennec foxes, for example, have ears and short fur to aid in keeping the body cool. Arctic foxes, on the hand, have tiny ears and short limbs as well as thick, insulating fur. Red foxes, by contrast, have a typical auburn pelt, a foxs coat color and texture may vary due to the change in seasons, fox pelts are richer and denser in the colder months and lighter in the warmer months
16.
Sahara
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The Sahara is the largest hot desert and the third largest desert in the world after Antarctica and the Arctic. Its area of 9,200,000 square kilometres is comparable to the area of the United States. The desert comprises much of North Africa, excluding the fertile region on the Mediterranean Sea coast, the Atlas Mountains of the Maghreb, and the Nile Valley in Egypt and Sudan. It stretches from the Red Sea in the east and the Mediterranean in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, where the landscape gradually changes from desert to coastal plains. To the south, it is bounded by the Sahel, a belt of tropical savanna around the Niger River valley. The Sahara can be divided into several regions including, the western Sahara, the central Ahaggar Mountains, the Tibesti Mountains, the Aïr Mountains, the Ténéré desert, the name Sahara is derived from ṣaḥārā, the plural of the Arabic word for desert. The Sahara covers large parts of Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan and it covers 9 million square kilometres, amounting to 31% of Africa. If all areas with an annual precipitation of less than 250 mm were included. It is one of three physiographic provinces of the African massive physiographic division. The Sahara is mainly rocky hamada, Ergs form only a minor part, wind or rare rainfall shape the desert features, sand dunes, dune fields, sand seas, stone plateaus, gravel plains, dry valleys, dry lakes, and salt flats. Unusual landforms include the Richat Structure in Mauritania, several deeply dissected mountains, many volcanic, rise from the desert, including the Aïr Mountains, Ahaggar Mountains, Saharan Atlas, Tibesti Mountains, Adrar des Iforas, and the Red Sea hills. The highest peak in the Sahara is Emi Koussi, a volcano in the Tibesti range of northern Chad. The central Sahara is hyperarid, with sparse vegetation, the northern and southern reaches of the desert, along with the highlands, have areas of sparse grassland and desert shrub, with trees and taller shrubs in wadis, where moisture collects. In the central, hyperarid region, there are subdivisions of the great desert, Tanezrouft, the Ténéré, the Libyan Desert, the Eastern Desert. These extremely arid areas often receive no rain for years, the northern limit also corresponds to the 100 mm isohyet of annual precipitation. To the south, the Sahara is bounded by the Sahel, the southern limit of the Sahara is indicated botanically by the southern limit of Cornulaca monacantha, or northern limit of Cenchrus biflorus, a grass typical of the Sahel. According to climatic criteria, the limit of the Sahara corresponds to the 150 mm isohyet of annual precipitation. The Sahara is the worlds largest low-latitude hot desert and this steady descending airflow causes a warming and a drying effect in the upper troposphere
17.
North Africa
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North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of Africa. The United Nationss definition of Northern Africa is, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, the countries of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya are often collectively referred to as the Maghreb, which is the Arabic word for sunset. Egypt lies to the northeast and encompasses part of West Asia, while Sudan is situated on the edge of the Sahel, Egypt is a transcontinental country because of the Sinai Peninsula, which geographically lies in Western Asia. North Africa also includes a number of Spanish possessions, the Canary Islands and Madeira in the North Atlantic Ocean northwest of the African mainland are included in considerations of the region. From 3500 BC, following the abrupt desertification of the Sahara due to changes in the Earths orbit. The Islamic influence in the area is significant, and North Africa is a major part of the Muslim world. Some researchers have postulated that North Africa rather than East Africa served as the point for the modern humans who first trekked out of the continent in the Out of Africa migration. The Atlas Mountains extend across much of Morocco, northern Algeria and Tunisia, are part of the mountain system that also runs through much of Southern Europe. They recede to the south and east, becoming a steppe landscape before meeting the Sahara desert, the sediments of the Sahara overlie an ancient plateau of crystalline rock, some of which is more than four billion years old. Sheltered valleys in the Atlas Mountains, the Nile Valley and Delta, a wide variety of valuable crops including cereals, rice and cotton, and woods such as cedar and cork, are grown. Typical Mediterranean crops, such as olives, figs, dates and citrus fruits, the Nile Valley is particularly fertile, and most of the population in Egypt and Sudan live close to the river. Elsewhere, irrigation is essential to improve yields on the desert margins. The inhabitants of Saharan Africa are generally divided in a manner corresponding to the principal geographic regions of North Africa, the Maghreb, the Nile valley. The edge of the Sahel, to the south of Egypt has mainly been inhabited by Nubians, Ancient Egyptians record extensive contact in their Western desert with people that appear to have been Berber or proto-Berber, as well as Nubians from the south. They have contributed to the Arabized Berber populations, the official language or one of the official languages in all of the countries in North Africa is Arabic. The people of the Maghreb and the Sahara regions speak Berber languages and several varieties of Arabic, the Arabic and Berber languages are distantly related, both being members of the Afroasiatic language family. The Tuareg Berber languages are more conservative than those of the coastal cities. Over the years, Berbers have been influenced by contact with cultures, Greeks, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, Europeans
18.
Sinai Peninsula
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The Sinai Peninsula or simply Sinai is a peninsula in Egypt, situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, serving as a land bridge between Asia and Africa. It is the part of Egyptian territory located in Asia. Sinai has an area of about 60,000 km2. The bulk of the peninsula is divided administratively into two of Egypts 27 governorates, the Sinai Peninsula has been a part of Egypt from the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt. In periods of occupation, the Sinai was, like the rest of Egypt, also occupied and controlled by foreign empires, in more recent history the Ottoman Empire. Israel invaded and occupied Sinai during the Suez Crisis of 1956, on 6 October 1973, Egypt launched the Yom Kippur War to retake the peninsula, which was the site of fierce fighting between Egyptian and Israeli forces. Today, Sinai has become a tourist destination due to its setting, rich coral reefs. Mount Sinai is one of the most religiously significant places in Abrahamic faiths, in addition to its formal name, Egyptians also refer to it as Arḍ ul-Fairūz. The ancient Egyptians called it Ta Mefkat, or land of turquoise, Sinai is triangular in shape, with northern shore lying on the southern Mediterranean Sea, and southwest and southeast shores on Gulf of Suez and Gulf of Aqaba of the Red Sea. It is linked to the African continent by the Isthmus of Suez,125 kilometres wide strip of land, the eastern isthmus, linking it to the Asian mainland, is around 200 kilometres wide. The peninsulas eastern shore separates the Arabian plate from the African plate, the southernmost tip is the Ras Muhammad National Park. Most of the Sinai Peninsula is divided among the two governorates of Egypt, South Sinai and North Sinai, together, they comprise around 60,000 square kilometres and have a population of 597,000. Three more governates span the Suez Canal, crossing into African Egypt, Suez is on the end of the Suez Canal, Ismailia in the centre. The largest city of Sinai is Arish, capital of the North Sinai, other larger settlements include Sharm el-Sheikh and El-Tor, on the southern coast. Inland Sinai is arid, mountainous and sparsely populated, the largest settlements being Saint Catherine, Sinai is one of the coldest provinces in Egypt because of its high altitudes and mountainous topographies. Winter temperatures in some of Sinais cities and towns reach −16 °C, the mines were worked intermittently and on a seasonal basis for thousands of years. Modern attempts to exploit the deposits have been unprofitable and these may be the first historically attested mines. According to the Hebrew Bible, the peninsula was crossed by the Israelites during the Exodus from Egypt and this included numerous halts over a 40-year period of travel sometime towards the end of the Bronze Age
19.
Israel
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Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. The country contains geographically diverse features within its small area. Israels economy and technology center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, in 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, next year, the Jewish Agency declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights and it extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank. Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories is the worlds longest military occupation in modern times, efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been signed, the population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was estimated in 2017 to be 8,671,100 people. It is the worlds only Jewish-majority state, with 74. 8% being designated as Jewish, the countrys second largest group of citizens are Arabs, at 20. 8%. The great majority of Israeli Arabs are Sunni Muslims, including significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins, other minorities include Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Black Hebrew Israelites, Circassians, Maronites and Samaritans. Israel also hosts a significant population of foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia, including illegal migrants from Sudan, Eritrea. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish, Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage. The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature, Israel is a developed country and an OECD member, with the 35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2016. The country benefits from a skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia, in the early weeks of independence, the government chose the term Israeli to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett. The names Land of Israel and Children of Israel have historically used to refer to the biblical Kingdom of Israel. The name Israel in these phrases refers to the patriarch Jacob who, jacobs twelve sons became the ancestors of the Israelites, also known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel or Children of Israel. The earliest known artifact to mention the word Israel as a collective is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt. The area is known as the Holy Land, being holy for all Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam
20.
Arabah
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The Arabah, known in Hebrew as Arava or Aravah, is a geographic name for the area south of the Dead Sea basin which forms part of the border between Israel to the west and Jordan to the east. This included the Jordan River Valley between Sea of Galilee and Dead Sea, the Dead Sea itself, and what is called today the Arava Valley. The modern use of the term is restricted to this section alone. The southern stretch of the Arabah is 166 km in length from the Gulf of Aqaba to the shore of the Dead Sea. Topographically, the region is divided into three sections, from this crest, the land slopes gently northward over the next 74 km to a point 15 km south of the Dead Sea. In the last section, the Arabah drops steeply to the Dead Sea, the Arabah is scenic with colorful cliffs and sharp-topped mountains. The southern Arabah is hot and dry and virtually without rain, there are numerous species of flora and fauna in the Aravah Valley. Notably the Caracal, Caracal caracal, is found on savannas of the valley, in Biblical times, the Arava was a center of copper production, King Solomon is believed to have had mines here based on copper mines dating to his reign. The Arabah was home to the Edomites, east of the Arabah was the domain of the Nabateans, the builders of the city of Petra. Kibbutz Yotvata founded in 1957, was named for an ancient town in the mentioned in the Bible. Kibbutz Lotan has a bird-watching center, the oldest moshav in the central Arava area is Ein Yahav. The Israel–Jordan Peace Treaty was signed in the Arava on October 26,1994, the governments of Jordan and Israel are promoting development of the region. There is a plan to bring sea water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea through a canal and this project was once an issue of dispute between Jordan and Israel, but it was recently agreed that the project shall be constructed on and by the Jordanian side. In 2004, the Jordanian administrative district of Wadi Araba had a population of 6,775, the main economic activities for these Arabah residents revolve around herding sheep, agriculture, handicrafts, and the Jordanian Army. Timna Valley Park is notable for its rock carvings, some of the oldest copper mines in the world. On the Jordanian side is the famous Wadi Rum, which is famous among rock climbers, hikers, campers, Feynan Ecolodge was opened in Wadi Feynan by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature in 2005. Below is a list of Jordanian population clusters in Wadi Araba, The total population of the Jordanian portion of the region is 103,000, below is a list of Israeli localities in the Arava, from north to south. The population of the Israeli portion is 52,000, of which 47,500 live in Eilat, and just over 5,000 live in 20 small towns north of Eilat, the Israeli residents of the region are almost entirely Jews
21.
Arabian Desert
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The Arabian Desert is located in Western Asia. It is a vast desert wilderness stretching from Yemen to the Persian Gulf and Oman to Jordan and it occupies most of the Arabian Peninsula, with an area of 2,330,000 square kilometers. At its center is the Rubal-Khali, one of the largest continuous bodies of sand in the world. Gazelles, oryx, sand cats, and spiny-tailed lizards are just some of the species that survive in this extreme environment. The climate is dry, and temperatures oscillate between very high heat and seasonal night time freezes. It is part of the Deserts and xeric shrublands biome and the Palearctic ecozone and this ecoregion holds little biodiversity, although a few endemic plants grow here. Many species, such as the hyena, jackal and honey badger have become extinct in this area due to hunting, human encroachment. Other species have been successfully re-introduced, such as the sand gazelle, overgrazing by livestock, off-road driving, and human destruction of habitat are the main threats to this desert ecoregion. Detailed geological features, A corridor of sandy terrain known as the Ad-Dahna desert connects the large An-Nafud desert in the north of Saudi Arabia to the Rub Al-Khali in the south-east, the Tuwaiq escarpment is a region of 800 km arc of limestone cliffs, plateaux, and canyons. At an altitude of 1,000 metres, the rock landscapes yield the place to the Rub al Khali, vast wide of sand of the Arabian desert, the sand overlies gravel or gypsum plains and the dunes reach maximum heights of up to 250 m. The sands are predominantly silicates, composed of 80 to 90% of quartz and the feldspar, whose iron oxide-coated grains color the sands in orange, purple. Some of natural resources available in the Arabian Desert are oil, natural gas, phosphates, the Rubal-Khali has very limited floristic diversity. There are only 37 species,20 recorded in the body of the sands and 17 around the outer margins. Among these 37 species, only one or two are endemic, vegetation is very diffuse but fairly evenly distributed, with some interruptions of near sterile dunes. Some typical plants are, Calligonum crinitum on dune slopes Cornulaca arabica Cyperus conglomeratus, other widespread species are, Dipterygium glaucum Limeum arabicum Zygophyllum mandavillei. Very little trees may be found except at the outer margin, in fact, the Arabian Desert is an extension of the Sahara Desert over the Arabian peninsula. The climate is hot and dry with plenty of sunshine throughout the year. The rainfall amount is generally around 100 mm, and the driest areas can receive between 30 and 40 mm of annual rain, such dryness remains very rare throughout the desert, however
22.
Berber language
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Berber or the Berber languages or the Amazigh language are a family of similar and closely related languages and dialects indigenous to North Africa. Large Berber-speaking migrant communities, numbering today about 4 million, have been living in Western Europe, about half of this population was born in Europe. Berber constitutes a branch of the Afroasiatic language family, and has been attested since ancient times, the number of Berbers is much higher than the number of Berber speakers. The bulk of the populations of the Maghreb countries are considered to have Berber ancestors, in Algeria, for example, a majority of the population consists of Arabized Berbers. There is a cultural and political movement among speakers of the closely related varieties of Northern Berber to promote and unify them under a standard language, called. The name Tamaziɣt is the current native name of the Berber language in the Moroccan Middle-Atlas region, the Rif regions, in other Berber-speaking area this name was lost. There is historical evidence, from medieval Berber manusctipts, that all native North Africans from Libya to Morocco have called their language, Tamaziɣt. The name Tamaziɣt is currently being used by educated Berbers to refer to the written Berber language. Around 90 percent of the Berber-speaking population speak one of six major varieties of Berber and they are, in the order of demographic weight, Tashelhit, Kabyle, Atlas Tamazight, Riffian, Shawi and Tuareg. The Berber languages and dialects have had a tradition, on and off, for about 2,500 years, although the tradition has been frequently disrupted by cultural shifts. They were first written in the Libyco-Berber and Tifinagh abjad, still used by the Tuareg, the oldest dated inscription is from about 200 BCE. The Berber Latin alphabet was used by most European and Berber linguists during the 19th and 20th centuries. In the 19th and 20th century European and native Berber linguists, a modernized form of the Tifinagh alphabet, called Neo-Tifinagh, was adopted in Morocco in 2003 for writing Berber, but many Moroccan Berber publications still use the Berber Latin alphabet. Algerians mostly use the Berber Latin alphabet in Berber language education at public schools, Mali and Niger recognize a Tuareg-Berber Latin alphabet customized to the Tuareg phonological system. However, traditional Tifinagh is still used in those countries, the term Berber has been used in Europe since at least the 17th century, and is still used today. It was borrowed from Latin Barbari, the Latin word is also found in the Arabic designation for these populations, البربر, al-Barbar, see names of the Berber people. Etymologically, the Berber root Mazigh means free man, noble man, the feminine Tamazight traditionally referred specifically to the Riffian and Central Atlas Tamazight languages. European languages distinguish between the words Berber and barbaric, while Arabic has the same word al-barbari for both meanings, some other Berber writers, especially in Morocco, prefer to refer to Berber with Amazigh when writing about it in French or English
23.
Greek language
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Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
24.
Canid
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The biological family Canidae /ˈkænᵻdiː/ is a lineage of carnivorans that includes domestic dogs, wolves, foxes, jackals, dingoes, and many other extant and extinct dog-like mammals. A member of family is called a canid. The cat-like feliforms and dog-like caniforms emerged within the Carnivoramorpha 43 million years before present, the caniforms included the fox-like Leptocyon genus whose various species existed from 34 million years before present before branching 11.9 million YBP into Vulpini and Canini. Canids are found on all continents except Antarctica, having arrived independently or accompanied human beings over extended periods of time, canids vary in size from the 2-m-long gray wolf to the 24-cm-long fennec fox. The body forms of canids are similar, typically having long muzzles, upright ears, teeth adapted for cracking bones and slicing flesh, long legs and they are mostly social animals, living together in family units or small groups and behaving cooperatively. Typically, only the dominant pair in a group breeds, canids communicate by scent signals and by vocalizations. One canid, the dog, long ago entered into a partnership with humans. In the history of the carnivores, the family Canidae is represented by the two extinct subfamilies designated as Hesperocyoninae and Borophaginae, and the extant subfamily Caninae and this subfamily includes all living canids and their most recent fossil relatives. The fox-like canids, which include the kit fox, red fox, Cape fox, Arctic fox, the South American canids, including the bush dog, hoary fox, crab-eating fox and maned wolf. Various monotypic taxa, including the bat-eared fox, gray fox, DNA analysis shows that the first three form monophyletic clades. The wolf-like canids and the South American canids together form the tribe Canini, molecular data imply a North American origin of living Canidae some ten million years ago and an African origin of wolf-like canines, with the jackals being the most basal of this group. The South American clade is rooted by the wolf and bush dog. The grey fox and island fox are basal to the other clades, the cladogram below is based on the phylogeny of Lindblad-Toh et al, modified to incorporate recent findings on Canis and Vulpes species. The Canidae today includes a group of some 34 species ranging in size from the maned wolf with its long limbs to the short-legged bush dog. Modern canids inhabit forests, tundra, savannahs and deserts throughout tropical, in some species, genetic divergence has been suppressed by the high level of gene flow between different populations and where the species have hybridized, large hybrid zones exist. Carnivorans evolved from miacoids about 55 million years ago during the late Paleocene, some five million years later, the carnivorans split into two main divisions, caniforms and feliforms. By 40 Mya, the first member of the dog family proper had arisen, called Prohesperocyon wilsoni, its fossilized remains have been found in what is now the southwestern part of Texas. The chief features which identify it as a canid include the loss of the third molar
25.
Desert
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A desert is a barren area of land where little precipitation occurs and consequently living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to the processes of denudation, about one third of the land surface of the world is arid or semi-arid. This includes much of the regions where little precipitation occurs. Deserts can be classified by the amount of precipitation falls, by the temperature that prevails. Deserts are formed by weathering processes as large variations in temperature between day and night put strains on the rocks which consequently break in pieces, although rain seldom occurs in deserts, there are occasional downpours that can result in flash floods. Rain falling on hot rocks can cause them to shatter and the resulting fragments and this picks up particles of sand and dust and wafts them aloft in sand or dust storms. Wind-blown sand grains striking any solid object in their path can abrade the surface, rocks are smoothed down, and the wind sorts sand into uniform deposits. The grains end up as level sheets of sand or are piled high in billowing sand dunes, other deserts are flat, stony plains where all the fine material has been blown away and the surface consists of a mosaic of smooth stones. These areas are known as desert pavements and little further erosion takes place, other desert features include rock outcrops, exposed bedrock and clays once deposited by flowing water. Temporary lakes may form and salt pans may be left when waters evaporate, there may be underground sources of water in the form of springs and seepages from aquifers. Where these are found, oases can occur, plants and animals living in the desert need special adaptations to survive in the harsh environment. Plants tend to be tough and wiry with small or no leaves, water-resistant cuticles, some annual plants germinate, bloom and die in the course of a few weeks after rainfall while other long-lived plants survive for years and have deep root systems able to tap underground moisture. Animals need to cool and find enough food and water to survive. Many are nocturnal and stay in the shade or underground during the heat of the day and they tend to be efficient at conserving water, extracting most of their needs from their food and concentrating their urine. Some animals remain in a state of dormancy for long periods and they then reproduce rapidly while conditions are favorable before returning to dormancy. People have struggled to live in deserts and the surrounding lands for millennia. Nomads have moved their flocks and herds to wherever grazing is available, the cultivation of semi-arid regions encourages erosion of soil and is one of the causes of increased desertification. Many trade routes have been forged across deserts, especially across the Sahara Desert, large numbers of slaves were also taken northwards across the Sahara
26.
Predation
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In an ecosystem, predation is a biological interaction where a predator feeds on its prey. Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on it, but the act of predation often results in the death of the prey, thus predation is often, though not always, carnivory. Other categories of consumption are herbivory, fungivory, and detritivory, all of these are consumer-resource systems. It can often be difficult to separate various types of feeding behaviors. For example, some parasites prey on their host and then lay their eggs on it, for their offspring to feed on it while it continues to live, the key characteristic of predation is the predators direct impact on the prey population. Selective pressures imposed on one another leads to an evolutionary arms race between prey and predator, resulting in various antipredator adaptations. Ways of classifying predation include grouping by trophic level or diet, by specialization, Predators can be classified by their interactions with their prey. Two factors are considered here, how close the predator and prey are, and whether the prey is killed by the predator. A true predator is one that kills and eats another living thing, Predators may hunt actively for prey in pursuit predation, or sit and wait for prey to approach within striking distance, as in ambush predators. Some predation entails venom that subdues a prey before the predator ingests it, as in the box jellyfish, or disables it, in some cases, the venom contributes to the digestion of the prey, as in rattlesnakes and some spiders. In contrast, baleen whales eat millions of microscopic plankton at once, seed and egg predation are true predation, as seeds and eggs are potential organisms. Predators need not eat prey entirely, for example, some predators cannot digest bones, some may eat only part of an organism, but still consistently cause its death. Grazing organisms do not often kill their prey, while some herbivores like zooplankton live on unicellular phytoplankton and therefore, by the individualized nature of the organism, kill their prey, many others only eat a small part of the plant. Grazing livestock may pull some grass out at the roots, but most is simply grazed upon, kelp is frequently grazed in subtidal kelp forests, but regrows at the base of the blade continuously to cope with browsing pressure. Animals may also be grazed upon, female mosquitos land on hosts briefly to gain sufficient proteins for the development of their offspring, starfish may be grazed on, being capable of regenerating lost arms. Parasites can at times be difficult to distinguish from grazers and their feeding behavior is similar in many ways, however they are noted for their close association with their host species. This close living arrangement may be described by the symbiosis, living together. Parasitic organisms range from the mistletoe, a parasitic plant
27.
Verreaux's eagle-owl
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Verreauxs eagle-owl, also commonly known as the milky eagle owl or giant eagle owl, is a member of the family Strigidae. This species is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, a member of the Bubo genus, it is the largest African owl measuring up to 66 cm in total length. This eagle-owl is a resident primarily of dry, wooded savanna, Verreauxs eagle-owl is mainly grey in color and is at once distinguished from other large owls by its bright pink eyelids, a feature shared with no other owl species in the world. Verreauxs eagle-owl is an opportunistic predator equipped with powerful talons. As a large, highly territorial species of owl, it does occur at fairly low densities. The common name commemorates the French naturalist Jules Verreaux, the type specimen that was later described by Temminck at the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie was collected by Verreaux while he was still in his teens. Despite the alternate name of giant eagle-owl, the Verreauxs eagle-owl is not the largest owl or eagle-owl in the world. It is, however, a large and powerful owl species. This species is both the largest owl found in Africa and the world’s largest owl to occur in the tropics, Verreauxs eagle-owl ranges from 58 to 66 cm in total length. This species has been reported as having a wingspan of 140 cm. The largest known wingspan from a female measured nearly 164 cm. In comparison, the females of the subspecies of Eurasian eagle-owls and great horned owl are reported to average approximately 20% and 25% heavier than the males. The full range of reported body mass in the ranges from 1,615 to 2,000 g in males against a body mass of 2. In one study,4 males were found to have averaged 1,704 g while 6 females averaged 2,625 g, another study found 5 males to have averaged approximately 1,700 g while five females averaged 2,300 g. Males heavier than any in the wild have been verified in captivity to weigh up to 2,200 g, the back is more solidly light brown with white spots on the shoulder. The oval facial disc is paler, sometimes ranging into a whitish color, one other feature that immediately distinguished adult Verreauxs eagle-owls in good light are its pink eyelids. Their eyes are dark-brown in color and like all eagle-owls, they have ear-tufts, the ear tufts are blunter and smaller relative to those of other African eagle-owls. The ear-tufts of this species being relatively subtle of this species can be missed in the field if they are held lax
28.
Burrow
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A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to create a space suitable for habitation, temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of locomotion. Burrows provide a form of shelter against predation and exposure to the elements and can be found in nearly every biome, a wide variety of vertebrates construct or use burrows in many different types of substrate and can range widely in complexity. Mammals are perhaps most well known for burrowing, especially Insectivora like the voracious mole, the rabbit, a member of the family Lagomorpha, is a well-known burrower. There are estimates that a single burrow can occupy a full cubic metre. Great gerbils live in groups in extensive burrows, which can be seen on satellite images. Even the unoccupied burrows can remain visible in the landscape for years, the burrows are distributed regularly, although the occupied burrows appear to be clustered in space. Even Carnivora like the meerkat, and marsupials, are burrowers, the largest burrowing animal is probably the polar bear when it makes its maternity den in snow or earth. Burrows by birds are made in soft soils, some penguins. The Magellanic penguin is an example, constructing burrows along coastal Patagonian regions of Chile, other burrowing birds are puffins, kingfishers, and bee-eaters. Kangaroo mice construct burrows in fine sand, examples of vertebrate burrowing animals include a number of mammals, amphibians, fish, reptiles, and birds. Scabies mites construct their burrows in the skin of the animal or human. Some sea urchins and clams can burrow into rock, the burrows produced by invertebrate animals can be filled actively or passively. Dwelling burrows which remain open during occupation by an organism are filled passively, actively filled burrows, on the other hand, are filled with material by the burrowing organism itself. The establishment of an invertebrate burrow often involves the soaking of surrounding sediment in mucus in order to prevent collapse, examples of burrowing invertebrates are insects, spiders, sea urchins, crustaceans, clams and worms. Burrows are also preserved in the fossil record as a type of trace fossil. Holt Maternity den Sett- a network of badger tunnels
29.
Exotic pet
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An exotic pet is a rare or unusual animal pet, or an animal kept within human households which is generally thought of as a wild species not typically kept as a pet. Commonly, the definition is an one, some rodents, reptiles. Sometimes any unique or wild-looking pet is called an exotic pet, Exotic generally refers to a species which is not native or indigenous to the owners locale, and pet is a companion animal living with people. However, many use the term to include species as well. Therefore, the American College of Zoological Medicine has defined the group as zoological companion animals, however. excludes exotic animals and wild animals. It has been estimated that as many as 15,000 non-human primates are kept by individuals as pets in the United States. Nine states ban the keeping of non-human primates, but no federal law regulates ownership, in 1975, the Center for Disease Control prohibited their import into the US for use as pets. The breeding industry uses descendants of animals imported before 1975, for example, chimpanzees are popular in some areas despite their strength, aggression, and wild nature. As they grow, so do their strength and aggression, some owners and others interacting with the animals have lost fingers, although the breeding population has been largely isolated from wild populations outside the US, they still have the potential to transmit zoonotic disease. There is a risk of monkey B virus from rhesus macaques. Research workers have died from disease contracted from non-human primate research subjects. Additionally, there is risk to the non-human primate pet through transmission of human disease. One such example is herpes simplex virus, which can be deadly to certain smaller monkeys, contrary to popular belief, most exotic pets in North America are bred, rather than imported. But smuggling does take place in other areas, often a massive amount of the species are stored into small, usually airtight, containers and smuggled in. A large number of animals perish as a result, in one example of smuggling, slow lorises trafficked from Indonesia have their teeth removed prior to being sold locally, or exported to Japan or Russia. The animals are not given any pain relievers during their surgeries, some importing of live reptiles and amphibians to the USA occurs, though most of the popular reptile species kept in the USA are rarely if ever sourced from wild populations. Some exotic animals are capable of maiming or killing their owners. It is not legal in most states for most exotic animals to be kept as pets, certain animals may be strictly regulated or restricted outright due to both their conservation status, as well as the possibility of the animal becoming an invasive species
30.
Blood vessel
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The blood vessels are the part of the circulatory system that transports blood throughout the human body. The word vascular, meaning relating to the vessels, is derived from the Latin vas. A few structures do not contain blood vessels and are labeled, tunica media, circularly arranged elastic fiber, connective tissue, polysaccharide substances, the second and third layer are separated by another thick elastic band called external elastic lamina. The tunica media may be rich in smooth muscle, which controls the caliber of the vessel. Veins dont have the external elastic lamina, but only an internal one, tunica adventitia, entirely made of connective tissue. It also contains nerves that supply the vessel as well as nutrient capillaries in the blood vessels. Capillaries consist of more than a layer of endothelium and occasional connective tissue. When blood vessels connect to form a region of diffuse vascular supply it is called an anastomosis, anastomoses provide critical alternative routes for blood to flow in case of blockages. There is a layer of muscle surrounding the arteries and the veins which help contract and this creates enough pressure for blood to be pumped around the body. Blood vessels are part of the system, together with the heart. They are roughly grouped as arterial and venous, determined by whether the blood in it is flowing away from or toward the heart. The term arterial blood is used to indicate blood high in oxygen. This is because they are carrying the blood to and from the lungs, respectively, blood vessels do not actively engage in the transport of blood, but arteries—and veins to a degree—can regulate their inner diameter by contraction of the muscular layer. This changes the flow to downstream organs, and is determined by the autonomic nervous system. Vasodilation and vasoconstriction are also used antagonistically as methods of thermoregulation, oxygen is the most critical nutrient carried by the blood. In all arteries apart from the artery, hemoglobin is highly saturated with oxygen. In all veins apart from the vein, the hemoglobin is desaturated at about 75%. The blood pressure in blood vessels is traditionally expressed in millimetres of mercury, in the arterial system, this is usually around 120 mmHg systolic and 80 mmHg diastolic
31.
Chromosome
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A chromosome is a DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. Prokaryotes usually have one single circular chromosome, whereas most eukaryotes are diploid, chromosomes in eukaryotes are composed of chromatin fiber. Chromatin fiber is made of nucleosomes, a nucleosome is a histone octamer with part of a longer DNA strand attached to and wrapped around it. Chromatin fiber, together with associated proteins is known as chromatin, chromatin is present in most cells, with a few exceptions, for example, red blood cells. Occurring only in the nucleus of cells, chromatin contains the vast majority of DNA, except for a small amount inherited maternally. Chromosomes are normally visible under a microscope only when the cell is undergoing the metaphase of cell division. Before this happens every chromosome is copied once, and the copy is joined to the original by a centromere resulting in an X-shaped structure, the original chromosome and the copy are now called sister chromatids. During metaphase, when a chromosome is in its most condensed state, in this highly condensed form chromosomes are easiest to distinguish and study. In prokaryotic cells, chromatin occurs free-floating in cytoplasm, as these cells lack organelles, the main information-carrying macromolecule is a single piece of coiled double-helix DNA, containing many genes, regulatory elements and other noncoding DNA. The DNA-bound macromolecules are proteins that serve to package the DNA, chromosomes vary widely between different organisms. Some species such as certain bacteria also contain plasmids or other extrachromosomal DNA and these are circular structures in the cytoplasm that contain cellular DNA and play a role in horizontal gene transfer. Chromosomal recombination during meiosis and subsequent sexual reproduction plays a significant role in genetic diversity. In prokaryotes and viruses, the DNA is often densely packed and organized, in the case of archaea, by homologs to eukaryotic histones, small circular genomes called plasmids are often found in bacteria and also in mitochondria and chloroplasts, reflecting their bacterial origins. Some use the term chromosome in a sense, to refer to the individualized portions of chromatin in cells. However, others use the concept in a sense, to refer to the individualized portions of chromatin during cell division. The word chromosome comes from the Greek χρῶμα and σῶμα, describing their strong staining by particular dyes, schleiden, Virchow and Bütschli were among the first scientists who recognized the structures now so familiar to everyone as chromosomes. The term was coined by von Waldeyer-Hartz, referring to the term chromatin, in a series of experiments beginning in the mid-1880s, Theodor Boveri gave the definitive demonstration that chromosomes are the vectors of heredity. His two principles were the continuity of chromosomes and the individuality of chromosomes and it is the second of these principles that was so original
32.
Arctic fox
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The Arctic fox, also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. It is well adapted to living in cold environments and it has a deep thick fur which is brown in summer and white in winter. Its body length ranges from 46 to 68 cm, with a rounded body shape to minimize the escape of body heat. The Arctic fox preys on any small creatures such as, lemmings, voles, ringed seal pups, fish, waterfowl and it also eats carrion, berries, seaweed, insects, and other small invertebrates. Arctic foxes form monogamous pairs during the season and they stay together to raise their young in complex underground dens. Occasionally, other members may assist in raising their young. The Arctic fox lives in some of the most frigid extremes on the planet, the fox has a low surface area to volume ratio, as evidenced by its generally compact body shape, short muzzle and legs, and short, thick ears. Since less of its area is exposed to the Arctic cold. Its paws have fur on the soles for additional insulation and to help it walk on ice and its fur changes color with the seasons, in most populations it is white in the winter to blend in with snow, while in the summer it is greyish-brown or darker brown. In some populations, however, it is a steely bluish-gray in the winter, the fur of the Arctic fox provides the best insulation of any mammal. The Arctic fox has such keen hearing, it can determine exactly where an animal is moving under the snow. When it has located its prey, it pounces and punches through the snow to catch its victim, Arctic foxes do not hibernate and are active all year round. They build up their fat reserves in the autumn, sometimes increasing their weight by more than 50%. This provides greater insulation during the winter and a source of energy when food is scarce and they live in large dens in frost-free, slightly raised ground. These are complex systems of tunnels covering as much as 1,000 m2 and are often in eskers and they have multiple entrances and may have been in existence for many decades and used by many generations of foxes. Arctic foxes tend to form pairs in the breeding season. Breeding usually takes place in April and May, and the period is about 52 days. Litters tend to average five to eight kits, but exceptionally contain as many as 25, both the mother and father help to raise the young which emerge from the den when 3 to 4 weeks old and are weaned by 9 weeks of age
33.
Kit fox
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The kit fox is a fox species of North America. Its range is primarily in the Southwestern United States and northern, some mammalogists classify it as conspecific with the swift fox, V. velox, but molecular systematics imply that the two species are distinct. The northernmost part of its range is the interior of Oregon. Its eastern limit is southwestern Colorado and it can be found south through Nevada, Utah, southeastern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and into western Texas. The endangered San Joaquin kit fox was formerly common in the San Joaquin Valley. Its 1990 population was estimated to be 7,000 and this subspecies is still endangered, after nearly 50 years of being on the Endangered Species List. Officially this subspecies was listed March 3,1967, on September 26,2007, Wildlands Inc. announced the designation of the 684-acre Deadman Creek Conservation Bank, which is intended specifically to protect habitat of the San Joaquin kit fox. However, the continues to decline mostly due to heavy habitat loss. The Southern California kit fox was a population of kit foxes native to regions of Southern California which became extinct in 1903. The desert kit fox lives in the Mojave Desert, the kit fox is the smallest species of the family Canidae found in North America It has large ears, between 71 and 95 mm, that help the fox lower its body temperature and give it exceptional hearing. This species exhibits sexual dimorphism, with the male being slightly larger, the average species weight is between 1.6 and 2.7 kg. The body length is 455 to 535 mm, the tail adds another 250–340 mm to its length. It usually has a coat, with rusty tones. Unlike the gray fox, it has no stripe along the length of its tail and its color ranges from yellowish to gray, and the back is usually darker than the majority of its coat, its belly and inner ears are usually lighter. It has distinct dark patches around the nose, the kit fox is mostly a nocturnal animal, but sometimes ventures out of its den during the day. While primarily carnivorous, if food is scarce, it has known to eat tomatoes, cactus fruits. Different kit fox families can occupy the same hunting grounds, Kit foxes favor arid climates, such as desert scrub, chaparral, and grasslands. Good examples of habitats are sagebrush Artemisia tridentata and saltbrush Atriplex polycarpa
34.
Corsac fox
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The corsac fox, also known simply as a corsac, is a medium-sized fox found in steppes, semi-deserts and deserts in Central Asia, ranging into Mongolia and northeastern China. Since 2004, it has classified as least concern by IUCN, but populations fluctuate significantly. The word corsac is derived from the Russian name for the animal, the corsac fox is threatened by hunting for the fur trade. The corsac fox is a fox, with a head and body length of 45 to 65 cm. Adults weigh from 1.6 to 3.2 kilograms and it has grey to yellowish fur over much of the body, with paler underparts and pale markings on the mouth, chin, and throat. During the winter, the coat becomes much thicker and silkier in texture, for a fox, it has small teeth and a wide skull. One source claims that species can climb trees and has been domesticated in the past. It is reported to have keen eyesight and hearing and a sense of smell. It has a number of scent glands, some of which produce pungent odours, the glands are found in the anal region, above the base of the tail, and on the paws and cheeks. Corsac foxes are reported to bark during hunting or when threatening rivals, corsac foxes live in the steppes and semidesert of central and northeast Asia. They are found throughout Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, in the south, their range extends into the more northern parts of Iran, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, and China, and they can also be found in neighbouring regions of Russia. True deserts with drifting sands are also avoided, as are more than about 15 cm deep. Corsac foxes generally stay far away from human disturbances, as an adaption to the arid climate in which they live, corsac foxes need little water to survive, obtaining most of the moisture they need from their food. Their diets consist mainly of insects and small rodents, such as voles, gerbils, jerboas, hamsters and they may also eat larger prey from time to time, including hares and pikas, and will scavenge for carrion and human refuse. Although predominantly carnivorous, they do occasionally eat fruit and other vegetation, natural predators of corsac foxes include wolves, eagles, buzzards, and eagle-owls. Corsac foxes are nocturnal and nomadic hunters of the steppes and they do not have a defended territory, and unlike some foxes, will sometimes form packs. Because they cannot hunt in deep snow, they will either shelter in their dens during harsh weather, or, in the parts of their range. They have been reported to follow herds of antelope, relying on them to compress the snow as they pass
35.
Red fox
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It is listed as least concern by the IUCN. Its range has increased alongside human expansion, having introduced to Australia. Due to its presence in Australia, it is included among the list of the worlds 100 worst invasive species, the red fox originated from smaller-sized ancestors from Eurasia during the Middle Villafranchian period, and colonised North America shortly after the Wisconsin glaciation. Among the true foxes, the red fox represents a progressive form in the direction of carnivory. Apart from its size, the red fox is distinguished from other fox species by its ability to adapt quickly to new environments. Despite its name, the species often produces individuals with other colourings, including albinos, forty-five subspecies are currently recognised, which are divided into two categories, the large northern foxes, and the small, basal southern foxes of Asia and North Africa. Red foxes are usually together in pairs or small groups consisting of families, such as a pair and their young. The young of the pair remain with their parents to assist in caring for new kits. The species primarily feeds on rodents, though it may also target rabbits, game birds, reptiles, invertebrates. Fruit and vegetable matter is also eaten sometimes, the species has a long history of association with humans, having been extensively hunted as a pest and furbearer for many centuries, as well as being represented in human folklore and mythology. Because of its distribution and large population, the red fox is one of the most important furbearing animals harvested for the fur trade. Too small to pose a threat to humans, it has colonised many suburban areas. Females are called vixens, and young cubs, pups, or kits, the word fox comes from Old English, which derived from Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz. Compare with West Frisian foks, Dutch vos, and German Fuchs and this, in turn, derives from Proto-Indo-European *puḱ- ‘thick-haired, tail. Compare to the Hindi pū̃ch ‘tail, Tocharian B päkā ‘tail, chowrie, the bushy tail also forms the basis for the foxs Welsh name, llwynog, literally ‘bushy, from llwyn ‘bush. Likewise, Portuguese, raposa from rabo ‘tail, Lithuanian uodẽgis from uodegà ‘tail, and Ojibwa waagosh from waa, the scientific term vulpes derives from the Latin word for fox, and gives the adjectives vulpine and vulpecular. It is, however, not as adapted for a carnivorous diet as the Tibetan fox. The species is Eurasian in origin, and may have evolved from either Vulpes alopecoides or the related Chinese V. chikushanensis, the earliest fossil specimens of V. vulpes were uncovered in Baranya, Hungary dating from 3. 4-1.8 million years ago
36.
Cape fox
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The Cape fox, also called the cama fox or the silver-backed fox, is a small fox. It has black or silver gray fur with flanks and underside in light yellow, the tip of its tail is always black. The Cape fox tends to be 45 to 61 cm long and it is 28 to 33 cm tall at the shoulder, and usually weighs from 3.6 to 5 kg. It inhabits mainly open country, from grassland plains with scattered thickets to arid to semi desert scrub. It also occurs in Lesotho, a mountainous region. The Cape fox is nocturnal and most active just before dawn or after dusk, it can be spotted during the early mornings, during the day, it typically shelters in burrows underground, holes, hollows, or dense thickets. It is a digger that will excavate its own burrow, although it generally modifies an abandoned burrow of another species, such as the springhare. They are solitary creatures, and although they form mated pairs and they are not especially territorial but will mark their territories with a pungent scent. Although a normally silent fox, the Cape fox is known to communicate with soft calls, however, it will utter a loud bark when alarmed. When in a mood, the Cape fox is known to growl. To show its excitement, the fox lifts its tail, the height of the tail often indicating the measure of excitement, Cape foxes are omnivorous and will eat plants or animals. Although they prefer invertebrates and small mammals such as rodents, they are opportunists and known to hunt and eat reptiles, rabbits, spiders, birds and they will also eat eggs, beetle larvae, and carrion, as well as most insects or fruits. Cape foxes have been reported to be able to kill lambs up to three months of age, although this is a rare occurrence, typical of most canid species, Cape foxes mate for life. They are capable of breeding all year long, unlike the red fox, the female Cape fox has a gestation period of 51 to 53 days and gives birth to a litter of one to six cubs. Reared underground in burrows, the cubs stay close to the den until they are four months old. They are weaned around six to eight weeks of age, cubs usually become independent at five months of age, when they disperse. They typically weigh from 50 to 100 g at birth, both parents care for the young, with the male also providing for the female during the first two weeks. A family group consists of the parents and their offspring
37.
Blanford's fox
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Blanfords fox, is a small fox found in certain regions of the Middle East and Central Asia. It is also known as the Afghan fox, royal fox, dog fox, hoary fox, steppe fox, black fox, king fox and this can be confusing because other species are known as the corsac fox and the hoary fox. Blanfords fox inhabits semiarid regions, steppes, and mountains of Afghanistan, Egypt, Turkestan, northeast Iran, southwest Pakistan, the West Bank and it may also live throughout Arabia, as one was trapped in Dhofar, Oman in 1984. Recent camera trapping surveys have confirmed the presence of the species in places in the mountains of South Sinai, Egypt and the mountains of Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. Blanfords fox possesses hairless footpads and have cat-like, curved, sharp claws described by authors as semiretractile. The foxes use their sharp, curved claws and naked footpads for traction on narrow ledges and their long, like all desert foxes, the Blanfords fox has large ears which enables it to dissipate heat. However, unlike other desert foxes, it not have pads covered with hair. Its tail is almost equal in length to its body and its coat is light tan, with white underparts and a black tip on the tail. Among all extant canids, only the fennec fox is smaller than Blanfords, head and body length,17 in. Weight, 2–3.3 lb. Omnivorous, and more frugivorous than other foxes and it prefers seedless grapes, ripe melons and Russian chives when consuming domestic crops. The Biblical foxes in the mentioned in the Song of Songs 2,15. Age at sexual maturity, 8–12 months, longevity, Generally 4–5 years, but reported to live up to 10 years. Currently, little competition exists with humans for habitat, and the fox is a species in Israel and protected from hunting in Oman. Some fur hunting occurs in Afghanistan, and occasionally they may take poison intended for hyenas, wildlife of Israel Abu Baker, M. A. et al. On the Current Status and Distribution of Blanfords fox, Vulpes cana Blanford,1877, in Jordan. Geffen, E. R. Hefner, D. W. Macdonald & Ucko M. Habitat selection and home range in the Blanfords fox, Vulpes cana, geffen, E. Blanfords fox, Vulpes cana. & Stuart, T. Canids in the southeastern Arabian Peninsula, aRKive – images and movies of the Blanfords fox Lioncrushers Domain – Blanfords Fox facts and pictures IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group, Blanfords Fox
38.
Raccoon dog
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Not to be confused with Raccoon or Coonhound The raccoon dog, also known as the mangut or tanuki, is a canid indigenous to East Asia. It is the extant species in the genus Nyctereutes. It is considered a basal species, resembling ancestral forms of the family. Among the Canidae, the raccoon dog shares the habit of climbing trees only with the North American gray fox. The raccoon dog is named for its resemblance to the raccoon. In Sweden, it has treated as a potentially hazardous invasive species. Raccoon dog skulls greatly resemble those of South American foxes, particularly crab-eating foxes and their skulls are small, but sturdily built and moderately elongated, with narrow zygomatic arches. The projections of the skull are well developed, the sagittal crest being particularly prominent in old animals, in reflection of their omnivorous diets, raccoon dogs have small and weak canines and carnassials, flat molars and relatively long intestines. They have long torsos and short legs, total lengths can range from 45 to 71 cm. The tail, at 12 to 18 cm long, is short, amounting to less than 1/3 of the total length. The ears are short and protrude slightly from the fur. Weights fluctuate according to season, in March they weigh 3 kg, while in August to early September males average 6. 5–7 kg, specimens from Japanese and Russian studies have been shown to be on average larger than those from Chinese studies. The winter fur is long and thick with dense underfur and coarse guard hairs measuring 120 mm in length, the winter fur protects raccoon dogs from low temperatures ranging down to −20° to −25 °C. It is of a dirty, earth-brown or brownish-grey colour with black guard hairs, the tail is darker than the torso. A dark stripe is present on the back which broadens on the shoulders, the abdomen is yellowish-brown, while the chest is dark brown or blackish. The muzzle is covered in hair, which increases in length. The cheeks are coated with long, whisker-like hairs, the summer fur is brighter and reddish-straw coloured. A rare, white color phase occurs in species in Japan
39.
Bat-eared fox
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The bat-eared fox is a species of fox found on the African savanna, named for its large ears, which are used for thermoregulation. Fossil records show this canid first appeared during the middle Pleistocene and it is considered a basal canid species, resembling ancestral forms of the family. The bat-eared fox has fur with black ears, legs. It averages 55 cm in length, with ears 13 cm long and it is the only species in the genus Otocyon. The name Otocyon is derived from the Greek words otus for ear and cyon for dog, while the specific name comes from the Greek words mega for large. Two allopatric populations occur in Africa, O. m. virgatus occurs from Ethiopia and southern Sudan to Tanzania. The other population, O. m. megalotis, occurs in the part of Africa. It ranges from southern Zambia and Angola to South Africa, and extends as far east as Mozambique and Zimbabwe, spreading into the Cape Peninsula, home ranges vary in size from 0.3 to 3.5 km2. The bat-eared fox commonly occurs in grasslands, as well as the more arid regions of the savanna. It prefers bare ground and areas where grass is short by grazing ungulates. It tends to hunt in these short grass and low shrub habitats, however, it does venture into areas with tall grasses and thick shrubs to hide when threatened. In addition to raising their young in dens, bat-eared foxes use self-dug dens for shelter from extreme temperatures and they also lie under acacia trees in South Africa to seek shade during the day. The bat-eared fox is predominantly an insectivore that uses its ears to locate its prey. About 80–90% of their diet is harvester termites, the insects they eat fulfill the majority of their water intake needs. The bat-eared fox refuses to feed on snouted harvester termites, likely because it is not adapted to tolerate termites’ chemical defense, the teeth of the bat-eared fox are much smaller and reduced in shearing surface formation than teeth of other canid species. This is an adaptation to its insectivorous diet, due to its unusual teeth, the bat-eared fox was once considered as a distinct subfamily of canids. However, according to more recent examinations, it is closely related to the true foxes of the genus Vulpes. Other research places the genus as an outgroup which is not very related to foxes
40.
Aggression
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Aggression is overt, often harmful, social interaction with the intention of inflicting damage or other unpleasantness upon another individual. It may occur either in retaliation or without provocation, in humans, frustration due to blocked goals can cause aggression. In definitions commonly used in the sciences and behavioral sciences. Some definitions include that the individual must intend to harm another person, predatory or defensive behavior between members of different species may not be considered aggression in the same sense. There are two subtypes of human aggression, controlled-instrumental subtype, and reactive-impulsive subtype, Aggression differs from what is commonly called assertiveness, although the terms are often used interchangeably among laypeople. Aggression can have adaptive benefits or negative effects, Aggressive behavior is an individual or collective social interaction that may be defined in general terms as a hostile behavior with the intention of inflicting damage or harm. Two broad categories of aggression are commonly distinguished, an example of hostile aggression would be a person who punches someone who insulted him or her. An instrumental form of aggression would be armed robbery, research on violence from a range of disciplines lend some support to a distinction between affective and predatory aggression. A number of classifications and dimensions of aggression have been suggested, classification may also encompass aggression-related emotions and mental states. Aggression may occur in response to non-social as well as social factors, Aggression may be displayed in order to intimidate. The operative definition of aggression may be affected by moral or political views, examples are the axiomatic moral view called the non-aggression principle and the political rules governing the behavior of one country toward another. Likewise in competitive sports, or in the workplace, some forms of aggression may be sanctioned, the term aggression comes from the Latin word aggressio, meaning attack. The Latin was itself a joining of ad- and gradi-, which meant step at, the first known use dates back to 1611, in the sense of an unprovoked attack. A psychological sense of hostile or destructive behavior dates back to a 1912 English translation of Sigmund Freuds writing, alfred Adler theorized about an aggressive drive in 1908. Child raising experts began to refer to aggression, rather than anger, ethologists study aggression as it relates to the interaction and evolution of animals in natural settings. In such settings aggression can involve bodily contact such as biting, hitting or pushing, the term agonistic behaviour is sometimes used to refer to these forms of behavior. Most ethologists believe that aggression confers biological advantages, Aggression may help an animal secure territory, including resources such as food and water. Aggression between males often occurs to secure mating opportunities, and results in selection of the healthier/more vigorous animal, Aggression may also occur for self-protection or to protect offspring
41.
Spraying (animal behavior)
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Urination is the release of urine from the urinary bladder through the urethra to the outside of the body. It is the urinary systems form of excretion and it is also known medically as micturition, voiding, uresis, or, rarely, emiction, and known colloquially by various names including tinkling, peeing, weeing, whizzing, and pissing. In healthy humans the process of urination is under voluntary control, in infants, some elderly individuals, and those with neurological injury, urination may occur as a reflex. It is normal for humans to urinate up to seven times during the day. In some animals, in addition to expelling waste material, urination can mark territory or express submissiveness, physiologically, urination involves coordination between the central, autonomic, and somatic nervous systems. Brain centers that regulate urination include the pontine micturition center, periaqueductal gray, in placental mammals, urine is ejected through the penis in males and through the urethral orifice present in the vulval vestibule in females. The main organs involved in urination are the urinary bladder and the urethra, the smooth muscle of the bladder, known as the detrusor, is innervated by sympathetic nervous system fibers from the lumbar spinal cord and parasympathetic fibers from the sacral spinal cord. Part of the urethra is surrounded by the male or female external urethral sphincter, smooth muscle bundles pass on either side of the urethra, and these fibers are sometimes called the internal urethral sphincter, although they do not encircle the urethra. Further along the urethra is a sphincter of skeletal muscle, the sphincter of the membranous urethra, the bladders epithelium is termed transitional epithelium which contains a superficial layer of dome-like cells and multiple layers of stratified cuboidal cells underneath when evacuated. When the bladder is fully distended the superficial cells become squamous, the physiology of micturition and the physiologic basis of its disorders are subjects about which there is much confusion, especially at the supraspinal level. The state of the system is dependent on both a conscious signal from the brain and the firing rate of sensory fibers from the bladder. At low bladder volumes, afferent firing is low, resulting in excitation of the outlet, at high bladder volumes, afferent firing increases, causing a conscious sensation of urinary urge. When the individual is ready to urinate, he or she consciously initiates voiding, causing the bladder to contract, voiding continues until the bladder empties completely, at which point the bladder relaxes and the outlet contracts to re-initiate storage. The muscles controlling micturition are controlled by the autonomic and somatic nervous systems, during the storage phase the internal urethral sphincter remains tense and the detrusor muscle relaxed by sympathetic stimulation. During micturition, parasympathetic stimulation causes the muscle to contract. The external urethral sphincter is under control and is consciously relaxed during micturition. It is commonly believed that in infants, voiding occurs involuntarily, however, the practice of elimination communication suggests otherwise. The ability to voluntarily inhibit micturition develops by the age of 2–3 years, in the adult, the volume of urine in the bladder that normally initiates a reflex contraction is about 300–400 millilitres
42.
Estrous cycle
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The estrous cycle comprises the recurring physiologic changes that are induced by reproductive hormones in most mammalian therian females. Estrous cycles start after sexual maturity in females and are interrupted by anestrous phases or pregnancies, typically, estrous cycles continue until death. Some animals may display bloody vaginal discharge, often mistaken for menstruation, however, species vary significantly in the detailed functioning. One difference is that animals that have estrous cycles reabsorb the endometrium if conception does not occur during that cycle, animals that have menstrual cycles shed the endometrium through menstruation instead. In species with estrous cycles, females are generally only sexually active during the phase of their cycle. This is also referred to as being in heat, in contrast, females of species with menstrual cycles can be sexually active at any time in their cycle, even when they are not about to ovulate. Humans have menstrual cycles rather than estrous cycles and they, unlike other species, were thought to not have any obvious external signs to signal estral receptivity at ovulation. Some research suggests, however, that tend to have more sexual thoughts and are far more prone to sexual activity right before ovulation. Estrus is derived via Latin oestrus, from Greek οἶστρος, specifically, this refers to the gadfly that Hera sent to torment Io, who had been won in her heifer form by Zeus. Euripides used oestrus to indicate frenzy, and to describe madness, homer uses the word to describe panic. Plato also uses it to refer to a drive and to describe the soul driven. Somewhat more closely aligned to current meaning and usage of estrus, Herodotus uses oistros to describe the desire of fish to spawn, the earliest use in English is of frenzied passion. In 1900 it was first used to describe rut in animals, in British English, the spelling is oestrus or œstrus. In all English spellings, the ends in -us and the adjective in -ous. Thus in American English, a mammal may be described as in estrus when it is in particular part of the estrous cycle. Estrum is sometimes used as a synonym for estrus, one or several follicles of the ovary start to grow. Typically this phase can last as little as one day or as long as three weeks, depending on the species, under the influence of estrogen the lining in the uterus starts to develop. Some animals may experience vaginal secretions that could be bloody, estrus refers to the phase when the female is sexually receptive
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Soil
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Soil is a mixture of minerals, organic matter, gases, liquids, and countless organisms that together support life on Earth. Soil is called the Skin of the Earth and interfaces with the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, the term pedolith, used commonly to refer to the soil, literally translates ground stone. Soil consists of a phase of minerals and organic matter, as well as a porous phase that holds gases. Accordingly, soils are often treated as a system of solids, liquids. Soil is a product of the influence of climate, relief, organisms, Soil continually undergoes development by way of numerous physical, chemical and biological processes, which include weathering with associated erosion. Given its complexity and strong internal connectedness soil has been considered as an ecosystem by soil ecologists. Most soils have a dry bulk density between 1.1 and 1.6 g/cm3, while the particle density is much higher. Little of the soil of planet Earth is older than the Pleistocene and none is older than the Cenozoic, Soil science has two basic branches of study, edaphology and pedology. Edaphology is concerned with the influence of soils on living things, pedology is focused on the formation, description, and classification of soils in their natural environment. In engineering terms, soil is referred to as regolith, or loose material that lies above the solid geology. Soil is commonly referred to as earth or dirt, technically, as soil resources serve as a basis for food security, the international community advocates its sustainable and responsible use through different types of soil governance. Soil is a component of the Earths ecosystem. The worlds ecosystems are impacted in far-reaching ways by the carried out in the soil, from ozone depletion and global warming, to rainforest destruction. Following the atmosphere, the soil is the next largest carbon reservoir on Earth, as the planet warms, soils will add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere due to its increased biological activity at higher temperatures. Thus, soil carbon losses likely have a positive feedback response to global warming. Since soil has a range of available niches and habitats. A gram of soil can contain billions of organisms, belonging to thousands of species, mostly microbial, Soil has a mean prokaryotic density of roughly 108 organisms per gram, whereas the ocean has no more than 107 procaryotic organisms per milliliter of seawater. Since plant roots need oxygen, ventilation is an important characteristic of soil and this ventilation can be accomplished via networks of interconnected soil pores, which also absorb and hold rainwater making it readily available for plant uptake
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International Union for Conservation of Nature
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The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, lobbying. IUCNs mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of resources is equitable. Over the past decades, IUCN has widened its focus beyond conservation ecology and now incorporates issues related to equality, poverty alleviation. Unlike other international NGOs, IUCN does not itself aim to mobilize the public in support of nature conservation and it tries to influence the actions of governments, business and other stakeholders by providing information and advice, and through lobbying and partnerships. The organization is best known to the public for compiling and publishing the IUCN Red List. IUCN has a membership of over 1200 governmental and non-governmental organizations, some 11,000 scientists and experts participate in the work of IUCN commissions on a voluntary basis. It employs approximately 1000 full-time staff in more than 60 countries and its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland. IUCN has observer and consultative status at the United Nations, and plays a role in the implementation of several conventions on nature conservation. It was involved in establishing the World Wide Fund for Nature, in the past, IUCN has been criticized for placing the interests of nature over those of indigenous peoples. In recent years, its relations with the business sector have caused controversy. It was previously called the International Union for Protection of Nature, establishment In 1947, the Swiss League for the Protection of Nature organised an international conference on the protection of nature in Brunnen. It is considered to be the first government-organized non-governmental organization, the initiative to set up the new organisation came from UNESCO and especially from its first Director General, the British biologist Julian Huxley. At the time of its founding IUPN was the international organisation focusing on the entire spectrum of nature conservation Early years. Its secretariat was located in Brussels and its first work program focused on saving species and habitats, increasing and applying knowledge, advancing education, promoting international agreements and promoting conservation. Providing a solid base for conservation action was the heart of all activities. IUPN and UNESCO were closely associated and they jointly organized the 1949 Conference on Protection of Nature. In preparation for this conference a list of endangered species was drawn up for the first time
45.
Rodent
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Rodents are mammals of the order Rodentia, which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all species are rodents, they are found in vast numbers on all continents except Antarctica. They are the most diversified mammalian order and live in a variety of terrestrial habitats, Species can be arboreal, fossorial, or semiaquatic. Well-known rodents include mice, rats, squirrels, prairie dogs, porcupines, beavers, guinea pigs, hamsters, and capybaras. Other animals such as rabbits, hares, and pikas, whose incisors also grow continually, were included with them, but are now considered to be in a separate order. Nonetheless, Rodentia and Lagomorpha are sister groups, sharing a most recent common ancestor, most rodents are small animals with robust bodies, short limbs, and long tails. They use their incisors to gnaw food, excavate burrows. Most eat seeds or other plant material, but some have more varied diets and they tend to be social animals and many species live in societies with complex ways of communicating with each other. Mating among rodents can vary from monogamy, to polygyny, to promiscuity, many have litters of underdeveloped, altricial young, while others are precocial at birth. The rodent fossil record back to the Paleocene on the supercontinent of Laurasia. Rodents greatly diversified in the Eocene, as spread across continents. Rodents reached both South America and Madagascar from Africa, and were the only placental mammals to reach. Rodents have been used as food, for clothing, as pets, some species, in particular the brown rat, the black rat, and the house mouse, are serious pests, eating and spoiling food stored by humans, and spreading diseases. The distinguishing feature of the rodents is their pairs of continuously growing and these incisors have thick layers of enamel on the front and little enamel on the back. Because they do not stop growing, the animal must continue to wear them down so that they do not reach and pierce the skull. As the incisors grind against each other, the softer dentine on the rear of the teeth wears away, most species have up to 22 teeth with no canines or anterior premolars. A gap, or diastema, occurs between the incisors and the teeth in most species. This allows rodents to suck in their cheeks or lips to shield their mouth and throat from wood shavings and other inedible material, chinchillas and guinea pigs have a high-fiber diet, their molars have no roots and grow continuously like their incisors
46.
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
47.
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
48.
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
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