Rainforest
The monsoon trough, alternatively known as the intertropical convergence zone, plays a significant role in creating the climatic conditions necessary for the Earths tropical rainforests. Around 40% to 75% of all species are indigenous to the rainforests. It has been estimated there may be many millions of species of plants, insects. Tropical rainforests have been called the jewels of the Earth and the worlds largest pharmacy, the undergrowth in some areas of a rainforest can be restricted by poor penetration of sunlight to ground level. If the leaf canopy is destroyed or thinned, the ground beneath is soon colonized by a dense, tangled growth of vines and small trees, the term jungle is sometimes applied to tropical rainforests generally. Tropical rainforests are characterized by a warm and wet climate with no dry season. Mean monthly temperatures exceed 18 °C during all months of the year, average annual rainfall is no less than 168 cm and can exceed 1,000 cm although it typically lies between 175 cm and 200 cm.
Many of the tropical forests are associated with the location of the monsoon trough. The broader category of tropical moist forests are located in the zone between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. Tropical forests have been called the Earths lungs, although it is now known that rainforests contribute little net oxygen addition to the atmosphere through photosynthesis, Tropical forests cover a large part of the globe, but temperate rainforests only occur in few regions around the world. Temperate rainforests are rainforests in temperate regions and they occur in North America, in Europe, in East Asia, in South America and in Australia and New Zealand. A tropical rainforest typically has a number of layers, each with different plants, examples include the emergent, canopy and forest floor layers. They need to be able to withstand the hot temperatures and strong winds that occur above the canopy in some areas, butterflies and certain monkeys inhabit this layer. The canopy layer contains the majority of the largest trees, typically 30 metres to 45 metres tall, the densest areas of biodiversity are found in the forest canopy, a more or less continuous cover of foliage formed by adjacent treetops.
The canopy, by some estimates, is home to 50 percent of all plant species, epiphytic plants attach to trunks and branches, and obtain water and minerals from rain and debris that collects on the supporting plants. The fauna is similar to found in the emergent layer. A quarter of all species are believed to exist in the rainforest canopy. Scientists have long suspected the richness of the canopy as a habitat, true exploration of this habitat only began in the 1980s, when scientists developed methods to reach the canopy, such as firing ropes into the trees using crossbows
Public aquarium
A public aquarium is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, which houses living aquatic animal and plant specimens for public viewing. Most public aquariums feature tanks larger than those kept by home aquarists, since the first public aquariums were built in the mid-19th century, they have become popular and their numbers have increased. Most modern accredited aquariums stress conservation issues and educating the public, the first public aquarium was opened in London Zoo in May 1853, the Fish House, as it came to be known, was constructed much like a greenhouse. P. T. Barnum quickly followed in 1856 with the first American aquarium as part of his established Barnums American Museum, in 1859, the Aquarial Gardens were founded in Boston. The old Berlin Aquarium opened in 1869, the building site was to be Unter den Linden, in the centre of town, not at the Berlin Zoo. The aquariums first director, Alfred Brehm, former director of the Hamburg Zoo from 1863 to 1866, with its emphasis on education, the public aquarium was designed like a grotto, part of it made of natural rock.
The Geologische Grotte depicted the strata of the earths crust, the grotto featured birds and pools for seals. The Aquarium Unter den Linden was a three-story building and water tanks were on the ground floor, aquarium basins for the fish on the first floor. Because of Brehms special interest in birds, a huge aviary, the Artis aquarium at Amsterdam Zoo was constructed inside a Victorian building in 1882, and was renovated in 1997. At the end of the 19th century the Artis aquarium was considered state-of-the-art, prior to its closing on September 30,2013, the oldest American aquarium was the National Aquarium in Washington, D. C. founded in 1873. This was followed by the opening of public aquariums, San Francisco, Woods Hole, New York, La Jolla, Detroit, San Francisco. For many years, the Shedd Aquarium was the largest aquarium in the United States until the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta opened 2005, the first Japanese public aquarium, a small freshwater aquarium, was opened at the Ueno Zoo in 1882.
In 2005, the Georgia Aquarium, with more than 8 million U. S. gallons of marine and fresh water, the aquariums notable specimens include whale sharks and beluga whales. Modern aquarium tanks can hold millions of litres of water and can house large species, including dolphins and this is accomplished through thick, clear acrylic glass windows. Aquatic and semiaquatic mammals, including otters, and seals are cared for at aquariums. Some establishments, such as the Oregon Coast Aquarium or the Monterey Bay Aquarium, have aquatic aviaries, modern aquariums include land animals and plants that spend time in or near the water. For marketing purposes, many aquariums promote special exhibits, in addition to their permanent collections, some have aquatic versions of a petting zoo. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a tank filled with common types of rays which visitors are encouraged to touch
Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Danish, København, Hafnia) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark. Copenhagen has an population of 1,280,371. The Copenhagen metropolitan area has just over 2 million inhabitants, the city is situated on the eastern coast of the island of Zealand, another small portion of the city is located on Amager, and is separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the strait of Øresund. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road, originally a Viking fishing village founded in the 10th century, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the early 15th century. Beginning in the 17th century it consolidated its position as a centre of power with its institutions, defences. After suffering from the effects of plague and fire in the 18th century and this included construction of the prestigious district of Frederiksstaden and founding of such cultural institutions as the Royal Theatre and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Later, following the Second World War, the Finger Plan fostered the development of housing, since the turn of the 21st century, Copenhagen has seen strong urban and cultural development, facilitated by investment in its institutions and infrastructure.
The city is the cultural and governmental centre of Denmark, Copenhagens economy has seen rapid developments in the service sector, especially through initiatives in information technology and clean technology. Since the completion of the Øresund Bridge, Copenhagen has become integrated with the Swedish province of Scania and its largest city, Malmö. With a number of connecting the various districts, the cityscape is characterized by parks, promenades. Copenhagen is home to the University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark, the University of Copenhagen, founded in 1479, is the oldest university in Denmark. Copenhagen is home to the FC København and Brøndby football clubs, the annual Copenhagen Marathon was established in 1980. Copenhagen is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world, the Copenhagen Metro serves central Copenhagen while the Copenhagen S-train network connects central Copenhagen to its outlying boroughs. Serving roughly 2 million passengers a month, Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup, is the largest airport in the Nordic countries, the name of the city reflects its origin as a harbour and a place of commerce.
The original designation, from which the contemporary Danish name derives, was Køpmannæhafn, meaning merchants harbour, the literal English translation would be Chapmans haven. The English name for the city was adapted from its Low German name, the abbreviations Kbh. or Kbhvn are often used in Danish for København, and kbh. for københavnsk. The chemical element hafnium is named for Copenhagen, where it was discovered, the bacterium Hafnia is named after Copenhagen, Vagn Møller of the State Serum Institute in Copenhagen named it in 1954. Excavations in Pilestræde have led to the discovery of a well from the late 12th century, the remains of an ancient church, with graves dating to the 11th century, have been unearthed near where Strøget meets Rådhuspladsen
Boa constrictor
The boa constrictor, called red-tailed boa, is a species of large, heavy-bodied snake. It is a member of the family Boidae found in North, Central, a staple of private collections and public displays, its color pattern is highly variable yet distinctive. Ten subspecies are recognized, although some of these are controversial. This article focuses on the species Boa constrictor as a whole, though all boids are constrictors, only this species is properly referred to as a boa constrictor - a rare instance of an animal having the same common English name and scientific binomial name. All subspecies are referred to as boa constrictors, while the nominate subspecies, other common names include chij-chan and macajuel. Clear sexual dimorphism is seen in the species, with females generally being larger in length and girth than males. As such, the size of mature female boas is between 7 and 10 ft, and 6 and 8 ft for the males. Females commonly exceed 10 ft, particularly in captivity, where lengths up to 12 ft or even 14 ft can be seen, a report of a boa constrictor growing up to 18.5 ft was found to be a misidentified green anaconda.
The boa constrictor is a snake, and large specimens can weigh up to 27 kg. Females, the sex, more commonly weigh 10 to 15 kg. Some specimens of species can reach or possibly exceed 45 kg. The size and weight of a boa constrictor depends on subspecies, several populations of boa constrictors are known as dwarf boas, such as the population of B. c. imperator on Hog Island. These smaller subspecies are generally insular populations, B. c. constrictor reaches, and occasionally tops, the averages given above, as it is one of the relatively large subspecies of Boa constrictor. Pelvic spurs are the external sign of the rudimentary hind legs and pelvis, seen in all boas. The coloring of boa constrictors can vary depending on the locality. However, they are generally a brown, grey, or cream base color and this coloring gives B. c. constrictor the common name of red-tailed boa, as it typically has more red saddles than other B. constrictor subspecies. The coloring works as very effective camouflage in the jungles and forests of its natural range, some individuals exhibit pigmentary disorders, such as albinism.
Although these individuals are rare in the wild, they are common in captivity, Boa constrictors can sense heat via cells in their lips, though they lack the labial pits surrounding these receptors seen in many members of the Boidae family
Whirlpool
A whirlpool is a body of swirling water produced by the meeting of opposing currents. The vast majority of whirlpools are not very powerful and very small whirlpools can easily be seen when a bath or a sink is draining, more powerful ones in seas or oceans may be termed maelstroms. Vortex is the term for any whirlpool that has a downdraft. Smaller whirlpools appear at the base of waterfalls and can be observed downstream from manmade structures such as weirs. In the case of waterfalls, like Niagara Falls, these whirlpools can be quite strong. Moskstraumen is a system of whirlpools in the open seas in the Lofoten Islands off the Norwegian coast. It is the second strongest whirlpool in the world with flow currents reaching speeds as high as 32 km/h and it finds mention in several books and movies. The maelstrom of Saltstraumen is the Earths strongest maelstrom, and is located close to the Arctic Circle,33 km round the bay on the Highway 17, south-east of the city of Bodø, Norway. The strait at its narrowest is 150 m in width and water funnels through the four times a day.
It is estimated that 400 million cubic meters of water passes the narrow strait during this event, the water is creamy in colour and most turbulent during high tide, which is witnessed by thousands of tourists. It reaches speeds of 40 km/h, with speed of about 13 km/h. As navigation is dangerous in this only a small slot of time is available for large ships to pass through. Its impressive strength is caused by the worlds strongest tide occurring in the location during the new. A narrow channel of 3 km length connects the outer Saltfjord with its extension, the Corryvreckan is a narrow strait between the islands of Jura and Scarba, in Argyll and Bute, on the northern side of the Gulf of Corryvreckan, Scotland. It is the third-largest whirlpool in the world, though it was initially classified as non-navigable by the British navy it was categorized as extremely dangerous. A documentary team from Scottish independent producers Northlight Productions once threw a mannequin into the Corryvreckan with a life jacket, the mannequin was swallowed and spat up far down current with a depth gauge reading of 262 metres with evidence of being dragged along the bottom for a great distance.
Old Sow whirlpool is located between Deer Island, New Brunswick and Moose Island, Maine and it is given the epithet pig-like as it makes a screeching noise when the vortex is at its full fury. The smaller whirlpools around this Old Sow are known as Piglets. the Naruto whirlpools are located in the Naruto Strait near Awaji Island in Japan, which have speeds of 26 km/h
Dwarf crocodile
The dwarf crocodile, known commonly as the African dwarf crocodile, broad-snouted crocodile, or bony crocodile, is an African crocodile that is the smallest extant crocodile species. Recent sampling has identified three distinct populations. Some feel that the findings should elevate the subspecies to species status. It was first described as Osteoblepharon osborni by Schmidt in 1919, Inger in a 1948 paper found the specimens wanting of characteristics that would justify a generic separation from Osteolaemus and referred the specimens to Osteolaemus osborni. Later and Mertens, reduced it to the current subspecies rank, recent evidence from the analysis of DNA indicates that three distinctly different populations of Osteolaemus may merit full species recognition. These would be O. tetrapis, O. osborni, the generic name, means bony throat, and is derived from the Ancient Greek όστεον and λαιμός. The genus was named as such due to the osteoderms found among the scales in the neck, the specific epithet, means four shields, and derives from the Ancient Greek τετρα and ασπίς, as the back of the neck has four large, shield-like scales.
The subspecific name, osborni, is in honor of American paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn, dwarf crocodiles attain a medium adult length of 1.5 m, though the maximum recorded length for this species is 1.9 m. Adult specimens typically weigh between 18 and 32 kg, with the largest females weighing up to 40 kg and the largest males weighing 80 kg, adults are a uniform black on their backs and sides with a yellowish underside with black patches. Juveniles have a lighter brown banding on body and tails and yellow patterns on the head, Osteolaemus has a blunt short snout, as long as it is wide, similar in fact to that of a dwarf caiman, probably a result of occupying a similar ecological niche. The dentition consists of four teeth,12 to 13 on the maxilla. O. t. tetraspis has lighter colours, a pointed, upturned snout. Dwarf crocodiles range across tropical regions of sub-Saharan West Africa. The subspecies O. t. tetraspis is found mainly in the reaches of this range. The dwarf crocodile is a slow and mainly nocturnal reptile, as with all crocodilians, it is an adept predator of vertebrates, large invertebrates such as crustaceans, and when presented with the opportunity, carrion.
Foraging is mainly done in or near the water, though in areas with ground cover, they may expand their feeding pattern to land in extensive forays. The Congo Basin subspecies demonstrates seasonality in its dietary regimen, feeding on fish during the wet seasons floods, when faced with the scarceness of food during the dry season, individuals turn to crustaceans, and food intake is generally reduced. True to its solitary, nocturnal nature, a dwarf crocodile digs out a burrow in which to hide and rest during the day, an individual lacking the right conditions to do so usually lives between tree roots that hang over the ponds where it lives
Danish krone
The krone is the official currency of Denmark and the Faroe Islands, introduced on 1 January 1875. Both the ISO code DKK and currency sign kr. are in use, the former precedes the value. The currency is referred to as the Danish crown in English. Historically, krone coins have been minted in Denmark since the 17th century, one krone is subdivided into 100 øre, the name øre possibly deriving from Latin aureus meaning gold coin. Altogether there are eleven denominations of the krone, with the smallest being the 50 øre coin, formerly there were more øre coins, but those were discontinued due to inflation. The krone is pegged to the euro via the ERM II, the oldest known Danish coin is a penny struck AD 825–840, but the earliest systematic minting produced the so-called korsmønter or cross coins minted by Harald Bluetooth in the late 10th century. Organised minting in Denmark was introduced on a larger scale by Canute the Great in the 1020s, for almost 1,000 years, Danish kings – with a few exceptions – have issued coins with their name, monogram and/or portrait.
Taxes were sometimes imposed via the coinage, e. g. by the substitution of coins handed in by new coins handed out with a lower silver content. Danish coinage was based on the Carolingian silver standard. Periodically, the value of the minted coins was reduced. This was mainly done to generate income for the monarch and/or the state, as a result of the debasement, the public started to lose trust in the respective coins. Danish currency was overhauled several times in attempts to restore public trust in the coins, in 1619 a new currency was introduced in Denmark, the krone. One krone had the value of 1 1/2 Danish Rigsdaler Species accounting for 96 Kroneskillinger, for 144 common Skillings, until the late 18th century, the krone was a denomination equal to 8 mark, a subunit of the Danish rigsdaler. A new krone was introduced as the currency of Denmark in January 1875 and it replaced the rigsdaler at a rate of 2 kroner =1 rigsdaler. This placed the krone on the standard at a rate of 2480 kroner =1 kilogram fine gold.
The latter part of the 18th century and much of the 19th century saw expanding economic activity, banknotes were increasingly used instead of coins. The introduction of the new krone was a result of the Scandinavian Monetary Union, the parties to the union were the three Scandinavian countries, where the name was krone in Denmark and Norway and krona in Sweden, a word which in all three languages literally means crown. The three currencies were on the standard, with the krone/krona defined as 1⁄2480 of a kilogram of pure gold
Museum
Most large museums are located in major cities throughout the world and more local ones exist in smaller cities and even the countryside. Museums have varying aims, ranging from serving researchers and specialists to serving the general public, the goal of serving researchers is increasingly shifting to serving the general public. There are many types of museums, including art museums, natural history museums, science museums, war museums, the city with the largest number of museums is Mexico City with over 128 museums. According to The World Museum Community, there are more than 55,000 museums in 202 countries, the English museum comes from the Latin word, and is pluralized as museums. The first museum/library is considered to be the one of Plato in Athens, Pausanias gives another place called Museum, namely a small hill in Classical Athens opposite to the Akropolis. The hill was called Mouseion after Mousaious, a man who used to sing on the hill, the purpose of modern museums is to collect, preserve and display items of artistic, cultural, or scientific significance for the education of the public.
The purpose can depend on ones point of view, to a family looking for entertainment on a Sunday afternoon, a trip to a local history museum or large city art museum could be a fun, and enlightening way to spend the day. To city leaders, a healthy museum community can be seen as a gauge of the health of a city. To a museum professional, a museum might be seen as a way to educate the public about the museums mission, Museums are, above all, storehouses of knowledge. In 1829, James Smithsons bequest, that would fund the Smithsonian Institution, stated he wanted to establish an institution for the increase, Museums of natural history in the late 19th century exemplified the Victorian desire for consumption and for order. Gathering all examples of classification of a field of knowledge for research. As American colleges grew in the 19th century, they developed their own natural history collections for the use of their students, while many large museums, such as the Smithsonian Institution, are still respected as research centers, research is no longer a main purpose of most museums.
While there is a debate about the purposes of interpretation of a museums collection, there has been a consistent mission to protect. Much care and expense is invested in efforts to retard decomposition in aging documents, artworks. All museums display objects that are important to a culture, as historian Steven Conn writes, To see the thing itself, with ones own eyes and in a public place, surrounded by other people having some version of the same experience can be enchanting. Museum purposes vary from institution to institution, some favor education over conservation, or vice versa. For example, in the 1970s, the Canada Science and Technology Museum favored education over preservation of their objects and they displayed objects as well as their functions. One exhibit featured a printing press that a staff member used for visitors to create museum memorabilia
Pacu
Pacu is a common name used to refer to several species of omnivorous South American freshwater serrasalmid fish that are related to the piranha. Pacu, unlike piranha, mainly feed on plant material and not flesh or scales, the pacu can reach much larger sizes than piranha, at up to 1.08 m in total length and 40 kg in weight. The common name pacu is generally applied to fish classified under the following genera, among these, genera marked with a star* contain species where commonly used English names include the word pacu. Colossoma* Metynnis Mylesinus Mylossoma Ossubtus Piaractus* Tometes Utiaritichthys Each of these contain one or more separate species. For example, the fish found in pet stores known as the black pacu and red-bellied pacu typically belong to the species Colossoma macropomum and Piaractus brachypomus. A species popular among fish farmers is Piaractus mesopotamicus, known as Paraná River pacu or small-scaled pacu, pacu is a term of Brazilian Indian/Guaraní origin. When the large fish of the Colossoma genus entered the trade in the U. S. and other countries.
In the Brazilian Amazon, the term pacu is generally reserved to smaller and medium-sized fish in the Metynnis, Colossoma macropomum are known as tambaqui, whereas Piaractus brachypomus is known as pirapitinga. In Peru, both of the species are called pacú and gamitana, Piaractus mesopotamicus of the Paraná-Paraguay basin is called pacú in Paraguay and Argentina. Pacu, along with their cousins, are a characin fish, meaning a kind of tetra. The ongoing classification of fish is difficult and often contentious. DNA research sometimes confounds rather than clarifies species ranking, classifications can be rather arbitrary. Pacu, along with piranha, are further classified into the Serrasalmidae family. Serrasalmidae means serrated salmon family and is a name which refers to the serrated keel running along the belly of these fish, dental characteristics and feeding habits further separate the two groups from each other. Pacus are native to tropical and subtropical South America and they inhabit rivers, lakes and flooded forests in the Amazon, Orinoco, São Francisco and Río de la Plata Basins, as well as rivers in the Guianas.
Here they form part of the highly diverse Neotropical fish fauna and their habitat preferences varies significantly depending on the exact species. Pacus have been introduced to the wild in places outside their native range. They are sometimes released to increase the fishing, but others are released by aquarists when they outgrow their aquarium
Village weaver
The village weaver, known as the spotted-backed weaver or black-headed weaver, is a species of bird found in much of sub-Saharan Africa. It has introduced to Hispaniola, Mauritius and Réunion. This weaver builds a large coarsely woven nest made of grass and this is a colonial breeder, so many nests may hang from one tree. The village weaver is a stocky 15–17 cm bird with a conical bill. In the northern part of its range, the male has a black head edged by chestnut. In all subspecies the male has a black bill and yellow upperparts and wings. The non-breeding male has a head with an olive crown, grey upperparts. The wings remain yellow and black, the adult female has streaked olive upperparts and black wings, and pale yellow underparts. Young birds are like the female but browner on the back, village weaver feeds principally on seeds and grain, and can be a crop pest, but it will readily take insects, especially when feeding young, which partially redresses the damage to agriculture. The calls of this bird include harsh buzzes and chattering
Sea otter
The sea otter is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg, making them the heaviest members of the family. Unlike most marine mammals, the sea otters primary form of insulation is a thick coat of fur. Although it can walk on land, the sea otter lives mostly in the ocean, the sea otter inhabits offshore environments, where it dives to the sea floor to forage. It preys mostly on invertebrates such as sea urchins, various molluscs and crustaceans. Its foraging and eating habits are noteworthy in several respects, its use of rocks to dislodge prey and to open shells makes it one of the few mammal species to use tools. In most of its range, it is a keystone species and its diet includes prey species that are valued by humans as food, leading to conflicts between sea otters and fisheries. For these reasons, the sea otter remains classified as an endangered species, the first scientific description of the sea otter is contained in the field notes of Georg Steller from 1751, and the species was described by Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae of 1758.
Originally named Lutra marina, it underwent numerous changes before being accepted as Enhydra lutris in 1922. The generic name Enhydra, derives from the Ancient Greek en/εν in and hydra/ύδρα water, meaning in the water, the sea otter was formerly sometimes referred to as the sea beaver, being the marine fur-bearer similar in commercial value to the terrestrial beaver. Rodents are not closely related to otters, which are carnivores and it is not to be confused with the marine otter, a rare otter species native to the southern west coast of South America. A number of other species, while predominantly living in fresh water, are commonly found in marine coastal habitats. The extinct sea mink of northeast North America is another mustelid that had adapted to a marine environment, the sea otter is the heaviest member of the family Mustelidae, a diverse group that includes the 13 otter species and terrestrial animals such as weasels and minks. It is unique among the mustelids in not making dens or burrows, in having no functional anal scent glands, and in being able to live its entire life without leaving the water.
The only member of the genus Enhydra, the sea otter is so different from other species that, as recently as 1982. Fossil evidence indicates the Enhydra lineage became isolated in the North Pacific approximately 2 Mya, giving rise to the now-extinct Enhydra macrodonta and the modern sea otter, Enhydra lutris. The sea otter evolved initially in northern Hokkaidō and Russia, and spread east to the Aleutian Islands, mainland Alaska, and down the North American coast. In comparison to cetaceans and pinnipeds, which entered the water approximately 50,40, and 20 Mya, the sea otter is a relative newcomer to a marine existence
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