Pupil
The pupil is a hole located in the center of the iris of the eye that allows light to strike the retina. It appears black because light rays entering the pupil are either absorbed by the tissues inside the eye directly, or absorbed after diffuse reflections within the eye that miss exiting the narrow pupil. In humans the pupil is round, but other species, such as some cats, have vertical slit pupils, goats have horizontally oriented pupils, some catfish have annular types. In optical terms, the anatomical pupil is the eye's aperture and the iris is the aperture stop; the image of the pupil as seen from outside the eye is the entrance pupil, which does not correspond to the location and size of the physical pupil because it is magnified by the cornea. On the inner edge lies a prominent structure, the collarette, marking the junction of the embryonic pupillary membrane covering the embryonic pupil; the pupil is a hole located in the centre of the iris of the eye that allows light to strike the retina.
It appears black because light rays entering the pupil are either absorbed by the tissues inside the eye directly, or absorbed after diffuse reflections within the eye that miss exiting the narrow pupil. The iris is a contractile structure, consisting of smooth muscle, surrounding the pupil. Light enters the eye through the pupil, the iris regulates the amount of light by controlling the size of the pupil; this is known as the pupillary light reflex. The iris contains two groups of smooth muscles; when the sphincter pupillae contract, the iris constricts the size of the pupil. The dilator pupillae, innervated by sympathetic nerves from the superior cervical ganglion, cause the pupil to dilate when they contract; these muscles are sometimes referred to as intrinsic eye muscles. The sensory pathway is linked with its counterpart in the other eye by a partial crossover of each eye's fibers; this causes the effect in one eye to carry over to the other. The pupil gets narrower in light; when narrow, the diameter is 2 to 4 millimeters.
In the dark it will be the same at first, but will approach the maximum distance for a wide pupil 3 to 8 mm. In any human age group there is however considerable variation in maximal pupil size. For example, at the peak age of 15, the dark-adapted pupil can vary from 4 mm to 9 mm with different individuals. After 25 years of age the average pupil size decreases, though not at a steady rate. At this stage the pupils do not remain still, therefore may lead to oscillation, which may intensify and become known as hippus; the constriction of the pupil and near vision are tied. In bright light, the pupils constrict to prevent aberrations of light rays and thus attain their expected acuity; when bright light is shone on the eye, light sensitive cells in the retina, including rod and cone photoreceptors and melanopsin ganglion cells, will send signals to the oculomotor nerve the parasympathetic part coming from the Edinger-Westphal nucleus, which terminates on the circular iris sphincter muscle. When this muscle contracts, it reduces the size of the pupil.
This is the pupillary light reflex, an important test of brainstem function. Furthermore, the pupil will dilate. If the drug pilocarpine is administered, the pupils will constrict and accommodation is increased due to the parasympathetic action on the circular muscle fibers, atropine will cause paralysis of accommodation and dilation of the pupil. Certain drugs cause constriction such as opioids. Other drugs, such as atropine, LSD, MDMA, psilocybin mushrooms and amphetamines may cause pupil dilation; the sphincter muscle has a parasympathetic innervation, the dilator has a sympathetic innervation. In pupillary constriction induced by pilocarpine, not only is the sphincter nerve supply activated but that of the dilator is inhibited; the reverse is true, so control of pupil size is controlled by differences in contraction intensity of each muscle. Another term for the constriction of the pupil is miosis. Substances that cause miosis are described as miotic. Dilation of the pupil is mydriasis. Dilation can be caused by mydriatic substances such as an eye drop solution containing tropicamide.
A condition called bene dilitatism occurs when the optic nerves are damaged. This condition is typified by chronically widened pupils due to the decreased ability of the optic nerves to respond to light. In normal lighting, people afflicted with this condition have dilated pupils, bright lighting can cause pain. At the other end of the spectrum, people with this condition have trouble seeing in darkness, it is necessary for these people to be careful when driving at night due to their inability to see objects in their full perspective. This condition is not otherwise dangerous; the size of the pupil can be a symptom of an underlying disease. Dilation of the pupil is known as mydriasis and contraction as miosis. Not all variations in size are indicative of disease however. In addition to dilation and contraction caused by light and darkness, it has been shown that solving simple multiplication problems affects the size of the pupil; the simple act of recollection can dilate the size of the pupil, however when the brain is required to process at a rate above its maximum capacity, the pupils contract.
There is evidence that pupil size is related to the extent of positive or negative emotional arousal experienced by a person. Not all animals
Litoria
Litoria is a genus of Hylidae tree frogs native to Australia, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, the Lesser Sunda Islands, the Moluccan Islands, Timor. They are sometimes collectively referred to as Australasian treefrogs, they are distinguishable from other tree frogs by the presence of horizontal irises, no pigmentation of the eyelids, their Wallacean distribution. About 150 species are described, but several new species are described every year on average, such as the Pinocchio frog, described in 2008 but not yet given a taxonomic name; the species within the genus Litoria are variable in appearance and habitat. The smallest species is the javelin frog, reaching a maximum length of 1.6 cm, while the largest, the giant tree frog, reaches a size of 13.5-14.0 cm. The appearance and habitat of each frog is linked; the small, darkly coloured frogs are terrestrial, never, or infrequently, climb. The larger, green species are arboreal and some only venture to the ground to breed.
L. adelaidensis – slender tree frog L. albolabris – Wandolleck's white-lipped tree frog L. amboinensis – Horst's tree frog L. andiirrmalin – Cape Melville tree frog L. angiana – Angiana tree frog L. arfakiana – Arfakiana tree frog L. aruensis – Aru tree frog L. auae L. aurea – green and golden bell frog L. aurifera Anstis, Roberts, Price & Doughty, 2010 – Kimberley rockhole frog L. axillaris Kimberley rocket frog L. barringtonensis – mountain stream tree frog L. becki – Beck's tree frog L. bella McDonald, Richards & Frankham, 2016 L. biakensis Günther, 2006 L. bibonius Kraus & Allison, 2004 L. bicolor – northern dwarf tree frog L. booroolongensis – Booroolong frog L. brevipalmata – green-thighed frog L. brongersmai – Brongersma's tree frog L. bulmeri – Bulmer's tree frog L. burrowsae – Tasmanian tree frog L. caerulea – Australian green tree frog or White's tree frog L. capitula – Samlakki tree frog L. castenea – yellow-spotted tree frog or Tablelands bell frog L. cavernicola – cave-dwelling frog L. chloris – red-eyed tree frog or orange-eyed tree frog L. chloronota – Arfak Mountain tree frog L. chrisdahli Richards, 2007 L. citropa – Blue Mountains tree frog L. congenita – Yule Island tree frog L. contrastens – Barabuna tree frog L. cooloolensis – Cooloola sedge frog, Cooloola tree frog L. coplandi – Copland's rock frog L. cyclorhyncha – spotted-thighed tree frog L. dahlii – Dahl's aquatic frog L. darlingtoni – Darlington's Madang tree frog L. daviesae – Davies' tree frog L. dentate – bleating tree frog, Keferstein's tree frog L. dorsalis – dwarf rocket frog L. dorsivena – eastern mountains tree frog L. dux Richards & Oliver, 2006 L. electrica – buzzing tree frog L. elkeae L. eucnemis – fringed tree frog L. everetti – Everett's tree frog L. ewingii – brown tree frog L. exophthalmia – big-eyed tree frog L. fallax – eastern dwarf tree frog L. flavescens Kraus & Allison, 2004 L. freycineti – Freycinet's frog L. gasconi Richards, Krey & Tjaturadi, 2009 L. genimaculata – green-eyed tree frog, New Guinea tree frog L. gilleni – Centralian tree frog L. gracilenta – dainty green tree frog L. graminea – northern New Guinea tree frog L. havina L. hilli Hiaso and Richards, 2006 L. humboldtorum R. Günther, 2006 L. hunti Richards, Oliver and Tjaturadi, 2006 L. impura – southern New Guinea tree frog L. inermis – bumpy rocket frog L. infrafrenata – white-lipped tree frog or giant tree frog L. iris – Western Highland tree frog L. javana – Javan mossy tree frog L. jervisiensis – Jervis Bay tree frog L. jeudii – Garman New Guinea tree frog L. jungguy L. kroombitensis Hoskin, Meyer, Clarke & Cunningham, 2013 L. kumae L. latopalmata – broad-palmed frog L. lesueurii – Lesueur's frog L. leucova – West Sepik tree frog L. littlejohni – Littlejohn's tree frog L. longicrus – Wendessi tree frog L. longirostris – long-snouted frog, sharp-snouted frog, scrub rocket frog L. lorica – Armoured frog L. louisiadensis – Rossell Island tree frog L. lutea – Faro Island tree frog L. macki L. majikthise L. megalops Richards & Iskandar, 2006 L. meiriana – rockhole frog L. microbelos – javelin frog L. micromembrana – Nodugl tree frog L. modica – Oruge tree frog L. moorei – motorbike frog L. mucro L. multicolor – multi-coloured tree frog L. multiplica – Kassam tree frog L. myola Hoskin, 2007 L. mystax – Moaif tree frog L. nannotis – waterfall frog L. napaea – Snow Mountains tree frog L. nasuta – striped rocket frog L. nigrofrenata – bridled frog L. nigropunctata – black-dotted tree frog L. nudidigitus – southern leaf green tree frog L. nyakalensis – mountain mist frog or Nyakala frog L. obtusirostris – Jobi tree frog L. oenicolen – Trauna River tree frog L. ollauro L. olongburensis – wallum sedge frog, Olongburra frog, sharp-snouted reed frog L. pallida – pale frog L. paraewingi Watson, Loftus-Hills & Littlejohn, 1971 – plains brown tree frog L. pearsoniana – Pearson's green tree frog L. peronii – Peron's tree frog, emerald-speckled tree frog, laughing tree frog, maniacal cackle frog L. personata – masked frog L. phyllochroa – leaf green tree frog L. piperata – peppered tree frog L. pratti – Pratt's tree frog L. pronimia L. prora – Efogi tree frog L. purpureolata Oliver, Richards and Iskandar, 2007 L. pygmaea – Geelvink pygmy tree frog L. quadrilineata – lined tree frog L. raniformis – growling grass frog, southern bell frog, warty swamp frog and gold frog L. revelata – revealed frog, whirring tree frog L. rheocola – common mist frog L. richardsi Dennis & Cunningham, 2006 L. rothii – Roth's tree frog L. rubella – desert tree frog L. rubrops L. sanguinolenta – Sabang tree frog L. sauroni Richards & Oliver, 2006 L. singadanae Richar
Green and golden bell frog
The green and golden bell frog named the green bell frog and golden swamp frog and green frog, is a ground-dwelling tree frog native to eastern Australia. Despite its classification and climbing abilities, it does not live in trees and spends all of its time close to ground level, it can reach up to 11 cm in length. Coloured gold and green, the frogs are voracious eaters of insects, their appetites can only be satiated by Jimmy Cricket. Since he is a quick frlloe so these frogs go hungry but will eat larger prey, such as worms and mice, they are diurnal, although this is to warm in the sun. They tend to be less active in winter except in warmer or wetter periods, breed in the warmer months. Males reach maturity after around 9 months, while for the larger females, this does not occur until they are two years old; the frogs can engage in cannibalism, males attack and injure one another if they infringe on one another's space. Many populations in the Sydney region, inhabit areas of infrequent disturbance, such as golf courses, disused industrial land, brick pits, landfill areas.
Though once one of the most common frogs in south-east Australia, the green and golden bell frog has endured major population declines in highland areas, leading to its current classification as globally vulnerable. Its numbers have continued to fall and are threatened by habitat loss and degradation, introduced species, parasites and pathogens, including the chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis; as most of the remaining populations live on private land, the logistics of the conservation effort can be complicated. Despite the situation in Australia, some frog populations have survived with more success in New Zealand and several other Pacific islands, where it has been introduced; however even in these areas the population of green and golden bell has been declining in the past few decades. The common name, "green and golden bell frog", was first adopted by Harold Cogger in his 1975 book Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. Before this, its common names were "golden frog" and "golden tree frog".
The green and golden bell frog has many physical and behavioural characteristics representative of ranids, hence its original classification as Rana. It has a pointy snout, long legs, complete toe webbing. Like many frogs in the genus Rana and golden bell frogs are aquatic, only travel over land during periods of rainfall, it was removed from the genus because of anatomical differences with the family Ranidae. The bone and cartilage structural formations of the green and golden bell frog are closest to those of species in the family Hylidae; the green and golden bell frog was first described as Rana aurea by Lesson in 1827. It has changed classification 20 times; the specific epithet aurea derived from the Latin aureus for'golden'. The species is now classified within the Litoria aurea complex, a related group of frogs in the genus Litoria; this complex is scattered throughout Australia: three species occur in south-east Australia, one in northern Australia, two in Southwest Australia. The complex consists of the green and golden bell frog, growling grass frog, yellow-spotted bell frog, Dahl's aquatic frog, spotted-thighed frog and the motorbike frog.
The ranges of L. raniformis and L. castanea overlap with the golden bell frog. The tablelands bell frog has not been seen since 1980 and may now be extinct, although the large yellow spots present on its thighs help distinguish it from the green and golden bell frog; the growling grass frog, similar to the green and golden bell frog, can only be distinguished by raised bumps on the dorsal surface. It has been proposed that some populations of L. aurea located near Ulong, New South Wales, be a separate subspecies, L. a. ulongae, but this was not accepted. Litorea aurea is and most related to Li. castanes and L. ranaformis. A microcomplement fixation technique using serum albumins has indicated the species closest to L. aurea is L. ranifomis. Albumin immunological distance data suggest no differentiation between the two, the green and golden bell frog evolutionally separated from the other two species about 1.1 million years ago. A 1995 study of protein variations showed four of 19 protein systems had variation and only two had differentiation.
Scientists believe the different species can still hybridise, as their distribution areas still overlap, both L. raniformis and L. aurea have been seen sharing ponds in the Gippsland area of Victoria. However, little evidence of hybridisation occurring has been found. Although there have been reports of frogs of mixed appearance in Gippsland, analysis of proteins and sera of the frogs showed two distinct species. Samples in other area of distribution have shown no evidence of hybridisation in spite of cohabitation; the green and golden bell frog is native to south-eastern Australia. Before its decline in population, its distribution ranged from Brunswick Heads, in northern New South Wales, to East Gippsland, in Victoria, west to Bathurst and the Au
Johann Jakob von Tschudi
Johann Jakob von Tschudi was a Swiss naturalist and diplomat. Tschudi was born in Glarus, studied natural sciences and medicine at the universities of Neuchâtel and Paris. In 1838 he travelled to Peru, where he remained for five years exploring and collecting plants in the Andes, he went to Vienna in 1843. In 1845 he described 18 new species of South American reptiles. Between 1857 and 1859 he visited other countries in South America. In 1860 he was appointed Swiss ambassador to Brazil, remaining so until 1868, again spent time exploring the country and collecting plants for the museums of Neuchâtel and Freiburg. In 1868 he became minister to Vienna, he wrote a textbook on Peru called Peruvian antiquities in which he recorded various aspects of Peruvian life and history. In his book he explained the various skull angles of Peruvians in the context of the Angle of Camper. Tschudi claimed that Camper's facial angles were an "important angle in anthropology", whose "greater or less opening indicates the intellectual superiority of a race, and, up to a certain point, of individuals".
He went on to explain that he had obtained for his personal collection the mummified foetus of a woman at seven months found in the cave of "Huichay", included two engravings of it, to prove that the shape of the cranium of the Huancas was not due to pressures placed upon the cranium after birth for cultural reasons. Tschudi is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of venomous South American coral snake, Micrurus tschudii. Classification der Batrachier, mit Berucksichtigung der fossilen Thiere dieser A btheilung der Reptilien Untersuchungen über die Fauna Perus "Reptilium conspectus quae in Republica Peruana reperiuntur et pleraque observata vel collecta sunt in itinere". Archiv für Naturgeschichte 11: 150-170. Peruanische Reiseskizzen während der Jahre 1838-42 Die Ketchua-Sprache Reise durch die Andes von Südamerika Die brasilianische Provinz Minas-Geraes Reisen durch Südamerika Organismus der Khets̆ua-Sprache He edited, in association with Mariano Eduardo de Rivera, Antigüedades Peruanas.
Wilson, J. G.. "Tschudi, Johann Jakob von". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton. "Johann Jakob von Tschudi," in Tom Taylor and Michael Taylor, Aves: A Survey of the Literature of Neotropical Ornithology, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Libraries, 2011. Works by Johann Jakob von Tschudi at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Johann Jakob von Tschudi at Internet Archive
Tadpole
A tadpole is the larval stage in the life cycle of an amphibian that of a frog or toad. They are wholly aquatic, though some species have tadpoles that are terrestrial; when first hatched from the egg they have a more or less globular body, a laterally compressed tail and internal or external gills. As they grow they undergo metamorphosis, during which process they grow limbs, develop lungs and reabsorb the tail. Most tadpoles are herbivorous and during metamorphosis the mouth and internal organs are rearranged to prepare for an adult carnivorous lifestyle. Having no hard parts, it might be expected. However, traces of biofilms have been preserved and fossil tadpoles have been found dating back to the Miocene. Tadpoles are eaten in some parts of the world and are mentioned in folk tales and used as a symbol in ancient Egyptian numerals; the name "tadpole" is from Middle English taddepol, made up of the elements tadde, "toad", pol, "head". "pollywog" / "polliwog" is from Middle English polwygle, made up of the same pol, "head", wiglen, "to wiggle".
Tadpoles are young amphibians that live in the water, though a few tadpoles are semi-terrestrial and terrestrial. During the tadpole stage of the amphibian life cycle, most respire by means of autonomous external or internal gills, they do not have arms or legs until the transition to adulthood, have a large, flattened tail with which they swim by lateral undulation, similar to most fish. As a tadpole matures, it most metamorphosizes by growing limbs and outwardly absorbing its tail by apoptosis. Lungs develop around the time of leg development, tadpoles late in development will be found near the surface of the water, where they breathe air. During the final stages of external metamorphosis, the tadpole's mouth changes from a small, enclosed mouth at the front of the head to a large mouth the same width as the head; the intestines shorten to accommodate the new diet. Most tadpoles are herbivorous; some species are omnivorous. Tadpoles vary in size, both during their development and between species.
For example, in a single family, length of late-stage tadpoles varies between 33 millimetres and 106 millimetres. The tadpoles of Pseudis paradoxa grow to the largest of any frog. Despite their soft-bodied nature and lack of mineralised hard parts, fossil tadpoles have been recovered from Upper Miocene strata, they are preserved with more robust structures preserved as a carbon film. In Miocene fossils from Libros, the brain case is preserved in calcium carbonate, the nerve cord in calcium phosphate. Other parts of the tadpoles' bodies exist as organic remains and bacterial biofilms, with sedimentary detritus present in the gut. Tadpole remains with telltale external gills are known from several labyrinthodont groups; some tadpoles are used as food. Tadpoles of megophryid frog Oreolalax rhodostigmatus are large, more than 10 cm in length, are collected for human consumption in China. In India, Clinotarsus curtipes are collected for food, in Peru at least Telmatobius mayoloi tadpoles are collected for food and medicine.
According to Sir George Scott, in the origin myths of the Wa people in China and Myanmar, the first Wa originated from two female ancestors Ya Htawm and Ya Htai, who spent their early phase as tadpoles in a lake in the Wa country known as Nawng Hkaeo. In the Ancient Egyptian numerals, a hieroglyphic representing a tadpole was used to denote the value of 100,000. McDiarmid, Roy W.. Tadpoles: the Biology of Anuran Larvae. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226557634
Hylidae
The Hylidae are a wide-ranging family of frogs referred to as "tree frogs and their allies". However, the hylids include a diversity of frog species, many of which do not live in trees, but are terrestrial or semiaquatic. Most hylids show adaptations suitable for an arboreal lifestyle, including forward-facing eyes providing binocular vision, adhesive pads on the fingers and toes. In the nonarboreal species, these features may be reduced, or absent; the Cyclorana species are burrowing frogs. Hylids feed on insects and other invertebrates, but some larger species can feed on small vertebrates. Hylids lay their eggs depending on species. Many use ponds, or puddles that collect in the holes of their trees, while others use bromeliads or other water-holding plants. Other species lay their eggs on the leaves of vegetation hanging over water, allowing the tadpoles to drop into the pond when they hatch. A few species use fast-flowing streams, attaching the eggs to the substrate; the tadpoles of these species have suckers enabling them to hold on to rocks.
Another unusual adaptation is found in some South American hylids, which brood the eggs on the back of the female. The tadpoles of most hylid species have laterally placed eyes and broad tails with narrow, filamentous tips; the European tree frog, Hyla arborea, is common in the middle and south of Europe, ranges into Asia and North Africa. The species becomes noisy on the approach of rain and is sometimes kept in confinement as a kind of barometer. North America has many species of the family Hylidae, including the gray tree frog and the American green tree frog; the spring peeper is widespread in the eastern United States and is heard on spring and summer evenings. "Tree frog" is a popular name for several of the Hylidae. H. versicolor is the Gray tree frog, Trachycephalus lichenatus is the lichened tree frog, Trachycephalus marmoratus is the marbled tree frog. However, the name "treefrog" is not unique to this family being used for many species of the Rhacophoridae. Rabbs' fringe-limbed tree frog, Ecnomiohyla rabborum, was a species of Hydilae that went extinct in September 2016.
The last of its kind, a male named Toughie died on September 30, when it was pronounced that the species had become extinct. The family Hylidae is divided into these subfamilies and genera: Hylidae This article incorporates text from the Collier's New Encyclopedia. "Amero-Australian Treefrogs". William E. Duellman. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Ed. Michael Hutchins, Arthur V. Evans, Jerome A. Jackson, Devra G. Kleiman, James B. Murphy, Dennis A. Thoney, et al. Vol. 6: Amphibians. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2004. P225-243. Amnh.org: Amphibian Species of the World Data related to Hylidae at Wikispecies
Louisiade Archipelago
The Louisiade Archipelago is a string of ten larger volcanic islands fringed by coral reefs, 90 smaller coral islands in Papua New Guinea. It is located 200 km southeast of New Guinea, stretching over more than 160 kilometres and spread over an ocean area of 26,000 square kilometres between the Solomon Sea to the north and the Coral Sea to the south; the aggregate land area of the islands is about 1,871 square kilometres, with Vanatinai being the largest. Rogeia and Sariba lie closest to New Guinea, while Misima and Rossel islands lie further east; the archipelago is divided into the Local Level Government areas Bwanabwana Rural, Louisiade Rural, Yaleyamba. The LLG areas are part of Samarai-Murua District of Milne Bay; the seat of the Louisiade Rural LLG is Bwagaoia on Misima Island, the population center of the archipelago. The seat of the Yaleyamba is changed every couple of years between Jingo; the seat of the Bwanabwana was Samarai from the Louisiade archipelago, but was transferred to the mainland of Papua New Guinea to the city of Alotau.
The Louisiade Archipelago consists of the following island groups and islands: The islands were discovered by a Spanish expedition led by Luis Váez de Torres in 1606, part of the Fernandez de Quiros fleet which had sailed from South America in search of Australia. The Torres expedition visited various islands including Basilaki Island, which he named San Buenaventura in July 1606, it is possible that Malay and Chinese sailors visited the islands earlier. More than a century in 1768, Louis Antoine de Bougainville visited the islands and named them for Louis XV, the king of France. Visits were paid by Admiral Bruni d'Entrecasteaux in 1793 and Captain Owen Stanley in 1849; the 1942 Battle of Coral Sea was fought nearby, after Japanese occupation in the same year. The Deboyne Islands were the site of the 1942 Raids on Deboyne; the islands have a moist tropical climate, are covered with tropical moist broadleaf forests. The Louisiade Archipelago rain forests form a distinct ecoregion, are home to a number of endemic species, including several endemic trees, as well as five endemic frog species, two endemic lizard species, five endemic bird species.
"Louisiade Archipelago". Encyclopædia Britannica. 17. 1911. "Louisiade Archipelago rain forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund. Milne Bay Province Polling list with place names Eusoils.jrc.it: detailed geology/soils map Louisiades.net: Information and advice for yachts and travellers visiting the Louisiade Archipelago islands
