Binomial nomenclature
Binomial nomenclature called binominal nomenclature or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, although they can be based on words from other languages. Such a name is called a binomen, binominal name or a scientific name; the first part of the name – the generic name – identifies the genus to which the species belongs, while the second part – the specific name or specific epithet – identifies the species within the genus. For example, humans belong within this genus to the species Homo sapiens. Tyrannosaurus rex is the most known binomial; the formal introduction of this system of naming species is credited to Carl Linnaeus beginning with his work Species Plantarum in 1753. 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; the application of binomial nomenclature is now governed by various internationally agreed codes of rules, of which the two most important are the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature for animals and the International Code of Nomenclature for algae and plants.
Although the general principles underlying binomial nomenclature are common to these two codes, there are some differences, both in the terminology they use and in their precise rules. In modern usage, the first letter of the first part of the name, the genus, is always capitalized in writing, while that of the second part is not when derived from a proper noun such as the name of a person or place. 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 binomial name is given, at least when it is first mentioned, the date of publication may be specified. In zoology "Patella vulgata Linnaeus, 1758"; the name "Linnaeus" tells the reader who it was that first published a description and name for this species of limpet. "Passer domesticus". The original name given by Linnaeus was Fringilla domestica; 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, although nomenclatorial catalogs include such information.
In botany "Amaranthus retroflexus L." – "L." is the standard abbreviation used in botany for "Linnaeus". "Hyacinthoides italica Rothm. – Linnaeus first named this bluebell species Scilla italica. The name is composed of two word-forming elements: "bi", a Latin prefix for two, "-nomial", relating to a term or terms; the word "binomium" was used in Medieval Latin to mean a two-term expression in mathematics. Prior to the adoption of the modern binomial system of naming species, a scientific name consisted of a generic name combined with a specific name, from one to several words long. Together they formed a system of polynomial nomenclature; these names had two separate functions. First, to designate or label the species, second, to be a diagnosis or description. In a simple genus, containing only two species, it was easy to tell them apart with a one-word genus and a one-word specific name; such "polynomial names" may sometimes look like binomials, but are different. For example, Gerard's herbal describes various kinds of spiderwort: "The first is called Phalangium ramosum, Branched Spiderwort.
The other... 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, more known by his Latinized name Carl Linnaeus, 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 specific name; the Bauhins' genus names were retained in many of these, but the descriptive part was reduced to a single word. Linnaeus's trivial names introduced an important new idea, namely that the function of a name could be to give a species a unique label; this meant. Thus Gerard's Phalangium ephemerum virginianum became Tradescantia virgi
Species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. While these definitions may seem adequate, when looked at more they represent problematic species concepts. For example, the boundaries between related species become unclear with hybridisation, in a species complex of hundreds of similar microspecies, in a ring species. Among organisms that reproduce only asexually, the concept of a reproductive species breaks down, each clone is a microspecies. All species are given a two-part name, a "binomial"; the first part of a binomial is the genus.
The second part is called the specific epithet. For example, Boa constrictor is one of four species of the genus Boa. None of these is satisfactory definitions, but scientists and conservationists need a species definition which allows them to work, regardless of the theoretical difficulties. If species were fixed and distinct from one another, there would be no problem, but evolutionary processes cause species to change continually, to grade into one another. Species were seen from the time of Aristotle until the 18th century as fixed kinds that could be arranged in a hierarchy, the great chain of being. In the 19th century, biologists grasped. Charles Darwin's 1859 book The Origin of Species explained how species could arise by natural selection; that understanding was extended in the 20th century through genetics and population ecology. Genetic variability arises from mutations and recombination, while organisms themselves are mobile, leading to geographical isolation and genetic drift with varying selection pressures.
Genes can sometimes be exchanged between species by horizontal gene transfer. Viruses are a special case, driven by a balance of mutation and selection, can be treated as quasispecies. Biologists and taxonomists have made many attempts to define species, beginning from morphology and moving towards genetics. Early taxonomists such as Linnaeus had no option but to describe what they saw: this was formalised as the typological or morphological species concept. Ernst Mayr emphasised reproductive isolation, but this, like other species concepts, is hard or impossible to test. Biologists have tried to refine Mayr's definition with the recognition and cohesion concepts, among others. Many of the concepts are quite similar or overlap, so they are not easy to count: the biologist R. L. Mayden recorded about 24 concepts, the philosopher of science John Wilkins counted 26. Wilkins further grouped the species concepts into seven basic kinds of concepts: agamospecies for asexual organisms biospecies for reproductively isolated sexual organisms ecospecies based on ecological niches evolutionary species based on lineage genetic species based on gene pool morphospecies based on form or phenotype and taxonomic species, a species as determined by a taxonomist.
A typological species is a group of organisms in which individuals conform to certain fixed properties, so that pre-literate people recognise the same taxon as do modern taxonomists. The clusters of variations or phenotypes within specimens would differentiate the species; this method was used as a "classical" method of determining species, such as with Linnaeus early in evolutionary theory. However, different phenotypes are not different species. Species named in this manner are called morphospecies. In the 1970s, Robert R. Sokal, Theodore J. Crovello and Peter Sneath proposed a variation on this, a phenetic species, defined as a set of organisms with a similar phenotype to each other, but a different phenotype from other sets of organisms, it differs from the morphological species concept in including a numerical measure of distance or similarity to cluster entities based on multivariate comparisons of a reasonably large number of phenotypic traits. A mate-recognition species is a group of sexually reproducing organisms that recognize one another as potential mates.
Expanding on this to allow for post-mating isolation, a cohesion species is the most inclusive population of individuals having the potential for phenotypic cohesion through intrinsic cohesion mechanisms. A further development of the recognition concept is provided by the biosemiotic concept of species. In microbiology, genes can move even between distantly related bacteria extending to the whole bacterial domain; as a rule of thumb, microbiologists have assumed that kinds of Bacteria or Archaea with 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences more similar than 97% to each other need to be checked by DNA-DNA hybridisation to decide if they belong to the same species or not. This concept was narrowed in 2006 to a similarity of 98.7%. DNA-DNA hybri
Fledge
Fledging is the stage in a volant animal's life between hatching or parturition and flight. This term is most applied to birds, but is used for bats. For altricial birds, those that spend more time in vulnerable condition in the nest, the nestling and fledging stage can be the same. For precocial birds, those that develop and leave the nest a short nestling stage precedes a longer fledging stage. All birds are considered to have fledged when the feathers and wing muscles are sufficiently developed for flight. A young bird that has fledged but is still dependent upon parental care and feeding is called a fledgling. People want to help fledglings, as they appear vulnerable, but it is best to leave them alone; the USA National Phenology Network defines the phenophase of fledged young for birds as "One or more young are seen departed from the nest. This includes young incapable of sustained flight and young which are still dependent on adults." In many species, parents continue to care for their fledged young, either by leading them to food sources, or feeding them.
Birds are vulnerable after they have left the nest, but before they can fly, though once fledged their chances of survival increase dramatically. One species, the ancient murrelet, fledges two days after hatching, running from its burrow to the ocean and its calling parents. Once it reaches the ocean, its parents care for it for several weeks. Other species, such as guillemots and terns, leave the nesting site while they are still unable to fly; the fledging behavior of the guillemot is spectacular. The dictionary definition of fledge at Wiktionary Media related to Fledglings at Wikimedia Commons
Mini-macaw
Mini-macaws are a loosely defined group of small-to-medium-sized macaw species within the tribe Arini. The term has no fixed taxonomic meaning and is principally used in aviculture to describe a small macaw belonging to one of a number of different genera, with overall length being the sole criterion for inclusion. Any macaw with an overall length of less than about 50 cm can be described as a "mini-macaw". Additionally, the "mini-" prefix may be added to the species name when describing the bird in question. In the pet trade, the term can be used to suggest that the species in question is better suited as a companion parrot for owners with less space in their homes than would be required by one of the larger macaw species. In aviculture the following are sometimes called mini-macaws: Chestnut-fronted, or severe macaw, Ara severa Golden-collared macaw, Primolius auricollis Blue-winged, or Illiger's macaw, Primolius maracana Blue-headed macaw, Primolius couloni Red-bellied macaw, Orthopsittaca manilata Red-shouldered, or Hahn's macaw, Diopsittaca nobilisThe red-bellied macaw and blue-headed macaw are only found in captivity in a zoo setting, or as part of a breeding program and are kept as pets.
The Mini Macaw FAQ
Chordate
A chordate is an animal constituting the phylum Chordata. During some period of their life cycle, chordates possess a notochord, a dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, a post-anal tail: these five anatomical features define this phylum. Chordates are bilaterally symmetric; the Chordata and Ambulacraria together form the superphylum Deuterostomia. Chordates are divided into three subphyla: Vertebrata. There are extinct taxa such as the Vetulicolia. Hemichordata has been presented as a fourth chordate subphylum, but now is treated as a separate phylum: hemichordates and Echinodermata form the Ambulacraria, the sister phylum of the Chordates. Of the more than 65,000 living species of chordates, about half are bony fish that are members of the superclass Osteichthyes. Chordate fossils have been found from as early as the Cambrian explosion, 541 million years ago. Cladistically, vertebrates - chordates with the notochord replaced by a vertebral column during development - are considered to be a subgroup of the clade Craniata, which consists of chordates with a skull.
The Craniata and Tunicata compose the clade Olfactores. Chordates form a phylum of animals that are defined by having at some stage in their lives all of the following anatomical features: A notochord, a stiff rod of cartilage that extends along the inside of the body. Among the vertebrate sub-group of chordates the notochord develops into the spine, in wholly aquatic species this helps the animal to swim by flexing its tail. A dorsal neural tube. In fish and other vertebrates, this develops into the spinal cord, the main communications trunk of the nervous system. Pharyngeal slits; the pharynx is the part of the throat behind the mouth. In fish, the slits are modified to form gills, but in some other chordates they are part of a filter-feeding system that extracts particles of food from the water in which the animals live. Post-anal tail. A muscular tail that extends backwards behind the anus. An endostyle; this is a groove in the ventral wall of the pharynx. In filter-feeding species it produces mucus to gather food particles, which helps in transporting food to the esophagus.
It stores iodine, may be a precursor of the vertebrate thyroid gland. There are soft constraints that separate chordates from certain other biological lineages, but are not part of the formal definition: All chordates are deuterostomes; this means. All chordates are based on a bilateral body plan. All chordates are coelomates, have a fluid filled body cavity called a coelom with a complete lining called peritoneum derived from mesoderm; the following schema is from the third edition of Vertebrate Palaeontology. The invertebrate chordate classes are from Fishes of the World. While it is structured so as to reflect evolutionary relationships, it retains the traditional ranks used in Linnaean taxonomy. Phylum Chordata †Vetulicolia? Subphylum Cephalochordata – Class Leptocardii Clade Olfactores Subphylum Tunicata – Class Ascidiacea Class Thaliacea Class Appendicularia Class Sorberacea Subphylum Vertebrata Infraphylum incertae sedis Cyclostomata Superclass'Agnatha' paraphyletic Class Myxini Class Petromyzontida or Hyperoartia Class †Conodonta Class †Myllokunmingiida Class †Pteraspidomorphi Class †Thelodonti Class †Anaspida Class †Cephalaspidomorphi Infraphylum Gnathostomata Class †Placodermi Class Chondrichthyes Class †Acanthodii Superclass Osteichthyes Class Actinopterygii Class Sarcopterygii Superclass Tetrapoda Class Amphibia Class Sauropsida Class Synapsida Craniates, one of the three subdivisions of chordates, all have distinct skulls.
They include the hagfish. Michael J. Benton commented that "craniates are characterized by their heads, just as chordates, or all deuterostomes, are by their tails". Most craniates are vertebrates; these consist of a series of bony or cartilaginous cylindrical vertebrae with neural arches that protect the spinal cord, with projections that link the vertebrae. However hagfish have incomplete braincases and no vertebrae, are therefore not regarded as vertebrates, but as members of the craniates, the group from which vertebrates are thought to have evolved; however the cladistic exclusion of hagfish from the vertebrates is controversial, as they ma
10th edition of Systema Naturae
The 10th edition of Systema Naturae is a book written by Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus and published in two volumes in 1758 and 1759, which marks the starting point of zoological nomenclature. In it, Linnaeus introduced binomial nomenclature for animals, something he had done for plants in his 1753 publication of Species Plantarum. Before 1758, most biological catalogues had used polynomial names for the taxa included, including earlier editions of Systema Naturae; the first work to apply binomial nomenclature across the animal kingdom was the 10th edition of Systema Naturae. The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature therefore chose 1 January 1758 as the "starting point" for zoological nomenclature, asserted that the 10th edition of Systema Naturae was to be treated as if published on that date. Names published before that date are unavailable if they would otherwise satisfy the rules; the only work which takes priority over the 10th edition is Carl Alexander Clerck's Svenska Spindlar or Aranei Suecici, published in 1757, but is to be treated as if published on January 1, 1758.
During Linnaeus' lifetime, Systema Naturae was under continuous revision. Progress was incorporated into ever-expanding editions; the Animal Kingdom: Animals enjoy sensation by means of a living organization, animated by a medullary substance. They have members for the different purposes of life, they all originate from an egg. Their external and internal structure; the list has been broken down into the original six classes Linnaeus described for animals. These classes were created by studying the internal anatomy, as seen in his key: Heart with 2 auricles, 2 ventricles. Warm, red blood Viviparous: Mammalia Oviparous: Aves Heart with 1 auricle, 1 ventricle. Cold, red blood Lungs voluntary: Amphibia External gills: Pisces Heart with 1 auricle, 0 ventricles. Cold, pus-like blood Have antennae: Insecta Have tentacles: VermesBy current standards Pisces and Vermes are informal groupings, Insecta contained arachnids and crustaceans, one order of Amphibia comprised sharks and sturgeons. Linnaeus described mammals as: Animals.
In external and internal structure they resemble man: most of them are quadrupeds. The largest, though fewest in number, inhabit the ocean. Linnaeus divided the mammals based upon the number and structure of their teeth, into the following orders and genera: Primates: Homo, Lemur & Vespertilio Bruta: Elephas, Bradypus, Myrmecophaga & Manis Ferae: Phoca, Felis, Mustela & Ursus Bestiae: Sus, Erinaceus, Sorex & Didelphis Glires: Rhinoceros, Lepus, Mus & Sciurus Pecora: Camelus, Cervus, Ovis & Bos Belluae: Equus & Hippopotamus Cete: Monodon, Physeter & Delphinus Linnaeus described birds as: A beautiful and cheerful portion of created nature consisting of animals having a body covered with feathers and down, they are areal, vocal and light, destitute of external ears, teeth, womb, epiglottis, corpus callosum and its arch, diaphragm. Linnaeus divided the birds based upon the characters of the bill and feet, into the following 6 orders and 63 genera: Accipitres: Vultur, Strix & Lanius Picae: Psittacus, Buceros, Corvus, Gracula, Cuculus, Picus, Alcedo, Upupa, Certhia & Trochilus Anseres: Anas, Alca, Diomedea, Phaethon, Larus, Sterna & Rhyncops Grallae: Phoenicopterus, Mycteria & Tantulus, Scolopax, Charadrius, Haematopus, Rallus, Otis & Struthio Gallinae: Pavo, Crax, Phasianus & Tetrao Passeres: Columba, Sturnus, Loxia (cardina
Blue-and-yellow macaw
The blue-and-yellow macaw known as the blue-and-gold macaw, is a large South American parrot with blue top parts and light orange underparts, with gradient hues of green on top of its head. It is a member of the large group of neotropical parrots known as macaws, it inhabits forest and savannah of tropical South America. They are popular in aviculture because of their striking color, ability to talk, ready availability in the marketplace, close bonding to humans; the blue-and-yellow macaw is a member of the genus Ara, one of six genera of Central and South American macaws. These birds can reach a length of 76–86 cm and weigh 0.900–1.5 kg, making them some of the larger members of their family. They are vivid in appearance with light blue feathers on the top of their wings, torso, darker on the tail—and halfway on top of their head. On the bottom of these aforementioned areas of their body are light orange feathers, their beak is black, as well as the feathers under their chin. Its feet, save for the talons, are of a gray color.
The bird has white skin, with its face having nearly no feathers beside a few black ones spaced apart from each other forming a striped pattern around the eyes. The irises are light yellow. Blue-and-yellow macaws can live from 30 to 35 years in the wild, reach sexual maturity between the ages of 3 and 6 years. Little variation in plumage is seen across the range; some birds have a more orange or "butterscotch" underside color on the breast. This was seen in Trinidad birds and others of the Caribbean area; the blue-and-yellow macaw uses its powerful beak for breaking nutshells, for climbing up and hanging from trees. This species occurs in Venezuela, Brazil and Paraguay; the range extends into Central America, where it is restricted to Panama. Although they were nearly wiped out in Trinidad due to human activity during the 1970s, a recent programme of reintroduction has proved successful. Between 1999 and 2003, wild-caught blue-and-gold macaws were translocated from Guyana to Trinidad, in an attempt to re-establish the species in a protected area around Nariva swamp.
A small breeding population descended from introduced birds is found in Puerto Rico, another has inhabited Miami-Dade County, since the mid-1980s. The blue-and-yellow macaw mates for life, they nest exclusively in dead palms and most nests are in Mauritia flexuosa palms. The female lays two or three eggs; the female incubates the eggs for about 28 days. One chick gets most of the food. Chicks fledge from the nest about 97 days after hatching; the male bird's color signals readiness for breeding. The brighter and bolder the colors, the better the chance of getting a mate; the blue-and-yellow macaw is on the verge of being extirpated in Paraguay, but it still remains widespread and common in a large part of mainland South America. The species is therefore listed as Least Concern by BirdLife International, it is listed on trade restricted. Well-tended blue-and-yellow macaws are known to "scream" for attention, make other loud noises. Loud vocalizations "flock calls", destructive chewing are natural parts of their behavior and should be expected in captivity.
Due to their large size, they require plentiful space in which to fly around. According to World Parrot Trust, an enclosure for a blue-and-yellow macaw should, if possible, be at least 15 m in length. Captive macaws, kept with good diet and veterinary care have been recorded to live 60 or more years. People considering a macaw as a companion parrot must be aware of this and consider that the bird may outlive the owner. List of macaws Doane, Bonnie Munro & Qualkinbush, Thomas: My parrot, my friend: an owner's guide to parrot behavior. Howell Book House, New York. ISBN 0-87605-970-1 Hilty, Steven L.: Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5 Forshaw, J. M. Parrots of the World. New Jersey. T. F. H. Publications Inc. 1978. ISBN 0-87666-959-3 Data related to Ara ararauna at Wikispecies World Parrot Trust Parrot Encyclopedia – Species Profile Blue-and-yellow macaw videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection
Media related to Diopsittaca nobilis at Wikimedia Commons