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Apteribis
''Apteribis'' is an extinct genus of flightless birds in the ibis subfamily that was endemic to the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Distribution The remains of the small ibises in the genus have only been found on the islands of Maui, Lanai, and Molokai, which formed part of the prehistoric island of Maui Nui until about 200,000 years ago when rising sea levels fragmented it. Olson and James speculate that the genus was endemic to Maui Nui, that the ibises were birds of the forest floor, that because of their flightlessness they were susceptible to becoming trapped in lava tubes, and that they may have exerted heavy predation pressure on Maui Nui's land snails. Taxonomy Analysis of the feathers from the Lanai specimen show an affinity to New World ibises of the genus ''Eudocimus''. The analyses also concluded that ''Apteribis'' may have had a brown-and-beige coloration similar to that of a juvenile ''Eudocimus'' ibis. This indicates that ''Apteribis'' may have evolved ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ibis
The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word for this group of birds. It also occurs in the scientific name of the cattle egret (''Bubulcus ibis'') mistakenly identified in 1757 as being the sacred ibis. Description Ibises all have long, downcurved bills, and usually feed as a group, probing mud for food items, usually crustaceans. They are monogamous and highly territorial while nesting and feeding. Most nest in trees, often with spoonbills or herons. All extant species are capable of flight, but two extinct genera were flightless, namely the kiwi-like ''Apteribis'' in the Hawaiian Islands, and the peculiar '' Xenicibis'' in Jamaica. The word ''ibis'' comes from Latin ''ibis'' from Greek ἶβις ''ibis'' from Egyptian ''hb'', ''hīb''. Beekes, R. S. P. (2009) ''Etymological Diction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Quaternary Prehistoric Birds
Late Quaternary prehistoric birds are avian taxa that became extinct during the Late Quaternary – the Holocene or Late Pleistocene – and before recorded history, or more precisely, before they could be studied alive by ornithological science. They became extinct before the period of global scientific exploration that started in the late 15th century. In other words, this list basically deals with extinctions between 40,000 BC and 1500 AD. For the purposes of this article, a "bird" is any member of the clade Neornithes, that is, any descendant of the most recent common ancestor of all currently living birds. The birds are known from their remains, which are subfossil (not fossilized, or not completely fossilized). Some are also known from folk memory, as in the case of Haast's eagle in New Zealand. As the remains are not completely fossilized, they may yield organic material for molecular analyses to provide additional clues for resolving their taxonomi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maui
The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which also includes Molokai, Lānai, and unpopulated Kahoolawe. In 2020, Maui had a population of 168,307, the third-highest of the Hawaiian Islands, behind that of Oahu and Hawaii Island. Kahului is the largest census-designated place (CDP) on the island with a population of 26,337 , and is the commercial and financial hub of the island. Wailuku is the seat of Maui County and is the third-largest CDP . Other significant places include Kīhei (including Wailea and Makena in the Kihei Town CDP, the island's second-most-populated CDP), Lāhainā (including Kāanapali and Kapalua in the Lāhainā Town CDP), Makawao, Pukalani, Pāia, Kula, Haikū, and Hāna. Etymology Native Hawaiian tradition gives the origin of the island's na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flightless Bird
Flightless birds are birds that through evolution lost the ability to fly. There are over 60 extant species, including the well known ratites (ostriches, emu, cassowaries, rheas, and kiwi) and penguins. The smallest flightless bird is the Inaccessible Island rail (length 12.5 cm, weight 34.7 g). The largest (both heaviest and tallest) flightless bird, which is also the largest living bird, is the ostrich (2.7 m, 156 kg). Many domesticated birds, such as the domestic chicken and domestic duck, have lost the ability to fly for extended periods, although their ancestral species, the red junglefowl and mallard, respectively, are capable of extended flight. A few particularly bred birds, such as the Broad Breasted White turkey, have become totally flightless as a result of selective breeding; the birds were bred to grow massive breast meat that weighs too much for the bird's wings to support in flight. Flightlessness has evolved in many different birds independe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quaternary
The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three period (geology), periods of the Cenozoic era (geology), Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ago to the present. The Quaternary Period is divided into two epochs: the Pleistocene (2.58 million years ago to 11.7 thousand years ago) and the Holocene (11.7 thousand years ago to today, although a third epoch, the Anthropocene, has been proposed but is not yet officially recognised by the ICS). The Quaternary Period is typically defined by the cyclic growth and decay of continental ice sheets related to the Milankovitch cycles and the associated climate and environmental changes that they caused. Research history In 1759 Giovanni Arduino (geologist), Giovanni Arduino proposed that the geological strata of northern Italy could be divided into four successive formations or "orders" ( it, quattro ord ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eudocimus
''Eudocimus'' is a genus of ibises, wading birds of the family Threskiornithidae. They occur in the warmer parts of the New World with representatives from the southern United States south through Central America, the West Indies, and South America. Taxonomy and Systematics The genus ''Eudocimus'' appears to be most closely related to (but more primitive than) ''Plegadis'', the latter distinguished anatomically by the conformation of the tarsometatarsus. The fossil record is poor, but the Early Miocene fossil species ''Plegadis paganus'' has some intermediate features. It has two foramina in the intertrochlear groove of its distal tarsometatarsus, as do ''Plegadis'' in contrast to the single foramen of ''Eudocimus'' and many other bird species. The derived nature of this species indicates ibises belonging to ''Eudocimus'' were already in existence at this time. A 2010 study of mitochondrial DNA of the spoonbills by Chesser and colleagues, which included ''E. ruber'', '' Nipponi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neoteny
Neoteny (), also called juvenilization,Montagu, A. (1989). Growing Young. Bergin & Garvey: CT. is the delaying or slowing of the physiological, or somatic, development of an organism, typically an animal. Neoteny is found in modern humans compared to other primates. In progenesis or paedogenesis, sexual development is accelerated. Both neoteny and progenesis result in paedomorphism (as having the form typical of children) or paedomorphosis (changing towards forms typical of children), a type of heterochrony. It is the retention in adults of traits previously seen only in the young. Such retention is important in evolutionary biology, domestication and evolutionary developmental biology. Some authors define paedomorphism as the retention of larval traits, as seen in salamanders.Schell, S. C. ''Handbook of Trematodes of North America North of Mexico'', 1985, pg. 22 History and etymology The origins of the concept of neoteny have been traced to the Bible (as argued by Ashley M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several examples, but explicitly designated as the holotype. Under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), a holotype is one of several kinds of name-bearing types. In the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) and ICZN, the definitions of types are similar in intent but not identical in terminology or underlying concept. For example, the holotype for the butterfly '' Plebejus idas longinus'' is a preserved specimen of that subspecies, held by the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. In botany, an isotype is a duplicate of the holotype, where holotype and isotypes are often pieces from the same individual plant or samples from the same gathering. A holotype is not necessaril ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moʻomomi
Moomomi is a Nature Conservancy preserve located on the northwestern shore of Molokai in Hawaii. It was established in 1988. This area is dry and hot, primarily denuded of soil due to overgrazing and poor land use practices over the last 150 years. Moomomi preserve protects some of the very last intact coastal shrublands in Hawaii. The Moomomi preserve contains sand dunes, lithified sand formations, rare endemic Hawaiian coastal plant species, nesting seabirds and green sea turtles (''Chelonia mydas''), and the occasional Hawaiian monk seal (''Monachus schauinslandi''). An endangered bee species, ''Hylaeus hilaris'', is only known from here. Within the preserve, over 22 native plant species can be found including ''akoko'' ('' Euphorbia skottsbergii''), ''nehe'' ('' Lipochaeta integrifolia''), ''Tetramolopium rockii'', ''hinahina kū kahakai'' ( ''Heliotropium anomalum'' var. ''argenteum''), ''kolokolo kahakai'' (''Vitex rotundifolia ''Vitex rotundifolia'', the roundleaf ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ilio Point
The Hawaiian Poi Dog ( haw, ʻīlio or ''ʻīlio mākuʻe'') is an extinct breed of pariah dog from Hawaiʻi which was used by Native Hawaiians as a spiritual protector of children and as a source of food. History The original Hawaiian poi dog were descended from the Polynesian dogs brought to the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesian people. Genetic studies on the New Zealand Kurī dog indicate that the origin of this dog (and therefore probably the Hawaiian dog) is Indonesia. Referred as the ''ʻīlio'' in the Hawaiian language, the modern name of this breed is derived from '' poi'', a Hawaiian staple food made from ''kalo'' or taro root. Poi was used to fatten the dogs for use as food because meat was too valuable to be used as dog food. Since the Hawaiian Islands did not have large land mammals other than feral hogs, Poi dogs were not needed for hunting. The dogs were never deliberately bred to a standard, but human and natural selection still came into play. European e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bird Genera
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the bee hummingbird to the ostrich. There are about ten thousand living species, more than half of which are passerine, or "perching" birds. Birds have whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which are modified forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island 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 further evolved for swimmi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kalaupapa, Hawaii
Kalaupapa () is a small unincorporated community on the island of Molokai, within Kalawao County in the U.S. state of Hawaii. In 1866, during the reign of Kamehameha V, the Hawaii legislature passed a law that resulted in the designation of Molokai as the site for a leper colony, where patients who were seriously affected by leprosy (also known as Hansen's disease) could be quarantined, to prevent them from infecting others. At the time, the disease was little understood: it was believed to be highly contagious and was incurable until the advent of antibiotics. The communities where people with leprosy lived were under the administration of the Board of Health, which appointed superintendents on the island. Kalaupapa is located on the Kalaupapa Peninsula at the base of some of the highest sea cliffs in the world; they rise 610 m above the Pacific Ocean. In the 1870s a community to support the leper colony was established here; the legislature required people with severe cas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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