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Ardei
Ardei is a suborder of order Pelecaniformes that include the families Ardeidae (herons, egrets, and bitterns) and Threskiornithidae (ibises and spoonbills). Traditionally the ardeids and threskiornithids were classified in the order Ciconiiformes along with Ciconiidae (storks), Phoenicopteridae (flamingos), Scopidae (hamerkop), Balaenicipitidae (shoebill), and even Cathartidae (New World vultures and condors). However, there were some osteological studies that have questioned the monophyly of Ciconiiformes, suggesting that the ardeids and threskiornithids originated from early gruiforms, with the latter being a transitionary taxon to order Charadriiformes. The polyphyly nature of Ciconiiformes is supported by recent genomic studies that have found support threskiornithids, ardeids, scopids and balaenicipitids being closely related to Pelecanidae (pelicans). The exact relationship between ardeids, threskiornithids and suborder Pelcani is still being investigated with two ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ardeidae
The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus'' are referred to as bitterns, and, together with the zigzag heron, or zigzag bittern, in the monotypic genus ''Zebrilus'', form a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae. Egrets do not form a biologically distinct group from herons, and tend to be named differently because they are mainly white or have decorative plumes in breeding plumage. Herons, by evolutionary adaptation, have long beaks. The classification of the individual heron/egret species is fraught with difficulty, and no clear consensus exists about the correct placement of many species into either of the two major genera, '' Ardea'' and ''Egretta''. Similarly, the relationships of the genera in the family are not completely resolved. However, one species formerly considered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pelecaniformes
The Pelecaniformes are an order of medium-sized and large waterbirds found worldwide. As traditionally—but erroneously—defined, they encompass all birds that have feet with all four toes webbed. Hence, they were formerly also known by such names as totipalmates or steganopodes. Most have a bare throat patch (gular patch), and the nostrils have evolved into dysfunctional slits, forcing them to breathe through their mouths. They also have a pectinate nail on their longest toe. This is shaped like a comb and is used to brush out and separate their feathers. They feed on fish, squid, or similar marine life. Nesting is colonial, but individual birds are monogamous. The young are altricial, hatching from the egg helpless and naked in most. They lack a brood patch. The pelicans, shoebill and hamerkop form a clade within the order, with their next closest relatives being a clade containing the herons, ibises and spoonbills. The Fregatidae (frigatebirds), Sulidae (gannets and boobie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ardea Cinerea
The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Palearctic, Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more northern parts bird migration, migrate southwards in autumn. A bird of wetland areas, it can be seen around lakes, rivers, ponds, marshes and on the sea coast. It feeds mostly on aquatic creatures which it catches after standing stationary beside or in the water or stalking its prey through the shallows. Standing up to tall, adults weigh from . They have a white head and neck with a broad black stripe that extends from the eye to the black crest. The body and wings are grey above and the underparts are greyish-white, with some black on the flanks. The long, sharply pointed beak is pinkish-yellow and the legs are brown. The birds breed Colony (biology), colonially in spring in "heronries", usually building their nests high in trees. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xenerodiops
''Xenerodiops'' is a genus of extinct birds, containing one species, ''Xenerodiops mycter''. Its fossil remains were found in Egypt by Elwyn L. Simons and first formally described in 1987. It lived in the Oligocene (about 33 million years ago). It has been placed in its own family, Xenerodiopidae; the alternative view is that this family is synonymous with Ardeidae, the herons. Description The only known fossil remains of this animal are an incomplete beak (rostrum) and a left humerus, which allowed a reconstruction of its possible appearance. The dimensions had to be slightly larger than those of a current heron, and its appearance was relatively different due to the strange beak which was rather short, heavy and curved upwards, different from that of any other form of heron according to Rasmussen et al. The humerus was stout enough to suggests that this animal was of a robust structure. The lifestyle of this mysterious bird is not clear: the rostrum was very mobile and it seems ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pelican
Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before swallowing. They have predominantly pale plumage, except for the brown and Peruvian pelicans. The bills, pouches, and bare facial skin of all pelicans become brightly coloured before the breeding season. The eight living pelican species have a patchy global distribution, ranging latitudinally from the tropics to the temperate zone, though they are absent from interior South America and from polar regions and the open ocean. Long thought to be related to frigatebirds, cormorants, tropicbirds, and gannets and boobies, pelicans instead are now known to be most closely related to the shoebill and hamerkop, and are placed in the order Pelecaniformes. Ibises, spoonbills, herons, and bitterns have been classified in the same order. Fossil ev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Threskiornithidae
The family Threskiornithidae includes 36 species of large wading birds. The family has been traditionally classified into two subfamilies, the ibises and the spoonbills; however recent genetic studies have cast doubt on this arrangement, and have found the spoonbills to be nested within the Old World ibises, and the New World ibises as an early offshoot. Taxonomy The family Threskiornithidae was formerly known as Plataleidae. The spoonbills and ibises were once thought to be related to other groups of long-legged wading birds in the order Ciconiiformes. A recent study found that they are members of the order Pelecaniformes. In response to these findings, the International Ornithological Congress (IOC) recently reclassified Threskiornithidae and their sister taxa Ardeidae under the order Pelecaniformes instead of the previous order of Ciconiiformes. Whether the two subfamilies are reciprocally monophyletic is an open question. The South American Checklist Committee's entry for th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stork
Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons and ibises, but those families have been moved to other orders. Storks dwell in many regions and tend to live in drier habitats than the closely related herons, spoonbills and ibises; they also lack the powder down that those groups use to clean off fish slime. Bill-clattering is an important mode of communication at the nest. Many species are migratory. Most storks eat frogs, fish, insects, earthworms, small birds and small mammals. There are 19 living species of storks in six genera. Various terms are used to refer to groups of storks, two frequently used ones being a ''muster'' of storks and a ''phalanx'' of storks. Storks tend to use soaring, gliding flight, which conserves energy. Soaring requires thermal air currents. Ottomar Ans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "dawn") and (''kainós'', "new") and refers to the "dawn" of modern ('new') fauna that appeared during the epoch. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Paleocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the Eocene is marked by a brief period in which the concentration of the carbon isotope Carbon-13, 13C in the atmosphere was exceptionally low in comparison with the more common isotope Carbon-12, 12C. The end is set at a major extinction event called the ''Grande Coupure'' (the "Great Break" in continuity) or the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event, which may be related to the impact of one or more large bolides in Popigai impact structure, Siberia and in what is now ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jon Edward Ahlquist
Jon Edward Ahlquist (27 July 1944 –7 May 2020 ''The Huntsville Times,'' 9–10 May 2020.) was an American molecular biologist and ornithologist who has specialized in . He has collaborated extensively with , primarily at . By ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charadriiformes
Charadriiformes (, from ''Charadrius'', the type genus of family Charadriidae) is a diverse order of small to medium-large birds. It includes about 390 species and has members in all parts of the world. Most charadriiform birds live near water and eat invertebrates or other small animals; however, some are pelagic (seabirds), others frequent deserts, and a few are found in dense forest. Members of this group can also collectively be referred to as shorebirds. Taxonomy, systematics and evolution The order was formerly divided into three suborders: * The waders (or "Charadrii"): typical shorebirds, most of which feed by probing in the mud or picking items off the surface in both coastal and freshwater environments. * The gulls and their allies (or " Lari"): these are generally larger species which take fish from the sea. Several gulls and skuas will also take food items from beaches, or rob smaller species, and some have become adapted to inland environments. * The auks (or "Alcae" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gruiformes
The Gruiformes are an order (biology), order containing a considerable number of living and extinct bird family (biology), families, with a widespread geographical diversity. Gruiform means "crane-like". Traditionally, a number of wading and terrestrial bird families that did not seem to belong to any other order were classified together as Gruiformes. These include 14 species of large crane (bird), cranes, about 145 species of smaller Rallidae, crakes and rails, as well as a variety of families comprising one to three species, such as the Heliornithidae, the limpkin, or the Psophiidae. Other birds have been placed in this order more out of necessity to place them ''somewhere''; this has caused the expanded Gruiformes to lack distinctive apomorphies. Recent studies indicate that these "odd Gruiformes" are if at all only loosely related to the cranes, rails, and relatives ("core Gruiformes"). Systematics There are only two suprafamilial clades (natural groups) among the birds t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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