|
Abdopus Aculeatus
''Abdopus aculeatus'' is a small octopus species in the order Octopoda. ''A. aculeatus'' has the common name of algae octopus due to its typical resting camouflage, which resembles a gastropod shell overgrown with algae. It is small in size with a mantle around the size of a small orange (≈7 cm) and legs 25 cm in length, and is adept at mimicking its surroundings. ''A. aculeatus'' has been described as "the only land octopus", because it lives on beaches, walking from one tidal pool to the next as it hunts for crab. Many octopuses can crawl short distances on land when necessary, but no others do so routinely. World range and habitat Algae octopuses are found throughout intertidal zones along the Indonesian, Philippine, and Northern Australian coastlines. They primarily live in areas with abundant sea grass coverage and occupy dens built into the sandy seafloor, which they line with small pebbles. In its resting camouflage, ''A. aculeatus'' displays mottled ochre, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alcide D'Orbigny
Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny (6 September 1802 – 30 June 1857) was a French naturalist who made major contributions in many areas, including zoology (including malacology), palaeontology, geology, archaeology and anthropology. D'Orbigny was born in Couëron ( Loire-Atlantique), the son of a ship's physician and amateur naturalist. The family moved to La Rochelle in 1820, where his interest in natural history was developed while studying the marine fauna and especially the microscopic creatures that he named "foraminiferans". In Paris he became a disciple of the geologist Pierre Louis Antoine Cordier (1777–1861) and Georges Cuvier. All his life, he would follow the theory of Cuvier and stay opposed to Lamarckism. South American era D'Orbigny travelled on a mission for the Paris Museum, in South America between 1826 and 1833. He visited Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil, and returned to France with an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calappidae
Calappidae is a family of crabs containing 16 genera, of which 7 are only known as fossils: *''Acanthocarpus'' Stimpson, 1871 *'' Calappa'' Weber, 1795 *† '' Calappella'' Rathbun, 1919 *† '' Calappilia'' A. Milne-Edwards, 1873 *'' Calappula'' Galil, 1997 *'' Cryptosoma'' Brullé, 1839 *'' Cycloes'' De Haan, 1837 *'' Cyclozodion'' Williams & Child, 1989 *''Mursia'' A. G. Desmarest, 1823 *† '' Mursilata'' C.-H. Hu & Tao, 1996 *† '' Mursilia'' Rathbun, 1918 *† '' Mursiopsis'' Ristori, 1889 *'' Paracyclois'' Miers, 1886 *'' Platymera'' H. Milne Edwards, 1837 *† '' Stenodromia'' A. Milne-Edwards, 1873 *† ''Tutus'' Collins ''in'' Collins, Portell & Donovan, 2009 Fossils within this family can be found in sediment of Europe, United States, Mexico, Central America, Australia and Japan from Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convergent Evolution
Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last common ancestor of those groups. The cladistic term for the same phenomenon is homoplasy. The recurrent evolution of flight is a classic example, as flying insects, birds, pterosaurs, and bats have independently evolved the useful capacity of flight. Functionally similar features that have arisen through convergent evolution are ''analogous'', whereas '' homologous'' structures or traits have a common origin but can have dissimilar functions. Bird, bat, and pterosaur wings are analogous structures, but their forelimbs are homologous, sharing an ancestral state despite serving different functions. The opposite of convergence is divergent evolution, where related species evolve different traits. Convergent evolution is similar to parallel evo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Octopus Bimaculoides
The California two-spot octopus (''Octopus bimaculoides''), often simply called a "bimac", is an octopus species native to many parts of the Pacific Ocean including the coast of California. One can identify the species by the circular blue eyespots on each side of its head. Bimacs usually live to be about two years old. They are closely related to Verrill's two-spot octopus ('' Octopus bimaculatus''). In 2015, the genome was sequenced. Description ''Octopus bimaculoides'' reaches a mantle size of 17.5 cm (7 inches) with arms to 58 cm (23 inches). Not usually heavily textured, it has several common colors, such as grey with yellow splotches, and uses highly developed crypsis (camouflage or color-changing to match the environment). Octopuses achieve color change in part by chromatophores, iridophores, and leucophores; all are structures of the skin in increasing depth. Chromatophores are elastic pigment sacs with muscle fibers attached by which they can expand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semelparous
Semelparity and iteroparity are two contrasting reproductive strategies available to living organisms. A species is considered semelparous if it is characterized by a single reproductive episode before death, and iteroparous if it is characterized by multiple reproductive cycles over the course of its lifetime. Iteroparity can be further divided into continuous iteroparity (primates including humans and chimpanzees) and seasonal iteroparity (birds, dogs, etc.) Some botanists use the parallel terms monocarpy and polycarpy. (See also plietesials.) In truly semelparous species, death after reproduction is part of an overall strategy that includes putting all available resources into maximizing reproduction, at the expense of future life (see § Trade-offs). In any iteroparous population there will be some individuals who die between their first and second reproductive episodes, but unless this is part of a syndrome of programmed death after reproduction, this would not be called ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plankton
Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) that are unable to propel themselves against a Ocean current, current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a crucial source of food to many small and large aquatic organisms, such as bivalves, fish and whales. Marine plankton include bacteria, archaea, algae, protozoa and drifting or floating animals that inhabit the saltwater of oceans and the brackish waters of estuaries. Freshwater plankton are similar to marine plankton, but are found in the freshwaters of lakes and rivers. Plankton are usually thought of as inhabiting water, but there are also airborne versions, the aeroplankton, that live part of their lives drifting in the atmosphere. These include plant spores, pollen and wind-scattered seeds, as well as microorganisms swept into the air from terrestrial dust storms and oceanic plankton swept into the air ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spermatophores
A spermatophore or sperm ampulla is a capsule or mass containing spermatozoa created by males of various animal species, especially salamanders and arthropods, and transferred in entirety to the female's ovipore during reproduction. Spermatophores may additionally contain nourishment for the female, in which case it is called a nuptial gift, as in the instance of bush crickets. In the case of the toxic moth ''Utetheisa ornatrix'', the spermatophore includes sperm, nutrients, and pyrrolizidine alkaloids which prevent predation because it is poisonous to most organisms. However, in some species such as the Edith's checkerspot butterfly, the "gift" provides little nutrient value. The weight of the spermatophore transferred at mating has little effect on female reproductive output. Arthropods Spermatophores are the norm in arachnids and several soil arthropods. In various insects, such as bush crickets, the spermatophore is often surrounded by a proteinaceous spermatophylax. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hectocotylus
A hectocotylus (plural: ''hectocotyli'') is one of the arms of male cephalopods that is specialized to store and transfer spermatophores to the female. Structurally, hectocotyli are muscular hydrostats. Depending on the species, the male may use it merely as a conduit to the female, analogously to a penis in other animals, or he may wrench it off and present it to the female. The hectocotyl arm was first described in Aristotle's biological works. Although Aristotle knew of its use in mating, he was doubtful that a tentacle could deliver sperm. The name ''hectocotylus'' was devised by Georges Cuvier, who first found one embedded in the mantle of a female argonaut. Supposing it to be a parasitic worm, in 1829 Cuvier gave it a generic name, combining the Greek word for "hundred" and Latin word for "hollow thing". Anatomy Generalized anatomy of squid and octopod hectocotyli: Variability Hectocotyli are shaped in many distinctive ways, and vary considerably between species. The s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cephalopod Beak
All extant taxon, extant cephalopods have a two-part beak, or Rostrum (anatomy), rostrum, situated in the buccal mass and surrounded by the muscular Cephalopod limb, head appendages. The Dorsal (anatomy), dorsal (upper) mandible fits into the ventral (lower) mandible and together they function in a scissor-like fashion.Young, R.E., M. Vecchione & K.M. Mangold (1999)Cephalopoda Glossary Tree of Life Web Project. The beak may also be referred to as the mandibles or jaws.Tanabe, K., Y. Hikida & Y. Iba (2006). Two coleoid jaws from the Upper Cretaceous of Hokkaido, Japan. ''Journal of Paleontology'' 80(1): 138–145. Fossilised remains of beaks are known from a number of cephalopod groups, both extant and extinct, including squids, octopuses, belemnites, and vampyromorphs. aptychus, Aptychi – paired plate-like structures found in ammonites – may also have been jaw elements. Composition Composed primarily of chitin and cross-linked proteins, beaks are more-or-less indigestible a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Portunidae
Portunidae is a family of crabs which contains the swimming crabs. Description Portunid crabs are characterised by the flattening of the fifth pair of legs into broad paddles, which are used for swimming. This ability, together with their strong, sharp claws, allows many species to be fast and aggressive predators. Examples Its members include many well-known shoreline crabs, such as the European shore crab (''Carcinus maenas''), blue crab (''Callinectes sapidus''), and velvet crab ('' Necora puber''). Two genera in the family are contrastingly named ''Scylla'' and ''Charybdis''; the former contains the economically important species black crab (''Scylla serrata'') and ''Scylla paramamosain''. Taxonomy The circumscription of the family varies, with some authors treating "Carcinidae", "Catoptridae" and "Macropipidae" as separate families, and others considering them subfamilies of a wider Portunidae. Swimming crabs reach their greatest species diversity in the Pacific and Indian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alphonse Trémeau De Rochebrune
Alphonse Amédée Trémeau de Rochebrune was a French botanist, malacologist and a zoologist. He was born on 18 September 1836 in Saint-Savin, and died on 23 April 1912 in Paris. Biography The son of a curator of the Museum of Angoulême, he became a military surgeon and reached the rank of adjutant in 1870. After obtaining his doctorate in 1874, he travelled to Saint-Louis in Senegal. In 1878, he joined the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle as an assistant in the Laboratory of Anthropology, and then replaced Victor Bertin (1849–1880), as assistant naturalist in the Laboratory of molluscs, worms and zoophytes, after Bertin's death. He held this post until his retirement in 1911. He addressed, in one hundred fifty publications, to a variety of subjects: from geology to paleontology, botany to malacology. These include his 1860 catalogue of wild flowering plants in the Department of Charente, co-written with Savatier Alexander. From 1882 to 1883, Rochebrune took part in a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a Megadiverse countries, megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with Deserts of Australia, deserts in the centre, tropical Forests of Australia, rainforests in the north-east, and List of mountains in Australia, mountain ranges in the south-east. The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south east Asia approximately Early human migrations#Nearby Oceania, 65,000 years ago, during the Last Glacial Period, last i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
