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Amazops
''Amazops'' is a monotypic genus of caecilian in the family Rhinatrematidae. It contains only one species, ''Amazops amazops''. It is endemic to Ecuador and is only known from a single specimen collected around 1990 from the Virgen La Dolores Farm in the province of Orellana. The individual was found in very soft, red and muddy soil under some rocks on a dirt road in a portion of the Ecuadorian Amazon at an altitude of about 1000 meters above sea level. It is presumed that like most other rhinatrematids, it is oviparous and is aquatic during its larval phase. It is the first new species of rhinatrematid caecilian from the Andes described after more than 50 years, and can be distinguished from other members of the family by its elongated squamous bone that is a part of the eye's orbit and occupies anterior parts of the skull, parts that are normally occupied by the maxilla and palatine in other rhinatrematids. It shares these anatomical traits with other non-rhinatrematid caecil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caecilian
Caecilians (; ) are a group of limbless, vermiform or serpentine amphibians. They mostly live hidden in the ground and in stream substrates, making them the least familiar order of amphibians. Caecilians are mostly distributed in the tropics of South and Central America, Africa, and southern Asia. Their diet consists of small subterranean creatures such as earthworms. All modern caecilians and their closest fossil relatives are grouped as a clade, Apoda , within the larger group Gymnophiona , which also includes more primitive extinct caecilian-like amphibians. The name derives from the Greek words γυμνος (''gymnos'', naked) and οφις (''ophis'', snake), as the caecilians were originally thought to be related to snakes. The body is cylindrical dark brown or bluish black in colour. The skin is slimy and bears grooves or ringlike markings. Description Caecilians completely lack limbs, making the smaller species resemble worms, while the larger species, with lengths up ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gymnophiona
Caecilians (; ) are a group of limbless, vermiform or serpentine amphibians. They mostly live hidden in the ground and in stream substrates, making them the least familiar order of amphibians. Caecilians are mostly distributed in the tropics of South and Central America, Africa, and southern Asia. Their diet consists of small subterranean creatures such as earthworms. All modern caecilians and their closest fossil relatives are grouped as a clade, Apoda , within the larger group Gymnophiona , which also includes more primitive extinct caecilian-like amphibians. The name derives from the Greek words γυμνος (''gymnos'', naked) and οφις (''ophis'', snake), as the caecilians were originally thought to be related to snakes. The body is cylindrical dark brown or bluish black in colour. The skin is slimy and bears grooves or ringlike markings. Description Caecilians completely lack limbs, making the smaller species resemble worms, while the larger species, with lengths up ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhinatrematidae
Rhinatrematidae is a family of caecilians, also known as the Neotropical tailed caecilians, American tailed caecilians. or beaked caecilians. They are found in the equatorial countries of South America. They are usually regarded as the most basal of the caecilian families, with numerous characteristics lacking in the other groups. For example, they still possess tails, and their mouths are not recessed on the underside of their heads. They lay their eggs in cavities in the soil. The larvae have external gills, and live in seepage areas until they metamorphose. The adults live in moist soil and leaf litter. Taxonomy The 14 species in three genera are: * Genus ''Amazops ''Amazops'' is a monotypic genus of caecilian in the family Rhinatrematidae. It contains only one species, ''Amazops amazops''. It is endemic to Ecuador and is only known from a single specimen collected around 1990 from the Virgen La Dolores Far ...'' ** '' Amazops amazops'' (Ecuador) * Genus '' Epicrionops'' * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Wilkinson (herpetologist)
Mark Wilkinson (born 3 October 1952) is an English illustrator. He is best known for the detailed surrealistic cover art he created for a number of British bands. Wilkinson's breakthrough came through his association with the neo-progressive rock band Marillion in the 1980s. He went on to design art for the subsequent solo career of their lead singer, Fish, as well as bands such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. Though versed in a number of techniques, he is considered to be a master of the airbrush. In 2012, his sleeve for the 1984 Marillion album ''Fugazi'' was chosen by Gigwise as the 29th greatest album artwork of all time. In 2015, Wilkinson designed the artwork for the Tya Brewery in Øvre Årdal, Norway. Biography Wilkinson was inspired by 1960s artists such as Hapshash and the Coloured Coat (a collaboration between Michael English and Nigel Waymouth) and Rick Griffin. Wilkinson's break came with his designs for Marillion in the 1980s, who were then second only to Iron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orbit (anatomy)
In anatomy, the orbit is the cavity or socket of the skull in which the eye and its appendages are situated. "Orbit" can refer to the bony socket, or it can also be used to imply the contents. In the adult human, the volume of the orbit is , of which the eye occupies . The orbital contents comprise the eye, the orbital and retrobulbar fascia, extraocular muscles, cranial nerves II, III, IV, V, and VI, blood vessels, fat, the lacrimal gland with its sac and duct, the eyelids, medial and lateral palpebral ligaments, cheek ligaments, the suspensory ligament, septum, ciliary ganglion and short ciliary nerves. Structure The orbits are conical or four-sided pyramidal cavities, which open into the midline of the face and point back into the head. Each consists of a base, an apex and four walls."eye, human."Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD 2009 Openings There are two important foramina, or windows, two important fissu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monotypic Amphibian Genera
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispecific" or "monospecific" is sometimes preferred. In botanical nomenclature, a monotypic genus is a genus in the special case where a genus and a single species are simultaneously described. In contrast, an oligotypic taxon contains more than one but only a very few subordinate taxa. Examples Just as the term ''monotypic'' is used to describe a taxon including only one subdivision, the contained taxon can also be referred to as monotypic within the higher-level taxon, e.g. a genus monotypic within a family. Some examples of monotypic groups are: Plants * In the order Amborellales, there is only one family, Amborellaceae and there is only one genus, '' Amborella'', and in this genus there is only one species, namely ''Amborella trichopoda.' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphibians Described In 2021
Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arboreal or freshwater aquatic ecosystems. Thus amphibians typically start out as larvae living in water, but some species have developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this. The young generally undergo metamorphosis from larva with gills to an adult air-breathing form with lungs. Amphibians use their skin as a secondary respiratory surface and some small terrestrial salamanders and frogs lack lungs and rely entirely on their skin. They are superficially similar to reptiles like lizards but, along with mammals and birds, reptiles are amniotes and do not require water bodies in which to breed. With their complex reproductive needs and permeable skins, amphibians are often ecological indicators; in recent decades there has been a dramatic decline ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. It uses a set of precise criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of thousands of species and subspecies. These criteria are relevant to all species and all regions of the world. With its strong scientific base, the IUCN Red List is recognized as the most authoritative guide to the status of biological diversity. A series of Regional Red Lists are produced by countries or organizations, which assess the risk of extinction to species within a political management unit. The aim of the IUCN Red List is to convey the urgency of conservation issues to the public and policy makers, as well as help the international community to reduce species extinction. According to IUCN the formally stated goals of the Red List are to provi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Data Deficient
A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessarily indicate that the species has not been extensively studied; but it does indicate that little or no information is available on the abundance and distribution of the species. The IUCN recommends that care be taken to avoid classing species as "data deficient" when the absence of records may indicate dangerously low abundance: "If the range of a taxon is suspected to be relatively circumscribed, if a considerable period of time has elapsed since the last record of the taxon, threatened status may well be justified""The Categories," in IUCN (1983). (see also precautionary principle). See also * IUCN Red List data deficient species * List of data deficient amphibians * IUCN Red List data deficient species (Annelida) * List of data deficien ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basal (phylogenetics)
In phylogenetics, basal is the direction of the ''base'' (or root) of a phylogenetic tree#Rooted tree, rooted phylogenetic tree or cladogram. The term may be more strictly applied only to nodes adjacent to the root, or more loosely applied to nodes regarded as being close to the root. Note that extant taxa that lie on branches connecting directly to the root are not more closely related to the root than any other extant taxa. While there must always be two or more equally "basal" clades sprouting from the root of every cladogram, those clades may differ widely in taxonomic rank, Phylogenetic diversity, species diversity, or both. If ''C'' is a basal clade within ''D'' that has the lowest rank of all basal clades within ''D'', ''C'' may be described as ''the'' basal taxon of that rank within ''D''. The concept of a 'key innovation' implies some degree of correlation between evolutionary innovation and cladogenesis, diversification. However, such a correlation does not make a given ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Primitive (phylogenetics)
In phylogenetics, a primitive (or ancestral) character, trait, or feature of a lineage or taxon is one that is inherited from the common ancestor of a clade (or clade group) and has undergone little change since. Conversely, a trait that appears ''within'' the clade group (that is, is present in any subgroup within the clade but not all) is called advanced or derived. A clade is a group of organisms that consists of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants. A primitive trait is the original condition of that trait in the common ancestor; advanced indicates a notable change from the original condition. These terms in biology contain no judgement about the sophistication, superiority, value or adaptiveness of the named trait. "Primitive" in biology means only that the character appeared first in the common ancestor of a clade group and has been passed on largely intact to more recent members of the clade. "Advanced" means the character has evolved within a later subgroup ... [...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] |
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