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Atitlán Grebe
The Atitlán grebe (''Podilymbus gigas''), also known as giant grebe, giant pied-billed grebe, or poc, is an extinct water bird, a relative of the pied-billed grebe. It was endemic at the Lago de Atitlán in Guatemala at an altitude of 1700 m asl. It was described in 1929 by Ludlow Griscom based on a specimen collected in 1926 and had been overlooked in the past. American ecologist Anne LaBastille observed the decline of this species over a period of 25 years. It was declared extinct by 1990. Description The Atitlán grebe reached a length of about 46–50 cm. The call and appearance were similar to the much smaller pied-billed grebe. The bill was large and pied but the color varied from white in the spring to brown in other seasons. The plumage was mainly dark brown with white-flecked flanks and grey on the ears. The underparts were dark grey flecked with white. The head was almost black and the neck was glossy flecked with dark brown in the spring and white in the winter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ludlow Griscom
Ludlow Griscom (June 17, 1890 – May 28, 1959) was an American ornithologist known as a pioneer in field ornithology. His emphasis on the identification of free-flying birds by field marks became widely adopted by professionals and amateurs. Many called him "Dean of the Birdwatchers." Early life and family Griscom was born in New York City, the son of Clement Acton Griscom Jr. and Genevieve Sprigg Ludlow. Ludlow's grandfather Clement Acton Griscom Sr. was a prominent merchant and shipping executive. His maternal grandfather, William Ludlow, distinguished himself through military service. Griscom's family traces its ancestry back to Thomas Lloyd, a 17th-century physician in Pennsylvania. The oldest of three children, Ludlow Griscom had a sister, Joyce, who died in childhood, and a brother, Acton. As a boy, Ludlow's interest in birds showed itself as early as 1898. In 1907, he found fellow nature enthusiasts when he joined the Linnaean Society of New York. Griscom recei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alaotra Grebe
The Alaotra grebe (''Tachybaptus rufolavatus''), also known as Delacour's little grebe or rusty grebe, is an extinct grebe that was endemic to Lake Alaotra and its surrounding lakes in Madagascar. Description The grebe was about long. Its ability to fly long distances was restricted because of its small wings. Ecology and behavior The Alaotra grebe fed mostly on fish, although insects were found in the stomachs of a few specimens.Safford 2013, p. 111 Its hefty bill was considered typical of a piscivorous grebe. The breeding behavior of the Alaotra grebe was largely undocumented. Because little and Alaotra grebes were able to successfully pair off, it is suspected that courtship and pair formation took place in December, while most breeding activity took place between January and March. However, based off some observations of older juveniles with their mothers in late May and early June 1929, it is suspected that some egg laying must have occurred in April to June. Otherwise, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bird Extinctions Since 1500
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 swimming. Bird ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natural History Of Guatemala
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are part of nature, human activity is often understood as a separate category from other natural phenomena. The word ''nature'' is borrowed from the Old French ''nature'' and is derived from the Latin word ''natura'', or "essential qualities, innate disposition", and in ancient times, literally meant "birth". In ancient philosophy, ''natura'' is mostly used as the Latin translation of the Greek word ''physis'' (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics of plants, animals, and other features of the world to develop of their own accord. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic Fauna Of Guatemala
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example '' Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. '' Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies to s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds Of Guatemala
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 swimming. Birds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Podilymbus
''Podilymbus'' is a genus of birds in the Podicipedidae, Grebe family, the genus name is derived from Latin ''Podilymbus'', a contraction (grammar), contraction of ''podicipes'' ("feet at the buttocks", from ''podici-'', "rump-" + ''pes'', "foot")—the origin of the name of the grebe order (biology), order—and Ancient Greek ''kolymbos'', "diver".Cabard P. and Chauvet B. (2003). ''Etymologie des noms d'oiseaux'' Belin Eveil éditeur, France Species The genus containing the two species: There are also several prehistoric taxa of ''Podilymbus'' described from fossil remains: *''Podilymbus majusculus'' (Late Pliocene of Wisconsin) *''Podilymbus wetmorei'' (Late Pleistocene of Florida) *''Podilymbus podiceps magnus'' - a paleosubspecies of the pied-billed grebe of uncertain validity. References Podilymbus, Bird genera Bird genera with one living species Extant Late Pleistocene first appearances Pleistocene birds Pleistocene birds of North America {{Podicipediformes-s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extinct Flightless Birds
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point. Because a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively. This difficulty leads to phenomena such as Lazarus taxa, where a species presumed extinct abruptly "reappears" (typically in the fossil record) after a period of apparent absence. More than 99% of all species that ever lived on Earth, amounting to over five billion species, are estimated to have died out. It is estimated that there are currently around 8.7 million species of eukaryote globally, and possibly many times more if microorganisms, like bacteria, are included. Notable extinct animal species include non-avian dinosaurs, saber-toothed cats, dodos, m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colombian Grebe
The Colombian grebe (''Podiceps andinus''), was a grebe found in the Bogotá wetlands on the Bogotá savanna in the Eastern Ranges of the Andes of Colombia. The species was still abundant in Lake Tota in 1945. The species has occasionally been considered a subspecies of black-necked grebe (''P. nigricollis''). It was flightless. The decline of the Colombian grebe is attributed to wetland drainage, siltation, pesticide pollution, disruption by reed harvesting, hunting, competition, and predation of chicks by rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss''). The primary reason was loss of habitat: drainage of wetlands and siltation resulted in higher concentrations of pollutants, causing eutrophication across Lake Tota. This destroyed the open, submergent pondweed ('' Potamogeton'') vegetation and resulted in the formation of a dense monoculture of water weed (''Elodea ''Elodea'' is a genus of 6 species of aquatic plants often called the waterweeds described as a genus in 1803. Clas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1976 Guatemala Earthquake
The 1976 Guatemala earthquake struck on February 4 at with a moment magnitude of 7.5. The shock was centered on the Motagua Fault, about 160 km northeast of Guatemala City at a depth of near the town of Los Amates in the department of Izabal. Cities throughout the country suffered damage, and most adobe type houses in the outlying areas of Guatemala City were destroyed. The earthquake struck during the early morning (at 3:01 am, local time) when most people were asleep. This contributed to the high death toll of 23,000. Approximately 76,000 were injured, and many thousands left homeless. Some of the areas affected went without electricity and communications for days. The main shock was followed by thousands of aftershocks, some of the larger ones causing additional damage and loss of life. Seismic data The quake's epicentre was located near the town of Los Amates, in the eastern part of the Motagua Fault, a left-lateral strike-slip fault that forms part of the tectonic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pied-billed Grebe
The pied-billed grebe (''Podilymbus podiceps'') is a species of the grebe family of water birds. Because the Atitlán grebe (''Podilymbus gigas'') has become extinct, the Pied-Billed Grebe is now the sole extant member of the genus ''Podilymbus''. The pied-billed grebe is primarily found in ponds throughout the Americas. Other names of this grebe include American dabchick, rail, dabchick, Carolina grebe, devil-diver, dive-dapper, dipper, hell-diver, pied-billed dabchick, pied-bill, thick-billed grebe, and water witch. Taxonomy and name The pied-billed grebe was described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' in 1758 as ''Colymbus podiceps''. The binomial name is derived from Latin ''Podilymbus'', a contraction of ''podicipes'' ("feet at the buttocks", from ''podici-'', "rump-" + ''pes'', "foot")—the origin of the name of the grebe order—and Ancient Greek ''kolymbos'', "diver", and ''podiceps'', "rump-headed", from ''podici-'' + New Latin ''ceps''. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Invasive Species
An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native species that become harmful to their native environment after human alterations to its food webfor example the purple sea urchin (''Strongylocentrotus purpuratus'') which has decimated kelp forests along the northern California coast due to overharvesting of its natural predator, the California sea otter (''Enhydra lutris''). Since the 20th century, invasive species have become a serious economic, social, and environmental threat. Invasion of long-established ecosystems by organisms is a natural phenomenon, but human-facilitated introductions have greatly increased the rate, scale, and geographic range of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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