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Boophis Axelmeyeri
''Boophis axelmeyeri'' is a species of frogs in the family Mantellidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. It is named after the evolutionary biologist and zoologist Axel Meyer Axel Meyer (born 4 August 1960) is a German evolutionary biologist and a professor of zoology and evolutionary biology at the University of Konstanz, Germany. Meyer is best known for his work on the evolution and adaptive radiation of African ci .... References * Vences, M., Andreone, F., Rabibisoa, N.H.C. & Cox, N. 2009''Boophis axelmeyeri'' Downloaded on August 23, 2012. axelmeyeri Amphi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is known from the Early Triassic of Madagascar, but molecular clock, molecular clock dating suggests their split from other amphibians may extend further back to the Permian, 265 Myr, million years ago. Frogs are widely distributed, ranging from the tropics to subarctic regions, but the greatest concentration of species diversity is in tropical rainforest. Frogs account for around 88% of extant amphibian species. They are also one of the five most diverse vertebrate orders. Warty frog species tend to be called toads, but the distinction between frogs and toads is informal, not from Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy or evolutionary history. An adult frog has a stout body, protruding eyes, anteriorly-attached tongue, limb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mantellidae
The Mantellidae are a family of the order Anura. These frogs are endemic to the islands of Madagascar and Mayotte. Systematics The family Mantellidae is composed of three extremely ecologically diverse groups of frogs, divided into three subfamilies: the Mantellinae Laurent, 1946 are typically terrestrial or semi-aquatic frogs; the Laliostominae Vences & Glaw, 2001 are terrestrial, typically fairly large-sized frogs; and the Boophinae Vences & Glaw, 2001 are arboreal tree frogs. Apart from the genera assigned to the three subfamilies, the placement of '' Tsingymantis'' Glaw, Hoegg & Vences, 2006 is still uncertain. As of 22 September 2022, 237 species are recognized in this family. DNA barcoding research has shown however that more than 100 distinct genetic lineages remain taxonomically undescribed. Evolution and island biogeography The Mantellidae are Madagascar's most diverse frog family. It has been shown that there is a negative correlation between body size ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemism
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa across the Mozambique Channel. At Madagascar is the world's List of island countries, second-largest island country, after Indonesia. The nation is home to around 30 million inhabitants and consists of the island of Geography of Madagascar, Madagascar (the List of islands by area, fourth-largest island in the world), along with numerous smaller peripheral islands. Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from the Indian subcontinent around 90 million years ago, allowing native plants and animals to evolve in relative isolation. Consequently, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot; over 90% of wildlife of Madagascar, its wildlife is endemic. Human settlement of Madagascar occurred during or befo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evolutionary Biology
Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes (natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life forms on Earth. Evolution is based on the theory that all species are related and they gradually change over time. In a population, the genetic variations affect the physical characteristics i.e. phenotypes of an organism. These changes in the phenotypes will be an advantage to some organisms, which will then be passed onto their offspring. Some examples of evolution in species over many generations are the Peppered Moth and Flightless birds. In the 1930s, the discipline of evolutionary biology emerged through what Julian Huxley called the modern synthesis of understanding, from previously unrelated fields of biological research, such as genetics and ecology, systematics, and paleontology. The importance of studying Evolutionary biology is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zoology
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. The term is derived from Ancient Greek , ('animal'), and , ('knowledge', 'study'). Although humans have always been interested in the natural history of the animals they saw around them, and made use of this knowledge to domesticate certain species, the formal study of zoology can be said to have originated with Aristotle. He viewed animals as living organisms, studied their structure and development, and considered their adaptations to their surroundings and the function of their parts. The Greek physician Galen studied human anatomy and was one of the greatest surgeons of the a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Axel Meyer
Axel Meyer (born 4 August 1960) is a German evolutionary biologist and a professor of zoology and evolutionary biology at the University of Konstanz, Germany. Meyer is best known for his work on the evolution and adaptive radiation of African cichlid fishes, fish-specific genome duplications, molecular phylogenetics of vertebrates, and the role of ecological and sexual selection in speciation. Education and previous employment Meyer attended the gymnasium (high school) Katharineum in Lübeck. He was an undergraduate at the Universität Marburg (1979–1982), and completed his undergraduate thesis at the Universität Kiel and the University of Miami (1982). He received both his master's and PhD from the Department of Zoology at the University of California Berkeley in 1984 and 1988 respectively. He spent one year as a visiting student in Harvard University's Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (1986–1987). Meyer was an Alfred P. Sloan Postdoctoral Fellow in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boophis
''Boophis'' is the only genus in the mantellid frog subfamily Boophinae. They are commonly known as bright-eyed or skeleton frogs. They show typical 'tree frog' traits, and are a good example of convergent evolution with morphologically similar species in the families Hylidae and Rhacophoridae, among others. This genus can only be found on Madagascar and Mayotte Island ( Comoros). Taxonomy The genus ''Boophis'' was described by Johann Jakob von Tschudi in 1838. It was originally considered a member of the African-Asian family Rhacophoridae, but was moved to the family Mantellidae in 2001, into its own subfamily, Boophinae Vences & Glaw, 2001. Morphology ''Boophis'' are arboreal frogs, exhibiting many traits that define 'tree frogs', such as expanded toe discs, long hindlimbs, and large eyes. ''Boophis'' are especially characterised by bright colouration of the iris, which is typically intricately patterned towards its inside, and often green or blue, but occasionally also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphibians Described In 2005
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] |
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