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Black Sicklebill
The black sicklebill (''Epimachus fastosus'') is a large member of the birds of paradise family, Paradisaeidae. This species is found throughout most of central New Guinea and the Vogelkop region to the northwest in montane forests at altitudes from 1800 to 2150 m. Etymology The species' scientific name is ''Epimachus fastosus''. ''Epimachus,'' its generic name, means "equipped for battle", referring to this genus' machine gun-sounding calls. Its specific name, ''fastosus'', means "proud". For its subspecies, ''atratus'' means "black", ''ultimus'' means "final" (probably referring to this subspecies as the last one discovered for this species), and ''stresemanni'' honors the German naturalist, Erwin Stresemann. Description As being the second longest bird of paradise species (behind the Ribbon-tailed astrapia), the black sicklebill measures about 110 cm (around 43 inches) in length if the tail is included, and around 24 inches (63 cm) without the tail. The femal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johann Hermann
Johann, or Jean-Frederic, Hermann, or Herrmann, (31 December 1738 in Barr, Alsace – 4 October 1800 in Strasbourg) was a French physician and naturalist. In 1769 he was appointed professor of medicine at the School of Public Health of Strasbourg, then, in 1778, professor of philosophy, before going on, in 1784, to succeed Jacob Reinbold Spielmann as chair of chemistry, natural history and materia medica. In 1794 he became professor of botany and materia medica in the new School of Medicine. He was the author of ''Tabula affinitatum animalium '' (1783) and ''Observationes zoologicae quibus novae complures'', published posthumously in 1804. His collections and library of 18,000 volumes formed the basis of the Natural History Museum of Strasbourg, where a reconstruction of his natural history cabinet was opened in 1988 . Hermann was also in charge of Strasbourg's botanical garden, where he was responsible for a large increase in the number of living plant species. The garde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epimachus
''Epimachus'' is a genus of birds-of-paradise (Paradisaeidae) that includes two species, found in the highland forests of New Guinea. They are the largest members of the family. The common name "sicklebill" refers to their long, decurved, sickle-shaped bill. Sicklebills often associate with astrapias, which are superficially similar but have a short, straight bill and blunt-tipped tail, and the male's wings hiss in flight. The species in the genus ''Epimachus'' are often referred to as "long-tailed" sicklebills, when describing them collectively as a genus. The other sicklebills, genus '' Drepanornis'', are referred to as the "short-tailed" sicklebills. Ironically, the two genera are not closely related. There may also be confusion with the birds of the same name that belong to the hummingbird family, found in the Americas. Taxonomy The genus ''Epimachus'' was introduced in 1816 by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier for the black sicklebill. The genus name is from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sugarbird
The sugarbirds are a small genus, ''Promerops'', and family, Promeropidae, of passerine birds, restricted to southern Africa. In general appearance and habits, they resemble large, long-tailed sunbirds, but are possibly more closely related to the Australian honeyeaters. They have brownish plumage, the long downcurved bill typical of passerine nectar feeders, and long tail feathers. Taxonomy and systematics The genus ''Promerops'' was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the Cape sugarbird (''Promerops cafer'') as the type species. The name of the genus combines the Ancient Greek προ ''pro'' "close to" or "similar" and the genus'' Merops ''that contains the bee-eaters. The relationships of the sugarbirds have been the source of considerable debate. They were first treated as a far-flung member of the honeyeater family, which is otherwise restricted to the Australasian region. Looking at egg white proteins in the 1970s Sibley and Ahlqui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Copulation (zoology)
In zoology, copulation is animal sexual behavior in which a male introduces sperm into the female's body, especially directly into her reproductive tract. This is an aspect of mating. Many animals that live in water use external fertilization, whereas internal fertilization may have developed from a need to maintain gametes in a liquid medium in the Late Ordovician epoch. Internal fertilization with many vertebrates (such as all reptiles, some fish, and most birds) occurs via cloacal copulation, known as cloacal kiss (see also hemipenis), while mammals copulate vaginally, and many basal vertebrates reproduce sexually with external fertilization. In spiders and insects Spiders are often confused with insects, but they are not insects; instead, they are arachnids. Spiders have separate male and female sexes. Before mating and copulation, the male spider spins a small web and ejaculates on to it. He then stores the sperm in reservoirs on his large pedipalps, from which he tra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rachis
In biology, a rachis (from the grc, ῥάχις [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this case the ''rachis'' usually forms the supporting axis of the body and is then called the spine or vertebral column. ''Rachis'' can also mean the central shaft of pennaceous feathers. In the gonad of the invertebrate nematode ''Caenorhabditis elegans'', a rachis is the central cell-free core or axis of the gonadal arm of both adult males and hermaphrodites where the germ cells have achieved pachytene and are attached to the walls of the gonadal tube. The rachis is filled with cytoplasm. In botany In plants, a rachis is the main axis of a compound structure. It can be the main stem of a compound leaf, such as in ''Acacia'' or ferns, or the main, flower-bearing portion of an inflorescence above a supporting peduncle. Where it subdivides ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Branch
A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term ''twig'' usually refers to a terminus, while ''bough'' refers only to branches coming directly from the trunk. Due to a broad range of species of trees, branches and twigs can be found in many different shapes and sizes. While branches can be nearly horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, the majority of trees have upwardly diagonal branches. A number of mathematical properties are associated with tree branchings; they are natural examples of fractal patterns in nature, and, as observed by Leonardo da Vinci, their cross-sectional areas closely follow the da Vinci branching rule. Terminology Because of the enormous quantity of branches in the world, there are numerous names in English alone for them. In general however, unspecific words for a branch (such ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polygyny
Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women. Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any other continent. Some scholars see the slave trade's impact on the male-to-female sex ratio as a key factor in the emergence and fortification of polygynous practices in regions of Africa. Polygyny is most common in a region known as the "polygamy belt" in West Africa and Central Africa, with the countries estimated to have the highest polygamy prevalence in the world being Burkina Faso, Mali, Gambia, Niger and Nigeria. In the region of sub-Saharan Africa, polygyny is common and deeply rooted in the culture, with 11% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa living in such marriages (25% of the Muslim population and 3% of the Christian population, as of 2019). Polygyny is especially widespread in West Africa, with the countries estimated t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Display (zoology)
Display behaviour is a set of ritualized behaviours that enable an animal to communicate to other animals (typically of the same species) about specific stimuli. These ritualized behaviours can be visual however many animals depend on a mixture of visual, audio, tactical and/or chemical signals as well. Evolution has tailored these stereotyped behaviours to allow animals to communicate both conspecifically and interspecifically which allows for a broader connection in different niches in an ecosystem. It is connected to sexual selection and survival of the species in various ways. Typically, display behaviour is used for courtship between two animals and to signal to the female that a viable male is ready to mate. In other instances, species may exhibit territorial display behaviour, in order to preserve a foraging or hunting territory for its family or group. A third form is exhibited by tournament species in which males will fight in order to gain the 'right' to breed. Animals ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frugivore
A frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance and nutritional composition of fruits. Frugivores can benefit or hinder fruit-producing plants by either dispersing or destroying their seeds through digestion. When both the fruit-producing plant and the frugivore benefit by fruit-eating behavior the interaction is a form of mutualism. Frugivore seed dispersal Seed dispersal is important for plants because it allows their progeny to move away from their parents over time. The advantages of seed dispersal may have led to the evolution of fleshy fruits, which entice animals to consume them and move the plant's seeds from place to place. While many fruit-producing plant species would not disperse far without frugivores, their seeds can usually germinate even if they fall to the ground directl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crescent-caped Lophorina
The crescent-caped lophorina or Vogelkop superb bird-of-paradise (''Lophorina niedda''), sometimes noted as the curl-caped bird-of-paradise, is a species of the Paradisaeidae (bird-of-paradise) family. It is endemic to the Bird's Head Peninsula in New Guinea (''Vogelkop'' in Dutch). First described in 1930 by Ernst Mayr, it had been treated as a subspecies of the superb bird-of-paradise but was elevated to the status of a full species in 2017, and reinforced in 2018 based on its striking black plumage (its feathers absorb 99.95 percent of light) and behavioral differences, especially visible in the courting male. Etymology The crescent-caped lophorina's scientific name consists of the words ''lophorina'', meaning "tuft/crest-nose", referring to the upward-standing tufts of feathers behind each nostril, and ''niedda'' which refers to the native onomatopoeic name for a bird-of-paradise. The subspecies, ''L. n. inopinata'' specific name means unexpected or unlooked for. Taxonom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Superb Bird-of-Paradise
The greater lophorina (''Lophorina superba''), also known as superb bird-of-paradise or greater superb bird-of-paradise, is a species of the Paradisaeidae ( bird-of-paradise) family. It was considered the sole species in the genus until in 2017 it was recognised that there were three species (''L. superba'', '' Lophorina minor'', and '' Lophorina niedda''). Description It is a small, approximately 26 cm long, (passerine) bird. The male is black with an iridescent green crown, blue-green breast cover and a long velvety black erectile cape covering his back. The female is a reddish-brown bird with brownish barred buff below. The young is similar to the female. The greater lophorina is a dimorphic species. Courtship display The species has an unusually low population of females, and competition among males for mates is intensely fierce. This has led the species to have one of the most elaborate courtship displays in the avian world. There are two main stages of courtship disp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Long-tailed Paradigalla
The long-tailed paradigalla (''Paradigalla carunculata'') is a large, approximately 37 cm long, black bird-of-paradise with long and pointed tail. One of the most plain members in the family Paradisaeidae, its only adornment is the colorful facial wattles of yellow, red and sky-blue near base of the bill. Both sexes are similar in appearance, however the female is slightly duller and smaller. One of the least known members in the family Paradisaeidae, the long-tailed paradigalla is endemic to the Arfak Mountains in Doberai Peninsula, West Papua of Indonesia. The long-tailed paradigalla is evaluated as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna .... Subspecies * ''Paradigall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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