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Cape Mole Rat
The Cape mole-rat (''Georychus capensis'') is a species of mole-rat endemic to South Africa. It is the only extant species currently described as belonging to the genus ''Georychus''. Description Cape mole-rats closely resemble other African mole-rats in physical appearance. They have cylindrical bodies with short limbs, and large feet with leathery soles. The head is large and rounded, and the tail is short, with only a few sparse hairs. As with other mole rats, external ears are absent. The eyes are very small, but they are functional, and when the animals exceptionally leave their tunnels, they see well enough to turn actively and present their powerful incisors to repel approaching attackers. Adults are around in head-body length, with a tail, and weigh around . Females have three pairs of teats. Cape mole-rats can most easily be distinguished from other species of mole-rat by the colour pattern of their fur. Most conspicuously, they have prominent white blazes around ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in 2009 by the International Union of Geological Sciences, the cutoff of the Pleistocene and the preceding Pliocene was regarded as being 1.806 million years Before Present (BP). Publications from earlier years may use either definition of the period. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the end of the last glacial period and also with the end of the Paleolithic age used in archaeology. The name is a combination of Ancient Greek () 'most' and (; Latinized as ) 'new'. The aridification and cooling trends of the preceding Neogene were continued in the Pleistocene. The climate was strongly variable depending on the glacial cycle, oscillating between cold Glacial period, glacial periods and warmer Interglacial, int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and Natal Province. It is located in the southeast of the country, with a long shoreline on the Indian Ocean. It shares borders with three other provinces and the countries of Mozambique, Eswatini and Lesotho. Its capital is Pietermaritzburg, and its largest city is Durban, which is also the Port of Durban, city with the largest port in sub-saharan Africa. It is the second-most populous province in South Africa, after Gauteng. Two areas in KwaZulu-Natal have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park. These areas are important to the surrounding ecosystems. During the 1830s and early 1840s, the northern part of what is now KwaZulu-Natal was established as the Zulu Kingdom. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuber
Tubers are a type of enlarged structure that plants use as storage organs for nutrients, derived from stems or roots. Tubers help plants perennate (survive winter or dry months), provide energy and nutrients, and are a means of asexual reproduction. Stem tubers manifest as thickened rhizomes (underground stems) or stolons (horizontal connections between organisms); examples include the potato and Yam (vegetable), yam. The term ''root tuber'' describes modified lateral roots, as in sweet potatoes, cassava, and dahlias. Terminology The term originates from the Latin , meaning 'lump, bump, or swelling'. Some writers limit the definition of ''tuber'' to structures derived from Plant stem, stems, while others also apply the term to structures derived from roots., p. 124 Stem tubers A stem tuber forms from thickened rhizomes or stolons. The top sides of the tuber produce shoots that grow into typical stems and leaves and the undersides produce roots. They tend to form at the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corm
Corm, bulbo-tuber, or bulbotuber is a short, vertical, swollen, underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ that some plants use to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (perennation). The word ''cormous'' usually means plants that grow from corms, parallel to the terms ''tuberous'' and ''bulbous'' to describe plants growing from tubers and bulbs. A corm consists of one or more Internode (botany), internodes with at least one growing point, generally with protective leaves modified into skins or Tunica (biology), tunics. The tunic of a corm forms from dead Petiole (botany), petiole sheaths—remnants of leaves produced in previous years. They act as a covering, protecting the corm from insects, digging animals, flooding, and water loss. The tunics of some species are thin, dry, and papery, at least in young plants, however, in some families, such as ''Iridaceae'', the tunic of a mature corm can be formidable protection. For exa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bulb
In botany, a bulb is a short underground stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs during dormancy. In gardening, plants with other kinds of storage organ are also called ornamental bulbous plants or just ''bulbs''. Description The bulb's leaf bases, also known as scales, generally do not support leaves, but contain food reserves to enable the plant to survive adverse conditions. At the center of the bulb is a vegetative growing point or an unexpanded flowering shoot. The base is formed by a reduced stem, and plant growth occurs from this basal plate. Roots emerge from the underside of the base, and new stems and leaves from the upper side. Tunicate bulbs have dry, membranous outer scales that protect the continuous lamina of fleshy scales. Species in the genera ''Allium'', '' Hippeastrum'', '' Narcissus'', and ''Tulipa' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anatomical Terms Of Location
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position provides a definition of what is at the front ("anterior"), behind ("posterior") and so on. As part of defining and describing terms, the body is described through the use of anatomical planes and axes. The meaning of terms that are used can change depending on whether a vertebrate is a biped or a quadruped, due to the difference in the neuraxis, or if an invertebrate is a non-bilaterian. A non-bilaterian has no anterior or posterior surface for example but can still have a descriptor used such as proximal or distal in relation to a body part that is nearest to, or furthest from its middle. International organisations have determined vocabularies that are often used as standards for subdisciplines of anatomy. For example, '' Termi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Incisor
Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, whereas armadillos, anteaters and other animals in the order Edentata have none. Structure Adult humans normally have eight incisors, two of each type. The types of incisors are: * maxillary central incisor (upper jaw, closest to the center of the lips) * maxillary lateral incisor (upper jaw, beside the maxillary central incisor) * mandibular central incisor (lower jaw, closest to the center of the lips) * mandibular lateral incisor (lower jaw, beside the mandibular central incisor) Children with a full set of deciduous teeth (primary teeth) also have eight incisors, named the same way as in permanent teeth. Young children may have from zero to eight incisors depending on the stage of their tooth eruption and tooth development. Typic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mole Rat
Mole-rat or mole rat can refer to several groups of burrowing Old World rodents: * Bathyergidae, a family of about 20 hystricognath species in six genera from Africa also called blesmols. *''Heterocephalus glaber'', the naked mole-rat. * Spalacidae, a family of about 30 muroid species in six genera from Eurasia and northeast Africa, including: **''Tachyoryctes'', a genus of about 15 species from Africa; ** Blind mole rats (Spalacinae), a subfamily of about 15 living species in the genus ''Spalax'' from southeastern Europe, southwestern Asia, and northeastern Africa; ** Zokors (Myospalacinae), occasionally called mole-rats, about eight species from central and eastern Asia. * In the family Muridae: ** ''Nesokia indica'' from southern and southwestern Asia and Egypt, also known as the short-tailed mole-rat. ** ''Bandicota bengalensis'' from southern Asia, also known as the Indian mole-rat. {{Animal common name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swartkrans
Swartkrans or Swartkranz is a fossil-bearing cave designated as a National heritage sites (South Africa), South African National Heritage Site, located about from Johannesburg. It is located in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site and is notable for being extremely rich in archaeological material, particularly hominin remains. Fossils discovered in the limestone of Swartkrans include ''Homo ergaster'' (a variety of ''Homo erectus''), ''Paranthropus'' and ''Homo habilis''. The oldest deposits present at the site are believed to be between 1.9 and 2.1 million years old. Noted paleontologist Robert Broom was a frequent digger. He was followed by Charles Kimberlin Brain, C. K. 'Bob' Brain, whose excavations at the site inspired his book ''The Hunters or the Hunted?: An Introduction to African Cave Taphonomy, The Hunters or the Hunted?'' in which he demonstrated that instead of being bloodthirsty killer apes, the hominin fossils found at the site were themselves victims of pred ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hopefield, South Africa
Hopefield is a settlement in West Coast District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa on the R45 between Malmesbury and Vredenburg. The town lies east of Saldanha Bay and Langebaan, southeast of Vredenburg and north of Cape Town. History Hopefield is the oldest town on the Cape West Coast. The Hopefield Reformed Church, Dutch Reformed congregation (Zoute Rivier) was established in December 1851 after farmers donated money towards its construction and the town was founded in 1852 on the farm Langekuil. It became a municipality in 1914, and was named after two people who laid it out, Major William Hope, Auditor-General, and a Mr Field. General The Air Force Base Langebaanweg, located west of the town, as well as the West Coast Fossil park west from town, fall within town limits. Another important fossil locality, Elandsfontein (not to be confused with the town and railway station in Gauteng), is found about southwest of Hopefield. In earlier years Hope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alluvium
Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is typically geologically young and is not Consolidation (geology), consolidated into solid rock. Sediments deposited underwater, in seas, estuaries, lakes, or ponds, are not described as alluvium. Floodplain alluvium can be highly fertile, and supported some of the earliest human civilizations. Definitions The present Scientific consensus, consensus is that "alluvium" refers to loose sediments of all types deposited by running water in floodplains or in alluvial fans or related landforms. However, the meaning of the term has varied considerably since it was first defined in the French dictionary of Antoine Furetière, posthumously published in 1690. Drawing upon concepts from Roman law, Furetière defined ''alluvion'' (the French term for al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
