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Centropus Sinensis
The greater coucal or crow pheasant (''Centropus sinensis''), is a large non-parasitic member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes. A widespread resident in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, it is divided into several subspecies, some being treated as full species. They are large, crow-like with a long tail and coppery brown wings and found in a wide range of habitats from jungle to cultivation and urban gardens. They are weak fliers, and are often seen clambering about in vegetation or walking on the ground as they forage for insects, eggs and nestlings of other birds. They have a familiar deep resonant call which is associated with omens in many parts of its range. Description This is a large species of cuckoo at 48 cm. The head is black, upper mantle and underside are black glossed with purple. The back and wings are chestnut brown. There are no pale shaft streaks on the coverts. The eyes are ruby red. Juveniles are duller black with spots on the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Francis Stephens
James Francis Stephens (16 September 1792 – 22 December 1852) was an English entomologist and naturalist. He is known for his 12 volume ''Illustrations of British Entomology'' (1846) and the ''Manual of British Beetles'' (1839). Early life Stephens was born in Shoreham-by-Sea and studied at Christ's Hospital. His father was a navy captain William James Stephens (d. 1799) and his mother was Mary Peck (later Mrs Dallinger). He went to school at the Blue Coat School, Hertford and later at Christ's Hospital, London. He was then sent to study under Shute Barrington (1734–1826), the bishop of Durham in 1800. He left in 1807 and worked as a clerk in the Admiralty office, Somerset House, from 1807 to 1845 thanks to his uncle Admiral Stephens. Entomology Stephens took an interest in natural history even as a schoolboy. He wrote a manuscript ''Catalogue of British Animals'' in 1808. He was elected fellow of the Linnean Society on 17 February 1815, and of the Zoological Society o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allan Octavian Hume
Allan Octavian Hume, CB ICS (4 June 1829 – 31 July 1912) was a British civil servant, political reformer, ornithologist and botanist who worked in British India. He was the founder of the Indian National Congress. A notable ornithologist, Hume has been called "the Father of Indian Ornithology" and, by those who found him dogmatic, "the Pope of Indian Ornithology". As an administrator of Etawah, he saw the Indian Rebellion of 1857 as a result of misgovernance and made great efforts to improve the lives of the common people. The district of Etawah was among the first to be returned to normalcy and over the next few years Hume's reforms led to the district being considered a model of development. Hume rose in the ranks of the Indian Civil Service but like his father Joseph Hume, a radical member of parliament, he was bold and outspoken in questioning British policies in India. He rose in 1871 to the position of secretary to the Department of Revenue, Agriculture, and Commerce und ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oil Palm
''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms containing two species, called oil palms. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African oil palm ''Elaeis guineensis'' (the species name ''guineensis'' referring to its country of origin) is the principal source of palm oil. It is native to west and southwest Africa, occurring between Angola and Gambia. The American oil palm ''Elaeis oleifera'' () is native to tropical Central and South America, and is used locally for oil production. Description Mature palms are single-stemmed, and can grow well over tall. The leaves are pinnate, and reach between long. The flowers are produced in dense clusters; each individual flower is small, with three sepals and three petals. The palm fruit is reddish, about the size of a large plum, and grows in large bunches. Each fruit is made up of an oily, fleshy outer layer (the pericarp), with a single seed (the palm kernel), also rich in oil. Species The two species, '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cascabela Thevetia
''Cascabela thevetia'' (syn: ''Thevetia peruviana'') is a poisonous plant native throughout Mexico and in Central America, and cultivated widely as an ornamental. It is a relative of ''Nerium oleander'', giving it a common name yellow oleander, and is also called lucky nut in the West Indies. Etymology 'Cascabel', 'cascavel' or 'cascabela' is Spanish for a small bell, a snake's rattle or a rattlesnake itself. The allusion may also be to the plant's toxicity comparable to the venom of a rattlesnake. The latin specific name ''thevetia'' commemorates André de Thevet (1516-1590), a French Franciscan priest and explorer, who explored Brazil and Guiana (where the plant is known as chapéu-de-napoleão, ie, Napoleon's hat). Description ''Cascabela thevetia'' is an evergreen tropical shrub or small tree. Its leaves are willow-like, linear-lanceolate, and glossy green in color. They are covered in waxy coating to reduce water loss (typical of oleanders). Its stem is green turning silve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newsletter For Birdwatchers
''Newsletter for Birdwatchers'' is an Indian periodical of ornithology and birdwatching founded in 1960 by Zafar Futehally, who edited it until 2003. It was initially mimeographed and distributed to a small number of subscribers each month. It is one of the oldest periodicals devoted to ornithology in India. The editorial board in its early years included Salim Ali, Biswamoy Biswas and other ornithologists in the region. The present editorial board includes many ornithologists, viz., Dr. A.M.K. Bharos, Dr. S.P. Bhatnagar, Dr. A.K. Chakravarthy, Dr. Ranjan Kumar Das, Dr. S. Devasahayam, Dr. Raju Kasambe, B.S. Kulkarni, Dr. Dipankar Lahkar, Arvind Mishra, Dr. Geeta S. Padate, K. Mrutumjaya Rao, A.N. Yellappa Reddy, Dr. Rajiv Saxena, Dr. A.B. Shanbhag, Arunayan Sharma, Dr. Hiren B. Soni, S. Shreyas, S. Sridhar and Dr. Abraham Verghese as in January 2022. The nature of the articles are largely informal and often essay-like. Important observations were often republished in other journal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saw-scaled Viper
''Echis'' (common names: saw-scaled vipers, carpet vipersSpawls S, Branch B. 1995. ''The Dangerous Snakes of Africa''. Dubai: Ralph Curtis Books. Oriental Press. 192 pp. .) is a genus of vipers found in the dry regions of Africa, the Middle East, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. They have a characteristic threat display, rubbing sections of their body together to produce a "sizzling" warning sound.Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. 2003. ''True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers''. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. 359 pp. . The name ''Echis'' is the Latin transliteration of the Greek word for "viper" (''ἔχις''). Like all vipers, they are venomous. Their common name is "saw-scaled vipers" and they include some of the species responsible for causing the most snakebite cases and deaths in the world.Campbell JA, Lamar WW. 2004. ''The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates. 870 pp. 1500 plates ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with currently about 69,963 species described. Vertebrates comprise such groups as the following: * jawless fish, which include hagfish and lampreys * jawed vertebrates, which include: ** cartilaginous fish (sharks, rays, and ratfish) ** bony vertebrates, which include: *** ray-fins (the majority of living bony fish) *** lobe-fins, which include: **** coelacanths and lungfish **** tetrapods (limbed vertebrates) Extant vertebrates range in size from the frog species ''Paedophryne amauensis'', at as little as , to the blue whale, at up to . Vertebrates make up less than five percent of all described animal species; the rest are invertebrates, which lack vertebral columns. The vertebrates traditionally include the hagfish, which do no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snails
A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have a coiled shell that is large enough for the animal to retract completely into. When the word "snail" is used in this most general sense, it includes not just land snails but also numerous species of sea snails and freshwater snails. Gastropods that naturally lack a shell, or have only an internal shell, are mostly called ''slugs'', and land snails that have only a very small shell (that they cannot retract into) are often called ''semi-slugs''. Snails have considerable human relevance, including as food items, as pests, and as vectors of disease, and their shells are used as decorative objects and are incorporated into jewelry. The snail has also had some cultural significance, tending to be associated with lethargy. The snai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Symphyta) are commonly called caterpillars as well. Both lepidopteran and symphytan larvae have eruciform body shapes. Caterpillars of most species eat plant material ( often leaves), but not all; some (about 1%) eat insects, and some are even cannibalistic. Some feed on other animal products. For example, clothes moths feed on wool, and horn moths feed on the hooves and horns of dead ungulates. Caterpillars are typically voracious feeders and many of them are among the most serious of agricultural pests. In fact, many moth species are best known in their caterpillar stages because of the damage they cause to fruits and other agricultural produce, whereas the moths are obscure and do no direct harm. Conversely, various species of caterpi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and one pair of antennae. Their blood is not totally contained in vessels; some circulates in an open cavity known as the haemocoel. Insects are the most diverse group of animals; they include more than a million described species and represent more than half of all known living organisms. The total number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million; In: potentially over 90% of the animal life forms on Earth are insects. Insects may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species reside in the oceans, which are dominated by another arthropod group, crustaceans, which recent research has indicated insects are nested within. Nearly all insects hatch from eggs. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lesser Coucal
The lesser coucal (''Centropus bengalensis'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It has a wide distribution range that overlaps with several other similar species. The habitat in which it is found is often marshy land with grass and tree cover. It is distinguished by its smaller size, less prominent bill, pale shaft streaks on the feathers of the head and back. It has a much longer claw on its hind toe and a distinct call. It is also among the few coucals that show season plumage differences but like in other coucals, the sexes cannot be distinguished in the field. Taxonomy The lesser coucal was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's '' Systema Naturae''. He placed it with all the other cuckoos in the genus ''Cuculus'' and coined the binomial name ''Cuculus bengalensis''. Gmelin based his description on the "lark-heeled cuckoo" from Bengal that had been described and illustr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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