Common Punaré
The common punaré (''Thrichomys apereoides''), is a species of spiny rat endemic to Brazil. Description Like other members of the genus ''Thrichomys'', but unlike all other species of spiny rat, common punarés have no spines, and instead have a thick pelt of soft fur, which also extends for the full length of the tail. The fur is greyish-brown over most of the body, with whitish underparts and ears. There are also three pairs of small white spots on the face; one each above and below the eyes, and one at the base of the ears. They are the size of a large rat, measuring in length, not counting the tail. On average, they weigh , although males are slightly larger than females. Females have four teats, with one pair just behind the forelegs, and another in front of the hips. Distribution and habitat The common punaré is found only in eastern Brazil, where it inhabits a belt of relatively open caatinga and cerrado vegetation between the Amazonian and Atlantic Forests. It is f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Peter Wilhelm Lund
Peter Wilhelm Lund (14 June 1801 – 25 May 1880) was a Danish paleontologist, zoologist, and archeologist. He spent most of his life working and living in Brazil. He is considered the father of Brazilian paleontology as well as archaeology. He was the first to describe dozens of species of pre-historic Pleistocene megafauna, including the fabled Saber-toothed cat ''Smilodon populator''. He also made the then ground-breaking discovery that humans co-existed with the long-extinct animal species, something which possibly prompted him to terminate his scientific work. His comprehensive collections are today found at the Danish Natural History Museum in Copenhagen. Early life and education Peter Wilhelm Lund was born into a wealthy family in Copenhagen. He showed an early interest in the natural science and was working towards a career in medicine but following the death of his father, his passion for natural history prompted him instead to opt for that study at the University of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Echimyidae
Echimyidae is the family of neotropical spiny rats and their fossil relatives. This is the most species-rich family of hystricognath rodents. It is probably also the most ecologically diverse, with members ranging from fully arboreal to terrestrial to fossorial to semiaquatic habits. They presently exist mainly in South America; three members of the family also range into Central America, and the hutias are found in the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean. Species of the extinct subfamily Heteropsomyinae formerly lived on Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico in the Antilles, probably until the arrival of Europeans. Characteristics In general form, most spiny rats resemble rats, although they are more closely related to guinea pigs and chinchillas. Most species have stiff, pointed hairs, or spines, that presumably serve for protection from predators. Many echimyids can break off their tails when attacked. This action may confuse predators long enough for the spiny rat to es ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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]   |
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Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the seventh most populous. Its capital is Brasília, and its most populous city is São Paulo. The federation is composed of the union of the 26 States of Brazil, states and the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. It is the largest country to have Portuguese language, Portuguese as an List of territorial entities where Portuguese is an official language, official language and the only one in the Americas; one of the most Multiculturalism, multicultural and ethnically diverse nations, due to over a century of mass Immigration to Brazil, immigration from around the world; and the most populous Catholic Church by country, Roman Catholic-majority country. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a Coastline of Brazi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Thrichomys
''Thrichomys'' is a genus of South American rodents in the family Echimyidae. It contains at least five species, found in Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay. They are as follows: * Common punaré (''Thrichomys apereoides'') * Foster's punaré (''Thrichomys fosteri)'' * Highlands punaré (''Thrichomys inermis'') * Sao Lourenço punaré (''Thrichomys laurentius'') * Paraguayan punaré (''Thrichomys pachyurus'') Phylogeny The closest relatives of the genus ''Thrichomys'' are two clades consisting of pairs of Myocastorini Myocastorini is a tribe of echimyid rodents, proposed in 2017, and containing the five extant genera ''Callistomys'', ''Hoplomys'', ''Myocastor'', ''Proechimys'', and ''Thrichomys ''Thrichomys'' is a genus of South American rodents in the fam ... genera: ''Callistomys'' (the painted tree-rat) and ''Myocastor'' (the coypu or nutria) in one clade, and ''Hoplomys'' (the armored rat) and ''Proechimys'' in the other. References Taxa named by Édouard Loui ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Caatinga
Caatinga (, ) is a type of semi-arid tropical vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. The name "Caatinga" is a Tupi word meaning "white forest" or "white vegetation" (''caa'' = forest, vegetation, ''tinga'' = white). The Caatinga is a xeric shrubland and thorn forest, which consists primarily of small, thorny trees that shed their leaves seasonally. Cacti, thick-stemmed plants, thorny brush, and arid-adapted grasses make up the ground layer. Most vegetation experiences a brief burst of activity during the three-month long rainy season. Caatinga falls entirely within earth's tropical zone and is one of 6 major ecoregions of Brazil. It covers 850,000 km², nearly 10% of Brazil's territory. It is home to 26 million people and over 2000 species of plants, fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals. The Caatinga is the only exclusively Brazilian biome, which means that a large part of its biological heritage cannot ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cerrado
The ''Cerrado'' (, ) is a vast ecoregion of tropical savanna in eastern Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais, and the Federal District. The core areas of the Cerrado biome are the Brazilian highlands – the ''Planalto''. The main habitat types of the Cerrado consist of forest savanna, wooded savanna, park savanna and gramineous-woody savanna. The ''Cerrado'' also includes savanna wetlands and gallery forests. The second largest of Brazil's major habitat types, after the Amazonian rainforest, the Cerrado accounts for a full 21 percent of the country's land area (extending marginally into Paraguay and Bolivia). The first detailed European account of the Brazilian cerrados was provided by Danish botanist Eugenius Warming (1892) in the book ''Lagoa Santa'', : The above is the original. There are other, later French and Portuguese translations not listed here. in which he describes the main features of the c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. or Amazonia is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin encompasses , of which are covered by the rainforest. This region includes territory belonging to nine nations and 3,344 formally acknowledged Indigenous territory (Brazil), indigenous territories. The majority of the forest is contained Amazônia Legal, within Brazil, with 60% of the rainforest, followed by Peruvian Amazonia, Peru with 13%, Amazon natural region, Colombia with 10%, and with minor amounts in Bolivia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Four nations have "Amazonas (other), Amazonas" as the name of one of th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Atlantic Forest
The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and the Misiones Province of Argentina, where the region is known as Selva Misionera. The Atlantic Forest has ecoregions within the following biome categories: seasonal moist and dry broad-leaf tropical forests, tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands, and mangrove forests. The Atlantic Forest is characterized by a high biodiversity and endemism. It was the first environment that the Portuguese colonists encountered over 500 years ago, when it was thought to have had an area of , and stretching an unknown distance inland, making it, back then, the second largest rainforest on the planet, only behind the Amazon rainforest. Over 85% of the original area has been deforested, threatening many plant and animal species with ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ceará
Ceará (, pronounced locally as or ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It is the eighth-largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of the main tourist destinations in Brazil. The state capital is the city of Fortaleza, the country's fourth most populous city. The state has 4.3% of the Brazilian population and produces 2.1% of the Brazilian GDP. Literally, the name ''Ceará'' means "sings the jandaia". According to José de Alencar, one of the most important writers of Brazil and an authority in Tupi Guaraní, ''Ceará'' means turquoise or green waters. The state is best known for its extensive coastline, with of sand. There are also mountains and valleys producing tropical fruits. To the south, on the border of Paraíba, Pernambuco and Piauí, is the National Forest of Araripe. Geography Ceará has an area of . It is bounded on the north by the Atlantic Ocean, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rio Grande Do Norte
Rio Grande do Norte (, , ) is one of the states of Brazil. It is located in the northeastern region of the country, forming the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. The name literally translates as "Great Northern River", referring to the mouth of the Potengi River. The capital and largest city is Natal. The state has 410 km (254 mi) of sandy beaches and contains Rocas Atoll, the only atoll the Atlantic Ocean. The main economic activity is tourism, followed by the extraction of petroleum (the second largest producer in the country), agriculture, fruit growing and extraction of minerals, including considerable production of seasalt, among other economic activities. The state is home to 1.7% of the Brazilian population and produces 1% of the country's GDP. In 2000-17 the murder rate rose by 655%, making Rio Grande do Norte the state with the highest murder rate in Brazil: 63.9 per 100,000. Tourist attractions in the state include the Cashew of Pirang ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Northeast Region, Brazil
The Northeast Region of Brazil ( pt, Região Nordeste do Brasil; ) is one of the five official and political regions of the country according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Of Brazil's twenty-six states, it comprises nine: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia, along with the Fernando de Noronha archipelago (formerly a separate territory, now part of Pernambuco). Chiefly known as ''Nordeste'' ("Northeast") in Brazil, this region was the first to be colonized by the Portuguese and other European peoples, playing a crucial role in the country's history. ''Nordestes dialects and rich culture, including its folklore, cuisines, music and literature, became the most easily distinguishable across the country. To this day, ''Nordeste'' is known for its history and culture, as well as for its natural environment and its hot weather. ''Nordeste'' stretches from the Atlantic seaboard in the northeast ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |