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Passerella
The fox sparrow (''Passerella iliaca'') is a large New World sparrow. It is the only member of the genus ''Passerella'', although some authors split the species into four (see below). Taxonomy More specific information regarding plumage is available in the accounts for the various taxa. * Red fox sparrow, ''P. i. iliaca'' (Merrem, 1786) – this taxon breeds in the taiga of Canada and Alaska and winters in central and eastern North America. This is the brightest colored group. * Sooty fox sparrow, ''P. i. unalaschcensis'' (Gmelin, JF, 1789) – this taxon breeds along the Pacific coast of North America from the Aleutian Islands south to northwestern Washington, and winters from southeastern Alaska south to northern Baja California. It is browner and darker than the red fox sparrow. * Slate-colored fox sparrow, ''P. i. schistacea'' Baird, SF, 1858 – this taxon breeds in interior western North America and winters to the south and west. It has a gray head and mantle, brown wings, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Fox Sparrow
The red fox sparrow is the collective name for the most brightly colored taxa in the New World sparrow genus ''Passerella'', the ''Passerella iliaca iliaca'' group. Taxonomy Pending wider-spread acceptance of species status, the red fox sparrow is currently classified as a "subspecies group"Not defined by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, ICZN within fox sparrows. It has long been suspected to be a separate evolutionary lineage due to Morphology (biology), morphological distinctness, and this is confirmed by analysis of mtDNA DNA sequence, sequence and haplotype data. This group appears to be most closely related to the slate-colored fox sparrows, but it is altogether likely to represent the Basal (phylogenetics), basalmost divergence of the fox sparrow clade. Description The red fox sparrow is a large sparrow with a length of 15–19 cm (6–7.5 inches), wingspan of 27 cm (10.5 inches) and an average weight of 32 grams (1.1 oz). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sooty Fox Sparrow
The sooty fox sparrow (''Passerella (iliaca) unalaschcensis'') contains the darkest-colored taxa in the genus ''Passerella''. It is currently classified as a "subspecies group"Not defined by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, ICZN within the fox sparrow pending wider-spread acceptance of species status. It has long been suspected to be a separate evolutionary lineage due to Morphology (biology), morphological distinctness (Swarth 1920), and this is confirmed by analysis of mtDNA DNA sequence, sequence and haplotype data (Zink 1994, Zink & Kessen 1999, Zink & Weckstein 2003). This group appears to be most closely related to the Thick-billed fox sparrow, thick-billed and/or slate-colored fox sparrows (Zink 1996, Zink & Weckstein 2003). Description The sooty fox sparrow complex varies Cline (biology), clinally in intensity of color. The upperparts and head are a variable shade of brown, with streaks on the underparts of the same color. The northernmost birds are sandy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thick-billed Fox Sparrow
The thick-billed fox sparrow (''Passerella (iliaca) megarhyncha'') group comprises the peculiarly large-billed Sierra Nevadan taxa in the genus ''Passerella''. It is currently classified as a "subspecies group" within the fox sparrow, pending wider-spread acceptance of its species status. These birds were long considered members of the slate-colored fox sparrow group due to morphological characteristics (Swarth 1920), but according to mtDNA cytochrome ''b'' sequence and haplotype data (Zink 1994), it forms a recognizable clade. Research on suspected (Rising & Beadle 1996) hybridization and considering additional DNA sequence data led to confirmation of their distinctiveness (Zink & Kessen 1999); this group appears to be most closely related to the sooty and/or slate-colored fox sparrows. (Zink 1996, Zink & Weckstein 2003) Thick-billed fox sparrows are almost identical in plumage to slate-colored fox sparrows but have a more extensive blue-gray hood and a less rusty tail. The m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slate-colored Fox Sparrow
The slate-colored fox sparrow (''Passerella (iliaca) schistacea'') group comprises the Rocky Mountain taxa in the genus ''Passerella''. It is currently classified as a "subspecies group"Not defined by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, ICZN within the fox sparrows pending a more-thorough genetic assay of all forms. It has long been suspected to be a separate evolutionary lineage due to Morphology (biology), morphological distinctness (Swarth 1920). More recently, it has been split into the present clade and the thick-billed fox sparrow. These have quite similar plumage, but can be readily distinguished according to mtDNA DNA sequence, sequence and haplotype data (Zink 1994). However, these results were considered tentative (Rising & Beadle 1996) until more molecular data and apparent lack of wide-ranging Hybrid (biology), hybridization coupled with ecological differences and adaptations led to confirmation of their distinctiveness (Zink & Kessen 1999); this group a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New World Sparrow
New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns. Although they share the name sparrow, New World sparrows are more closely related to Old World buntings than they are to the Old World sparrows (family Passeridae). New World sparrows are also similar in both appearance and habit to finches, with which they sometimes used to be classified. Taxonomy The genera now assigned to the family Passerellidae were previously included with the buntings in the family Emberizidae. A phylogenetic analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences published in 2015 found that the Passerellidae formed a monophyletic group that had an uncertain relationship to the Emberizidae. Emberizidae was therefore split and the family Passerellidae resurrected. It had originally been introduced, as the subfamily Passerellinae, by the Ger ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HBW And BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist Of The Birds Of The World
The ''HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World'' is a checklist of the birds of the world published by Lynx Edicions Lynx Edicions is a Spanish publishing company specializing in ornithology and natural history. History Lynx Edicions was founded in Barcelona by , a lawyer and collector; , a naturalist; and , a medical doctor and writer. Since 2002, the company ... in association with BirdLife International in two volumes in 2014 and 2016. This list follows the 16-volume '' Handbook of the Birds of the World'' and is used as a base for the birds in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and many other organizations. References Ornithological checklists {{Bird-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in the southwestern United States. Depending on differing definitions between Canada and the U.S., its northern terminus is located either in northern British Columbia's Terminal Range south of the Liard River and east of the Trench, or in the northeastern foothills of the Brooks Range/ British Mountains that face the Beaufort Sea coasts between the Canning River and the Firth River across the Alaska-Yukon border. Its southernmost point is near the Albuquerque area adjacent to the Rio Grande rift and north of the Sandia–Manzano Mountain Range. Being the easternmost portion of the North American Cordillera, the Rockies are distinct from the tectonically younger Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada, which both lie farther to its west. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glaciation
A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate between glacial periods. The Last Glacial Period ended about 15,000 years ago. The Holocene is the current interglacial. A time with no glaciers on Earth is considered a greenhouse climate state. Quaternary Period Within the Quaternary, which started about 2.6 million years before present, there have been a number of glacials and interglacials. At least eight glacial cycles have occurred in the last 740,000 years alone. Penultimate Glacial Period The Penultimate Glacial Period (PGP) is the glacial period that occurred before the Last Glacial Period. It began about 194,000 years ago and ended 135,000 years ago, with the beginning of the Eemian interglacial. Last Glacial Period The last glacial period was the most recent glacial period ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area.Brown University, "Biogeography." Accessed February 24, 2014. . Phytogeography is the branch of biogeography that studies the distribution of plants. Zoogeography is the branch that studies distribution of animals. Mycogeography is the branch that studies distribution of fungi, such as mushrooms. Knowledge of spatial variation in the numbers and types of organisms is as vital to us today as it was to our early human ancestors, as we adapt to heterogeneous but geographically predictable environments. Biogeography is an integrative field of inquiry that unites concepts and information from ecology, evolutionary biology, taxonomy, geology, physical geography, palaeontology, and climatology.Dansereau, Pierre. 1957 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NADH Dehydrogenase
NADH dehydrogenase is an enzyme that converts nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) from its reduced form (NADH) to its oxidized form (NAD+). Members of the NADH dehydrogenase family and analogues are commonly systematically named using the format ''NADH:acceptor oxidoreductase''. The chemical reaction these enzymes catalyze are generally represented with the follow equation; : NADH + H+ + acceptor NAD+ + reduced acceptor NADH dehydrogenase is a flavoprotein that contains iron-sulfur centers. NADH dehydrogenase is used in the electron transport chain for generation of ATP. The EC term NADH dehydrogenase (quinone) (EC 1.6.5.11) is defined for NADH dehydrogenases that use a quinone (excluding ubiquinone) as the acceptor. The EC term NADH dehydrogenase (ubiquinone) Respiratory complex I, (also known as NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase, Type I NADH dehydrogenase and mitochondrial complex I) is the first large protein complex of the respiratory chains of many organisms from bac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morphology (biology)
Morphology is a branch of biology dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features. This includes aspects of the outward appearance (shape, structure, colour, pattern, size), i.e. external morphology (or eidonomy), as well as the form and structure of the internal parts like bones and organs, i.e. internal morphology (or anatomy). This is in contrast to physiology, which deals primarily with function. Morphology is a branch of life science dealing with the study of gross structure of an organism or taxon and its component parts. History The etymology of the word "morphology" is from the Ancient Greek (), meaning "form", and (), meaning "word, study, research". While the concept of form in biology, opposed to function, dates back to Aristotle (see Aristotle's biology), the field of morphology was developed by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1790) and independently by the German anatomist and physiologist Karl Friedrich Burdach ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
