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Central Asian Northern Desert
The Central Asian northern desert is an ecoregion in the deserts and xeric shrublands biome, located in the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The annual precipitation ranges from , the winters are cold at and the summers hot at around . There are a range of habitat types including salt flats, clay desert, rocky desert and some sand desert. The vegetation consists of scanty xeric shrubs including ''Artemisia'' and ''Salsola''. The fauna is varied, as well as mammals and birds, there are a large number of reptiles and many species of invertebrate. Some protected areas are included in this ecoregion but other parts are being degraded by conversion to farmland, overgrazing and poaching. Setting The Central Asian northern desert occupies southern Kazakhstan and most of Uzbekistan. This ecoregion experiences a typical cold desert climate; January mean temperatures range from to , while July means range from to . On average, precipitation ranges from to annually. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Siberian region; the Mediterranean Basin; the Sahara and Arabian Deserts; and Western, Central and East Asia. The Palaearctic realm also has numerous rivers and lakes, forming several freshwater ecoregions. The term 'Palearctic' was first used in the 19th century, and is still in use as the basis for zoogeographic classification. History In an 1858 paper for the ''Proceedings of the Linnean Society'', British zoologist Philip Sclater first identified six terrestrial zoogeographic realms of the world: Palaearctic, Aethiopian/Afrotropic, Indian/Indomalayan, Australasian, Nearctic, and Neotropical. The six indicated general groupings of fauna, based on shared biogeography and large-scale geographic barriers to migration. Alfred Wallace a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solonchak
Solonchak (Russian and Ukrainian: Солончак) is a Reference Soil Group of the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB). It is a pale or grey soil type found in arid to subhumid, poorly drained conditions. The word is Russian for "salt marsh" in turn from Russian ''sol'' (соль), "salt". Ukrainian folk word "солончак" in turn from Ukrainian "salty" (солоний) + "чак"—suffix; designation of an object that has the property. In Ukraine there is a village Solonchaky. See also * Chott *Salt marsh *Soil salinity *Solonetz *Takir Takir (takyr) (russian: такыр, originally from Kazakh or another Turkic language) meaning "smooth, even, or bare", is a type of relief occurring in the deserts of Central Asia, similar to a salt flat in the southwestern United States. A ta ... * Salt pan References * IUSS Working Group WRB: World Reference Base for Soil Resources, fourth edition. International Union of Soil Sciences, Vienna 2022. . Further reading ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saiga Antelope
The saiga antelope (, ''Saiga tatarica''), or saiga, is a critically endangered antelope which during antiquity inhabited a vast area of the Eurasian steppe spanning the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in the northwest and Caucasus in the southwest into Mongolia in the northeast and Dzungaria in the southeast. During the Pleistocene, they also occurred in Beringian North America and the British Isles. Today, the dominant subspecies (''S. t. tatarica'') is only found in one region in Russia (in the Republic of Kalmykia and Astrakhan Oblast) and three areas in Kazakhstan (the Ural, Ustiurt, and Betpak-Dala populations). A portion of the Ustiurt population migrates south to Uzbekistan and occasionally Turkmenistan in winter. It is extirpated from China, Ukraine, and southwestern Mongolia. The Mongolian subspecies (''S. t. mongolica'') is found only in western Mongolia. Taxonomy and phylogeny The scientific name ''Capra tatarica'' was coined by Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerboa
Jerboas (from ar, جربوع ') are hopping desert rodents found throughout North Africa and Asia, and are members of the family Dipodidae. They tend to live in hot deserts. When chased, jerboas can run at up to . Some species are preyed on by little owls (''Athene noctua'') in central Asia. Most species of jerboas have excellent hearing that they use to avoid becoming the prey of nocturnal predators. The typical lifespan of a jerboa is around 6 years. Taxonomy Jerboas, as previously defined, were thought to be paraphyletic, with the jumping mice (Zapodidae) and birch mice (Sminthidae) also classified in the family Dipodidae. However, phylogenetic analysis split all three as distinct families, leaving just the jerboas in Dipodidae and revealing them to be a monophyletic group. Anatomy and body features Jerboas look somewhat like miniature kangaroos, and have some external similarities. Both have long hind legs, short forelegs, and long tails. Jerboas move around in a similar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerbillinae
Gerbillinae is one of the subfamilies of the rodent family Muridae and includes the gerbils, jirds, and sand rats. Once known as desert rats, the subfamily includes about 110 species of African, Indian, and Asian rodents, including sand rats and jirds, all of which are adapted to arid habitats. Most are primarily active during the day, making them diurnal (but some species, including the common household pet, exhibit crepuscular behavior), and almost all are omnivorous. The gerbil got its name as a diminutive form of "jerboa," an unrelated group of rodents occupying a similar ecological niche. Gerbils are typically between long, including the tail, which makes up about half of their total length. One species, the great gerbil (''Rhombomys opimus''), originally native to Turkmenistan, can grow to more than . The average adult gerbil weighs about . One species, the Mongolian gerbil ('' Meriones unguiculatus''), also known as the ''clawed jird'', is a gentle and hardy animal th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tolai Hare
The tolai hare (''Lepus tolai'') is a species of hare native to Central Asia, Mongolia, and Northern and Central China. It inhabits semi-desert, steppes, rocky habitats, and forest meadows. It is relatively common, even in areas with heavy human disturbance, due to its fast reproductive rate. It is mainly active at dusk and at night but is occasionally active during the day.Aulagnier S.; P. Haffner, A. J. Mitchell-Jones, F. Moutou & J. Zima (2009) ''Mammals of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East'', A&C Black, London. The taxon is formerly included with the cape hare. Description The tolai hare grows to a head-and-body length of between with a tail of . It is rather variable in colouration across its range. The upper parts are some shade of dull yellow, pale brown, or sandy grey with brownish or reddish stripes. The hip region is sometimes ochre or grey. The head has a pale, bare, greyish or ochraceous patch of skin surrounding the eye and extending forwards to near the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Long-eared Hedgehog
The long-eared hedgehog (''Hemiechinus auritus'') is a species of hedgehog native to Central Asian countries and some countries of the Middle East. The long-eared hedgehog lives in burrows that it either makes or finds and is distinguished by its long ears. It is considered one of the smallest Middle Eastern hedgehogs.Qumsiyeh, M. B.. (1996Mammals of the Holy Land Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock Texas. pp. 64–66 . This hedgehog is insectivorous but may also feed on small vertebrates and plants. In captivity they can live for over 7 years. Since the long-eared hedgehog is naturally parasite prone and can carry diseases as bad as plague, it is highly recommended that, if kept as a pet, it should be purchased from a respected dealer. Wild hedgehogs have been found to carry ''Rhipicephalus sanguineus'', the brown dog tick, which can transmit Boutonneuse fever. Description The length of the head and body of the long-eared hedgehog is approximately 120–270 mm, and the t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agropyron
''Agropyron'' is a genus of Eurasian plants in the grass family), native to Europe and Asia but widely naturalized in North America. Species in the genus are commonly referred to as wheatgrass. ; Species * ''Agropyron badamense'' - Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan * ''Agropyron bulbosum'' - Iran * ''Agropyron cimmericum'' - Ukraine, Crimea * ''Agropyron cristatum'' - Crested wheatgrass - Eurasia + North Africa from Spain + Morocco to Korea + Khabarovsk; naturalized in western + central North America (United States, Canada, northern Mexico) * ''Agropyron dasyanthum'' - Ukraine * ''Agropyron desertorum'' - Desert Wheatgrass - from Crimea + Caucasus to Mongolia + Siberia * ''Agropyron deweyi'' - Turkey * ''Agropyron fragile'' - Siberian wheatgrass - from Caucasus to Mongolia; naturalized in scattered locales in western United States + Canada * ''Agropyron michnoi'' - Buryatiya, Zabaykalsky Krai, Mongolia, Inner Mongolia * ''Agropyron mongolicum'' - Gansu, Inner ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ephedra (medicine)
Ephedra is a medicinal preparation from the plant '' Ephedra sinica''. Several additional species belonging to the genus ''Ephedra'' have traditionally been used for a variety of medicinal purposes, and are a possible candidate for the soma plant of Indo-Iranian religion. It has been used in traditional Chinese medicine, in which it is referred to as Ma Huang, for more than 2,000 years. Native Americans and Mormon pioneers drank a tea brewed from other ''Ephedra'' species, called "Mormon tea" and "Indian tea". Dietary supplements containing ephedra alkaloids have been found to be unsafe, with reports of serious side effects and ephedra-related deaths. In response to accumulating evidence of adverse effects and deaths related to ephedra, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the sale of supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids in 2004. The ban was challenged in court by ephedra manufacturers, but ultimately upheld in 2006 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calligonum
''Calligonum'' is a genus of plants in the family Polygonaceae with about 80 species across the Mediterranean Sea region, Asia and North America. Description Plants of the genus ''Calligonum'' are shrubs, diffusely but irregularly branched, with flexuous woody branches. Leaves are simple, opposite, nearly sessile, linear or scale-like, sometimes absent or very small, linear or filiform, distinct or united with short membranous ochreae. Flowers are bisexual, solitary or in loose axillary inflorescences. Flowers have persistent, 5-parted perianths not accrescent in fruit, and 10-18 stamens with filaments connate at the base. The ovary is tetragonous. Taxonomy The genus ''Calligonum'' was first published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. It is placed in the subfamily Polygonoideae, tribe Calligoneae, along with its sister genus, ''Pteropyrum''. Species *''Calligonum acanthopterum'' I.G.Borshch. *''Calligonum alatosetosum'' Maassoumi & Kazempour *'' Calligonum aphyllum'' (Pall.) Gürke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ceratoides
''Krascheninnikovia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae known as winterfat, so-called because it is a nutritious livestock forage. They are known from Eurasia and western North America. These are hairy perennials or small shrubs which may be monoecious or dioecious. They bear spike inflorescences of woolly flowers. Description The species of ''Krascheninnikovia'' are erect subshrubs or shrubs. The plants are densely covered with dendroid stellate hairs and additionally with simple, unbranched hairs. The alternate leaves stand solitary or grouped in fascicles, and can be petiolate or nearly sessile. The flat, non-fleshy leaf blades are linear to narrowly lanceolate to ovate, with entire margins, and truncate, cuneate, rounded, or subcordate base. The flowers are unisexual, the plants can be monoecious or dioecious. Male flowers form an interrupted spike or subcapitate inflorescence of glomeruled, ebracteate flowers. These ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nanophyton
''Nanophyton'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus ''Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it .... Its native range is Southern European Russia to Mongolia. Species Species: *'' Nanophyton botschantzevii'' *'' Nanophyton erinaceum'' *'' Nanophyton grubovii'' *'' Nanophyton iliense'' *'' Nanophyton mongolicum'' *'' Nanophyton narynense'' *'' Nanophyton pulvinatum'' *'' Nanophyton saxatile'' References {{Taxonbar, from=Q588107 Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae genera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
