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Desecheo Ameiva
Desecheo ( es, Isla Desecheo) () is a small uninhabited island of the archipelago of Puerto Rico located in the northeast of the Mona Passage; from Rincón on the west coast ( Punta Higüero) of the main island of Puerto Rico and northeast of Mona Island. It has a land area of . Politically, the island is administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the Desecheo National Wildlife Refuge, but part of ''Barrio'' Sabanetas of Mayaguez. Flora and fauna Desecheo, which has no known bodies of surface water, reaches a maximum elevation of 715 ft (218 m) and has an annual precipitation, on average, of 40.15 in (1020 mm). The lack of surface water limits its flora to thorny shrubs, small trees, weeds and various cacti, including the endangered higo chumbo (''Harrisia portoricensis''). Fauna includes various species of seabirds, three endemic species of lizard ('' Pholidoscelis desechensis'', ''Anolis desechensis'' and '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated territories of the United States, unincorporated territory of the United States. It is located in the northeast Caribbean Sea, approximately southeast of Miami, Florida, between the Dominican Republic and the United States Virgin Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, and includes the eponymous main island and several smaller islands, such as Isla de Mona, Mona, Culebra, Puerto Rico, Culebra, and Vieques, Puerto Rico, Vieques. It has roughly 3.2 million residents, and its Capital city, capital and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, most populous city is San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan. Spanish language, Spanish and English language, English are the official languages of the executive branch of government, though Spanish predominates. Puerto Rico ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple stems and shorter height, less than tall. Small shrubs, less than 2 m (6.6 ft) tall are sometimes termed as subshrubs. Many botanical groups have species that are shrubs, and others that are trees and herbaceous plants instead. Some definitions state that a shrub is less than and a tree is over 6 m. Others use as the cut-off point for classification. Many species of tree may not reach this mature height because of hostile less than ideal growing conditions, and resemble a shrub-sized plant. However, such species have the potential to grow taller under the ideal growing conditions for that plant. In terms of longevity, most shrubs fit in a class between perennials and trees; some may only last about fiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cayo Santiago
Cayo Santiago, also known as Santiago Island, Isla de los monos (or Island of the monkeys), is located at , to the east of ''Punta Santiago'', Humacao, Puerto Rico. Geography The island measures approximately , north–south and east–west, including a "Small Key" which is connected to the main part ("Big Key") by a narrow sandy isthmus. Six hundred meters west of the southernmost point is a shoal, ''Bajo Evelyn'', which has a shallow depth of 8 fathoms. While the island is flat in the north, it reaches a height of , southwest of the island's port, on a small rocky hill called ''El Morrillo'', which rises abruptly from the water and the lowland around it. The area of the island is : Block 2000, Census Block Group 2, Census tract 1801, Humacao Municipio, Puerto Rico), of which the northeastern peninsula accounts for about . In the late 1940s, the island was expropriated by Puerto Rico from its private owners and ceded to the University of Puerto Rico. Only researchers ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhesus Monkey
The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies that are split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally brown or grey in colour, it is in length with a tail and weighs . It is native to South, Central, and Southeast Asia and has the widest geographic range of all non-human primates, occupying a great diversity of altitudes and a great variety of habitats, from grasslands to arid and forested areas, but also close to human settlements. Feral colonies are found in the United States, thought to be either released by humans or escapees after hurricanes destroyed zoo and wildlife park facilities. The rhesus macaque is diurnal, arboreal, and terrestrial. It is mostly herbivorous, mainly eating fruit, but will also consume seeds, roots, buds, bark, and cereals. Studies show almost 100 different plant species in its diet. Rhesus macaques are gen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the animal family Bovidae and the tribe Caprini, meaning it is closely related to the sheep. There are over 300 distinct breeds of goat.Hirst, K. Kris"The History of the Domestication of Goats".'' About.com''. Accessed August 18, 2008. It is one of the oldest domesticated species of animal, according to archaeological evidence that its earliest domestication occurred in Iran at 10,000 calibrated calendar years ago. Goats have been used for milk, meat, fur, and skins across much of the world. Milk from goats is often turned into goat cheese. Female goats are referred to as ''does'' or ''nannies'', intact males are called ''bucks'' or ''billies'', and juvenile goats of both sexes are called ''kids''. Castrated males are called ''we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sphaerodactylus Levinsi
''Sphaerodactylus levinsi'', also known commonly as the Desecheo gecko or the Isla Desecheo least gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Sphaerodactylidae . The species is endemic to Desecheo Island in Puerto Rico. Etymology The specific name, ''levinsi'', is in honor of American theoretical ecologist Richard Levins. Habitat The preferred habitat of ''S. levinsi'' is forest at altitudes of Description The holotype of ''S. levinsi'' has a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of .Heatwole (1968). Reproduction ''S. levinsi'' is oviparous. References Further reading * Heatwole H (1968). "Herpetogeography of Puerto Rico. V. Description of a New Species of ''Sphaerodactylus'' from Desecheo Island". ''Breviora'' (292): 1–6. (''Sphaerodactylus levins'', new species). * Meier AJ, Noble RE (1990). "Notes on the Status and Habits of the Desecheo Gecko, ''Sphaerodactylus levinsi'' ". ''Journal of Herpetology'' 24 (4): 426–428). * Rösler H (2000). "''Kommentierte Liste der rezent, subr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pholidoscelis Desechensis
''Pholidoscelis desechensis'', the Desecheo ground lizard, is a member of the Teiidae family of lizards. It is endemic to Desecheo Island in Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated .... References Pholidoscelis Reptiles of Puerto Rico Endemic fauna of Puerto Rico Reptiles described in 1967 Taxa named by Harold F. Heatwole {{lizard-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia although some lizards are more closely related to these two excluded groups than they are to other lizards. Lizards range in size from chameleons and geckos a few centimeters long to the 3-meter-long Komodo dragon. Most lizards are quadrupedal, running with a strong side-to-side motion. Some lineages (known as " legless lizards"), have secondarily lost their legs, and have long snake-like bodies. Some such as the forest-dwelling '' Draco'' lizards are able to glide. They are often territorial, the males fighting off other males and signalling, often with bright colours, to attract mates and to intimidate rivals. Lizards are mainly carnivorous, often being sit-and-wait predators; many smaller species eat insects, while the Komodo eats mamma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations. The first seabirds evolved in the Cretaceous period, and modern seabird families emerged in the Paleogene. In general, seabirds live longer, breed later and have fewer young than other birds do, but they invest a great deal of time in their young. Most species nest in colonies, which can vary in size from a few dozen birds to millions. Many species are famous for undertaking long annual migrations, crossing the equator or circumnavigating the Earth in some cases. They feed both at the ocean's surface and below it, and even feed on each other. Seabirds can be highly pelagic, coastal, or in some cases spend a part of the year away from the sea entirely. Seabirds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fauna
Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''biota''. Zoologists and paleontologists use ''fauna'' to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the " Sonoran Desert fauna" or the " Burgess Shale fauna". Paleontologists sometimes refer to a sequence of faunal stages, which is a series of rocks all containing similar fossils. The study of animals of a particular region is called faunistics. Etymology '' Fauna'' comes from the name Fauna, a Roman goddess of earth and fertility, the Roman god Faunus, and the related forest spirits called Fauns. All three words are cognates of the name of the Greek god Pan, and ''panis'' is the Greek equivalent of fauna. ''Fauna'' is also the word for a book that catalogues the animals in such a manner. The term was fir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harrisia Portoricensis
''Harrisia portoricensis'' is a species of cactus in the genus '' Harrisia''. Its common names include ''higo chumbo'' and Puerto Rico applecactus. Distribution It is endemic to Puerto Rico, where it is known from three smaller islands off the coast of the main island.USFWSHigo Chumbo Five-year Review.January 2010. The population is estimated at 59,000 on Mona Island, 148 individuals on Monito Island, and only 9 on Desecheo Island. File:Harrisia portoricensis.jpg, Scene of higo chumbo cactus with water in background File:Higo Chumbo fruit (5840524148).jpg, Higo chumbo on Mona Island References portoricensis Cacti of North America Endemic flora of Puerto Rico Endangered flora of North America Endangered flora of the United States Plants described in 1908 {{cactus-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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