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Desmognathus Imitator
The imitator salamander (''Desmognathus imitator'') is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the Appalachian Mountains in the Eastern United States. Description The imitator salamander is dark brown or blackish, sometimes with a pale intermittent stripe down its back and a pale line joining eye to jaw. It often has red or orange cheek patches and its hind legs are more stocky than its forelegs. Distribution and habitat The imitator salamander is found in the Appalachian Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina at elevations more than above sea level. Its range extends from the Great Smoky Mountains in the north to the Plott Balsams and the Great Balsam Mountains in the south. Its habitat is the banks of streams, wet rocks, and the forest floor at higher altitudes. It shares its range with the Ocoee salamander (''Desmognathus ocoee''), but is usually found closer to water. Biology The imitator salamander is not toxic, but is thought to b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emmett Reid Dunn
Emmett Reid Dunn (November 21, 1894 in Alexandria, Virginia – February 13, 1956) was an American Herpetology, herpetologist noted for his work in Panama and for studies of salamanders in the Eastern United States. Biography He attended Haverford College as an undergraduate and received his PhD from Harvard University. After receiving his PhD, he taught at Smith College. He left Smith to study on a Guggenheim Fellowship, following which he became a professor of biology at Haverford College. He was also curator of reptiles and amphibians at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. He served as editor of ''Copeia'' from 1924 to 1929. Eponyms A number of reptiles were named in honor of Dunn, both species (binomials)species:Bo Beolens, Beolens, Bo; species:Michael Watkins, Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Dunn", pp. 77-78). and subspecies (trinomials), including t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spring Salamander
The spring salamander (''Gyrinophilus porphyriticus'') is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae (lungless salamanders). It is found in Canada and the United States. The genus, ''Gyrinophilus'', means "tadpole lover" and refers to the long period of time it spends as a gilled larva before maturing. The specific epithet, ''porphyriticus'', is Latin from Greek, meaning the color of porphyry, a purple stone, and this salamander has also been called the purple salamander. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, rivers, swamps, freshwater marshes, freshwater springs, inland karsts, and caves. In addition to insects, worms, and other small invertebrates, the fairly large spring salamander may also consume smaller stream dwelling salamanders such as two-lined and dusky salamanders. They are considered salamander specialists in some areas, such as the mountains of North Carolina, where between 40 and 50% of their adult diets may consist of other salamanders. Although ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphibians Described In 1927
Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arboreal or freshwater aquatic ecosystems. Thus amphibians typically start out as larvae living in water, but some species have developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this. The young generally undergo metamorphosis from larva with gills to an adult air-breathing form with lungs. Amphibians use their skin as a secondary respiratory surface and some small terrestrial salamanders and frogs lack lungs and rely entirely on their skin. They are superficially similar to reptiles like lizards but, along with mammals and birds, reptiles are amniotes and do not require water bodies in which to breed. With their complex reproductive needs and permeable skins, amphibians are often ecological indicators; in recent decades there has been a dramatic decline ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic Fauna Of The United States
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] |
Amphibians Of The United States
Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arboreal or freshwater aquatic ecosystems. Thus amphibians typically start out as larvae living in water, but some species have developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this. The young generally undergo metamorphosis from larva with gills to an adult air-breathing form with lungs. Amphibians use their skin as a secondary respiratory surface and some small terrestrial salamanders and frogs lack lungs and rely entirely on their skin. They are superficially similar to reptiles like lizards but, along with mammals and birds, reptiles are amniotes and do not require water bodies in which to breed. With their complex reproductive needs and permeable skins, amphibians are often ecological indicators; in recent decades there has been a dramatic decline ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desmognathus
''Desmognathus'' is a genus of lungless salamanders in the family Plethodontidae known as dusky salamanders. They range from Texas to the eastern United States and to south-eastern Canada. Characteristics Species of the genus ''Desmognathus'' have a unique jaw-opening mechanism where the lower jaw is stationary and the skull swings open. There are additional stalked condyles, an atlanto-mandibular ligament, along with other skeletal and musculature features that have evolved to accompany this type of jaw-opening mechanism. Additionally, they are known to exhibit maternal care by brooding over their eggs. Species This genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ... includes the following 30-31 species: References External links Tree of Life: Desmognathus* Further ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acid Rain
Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but acid rain has a pH level lower than this and ranges from 4–5 on average. The more acidic the acid rain is, the lower its pH is. Acid rain can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which react with the water molecules in the atmosphere to produce acids. Acid rain has been shown to have adverse impacts on forests, freshwaters, soils, microbes, insects and aquatic life-forms. In ecosystems, persistent acid rain reduces tree bark durability, leaving flora more susceptible to environmental stressors such as drought, heat/cold and pest infestation. Acid rain is also capable of detrimenting soil composition by stripping it of nutrients such as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waterrock Knob
Waterrock Knob is a mountain peak in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the highest peak in the Plott Balsams and is the 16th-highest mountain in the Eastern United States. The mountain is a popular destination with tourists and amateur hikers, as it is easily accessible from the parkway. A visitors' center is located near its summit and a hiking trail leads to its top. The hiking trail and visitors' center are manned and maintained by the National Park Service, part of the United States Department of the Interior. Name Waterrock Knob is named as such because of a spring located near the summit where hunters would refill their canteens.Powell, William. ''The North Carolina Gazetteer, 2nd Ed.'' Univ of North Carolina Press. (2010). pp. 551. .Lemon, Cindy. ''Southern Appalachian Day Hikes.'' (2015). . Geography With an elevation of , Waterrock Knob is the highest peak in the Plott Balsams and is the 13th-highest mountain in the Eastern United States if using a prominence rule ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. It uses a set of precise criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of thousands of species and subspecies. These criteria are relevant to all species and all regions of the world. With its strong scientific base, the IUCN Red List is recognized as the most authoritative guide to the status of biological diversity. A series of Regional Red Lists are produced by countries or organizations, which assess the risk of extinction to species within a political management unit. The aim of the IUCN Red List is to convey the urgency of conservation issues to the public and policy makers, as well as help the international community to reduce species extinction. According to IUCN the formally stated goals of the Red List are to provi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some insects, fish, amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans, cnidarians, echinoderms, and tunicates undergo metamorphosis, which is often accompanied by a change of nutrition source or behavior. Animals can be divided into species that undergo complete metamorphosis (" holometaboly"), incomplete metamorphosis ("hemimetaboly"), or no metamorphosis (" ametaboly"). Scientific usage of the term is technically precise, and it is not applied to general aspects of cell growth, including rapid growth spurts. Generally organisms with a larva stage undergo metamorphosis, and during metamorphosis the organism loses larval characteristics. References to "metamorphosis" in mammals are imprecise and only colloquial, but historically idealist ideas of transformation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate subphylum Vertebrata. Familiar examples of invertebrates include arthropods, mollusks, annelids, echinoderms and cnidarians. The majority of animal species are invertebrates; one estimate puts the figure at 97%. Many invertebrate taxa have a greater number and variety of species than the entire subphylum of Vertebrata. Invertebrates vary widely in size, from 50 μm (0.002 in) rotifers to the 9–10 m (30–33 ft) colossal squid. Some so-called invertebrates, such as the Tunicata and Cephalochordata, are more closely related to vertebrates than to other invertebrates. This makes the invertebrates paraphyletic, so the term has little meaning in taxonomy. Etymology The word "invertebrate" comes from the Latin word ''vertebra'', whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The larva's appearance is generally very different from the adult form (''e.g.'' caterpillars and butterflies) including different unique structures and organs that do not occur in the adult form. Their diet may also be considerably different. Larvae are frequently adapted to different environments than adults. For example, some larvae such as tadpoles live almost exclusively in aquatic environments, but can live outside water as adult frogs. By living in a distinct environment, larvae may be given shelter from predators and reduce competition for resources with the adult population. Animals in the larval stage will consume food to fuel their transition into the adult form. In some organisms like polychaetes and barnacles, adults are immobil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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