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Disjunct Distribution
In biology, a taxon with a disjunct distribution is one that has two or more groups that are related but considerably separated from each other geographically. The causes are varied and might demonstrate either the expansion or contraction of a species' range. Range fragmentation Also called range fragmentation, disjunct distributions may be caused by changes in the environment, such as mountain building and continental drift or rising sea levels; it may also be due to an organism expanding its range into new areas, by such means as rafting, or other animals transporting an organism to a new location (plant seeds consumed by birds and animals can be moved to new locations during bird or animal migrations, and those seeds can be deposited in new locations in fecal matter). Other conditions that can produce disjunct distributions include: flooding, or changes in wind, stream, and current flows, plus others such as anthropogenic introduction of alien introduced species either acciden ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elona
''Elona quimperiana'', common name the escargot de Quimper ("Quimper snail"), is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Elonidae. ''Elona'' is a monotypic genus, i.e. it contains only one species, ''Elona quimperiana''. The specific name comes from the city of Quimper in Brittany, France. This snail is mentioned in annexes II and IV of the Habitats Directive. Original description ''Elona quimperiana'' was originally described (under the name ''Helix quimperiana'') by André Étienne d'Audebert de Férussac in 1821. Férussac's original text (the type description) reads in the French language as follows: Which means in English: "Habitat: Margin of Briec (Briec-de-l'Odet) near Quimper in Brittany. It was found by Messieurs De Kermovan and Bonnemaison." Shell description The shell is umbilicate and planorboid in shape. The spire is slightly concave. The periphery is broadly rounded, corneous with a few varicoid whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lusitania
Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province located where modern Portugal (south of the Douro river) and a portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and the province of Salamanca) lie. It was named after the Lusitani or Lusitanians, Lusitanian people (an Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people). Its capital was ''Emerita Augusta'' (currently Mérida, Spain), and it was initially part of the Roman Republic province of Hispania Ulterior, before becoming a province of its own in the Roman Empire. Romans first came to the territory around the mid-2nd century BC. A Lusitanian War, war with Lusitanian tribes followed, from 155 to 139 BC. In 27 BC, the province was created. Lusitania was and is often used as an alternative name for Portugal. Origin of the name The etymology of the name of the Lusitanians, Lusitani (who gave the Roman province its name) remains unclear. Popular etymology connected the name to a supposed Roman demigod Lusus, whereas some early-mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fauna Of Ireland
The fauna of Ireland comprises all the animal species inhabiting the island of Ireland and its surrounding waters. Summary This table uses figures supplied by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Vertebrates by class Mammals Only 26 land mammal species (including bats, but not including marine mammals) are native to Ireland, because it has been isolated from the European mainland (by rising sea levels after the Midlandian Ice Age), since about 14,000 BC.Costello, M.J. and Kelly, K.S., 1993 ''Biogeography of Ireland: past, present and future'' Irish Biogeographic Society Occasional Publications Number 2Edwards, Robin & al.The Island of Ireland: Drowning the Myth of an Irish Land-bridge? Accessed 15 February 2013. Some species, such as the red fox, European hedgehog, stoat, otter, pygmy shrew, and badger are common, whereas others, like the Irish hare, red deer, and pine marten are less common and generally seen only in certain national parks and nature reserves aroun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quaternary Glaciation
The Quaternary glaciation, also known as the Pleistocene glaciation, is an alternating series of glacial and interglacial periods during the Quaternary period that began 2.58 Ma (million years ago) and is ongoing. Although geologists describe this entire period up to the present as an "ice age", in popular culture this term usually refers to the most recent glacial period, or to the Pleistocene epoch in general. Since Earth still has polar ice sheets, geologists consider the Quaternary glaciation to be ongoing, though currently in an interglacial period. During the Quaternary glaciation, ice sheets appeared, expanding during glacial periods and contracting during interglacial periods. Since the end of the last glacial period, only the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets have survived, with other sheets formed during glacial periods, such as the Laurentide Ice Sheet, having completely melted. The major effects of the Quaternary glaciation have been the continental erosion o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interstadial
Stadials and interstadials are phases dividing the Quaternary period, or the last 2.6 million years. Stadials are periods of colder climate while interstadials are periods of warmer climate. Each Quaternary climate phase is associated with a Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) number, which describe alternation between warmer and cooler temperatures as measured by oxygen isotope data. Stadials have even MIS numbers and interstadials odd MIS numbers. The current Holocene interstadial is MIS 1 and the Last glacial maximum stadial is MIS 2. Marine Isotope Stages are sometimes further subdivided into stadials and interstadials by minor climate fluctuations within the overall stadial or interstadial regime, which are indicated by letters. The odd-numbered interstadial MIS 5, also known as the Sangamonian interglacial, contains two periods of relative cooling, and so is subdivided into three interstadials (5a, 5c, 5e) and two stadials (5b, 5d). A stadial isotope stage like MIS 6 would be sub ... [...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] |
Quaternary
The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ago to the present. The Quaternary Period is divided into two epochs: the Pleistocene (2.58 million years ago to 11.7 thousand years ago) and the Holocene (11.7 thousand years ago to today, although a third epoch, the Anthropocene, has been proposed but is not yet officially recognised by the ICS). The Quaternary Period is typically defined by the cyclic growth and decay of continental ice sheets related to the Milankovitch cycles and the associated climate and environmental changes that they caused. Research history In 1759 Giovanni Arduino proposed that the geological strata of northern Italy could be divided into four successive formations or "orders" ( it, quattro ordini). The term "quaternary" was introduced by Jules Desnoye ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Refugium (population Biology)
Refugium, plural refugia, the Latin for "refuge" or "hideaway", may refer to: * Refugium (fishkeeping), an appendage to a marine, brackish, or freshwater fish tank that shares the same water supply * Refugium (population biology), a location of an isolated or relict population of a once widespread animal or plant species ** Last Glacial Maximum refugia specifically, in anthropology * Refugium Range, a mountain range on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada See also * Refuge (Buddhism) In Buddhism, refuge or taking refuge refers to a religious practice, which often includes a prayer or recitation performed at the beginning of the day or of a practice session. Since the period of Early Buddhism until present time, all Theravad ... * Refugium Peccatorum {{disambiguation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arbutus Unedo
''Arbutus unedo'' is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the family Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean region and western Europe. The tree is well known for its fruits, which bear some resemblance to the strawberry — hence the common name "strawberry tree". However, it is not closely related to true strawberries of the genus ''Fragaria''. Its presence in Ireland also lends it the moniker "Irish strawberry tree", or cain, or cane apple (from the Irish name for the tree, ''caithne''), or sometimes "Killarney strawberry tree". The strawberry tree is the national tree of Italy because of its green leaves, its white flowers and its red berries, colors that recall the Italian flag. Taxonomy ''Arbutus unedo'' was one of the many species described by Carl Linnaeus in Volume One of his landmark 1753 work ''Species Plantarum'', giving it the name it still bears today. A study published in 2001 which analyzed ribosomal DNA from ''Arbutus'' and related genera found ''Arbutus'' to b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calluna
''Calluna vulgaris'', common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus ''Calluna'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found widely in Europe and Asia Minor on acidic soils in open sunny situations and in moderate shade. It is the dominant plant in most heathland and moorland in Europe, and in some bog vegetation and acidic pine and oak woodland. It is tolerant of grazing and regenerates following occasional burning, and is often managed in nature reserves and grouse moors by sheep or cattle grazing, and also by light burning. ''Calluna'' was separated from the closely related genus ''Erica'' by Richard Anthony Salisbury, who devised the generic name ''Calluna'' probably from the Ancient Greek (), "beautify, sweep clean", in reference to its traditional use in besoms. The specific epithet ''vulgaris'' is Latin for 'common'. ''Calluna'' is differentiated from ''Er ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semilimax Pyrenaicus
''Semilimax pyrenaicus'' is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Vitrinidae. It is a large greyish-brown snail that cannot fully retract into its shell. Description For terms see gastropod shell. The body of this semi-slug is too large to be contained in the very flat and depressed ear-shaped shell. The shell body whorl is ¾ of the total breadth viewed from above. It is very thin, fragile and transparent. Shell colour is greenish or yellowish. The shell aperture has a mouth membrane which runs from the umbilicus along the inside of the outer lip. The animal is pale to dark grey or black, paler forms have large dark grey areas. The mantle lobe is very large. Genitalia:Penis with appendix, joins vagina below the insertion of spermatheca duct. Distribution and habitat This species is known to occur in Brittany, the French Pyrenees, Andorra, Spain and southwestern Ireland. This is called a Lusitanian distribution and was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
