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Eider
Eiders () are large seaducks in the genus ''Somateria''. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The down feathers of eider ducks, and some other ducks and geese, are used to fill pillows and quilts—they have given the name to the type of quilt known as an eiderdown. Taxonomy The genus ''Somateria '' was introduced in 1819 to accommodate the king eider by the English zoologist William Leach in an appendix to John Ross's account of his voyage to look for the Northwest Passage. The name is derived from Ancient Greek : ''sōma'' "body" (stem ''somat-'') and : ''erion'' "wool", referring to eiderdown. Steller's eider (''Polysticta stelleri'') is in a different genus despite its name. Species The genus contains three species. Two undescribed species are known from fossils, one from Middle Oligocene rocks in Kazakhstan and another from the Late Miocene or Early Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steller's Eider
Steller's eider (''Polysticta stelleri'') is a migrating Arctic diving duck that breeds along the coastlines of eastern Russia and Alaska. It is the rarest, smallest, and fastest flying of the eider species. Amongst the Inupiat, Steller's eider is known as the "bird that sat in the campfire", referring to the burnt-ish color of the male's belly. Due to the extensive contraction of its breeding range, the Alaska-breeding population of Steller's eider was listed as vulnerable in 1997 by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The species is protected in Russia and the U.S. and is the subject of an ongoing recovery plan by the European Union and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Taxonomy Steller’s eider is in the family Anatidae along with other ducks, geese, and swans and is the only species in the genus Polysticta. Despite its name, it is more distantly related than all other extant eider species which are part of the Somateria genus. Steller's eider was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Eider
The common eider (pronounced ) (''Somateria mollissima''), also called St. Cuthbert's duck or Cuddy's duck, is a large ( in body length) sea-duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breeds in Arctic and some northern temperate regions, but winters somewhat farther south in temperate zones, when it can form large flocks on coastal waters. It can fly at speeds up to . The eider's nest is built close to the sea and is lined with eiderdown, plucked from the female's breast. This soft and warm lining has long been harvested for filling pillows and quilts, but in more recent years has been largely replaced by down from domestic farm-geese and synthetic alternatives. Although eiderdown pillows or quilts are now a rarity, eiderdown harvesting continues and is sustainable, as it can be done after the ducklings leave the nest with no harm to the birds. Taxonomy The common eider was formally named by the Swedish naturalist Carl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Eider (Somateria Spectabilis) (13667959444)
The king eider (pronounced ) (''Somateria spectabilis'') is a large sea duck that breeds along Northern Hemisphere Arctic coasts of northeast Europe, North America and Asia. The birds spend most of the year in coastal marine ecosystems at high latitudes, and migrate to Arctic tundra to breed in June and July. They lay four to seven eggs in a scrape on the ground lined with grass and down. Taxonomy and etymology When he first described the king eider in 1758, in the 10th edition of his opus Systema Naturae, Carl Linnaeus assigned it to the genus ''Anas'', along with the rest of the ducks. In 1819, William Elford Leach moved it and the other large eiders to the genus ''Somateria'', where it has remained since. It is very closely related to the other members of its genus, and is known to hybridise with the common eider. Despite its very large range, it is monotypic. The genus name ''Somateria'' is a combination of the Greek words ''sōma'', meaning "body", and ''erion'', meaning ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Eider
The king eider (pronounced ) (''Somateria spectabilis'') is a large sea duck that breeds along Northern Hemisphere Arctic coasts of northeast Europe, North America and Asia. The birds spend most of the year in coastal marine ecosystems at high latitudes, and migrate to Arctic tundra to breed in June and July. They lay four to seven eggs in a scrape on the ground lined with grass and down. Taxonomy and etymology When he first described the king eider in 1758, in the 10th edition of his opus Systema Naturae, Carl Linnaeus assigned it to the genus ''Anas'', along with the rest of the ducks. In 1819, William Elford Leach moved it and the other large eiders to the genus ''Somateria'', where it has remained since. It is very closely related to the other members of its genus, and is known to hybridise with the common eider. Despite its very large range, it is monotypic. The genus name ''Somateria'' is a combination of the Greek words ''sōma'', meaning "body", and ''erion'', meanin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Eider
The king eider (pronounced ) (''Somateria spectabilis'') is a large sea duck that breeds along Northern Hemisphere Arctic coasts of northeast Europe, North America and Asia. The birds spend most of the year in coastal marine ecosystems at high latitudes, and migrate to Arctic tundra to breed in June and July. They lay four to seven eggs in a scrape on the ground lined with grass and down. Taxonomy and etymology When he first described the king eider in 1758, in the 10th edition of his opus Systema Naturae, Carl Linnaeus assigned it to the genus ''Anas'', along with the rest of the ducks. In 1819, William Elford Leach moved it and the other large eiders to the genus ''Somateria'', where it has remained since. It is very closely related to the other members of its genus, and is known to hybridise with the common eider. Despite its very large range, it is monotypic. The genus name ''Somateria'' is a combination of the Greek words ''sōma'', meaning "body", and ''erion'', meanin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spectacled Eider
The spectacled eider (pronounced ) (''Somateria fischeri'') is a large sea duck that breeds on the coasts of Alaska and northeastern Siberia. The spectacled eider is slightly smaller than the common eider at 52–57 cm (20–22 inches) in length. The male is unmistakable with its black body, white back, and yellow-green head with the large circular white eye patches which give the species its name. The drake's call is a weak crooning, and the female's a harsh croak. The female is a rich brown bird, but can still be readily distinguished from all ducks except other eider species on size and structure. The paler goggles are visible with a reasonable view and clinch identification. Immature birds and eclipse adult drakes are similar to the female. The binomial commemorates the German scientist Johann Fischer von Waldheim. Distribution Currently, spectacled eiders occur along the coast of Alaska and easternmost Russia and into the Bering Sea. There are two breeding populations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Somateria
Eiders () are large seaducks in the genus ''Somateria''. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The down feathers of eider ducks, and some other ducks and geese, are used to fill pillows and quilts—they have given the name to the type of quilt known as an eiderdown. Taxonomy The genus ''Somateria '' was introduced in 1819 to accommodate the king eider by the English zoologist William Leach in an appendix to John Ross's account of his voyage to look for the Northwest Passage. The name is derived from Ancient Greek : ''sōma'' "body" (stem ''somat-'') and : ''erion'' "wool", referring to eiderdown. Steller's eider (''Polysticta stelleri'') is in a different genus despite its name. Species The genus contains three species. Two undescribed species are known from fossils, one from Middle Oligocene rocks in Kazakhstan and another from the Late Miocene or Early Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Somateria Mollissima -WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, England -male-8a
Eiders () are large seaducks in the genus ''Somateria''. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The down feathers of eider ducks, and some other ducks and geese, are used to fill pillows and quilts—they have given the name to the type of quilt known as an eiderdown. Taxonomy The genus ''Somateria '' was introduced in 1819 to accommodate the king eider by the English zoologist William Leach in an appendix to John Ross's account of his voyage to look for the Northwest Passage. The name is derived from Ancient Greek : ''sōma'' "body" (stem ''somat-'') and : ''erion'' "wool", referring to eiderdown. Steller's eider (''Polysticta stelleri'') is in a different genus despite its name. Species The genus contains three species. Two undescribed species are known from fossils, one from Middle Oligocene rocks in Kazakhstan and another from the Late Miocene or Early Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Down Feather
The down of birds is a layer of fine feathers found under the tougher exterior feathers. Very young birds are clad only in down. Powder down is a specialized type of down found only in a few groups of birds. Down is a fine thermal insulator and padding, used in goods such as jackets, bedding (duvets and featherbeds), pillows and sleeping bags. The discovery of feathers trapped in ancient amber suggests that some species of dinosaur may have possessed down-like feathers. Description and etymology The word ''down'' comes from the Old Norse word ''dúnn'', which had the same meaning as its modern equivalent. The down feather is considered to be the most "straightforward" of all feather types. It has a short or vestigial rachis (shaft), few barbs, and barbules that lack hooks. There are three types of down: natal down, body down and powder down. Natal down is the layer of down feathers that cover most birds at some point in their early development. Precocial nestlings are alre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58See the 2014 version of the ICS geologic time scale million years ago. It is the second and most recent epoch of the Neogene Period in the . The Pliocene follows the Epoch and is followed by the Epoch. Prior to the 2009 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern marine invertebrates than the Pliocene has. The Miocene is preceded by the Oligocene and is followed by the Pliocene. As Earth went from the Oligocene through the Miocene and into the Pliocene, the climate slowly cooled towards a series of ice ages. The Miocene boundaries are not marked by a single distinct global event but consist rather of regionally defined boundaries between the warmer Oligocene and the cooler Pliocene Epoch. During the Early Miocene, the Arabian Peninsula collided with Eurasia, severing the connection between the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean, and allowing a faunal interchange to occur between Eurasia and Africa, including the dispersal of proboscideans into Eurasia. During the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbekistan to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southwest, with a coastline along the Caspian Sea. Its capital is Astana, known as Nur-Sultan from 2019 to 2022. Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, was the country's capital until 1997. Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country, the largest and northernmost Muslim-majority country by land area, and the ninth-largest country in the world. It has a population of 19 million people, and one of the lowest population densities in the world, at fewer than 6 people per square kilometre (15 people per square mile). The country dominates Central Asia economically and politically, generating 60 percent of the region's GDP, primarily through its oil and gas industry; it also has vast mineral ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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