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Epimachus
''Epimachus'' is a genus of birds-of-paradise (Paradisaeidae) that includes two species, found in the highland forests of New Guinea. They are the largest members of the family. The common name "sicklebill" refers to their long, decurved, sickle-shaped bill. Sicklebills often associate with astrapias, which are superficially similar but have a short, straight bill and blunt-tipped tail, and the male's wings hiss in flight. The species in the genus ''Epimachus'' are often referred to as "long-tailed" sicklebills, when describing them collectively as a genus. The other sicklebills, genus '' Drepanornis'', are referred to as the "short-tailed" sicklebills. Ironically, the two genera are not closely related. There may also be confusion with the birds of the same name that belong to the hummingbird family, found in the Americas. Taxonomy The genus ''Epimachus'' was introduced in 1816 by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier for the black sicklebill. The genus name is from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Sicklebill
The black sicklebill (''Epimachus fastosus'') is a large member of the birds of paradise family, Paradisaeidae. This species is found throughout most of central New Guinea and the Vogelkop region to the northwest in montane forests at altitudes from 1800 to 2150 m. Etymology The species' scientific name is ''Epimachus fastosus''. ''Epimachus,'' its generic name, means "equipped for battle", referring to this genus' machine gun-sounding calls. Its specific name, ''fastosus'', means "proud". For its subspecies, ''atratus'' means "black", ''ultimus'' means "final" (probably referring to this subspecies as the last one discovered for this species), and ''stresemanni'' honors the German naturalist, Erwin Stresemann. Description As being the second longest bird of paradise species (behind the Ribbon-tailed astrapia), the black sicklebill measures about 110 cm (around 43 inches) in length if the tail is included, and around 24 inches (63 cm) without the tail. The femal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Sicklebill
The black sicklebill (''Epimachus fastosus'') is a large member of the birds of paradise family, Paradisaeidae. This species is found throughout most of central New Guinea and the Vogelkop region to the northwest in montane forests at altitudes from 1800 to 2150 m. Etymology The species' scientific name is ''Epimachus fastosus''. ''Epimachus,'' its generic name, means "equipped for battle", referring to this genus' machine gun-sounding calls. Its specific name, ''fastosus'', means "proud". For its subspecies, ''atratus'' means "black", ''ultimus'' means "final" (probably referring to this subspecies as the last one discovered for this species), and ''stresemanni'' honors the German naturalist, Erwin Stresemann. Description As being the second longest bird of paradise species (behind the Ribbon-tailed astrapia), the black sicklebill measures about 110 cm (around 43 inches) in length if the tail is included, and around 24 inches (63 cm) without the tail. The femal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epimachus
''Epimachus'' is a genus of birds-of-paradise (Paradisaeidae) that includes two species, found in the highland forests of New Guinea. They are the largest members of the family. The common name "sicklebill" refers to their long, decurved, sickle-shaped bill. Sicklebills often associate with astrapias, which are superficially similar but have a short, straight bill and blunt-tipped tail, and the male's wings hiss in flight. The species in the genus ''Epimachus'' are often referred to as "long-tailed" sicklebills, when describing them collectively as a genus. The other sicklebills, genus '' Drepanornis'', are referred to as the "short-tailed" sicklebills. Ironically, the two genera are not closely related. There may also be confusion with the birds of the same name that belong to the hummingbird family, found in the Americas. Taxonomy The genus ''Epimachus'' was introduced in 1816 by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier for the black sicklebill. The genus name is from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brown Sicklebill
The brown sicklebill (''Epimachus meyeri'') is a species of bird-of-paradise that is found in the mountain forests of New Guinea. Its appearance resembles the closely related and larger black sicklebill. In areas where these two large sicklebills met, the brown sicklebill replaced the latter species in higher altitudes. Its diet consists mainly of fruits, arthropods and small animals. The male has a staccato, burst-like call which resembles a burst of automatic gunfire. The brown sicklebill is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES. Taxonomy A female specimen of the brown sicklebill was collected in New Guinea by the German collector Carl Hunstein in 1884. This specimen was formally described in 1886 by the German naturalists Otto Finsch and Adolf Bernhard Meyer under the current binomial name ''Epimachus meyeri''. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek επιμαχος (''epimakhos'') meaning "equipped ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bird-of-paradise
The birds-of-paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae of the order Passeriformes. The majority of species are found in eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and eastern Australia. The family has 44 species in 17 genera. The members of this family are perhaps best known for the plumage of the males of the species, the majority of which are sexually dimorphic. The males of these species tend to have very long, elaborate feathers extending from the beak, wings, tail or head. For the most part they are confined to dense rainforest habitat. The diet of all species is dominated by fruit and to a lesser extent arthropods. The birds-of-paradise have a variety of breeding systems, ranging from monogamy to lek-type polygamy. A number of species are threatened by hunting and habitat loss. Taxonomy The family Paradisaeidae was introduced (as Paradiseidae) in 1825 with ''Paradisaea'' as the type genus by the English naturalist William John Swainson. For many years the birds-of-pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twelve-wired Bird-of-paradise
The twelve-wired bird-of-paradise (''Seleucidis melanoleucus'') is a medium-sized, approximately long, velvet black and yellow bird-of-paradise. The male has a red iris, long black bill and rich yellow plumes along his flanks. From the rear of these plumes emerge twelve blackish, wire-like filaments, which bend back near their bases to sweep forward over the bird's hindquarters. The female is a brown bird with black-barred buffy underparts. Their feet are strong, large-clawed and pink in color. The display dance of the twelve-wired bird of paradise is called a ''wire-wipe display'' and it is performed by males to attract females by showing their flank plumes and bare pigmented thighs. Males use their 12 flank plume "wires" to make contact with the female by brushing across the female's face and foreparts. The sole representative of the monotypic genus ''Seleucidis'', the twelve-wired bird-of-paradise is a bird of lowland forests. The male displays on an exposed vertical perch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drepanornis
''Drepanornis'' is a genus of bird-of-paradise found in forests of New Guinea. They have long decurved sickle-like bills and an overall brown plumage. The genus is sometimes considered a subgenus of ''Epimachus'', but the two members of ''Drepanornis'' have a far shorter tail and their sexual dimorphism is less extreme. Species * Black-billed sicklebill, ''Drepanornis albertisi''. * Pale-billed sicklebill The pale-billed sicklebill (''Drepanornis bruijnii'') is a species of sicklebill that belongs to the family Paradisaeidae, which contains the birds-of-paradise. Etymology The scientific nomenclature, or name, of this species is ''Drepanornis b ..., ''Drepanornis bruijnii''. References External links * Bird genera Taxa named by Philip Sclater {{Paradisaeidae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astrapia
''Astrapia'' (Vieillot, 1816) is a genus of birds-of-paradise. The genus contains five species, all endemic to New Guinea. The males have highly iridescent plumage and remarkably long tails. Females are duller and have shorter tails. Barnes's astrapia is a hybrid produced by the interbreeding of Princess Stephanie's astrapia and the ribbon-tailed astrapia. Brown: Carina. Taxonomy and systematics ''Astrapia'' is derived from the Greek '''astrapios''' or '''astrapaios, meaning lightning or a flash of lightning, possibly a reference to the iridescence of the plumage. The genus is suggested to be monophyletic, roughly six million years old, and forms a sister-group with the two species in the genus '' Paradigalla''. ''Astrapia'' and '' Paradigalla'' are members of a larger clade that includes the other long-tail birds-of-paradise from the genus '' Epimachus''. Species * Arfak astrapia, ''Astrapia nigra'' * Splendid astrapia, ''Astrapia splendidissima'' * Ribbon-tailed ast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Speciation (genetic Algorithm)
In computer science and operations research, a genetic algorithm (GA) is a metaheuristic inspired by the process of natural selection that belongs to the larger class of evolutionary algorithms (EA). Genetic algorithms are commonly used to generate high-quality solutions to optimization and search problems by relying on biologically inspired operators such as mutation, crossover and selection. Some examples of GA applications include optimizing decision trees for better performance, solving sudoku puzzles, hyperparameter optimization, etc. Methodology Optimization problems In a genetic algorithm, a population of candidate solutions (called individuals, creatures, organisms, or phenotypes) to an optimization problem is evolved toward better solutions. Each candidate solution has a set of properties (its chromosomes or genotype) which can be mutated and altered; traditionally, solutions are represented in binary as strings of 0s and 1s, but other encodings are also possible ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cloud Forest
A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level, formally described in the ''International Cloud Atlas'' (2017) as silvagenitus. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and vegetation, in which case they are also referred to as mossy forests. Mossy forests usually develop on the saddles of mountains, where moisture introduced by settling clouds is more effectively retained. Cloud forests are among the most biodiversity rich ecosystems in the world with a large amount of species directly or indirectly depending on them. Other moss forests include black spruce/feathermoss climax forest, with a moderately dense canopy and a forest floor of feathermosses including ''Hylocomium splendens'', ''Pleurozium schreberi'' and ''Ptil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montane Rainforest
Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial factor in shaping plant community, biodiversity, metabolic processes and ecosystem dynamics for montane ecosystems. Dense montane forests are common at moderate elevations, due to moderate temperatures and high rainfall. At higher elevations, the climate is harsher, with lower temperatures and higher winds, preventing the growth of trees and causing the plant community to transition to montane grasslands and shrublands, montane grasslands, shrublands or alpine tundra. Due to the unique climate conditions of montane ecosystems, they contain increased numbers of endemic species. Montane ecosystems also exhibit variation in ecosystem services, which include carbon storage and water supply. Life zones As elevation increases, the al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sexual Dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most animals and some plants. Differences may include secondary sex characteristics, size, weight, colour, markings, or behavioural or cognitive traits. These differences may be subtle or exaggerated and may be subjected to sexual selection and natural selection. The opposite of dimorphism is ''monomorphism'', which is when both biological sexes are phenotypically indistinguishable from each other. Overview Ornamentation and coloration Common and easily identified types of dimorphism consist of ornamentation and coloration, though not always apparent. A difference in coloration of sexes within a given species is called sexual dichromatism, which is commonly seen in many species of birds and reptiles. Sexual selection leads to the exaggerated dim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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