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Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve
The Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve encompasses a large part (some 85%) of the island of Great Nicobar, the largest of the Nicobar Islands in the Indian Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Nicobars lie in the Bay of Bengal, eastern Indian Ocean, 190 km to the north of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The Reserve has a total core area of approximately 885 km2, surrounded by a 12 km-wide "forest buffer zone".https://web.archive.org/web/20060208095618/http://forest.and.nic.in/frst-great%20nicobar%20biosphere%20reserve1.htm Dept. Environment and Forest, A & N Administration In year 2013 it was included in the list of Man and Biosphere program of UNESCO to promote sustainable development based on local community effort and sound science. Geography The Reserve was formality created in January 2013. It incorporates two National parks of India, which were gazetted in 1992: the larger Campbell Bay National Park on the northern part of the island, and Gala ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biome
A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader term than habitat and can comprise a variety of habitats. While a biome can cover large areas, a microbiome is a mix of organisms that coexist in a defined space on a much smaller scale. For example, the human microbiome is the collection of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms that are present on or in a human body. A biota is the total collection of organisms of a geographic region or a time period, from local geographic scales and instantaneous temporal scales all the way up to whole-planet and whole-timescale spatiotemporal scales. The biotas of the Earth make up the biosphere. Etymology The term was suggested in 1916 by Clements, originally as a synonym for '' biotic community'' of Möbius (1877). Later, it gained its c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malayan Box Turtle
The Amboina box turtle or Southeast Asian box turtle (''Cuora amboinensis'') is a species of Asian box turtle. It is found in the Nicobar Islands, eastern India (Assam), Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, central and southern Vietnam, west Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines (Leyte, Luzon, Mindanao, Samar, Negros, Panay, etc.), Indonesia (Sulawesi, Ambon Island, Sumatra, Borneo, East Malaysia, Brunei, Nias, Enggano, Simeulue, Java, Sumbawa, Halmahera, Ceram, Seram, Buru, East Timor, Bali, Palawan and Maluku), and possibly China (Guangxi and Guangdong) and Sri Lanka. The type locality is "Amboine" (or "Amboina") Island, today Ambon Island in Indonesia. Description These turtles have blackish-brown to olive-brown colored shells that are not as ornate as many other box turtles. All have a blackish olive head with three yellow stripes on the side. The male can be identified by the slightly concave shape to its plastron. There is no specific pattern to what the underb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leatherback Sea Turtle
The leatherback sea turtle (''Dermochelys coriacea''), sometimes called the lute turtle or leathery turtle or simply the luth, is the largest of all living turtles and the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile, reaching lengths of up to and weights of . It is the only living species in the genus ''Dermochelys'' and family Dermochelyidae. It can easily be differentiated from other modern sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell; instead, its carapace is covered by oily flesh and flexible, leather-like skin, for which it is named. Taxonomy and evolution Taxonomy ''Dermochelys coriacea'' is the only species in genus ''Dermochelys''. The genus, in turn, contains the only extant member of the family Dermochelyidae. Domenico Agostino Vandelli named the species first in 1761 as ''Testudo coriacea'' after an animal captured at Ostia and donated to the University of Padua by Pope Clement XIII. In 1816, French zoologist Henri Blainville coined the term ''Dermochelys''. The leatherback was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asian Water Monitor
The Asian water monitor (''Varanus salvator'') is a large varanid lizard native to South and Southeast Asia. It is one of the most common monitor lizards in Asia, ranging from coastal northeast India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, mainland Southeast Asia, and southern China to Indonesian islands where it lives close to water. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It was described by Laurenti in 1768 and is among the largest squamates in the world. Etymology The generic name ''Varanus'' is derived from the Arabic ''waral'' (), which translates as "monitor". The specific name is the Latin word for "saviour", denoting a possible religious connotation. The water monitor is occasionally confused with the crocodile monitor (''V. salvadorii'') because of their similar scientific names. Some common names for the species are ''Malayan water monitor'', ''common water monitor'', ''two-banded monitor'', ''rice lizard'', ''ring lizard'', ''plain lizard'', ''no-mark lizard'' and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saltwater Crocodile
The saltwater crocodile (''Crocodylus porosus'') is a crocodilian native to saltwater habitats and brackish wetlands from India's east coast across Southeast Asia and the Sundaic region to northern Australia and Micronesia. It has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 1996. It was hunted for its skin throughout its range up to the 1970s, and is threatened by illegal killing and habitat loss. It is regarded as dangerous to humans. The saltwater crocodile is considered to be the largest living reptile. Males can grow up to a length of , rarely exceeding , and a weight of . Females are much smaller and rarely surpass . It is also called the estuarine crocodile, Indo-Pacific crocodile, marine crocodile, sea crocodile, and informally as the saltie. A large and opportunistic hypercarnivorous apex predator, they ambush most of their prey and then drown or swallow it whole. They are capable of prevailing over almost any animal that enters their territory, including ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicobar Long-tailed Macaque
The Nicobar long-tailed macaque (''Macaca fascicularis umbrosa'', popularly known as the Nicobar monkey) is a subspecies of the crab-eating macaque (''M. fascicularis''), endemic to the Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal. This primate is found on three of the Nicobar Islands—Great Nicobar, Little Nicobar and Katchal—in biome regions consisting of tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. Morphology The Nicobar long-tailed macaque has brownish to grey fur, with lighter colouration on its undersides. Its face is pinkish-brown, with white colour spots on its eyelids. Infants are born with a dark natal coating, which lightens as they reach maturity, which occurs at about one year of age. The gestational period is five-and-a-half months. Adult males are roughly one-and-a-half times larger than the females, and can measure up to in height, and weigh up to . The males also have larger canine teeth than the females. The tail is longer than the head-to-rump height. Like ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edible-nest Swiftlet
The edible-nest swiftlet (''Aerodramus fuciphagus''), also known as the white-nest swiftlet, is a small bird of the swift family which is found in Southeast Asia. Its opaque and whitish bird nest is made exclusively of solidified saliva and is the main ingredient of bird's nest soup, a delicacy of Chinese cuisine.Chantler, Phil & Driessens, Gerald (2000) ''Swifts: A Guide to the Swifts and Treeswifts of the World'', 2nd ed., Pica Press, East Sussex Description The edible-nest swiftlet, generally with a body length of 14cm (5.5. in), is a medium-sized representative of the salangans. The upper part of the slender body is blackish-brown; the under part of the body ranges in colour from white to blackish-brown. The tail is short and has a slight notch. The bill and feet are black. Legs are very short and tarsi are usually unfeathered or lightly feathered. Allen JeyarajasingaA Field Guide to the Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and SingaporeOxford University Press. It weighs 15 t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megapode
The megapodes, also known as incubator birds or mound-builders, are stocky, medium-large, chicken-like birds with small heads and large feet in the family Megapodiidae. Their name literally means "large foot" and is a reference to the heavy legs and feet typical of these terrestrial birds. All are browsers, and all but the malleefowl occupy wooded habitats. Most are brown or black in color. Megapodes are superprecocial, hatching from their eggs in the most mature condition of any bird. They hatch with open eyes, bodily coordination and strength, full wing feathers, and downy body feathers, and are able to run, pursue prey, and in some species, fly on the same day they hatch. Description Megapodes are medium-sized to large terrestrial birds with large legs and feet with sharp claws. The largest members of the clade are the species of '' Alectura'' and ''Talegalla''. The smallest are the Micronesian scrubfowl (''Megapodius laperouse'') and the Moluccan scrubfowl (''Eulipoa wallac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicobar Scrubfowl
The Nicobar megapode or Nicobar scrubfowl (''Megapodius nicobariensis'') is a megapode found in some of the Nicobar Islands (India). Like other megapode relatives, it builds a large mound nest with soil and vegetation, with the eggs hatched by the heat produced by decomposition. Newly hatched chicks climb out of the loose soil of the mound and being fully feathered are capable of flight. The Nicobar Islands are on the edge of the distribution of megapodes, well separated from the nearest ranges of other megapode species. Being restricted to small islands and threatened by hunting, the species is vulnerable to extinction. The 2004 tsunami is believed to have wiped out populations on some islands and reduced populations on several others. Description Megapodes are so named for their large feet and like others in the group, this species is fowl like with dark brown plumage, a short tail and large feet and claws. The tarsus is bare with the hind toe situated on the same level as the ... [...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 first used b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biogeographic
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area.Brown University, "Biogeography." Accessed February 24, 2014. . Phytogeography is the branch of biogeography that studies the distribution of plants. Zoogeography is the branch that studies distribution of animals. Mycogeography is the branch that studies distribution of fungi, such as mushrooms. Knowledge of spatial variation in the numbers and types of organisms is as vital to us today as it was to our early human ancestors, as we adapt to heterogeneous but geographically predictable environments. Biogeography is an integrative field of inquiry that unites concepts and information from ecology, evolutionary biology, taxonomy, geology, physical geography, palaeontology, and climatology.Dansereau, Pierre. 195 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
