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Ground-roller
The ground rollers are a small family of non-migratory near-passerine birds restricted to Madagascar. They are related to the kingfishers, bee-eaters and rollers. They most resemble the latter group, and are sometimes considered a sub-family of the true rollers. Description Ground rollers share the generally crow-like size and build of the true rollers, ranging from in length, and also hunt reptiles and large insects. They are more terrestrial than Coracidae species, and this is reflected in their longer legs and shorter, more rounded wings. They lack the highly colourful appearance of the true rollers, and are duller in appearance, with striped or flecked plumage. They are much more elusive and shy than their relatives, and are normally difficult to find in the Malagasy forests. Often the hooting breeding call is all that betrays their presence. These birds nest as solitary pairs in holes in the ground which they excavate themselves, unlike the true rollers, which rarel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coraciidae
Coraciidae is a family of Old World birds, which is known as rollers because of the aerial acrobatics some of these birds perform during courtship or territorial flights. Rollers resemble crows in size and build, and share the colourful appearance of kingfishers and bee-eaters, blues and pinkish or cinnamon browns predominating. The two inner front toes are connected, but not the outer one. They are mainly insect eaters, with ''Eurystomus'' species taking their prey on the wing, and those of the genus ''Coracias'' diving from a perch to catch food items from on the ground, like giant shrikes. Although living rollers are birds of warm climates in the Old World, fossil records show that rollers were present in North America during the Eocene. They are monogamous and nest in an unlined hole in a tree or in masonry, and lay 2–4 eggs in the tropics, 3–6 at higher latitudes. The eggs, which are white, hatch after 17–20 days, and the young remain in the nest for approximately ano ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atelornis Pittoides -Zurich Zoologischer Garten-8a
''Atelornis'' is a small genus of birds in the ground-roller family Brachypteraciidae. The genus is endemic to Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa .... Species There are two species: Bird genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Jacques Pucheran {{Coraciiformes-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Long-tailed Ground Roller
The long-tailed ground roller (''Uratelornis chimaera'') is a species of bird in the ground roller family Brachypteraciidae, placed in the monotypic genus ''Uratelornis''. Endemic to arid spiny forests near the coast in southwestern Madagascar, this ground roller occurs at extremely low population densities throughout its habitat. This species requires shade and a deep layer of leaves on the ground, and it is absent from parts of the spiny forest lacking these features. It has no recognized subspecies, and its closest relative is the scaly ground roller. The long-tailed ground roller is the only ground roller to definitively display sexual dimorphism (differences in plumage or size between sexes). It is a medium-sized bird with a plump silhouette and a long tail. The upperparts are dark brown with black streaks while the underparts are light gray. The white throat is framed by black malar stripes and a black breastband, and a white stripe is present at the base of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atelornis
''Atelornis'' is a small genus of birds in the ground-roller family Brachypteraciidae. The genus is endemic to Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa .... Species There are two species: Bird genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Jacques Pucheran {{Coraciiformes-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scaly Ground Roller
The scaly ground roller (''Geobiastes squamiger'') is a species of bird in a monotypic genus in the near-passerine family Brachypteraciidae. It is endemic to eastern Madagascar. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. The scaly ground roller is found at elevations below , and one of the few birds of Madagascar to reside in lowland rainforest. Morphology Scaly ground rollers grow to between . The head is covered with a black and white scaly pattern. It is a copper brown color and has green wings, with white tips. The center of the tail is reddish-brown, and has blue tips and black marks. The underside is pale, with black crescents. Its gray bill is thick and long, and its legs are pink in color. Ecology and behavior The diet of the scaly ground roller mostly consists of invertebrates it collects from the ground but it does also eat vertebrates it can find. It has been reported to chiefly eat earthworms (''Pheretima'' sp.) and centipedes ('' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pitta-like Ground Roller
The pitta-like ground roller (''Atelornis pittoides'') is a species of bird in the ground roller family Brachypteraciidae. The species is monotypic, having no subspecies. It is endemic to Madagascar. The species was described by Frédéric de Lafresnaye in 1834. The specific name ''pittoides'' is a reference to its resemblance to the pittas, an unrelated family of passerine birds. Description The pitta-like ground roller is a small and slender member of the family, long and weighing . It has a cobalt-blue head with a black mask and a white and throat, which is bordered in blue. The upperparts are bronzy green and the belly is white with buff flanks, and the breast and back have a rufous band. Distribution and habitat The pitta-like ground roller is endemic to the eastern half of Madagascar, from the extreme north to the southern edge, and has the widest distribution of any member of the family. It also has a wider range of habitats that it is prepared to occupy, being found in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Short-legged Ground Roller
The short-legged ground roller (''Brachypteracias leptosomus'') is a species of bird in the ground roller family Brachypteraciidae. It is the only living species in the genus ''Brachypteracias'' and is endemic to Madagascar. It is threatened by habitat loss. Taxonomy and systematics The short-legged ground roller is the only extant species in the genus ''Brachypteracias'', although a fossil species, '' Brachypteracias langrandi'', has been described. The short-legged ground roller is more arboreal than other ground rollers, and may represent the ancestral form of the family.Langrand, O. (2017). Ground-rollers (Brachypteraciidae). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/52276 on 20 March 2017). The genus ''Brachypteracias'' once included the scaly ground roller, but a 2001 study of the DNA of the family found that the two are n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brachypteracias
''Brachypteracias'' is a small genus of birds in the ground-roller family Brachypteraciidae. The genus is endemic to Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa .... Species There are two species: Bird genera Bird genera with one living species {{Coraciiformes-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingfisher
Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, but also can be seen in Europe. They can be found in deep forests near calm ponds and small rivers. The family contains 114 species and is divided into three subfamilies and 19 genera. All kingfishers have large heads, long, sharp, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails. Most species have bright plumage with only small differences between the sexes. Most species are tropical in distribution, and a slight majority are found only in forests. They consume a wide range of prey usually caught by swooping down from a perch. While kingfishers are usually thought to live near rivers and eat fish, many species live away from water and eat small invertebrates. Like other members of their order, they nest in cavities, usually tunnels dug into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "dawn") and (''kainós'', "new") and refers to the "dawn" of modern ('new') fauna that appeared during the epoch. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Paleocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the Eocene is marked by a brief period in which the concentration of the carbon isotope Carbon-13, 13C in the atmosphere was exceptionally low in comparison with the more common isotope Carbon-12, 12C. The end is set at a major extinction event called the ''Grande Coupure'' (the "Great Break" in continuity) or the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event, which may be related to the impact of one or more large bolides in Popigai impact structure, Siberia and in what is now ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naturalis Biodiversity Center - ZMA
Naturalis Biodiversity Center ( nl, Nederlands Centrum voor Biodiversiteit Naturalis) is a national museum of natural history and a research center on biodiversity in Leiden, Netherlands. It was named the European Museum of the Year 2021. Although its current name and organization are relatively recent, the history of Naturalis can be traced back to the early 1800s. Its collection includes approximately 42 million specimens, making it one of the largest natural history collections in the world. History The beginnings of Naturalis go back to the creation of the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie (abbreviated RMNH, National Museum of Natural History) by Dutch King William I on August 9, 1820. In 1878, the geological and mineralogical collections of the museum were split off into a separate museum, remaining distinct until the merger of the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie with the Rijksmuseum van Geologie en Mineralogie (abbreviated RGM) in 1984, to form the Nationaal Natu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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