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Galapagos Hawks
The Galápagos hawk (''Buteo galapagoensis'') is a large hawk endemic to most of the Galápagos Islands. Description The Galapágos hawk is similar in size to the red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') and the Swainson's hawk (''Buteo swainsoni'') of North America, but the size is variable across the islands as is recorded for many animals native to the Galapágos. They appear to be somewhat more heavily built than those well-known mainland species, and going on average weights, this species is the second heaviest ''Buteo'' in the Americas, behind only the ferruginous hawk. The Galapágos hawk can range from in length from beak to tail with a wingspan of .Del Hoyo, J., & Elliot, A. I SARGATAL, J. eds. 1994. ''Handbook of the birds of the World. Vol. 2. New World Vultures to Guineafowl''. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. The smallest hawk sizes recorded are on Marchena Island, where males average and females average . Intermediate in size are the hawks of Santiago Island, on whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fernandina Island
Fernandina Island (Spanish: ''Isla Fernandina'', named after King Ferdinand of Spain, the sponsor of Christopher Columbus) (formerly known in English as Narborough Island, after John Narborough) is the third largest, and youngest, island of the Galápagos Islands, as well as the furthest west. Like the others, the island was formed by the Galápagos hotspot. The island is an active shield volcano that has most recently been erupting since April 11, 2009. On February 14, 1825, while anchored in Banks Bay, Captain Benjamin Morrell recorded one of the largest eruptions in Galápagos' history at Fernandina Volcano. His ship escaped to safety and his account of the event was preserved. Fernandina has an area of and a height of , with a summit caldera about wide. The caldera underwent a collapse in 1968, when parts of the caldera floor dropped . A small lake has intermittently occupied the northern caldera floor, most recently in 1988. Due to its recent volcanic activity, the islan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia although some lizards are more closely related to these two excluded groups than they are to other lizards. Lizards range in size from chameleons and geckos a few centimeters long to the 3-meter-long Komodo dragon. Most lizards are quadrupedal, running with a strong side-to-side motion. Some lineages (known as "legless lizards"), have secondarily lost their legs, and have long snake-like bodies. Some such as the forest-dwelling ''Draco'' lizards are able to glide. They are often territorial, the males fighting off other males and signalling, often with bright colours, to attract mates and to intimidate rivals. Lizards are mainly carnivorous, often being sit-and-wait predators; many smaller species eat insects, while the Komodo eats mammals a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equator
The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can also be used for any other celestial body that is roughly spherical. In spatial (3D) geometry, as applied in astronomy, the equator of a rotating spheroid (such as a planet) is the parallel (circle of latitude) at which latitude is defined to be 0°. It is an imaginary line on the spheroid, equidistant from its poles, dividing it into northern and southern hemispheres. In other words, it is the intersection of the spheroid with the plane perpendicular to its axis of rotation and midway between its geographical poles. On and near the equator (on Earth), noontime sunlight appears almost directly overhead (no more than about 23° from the zenith) every day, year-round. Consequently, the equator has a rather stable daytime temperature throug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended from a common ancestor is now generally accepted and considered a fundamental concept in science. In a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding. Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history and was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey. Darwin's early interest in nature led him to neglect his medical education at the University of Edinburgh; instead, he helped to investigate marine invertebrates. His studies at the University of Cambridge's Christ's Col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-tailed Hawk
The white-tailed hawk (''Geranoaetus albicaudatus'') is a large bird of prey species found in tropical and subtropical environments of the Americas. Description The white-tailed hawk is a large, stocky hawk. It is close in size to the Swainson's (''Buteo swainsoni'') and red-tailed hawks (''Buteo jamaicensis''), its mean measurements falling slightly ahead of the first, and slightly behind the latter. It can attain a total length of and a wingspan of . A body mass of was reported in ''B. a. hysopodius'' and in ''B. a. colonus''. Among standard measurements, the wing chord is , the tail is and the tarsus is . Adult birds are grey above and white below and on the rump, with faint pale grey or rufous barring. The short tail is white with a narrow black band near the end that is conspicuous in flight. A rusty-red shoulder patch is just as characteristic when the bird is sitting with wings closed. The wings are dark above, admixed with grey near the bases of the blackish prima ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variable Hawk
The variable hawk (''Geranoaetus polyosoma'') is a polymorphic species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is widespread and often common in open habitats in western and southern South America, including the Falkland Islands. Its taxonomy is disputed, with some splitting it into the widespread red-backed hawk (''G. polyosoma'') and the Puna hawk or Gurney's hawk (''G. poecilochrous'') of the central and north Andean highlands, but the differences between the two are unclear. Most recent authorities have supported the lumping together of the two hawks although the issue still is controversial.South American Classification Committee (2007). Merge Buteo poecilochrous into B. polyosoma.'. Accessed 10-07-2009South American Classification Committee (2009). '. Accessed 10-07-2009 On the contrary, the rare taxon from the Juan Fernández Islands is relatively distinctive, and possibly worthy of species recognition as the Juan Fernández hawk (''B. exsul'').Jaramillo, A. Burke, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swallow-tailed Gull
The swallow-tailed gull (''Creagrus furcatus'') is an equatorial seabird in the gull family, Laridae. It is the only species in the genus ''Creagrus'', which derives from the Latin ''Creagra'' and the Greek ''kreourgos'' which means butcher, also from ''kreas'', meat; according to Jobling it would mean "hook for meat" referring to the hooked bill of this species. It was first described by French naturalist and surgeon Adolphe-Simon Neboux in 1846. Its scientific name is originally derived from the Greek word for gull, "Glaros" and via Latin ''Larus'', "gull" and ''furca'' "two-tined fork". It spends most of its life flying and hunting over the open ocean. The main breeding location is in the Galápagos Islands, particularly the rocky shores and cliffs of Hood, Tower and Wolf Islands, with lower numbers on most of the other islands. It is more common on the eastern islands where the water is warmer. It is the only fully nocturnal gull and seabird in the world, preying on squid a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tortoise
Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like other members of the suborder Cryptodira, they retract their necks and heads directly backward into the shell to protect them. Tortoises can vary in size with some species, such as the Galápagos tortoise, Galápagos giant tortoise, growing to more than in length, whereas others like the Chersobius signatus, Speckled cape tortoise have shells that measure only long. Several lineages of tortoises Giant tortoise, have independently evolved very large body sizes in excess of 100 kg, including the Galápagos tortoise, Galapagos giant tortoise and the Aldabra giant tortoise. They are usually Diurnality, diurnal animals with tendencies to be crepuscular depending on the ambient temperatures. They are generally reclusive animals. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sea Turtle
Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, Kemp's ridley, and olive ridley sea turtles. All six of the sea turtle species present in US waters (all of those listed above except the flatback) are listed as endangered and/or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The seventh sea turtle species is the flatback, which exists in the waters of Australia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. Sea turtles can be separated into the categories of hard-shelled (cheloniid) and leathery-shelled ( dermochelyid).Wyneken, J. 2001. The Anatomy of Sea Turtles. U.S Department of Commerce NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-470, 1-172 pp. There is only one dermochelyid species which is the leatherback sea turtle. Description For each of the seven types of sea turtles, females and males are the sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galápagos Sea Lion
The Galápagos sea lion (''Zalophus wollebaeki'') is a species of sea lion that lives and breeds on the Galápagos Islands and, in smaller numbers, on Isla de la Plata (Ecuador). Being fairly social, they are often spotted sun-bathing on sandy shores or rock groups, or gliding through the surf. They are the smallest sea lion species. Taxonomy This species was first described by E. Sivertsen in 1953. It has been considered a subspecies of ''Zalophus californianus'' (called ''Z. c. wollebaeki'') by many authors. But recent genetic data supports ''Z. wollebaeki'' as a separate species. The species belongs to the family Otariidae and genus '' Zalophus''. Physical characteristics Slightly smaller than their Californian relatives, Galápagos sea lions range from in length and weigh between , with the males averaging larger than females. Adult males also tend to have a thicker, more robust neck, chest, and shoulders in comparison to their slender abdomen. Females, by contra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galapagos Land Iguana
The Galápagos land iguana (''Conolophus subcristatus'') is a very large species of lizard in the family Iguanidae. It is one of three species of the genus '' Conolophus''. It is endemic to the Galápagos Islands, in the dry lowlands of the islands of Fernandina, Isabela, Santa Cruz, North Seymour, Baltra, and South Plaza. Taxonomy The land iguanas in the Galápagos vary in morphology and coloration among different populations. In addition to the relatively widespread and well-known Galápagos land iguana (''C. subcristatus''), there are two other species of ''Conolophus'': the Galápagos pink land iguana (''C. marthae'') from northern Isabela Island and the Santa Fe land iguana (''C. pallidus'') from Santa Fe Island. Based on mtDNA, land iguanas and marine iguanas diverged about 8–10 million years ago. Within the land iguana genus, the oldest split based on mtDNA, about 5.7 million years old, is between ''C. subcristatus'' and ''C. marthae''. A more recent study t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
