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Gargoyle Gecko
The gargoyle gecko, knob-headed giant gecko, New Caledonia bumpy gecko, or New Caledonian bumpy gecko (''Rhacodactylus auriculatus'') is a species of gecko found only on the southern end of the island of New Caledonia. Its habitat (ecology), habitat is threatened by deforestation on the island. This species of gecko is the smallest of the six recognized species in its genus where they often reach about 125 mm in size. This gecko, along with several other ''Rhacodactylus'' species are being considered for protective measures by CITES, which would put restrictions on their exportation. This gecko was first described by Bavay in 1869. Description This reptile gets its common name from the cranial bumps that give the appearance of horns or ears; in fact, ''auriculatus'' is Latin for "ears" or "eared", depending on the case. Other characteristics of this gecko include a thin prehensile tail which will regenerate if it drops off, as well as small adhesive toe pads. Although these ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur René Jean Baptiste Bavay
Arthur René Jean Baptiste Bavay (29 April 1840 in Lamballe – 1923) was a French pharmacist, herpetologist and malacologist. Trained as a naval pharmacist, Bavay's scientific contributions included investigations involving the flora and fauna of New Caledonia, migratory studies of mollusks crossing the Suez Canal and research of the malacological families Pectinidae and Marginellidae. With malacologist Philippe Dautzenberg, he conducted studies of terrestrial and freshwater mollusks of the Far East.Hylodes martinicensis'' and its metamorphosis * ''Récolte des mollusques: conseils aux voyageurs'', 1895. ollecting Mollusks: advice for travelers * ''Diagnoses de coquilles nouvelles de l'Indo-Chine'', 1900. (with Philippe Dautzenberg). seashell.html" ;"title="iagnoses of new seashell">iagnoses of new seashells from Indochina]. * ''Descriptions de quelques nouvelles espèces du Genre Pecten'', 1904. [Descriptions of some new species of the genus ''Pecten (bivalve), Pecten'' ]. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prehensile Tail
A prehensile tail is the tail of an animal that has adapted to grasp or hold objects. Fully prehensile tails can be used to hold and manipulate objects, and in particular to aid arboreal creatures in finding and eating food in the trees. If the tail cannot be used for this it is considered only partially prehensile - such tails are often used to anchor an animal's body to dangle from a branch, or as an aid for climbing. The term ''prehensile'' means "able to grasp" (from the Latin ''prehendere'', to take hold of, to grasp). Evolution One point of interest is the distribution of animals with prehensile tails. The prehensile tail is predominantly a New World adaptation, especially among mammals. Many more animals in South America have prehensile tails than in Africa and Southeast Asia. It has been argued that animals with prehensile tails are more common in South America because the forest there is denser than in Africa or Southeast Asia. In contrast, less dense forests such as in S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic Fauna Of New Caledonia
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example '' Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. '' Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies to s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geckos Of New Caledonia
Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from . Geckos are unique among lizards for their vocalisations, which differ from species to species. Most geckos in the family Gekkonidae use chirping or clicking sounds in their social interactions. Tokay geckos (''Gekko gecko'') are known for their loud mating calls, and some other species are capable of making hissing noises when alarmed or threatened. They are the most species-rich group of lizards, with about 1,500 different species worldwide. All geckos, except species in the family Eublepharidae lack eyelids; instead, the outer surface of the eyeball has a transparent membrane, the cornea. They have a fixed lens within each iris that enlarges in darkness to let in more light. Since they cannot blink, species without eyelids generally lick the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Captive Breeding
Captive breeding, also known as captive propagation, is the process of plants or animals in controlled environments, such as wildlife reserves, zoos, botanic gardens, and other conservation facilities. It is sometimes employed to help species that are being threatened by the effects of human activities such as climate change, habitat loss, fragmentation, over hunting or fishing, pollution, predation, disease, and parasitism. For many species, relatively little is known about the conditions needed for successful breeding. Information about a species' reproductive biology may be critical to the success of a captive breeding program. In some cases a captive breeding program can save a species from extinction, but for success, breeders must consider many factors—including genetic, ecological, behavioral, and ethical issues. Most successful attempts involve the cooperation and coordination of many institutions. History Captive breeding techniques began with the first human do ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthropod
Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arthropod cuticle, cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate. The arthropod body plan consists of segments, each with a pair of appendages. Arthropods are bilaterally symmetrical and their body possesses an exoskeleton, external skeleton. In order to keep growing, they must go through stages of moulting, a process by which they shed their exoskeleton to reveal a new one. Some species have wings. They are an extremely diverse group, with up to 10 million species. The haemocoel, an arthropod's internal cavity, through which its haemolymph – analogue of blood – circulates, accommodates its interior Organ (anatomy), organs; it has an open circulatory system. Like their exteriors, the internal or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the animal hatches. Most arthropods such as insects, vertebrates (excluding live-bearing mammals), and mollusks lay eggs, although some, such as scorpions, do not. Reptile eggs, bird eggs, and monotreme eggs are laid out of water and are surrounded by a protective shell, either flexible or inflexible. Eggs laid on land or in nests are usually kept within a warm and favorable temperature range while the embryo grows. When the embryo is adequately developed it hatches, i.e., breaks out of the egg's shell. Some embryos have a temporary egg tooth they use to crack, pip, or break the eggshell or covering. The largest recorded egg is from a whale shark and was in size. Whale shark eggs typically hatch within the mother. At and up to , the o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines a forest as, "Land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds ''in situ''. It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban use." Using this definition, '' Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020'' (FRA 2020) found that forests covered , or approximately 31 percent of the world's land area in 2020. Forests are the predominant terrestrial ecosystem of Earth, and are found around the globe. More than half of the world's forests are found in only five countries (Brazil, Canada, China, Russia, and the United States). The largest share of forests (45 percent) are in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arboreal
Arboreal locomotion is the Animal locomotion, locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose numerous mechanical challenges to animals moving through them and lead to a variety of anatomical, behavioral and ecological consequences as well as variations throughout different species.Cartmill, M. (1985). Climbing. In ''Functional Vertebrate Morphology'', eds. M. Hildebrand D. M. Bramble K. F. Liem and D. B. Wake, pp. 73–88. Cambridge: Belknap Press. Furthermore, many of these same principles may be applied to climbing without trees, such as on rock piles or mountains. Some animals are exclusively arboreal in habitat, such as the tree snail. Biomechanics Arboreal habitats pose numerous mechanical challenges to animals moving in them, which have been solved in diverse ways. These challenges include moving on n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CITES
CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of international trade. It was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The convention was opened for signature in 1973 and CITES entered into force on 1 July 1975. Its aim is to ensure that international trade (import/export) in specimens of animals and plants included under CITES, does not threaten the survival of the species in the wild. This is achieved via a system of permits and certificates. CITES affords varying degrees of protection to more than 38,000 species. , Secretary-General of CITES is Ivonne Higuero. Background CITES is one of the largest and oldest conservation and sustainable use agreements in existence. There are three working langu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basionym
In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botany and zoology. In zoology, alternate terms such as original combination or protonym are sometimes used instead. Bacteriology uses a similar term, basonym, spelled without an ''i''. Although "basionym" and "protonym" are often used interchangeably, they have slightly different technical definitions. A basionym is the ''correct'' spelling of the original name (according to the applicable nomenclature rules), while a protonym is the ''original'' spelling of the original name. These are typically the same, but in rare cases may differ. Use in botany The term "basionym" is used in botany only for the circumstances where a previous name exists with a useful description, and the '' International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhacodactylus
''Rhacodactylus'' is a genus of medium to large geckos of the family Diplodactylidae. All species in this genus are found on the islands that make up New Caledonia. Genus characteristics include long limbs and toes with well-developed lamellae. Some webbing occurs on the hind limbs and toes. ''Rhacodactylus'' possess prehensile tails which also have lamellae to assist in climbing. These are for the most part arboreal geckos. ''Rhacodactylus'' are nocturnal geckos. The species are egg layers with the exception of ''Rhacodactylus trachyrhynchus'' and ''R. trachycephalus'' which gives live birth, a characteristic only otherwise found in New Zealand geckos. They also feed on lizards, more so than any of the family. ''Rhacodactylus'' geckos are sexually dimorphic, with the males possessing larger preanal pores than the females as well as a distinct hemipenis pocket. Males tend to be stockier than females with the exception of ''R. auriculatus'' in which species the males are muc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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