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Jos Plateau Forest-grassland Mosaic
The Jos Plateau is a plateau located near the centre of Nigeria. The plateau has given its name to the Plateau State in which it is found and is named for the state's capital, Jos. The plateau is home to people of diverse cultures and languages. The plateau's montane grasslands, savannas, and forests are home to communities of plants and animals distinct from those of the surrounding lowlands and constitute the Jos Plateau forest-savanna mosaic ecoregion. Geography It covers 8600 km² and is bounded by 300–600 m escarpments around much of its boundary. With an average altitude of 1,280 m, it is the largest area over 1,000 m in Nigeria, with a high point of 1,829 m, in the Shere Hills. Several rivers have their sources on the plateau. The Kaduna River drains the western slopes, flowing southwest to join the Niger. The Gongola River drains eastwards to join the Benue. The Hadejia and Yobe rivers flow northeast into Lake Chad. Geology The Jos Plateau is dominated by th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afrotropical Realm
The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopian Zone or Ethiopian Region. Major ecological regions Most of the Afrotropic, with the exception of Africa's southern tip, has a tropical climate. A broad belt of deserts, including the Atlantic and Sahara deserts of northern Africa and the Arabian Desert of the Arabian Peninsula, separate the Afrotropic from the Palearctic realm, which includes northern Africa and temperate Eurasia. Sahel and Sudan South of the Sahara, two belts of tropical grassland and savanna run east and west across the continent, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ethiopian Highlands. Immediately south of the Sahara lies the Sahel belt, a transitional zone of semi-arid short grassland and vachellia sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benue River
The Benue River (french: la Bénoué), previously known as the Chadda River or Tchadda, is the major tributary of the Niger River. The river is approximately long and is almost entirely navigable during the summer months. The size of its basin is . As a result, it is an important transportation route in the regions through which it flows. Geography It rises in the Adamawa Plateau of northern Cameroon, from where it flows west, and through the town of Garoua and Lagdo Reservoir, into Nigeria south of the Mandara mountains, and through Jimeta, Ibi and Makurdi before meeting the Niger River at Lokoja. Large tributaries are the Faro River, the Gongola River and the Mayo Kébbi, which connects it with the Logone River (part of the Lake Chad system) during floods. Other tributaries are Taraba River and River Katsina Ala. At the point of confluence, the Benue exceeds the Niger by volume. The mean discharge before 1960 was for the Benue and for the Niger. During the following ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle Belt
The Middle Belt (also spelt Middle-Belt or Central Nigeria) is a term used in human geography to designate a belt region stretching across central Nigeria longitudinally and forming a transition zone between Northern and Southern Nigeria. It is composed of the southern half of the defunct Northern Region of Nigeria, now comprising mostly the North Central geopolitical zone, and is characterised by its lack of a clear majority ethnic group. It is also the location of Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory. The eminence of manifold minority groups, to some degree, constitutes an ethno-linguistic barrier in the country and draws a separation between the principally Muslim North and the mainly Christian south. The region is a convergence of these cultural domains and maintains a tremendous degree of ethno-linguistic diversity. Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan, and Niger–Congo languages are all spoken, which are three of the primary African language families. In the 1920s, it was des ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jos Plateau Indigobird
The Jos Plateau indigobird (''Vidua maryae'') is a species of bird in the family Viduidae. It was thought to be endemic to Nigeria, but has been recently reported from northern Cameroon. Mills, M.S.L. (2010). Rock Firefinch Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis and its brood parasite, Jos Plateau Indigobird Vidua maryae, in northern Cameroon. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 17(1): 86–89. It lays its eggs in the nest of the rock firefinch which is also restricted to Nigeria. Because of their inability to incubate their eggs, they lay their eggs in the nest of the rock firefinch and then take away the exact number of laid eggs from the host bird in order to avoid suspicion from the host bird . After hatching they exhibit dominance against the hatchlings of the rock firefinches. Their breeding seasons are all round the year but more pronounced during the cold Harmattan period between July and December. Its natural habitats are dry woodland and shrubland in rocky areas. It is threatened by habitat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rock Firefinch
The rock firefinch (''Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis'') is a species of estrildid finch found in the Jos Plateau of central Nigeria and in Cameroon. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 29,000 km2. The rock firefinch was discovered recently, in 1998. Rock firefinches fall in the family Estrildidae, which contains small passerine birds of the Old World and Australasia. Rock firefinches seem to be most closely related to Mali firefinches and Chad firefinches. The species name ''sanguinodorsalis'' means blood-red back, which was chosen because it describes the vibrant red back color of the male plumage. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern. Description Rock firefinches are sexually dimorphic, where adult males have more brightly colored plumage than adult females. Males are characterized by a bright red back and a deep red face, throat, breast, and belly. Females are characterized by a reddish-brown back, brownish-gray face, and a greyish-red thro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fox's Shaggy Rat
Fox's shaggy rat (''Dasymys foxi'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Nigeria. Its natural habitats are moist savanna, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, swampland, and plantations. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby .... References * Endemic fauna of Nigeria Dasymys Rodents of Africa Mammals described in 1912 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Murinae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nigerian Mole-rat
The Nigerian mole-rat (''Fukomys foxi'') is a species of rodent in the family Bathyergidae. It is found in northern Nigeria and Cameroon. A colonial, subterranean species, its natural habitats are tropical dry lowland grassland, riverside woodland and rocky places. Taxonomy The Nigerian mole-rat was first described by the British zoologist Oldfield Thomas in 1911. The species name ''"foxi"'' honours the Reverend George Fox who sent twelve specimens to the Natural History Museum in London where Thomas was the curator of mammals. Of these specimens, nine were of a similar size and appearance and two, a male and a female, were considerably larger with more massive heads. It is not clear whether these specimens were from a single colony, but it is quite possible that the two larger individuals were a breeding pair, and the others were non-breeding adults, a colony structure common among mole rats. Description The Nigerian mole-rat has been little studied. It is a small species with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Klipspringer
The klipspringer (; ''Oreotragus oreotragus'') is a small antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The sole member of its genus and subfamily/tribe, the klipspringer was first described by German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann in 1783. The klipspringer is a small, sturdy antelope; it reaches at the shoulder and weighs from . The coat of the klipspringer, yellowish gray to reddish brown, acts as an efficient camouflage in its rocky habitat. Unlike most other antelopes, the klipspringer has a thick and coarse coat with hollow, brittle hairs. The horns, short and spiky, typically measure . Typically nocturnal, the klipspringer rests during the middle of the day and late at night. A gregarious animal, the klipspringer is monogamous to a much greater extent than other antelopes; individuals of opposite sexes exhibit long-term to lifelong pair bonding. The mates tend to stay as close as within of each other at most times. Males form territories, , in which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forest–savanna Mosaic
Forest–savanna mosaic is a transitory ecotone between the tropical moist broadleaf forests of Equatorial Africa and the drier savannas and open woodlands to the north and south of the forest belt. The forest–savanna mosaic consists of drier forests, often gallery forest, interspersed with savannas and open grasslands. Flora This band of marginal savannahs bordering the dense dry forest extends from the Atlantic coast of Guinea to South Sudan, corresponding to a climatic zone with relatively high rainfall, between 800 and 1400 mm. It is an often unresolvable, complex of secondary forests and mixed savannas, resulting from intense erosion of primary forests by fire and clearing. The vegetation ceases to have an evergreen character, and becomes more and more seasonal. A species of acacia, the Faidherbia albida, marks, with its geographical distribution, the Guinean area of the savannahs together with the area of the forest-savannah, arboreal and shrub, and a good par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sahara
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Aïr Mountains
The Aïr Mountains or Aïr Massif ( tmh, Ayăr; Hausa: Eastern ''Azbin'', Western ''Abzin'') is a triangular massif, located in northern Niger, within the Sahara. Part of the West Saharan montane xeric woodlands ecoregion, they rise to more than and extend over . Lying in the midst of desert north of the 17th parallel, the Aïr plateau, with an average altitude between , forms an island of Sahel climate which supports a wide variety of life, many pastoral and farming communities, and dramatic geological and archaeological sites. There are notable archaeological excavations in the region that illustrate the prehistoric past of this region. The endangered African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus'') once existed in this region, but may now be extirpated due to human population pressures in this region. Geology The Precambrian to Cenozoic Aïr Mountains consist of peralkaline granite intrusions which appear dark in colour (unusual since most granitic masses are light-ton ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underground. It is common in the continental crust of Earth, where it is found in igneous intrusions. These range in size from dikes only a few centimeters across to batholiths exposed over hundreds of square kilometers. Granite is typical of a larger family of ''granitic rocks'', or ''granitoids'', that are composed mostly of coarse-grained quartz and feldspars in varying proportions. These rocks are classified by the relative percentages of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase (the QAPF classification), with true granite representing granitic rocks rich in quartz and alkali feldspar. Most granitic rocks also contain mica or amphibole minerals, though a few (known as leucogranites) contain almost no dark minerals. Granite is nearly alway ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
