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List Of Biogeographical Puzzles
This is a list of taxa whose location or distribution is notably difficult to explain; e.g., species which came to occupy a range distant from that of their closest relatives by a process or history that is not understood, or is a subject of controversy. Specific taxa *Mammals **Falkland Islands wolf **Gansu mole **Pennant's colobus *Birds **Elephant birds **Moa **Nicobar megapode *Reptiles **''Brachylophus'' **'' Lapitiguana'' **''Phelsuma andamanense'' Assemblages of taxa *Lusitanian flora The Lusitanian flora is a small assemblage of plants that show a restricted and specific distribution in that they are mostly only to be found in the Iberian Peninsula or southwest Ireland. Generally, the plants are not found in England or western ... References {{DEFAULTSORT:Biogeographical puzzles Biogeography Lists of animals ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Falkland Islands Wolf
Falkland may refer to: * Falkland, British Columbia, a community in Canada * Falkland, Nova Scotia, a community in Canada * Falkland Islands, an archipelago in the south Atlantic Ocean * Falkland, Fife, a former burgh in Fife, Scotland ** Falkland Palace, royal residence of the Kings of Scots in Falkland, Fife, Scotland ** Viscount Falkland, a Scottish peerage title, named after Falkland, Fife, Scotland * Falkland, North Carolina, a town in the United States * Falkland (Redd Shop, Virginia), U.S., a historic plantation house See also * Falkland Ridge, Nova Scotia, a community in Canada * Falkland Sound, a strait separating West Falkland and East Falkland * South Falkland, an English colony on Newfoundland * * * Folkland (other) * Malvinas (other) * Malvina (other) Malvina is a feminine given name derived from the Gaelic, invented by the Scottish poet James Macpherson. Malvina may also refer to: * Malvina, Mississippi * ''Malvina'', an opera by Nico ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gansu Mole
The Gansu mole (''Scapanulus oweni'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae endemic to central China, where it occurs in Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, and Qinghai. It is the only species in the genus ''Scapanulus''. Along with the Medog mole (''Alpiscaptulus medogensis''), which is also found in the mountains of China, the Gansu mole is the only member of the tribe Scalopini to not live in North America. Phylogenetic and fossil evidence indicates that the scalopine moles evolved in Eurasia and migrated to North America during the Neogene; however, the Gansu and Medog moles are not relict Eurasian scalopine moles, but are descendants of North American scalopine moles that migrated back to Eurasia; the hairy-tailed mole (''Parascalops breweri'') of North America is more closely related to them than it is to the other two North American scalopine genera. Phylogenetic evidence supports the Gansu and Medog moles being the closest living relatives of one another and diverging the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pennant's Colobus
Pennant's colobus or Pennant's red colobus (''Piliocolobus pennantii'') is a species of tree-dwelling primate in the family Cercopithecidae. It is endemic to tropical Central Africa. Three subspecies have traditionally been recognised but its distribution is peculiarly disjunct and has been considered a biogeographical puzzle, with one population on the island of Bioko (Equatorial Guinea), a second in the Niger River Delta in southern Nigeria, and a third in east-central Republic of Congo. It is found in rainforests and marshy forests. It is threatened by habitat loss and hunting for bushmeat. Taxonomy and etymology Pennant's colobus was first described in 1838 by George Robert Waterhouse, curator at the Zoological Society of London's museum, and was named in honour of the naturalist and traveller Thomas Pennant. Three subspecies of this red colobus are traditionally recognized: The Bioko red colobus (''Procolobus pennantii pennantii''), the Niger Delta red colobus (''Procolobus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elephant Bird
Elephant birds are members of the extinct ratite family Aepyornithidae, made up of flightless birds that once lived on the island of Madagascar. They are thought to have become extinct around 1000-1200 CE, probably as a result of human activity. Elephant birds comprised the genera ''Mullerornis'', ''Vorombe'' and ''Aepyornis''. While they were in close geographical proximity to the ostrich, their closest living relatives are kiwi (found only in New Zealand), suggesting that ratites did not diversify by vicariance during the breakup of Gondwana but instead evolved from ancestors that dispersed more recently by flying. In September 2018, scientists determined that ''Vorombe titan'' reached weights of and stood tall, making it the world's largest and heaviest bird, slightly larger than the much older ''Dromornis stirtoni''. Other members of the family were also very large, exhibiting the phenomenon of island gigantism. Description Elephant birds have been extinct since at lea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicobar Megapode
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] |
Brachylophus
The genus ''Brachylophus'' consists of four extant iguanid species native to the islands of Fiji and a giant extinct species from Tonga in the South West Pacific. One of the extant species, ''B. fasciatus'', is also present on Tonga, where it has apparently been introduced by humans. Etymology and taxonomy The name, ''Brachylophus'', is derived from two Greek words: brachys (βραχύς) meaning "short" and lophos (λόφος) meaning "crest" or "plume", denoting the short spiny crests found along the backs of these species. ''Brachylophus'' species are the most geographically isolated iguanas in the world. Their closest extant relatives (the genera ''Amblyrhynchus'', ''Conolophus'', ''Ctenosaura'', ''Cyclura'', ''Iguana'' and '' Sauromalus'') are present in primarily tropical regions of the Americas and islands in the Galápagos and Lesser and Greater Antilles. Several of these genera are adapted to xeric biomes. Phylogenetic evidence supports the ''Brachylophus'' lineage to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lapitiguana
''Lapitiguana impensa'' is an extinct giant (1.5 m long) iguanid from Fiji. It probably became extinct following the human colonization of Fiji 3000 years ago. All extant Fijian iguanas are in the genus ''Brachylophus'', together with an extinct species from Tonga. The closest living relatives of the Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...n iguanas are found in the Americas. See also *'' Brachylophus gibbonsi'' *'' Pumilia novaceki'' References External linksFossil remains of the giant iguana ''Lapitiguana impensa'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andaman Day Gecko
The Andaman day gecko (''Phelsuma andamanensis''), also known as the Andaman Islands day gecko, is a species of gecko in the genus ''Phelsuma''. It is endemic to the Andaman Islands of India, and has recently been introduced to the Nicobar islands. It is a small, slender lizard, has a bright green colour and feeds on insects. Its range is nearly 5000 km away from the centre of the distribution area of the genus ''Phelsuma'', in Mauritius and Madagascar. Taxonomy Phylogenetic evidence indicates that ''P. andamanensis'' is the most basal extant member of the genus ''Phelsuma'', having diverged from the clade containing all the Western Indian Ocean ''Phelsuma'' species during the late Oligocene, about 27 million years ago. In its home range, an immense genetic diversity of mitochondrial haplotypes is seen among individuals, indicating that it had colonized the Andamans entirely naturally and not due to humans somehow transporting it from the Western Indian Ocean islands. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lusitanian Flora
The Lusitanian flora is a small assemblage of plants that show a restricted and specific distribution in that they are mostly only to be found in the Iberian Peninsula or southwest Ireland. Generally, the plants are not found in England or western France even though suitable habitat almost certainly exists in those regions. The plants currently number about 15 species in total and include examples such as Irish fleabane, strawberry tree and St Patrick's-cabbage. The group is of particular interest and importance since it is currently not understood how the current geographical distribution came about. This biogeographical puzzle has been a topic of academic debate since the middle of the 19th century. Conflicting, and as yet unresolved theories centre on whether the Irish populations are a relict, surviving from before the last ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biogeography
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. 1957 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
