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Living Coast Discovery Center
The Living Coast Discovery Center is an environmental education center with marine animal, animal and bird exhibits located in the Sweetwater Marsh Unit of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge in Chula Vista, California. Permanent displays at the Living Coast focus on native animals and plants found in Southern California and San Diego Bay. Exhibits The site consists of several large exhibit spaces: * Turtle Lagoon - Eastern Pacific green sea turtles * Discovery Center Galleria - includes seahorses, jellyfish, eels, sharks, lobsters, crabs, octopus, garibaldi damselfish, sea stars, snakes, lizards * Shark & Ray Experience & Sting Ray Touch pool - Leopard sharks, grey smooth-hound sharks, horn sharks, swell shark, shovelnose guitarfish, bat rays, round rays, diamond rays, crabs, fish, and loggerhead sea turtle * Burrowing Owl Courtyard * Shorebird Aviary - light-footed clapper rail, snowy egret, black-crowned night heron, Black oystercatcher, red-breasted merganser, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chula Vista, California
Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh largest city in Southern California, the List of largest California cities by population, fifteenth largest city in the state of California, and the List of United States cities by population, 78th-largest city in the United States. The population was 275,487 as of the 2020 census, up from 243,916 as of the 2010 census. Located about halfway——between the two downtowns of San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area, San Diego and Tijuana in the South Bay (San Diego County), South Bay, the city is at the center of one of the richest culturally diverse zones in the United States. Chula Vista is so named because of its scenic location between the San Diego Bay and coastal mountain foothills. The area, along with San Diego, was inhabited by the Kumeyaay before contact from the Spanish, who later claimed the area. In 1821, Chula Vista became part of the newl ... [...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] |
Snowy Egret
The snowy egret (''Egretta thula'') is a small white heron. The genus name comes from Provençal French for the little egret, , which is a diminutive of , 'heron'. The species name ''thula'' is the Araucano term for the black-necked swan, applied to this species in error by Chilean naturalist Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782.Jobling, 2010, p.143, 385 The snowy egret is the American counterpart to the very similar Old World little egret, which has become established in the Bahamas. At one time, the plumes of the snowy egret were in great demand as decorations for women's hats. They were hunted for these plumes and this reduced the population of the species to dangerously low levels. Now protected in the United States by law, under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, this bird's population has rebounded. Description Adult snowy egrets are entirely white apart from the yellow lores between the long black bill and the eye, black legs, and bright yellow feet. The nape and neck bear long, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ridgway's Rail
Ridgway's rail (''Rallus obsoletus'') is a near-threatened species of bird. It is found principally in California's San Francisco Bay to southern Baja California. A member of the rail family, Rallidae, it is a chicken-sized bird that rarely flies. This species is closely related to the clapper rail, and until recently was considered a subspecies. It has a long, downward curving bill and is grayish brown with a pale chestnut breast and conspicuous whitish rump patch. The population levels of Ridgway's rail are precariously low due to destruction of its coastal and estuarine marshland habitat by prior land development and shoreline fill. It has year-long, circadian activity and is most vocal nocturnally and crepuscularly. The Ridgway's rail pertains to the Rallidae family within order Gruiformes. The California subspecies naturally exists in tidal salt and brackish marshes. These ecosystems are subjected to freely flowing daily tidal flows, a sustainable amount of prey food supp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burrowing Owl
The burrowing owl (''Athene cunicularia''), also called the shoco, is a small, long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Burrowing owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or any other open, dry area with low vegetation. They nest and roost in burrows, such as those excavated by prairie dogs (''Cynomys'' spp.). Unlike most owls, burrowing owls are often active during the day, although they tend to avoid the midday heat. Like many other kinds of owls, though, burrowing owls do most of their hunting during dusk and dawn, when they can use their night vision and hearing to their advantage. Living in open grasslands as opposed to forests, the burrowing owl has developed longer legs that enable it to sprint, as well as fly, when hunting. Taxonomy The burrowing owl was formally described by Spanish naturalist Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782 under the binomial name ''Strix cunicularia'' from a specimen collected in Chi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loggerhead Sea Turtle
The loggerhead sea turtle (''Caretta caretta'') is a species of oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around in carapace length when fully grown. The adult loggerhead sea turtle weighs approximately , with the largest specimens weighing in at more than . The skin ranges from yellow to brown in color, and the shell is typically reddish brown. No external differences in sex are seen until the turtle becomes an adult, the most obvious difference being the adult males have thicker tails and shorter plastrons (lower shells) than the females. The loggerhead sea turtle is found in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea. It spends most of its life in saltwater and estuarine habitats, with females briefly coming ashore to lay eggs. The loggerhead sea turtle has a low reproductive rate; females lay an average of four egg clutches and then become ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of living fish species are ray-finned fish, belonging to the class Actinopterygii, with around 99% of those being teleosts. The earliest organisms that can be classified as fish were soft-bodied chordates that first appeared during the Cambrian period. Although they lacked a true spine, they possessed notochords which allowed them to be more agile than their invertebrate counterparts. Fish would continue to evolve through the Paleozoic era, diversifying into a wide variety of forms. Many fish of the Paleozoic developed external armor that protected them from predators. The first fish with jaws appeared in the Silurian period, after which many (such as sharks) became formidable marine predators rather than just the prey of arthropods. Mos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diamond Ray
The backwater butterfly ray, butterfly ray, diamond ray, or short-tailed ray (''Gymnura natalensis'') is a species of fish in the family Gymnuridae. It is found in Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, possibly Kenya, and possibly Tanzania. Its natural habitats are open seas, shallow seas, estuarine waters, and coastal saline lagoons. 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 .... It was considered common from 1940s-1960s. References Gymnura Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Fish described in 1911 Taxa named by John Dow Fisher Gilchrist Taxa named by William Wardlaw Thompson {{Rajiformes-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Urotrygonidae
Urotrygonidae is a family of rays in the order Myliobatiformes, commonly referred to as the American round stingrays or round rays. They are native to the tropical and warm temperate marine waters of the Americas. The two genera in this family were formerly placed within the family Urolophidae, whose species are now restricted to the Indo-Pacific. They have a round pectoral fin disk, a slender tail with a caudal fin, no dorsal fins, and a venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...ous tail spine. References Myliobatiformes Ray families {{Chondrichthyes-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bat Ray
The bat ray (''Myliobatis californica'')Gill, T.N. (1865). "Note on the family of myliobatoids, and on a new species of ''Aetobatis''". ''Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. N. Y.'' 8, 135–138. is an eagle ray found in muddy or sandy sloughs, estuaries and bays, kelp beds and rocky-bottomed shoreline in the eastern Pacific Ocean, between the Oregon coast and the Gulf of California. It is also found in the area around the Galápagos Islands.Florida Museum of Natural HistoryBat Ray Biological Profile Retrieved 2006-01-16. The largest specimens can grow to a wingspan of and a mass of .Monterey Bay Aquarium Online Field GuideBat Ray Retrieved 2012-06-14. They more typically range from . The size of the bat ray is dependent on many factors, such as habitat alterations, different oceanographic and environmental conditions. Bat rays have one to three venomous barbed spines at the base of its tail. Some bat rays are solitary while others form schools numbering in the thousands. The sexual maturit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shovelnose Guitarfish
The shovelnose guitarfish, ''Rhinobatos productus'', is a ray in the family Rhinobatidae. It becomes mature at an estimated seven to eight years old. Males are between 90 and 100 cm long, while females are around 99 cm at that age.Timmons, M and Bray, R. Age, growth, and sexual maturity of shovelnose guitarfish, Rhinobatos productus. ''Fishery Bulletin'' 95:349–359 (1997). The ray can live up to 11 years, and full-grown sizes are around 120 cm for males, and females reach 137 cm. They range from central south to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swell Shark
The swell shark (''Cephaloscyllium ventriosum'') is a catshark in the family Scyliorhinidae. It is found in the tropical and subtropical eastern Pacific Ocean from between central California to southern Mexico, with an additional population off the coast of Chile. As a defense, the swell shark is able to expand to approximately double its regular size by swallowing water. Taxonomy When discovered in 1880, the swell shark was first described as ''Scyllium ventriosum'', but was later changed to ''Cephaloscyllium ventriosum''. The genus name comes from the Greek word ''kephale'', which means "head", and ''skylla'', which means a certain kind of shark. The species name comes from the Latin word ''ventrĭōsus'', which means "large-bellied". The species name refers to its ability to enlarge itself by taking in water. Distribution and habitat The swell shark is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean, from the central California coast to southern Mexico. There is an additional population ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
