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Miniopterus Griveaudi
''Miniopterus griveaudi'' is a bat in the genus ''Miniopterus'' found on Grande Comore and Anjouan in the Comoros and in northern and western Madagascar. First described in 1959 from Grande Comore as a subspecies of the mainland African '' M. minor'', it was later placed with the Malagasy '' M. manavi''. However, morphological and molecular studies published in 2008 and 2009 indicated that ''M. manavi'' as then defined contained five distinct, unrelated species, and ''M. griveaudi'' was redefined as a species occurring on both Madagascar and the Comoros. With a forearm length of , ''M. griveaudi'' is a small ''Miniopterus''. It is usually dark brown, but sometimes reddish. The tragus (a projection inside the ear) is narrow and ends in a rounded tip. The uropatagium (tail membrane) appears virtually naked. In the skull, the palate is concave and the rostrum (front part) is rounded. The species occurs up to above sea level on Madagascar, often in karstic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miniopterus
''Miniopterus'', known as the bent-winged or long winged bats, is the sole genus of the family Miniopteridae. They are small flying insectivorous mammals, micro-bats of the order Chiroptera, with wings over twice the length of the body. The genus had been placed in its own subfamily among the vespertilionid bats, as Miniopterinae, but is now classified as its own family. Taxonomy The genus was erected in 1837 by Charles L. Bonaparte. In the first systematic revision of the genus, published in a monograph of ''Miniopterus'' in 1858 by Robert F. Tomes, the author reallocated specimens and described new taxa. A new systematic arrangement was produced in an extensive study of poorly known chiropterans of the Indo-Austral region by James E. Hill in 1985, the greater resolution of the genus being determined by the British Museum of Natural History's acquisition of new series of specimens collected in Fiji, the New Hebrides and New Caledonia and the extensive collection made in New G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
São Tomé
São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its name is Portuguese for " Saint Thomas". Founded in the 15th century, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities. History Álvaro Caminha founded the colony of São Tomé in 1493. The Portuguese came to São Tomé in search of land to grow sugarcane. The island was uninhabited before the arrival of the Portuguese sometime around 1470. São Tomé, situated about north of the equator, had a climate wet enough to grow sugarcane in wild abundance. 2,000 Jewish children, eight years old and under, were taken from the Iberian peninsula for work on the sugar plantations. The nearby African Kingdom of Kongo eventually became a source of slave labor as well. The island of São Tomé was the main center of sugar production in the sixteenth century; it was overtaken by Brazil by 1600. São Tomé is centred on a sixteenth-century cathedral, that was largely rebuilt in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miniopterus Aelleni
''Miniopterus aelleni'' is a bat in the genus ''Miniopterus'' that occurs on Anjouan in the Comoros and in northern and western Madagascar. It is a small brown bat; its forearm length is . The long tragus (a projection in the outer ear) has a broad base and a blunt or rounded tip. The uropatagium (tail membrane) is sparsely haired. The palate is flat, and there are distinct diastemata (gaps) between the upper canines and premolars. Populations of this species have historically been included in ''Miniopterus manavi'', but evidence published in 2008 and 2009 indicates that ''M. manavi'' is a complex of five separate species, including the newly described ''M. aelleni''. ''M. aelleni'' has been found in forests and caves in karstic areas. Its distribution overlaps that of '' M. griveaudi'', also formerly included in ''M. manavi''. Taxonomy In a 1995 contribution to '' Faune de Madagascar'' on Malagasy bats, Randolph Peterson and colleagues listed four specie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Highlands (Madagascar)
The Central Highlands, Central High Plateau, or Hauts-Plateaux are a mountainous biogeographical region in central Madagascar. They include the contiguous part of the island's interior above 800 m (2,600 ft) altitude. The Central Highlands are separated from the Northern Highlands of the northern tip of Madagascar by a low-lying valley, the Mandritsara Window, which has apparently acted as a barrier to dispersal for species in the highlands, leading to species pairs such as ''Voalavo gymnocaudus'' and ''Voalavo antsahabensis'' in the Northern and Central Highlands. Species restricted to the Central Highlands include the bats '' Miniopterus manavi'' and '' Miniopterus sororculus''; the rodents '' Brachyuromys betsileoensis'' and ''Voalavo antsahabensis''; the tenrecs '' Hemicentetes nigriceps'' and '' Oryzorictes tetradactylus''; and the lemur '' Cheirogaleus sibreei''. Because of the continuous habitat of the Central Highlands, there is little local endemism Endemis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convergent Evolution
Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last common ancestor of those groups. The cladistic term for the same phenomenon is homoplasy. The recurrent evolution of flight is a classic example, as flying insects, birds, pterosaurs, and bats have independently evolved the useful capacity of flight. Functionally similar features that have arisen through convergent evolution are ''analogous'', whereas '' homologous'' structures or traits have a common origin but can have dissimilar functions. Bird, bat, and pterosaur wings are analogous structures, but their forelimbs are homologous, sharing an ancestral state despite serving different functions. The opposite of convergence is divergent evolution, where related species evolve different traits. Convergent evolution is similar to parallel evo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steven M
Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the first martyr (or "protomartyr") of the Christian Church. In English, Stephen is most commonly pronounced as ' (). The name, in both the forms Stephen and Steven, is often shortened to Steve or Stevie. The spelling as Stephen can also be pronounced which is from the Greek original version, Stephanos. In English, the female version of the name is Stephanie. Many surnames are derived from the first name, including Stephens, Stevens, Stephenson, and Stevenson, all of which mean "Stephen's (son)". In modern times the name has sometimes been given with intentionally non-standard spelling, such as Stevan or Stevon. A common variant of the name used in English is Stephan ; related names that have found some curr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, the equivalent Latin term ''cladus'' (plural ''cladi'') is often used in taxonomical literature. The common ancestor may be an individual, a population, or a species (extinct or extant). Clades are nested, one in another, as each branch in turn splits into smaller branches. These splits reflect evolutionary history as populations diverged and evolved independently. Clades are termed monophyletic (Greek: "one clan") groups. Over the last few decades, the cladistic approach has revolutionized biological classification and revealed surprising evolutionary relationships among organisms. Increasingly, taxonomists try to avoid naming taxa that are not clades; that is, taxa that are not monophyletic. Some of the relationships between organisms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
D-loop
In molecular biology, a displacement loop or D-loop is a DNA structure where the two strands of a double-stranded DNA molecule are separated for a stretch and held apart by a third strand of DNA. An R-loop is similar to a D-loop, but in this case the third strand is RNA rather than DNA. The third strand has a base sequence which is complementary to one of the main strands and pairs with it, thus displacing the other complementary main strand in the region. Within that region the structure is thus a form of triple-stranded DNA. A diagram in the paper introducing the term illustrated the D-loop with a shape resembling a capital "D", where the displaced strand formed the loop of the "D". D-loops occur in a number of particular situations, including in DNA repair, in telomeres, and as a semi-stable structure in mitochondrial circular DNA molecules. In mitochondria Researchers at Caltech discovered in 1971 that the circular mitochondrial DNA from growing cells included a short ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Molecular Phylogenetic
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to determine the processes by which diversity among species has been achieved. The result of a molecular phylogenetic analysis is expressed in a phylogenetic tree. Molecular phylogenetics is one aspect of molecular systematics, a broader term that also includes the use of molecular data in taxonomy and biogeography. Molecular phylogenetics and molecular evolution correlate. Molecular evolution is the process of selective changes (mutations) at a molecular level (genes, proteins, etc.) throughout various branches in the tree of life (evolution). Molecular phylogenetics makes inferences of the evolutionary relationships that arise due to molecular evolution and results in the construction of a phylogenetic tree. History The theoretical framew ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miniopterus Majori
Major's long-fingered bat (''Miniopterus majori'') is a species of vesper bat in the family Miniopteridae. It is found only in Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa .... It is similar to ''M. schreibersi'' of continental Africa, differing by having a shorter forearm, slightly longer digits and a narrow box-shaped skull. The pelage is often a greyish-brown colour, and the tragus is kidney-shaped and is a prominent feature. It is an insectivore and is viewed as a possible contributor to pest removal in Madagascar.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880918303761?via%3Dihub The species was named in honour of Swiss zoologist C. I. Forsyth Major. References Miniopteridae Bats of Africa Mammals described in 1906 Taxa named by Oldfield Thoma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miniopterus Newtoni
''Miniopterus newtoni'' is a species of bat that is endemic to São Tomé and Príncipe. Taxonomy ''Miniopterus newtoni'' was described as a new species in 1889 by Portuguese zoologist José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage. The holotype had been collected by Portuguese naturalist Francisco Newton. In the third edition of ''Mammal Species of the World'', Simmons et al. considered ''M. newtoni'' as a subspecies of the least long-fingered bat, ''M. minor''. However, in 2007, a mitochondrial DNA analysis rejected the assertion that ''M. minor'' and ''M. newtoni'' were synonymous. Juste et al. published that ''M. newtoni'' and ''M. minor'' had a genetic distance significant enough to regard each as separate species. Description It has a forearm length of approximately . Range and habitat ''M. newtoni'' is endemic to the nation of São Tomé and Príncipe, where it has only been documented on São Tomé Island. It has been documented in both forested habitat and plantations. Conservati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cytochrome B
Cytochrome b within both molecular and cell biology, is a protein found in the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells. It functions as part of the electron transport chain and is the main subunit of transmembrane cytochrome bc1 and b6f complexes. Function In the mitochondrion of eukaryotes and in aerobic prokaryotes, cytochrome b is a component of respiratory chain complex III () — also known as the bc1 complex or ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase. In plant chloroplasts and cyanobacteria, there is an analogous protein, cytochrome b6, a component of the plastoquinone-plastocyanin reductase (), also known as the b6f complex. These complexes are involved in electron transport, the pumping of protons to create a proton-motive force ( PMF). This proton gradient is used for the generation of ATP. These complexes play a vital role in cells. Structure Cytochrome b/b6 is an integral membrane protein of approximately 400 amino acid residues that probably has 8 transmembrane segments. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
