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Megalochelys
''Megalochelys'' ("great turtle") is an extinct genus of cryptodiran tortoises that lived from the Miocene to Pleistocene. They are noted for their giant size, which is among the largest of any known testudine, with a maximum carapace length over 2 m (6.5 ft) in ''M. atlas''. During the dry glacial periods it ranged from western India and Pakistan (possibly even as far west as southern and eastern Europe) to as far east as Sulawesi and Timor in Indonesia, though the island specimens likely represent distinct species. Description One species of ''Megalochelys,'' ''M. atlas'', is the largest known tortoise, with a shell length of and even , and an approximate total height of . Popular weight estimates for this taxon have varied greatly with the highest estimates reaching up to in some instances.Orenstein, R. 2001. Survivors in Armor: Turtles, Tortoises, and Terrapins. Key Porter Books Ltd. However, weights based on volumetric displacement of the skeleton,Brown, B. 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tortoise
Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like other members of the suborder Cryptodira, they retract their necks and heads directly backward into the shell to protect them. Tortoises can vary in size with some species, such as the Galápagos tortoise, Galápagos giant tortoise, growing to more than in length, whereas others like the Chersobius signatus, Speckled cape tortoise have shells that measure only long. Several lineages of tortoises Giant tortoise, have independently evolved very large body sizes in excess of 100 kg, including the Galápagos tortoise, Galapagos giant tortoise and the Aldabra giant tortoise. They are usually Diurnality, diurnal animals with tendencies to be crepuscular depending on the ambient temperatures. They are generally reclusive animals. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geochelone
''Geochelone'' is a genus of tortoises. ''Geochelone'' tortoises, which are also known as typical tortoises or terrestrial turtles, can be found in southern Asia. They primarily eat plants. Species The genus consists of two extant species: A number of tortoise species have been recently removed from the genus. This taxon as formerly defined was "polyphyletic, representing at least five independent clades". Tortoises removed include members of ''Aldabrachelys'' (from the Seychelles and Madagascar), ''Astrochelys'' (Madagascar), ''Chelonoidis'' (South America and the Galápagos Islands), ''Stigmochelys'' and ''Centrochelys'' (Africa), and the extinct ''Megalochelys'' (southern Asia). These species are also unique for their ability to remember patterns and spatial pathways. Similar to mammals, these tortoises can remember directions and pathways by remembering the correct pathways in their long-term memory. Fossils * ''Geochelone burchardi'' Tenerife giant tortoise * ''Geochelon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sulawesi
Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. Within Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and New Guinea, Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger populations. The landmass of Sulawesi includes four peninsulas: the northern Minahassa Peninsula, Minahasa Peninsula, the East Peninsula, Sulawesi, East Peninsula, the South Peninsula, Sulawesi, South Peninsula, and the Southeast Peninsula, Sulawesi, Southeast Peninsula. Three gulfs separate these peninsulas: the Gulf of Tomini between the northern Minahasa and East peninsulas, the Tolo Gulf between the East and Southeast peninsulas, and the Bone Gulf between the South and Southeast peninsulas. The Strait of Makassar runs along the western side of the island and separates the island from Borneo. Etymology ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh Falconer
Hugh Falconer MD FRS (29 February 1808 – 31 January 1865) was a Scottish geologist, botanist, palaeontologist, and paleoanthropologist. He studied the flora, fauna, and geology of India, Assam,Burma,and most of the Mediterranean islands and was the first to suggest the modern evolutionary theory of punctuated equilibrium. He studied the Siwalik fossil beds, and may also have been the first person to discover a fossil ape. Early life Falconer was the youngest son of David Falconer of Forres, Elginshire. In 1826 Hugh Falconer graduated at the University of Aberdeen, where he studied natural history. Afterward, he studied medicine in the University of Edinburgh, taking the degree of MD in 1829.Arnold, David (2006) ''The Tropics and the Traveling Gaze: India, Landscape, and Science, 1800–1856'' University of Washington Press, Seattlepp. 156–157 During this period he zealously attended the botanical classes of Prof. R. Graham (1786–1845), and those on geology by Prof ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Centrochelys
''Centrochelys'' is a genus of tortoise. It contains one extant species and several extinct species: * ''Centrochelys atlantica'' * ''Centrochelys burchardi'' * ''Centrochelys marocana'' * ''Centrochelys robusta'' * ''Centrochelys vulcanica'' * ''Centrochelys sulcata'' (African spurred tortoise) The largest species, ''C. marocana'', reached in carapace length. The conservation status of ''Centrochelys sulcata '' has been changed from Vulnerable to Threatened with extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ... because of seasonal wildfires, the international pet trade, and competition for food and space with other domestic animals. References {{Testudinidae Turtle genera Reptile genera with one living s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cladistics
Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups (" clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived characteristics ( synapomorphies'')'' that are not present in more distant groups and ancestors. However, from an empirical perspective, common ancestors are inferences based on a cladistic hypothesis of relationships of taxa whose character states can be observed. Theoretically, a last common ancestor and all its descendants constitute a (minimal) clade. Importantly, all descendants stay in their overarching ancestral clade. For example, if the terms ''worms'' or ''fishes'' were used within a ''strict'' cladistic framework, these terms would include humans. Many of these terms are normally used paraphyletically, outside of cladistics, e.g. as a 'grade', which are fruitless to precisely delineate, especially when including extinct species. R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flores
Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and the population was 1,878,875 in the 2020 Census (including various offshore islands); the official estimate as at mid 2021 was 1,897,550. The largest towns are Maumere and Ende. The name ''Flores'' is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "Flowers". Flores is located east of Sumbawa and the Komodo islands, and west of the Solor Islands and the Alor Archipelago. To the southeast is Timor. To the south, across the Sumba Strait, is Sumba island and to the north, beyond the Flores Sea, is Sulawesi. Among all islands containing Indonesian territory, Flores is the 10th most populous after Java, Sumatra, Borneo ( Kalimantan), Sulawesi, New Guinea, Bali, Madura, Lombok, and Timor and also the 10th biggest island of Indonesia. Until the arr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List of islands by population, most populous island, home to approximately 56% of the Demographics of Indonesia, Indonesian population. Indonesia's capital city, Jakarta, is on Java's northwestern coast. Many of the best known events in Indonesian history took place on Java. It was the centre of powerful Hindu-Buddhist empires, the Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies. Java was also the center of the History of Indonesia, Indonesian struggle for independence during the 1930s and 1940s. Java dominates Indonesia politically, economically and culturally. Four of Indonesia's eight UNESCO world heritage sites are located in Java: Ujung Kulon National Park, Borobudur Temple, Prambanan Temple, and Sangiran Early Man Site. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southern subregion of a single continent called America. South America is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean; North America and the Caribbean Sea lie to the northwest. The continent generally includes twelve sovereign states: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela; two dependent territories: the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; and one internal territory: French Guiana. In addition, the ABC islands of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Ascension Island (dependency of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a British Overseas Territory), Bouvet Island ( dependency of Norway), Pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nomen Dubium
In binomial nomenclature, a ''nomen dubium'' (Latin for "doubtful name", plural ''nomina dubia'') is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application. Zoology In case of a ''nomen dubium'' it may be impossible to determine whether a specimen belongs to that group or not. This may happen if the original type series (i. e. holotype, isotype, syntype or paratype) is lost or destroyed. The zoological and botanical codes allow for a new type specimen, or neotype, to be chosen in this case. A name may also be considered a ''nomen dubium'' if its name-bearing type is fragmentary or lacking important diagnostic features (this is often the case for species known only as fossils). To preserve stability of names, the ''International Code of Zoological Nomenclature'' allows a new type specimen, or neotype, to be chosen for a ''nomen dubium'' in this case. 75.5. Replacement of unidentifiable name-bearing type by a neotype. When an author considers that the taxonomic identity of a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Spurred Tortoise
The African spurred tortoise (''Centrochelys sulcata''), also called the sulcata tortoise, is a species of tortoise inhabiting the southern edge of the Sahara desert in Africa. It is the largest mainland species of tortoise in the world, and the third-largest in the world. It is the last remaining species in its genus, Centrochelys, with the five other species in the family already extinct. Taxonomy and etymology The African spurred tortoise is apart of the: * Animalia kingdom * Bilateral Subkingdom * Deuterostomia Infrakingdom * Chordata Phylum * Vertebrata Subphylum * Gnathostomata Infraphylum * Tetrapoda superclass * Reptilia class * Testudines order * Crytodira suborder * Testudinoidea superfamily * Testudinidae family * Centrochelys genus The taxonomic species name is Centrochelys sulcata and is otherwise known as C. sulcata. Its specific name ''sulcata'' is from the Latin word ''sulcus'' meaning "furrow" and refers to the furrows on the tortoise's scales. At first the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Lydekker
Richard Lydekker (; 25 July 1849 – 16 April 1915) was an English naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history. Biography Richard Lydekker was born at Tavistock Square in London. His father was Gerard Wolfe Lydekker, a barrister-at-law with Dutch ancestry. The family moved to Harpenden Lodge soon after Richard's birth. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took a first-class in the Natural Science tripos (1872). In 1874 he joined the Geological Survey of India and made studies of the vertebrate palaeontology of northern India (especially Kashmir). He remained in this post until the death of his father in 1881. His main work in India was on the Siwalik palaeofauna; it was published in ''Palaeontologia Indica''. He was responsible for the cataloguing of the fossil mammals, reptiles, and birds in the Natural History Museum (10 vols., 1891). He named a variety of taxa including the golden-bellied mangabey; as a taxon authority he is nam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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