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Oropendola Nests, Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
Oropendolas are a genus of passerine birds, ''Psarocolius'', in the New World blackbird family Icteridae. They were formerly split among two or three different genera and are found in Central and South America. All the oropendolas are large birds with pointed bills, and long tails which are always at least partially bright yellow. Males are usually larger than females. The plumage is typically chestnut, dark brown or black, although the Green oropendola and olive oropendola have, as their names imply, an olive coloration to the head, breast and upper back. The legs are dark, but the bill is usually a strikingly contrasting feature, either pale yellow, or red-tipped with a green or black base. In several species there is also a blue or pink bare cheek patch. Oropendolas are birds associated with forests or, for a few species, more open woodland. They are colonial breeders, with several long woven basket nests in a tree, each hanging from the end of a branch. These gregarious bi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montezuma Oropendola
The Montezuma oropendola (''Psarocolius montezuma'') is a New World tropical icterid bird. It is a resident breeder in the Caribbean coastal lowlands from southeastern Mexico to central Panama, but is absent from El Salvador and southern Guatemala. It also occurs on the Pacific slope of Nicaragua and Honduras and northwestern and southwestern Costa Rica. It is among the oropendola species sometimes separated in the genus ''Gymnostinops''. The English and scientific names of this species commemorate the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II. Description Adult males are mainly chestnut with a blackish head and rump, and a tail which is bright yellow apart from two dark central feathers. There is a bare blue cheek patch and a pink wattle, the iris is brown, and the long bill is black at the base with a red tip. Females are similar, but smaller than males with a smaller wattle. Young birds are duller than adults and have a paler and less demarcated bill. No subspecies are currently recognize ... [...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] |
Helm Identification Guides
The ''Helm Identification Guides'' are a series of books that identify groups of birds. The series include two types of guides, those that are: * Taxonomic, dealing with a particular family of birds on a worldwide scale—most early Helm Guides were this type, as well as many more-recent ones, although some later books deal with identification of such groups on a regional scale only (e.g., ''The Gulls Guide,'' which covers only species in Europe, Asia, and North America) * Geographic, including all bird species in an area (e.g., ''The Birds of the West Indies'') Early volumes were sometimes published under the Croom Helm or Christopher Helm imprints. In addition, a parallel set of guides, very similar in design, was published by Pica Press in the 1990s (marked ''Pica'' in the list below); Pica was later absorbed into A & C Black (now part of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc), and all guides are now marketed as a single series. Several of the books have won the British Birds ''Bird B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispecific" or "monospecific" is sometimes preferred. In botanical nomenclature, a monotypic genus is a genus in the special case where a genus and a single species are simultaneously described. In contrast, an oligotypic taxon contains more than one but only a very few subordinate taxa. Examples Just as the term ''monotypic'' is used to describe a taxon including only one subdivision, the contained taxon can also be referred to as monotypic within the higher-level taxon, e.g. a genus monotypic within a family. Some examples of monotypic groups are: Plants * In the order Amborellales, there is only one family, Amborellaceae and there is only one genus, '' Amborella'', and in this genus there is only one species, namely ''Amborella trichopoda. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cacique (bird)
The caciques are passerine birds in the New World blackbird family which are resident breeders in tropical South America north to Mexico. All of the group are in currently placed in the genus ''Cacicus'', except the aberrant yellow-billed cacique (''Amblycercus holosericeus''), and the Mexican cacique (''Cassiculus melanicterus'') which constitute respective monotypic genera. Judging from mitochondrial DNA cytochrome ''b'' and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 sequence (Price & Lanyon 2002), the aberrant oropendolas band-tailed oropendola (''Ocyalus latirostris'') and casqued oropendola, ''Psarocolius oseryi'' (''Ocyalus oseryi''?) seem to be closer to the caciques. The caciques are birds associated with woodland or forest. Most are colonial breeders, with several long, hanging, bag-shaped nests in a tree, each suspended from the end of a branch. Some species choose a tree that also contains an active wasp nest (such as ''Polybia rejecta'') as a deterrent to predators (e.g. toucan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casqued Oropendola
The casqued oropendola (''Cacicus oseryi'') is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...s. References casqued oropendola casqued oropendola Birds of the Ecuadorian Amazon Birds of the Peruvian Amazon casqued oropendola casqued oropendola Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Icteridae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Band-tailed Oropendola
The band-tailed oropendola (''Cacicus latirostris'') is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is found at low densities in the western Amazon in Brazil, Ecuador, Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ... and far southern Colombia. References band-tailed oropendola Birds of the Amazon Basin Birds of the Ecuadorian Amazon Birds of the Peruvian Amazon band-tailed oropendola Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Icteridae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morphology (biology)
Morphology is a branch of biology dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features. This includes aspects of the outward appearance (shape, structure, colour, pattern, size), i.e. external morphology (or eidonomy), as well as the form and structure of the internal parts like bones and organs, i.e. internal morphology (or anatomy). This is in contrast to physiology, which deals primarily with function. Morphology is a branch of life science dealing with the study of gross structure of an organism or taxon and its component parts. History The etymology of the word "morphology" is from the Ancient Greek (), meaning "form", and (), meaning "word, study, research". While the concept of form in biology, opposed to function, dates back to Aristotle (see Aristotle's biology), the field of morphology was developed by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1790) and independently by the German anatomist and physiologist Karl Friedrich Burdach ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phylogeny
A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological species or other entities based upon similarities and differences in their physical or genetic characteristics. All life on Earth is part of a single phylogenetic tree, indicating common ancestry. In a ''rooted'' phylogenetic tree, each node with descendants represents the inferred most recent common ancestor of those descendants, and the edge lengths in some trees may be interpreted as time estimates. Each node is called a taxonomic unit. Internal nodes are generally called hypothetical taxonomic units, as they cannot be directly observed. Trees are useful in fields of biology such as bioinformatics, systematics, and phylogenetics. ''Unrooted'' trees illustrate only the relatedness of the leaf nodes and do not require the ancestral root to be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DNA Sequence
DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. The advent of rapid DNA sequencing methods has greatly accelerated biological and medical research and discovery. Knowledge of DNA sequences has become indispensable for basic biological research, DNA Genographic Projects and in numerous applied fields such as medical diagnosis, biotechnology, forensic biology, virology and biological systematics. Comparing healthy and mutated DNA sequences can diagnose different diseases including various cancers, characterize antibody repertoire, and can be used to guide patient treatment. Having a quick way to sequence DNA allows for faster and more individualized medical care to be administered, and for more organisms to be identified and cataloged. The rapid speed of sequencing attained with modern D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protein Subunit
In structural biology, a protein subunit is a polypeptide chain or single protein molecule that assembles (or "''coassembles''") with others to form a protein complex. Large assemblies of proteins such as viruses often use a small number of types of protein subunits as building blocks. A subunit is often named with a Greek or Roman letter, and the numbers of this type of subunit in a protein is indicated by a subscript. For example, ATP synthase has a type of subunit called α. Three of these are present in the ATP synthase molecule, leading to the designation α3. Larger groups of subunits can also be specified, like α3β3-hexamer and c-ring. Naturally-occurring proteins that have a relatively small number of subunits are referred to as oligomeric.Quote: ''Oligomer molecule: A molecule of intermediate relative molecular mass, the structure of which essentially comprises a small plurality of units derived, actually or conceptually, from molecules of lower relative molecular ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NADH Dehydrogenase
NADH dehydrogenase is an enzyme that converts nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) from its reduced form (NADH) to its oxidized form (NAD+). Members of the NADH dehydrogenase family and analogues are commonly systematically named using the format ''NADH:acceptor oxidoreductase''. The chemical reaction these enzymes catalyze are generally represented with the follow equation; : NADH + H+ + acceptor NAD+ + reduced acceptor NADH dehydrogenase is a flavoprotein that contains iron-sulfur centers. NADH dehydrogenase is used in the electron transport chain for generation of ATP. The EC term NADH dehydrogenase (quinone) (EC 1.6.5.11) is defined for NADH dehydrogenases that use a quinone (excluding ubiquinone) as the acceptor. The EC term NADH dehydrogenase (ubiquinone) Respiratory complex I, (also known as NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase, Type I NADH dehydrogenase and mitochondrial complex I) is the first large protein complex of the respiratory chains of many organisms from bac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
