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Paedophryne Swiftorum
''Paedophryne swiftorum'' is a species of frog from Papua New Guinea discovered in 2008 and formally described in January 2012. It lives among leaf litter on the tropical rainforest floor and was named after the Swift family who had provided funds for establishing the Kamiali Biological Station where the new species was found. Discovery ''Paedophryne swiftorum'' was first discovered by a student on a 2008 Cornell University expedition to Papua New Guinea. The male frog makes a series of double clicks which the investigators had previously heard but had thought to be made by Cricket (insect), crickets. Hearing this sound at close quarters while examining a millipede in the leaf litter, Michael Gründler turned his head and saw a minute frog rhythmically inflating its vocal sac. Measuring just , it might have been thought not to be fully grown except for the fact that calling is normally only done by mature male frogs as an advertisement to attract females. ''Paedophryne swiftorum' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paratype
In zoology and botany, a paratype is a specimen of an organism that helps define what the scientific name of a species and other taxon actually represents, but it is not the holotype (and in botany is also neither an isotype nor a syntype). Often there is more than one paratype. Paratypes are usually held in museum research collections. The exact meaning of the term ''paratype'' when it is used in zoology is not the same as the meaning when it is used in botany. In both cases however, this term is used in conjunction with ''holotype''. Zoology In zoological nomenclature, a paratype is officially defined as "Each specimen of a type series other than the holotype.", ''International Code of Zoological Nomenclature'' In turn, this definition relies on the definition of a "type series". A type series is the material (specimens of organisms) that was cited in the original publication of the new species or subspecies, and was not excluded from being type material by the author (th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with currently about 69,963 species described. Vertebrates comprise such groups as the following: * jawless fish, which include hagfish and lampreys * jawed vertebrates, which include: ** cartilaginous fish (sharks, rays, and ratfish) ** bony vertebrates, which include: *** ray-fins (the majority of living bony fish) *** lobe-fins, which include: **** coelacanths and lungfish **** tetrapods (limbed vertebrates) Extant vertebrates range in size from the frog species ''Paedophryne amauensis'', at as little as , to the blue whale, at up to . Vertebrates make up less than five percent of all described animal species; the rest are invertebrates, which lack vertebral columns. The vertebrates traditionally include the hagfish, which do no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphibians Of Papua New Guinea
Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arboreal or freshwater aquatic ecosystems. Thus amphibians typically start out as larvae living in water, but some species have developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this. The young generally undergo metamorphosis from larva with gills to an adult air-breathing form with lungs. Amphibians use their skin as a secondary respiratory surface and some small terrestrial salamanders and frogs lack lungs and rely entirely on their skin. They are superficially similar to reptiles like lizards but, along with mammals and birds, reptiles are amniotes and do not require water bodies in which to breed. With their complex reproductive needs and permeable skins, amphibians are often ecological indicators; in recent decades there has been a dramatic decline ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tadpole
A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found in adult amphibians such as a lateral line, gills and swimming tails. As they undergo metamorphosis, they start to develop functional lungs for breathing air, and the diet of tadpoles changes drastically. A few amphibians, such as some members of the frog family Brevicipitidae, undergo direct development i.e., they do not undergo a free-living larval stage as tadpoles instead emerging from eggs as fully formed "froglet" miniatures of the adult morphology. Some other species hatch into tadpoles underneath the skin of the female adult or are kept in a pouch until after metamorphosis. Having no hard skeletons, it might be expected that tadpole fossils would not exist. However, traces of biofilms have been preserved and fossil tadpoles have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Springtail
Springtails (Collembola) form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects (the other two are the Protura and Diplura). Although the three orders are sometimes grouped together in a class called Entognatha because they have internal mouthparts, they do not appear to be any more closely related to one another than they are to all insects, which have external mouthparts. Collembolans are omnivorous, free-living organisms that prefer moist conditions. They do not directly engage in the decomposition of organic matter, but contribute to it indirectly through the fragmentation of organic matter and the control of soil microbial communities. The word ''Collembola'' is from the ancient Greek "glue" and "peg"; this name was given due to the existence of the collophore, which was previously thought to stick to surfaces to stabilize the creature. Some DNA sequence studies suggest that Collembola represent a separate evolutionary line fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mite
Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evidence of a close relationship. Most mites are tiny, less than in length, and have a simple, unsegmented body plan. The small size of most species makes them easily overlooked; some species live in water, many live in soil as decomposers, others live on plants, sometimes creating galls, while others again are Predation, predators or Parasitism, parasites. This last type includes the commercially destructive ''Varroa'' parasite of honey bees, as well as scabies mites of humans. Most species are harmless to humans, but a few are associated with allergies or may transmit diseases. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of mites is called acarology. Evolution and taxonomy The mites are not a defined taxon, but is used for two disti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paedophryne
''Paedophryne'' (from the Ancient Greek ''paedos'' (παίδος) "child" and ''phryne'' (φρύνος) "toad, frog") is a genus of microhylid frogs from Papua New Guinea, including D'Entrecasteaux Islands. All seven species known so far are amongst the smallest frog and vertebrate species. Species The following species are recognised in the genus ''Paedophryne'': * ''Paedophryne amauensis'' Rittmeyer ''et al.'', 2012 * ''Paedophryne dekot ''Paedophryne'' (from the Ancient Greek ''paedos'' (παίδος) "child" and ''phryne'' (φρύνος) "toad, frog") is a genus of microhylid frogs from Papua New Guinea, including D'Entrecasteaux Islands. All seven species known so far are ...'' Kraus, 2011 * '' Paedophryne kathismaphlox'' Kraus, 2010 * '' Paedophryne oyatabu'' Kraus, 2010 * '' Paedophryne swiftorum'' Rittmeyer ''et al.'', 2012 * '' Paedophryne titan'' Kraus, 2015 * '' Paedophryne verrucosa'' Kraus, 2011 Gallery File:Paedophryne kathismaphlox, dorsal view.jpg, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smallest Organisms
The smallest organisms found on Earth can be determined according to various aspects of organism size, including volume, mass, height, length, or genome size. Given the incomplete nature of scientific knowledge, it is possible that the smallest organism is undiscovered. Furthermore, there is some debate over the definition of life, and what entities qualify as organisms; consequently the smallest known organism (microorganism) is debatable. Microorganisms Obligate endosymbiotic bacteria The genome of '' Nasuia deltocephalinicola'', a symbiont of the European pest leafhopper, '' Macrosteles quadripunctulatus'', consists of a circular chromosome of 112,031 base pairs. The genome of ''Nanoarchaeum equitans'' is 490,885 nucleotides long. ''Pelagibacter ubique'' ''Pelagibacter ubique'' is one of the smallest known free-living bacteria, with a length of and an average cell diameter of . They also have the smallest free-living bacterium genome: 1.3 Mbp, 1354 protein genes, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paedophryne Amauensis
''Paedophryne amauensis'' is a species of microhylid frog endemic to eastern Papua New Guinea. At in snout-to-vent length, it is considered the world's smallest known vertebrate. (See also Ecological guild.) The species was listed in the ''Top 10 New Species 2013'' by the International Institute for Species Exploration for discoveries made during 2012. Discovery The frog species was discovered in August 2009 by Louisiana State University herpetologist Christopher Austin and his PhD student Eric Rittmeyer while on an expedition to explore the biodiversity of Papua New Guinea. The new species was found near Amau village in the Central Province, from which its specific name is derived. The discovery was published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS One in January 2012. Because the frogs have calls that resemble those made by insects and are camouflaged among leaves on the forest floor, ''Paedophryne amauensis'' had been difficult to detect. While recording nocturna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vocal Sac
The vocal sac is the flexible membrane of skin possessed by most male frogs and toads. The purpose of the vocal sac is usually as an amplification of their mating or advertisement call. The presence or development of the vocal sac is one way of externally determining the sex of a frog or toad in many species; taking frogs as an example; The vocal sac is open to the mouth cavity of the frog, with two slits on either side of the tongue. To call, the frog inflates its lungs and shuts its nose and mouth. Air is then expelled from the lungs, through the larynx, and into the vocal sac. The vibrations of the larynx emits a sound, which resonates on the elastic membrane of the vocal sac. The resonance causes the sound to be amplified and allows the call to carry further. Muscles within the body wall force the air back and forth between the lungs and vocal sac. Development The development of the vocal sac is different in most species, however they mostly follow the same process. The d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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