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Palani Laughingthrush
The Palani laughingthrush (''Montecincla fairbanki'') is a species of laughingthrush endemic to the hills of the Western Ghats south of the Palghat Gap in Southern India. Found in the high montane forests, this grey bibbed, rufous bellied bird with a prominent dark eyestripe and broad white brow was grouped along with the grey-breasted subspecies of the black-chinned laughingthrush and known as the grey-breasted laughingthrush. This species is found in the Palni Hills while another closely related form, the Ashambu laughingthrush (''Montecincla meridionalis'') with a shorter white brow is found in the high hills south of the Achankovil Gap and was treated as a subspecies. The two forms were together treated under the name of Kerala laughingthrush. Description This species has a dark grey-brown crown and narrow dark grey eyestripe with a broad white supercilium above it. This supercilium extends behind the eye in this species but stops above the eye in the closely related ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meghamalai
Meghamalai (Tamil: மேகமலை), commonly known as the High Wavy Mountains, is a mountain range located in the Western Ghats in the Theni district near Kumily, Tamil Nadu. It is dotted with cardamom plantations and tea plantations. The mountain range is 1,500 metres above sea level, and it is rich in flora and fauna. The area, now mostly planted with tea plants, includes cloudlands, high wavys, venniar, and the manalar estates belonging to the Woodbriar Group. Access is largely restricted and includes largely untouched remnants of evergreen forest. Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary For a long time, there has been a pending proposal with the Tamil Nadu Forest Department to establish the Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary on 600 km2 of forest in the division. The suggested priority tasks in the sanctuary include: the control of poaching, the use of pesticides for the elimination of ganja (''Cannabis sativa'') and the cultivation as well as scientific management of watershe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mixed-species Feeding Flock
A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These are different from feeding aggregations, which are congregations of several species of bird at areas of high food availability. While it is currently unknown how mixed-species foraging flocks originate, researchers have proposed a few mechanisms for their initiation. Many believe that nuclear species play a vital role in mixed-species flock initiation. Additionally, the forest structure is hypothesized to play a vital role in these flocks' formation. In Sri Lanka, for example, vocal mimicry by the greater racket-tailed drongo might have a key role in the initiation of mixed-species foraging flocks, while in parts of the American tropics packs of foraging golden-crowned warblers might play the same role. Composition Mixed-species foraging ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trochalopteron
''Trochalopteron'' is a genus of passerine birds in the laughingthrush family Leiothrichidae. Taxonomy The genus ''Trochalopteron'' was introduced in 1843 by the English zoologist Edward Blyth. The name combines the Ancient Greek ''trokhalos'' meaning "round" or "bowed" with ''pteron'' meaning "wing". The type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ... was designated in 1930 by E. C. Stuart Baker as the scaly laughingthrush. Species The genus contains the following 19 species: Former species Two species that were formerly included in this genus have been moved to '' Montecincla'' based on phylogenetic studies that showed them to be more distantly related to the ''Trochalopteron'' clade than to a clade formed by species in the genera ''Leiothrix'', ''Actinodura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve
Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) located in the South Western Ghats montane rain forests in Tirunelveli district and Kanyakumari district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is the second-largest protected area in Tamil Nadu. It is part of the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve. History The Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve was created in 1988 by combining Kalakad Wildlife Sanctuary (251 km2) and Mundanthurai Wildlife Sanctuary (567 km2), both established in 1962. Notification of 77 km2 of parts of Veerapuli and Kilamalai Reserve Forests in adjacent Kanyakumari district, added to the reserve in April 1996, is pending. A core area of this reserve has been proposed as a national park. The continuation of "Project Tiger" in Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve for fiscal year 2010–2011, at the cost of Rs. 19,433,000, was approved by the National Tiger Conservation Authority on 28 August 2010. Geography The reserve is located between latitude 8° ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Munnar
Munnar () is a town and hill station in the Idukki district of the southwestern Indian state of Kerala. Munnar is situated at around above mean sea level, in the Western Ghats mountain range. Munnar is also called the "Kashmir of South India" and is a popular honeymoon destination. Etymology The name Munnar is believed to mean "three rivers", referring to its location at the confluence of the Mudhirapuzha, Nallathanni and Kundali rivers. History The region has been inhabited by hunter-gatherer tribals like the Malayarayan and Muthuvan for thousands of years. Tradition states that Colonel Arthur Wellesley, later the Duke of Wellington, was the first British person to pass through Munnar during Tippu Sultan's campaign in Travancore, but this is unsubstantiated. The first survey of the terrain was undertaken by Benjamin Swayne Ward in 1816–1817, who followed the Periyar into the Western Ghats and established a camp at the confluence of three rivers, from which the name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India by population, sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language—one of the longest surviving Classical languages of India, classical languages in the world—is widely spoken in the state and serves as its official language. The state lies in the southernmost part of the Indian peninsula, and is bordered by the Indian union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh, as well as an international maritime border with Sri Lanka. It is bounded by the Western Ghats in the west, the Eastern Ghats in the north, the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Strait to the south-eas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Annamalai Hills
Arunachala ( IAST: , 'Red Mountain') is a hill in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, and one of the five main Shaiva holy places in South India. The Arunachalesvara Temple to Shiva is located at the base of the hill. The hill is also known by the names Annamalai, Arunagiri, Arunachalam, Arunai, Sonagiri, and Sonachalam. Every year in the Tamil month of Kārttikai (November–December), the '' Kārttikai tīpam'' light is lit atop the hill. It is also an important place for devotees of Ramana Maharshi, with Sri Ramana Ashram situated at its foothills. References in religious texts According to the legend, associated with the Temple, a dispute occurred between Brahma the creator, and Vishnu the preserver, over which of them was superior. In order to settle the argument, Lord Shiva is said to have manifested as a column of light, and then the form of Arunachala. A. R. Natarajan, Arunachala From Rigveda to Ramana Maharshi But Brahma and Vishnu forgot their highest sacred duties and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palani Hills
The Palani Hills are a mountain range in the southern Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The Palani Hills are an eastward extension of the Western Ghats ranges, which run parallel to the west coast of India. The Palani Hills adjoin the high Anamalai range (Kerala) on the west, and extend east into the plains of Tamil Nadu, covering an area of . The highest part of the range is in the southwest, and reaches 1,800-2,500 metres (5,906-8,202 feet) elevation; the eastern extension of the range is made up of hills 1,000-1,500 m (3,281-4,921 ft) high. It is also home to the main temple of Lord Muruga, who is worshipped as the primary god in Tamil Nadu. Geography Vandaravu peak is the highest peak in the Palani hills. The range lies between the Cumbum Valley on the south, which is drained by the Vaigai River and its upper tributaries, and the Kongunadu region to the north. The northern slopes are drained by the Shanmukha River, Nanganji River, and Kodavanar River, which a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhodomyrtus Tomentosa
''Rhodomyrtus tomentosa'' also known as rose myrtle, is a flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae, native to southern and southeastern Asia, from India, east to southern China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Philippines, and south to Malaysia and Sulawesi. It grows in coasts, natural forest, riparian zones, wetlands, moist and wet forests, bog margins, from sea level up to 2400 m elevation. Description ''Rhodomyrtus tomentosa'' is an evergreen shrub growing up to 4 m (12 feet) tall. The leaves are opposite, leathery, 5–7 cm long and 2-3.5 cm broad, three-veined from the base, oval, obtuse to sharp pointed at the tip, glossy green above, densely grey or rarely yellowish-hairy beneath, with a wide petiole and an entire margin. The flowers are solitary or in clusters of two or three, 2.5–3 cm diameter, with five petals which are tinged white on the outside with purplish-pink or all pink. The fruit is edible, 10–15 mm long, purple, round, three or four-c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rubus
''Rubus'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae, with over 1,350 species. Raspberries, blackberries, and dewberries are common, widely distributed members of the genus. Most of these plants have woody stems with prickles like roses; spines, bristles, and gland-tipped hairs are also common in the genus. The ''Rubus'' fruit, sometimes called a bramble fruit, is an aggregate of drupelets. The term "cane fruit" or "cane berry" applies to any ''Rubus'' species or hybrid which is commonly grown with supports such as wires or canes, including raspberries, blackberries, and hybrids such as loganberry, boysenberry, marionberry and tayberry. The stems of such plants are also referred to as canes. Description Most species in the genus are hermaphrodites, ''Rubus chamaemorus'' being an exception. ''Rubus'' species have a basic chromosome number of seven. Polyploidy from the diploid (14 chromosomes) to the tetradecaploid (98 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurya
''Eurya'' is a genus of about 70 species of flowering plants in the family Pentaphylacaceae. Fossil record Several fossil seeds of ''Eurya stigmosa'' have been described from Middle Miocene strata of the Fasterholt area near Silkeborg in central Jutland, Denmark. ''Eurya'' macrofossils have also been described from late Zanclean strata of the Pliocene in Pocapaglia, Italy. Seed fossils of ''Eurya stigmosa'' were also reported from the Early Pleistocene (Calabrian stage) of Madeira Island (Atlantic Ocean, Portugal) Species * '' Eurya emarginata'' * ''Eurya japonica'' Thunb. * ''Eurya rapensis'' F.Brown * '' Eurya rengechiensis'' Yamamoto (Taiwan) * ''Eurya sandwicensis'' A.Gray - ''Ānini'' (Hawaii) The leaves of ''Eurya'' are eaten by caterpillars of some Lepidoptera, such as the engrailed The engrailed and small engrailed (''Ectropis crepuscularia'') are moths of the family Geometridae found from the British Isles through central and eastern Europe to the Russian Far East ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viburnum
''Viburnum'' is a genus of about 150–175 species of flowering plants in the moschatel family Adoxaceae. Its current classification is based on molecular phylogeny. It was previously included in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. The member species are evergreen or deciduous shrubs or (in a few cases) small trees native throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere, with a few species extending into tropical montane regions in South America and southeast Asia. In Africa, the genus is confined to the Atlas Mountains. Name The generic name ''Viburnum'' originated in Latin, where it referred to '' V. lantana''. Description The leaves are opposite, simple, and entire, toothed or lobed; cool temperate species are deciduous, while most of the warm temperate species are evergreen. Some species are densely hairy on the shoots and leaves, with star-shaped hairs. The flowers are produced in corymbs 5–15 cm across, each flower white to cream or pink, small, 3–5 mm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
