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Pleurodonte Nigrescens
''Pleurodonte nigrescens'' is a species of tropical air-breathing land snail, a pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Pleurodontidae. Distribution The distribution of ''Pleurodonte nigrescens'' includes: * Guadeloupe * Dominica Description ''Pleurodonte nigrescens'' differs from all other Dominican ''Pleurodonte'' species by the characteristic parietal tooth opposite the basal teeth in the aperture. The shell can be chesnut-brown with fine axial lines or purple-black with a purple aperture. Ecology ''Pleurodonte nigrescens'' lives in damp leaf litter on the forest floor. This species appears to prefer relatively undisturbed habitats, especially in rain forest at higher altitudes in Dominica. References This article incorporates CC-BY-3.0 text from the reference Robinson D. G., Hovestadt A., Fields A. & Breure A. S. H. (July 2009).The land Mollusca of Dominica (Lesser Antilles), with notes on some enigmatic or rare species". ''Zoologische Mededelingen ''Zoologische ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gastropod Shell
The gastropod shell is part of the body of a Gastropoda, gastropod or snail, a kind of mollusc. The shell is an exoskeleton, which protects from predators, mechanical damage, and dehydration, but also serves for muscle attachment and calcium storage. Some gastropods appear shell-less (slugs) but may have a remnant within the mantle, or in some cases the shell is reduced such that the body cannot be retracted within it (semi-slug). Some snails also possess an operculum that seals the opening of the shell, known as the Aperture (mollusc), aperture, which provides further protection. The study of mollusc shells is known as conchology. The biological study of gastropods, and other molluscs in general, is malacology. Shell morphology terms vary by species group. Shell layers The gastropod shell has three major layers secreted by the Mantle (mollusc), mantle. The calcareous central layer, tracum, is typically made of calcium carbonate precipitated into an organic matrix known as c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wood (surname)
''Wood'' is a surname in the English language. It is common throughout the world, especially countries with historical links to Great Britain. Etymology For the most part, the surname Wood originated as a topographic name used to describe a person who lived in, or worked in a wood or forest. This name is derived from the Middle English ''wode'', from the Old English ''wudu'' meaning "wood" (from the Proto-Germanic word ''widu''). which cited: for the surname "Wood". An early occurrence of this surname (of a personal residing near a wood) is ''de la Wode'', recorded in Hertfordshire, England, in 1242. The locational name also appeared in early records Latinised as ''de Bosco'' (from the Old French ''bois'', meaning "wood"). which cited: for the surname "Boyce". Another derivation for the surname is from a nickname of an eccentric or violent person, derived from the Old English ''wōd'', ''wad'', and Middle English ''wod'', ''wode'', all meaning "frenzied" or "wild". This d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rain Forest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest, but other types have been described. Estimates vary from 40% to 75% of all biotic species being indigenous to the rainforests. There may be many millions of species of plants, insects and microorganisms still undiscovered in tropical rainforests. Tropical rainforests have been called the "jewels of the Earth" and the " world's largest pharmacy", because over one quarter of natural medicines have been discovered there. Rainforests as well as endemic rainforest species are rapidly disappearing due to deforestation, the resulting habitat loss and pollution of the atmosphere. Definition Rainforest are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, high humidity, the presence of moisture-dependent vegetation, a moist layer of leaf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aperture (mollusc)
The aperture is an opening in certain kinds of mollusc shells: it is the main opening of the shell, where the head-foot part of the body of the animal emerges for locomotion, feeding, etc. The term ''aperture'' is used for the main opening in gastropod shells, scaphopod shells, and also for ''Nautilus'' and ammonite shells. The word is not used to describe bivalve shells, where a natural opening between the two shell valves in the closed position is usually called a ''gape''. Scaphopod shells are tubular, and thus they have two openings: a main anterior aperture and a smaller posterior aperture. As well as the aperture, some gastropod shells have additional openings in their shells for respiration; this is the case in some Fissurellidae (keyhole limpets) where the central smaller opening at the apex of the shell is called an orifice, and in the Haliotidae (abalones) where the row of respiratory openings in the shell are also called orifices. In gastropods In some prosobranch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Non-marine Molluscs Of Dominica
The non-marine molluscs of Dominica are species of land and freshwater molluscs, i.e. land snails, land slugs and one small freshwater clam that are part of the wildlife of Dominica, an island in the Lesser Antilles. In malacology, the non-marine molluscs of an area are traditionally listed separately from the marine molluscs (those molluscs that live in full-salinity saltwater). Dominica is a Caribbean island, part of the Windward Island chain of the Lesser Antilles. Fifty-five species of non-marine molluscs have been found in the wild in Dominica, including sixteen endemic species of land snails, species which occur nowhere else on Earth. Dominica is a mountainous, , volcanic, tropical island. It is undeveloped compared with most other Caribbean islands, and it is known for its wildlife and unspoiled natural landscapes. The rugged terrain includes a great deal of tropical rainforest, numerous rivers, and several officially protected areas, including Morne Trois Pitons National ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Non-marine Molluscs Of Guadeloupe
The non-marine molluscs of Guadeloupe are a part of the molluscan fauna of Guadeloupe ( wildlife of Guadeloupe). Guadeloupe is a Caribbean island in the Lesser Antilles. A number of species of non-marine molluscs are found in the wild in Guadeloupe. Freshwater gastropods Ampullariidae * ''Marisa cornuarietis'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Pomacea glauca'' (Linnaeus, 1758)Pointier, Jean-Pierre. 1974: faune malacologique dulçaquicole de l’ile de la Guadaloupe (Antilles françaises). 'Bulletin du Muséum National D´Historie Naturalle', 3ser.(235):905-933 Ancylidae * '' Gundlachia radiata'' (Guilding, 1828) Bulinidae * ''Plesiophysa granulata'' (Shuttleworth in Sowerby, 1873) * '' Plesiophysa guadeloupensis'' ("Fischer" Mazé, 1883)Lobato Paraense, W. 2003: Plesiophysa guadeloupensis ("Fischer" Mazé, 1883). 'Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro', 98(4):519-52Bioline International/ref> Hydrobiidae * ''Potamopyrgus coronatus'' (Pfeiffer, 1840) * '' Pygophorus parvulus'' (Guildi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mollusk
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is estimated between 60,000 and 100,000 additional species. The proportion of undescribed species is very high. Many taxa remain poorly studied. Molluscs are the largest marine phylum, comprising about 23% of all the named marine organisms. Numerous molluscs also live in freshwater and terrestrial habitats. They are highly diverse, not just in size and anatomical structure, but also in behaviour and habitat. The phylum is typically divided into 7 or 8 taxonomic classes, of which two are entirely extinct. Cephalopod molluscs, such as squid, cuttlefish, and octopuses, are among the most neurologically advanced of all invertebrates—and either the giant squid or the colossal squid is the largest known invertebrate species. The gas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gastropod
The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. There are many thousands of species of sea snails and slugs, as well as freshwater snails, freshwater limpets, and land snails and slugs. The class Gastropoda contains a vast total of named species, second only to the insects in overall number. The fossil history of this class goes back to the Late Cambrian. , 721 families of gastropods are known, of which 245 are extinct and appear only in the fossil record, while 476 are currently extant with or without a fossil record. Gastropoda (previously known as univalves and sometimes spelled "Gasteropoda") are a major part of the phylum Mollusca, and are the most highly diversified class in the phylum, with 65,000 to 80,000 living snail and slug species. The anatomy, behavior, feeding, and re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pulmonate
Pulmonata or pulmonates, is an informal group (previously an order, and before that a subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills. The group includes many land and freshwater families, and several marine families. The taxon Pulmonata as traditionally defined was found to be polyphyletic in a molecular study per Jörger ''et al.'', dating from 2010. Pulmonata are known from the Carboniferous Period to the present. Pulmonates have a single atrium and kidney, and a concentrated, symmetrical, nervous system. The mantle cavity is located on the right side of the body, and lacks gills, instead being converted into a vascularised lung. Most species have a shell, but no operculum, although the group does also include several shell-less slugs. Pulmonates are hermaphroditic, and some groups possess love darts. Linnean taxonomy The taxonomy of this group according to the taxonomy of the Ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Land Snail
A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells (those without shells are known as slugs). However, it is not always easy to say which species are terrestrial, because some are more or less amphibious between land and fresh water, and others are relatively amphibious between land and salt water. Land snails are a polyphyletic group comprising at least ten independent evolutionary transitions to terrestrial life (the last common ancestor of all gastropods was marine). The majority of land snails are pulmonates that have a lung and breathe air. Most of the non-pulmonate land snails belong to lineages in the Caenogastropoda, and tend to have a gill and an operculum. The largest clade of land snails is the Cyclophoroidea, with more than 7,000 species. Many of these operculate land snails live in habitats or microhabitats ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to as the tropical zone and the torrid zone (see geographical zone). In terms of climate, the tropics receive sunlight that is more direct than the rest of Earth and are generally hotter and wetter as they aren't affected as much by the solar seasons. The word "tropical" sometimes refers to this sort of climate in the zone rather than to the geographical zone itself. The tropical zone includes deserts and snow-capped mountains, which are not tropical in the climatic sense. The tropics are distinguished from the other climatic and biomatic regions of Earth, which are the middle latitudes and the polar regions on either side of the equatorial zone. The tropics constitute 40% of Earth's surface area and contain 36% of Earth's landmass. , the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. The most recent rigorous estimate for the total number of species of eukaryotes is between 8 and 8.7 million. However, only about 14% of these had been described by 2011. All species (except viruses) are given a two-part name, a "binomial". The first part of a binomial is the genus to which the species belongs. The second part is called the specific name or the specific epithet (in botanical nomenclature, also sometimes i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
