|
Polyplectron
The peacock-pheasants are a bird genus, ''Polyplectron'', of the family Phasianidae, consisting of eight species. They are colored inconspicuously, relying on heavily on crypsis to avoid detection. When threatened, peacock-pheasants will alter their shapes using specialised plumage that when expanded reveals numerous iridescent orbs. The birds also vibrate their plume quills further accentuating their aposematism. Peacock-pheasants exhibit well developed metatarsal spurs. Older individuals may have multiple spurs on each leg. These kicking thorns are used in self-defense. Taxonomy The genus ''Polyplectron'' was introduced in 1807 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck. The name combines the Ancient Greek ''polus'' meaning "many" with ''plēktron'' meaning "cock's spur". The type species is the grey peacock-pheasant. The systematics of the genus are somewhat unclear. Molecular research has revealed that peacock-pheasants are not genetically related to pheasants and only d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palawan Peacock-pheasant
The Palawan peacock-pheasant (''Polyplectron napoleonis'') is a medium-sized (up to 50 cm long) bird in the family Phasianidae. It is featured prominently in the culture of the indigenous people of Palawan. The bird is also depicted in the official seal of the city of Puerto Princesa. Description The adult male is the most peacock-like member of the genus ''Polyplectron'' in appearance. It has an erectile crest and highly iridescent electric blue-violet, metallic green-turquoise dorsal plumage. Its breast and ventral regions are dark black. The rectrices are wide, flat, and rigid. Their terminal edges are squared. Each tail plume and upper-tail covert is marked with highly iridescent, light reflective, ocelli. The tail is erected and expanded laterally together with the bodies of the birds. The males also raise one wing and lower the other, laterally compressing the body during pair-bonding, courtship displays as well and may also be antipredator adaptation. The female ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grey Peacock-pheasant
The gray peacock-pheasant (''Polyplectron bicalcaratum''), also known as Burmese peacock-pheasant, is a large Asian member of the order (biology), order Galliformes. Taxonomy In 1747 the English naturalist George Edwards (naturalist), George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the grey peacock-pheasant in the second volume of his ''A Natural History of Uncommon Birds''. He used the English name "The Peacock Pheasant from China". Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a live bird which was given to Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford. When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his ''Systema Naturae'' for the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, tenth edition, he placed the grey peacock-pheasant with the Indian peafowl in the genus ''Pavo (genus), Pavo''. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name ''Pavo bicalcaratum'' and cited Edwards' work. The grey peacock-pheasant is now placed in the genus ''Polyplectron'' that was introduc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pheasant
Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family (biology), family Phasianidae in the order (biology), order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera native range is restricted to Eurasia. The classification "pheasant" is Paraphyly, paraphyletic, as birds referred to as pheasants are included within both the subfamilies Phasianinae and Peafowl, Pavoninae, and in many cases are more closely related to smaller phasianids, grouse, and turkey (formerly classified in Perdicinae, Grouse, Tetraoninae, and Meleagridinae) than to other pheasants. Pheasants are characterised by strong sexual dimorphism, males being highly decorated with bright colours and adornments such as wattle (anatomy), wattles. Males are usually larger than females and have longer tails. Males play no part in rearing the young. A pheasant's call or cry can be recognised due to the fact it sounds like a rusty sink or valve b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phasianidae
The Phasianidae are a family (biology), family of heavy, ground-living birds, which includes pheasants, partridges, junglefowl, chickens, Turkey bird, turkeys, Old World quail, and peafowl. The family includes many of the most popular Game (hunting), gamebirds. The family is a large one and includes 185 species divided into 54 genera. It was formerly broken up into two subfamily (biology), subfamilies, the Phasianinae and the Perdicinae. However, this treatment is now known to be paraphyly, paraphyletic and polyphyly, polyphyletic, respectively, and more recent evidence supports breaking it up into two subfamilies: Rollulinae and Phasianinae, with the latter containing multiple Tribe (biology), tribes within two Clade, clades. The New World quail (Odontophoridae) and guineafowl (Numididae) were formerly sometimes included in this family, but are now typically placed in families of their own; conversely, grouse and turkey (bird), turkeys, formerly often treated as distinct families ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crimson-headed Partridge
The crimson-headed partridge (''Haematortyx sanguiniceps'') is a species of bird in the pheasant, partridge, and francolin family Phasianidae. Described by the British ornithologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe in 1879, it is the only species in the genus ''Haematortyx''. It is endemic to Borneo, where it inhabits lower montane forest in the northern and central parts of the island. It is mainly found at elevations of , but can be seen as low as and as high as . Adult males have a striking appearance, with a dark blackish body and crimson red heads, necks, breasts, and . Females have a similar pattern, but with duller brownish-black colouration, orangish-red heads and breasts, and a brownish-black bill instead of a yellowish one. Juveniles are duller and have the crimson restricted to the top of the head. The species feeds on berries, insects, and small crustaceans. Nests of dry leaves are built in tussocks of grass or lichen, with eggs being laid from mid-January onwards. Clutches ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galloperdix
''Galloperdix'' is a genus of three species of bird in the pheasant family, Phasianidae. These terrestrial birds are restricted to the Indian Subcontinent, with the red spurfowl and painted spurfowl in forest and scrub in India, and the Sri Lanka spurfowl in forests of Sri Lanka. They share the common name "spurfowl" with the members of the genus ''Pternistis'' which are widely distributed in Africa. Taxonomy The genus ''Galloperdix'' was introduced in 1845 by the English zoologist Edward Blyth to accommodate a single species, the red spurfowl, which is therefore the type species. The genus name combines the Latin word ''gallus'' for a "farmyard cock" with ''perdix'' meaning "partridge". The genus ''Galloperdix'' is sister to the genus ''Polyplectron'' and together they form a clade that is sister to ''Haematortyx''. The genus contains three species: * Red spurfowl ''Galloperdix spadicea'' * Painted spurfowl ''Galloperdix lunulata'' * Sri Lanka spurfowl The Sri Lanka spurfo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area.Brown University, "Biogeography." Accessed February 24, 2014. . Phytogeography is the branch of biogeography that studies the distribution of plants. Zoogeography is the branch that studies distribution of animals. Mycogeography is the branch that studies distribution of fungi, such as mushrooms. Knowledge of spatial variation in the numbers and types of organisms is as vital to us today as it was to our early human ancestors, as we adapt to heterogeneous but geographically predictable environments. Biogeography is an integrative field of inquiry that unites concepts and information from ecology, evolutionary biology, taxonomy, geology, physical geography, palaeontology, and climatology.Dansereau, Pierre. 1957 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MtDNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is only a small portion of the DNA in a eukaryotic cell; most of the DNA can be found in the cell nucleus and, in plants and algae, also in plastids such as chloroplasts. Human mitochondrial DNA was the first significant part of the human genome to be sequenced. This sequencing revealed that the human mtDNA includes 16,569 base pairs and encodes 13 proteins. Since animal mtDNA evolves faster than nuclear genetic markers, it represents a mainstay of phylogenetics and evolutionary biology. It also permits an examination of the relatedness of populations, and so has become important in anthropology and biogeography. Origin Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA are thought to be of separate evolutionary origin, with the mtDNA being derived from t ... [...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] |
Nuclear DNA
Nuclear DNA (nDNA), or nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid, is the DNA contained within each cell nucleus of a eukaryotic organism. It encodes for the majority of the genome in eukaryotes, with mitochondrial DNA and plastid DNA coding for the rest. It adheres to Mendelian inheritance, with information coming from two parents, one male and one female—rather than matrilineally (through the mother) as in mitochondrial DNA. Structure Nuclear DNA is a nucleic acid, a polymeric biomolecule or biopolymer, found in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells. Its structure is a double helix, with two strands wound around each other, a structure first described by Francis Crick and James D. Watson (1953) using data collected by Rosalind Franklin. Each strand is a long polymer chain of repeating nucleotides. Each nucleotide is composed of a five-carbon sugar, a phosphate group, and an organic base. Nucleotides are distinguished by their bases: purines, large bases that include adenine and guanine; and pyr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
D-loop
In molecular biology, a displacement loop or D-loop is a DNA structure where the two strands of a double-stranded DNA molecule are separated for a stretch and held apart by a third strand of DNA. An R-loop is similar to a D-loop, but in this case the third strand is RNA rather than DNA. The third strand has a base sequence which is complementary to one of the main strands and pairs with it, thus displacing the other complementary main strand in the region. Within that region the structure is thus a form of triple-stranded DNA. A diagram in the paper introducing the term illustrated the D-loop with a shape resembling a capital "D", where the displaced strand formed the loop of the "D". D-loops occur in a number of particular situations, including in DNA repair, in telomeres, and as a semi-stable structure in mitochondrial circular DNA molecules. In mitochondria Researchers at Caltech discovered in 1971 that the circular mitochondrial DNA from growing cells included a short ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basal (phylogenetics)
In phylogenetics, basal is the direction of the ''base'' (or root) of a phylogenetic tree#Rooted tree, rooted phylogenetic tree or cladogram. The term may be more strictly applied only to nodes adjacent to the root, or more loosely applied to nodes regarded as being close to the root. Note that extant taxa that lie on branches connecting directly to the root are not more closely related to the root than any other extant taxa. While there must always be two or more equally "basal" clades sprouting from the root of every cladogram, those clades may differ widely in taxonomic rank, Phylogenetic diversity, species diversity, or both. If ''C'' is a basal clade within ''D'' that has the lowest rank of all basal clades within ''D'', ''C'' may be described as ''the'' basal taxon of that rank within ''D''. The concept of a 'key innovation' implies some degree of correlation between evolutionary innovation and cladogenesis, diversification. However, such a correlation does not make a given ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
