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Puerto Rican Dryland Worm Lizard
''Amphisbaena xera'', known commonly as the dry worm lizard, Puerto Rican dryland worm lizard, or the North American worm lizard, is a worm lizard species. It is endemic to Puerto Rico. Etymology The specific name, ''xera'', which is from Greek via Late Latin, means "dry".Mish, F.C., Editor in Chief. 2004. ''Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition.'' Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam Webster, Incorporated. 39a + 1622 pp. . ("xer- ''or'' xero- ''comb form'', p. 1449.) Geographic range It is found in Puerto Rico, both on the main island and also on the offshore Isla de Caja de Muertos. See also *Fauna of Puerto Rico * List of endemic fauna of Puerto Rico References Further reading * Schwartz, A., and R. Thomas. 1975. ''A Check-list of West Indian Amphibians and Reptiles''. Carnegie Museum of Natural History The Carnegie Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as CMNH) is a natural history museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Thomas (herpetologist)
John Paul Richard Thomas (born 1938) is an American taxonomist and systematist, and retired professor of herpetology and evolution at University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras (San Juan, Puerto Rico). (Kindle edition). (hardcover). He described several species new to science, mostly amphibians and reptiles, from throughout the Caribbean islands including the common coquí (''Eleutherodactlys coqui)'', the national animal of Puerto Rico. Early life and education Thomas was born in Jacksonville, Florida, USA, on May 2, 1938. At the University of South Florida, Thomas graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in 1969. Later, he went to Louisiana State University and obtained a PhD in 1976. Research Thomas' research has focused mostly on amphibians and reptiles, spanning several fields from natural history to systematics and evolution. His studies have yielded descriptions of new species of dwarf geckos ('' Sphaerodactylus''), blind snakes (Scolecophidia), and rain frogs (''Eleutherodactylus'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fauna Of Puerto Rico
The fauna of Puerto Rico is similar to other island archipelago faunas, with high endemism, and low, skewed taxonomic diversity. Bats are the only extant native terrestrial mammals in Puerto Rico. All other terrestrial mammals in the area were introduced by humans, and include species such as cats, goats, sheep, the small Indian mongoose, and escaped monkeys. Marine mammals include dolphins, manatees, and whales. Of the 349 bird species, about 120 breed in the archipelago, and 47.5% are accidental or rare. The most recognizable and famous animal of Puerto Rico is probably the common coquí, a small endemic frog, and one of the 86 species that constitute Puerto Rico's herpetofauna. Some native freshwater fish inhabit Puerto Rico, but some species, introduced by humans, have established populations in reservoirs and rivers. The low richness-high diversity pattern is also apparent among invertebrates, which constitutes most of the archipelago's fauna. The arrival of the first pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic Fauna Of Puerto Rico
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example ''Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. ''Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies to s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reptiles Of Puerto Rico
Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians (tuatara). As of March 2022, the Reptile Database includes about 11,700 species. In the traditional Linnaean classification system, birds are considered a separate class to reptiles. However, crocodilians are more closely related to birds than they are to other living reptiles, and so modern cladistic classification systems include birds within Reptilia, redefining the term as a clade. Other cladistic definitions abandon the term reptile altogether in favor of the clade Sauropsida, which refers to all amniotes more closely related to modern reptiles than to mammals. The study of the traditional reptile orders, historically combined with that of modern amphibians, is called herpetology. The earliest known proto-reptiles originated around 31 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphisbaena (lizard)
''Amphisbaena'' is a genus in the family Amphisbaenidae, commonly known as worm lizards. Over 100 species are placed in this diverse genus. Species ''Nota bene'': A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Amphisbaena''. ''Nota bene'': A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Amphisbaena''. Etymology The specific names ''carlgansi'', ''carli'', and ''cegei'' are all in honor of American herpetologist Carl Gans (1923–2009), for his contributions to the knowledge of Amphisbaenians.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Amphisbaena cegei'', p. 50; ''A. carlgansi'', p. 97). See also * List of reptiles of Brazil * Sineoamphisbaena ''Sineoamphisbaena'' is an extinct genus of squamate of uncertain phylogenetic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carnegie Museum Of Natural History
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as CMNH) is a natural history museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Pittsburgh-based industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1896. Housing some 22 million specimens, the museum features one of the finest paleontological collections in the world. Description and history The museum consists of organized into 20 galleries as well as research, library, and office space. It holds some 22 million specimens, of which about 10,000 are on view at any given time and about 1 million are cataloged in online databases. In 2008 it hosted 386,300 admissions and 63,000 school group visits. Museum education staff also actively engage in outreach by traveling to schools all around western Pennsylvania. The museum gained prominence in 1899 when its scientists unearthed the fossils of '' Diplodocus carnegii''. Notable dinosaur specimens include one of the world's very few fossils of a juvenile ''Apatosauru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albert Schwartz (zoologist)
Albert Schwartz (September 13, 1923 – October 18, 1992) was an American zoologist who worked extensively with the herpetofauna of Florida and the West Indies, and later with butterflies. One magazine article once dubbed him as one of the "Kings of West Indian Anole Taxonomy". Career Schwartz obtained his PhD from the University of Michigan in mammalogy in 1952. Already at that time, he had a keen interest in amphibians and reptiles, as well as in warmer climates. Schwartz spent most of his professional working life at Miami-Dade Community College; he was also supported by a family trust, which he used to fund his own activities as well as field expeditions by others. He was a Research Associate of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and also an associate of the Florida Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution), and the ''Museo Nacional de Historia Natural'', Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Starting in 1954, he wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Endemic Fauna Of Puerto Rico
This is a list of the endemic fauna of Puerto Rico. This list is sorted in alphabetical order by the scientific name of the species, which are in parentheses. Birds *Yellow-shouldered blackbird (''Agelaius xanthomus'') *Puerto Rican parrot (''Amazona vittata'') *Green mango (''Anthracothorax viridis'') *Puerto Rican nightjar (''Caprimulgus noctitherus'') *Puerto Rican emerald (''Chlorostilbon maugeaus'') * Puerto Rican lizard‑cuckoo (''Coccyzus vieilloti'') *Puerto Rican pewee (''Contopus portoricenis'') *Adelaide's warbler (''Dendroica adelaidae'') * Elfin-woods warbler (''Dendroica angelae'') *Puerto Rican oriole (''Icterus portoricensis'') *Puerto Rican bullfinch (''Loxigilla portoricensis'') *Puerto Rican owl (''Gymnasio nudipes'') *Puerto Rican woodpecker (''Melanerpes portoricensis'') *Puerto Rican flycatcher (''Myiarchus antillarum'') *Puerto Rican tanager (''Nesospingus speculiferus'') *Puerto Rican spindalis (''Spindalis portoricensis'') *Puerto Rican tody (''Todus m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caja De Muertos
Caja de Muertos (; also in English: ''Coffin Island'') is an uninhabited island off the southern coast of Puerto Rico, in the municipality of Ponce. The island and its surrounding waters are protected by the Caja de Muertos Nature Reserve, because of its native turtle traffic and ecological value of its dry forests and reefs. Hikers and beachgoers are often seen in the island, which can be reached by ferry from the La Guancha Boardwalk sector of Ponce Playa. Together with Cardona, Ratones, Morrillito, Isla del Frio, Gatas, and Isla de Jueyes, Caja de Muertos is one of seven islands ascribed to the municipality of Ponce. History It is believed the island is only some 4,000 years old, and stone art left on the island attests it has been visited by man over milennnias.''Caja de Muerto: ¡m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphisbaenia
Amphisbaenia (called amphisbaenians or worm lizards) is a group of usually legless squamates, comprising over 200 extant species. Amphisbaenians are characterized by their long bodies, the reduction or loss of the limbs, and rudimentary eyes. As many species have a pink body and scales arranged in rings, they have a superficial resemblance to earthworms. While the genus '' Bipes'' retains forelimbs, all other genera are limbless. Although superficially similar to the snakes and blind lizards, recent phylogenetic studies suggest that they are most closely related to wall lizards of the family Lacertidae. Amphisbaenians are widely distributed, occurring in North America, Europe, Africa, South America, Western Asia and the Caribbean. Most species are less than long. Description 200px, left, Close-up of the head of'' Rhineura'' Despite a superficial resemblance to some primitive snakes, amphisbaenians have many unique features that distinguish them from other reptiles. Internal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Latin
Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in the Iberian Peninsula. This somewhat ambiguously defined version of Latin was used between the eras of Classical Latin and Medieval Latin. Scholars do not agree exactly when Classical Latin should end or Medieval Latin should begin. Being a written language, Late Latin is not the same as Vulgar Latin. The latter served as ancestor of the Romance languages. Although Late Latin reflects an upsurge of the use of Vulgar Latin vocabulary and constructs, it remains largely classical in its overall features, depending on the author who uses it. Some Late Latin writings are more literary and classical, but others are more inclined to the vernacular. Also, Late Latin is not identical to Christian patristics, patristic Latin, used in the theology, theo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greek Language
Greek ( el, label= Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy (Calabria and Salento), southern Albania, and other regions of the Balkans, the Black Sea coast, Asia Minor, and the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Its writing system is the Greek alphabet, which has been used for approximately 2,800 years; previously, Greek was recorded in writing systems such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic, and many other writing systems. The Greek language holds a very important place in the history of the Western world. Beginning with the epics of Homer, ancient Greek literature includes many works of l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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