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Roadrunner
The roadrunners (genus ''Geococcyx''), also known as chaparral birds or chaparral cocks, are two species of fast-running ground cuckoos with long tails and crests. They are found in the southwestern and south-central United States and Mexico, usually in the desert. Although capable of flight, roadrunners generally run away from predators. On the ground, some have been clocked at while a few have also been clocked up to . Species The subfamily Neomorphinae, the New World ground cuckoos, includes 11 species of birds, while the genus ''Geococcyx'' has just two: Morphology The roadrunner generally ranges in size from from tail to beak. The average weight is about . The roadrunner is a large, slender, black-brown and white-streaked ground bird with a distinctive head crest. It has long legs, strong feet, and an oversized dark bill. The tail is broad with white tips on the three outer tail feathers. The bird has a bare patch of skin behind each eye; this patch is shaded blu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roadrunner Clatter
The roadrunners (genus ''Geococcyx''), also known as chaparral birds or chaparral cocks, are two species of fast-running ground cuckoos with long tails and crests. They are found in the southwestern and south-central United States and Mexico, usually in the desert. Although capable of flight, roadrunners generally run away from predators. On the ground, some have been clocked at while a few have also been clocked up to . Species The subfamily Neomorphinae, the New World ground cuckoos, includes 11 species of birds, while the genus ''Geococcyx'' has just two: Morphology The roadrunner generally ranges in size from from tail to beak. The average weight is about . The roadrunner is a large, slender, black-brown and white-streaked ground bird with a distinctive head crest. It has long legs, strong feet, and an oversized dark bill. The tail is broad with white tips on the three outer tail feathers. The bird has a bare patch of skin behind each eye; this patch is shaded blu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greater Roadrunner
The greater roadrunner (''Geococcyx californianus'') is a long-legged bird in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae, from the Aridoamerica region in the Southwestern United States and Mexico. The scientific name means "Californian earth-cuckoo". Along with the lesser roadrunner, it is one of two species in the genus ''Geococcyx''. This roadrunner is also known as the chaparral cock, ground cuckoo, and snake killer. Taxonomy and systematics Greater roadrunner fossils dating from the Holocene and Pleistocene have been found in California, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and the Mexican state of Nuevo León. The oldest known fossil comes from a cave in New Mexico, estimated at an age of 33,500 years. In the La Brea Tar Pits, fragments from 25 greater roadrunner fossils have been found. Several other fossils are also known from Santa Barbara and Kern counties, as well as Northern Mexico. Prehistoric remains indicate that up until 8,000 years ago, the greater roadrunner was found in sparse f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greater Roadrunner
The greater roadrunner (''Geococcyx californianus'') is a long-legged bird in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae, from the Aridoamerica region in the Southwestern United States and Mexico. The scientific name means "Californian earth-cuckoo". Along with the lesser roadrunner, it is one of two species in the genus ''Geococcyx''. This roadrunner is also known as the chaparral cock, ground cuckoo, and snake killer. Taxonomy and systematics Greater roadrunner fossils dating from the Holocene and Pleistocene have been found in California, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and the Mexican state of Nuevo León. The oldest known fossil comes from a cave in New Mexico, estimated at an age of 33,500 years. In the La Brea Tar Pits, fragments from 25 greater roadrunner fossils have been found. Several other fossils are also known from Santa Barbara and Kern counties, as well as Northern Mexico. Prehistoric remains indicate that up until 8,000 years ago, the greater roadrunner was found in sparse f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lesser Roadrunner
The lesser roadrunner (''Geococcyx velox'') is a large, long-legged member of the cuckoo family, Cuculidae, from Mesoamerica. The Latin name means "swift earth-cuckoo". Along with the greater roadrunner, it is one of two species in the genus ''Geococcyx''. Description The lesser roadrunner is a slender bird that reaches a length of 46 to 51 cm (18 in), the tail itself accounting for about 24 cm. Its average length is 46 cm. The male weighs 174–207 grams, while the female weighs 162–192 grams. The crown, crest and neck of the lesser roadrunner are black with a bronze glow and small light brown spots. The back neck is black-brown, with feathers are lined with a pale brown, so that a brown-white dashes arises. The plumage of the upper body is dark brown with light speckles and lightens to maroon towards the rump, and its breast is white. The rectrices are black with a dark purple luster. Young roadrunners resemble adults, but have ocher-colored lines, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lesser Roadrunner
The lesser roadrunner (''Geococcyx velox'') is a large, long-legged member of the cuckoo family, Cuculidae, from Mesoamerica. The Latin name means "swift earth-cuckoo". Along with the greater roadrunner, it is one of two species in the genus ''Geococcyx''. Description The lesser roadrunner is a slender bird that reaches a length of 46 to 51 cm (18 in), the tail itself accounting for about 24 cm. Its average length is 46 cm. The male weighs 174–207 grams, while the female weighs 162–192 grams. The crown, crest and neck of the lesser roadrunner are black with a bronze glow and small light brown spots. The back neck is black-brown, with feathers are lined with a pale brown, so that a brown-white dashes arises. The plumage of the upper body is dark brown with light speckles and lightens to maroon towards the rump, and its breast is white. The rectrices are black with a dark purple luster. Young roadrunners resemble adults, but have ocher-colored lines, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cuckoo
Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separated as distinct families, the Centropodidae and Crotophagidae respectively. The cuckoo order Cuculiformes is one of three that make up the Otidimorphae, the other two being the turacos and the bustards. The family Cuculidae contains 150 species which are divided into 33 genera. The cuckoos are generally medium-sized slender birds. Most species live in trees, though a sizeable minority are ground-dwelling. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution; the majority of species are tropical. Some species are migratory. The cuckoos feed on insects, insect larvae and a variety of other animals, as well as fruit. Some species are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other species and giving rise to the metaphor ''cuckoo's egg' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. The largest cities by metropolitan area are Phoenix, Las Vegas, El Paso, Albuquerque, and Tucson. Prior to 1848, in the historical region of Santa Fe de Nuevo México as well as parts of Alta California and Coahuila y Tejas, settlement was almost non-existent outside of Nuevo México's Pueblos and Spanish or Mexican municipalities. Much of the area had been a part of New Spain and Mexico until the United States acquired the area through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 and the smaller Gadsden Purchase in 1854. While the region's boundaries are not officially defined, there have been attempts to do so. One such definition is from the Mojave Desert in California in the west (117° west longit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. The largest cities by metropolitan area are Phoenix, Las Vegas, El Paso, Albuquerque, and Tucson. Prior to 1848, in the historical region of Santa Fe de Nuevo México as well as parts of Alta California and Coahuila y Tejas, settlement was almost non-existent outside of Nuevo México's Pueblos and Spanish or Mexican municipalities. Much of the area had been a part of New Spain and Mexico until the United States acquired the area through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 and the smaller Gadsden Purchase in 1854. While the region's boundaries are not officially defined, there have been attempts to do so. One such definition is from the Mojave Desert in California in the west (117° west longit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neomorphinae
The Neomorphinae are a subfamily of the cuckoo family, Cuculidae. Members of this subfamily are known as New World ground cuckoos, since most are largely terrestrial and native to the Americas. Only ''Dromococcyx'' and ''Tapera'' are more arboreal, and these are also the only brood parasitic Brood parasites are animals that rely on others to raise their young. The strategy appears among birds, insects and fish. The brood parasite manipulates a host, either of the same or of another species, to raise its young as if it were it ... cuckoos in the Americas, while the remaining all build their own nests. Genera References * {{Cuculiformes-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zygodactyly
In biology, dactyly is the arrangement of digits (fingers and toes) on the hands, feet, or sometimes wings of a tetrapod animal. It comes from the Greek word δακτυλος (''dáktylos'') = "finger". Sometimes the ending "-dactylia" is used. The derived adjectives end with "-dactyl" or "-dactylous". As a normal feature Pentadactyly Pentadactyly (from Greek "five") is the condition of having five digits on each limb. It is traditionally believed that all living tetrapods are descended from an ancestor with a pentadactyl limb, although many species have now lost or transformed some or all of their digits by the process of evolution. However, this viewpoint was challenged by Stephen Jay Gould in his 1991 essay "Eight (Or Fewer) Little Piggies", where he pointed out polydactyly in early tetrapods and described the specializations of digit reduction. Despite the individual variations listed below, the relationship is to the original five-digit model. In reptiles, the limbs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Woodland
A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see differences between British, American, and Australian English explained below). Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of primary or secondary succession. Higher-density areas of trees with a largely closed canopy that provides extensive and nearly continuous shade are often referred to as forests. Extensive efforts by conservationist groups have been made to preserve woodlands from urbanization and agriculture. For example, the woodlands of Northwest Indiana have been preserved as part of the Indiana Dunes. Definitions United Kingdom ''Woodland'' is used in British woodland management to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arid
A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most arid climates straddle the Equator; these regions include parts of Africa, Asia, South America, North America, and Australia. Change over time The distribution of aridity at any time is largely the result of the general circulation of the atmosphere. The latter does change significantly over time through climate change. For example, temperature increase by 1.5–2.1 percent across the Nile Basin over the next 30–40 years could change the region from semi-arid to arid, significantly reducing the land usable for agriculture. In addition, changes in land use can increase demands on soil water and thereby increase aridity. See also * Arid Forest Research Institute * Aridity index * Desert climate * Desiccation tolerance * Drou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
