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Shirvan National Park
Shirvan National Park ( az, Şirvan Milli Parkı) — is a national park of Azerbaijan. It was established on July 5, 2003 within the territory of Salyan Rayon administrative districts. Its surface area is . The Shirvan National Park was established on the base of the Shirvan State Reserve founded in 1969 and neighbouring areas. The reserve‘s activity is focused on the protection and reproduction of the Goitered Gazelle (Gazella sulgutturosa), waterfowl birds and typical plant biotypes of the Shirvan Lowland. The area is 25800 hectares, of which 3500 hectares are water reservoirs. The territory of the park used to be at the bottom of the Caspian Sea and at present it is an accumulative plain, which is 20–25 m below sea level with a slight increase in the relief westwards. In terms of climate the park lies in an area of moderate warm semi-desert and arid steppe. Summers are hot and dry and winters are cool and dry. Etymology The word 'Shirvan' appears to be derived from ''Sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wetlands
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The primary factor that distinguishes wetlands from terrestrial land forms or Body of water, water bodies is the characteristic vegetation of aquatic plants, adapted to the unique anoxic hydric soils. Wetlands are considered among the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of plant and animal species. Methods for assessing wetland functions, wetland ecological health, and general wetland condition have been developed for many regions of the world. These methods have contributed to wetland conservation partly by raising public awareness of the functions some wetlands provide. Wetlands occur naturally on every continent. The water in wetlands is either freshwater, brackish or saltwater. The main wetland ty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jackal
Jackals are medium-sized canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word "jackal" has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-backed jackal (''Lupulella mesomelas'') and side-striped jackal (''Lupulella adusta'') of sub-Saharan-Africa, and the golden jackal (''Canis aureus'') of south-central Europe and Asia. The African golden wolf (''Canis lupaster'') was also formerly considered as a jackal. While they do not form a monophyletic clade, all jackals are opportunistic omnivores, predators of small to medium-sized animals and proficient scavengers. Their long legs and curved canine teeth are adapted for hunting small mammals, birds, and reptiles, and their large feet and fused leg bones give them a physique well-suited for long-distance running, capable of maintaining speeds of for extended periods of time. Jackals are crepuscular, most active at dawn and dusk. Their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caspian Tiger
The Caspian tiger was a ''Panthera tigris tigris'' population native to eastern Turkey, northern Iran, Mesopotamia, the Caucasus around the Caspian Sea, Central Asia to northern Afghanistan, and the Xinjiang region in western China. Until the Middle Ages, it was also present in Ukraine and southern Russia. It inhabited sparse forests and riverine corridors in this region until the 1970s. This population was regarded as a distinct subspecies and assessed as extinct in 2003. Results of a phylogeographic analysis evinces that the Caspian and Siberian tiger populations shared a common continuous geographic distribution until the early 19th century. Some Caspian tigers were intermediate in size between Siberian and Bengal tigers. It was also called Balkhash tiger, Hyrcanian tiger, Turanian tiger, and Mazandaran tiger ( fa, ). Taxonomy ''Felis virgata'' was a scientific name used by Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger in 1815 for the greyish tiger in the area surrounding the Caspian Sea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically been considered as a natural barrier between Eastern Europe and Western Asia. Mount Elbrus in Russia, Europe's highest mountain, is situated in the Western Caucasus. On the southern side, the Lesser Caucasus includes the Javakheti Plateau and the Armenian highlands, part of which is in Turkey. The Caucasus is divided into the North Caucasus and South Caucasus, although the Western Caucasus also exists as a distinct geographic space within the North Caucasus. The Greater Caucasus mountain range in the north is mostly shared by Russia and Georgia as well as the northernmost parts of Azerbaijan. The Lesser Caucasus mountain range in the south is occupied by several independent states, mostly by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, but also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saker Falcon
The saker falcon (''Falco cherrug'') is a large species of falcon. This species breeds from central Europe eastwards across the Palearctic to Manchuria. It is mainly migratory except in the southernmost parts of its range, wintering in Ethiopia, the Arabian peninsula, northern Pakistan and western China. The saker falcon is the national bird of Hungary, the United Arab Emirates, and Mongolia. Taxonomy and systematics This species belongs to the close-knit hierofalcon complex. In this group, there is ample evidence for rampant hybridization and incomplete lineage sorting which confounds analyses of DNA sequence data to a massive extent; molecular studies with small sample sizes can simply not be expected to yield reliable conclusions in the entire hierofalcon group. The radiation of the entire living diversity of hierofalcons seems to have taken place in the Eemian interglacial at the start of the Late Pleistocene, a mere 130,000–115,000 years ago; the saker falcon represents ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peregrine Falcon
The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae. A large, Corvus (genus), crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey back, barred white underparts, and a black head. The peregrine is renowned for its speed, reaching over during its characteristic hunting stoop (high-speed dive), making it the fastest bird in the world, as well as the Fastest animals, fastest member of the animal kingdom. According to a ''National Geographic (U.S. TV channel), National Geographic'' TV program, the highest measured speed of a peregrine falcon is . As is typical for avivore, bird-eating raptors, peregrine falcons are Sexual dimorphism, sexually dimorphic, with females being considerably larger than males. The peregrine's breeding range includes land regions from the Arctic tundra to the tropics. It can b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steppe Eagle
The steppe eagle (''Aquila nipalensis'') is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. The steppe eagle's well-feathered legs illustrate it to be a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, also known as the "booted eagles".Helbig, A. J., Kocum, A., Seibold, I., & Braun, M. J. (2005). ''A multi-gene phylogeny of aquiline eagles (Aves: Accipitriformes) reveals extensive paraphyly at the genus level''. Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 35(1), 147–164. This species was once considered to be closely related to the bird migration, sedentary tawny eagle (''Aquila rapax'') and the two forms have previously been treated as Biological specificity, conspecific. They were split based on pronounced differences in morphology and anatomy; two molecular studies, each based on a very small number of genes, indicate that the species are distinct but disagree over how closely related they are. The steppe eagle is in many ways a peculiar species of eagle. It is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-tailed Eagle
The white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla'') is a very large species of sea eagle widely distributed across temperate Palearctic, Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which includes other diurnal Raptor (bird), raptors such as hawks, kite (bird), kites, and harrier (bird), harriers. One of up to eleven members in the genus ''Sea eagle, Haliaeetus'', which are commonly called sea eagles, it is also referred to as the white-tailed sea-eagle.Helander, B., & Stjernberg, T. (2003). ''Action plan for the conservation of white-tailed sea eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla'')''. In Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, Strasbourg, France. Sometimes, it is known as the ern or erne (depending on spelling by sources),Love, J. A. (1983). ''The return of the Sea Eagle''. Cambridge University Press, . gray sea eagle and Eurasian sea eagle. While found across a very wide range, today breeding as far west as Gree ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Bustard
The little bustard (''Tetrax tetrax'') is a bird in the bustard family, the only member of the genus ''Tetrax''. The genus name is from Ancient Greek and refers to a gamebird mentioned by Aristophanes and others. Distribution It breeds in Southern Europe and in Western and Central Asia. Southernmost European birds are mainly resident, but other populations migrate further south in winter. The central European population once breeding in the grassland of Hungary became extinct several decades ago. The species is declining due to habitat loss throughout its range. It used to breed more widely, for example ranging north to Poland occasionally. It is only a very rare vagrant to Great Britain despite breeding in France. On 20 December 2013, the Cypriot newspapers 'Fileleftheros' and 'Politis', as well as news website 'SigmaLive', reported the discovery of a dead little bustard in the United Nations Buffer Zone. The bird had been shot by poachers hunting illegally in the zone. The sho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bustard
Bustards, including floricans and korhaans, are large, terrestrial birds living mainly in dry grassland areas and on the steppes of the Old World. They range in length from . They make up the family Otididae (, formerly known as Otidae). Bustards are omnivorous and opportunistic, eating leaves, buds, seeds, fruit, small vertebrates, and invertebrates.del Hoyo, J. Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. (editors). (1996) ''Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 3: Hoatzin to Auks''. Lynx Edicions. There are 26 species currently recognised. Description Bustards are all fairly large with the two largest species, the kori bustard (''Ardeotis kori'') and the great bustard (''Otis tarda''), being frequently cited as the world's heaviest flying birds. In both the largest species, large males exceed a weight of , weigh around on average and can attain a total length of . The smallest species is the little brown bustard (''Eupodotis humilis''), which is around long and weighs around on average. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francolinus Francolinus
The black francolin (''Francolinus francolinus'') is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. It was formerly known as the black partridge. It is the state bird of Haryana state, India (locally known as Kaala Teetar काला तीतर). Taxonomy There are six recognized subspecies: * ''F. f. francolinus'' ( Linnaeus, 1766) - western black francolin - Cyprus, southern Turkey to Iraq and Iran * ''F. f. arabistanicus'' ( Zarudny and Harms, 1913) - Iranian black francolin - southern Iraq and western Iran * ''F. f. asiae'' ( Bonaparte, 1856) - Indian black francolin - northern India * ''F. f. henrici'' (Bonaparte, 1856) - South Persian black francolin - southern Pakistan to western India * ''F. f. bogdanovi'' (Zarudny, 1906) - southern Iran and Afghanistan to southern Pakistan * ''F. f. melanonotus'' ( Hume, 1888) - eastern India to Sikkim and Bangladesh. Description The black francolin has a length range around 33 to 36&n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greek Tortoise
The Greek tortoise (''Testudo graeca''), also known commonly as the spur-thighed tortoise, is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. ''Testudo graeca'' is one of five species of Mediterranean tortoises (genera '' Testudo'' and '' Agrionemys''). The other four species are Hermann's tortoise (''T. hermanni''), the Egyptian tortoise (''T. kleinmanni''), the marginated tortoise (''T. marginata''), and the Russian tortoise (''A. horsfieldii''). The Greek tortoise is a very long-lived animal, achieving a lifespan upwards of 125 years, with some unverified reports up to 200 years. Geographic range The Greek tortoise's geographic range includes North Africa, Southern Europe, and Southwest Asia. It is prevalent in the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus (from Anapa, Russia, to Sukhumi, Abkhazia, Georgia, to the south), as well as in other regions of Georgia, Armenia, Iran, and Azerbaijan. Evolution The oldest known definitive fossil is from the Early Pliocene of Greece, but sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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