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Sugar Glider
The sugar glider (''Petaurus breviceps'') is a small, omnivorous, arboreal, and nocturnal gliding possum belonging to the marsupial infraclass. The common name refers to its predilection for sugary foods such as sap and nectar and its ability to glide through the air, much like a flying squirrel. They have very similar habits and appearance to the flying squirrel, despite not being closely related—an example of convergent evolution. The scientific name, ''Petaurus breviceps'', translates from Latin as "short-headed rope-dancer", a reference to their canopy acrobatics. The sugar glider is characterised by its pair of gliding membranes, known as patagia, which extend from its forelegs to its hindlegs. Gliding serves as an efficient means of reaching food and evading predators. The animal is covered in soft, pale grey to light brown fur which is countershaded, being lighter in colour on its underside. The sugar glider is native to a small portion of southeastern Australia, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neville William Cayley
Neville William Cayley (1886–1950) was an Australian writer, artist and ornithologist. He produced Australia's first comprehensive bird field guide '' What Bird is That?''. In 1960 it was rated the all-time best seller in Australian natural history and remains a classic birding reference to this day. Early years Born in Yamba, New South Wales, in January 1886, he was the son of ornithologist and bird artist Neville Henry Cayley born Caley, and consequently signed his name as Neville W. Cayley in his professional years. Cayley's family moved to Sydney in the mid-1890s, where he studied art and was a pivotal member in the Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club. In 1918, his first work, the booklet ''Our Birds'' was published. ''Our Flowers'' and ''The Tale of Bluey Wren'' followed, both published in 1926. In the same period (1925–26), Cayley began illustrating birds’ eggs for the ''Australian Encyclopaedia''. Groundbreaking work Cayley's big breakthrough came in 1931 when he publ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convergent Evolution
Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last common ancestor of those groups. The cladistic term for the same phenomenon is homoplasy. The recurrent evolution of flight is a classic example, as flying insects, birds, pterosaurs, and bats have independently evolved the useful capacity of flight. Functionally similar features that have arisen through convergent evolution are ''analogous'', whereas '' homologous'' structures or traits have a common origin but can have dissimilar functions. Bird, bat, and pterosaur wings are analogous structures, but their forelimbs are homologous, sharing an ancestral state despite serving different functions. The opposite of convergence is divergent evolution, where related species evolve different traits. Convergent evolution is similar to parallel evo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
