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Tambourine Dove
The tambourine dove (''Turtur tympanistria'') is a pigeon which is a widespread resident breeding bird in woodlands and other thick vegetation in Africa south of the Sahara Desert. Its range extends from Senegal east to Ethiopia and Kenya and southwards through eastern Africa to south-eastern South Africa, but it is absent from the drier areas of south-western Africa. There is a population on the Comoros Islands. This is very much a species of thick woodlands, including dense gardens and plantations of castor oil, cocoa and rubber. As such, this shy species is usually seen when flushed whilst feeding on the forest floor. The tambourine dove builds a frail stick nest low in a thicket or vine tangle, and lays two cream-coloured eggs. Both sexes incubate, although this task is performed mainly by the female, and the eggs hatch in 13 days with another 13–14 days to fledging. The chicks are fed regurgitated food. The tambourine dove is a small plump pigeon, typically 22 cm in l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coenraad Jacob Temminck
Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch people, Dutch Aristocracy (class), aristocrat, Zoology, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob Temminck, who was treasurer of the Dutch East India Company with links to numerous travellers and collectors, he inherited a large collection of bird specimens. His father was a good friend of Francois Levaillant who also guided Coenraad. Temminck's ''Manuel d'ornithologie, ou Tableau systématique des oiseaux qui se trouvent en Europe'' (1815) was the standard work on European birds for many years. He was also the author of ''Histoire naturelle générale des Pigeons et des Gallinacées'' (1813–1817), ''Nouveau Recueil de Planches coloriées d'Oiseaux'' (1820–1839), and contributed to the mammalian sections of Philipp Franz von Siebold's ''Fauna japonica'' (1844–1850). Temminck was the first dire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theobroma Cacao
''Theobroma cacao'', also called the cacao tree and the cocoa tree, is a small ( tall) evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae. Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate. The largest producer of cocoa beans in 2018 was Ivory Coast, 2.2 million tons. Description Its leaves are alternate, entire, unlobed, long and broad. Flowers The flowers are produced in clusters directly on the trunk and older branches; this is known as cauliflory. The flowers are small, diameter, with pink calyx. The floral formula, used to represent the structure of a flower using numbers, is ✶ K5 C5 A(5°+52) (5). While many of the world's flowers are pollinated by bees ( Hymenoptera) or butterflies/moths ( Lepidoptera), cacao flowers are pollinated by tiny flies, ''Forcipomyia'' midges in the subfamily Forcipomyiinae. Using the natural pollinator ''Forcipomyia'' midges for ''Theobroma cacao'' was shown to have more fruit production th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds Of The Gulf Of Guinea
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the bee hummingbird to the ostrich. There are about ten thousand living species, more than half of which are passerine, or "perching" birds. Birds have whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which are modified forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have further evolved for swimming. Bird ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turtur
''Turtur'' is a small genus of doves native to Sub-Saharan Africa. Species in this genus are known as wood doves. The genus ''Turtur'' was introduced in 1783 by the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert to accommodate the blue-spotted wood dove The blue-spotted wood dove (''Turtur afer'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is abundantly present throughout Africa south of the Sahel; it is partially present in East Africa and absent in southern Africa. Taxonomy In 1760 th ... (''Turtur afer''). The word ''Turtur'' is Latin for "turtle dove". Species The genus contains five species: References Bird genera {{Columbiformes-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castor Oil Plant
''Ricinus communis'', the castor bean or castor oil plant, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole species in the monotypic genus, ''Ricinus'', and subtribe, Ricininae. The evolution of castor and its relation to other species are currently being studied using modern genetic tools. It reproduces with a mixed pollination system which favors selfing by geitonogamy but at the same time can be an out-crosser by anemophily (wind pollination) or entomophily (insect pollination). Its seed is the castor bean, which, despite its name, is not a bean (that is, the seed of many Fabaceae). Castor is indigenous to the southeastern Mediterranean Basin, Eastern Africa, and India, but is widespread throughout tropical regions (and widely grown elsewhere as an ornamental plant). Castor seed is the source of castor oil, which has a wide variety of uses. The seeds contain between 40% and 60% oil that is rich in triglycerides, mainly ricinolei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lemon Dove
The lemon dove or cinnamon dove (''Columba larvata'') is a species of bird in the pigeon family Columbidae found in montane forests of sub-Saharan Africa. The São Tomé lemon dove is usually treated as a subspecies. The lemon dove has a generally brownish-grey plumage with a cinnamon brown breast. Males have a greenish-glossed neck and white markings on the head, and females and juveniles are rather more brown and have grey facial markings. This dove is a common species, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern". Taxonomy It differs from the other African pigeons of the genus ''Columba'' by its terrestrial habits and the white face and forehead of adult males; it is therefore sometimes separated in the genus ''Aplopelia''. Some treat the Gulf of Guinea populations (São Tomé lemon-dove) as a separate species ''C. simplex'' (or ''A. simplex''), others as subspecies of ''C. larvata''. In the latter case, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the animal hatches. Most arthropods such as insects, vertebrates (excluding live-bearing mammals), and mollusks lay eggs, although some, such as scorpions, do not. Reptile eggs, bird eggs, and monotreme eggs are laid out of water and are surrounded by a protective shell, either flexible or inflexible. Eggs laid on land or in nests are usually kept within a warm and favorable temperature range while the embryo grows. When the embryo is adequately developed it hatches, i.e., breaks out of the egg's shell. Some embryos have a temporary egg tooth they use to crack, pip, or break the eggshell or covering. The largest recorded egg is from a whale shark and was in size. Whale shark eggs typically hatch within the mother. At and up to , the o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia are three of the leading rubber producers. Types of polyisoprene that are used as natural rubbers are classified as elastomers. Currently, rubber is harvested mainly in the form of the latex from the rubber tree (''Hevea brasiliensis'') or others. The latex is a sticky, milky and white colloid drawn off by making incisions in the bark and collecting the fluid in vessels in a process called "tapping". The latex then is refined into the rubber that is ready for commercial processing. In major areas, latex is allowed to coagulate in the collection cup. The coagulated lumps are collected and processed into dry forms for sale. Natural rubber is used extensively in many applications and products, either alone or in combination wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castor Oil
Castor oil is a vegetable oil pressed from castor beans. It is a colourless or pale yellow liquid with a distinct taste and odor. Its boiling point is and its density is 0.961 g/cm3. It includes a mixture of triglycerides in which about 90% of fatty acids are ricinoleates. Oleic acid and linoleic acid are the other significant components. Castor oil and its derivatives are used in the manufacturing of soaps, lubricants, hydraulic and brake fluids, paints, dyes, coatings, inks, cold-resistant plastics, waxes and polishes, nylon, and perfumes. Etymology The name probably comes from a confusion between the ''Ricinus'' plant that produces it and another plant, the ''Vitex agnus-castus''. An alternative etymology, though, suggests that it was used as a replacement for castoreum. Composition Castor oil is well known as a source of ricinoleic acid, a monounsaturated, 18-carbon fatty acid. Among fatty acids, ricinoleic acid is unusual in that it has a hydroxyl functional gro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dove
Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily feed on seeds, fruits, and plants. The family occurs worldwide, but the greatest variety is in the Indomalayan and Australasian realms. The family contains 344 species divided into 50 genera. Thirteen of the species are extinct. In English, the smaller species tend to be called "doves" and the larger ones "pigeons". However, the distinction is not consistent, and does not exist in most other languages. Historically, the common names for these birds involve a great deal of variation between the terms. The bird most commonly referred to as just "pigeon" is the domestic pigeon, which is common in many cities as the feral pigeon. Doves and pigeons build relatively flimsy nests, often using sticks and other debris, which may be placed on b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comoros
The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni. The religion of the majority of the population, and the official state religion, is Sunni Islam. As a member of the Arab League, it is the only country in the Arab world which is entirely in the Southern Hemisphere. Comoros proclaimed their independence on July 6, 1975. It is also a member state of the African Union, the ''Organisation internationale de la Francophonie'', the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the Indian Ocean Commission. The country has three official languages: Chi Comori, French and Arabic. The sovereign state consists of three major islands and numerous smaller islands, all in the volcanic Comoro Islands with the notable exception of Mayotte. Mayotte voted against inde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black South Afri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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