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The Fantastic Flying Journey
''The Fantastic Flying Journey'' () is a children's book written by Gerald Durrell. It is a story about three children and their great-uncle Lancelot travelling around the world in a hot air balloon. It was published by Conran Octopus, in 1987. It is illustrated by Graham Percy. In 1989, Durrell wrote a sequel for this book called ''The Fantastic Dinosaur Adventure''. Plot summary One day, a hot air balloon attached to a huge straw house, lands in the garden of the Dollybutts. The fat old man who owns it is Great-Uncle Lancelot. He tells Mrs Dollybutt and her three children that he is going to find his brother, Perceval, who is lost in the jungles of Africa, looking for gorillas. Perceval, a scientist, invented a magic dust which enables people to communicate with animals. Lancelot takes the three children, Emma, Ivan and Conrad with him in the hot air balloon, which he has called Belladonna, to track Uncle Perceval. On their way, they meet several animals which they ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patagonia
Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers in the west and deserts, tablelands and steppes to the east. Patagonia is bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and many bodies of water that connect them, such as the Strait of Magellan, the Beagle Channel, and the Drake Passage to the south. The Colorado and Barrancas rivers, which run from the Andes to the Atlantic, are commonly considered the northern limit of Argentine Patagonia. The archipelago of Tierra del Fuego is sometimes included as part of Patagonia. Most geographers and historians locate the northern limit of Chilean Patagonia at Huincul Fault, in Araucanía Region.Manuel Enrique Schilling; Richard WalterCarlson; AndrésTassara; Rommulo Vieira Conceição; Gustavo Walter Bertotto; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howler Monkey
Howler monkeys (genus ''Alouatta'', monotypic in subfamily Alouattinae) are the most widespread primate genus in the Neotropics and are among the largest of the platyrrhines along with the muriquis (''Brachyteles''), the spider monkeys (''Ateles'') and woolly monkeys (''Lagotrix''). These monkeys are native to South and Central American forests. They are famous for their loud howls, which can travel more than a mile through dense rain forest. Fifteen species are recognized. Previously classified in the family Cebidae, they are now placed in the family Atelidae. They are primarily folivores but also significant frugivores, acting as seed dispersal agents through their digestive system and their locomotion. Threats include human predation, habitat destruction, and capture for pets or zoo animals. Classification * ''A. palliata'' group ** Coiba Island howler, ''Alouatta coibensis'' *** ''Alouatta coibensis coibensis'' *** Azuero howler, ''Alouatta coibensis trabeata'' ** Mantled h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boa Constrictor
The boa constrictor (scientific name also ''Boa constrictor''), also called the red-tailed boa, is a species of large, non-venomous, heavy-bodied snake that is frequently kept and bred in captivity. The boa constrictor is a member of the family Boidae, found in tropical South America, as well as some islands in the Caribbean. A staple of private collections and public displays, its color pattern is highly variable yet distinctive. Four subspecies are currently recognized. This article focuses on the species ''Boa constrictor'' as a whole, and on the nominate subspecies ''B. c. constrictor''. Common names Though all boids are constrictors, only this species is properly referred to as a "boa constrictor"—a rare instance of an animal having the same common English name and scientific binomial name. All subspecies are referred to as "boa constrictors", and are part of a diverse group of New World boas referred to as "red-tailed" boas, comprising species of both ''Boa constrictor' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monarch Butterflies
The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (''Danaus plexippus'') is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names, depending on region, include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black-veined brown. It is amongst the most familiar of North American butterflies and an iconic pollinator, although it is not an especially effective pollinator of milkweeds. Its wings feature an easily recognizable black, orange, and white pattern, with a wingspan of . A Müllerian mimic, the viceroy butterfly, is similar in color and pattern, but is markedly smaller and has an extra black stripe across each hindwing. The eastern North American monarch population is notable for its annual southward late-summer/autumn instinctive migration from the northern and central United States and southern Canada to Florida and Mexico. During the fall migration, monarchs cover thousands of miles, with a corresponding multigenerational return north in spring. The western ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Bison
The American bison (''Bison bison'') is a species of bison native to North America. Sometimes colloquially referred to as American buffalo or simply buffalo (a different clade of bovine), it is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the European bison. Its historical range, by 9000 BC, is described as the great bison belt, a tract of rich grassland that ran from Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico, east to the Atlantic Seaboard (nearly to the Atlantic tidewater in some areas) as far north as New York, south to Georgia and, according to some sources, further south to Florida, with sightings in North Carolina near Buffalo Ford on the Catawba River as late as 1750. Once roaming in vast herds, the species nearly became extinct by a combination of commercial hunting and slaughter in the 19th century and introduction of bovine diseases from domestic cattle. With a population in excess of 60 million in the late 18th century, the species was culled down to just 541 animals by 1889. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beaver
Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-largest living rodents after the capybaras. They have stout bodies with large heads, long chisel-like incisors, brown or gray fur, hand-like front feet, webbed back feet and flat, scaly tails. The two species differ in the shape of the skull and tail and fur color. Beavers can be found in a number of freshwater habitats, such as rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. They are herbivorous, consuming tree bark, aquatic plants, grasses and sedges. Beavers build dams and lodges using tree branches, vegetation, rocks and mud; they chew down trees for building material. Dams impound water and lodges serve as shelters. Their infrastructure creates wetlands used by many other species, and because of their effect on other organisms in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musk Ox
Musk (Persian: مشک, ''Mushk'') is a class of aromatic substances commonly used as base notes in perfumery. They include glandular secretions from animals such as the musk deer, numerous plants emitting similar fragrances, and artificial substances with similar odors. ''Musk'' was a name originally given to a substance with a strong odor obtained from a gland of the musk deer. The substance has been used as a popular perfume fixative since ancient times and is one of the most expensive animal products in the world. The name originates from the Late Greek μόσχος 'moskhos', from Persian 'mushk', similar to Sanskrit मुष्क muṣka ("testicle"), derived from Proto-Indo-European noun ''múh₂s'' meaning "mouse". The deer gland was thought to resemble a scrotum. It is applied to various plants and animals of similar smell (e.g. muskox) and has come to encompass a wide variety of aromatic substances with similar odors, despite their often differing chemical structure ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polar Bear
The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear species, as well as the largest extant land carnivore. A boar (adult male) weighs around , while a sow (adult female) is about half that size. Although it is the sister species of the brown bear, it has evolved to occupy a narrower ecological niche, with many body characteristics adapted for cold temperatures, for moving across snow, ice and open water, and for hunting seals, which make up most of its diet. Although most polar bears are born on land, they spend most of their time on the sea ice. Their scientific name means "maritime bear" and derives from this fact. Polar bears hunt their preferred food of seals from the edge of sea ice, often living off fat reserves when no sea ice is present. Because of their dependence on the sea ice, polar be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Killer Whales
The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white patterned body. A cosmopolitan species, orcas can be found in all of the world's oceans in a variety of marine environments, from Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas. Orcas have a diverse diet, although individual populations often specialize in particular types of prey. Some feed exclusively on fish, while others hunt marine mammals such as seals and other species of dolphin. They have been known to attack baleen whale calves, and even adult whales. Orcas are apex predators, as they have no natural predators. They are highly social; some populations are composed of very stable matrilineal family groups (pods) which are the most stable of any animal species. Their sophisticated hunting techniques and vocal behaviours, which are o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Whale
The blue whale (''Balaenoptera musculus'') is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of and weighing up to , it is the largest animal known to have ever existed. The blue whale's long and slender body can be of various shades of greyish-blue dorsally and somewhat lighter underneath. Four subspecies are recognized: ''B. m. musculus'' in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, ''B. m. intermedia'' in the Southern Ocean, ''B. m. brevicauda'' (the pygmy blue whale) in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean, ''B. m. indica'' in the Northern Indian Ocean. There is also a population in the waters off Chile that may constitute a fifth subspecies. In general, blue whale populations migrate between their summer feeding areas near the poles and their winter breeding grounds near the tropics. There is also evidence of year-round residencies, and partial or age/sex-based migration. Blue whales are filter feeders; their diet consists almost exclusivel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Platypus
The platypus (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus''), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal Endemic (ecology), endemic to Eastern states of Australia, eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypus is the sole living representative or monotypic taxon of its Family (biology), family (Ornithorhynchidae) and genus (''Ornithorhynchus''), though a number of Fossil Monotremes, related species appear in the fossil record. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five wikt:extant, extant species of monotremes, mammals that lay Egg (biology), eggs instead of giving birth to live young. Like other monotremes, it senses prey through electroreception, electrolocation. It is one of the few species of venomous mammals, as the male platypus has a spur (zoology), spur on the hind foot that delivers a Platypus venom, venom, capable of causing severe pain to humans. The unusual appearance of this egg-laying, duck-billed, beaver-t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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