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Black Salamander
The speckled black salamander (''Aneides flavipunctatus''), previously known as just the black salamander, is a species of salamander in the family Lungless salamander, Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the United States, U.S. state of California. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and temperate grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss. Taxonomy Previously, it was referred to as the black salamander, and was thought to have a fragmented range across most of California and southern Oregon. However, a 2019 taxonomic study found it to represent a species complex of multiple species: the speckled black salamander (''A. flavipunctatus sensu stricto''), the Shasta black salamander (''A. iecanus''), the Santa Cruz black salamander (''A. niger''), and the Klamath black salamander (''A. klamathensis''). These were thus split off as distinct species. Description The speckled black salamander can grow to long. The color varies, black with coarse can be the color or fine white ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Strauch (naturalist)
Alexander Strauch (1 March 1832, in Saint Petersburg – 14 August 1893, in Wiesbaden, Germany) was a Russian naturalist, most notably a herpetologist. In 1861 he started working as a curator of the zoological museum at the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. From 1879 to 1890 he was director of the museum. He is credited with establishing St. Petersburg as a major world center in the field of herpetology. Taxa named after Strauch Taxa with the specific epithet of ''strauchi'' or ''strauchii'' commemorate his name, five examples being: *''Blanus strauchi'' ( Bedriaga, 1884) *'' Ctenotus strauchii'' ( Boulenger, 1887) *''Eremias strauchi'' Kessler, 1878 *'' Gloydius strauchi'' (Bedriaga, 1912) *'' Phrynocephalus strauchi'' Nikolsky, 1899. ''Nota bene'': A Taxon author in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a different genus. His zoologist author abbreviation is Strauch. Selected works * ''Die Vertheilung der Schildkrö ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County () is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa, California, Santa Rosa. It is to the north of Marin County, California, Marin County and the south of Mendocino County, California, Mendocino County. It is west of Napa County, California, Napa County and Lake County, California, Lake County. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the San Jose, California, San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California, Oakland, CA San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA Combined Statistical Area, Combined Statistical Area. It is the northernmost county in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area region. In California's Wine Country (California), Wine Country region, which also includes Napa, Mendocino, and Lake counties, Sonoma County is the largest producer. It has thirteen approved American Vit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphibians Of The United States
Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arboreal or freshwater aquatic ecosystems. Thus amphibians typically start out as larvae living in water, but some species have developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this. The young generally undergo metamorphosis from larva with gills to an adult air-breathing form with lungs. Amphibians use their skin as a secondary respiratory surface and some small terrestrial salamanders and frogs lack lungs and rely entirely on their skin. They are superficially similar to reptiles like lizards but, along with mammals and birds, reptiles are amniotes and do not require water bodies in which to breed. With their complex reproductive needs and permeable skins, amphibians are often ecological indicators; in recent decades there has been a dramatic decline ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aneides
Climbing salamanders is the common name for plethodontid (lungless) salamanders of the genus ''Aneides''. It contains 10 species native to North America, distributed between the Pacific Coast (7 species), Sacramento Mountains (1 species), and Appalachian Mountains (2 species). As their common name suggests, most of these species have prehensile tails and are quite mobile in trees. Taxonomy The green salamander (''A. aeneus'') and the Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander (''A. caryaensis'') are now considered to belong to their own subgenus ''Castaneides'', which diverged from the '' Aneides hardii'' lineage between 27.2 and 32.3 million years ago, during the Oligocene. ''Castaneides'' contains significant cryptic diversity and may contain more as-of-yet undescribed species. All other western ''Aneides'' including ''A. hardii'' are considered ''Aneides sensu stricto'', and belong to the subgenus of the same name. Distribution All ten known species in this genus inhabit mountain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vineyard
A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards are often characterised by their ''terroir'', a French term loosely translating as "a sense of place" that refers to the specific geographical and geological characteristics of grapevine plantations, which may be imparted to the wine itself. History The earliest evidence of wine production dates from between 6000 and 5000 BC. Wine making technology improved considerably with the ancient Greeks but it wasn't until the end of the Roman Empire that cultivation techniques as we know them were common throughout Europe. In medieval Europe the Church was a staunch supporter of wine, which was necessary for the celebration of the Mass. During the lengthy instability of the Middle Ages, the monasteries maintained and developed viticultural prac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IUCN Red List Of Threatened Species
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. It uses a set of precise criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of thousands of species and subspecies. These criteria are relevant to all species and all regions of the world. With its strong scientific base, the IUCN Red List is recognized as the most authoritative guide to the status of biological diversity. A series of Regional Red Lists are produced by countries or organizations, which assess the risk of extinction to species within a political management unit. The aim of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN Red List is to convey the urgency of conservation issues to the public and policy makers, as well as help the international community to reduce species extinction. According to International Unio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Garter Snake
Garter snake is a common name for generally harmless, small to medium-sized snakes belonging to the genus ''Thamnophis'' in the family Colubridae. Native to North and Central America, species in the genus ''Thamnophis'' can be found from the subarctic plains of Canada to Costa Rica. With about 35 recognized species and subspecies, garter snakes are highly variable in appearance. They generally have large round eyes, round pupils, a slender build, keeled scales, and a pattern of longitudinal stripes that may or may not include spots (although some have no stripes at all). They also vary significantly in total length from as short as 18″ to as long as 51" (45-130cm). With no real consensus on the classification of species of ''Thamnophis'', disagreement between taxonomists and sources such as field guides over whether two types of snakes are separate species or subspecies of the same species is common. Garter snakes are closely related to the genus '' Nerodia'' (water snakes), w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Springtail
Springtails (Collembola) form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects (the other two are the Protura and Diplura). Although the three orders are sometimes grouped together in a class called Entognatha because they have internal mouthparts, they do not appear to be any more closely related to one another than they are to all insects, which have external mouthparts. Collembolans are omnivorous, free-living organisms that prefer moist conditions. They do not directly engage in the decomposition of organic matter, but contribute to it indirectly through the fragmentation of organic matter and the control of soil microbial communities. The word ''Collembola'' is from the ancient Greek "glue" and "peg"; this name was given due to the existence of the collophore, which was previously thought to stick to surfaces to stabilize the creature. Some DNA sequence studies suggest that Collembola represent a separate evolutionary line fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Termite
Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattodea (along with cockroaches). Termites were once classified in a separate order from cockroaches, but recent phylogenetic studies indicate that they evolved from cockroaches, as they are deeply nested within the group, and the sister group to wood eating cockroaches of the genus ''Cryptocercus''. Previous estimates suggested the divergence took place during the Jurassic or Triassic. More recent estimates suggest that they have an origin during the Late Jurassic, with the first fossil records in the Early Cretaceous. About 3,106 species are currently described, with a few hundred more left to be described. Although these insects are often called "white ants", they are not ants, and are not closely related to ants. Like ants and some bees a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beetle
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 described species, is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described insects and 25% of all known animal life-forms; new species are discovered frequently, with estimates suggesting that there are between 0.9 and 2.1 million total species. Found in almost every habitat except the sea and the polar regions, they interact with their ecosystems in several ways: beetles often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. Some species are serious agricultural pests, such as the Colorado potato beetle, while others such as Coccinellidae (ladybirds or ladybugs) eat aphids, scale insects, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects that damage crops. Beetles typically have a particularly hard e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Millipede
Millipedes are a group of arthropods that are characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments; they are known scientifically as the class Diplopoda, the name derived from this feature. Each double-legged segment is a result of two single segments fused together. Most millipedes have very elongated cylindrical or flattened bodies with more than 20 segments, while pill millipedes are shorter and can roll into a tight ball. Although the name "millipede" derives from the Latin for "thousand feet", no species was known to have 1,000 or more until the discovery of ''Eumillipes persephone'', which can have over 1,300 legs. There are approximately 12,000 named species classified into 16 orders and around 140 families, making Diplopoda the largest class of myriapods, an arthropod group which also includes centipedes and other multi-legged creatures. Most millipedes are slow-moving detritivores, eating decaying leaves and other dead plant matter. Some eat fungi or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate subphylum Vertebrata. Familiar examples of invertebrates include arthropods, mollusks, annelids, echinoderms and cnidarians. The majority of animal species are invertebrates; one estimate puts the figure at 97%. Many invertebrate taxa have a greater number and variety of species than the entire subphylum of Vertebrata. Invertebrates vary widely in size, from 50 μm (0.002 in) rotifers to the 9–10 m (30–33 ft) colossal squid. Some so-called invertebrates, such as the Tunicata and Cephalochordata, are more closely related to vertebrates than to other invertebrates. This makes the invertebrates paraphyletic, so the term has little meaning in taxonomy. Etymology The word "invertebrate" comes from the Latin word ''vertebra'', whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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