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Common Babbler
The common babbler (''Argya caudata'') is a member of the family of Leiothrichidae. They are found in dry open scrub country mainly in India. Two populations are recognized as subspecies and the populations to the west of the Indus river system are now usually treated as a separate species, the Afghan babbler (''Turdoides huttoni''). The species is distinctly long-tailed, slim with an overall brown or greyish colour, streaked on the upper plumage and having a distinctive whitish throat. Taxonomy The common babbler was formerly placed in the genus ''Turdoides'' but following the publication of a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study in 2018, it was moved to the resurrected genus ''Argya''. Description This small, slim babbler with a long tail is buff to grey above with dark streaks. The underside is unstreaked and paler, the throat being nearly whitish. The species was originally described as ''Crateropus caudatus'' before it was moved to the genus ''Argya'' and still later ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haryana
Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land area. The state capital is Chandigarh, which it shares with the neighboring state of Punjab, and the most populous city is Faridabad, which is a part of the National Capital Region (India), National Capital Region. The city of Gurugram is among India's largest financial and technology hubs. Haryana has 6 Divisions of Haryana, administrative divisions, 22 List of districts of Haryana, districts, 72 sub-divisions, 93 tehsil, revenue tehsils, 50 sub-tehsils, 140 Community development block in India, community development blocks, 154 List of cities in Haryana by population, cities and towns, 7,356 villages, and 6,222 Gram panchayat, villages panchayats. Haryana contains 32 special economic zones (SEZs), mainly located within the industrial corri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago., "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by modern humans originating in Africa. ... Coalescence dates for most non-European populations average to between 73–55 ka.", "Modern human beings—''Homo sapiens''—originated in Africa. Then, int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Dumont De Sainte Croix
Charles Henri Frédéric Dumont de Sainte-Croix (27 April 1758 – 8 January 1830) was a French zoologist. A lawyer by trade, he was also an enthusiastic amateur ornithologist.Stresemann, p. 117 Between 1817 and 1818, he described a number of Javanese bird species discovered by Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour; he also contributed articles on ornithology to the ''Dictionnaire des sciences naturelles'', edited and published from 1816 to 1830 by F. G. Levrault. Dumont de Sainte-Croix's daughter, Clémence married René-Primevère Lesson, a surgeon and noted French naturalist. His younger brother, André Dumont was elected to the Convention during the French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its .... He was honoured in 1813, in the naming of '' Dumonti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leiothrichidae
The laughingthrushes are a family, Leiothrichidae, of Old World passerine birds. They are diverse in size and coloration. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The entire family used to be included in the Old World babbler family Timaliidae. Characteristics They are small to medium-sized birds. They have strong legs, and many are quite terrestrial. They typically have generalised bills, similar to those of a thrush. Most have predominantly brown plumage, with minimal difference between the sexes, but many more brightly coloured species also exist. This group is not strongly migratory, and most species have short rounded wings, and a weak flight. They live in lightly wooded or scrubland environments, ranging from swamp to near-desert. They are primarily insectivorous, although many will also take berries, and the larger species will even eat small lizards and other vertebrates. Taxonomy The family Leiothr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afghan Babbler
The Afghan babbler (''Argya huttoni'') is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is found from southeastern Iraq to south western Pakistan. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the common babbler. When compared to the common babbler, the Afghan babbler has a heavier bill and dark streaks on the breast and sides. The vocalizations are also different. The variation is sometimes considered to be clinal but two subspecies have been recognized. The Afghan babbler group includes ''salvadorii'' (De Filippi, 1865) found in Iraq and western Iran and ''huttoni'' (Blyth, 1847) from eastern Iran through Afghanistan east to southwestern Pakistan. The Afghan babbler was formerly placed in the genus ''Turdoides'' but following the publication of a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study in 2018, it was moved to the resurrected genus ''Argya''. References *Collar, N. J. & Robson, C. 2007. Family Timaliidae (Babblers) pp. 70 – 291 in; del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turdoides
''Turdoides'' is a genus of passerine birds in the laughingthrush family Leiothrichidae. The species are distributed across Africa and southern Asia and are typically fairly large, long-tailed birds which forage in noisy groups. The majority of species have drab brown or grey-brown plumage. Several species that were included in ''Turdoides'' in the past have been reassigned to ''Argya'' following a 2018 study that found multiple clades. The genus ''Turdoides'' was introduced in 1826 by the German physician Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar specifically for the white-headed babbler. The name combines the thrush genus ''Turdus'' with the Ancient Greek ''-oidēs'' meaning "resembling". Species The genus contains the following 19 species: * Brown babbler, ''Turdoides plebejus'' * Bare-cheeked babbler, ''Turdoides gymnogenys'' * Arrow-marked babbler, ''Turdoides jardineii'' * Scaly babbler, ''Turdoides squamulata'' * White-rumped babbler, ''Turdoides leucopygia'' * White-headed babbl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Molecular Phylogenetic
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to determine the processes by which diversity among species has been achieved. The result of a molecular phylogenetic analysis is expressed in a phylogenetic tree. Molecular phylogenetics is one aspect of molecular systematics, a broader term that also includes the use of molecular data in taxonomy and biogeography. Molecular phylogenetics and molecular evolution correlate. Molecular evolution is the process of selective changes (mutations) at a molecular level (genes, proteins, etc.) throughout various branches in the tree of life (evolution). Molecular phylogenetics makes inferences of the evolutionary relationships that arise due to molecular evolution and results in the construction of a phylogenetic tree. History The theoretical framew ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Argya
''Argya'' is a genus of passerine birds in the family Leiothrichidae. The species are distributed across Africa and southern Asia and are typically fairly large, long-tailed birds that forage in noisy groups. Members of this genus were formerly placed in the genera ''Turdoides'' and ''Garrulax''. Taxonomy Most of the species now placed in the genus ''Argya'' were previously assigned to the genus ''Turdoides''. Following the publication of a molecular phylogenetic study in 2018, ''Turdoides'' was split and species were moved to the resurrected genus ''Argya'' that had been erected by the French naturalist René Lesson in 1831. The name is from the Latin ''argutus'' meaning "noisy". Lesson did not specify a type species but this was designated as the Arabian babbler (''Argya sqamiceps'') by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1855. Species The genus contains 16 species:Collar, N. J. & Robson, C. 2007. Family Timaliidae (Babblers) pp. 70 – 291 in; del Hoyo, J., El ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacobin Cuckoo
The Jacobin cuckoo (''Clamator jacobinus''), also pied cuckoo or pied crested cuckoo, is a member of the cuckoo order of birds that is found in Africa and Asia. It is partially migratory and in India, it has been considered a harbinger of the monsoon rains due to the timing of its arrival. It has been associated with a bird in Indian mythology and poetry, known as the ''chataka'' (Sanskrit: चातक) represented as a bird with a beak on its head that waits for rains to quench its thirst. Taxonomy The Jacobin cuckoo was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in his ''Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux'' in 1780. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the ''Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle''. This was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Hawk-cuckoo
The common hawk-cuckoo (''Hierococcyx varius''), popularly known as the brainfever bird, is a medium-sized cuckoo resident in the Indian subcontinent. It bears a close resemblance to the Shikra, even in its style of flying and landing on a perch. The resemblance to hawks gives this group the generic name of hawk-cuckoo and like many other cuckoos these are brood parasites, laying their eggs in nests of babblers. During their breeding season in summer males produce loud, repetitive three note calls that are well-rendered as ''brain-fever'', the second note being longer and higher pitched. These notes rise to a crescendo before ending abruptly and repeat after a few minutes; the calling may go on through the day, well after dusk and before dawn. Description The common hawk-cuckoo is a medium- to large-sized cuckoo, about the size of a pigeon (ca. 34 cm). The plumage is ashy grey above; whitish below, cross-barred with brown. The tail is broadly barred. The sexes are alike. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helpers At The Nest
Helpers at the nest is a term used in behavioural ecology and evolutionary biology to describe a social structure in which juveniles and sexually mature adolescents of either one or both sexes remain in association with their parents and help them raise subsequent broods or litters, instead of dispersing and beginning to reproduce themselves. This phenomenon was first studied in birds where it occurs most frequently, but it is also known in animals from many different groups including mammals and insects. It is a simple form of co-operative breeding. The effects of helpers usually amount to a net benefit, however, benefits are not uniformly distributed by all helpers nor across all species that exhibit this behaviour. There are multiple proposed explanations for the behaviour, but its variability and broad taxonomic occurrences result in simultaneously plausible theories.Dickinson, J. L.; Hatchwell, B. J. (2004) "Fitness consequences of helping" in ''Ecology and evolution of coop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary
Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary is a bird sanctuary located in Jamnagar district of Gujarat, India. About 300 species of migratory birds have been recorded here. In 2022, on World Wetlands Day (2 February) it was declared as a Ramsar site. Sanctuary The sanctuary is unique having both fresh water lakes, salt and freshwater marshlands. It is spread over an area of 6.05 km2. Lonely Planet Before Indian independence, a check dam was built for storing the waters of river Ruparel just before it entered the sea. Over the years with fresh water of the rain and river on one side and salt water of the sea on the other side, a unique area was formed here. On the other side of the Bunding, bund large creeks flo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
