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Goatsucker
Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds in the family Caprimulgidae and order Caprimulgiformes, characterised by long wings, short legs, and very short bills. They are sometimes called goatsuckers, due to the ancient folk tale that they sucked the milk from goats (the Latin for goatsucker is ''caprimulgus''), or bugeaters, their primary source of food being insects. Some New World species are called nighthawks. The English word "nightjar" originally referred to the European nightjar. Nightjars are found all around the world, with the exception of Antarctica and certain island groups such as the Seychelles. They can be found in a variety of habitats, most commonly the open country with some vegetation. They usually nest on the ground, with a habit of resting and roosting on roads. The subfamilies of nightjars have similar characteristics, including small feet, of little use for walking, and long, pointed wings. Typical nightjars, though, have rictal bristle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Nightjar
The European nightjar (''Caprimulgus europaeus''), common goatsucker, Eurasian nightjar or just nightjar, is a crepuscular and nocturnal bird in the nightjar family that breeds across most of Europe and the Palearctic to Mongolia and Northwestern China. The Latin generic name refers to the old myth that the nocturnal nightjar suckled from goats, causing them to cease to give milk. The six subspecies differ clinally, the birds becoming smaller and paler towards the east of the range. All populations are migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa. Their densely patterned grey and brown plumage makes individuals difficult to see in the daytime when they rest on the ground or perch motionless along a branch, although the male shows white patches in the wings and tail as he flies at night. The preferred habitat is dry, open country with some trees and small bushes, such as heaths, forest clearings or newly planted woodland. The male European nightjar occupies a territory in sprin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nighthawk
The nighthawk is a nocturnal bird of the subfamily Chordeilinae, within the nightjar family, Caprimulgidae, native to the western hemisphere. The term "nighthawk", first recorded in the King James Bible of 1611, was originally a local name in England for the European nightjar. Its use in the Americas refers to members of the genus ''Chordeiles'' and related genera was first recorded in 1778. Nighthawks are medium-sized birds with long wings, short legs, and very short bills. They usually nest on the ground. They feed on flying insects. The least nighthawk, at and , is the smallest of all Caprimulgiformes. Nightjars are sometimes referred to as goatsuckers from the mistaken belief that they suck milk from goats (the Latin for goatsucker is ''Caprimulgus''). In October 2018, the University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Potoo
Potoos (family Nyctibiidae) are a group of birds related to the nightjars and frogmouths. They are sometimes called poor-me-ones, after their haunting calls. The family Nyctibiidae was formerly included with the nightjars in the order Caprimulgiformes but is now placed in a separate order, Nyctibiiformes. There are seven species in two genera in tropical Central and South America. Fossil evidence indicates that they also inhabited Europe during the Paleogene. Potoos are nocturnal insectivores that lack the bristles around the mouth found in the true nightjars. They hunt from a perch like a shrike or flycatcher. During the day they perch upright on tree stumps, camouflaged to look like part of the stump. The single spotted egg is laid directly on the top of a stump. In Argentina and Bolivia, they are known as kakuy or cacuy from Quechua meaning 'to remain'. In Brazil, they are called urutau from Guaraní ''guyra'' 'bird' and ''tau'' 'ghost'. Evolution and taxonomy The potoos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Eared Nightjar
The great eared nightjar (''Lyncornis macrotis'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in southwest India and in parts of Southeast Asia. This very large nightjar has long barred wings, a barred tail and long ear-tufts which are often recumbent. It has a white throat band but has no white on its wings or on its tail. Taxonomy The great eared nightjar was formally described in 1831 by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors based on a sample collected in the neighbourhood of Manila in the Philippines. Vigors coined the binomial name ''Caprimulgus macrotis''. The great eared nightjar was formerly placed in the genus ''Eurostopodus''. It and the closely related Malaysian eared nightjar were moved to the resurrected genus ''Lyncornis'' based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010 that found large genetic differences between the great eared nightjar and other species in ''Eurostopodus''. The genus name ''Lyncornis'' combine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Sibley
Charles Gald Sibley (August 7, 1917 – April 12, 1998) was an American ornithologist and molecular biologist. He had an immense influence on the scientific classification of birds, and the work that Sibley initiated has substantially altered our understanding of the evolutionary history of modern birds. Sibley's taxonomy has been a major influence on the sequences adopted by ornithological organizations, especially the American Ornithologists' Union. Charles Sibley is of no known family relation to renowned bird artist and prolific author of numerous bird identification guides David Sibley. Life and work Educated in California (A.B. 1940; Ph.D. 1948 in Zoology, University of California, Berkeley. Minor fields: Paleontology, Botany), he did his first fieldwork in Mexico in 1939 and 1941, then in Solomon Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea, and the Philippines during World War II while on leave from the U.S. Navy, in which he was Ensign to Lieutenant in the Communication ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Physiological And Biochemical Zoology
''Physiological and Biochemical Zoology'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. Traditionally, it has covered research on the biochemistry, physiology, and genetics of animals. A recent editorial change has expanded the scope to include life-history traits, comparative biomechanics, and behavioral endocrinology, as well as a wider range of paper categories, including those related to educational outreach.Editorial http://www.press.uchicago.edu/dms/ucp/journals/announcements/PBZ_Theodore_Garland_Jr_Letter_from_the_Editor_8.1.14.pdf The current editor-in-chief is Theodore Garland, Jr. (University of California, Riverside). Previous Editors include Charles Manning Child, Warder Clyde Allee, and Clifford Ladd Prosser. The journal was established in 1928 as ''Physiological Zoology'', obtaining its current name in 1999. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Poorwill
The common poorwill (''Phalaenoptilus nuttallii'') is a nocturnal bird of the family Caprimulgidae, the nightjars. It is found from British Columbia and southeastern Alberta, through the western United States to northern Mexico. The bird's habitat is dry, open areas with grasses or shrubs, and even stony desert slopes with very little vegetation. Many northern birds migrate to winter within the breeding range in central and western Mexico, though some remain further north. The common poorwill is the only bird known to go into torpor for extended periods (weeks to months). This happens on the southern edge of its range in the United States, where it spends much of the winter inactive, concealed in piles of rocks. Such an extended period of torpor is close to a state of hibernation and is not known among other birds. Taxonomy The common poorwill was illustrated and formally described in 1844 by the ornithologist John James Audubon from a male specimen collected on the easter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crypsis
In ecology, crypsis is the ability of an animal or a plant to avoid observation or detection by other animals. It may be a predation strategy or an antipredator adaptation. Methods include camouflage, nocturnality, subterranean lifestyle and mimicry. Crypsis can involve visual, olfactory (with pheromones) or auditory concealment. When it is visual, the term cryptic coloration, effectively a synonym for animal camouflage, is sometimes used, but many different methods of camouflage are employed by animals or plants. Overview There is a strong evolutionary pressure for animals to blend into their environment or conceal their shape, for prey animals to avoid predators and for predators to be able to avoid detection by prey. Exceptions include large herbivores without natural enemies, brilliantly colored birds that rely on flight to escape predators, and venomous or otherwise powerfully armed animals with warning coloration. Cryptic animals include the tawny frogmouth (feather pat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oligocene
The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the epoch are slightly uncertain. The name Oligocene was coined in 1854 by the German paleontologist Heinrich Ernst Beyrich from his studies of marine beds in Belgium and Germany. The name comes from the Ancient Greek (''olígos'', "few") and (''kainós'', "new"), and refers to the sparsity of extant forms of molluscs. The Oligocene is preceded by the Eocene Epoch and is followed by the Miocene Epoch. The Oligocene is the third and final epoch of the Paleogene Period. The Oligocene is often considered an important time of transition, a link between the archaic world of the tropical Eocene and the more modern ecosystems of the Miocene. Major changes during the Oligocene included a global expansion o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "dawn") and (''kainós'', "new") and refers to the "dawn" of modern ('new') fauna that appeared during the epoch. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Paleocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the Eocene is marked by a brief period in which the concentration of the carbon isotope Carbon-13, 13C in the atmosphere was exceptionally low in comparison with the more common isotope Carbon-12, 12C. The end is set at a major extinction event called the ''Grande Coupure'' (the "Great Break" in continuity) or the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event, which may be related to the impact of one or more large bolides in Popigai impact structure, Siberia and in what is now ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archaeotrogonidae
Archaeotrogonidae is a prehistoric bird family known from the Eocene and Oligocene of Europe. They are members of Strisores, and are thought to be closely related to nightjars. The remains of '' Archaeotrogon'' have been found in the Quercy Phosphorites of France, a geological formation containing Late Eocene and Early Oligocene deposits. They are primarily known from limb bones. Four species are presently considered valid. The Middle Eocene '' Hassiavis'', a more recently described bird from the famous Messel Pit in Germany, is also a member of the family. In 2021, a new genus, '' Archaeodromus'' was described from fossils found in the Early Eocene (Ypresian) aged London Clay, which are the oldest representatives of the family. They were initially thought be prehistoric trogon. However, it is nowadays generally believed that they are not very closely related to these tropical forest birds of our time, but rather convergent. The Archaeotrogonidae actually seem to be Cypselomor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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