|
Heuweltjie
Heuweltjies are a class of soil surface feature that occurs widely in the south-western Cape of South Africa. They may be recognised as large mounds above or near the surface of the landscape. Like other similar-looking phenomena, such as Mima mounds and fairy circles, from which they have been poorly distinguished, particularly in early literature, they have been the subject of a wide range of speculation and of debate that has not yet been settled conclusively. Causes It is quite certain that not all types of heuweltjies have the same cause and nature. For one thing, the various organisms and circumstances that have been proposed to cause them do not occur throughout their range. For another, they differ in nature; some for example have been seen as improving soil fertility, an opinion documented at least as long ago as the early 20th century, whereas others seem to inhibit plant growth. Possible theories and discussions on the topic include the following: Fossil termite m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hodotermitidae
The harvester termites (from Greek ὁδός (hodós), travelling; Latin '' termes'', woodworm) are an ancient, Old World family of termites, the Hodotermitidae. They are distinguished by the serrated inner edge of their mandibles, and their functional compound eyes which are present in all castes. They forage for grass at night and during daylight hours, and pigmented workers are often observed outside the nest. Their range includes the deserts and savannas of Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia. Their English name refers to their habit of collecting grass, which is not unique to the family, though. General The family consists of three extant genera and some 18 or 19 species. ''Anacanthotermes'' is found in deserts and semideserts of North Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia, including Baluchistan and southern India. ''Hodotermes'' has a vast range from Palaearctic North Africa, through the East African savannas to the karroid regions of southern Africa. ''Microho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fairy Circle (Africa)
Fairy circles are circular patches of land barren of plants, varying between in diameter, often encircled by a ring of stimulated growth of grass. Until 2014, the phenomenon was only known to occur in the arid grasslands of the Namib desert in western parts of Southern Africa, being particularly common in Namibia. In that year, ecologists were alerted to similar rings of vegetation outside of Africa, in a part of the Pilbara in Western Australia. Fairy circles typically occur in essentially monospecific grassy vegetation, where conditions are particularly arid. Associated grasses commonly are species in the genus ''Stipagrostis''. Studies show that these circles pass through a life cycle of some 30 to 60 years. They become noticeable at a diameter of about , achieving a peak diameter of perhaps , after which they mature and "die" as they undergo invasion, mainly by grasses. Like the heuweltjies and Mima mounds, the cause of fairy circles has long been a puzzle and the investig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microhodotermes Viator
''Microhodotermes'' is a genus of southern African harvester termites in the Hodotermitidae. As with harvester termites in general, they have serrated inner edges to their mandibles, and all castes have functional compound eyes. Species of this genus are desert specialists of the Namib, Kalahari and Karoo, where their ranges overlap with ''Hodotermes''. They forage at night and during daylight hours, and their pigmented workers are often observed outside the nest. The workers of '' M. viator'' collect mostly woody material, with ''Pteronia'' and vygie species being favoured. Colonies of ''M. viator'' produce initially small, conical mounds on soil with sufficient clay content. These are speculated to cause the formation of increasingly large heuweltjies. Widespread foraging and burrowing activity of aardvark The aardvark ( ; ''Orycteropus afer'') is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. It is the only living species of the order Tubulidentata, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distinct from weathering which involves no movement. Removal of rock or soil as clastic sediment is referred to as ''physical'' or ''mechanical'' erosion; this contrasts with ''chemical'' erosion, where soil or rock material is removed from an area by dissolution. Eroded sediment or solutes may be transported just a few millimetres, or for thousands of kilometres. Agents of erosion include rainfall; bedrock wear in rivers; coastal erosion by the sea and waves; glacial plucking, abrasion, and scour; areal flooding; wind abrasion; groundwater processes; and mass movement processes in steep landscapes like landslides and debris flows. The rates at which such processes act control how fast a surface is eroded. Typically, physical erosion procee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dutch Language
Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives German and English. ''Afrikaans'' is a separate but somewhat mutually intelligible daughter languageAfrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , . Afrikaans was historically called Cape Dutch; see , , , , , . Afrikaans is rooted in 17th-century dialects of Dutch; see , , , . Afrikaans is variously described as a creole, a partially creolised language, or a deviant variety of Dutch; see . spoken, to some degree, by at least 16 million people, mainly in South Africa and Namibia, evolving from the Cape Dutch dialects of Southern Africa. The dialects used in Belgium (including Flemish) and in Suriname, meanwhile, are all guided by the Dutch Language Union. In Europe, most of the population of the Netherlands (where it is the only official language spoken country ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gradually began to develop distinguishing characteristics during the course of the 18th century. Now spoken in South Africa, Namibia and (to a lesser extent) Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, estimates circa 2010 of the total number of Afrikaans speakers range between 15 and 23 million. Most linguists consider Afrikaans to be a partly creole language. An estimated 90 to 95% of the vocabulary is of Dutch origin with adopted words from other languages including German and the Khoisan languages of Southern Africa. Differences with Dutch include a more analytic-type morphology and grammar, and some pronunciations. There is a large degree of mutual intelligibility between the two languages, especially in written form. About 13.5% of the South ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parotomys Brantsii
Brants's whistling rat or Brants' whistling rat (''Parotomys brantsii'') is one of two species of murid rodent in the genus ''Parotomys''. It is found in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and pastureland. It was first described in 1834 by the Scottish zoologist Andrew Smith who named it in honour of the Dutch zoologist and author Anton Brants. Description Brants's whistling rat is a fairly large species with a short, blunt head. Males have a head-and-body length of about while females are a little smaller. The tail is about two thirds the length of the head-and-body. The tail measures 7.5 to 10.5 cm. The head is greyish-white, with a rufous snout and forehead. The ears are large and rounded, with dark skin and short hairs. The fur is dense and soft; the dorsal pelage is yellowish, speckled with brownish-black, individual hairs having dark grey bases and yellowish tips. There is also a scattering of lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steenbok
The steenbok (''Raphicerus campestris'') is a common small antelope of southern and eastern Africa. It is sometimes known as the steinbuck or steinbok. Description Steenbok resemble small oribi, standing 45–60 cm (16"–24") at the shoulder, and average ~12 kg. Their coat is any shade from fawn to rufous, typically rather orange. The underside, including chin and throat, is white, as is the ring around the eye. Ears are large with "finger-marks" on the inside. Males have straight, smooth, parallel horns 7–19 cm long (see image left). There is a black crescent-shape between the ears, a long black bridge to the glossy black nose, and a black circular scent-gland in front of the eye. The tail is not usually visible, being only 4–6 cm long. Distribution There are two distinct clusters in steenbok distribution. In East Africa, it occurs in central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. It was formerly widespread in Uganda, but is now almost certa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aardvark
The aardvark ( ; ''Orycteropus afer'') is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. It is the only living species of the order Tubulidentata, although other prehistoric species and genera of Tubulidentata are known. Unlike most other insectivores, it has a long pig-like snout, which is used to sniff out food. It roams over most of the southern two-thirds of the African continent, avoiding areas that are mainly rocky. A nocturnal feeder, it subsists on ants and termites, which it will dig out of their hills using its sharp claws and powerful legs. It also digs to create burrows in which to live and rear its young. The animal is listed as "least concern" by the IUCN, although its numbers are decreasing. Aardvarks are afrotheres, a clade which also includes elephants, manatees, and hyraxes. Name and taxonomy Name The aardvark is sometimes colloquially called the "African ant bear", "anteater" (not to be confused with the anteater, South American anteater), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nature (journal)
''Nature'' is a British weekly scientific journal founded and based in London, England. As a multidisciplinary publication, ''Nature'' features peer-reviewed research from a variety of academic disciplines, mainly in science and technology. It has core editorial offices across the United States, continental Europe, and Asia under the international scientific publishing company Springer Nature. ''Nature'' was one of the world's most cited scientific journals by the Science Edition of the 2019 ''Journal Citation Reports'' (with an ascribed impact factor of 42.778), making it one of the world's most-read and most prestigious academic journals. , it claimed an online readership of about three million unique readers per month. Founded in autumn 1869, ''Nature'' was first circulated by Norman Lockyer and Alexander Macmillan as a public forum for scientific innovations. The mid-20th century facilitated an editorial expansion for the journal; ''Nature'' redoubled its efforts in exp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corina Tarnita
Corina is a female given name of ancient Greek origin, derived from κόρη (''korē'') meaning "girl, maiden". ''Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon'' Variants and diminutives include Corinna, , Corri, Corinne, Corine, Kora, Korina and [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Fairy Circle (Africa)")
