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Rosenberg's Monitor
The Rosenberg's monitor (''Varanus rosenbergi'') is an Australian species of varanid reptile found in southern regions of the continent. They are large and fast predators with rugged bodies and long tails, having a combined length up to 1.5 metres, that will consume any smaller animal that is pursued and captured or found while foraging. They occur in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, where it may be rare or locally common, and more frequently observed in Western Australia, where it is sometimes abundant. Taxonomy The species was first described by German herpetologist Robert Mertens in 1957, named and recognized as a subspecies of '' Varanus gouldii''; a revision of Western Australian monitors published in 1980 elevated the taxon to species status. It is now considered to be a member of the ''V. gouldii'' species complex. The holotype was collected at the Stirling Range in Southwest Australia. The specific name, ''rosenbergi'', is in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Mertens
Robert Friedrich Wilhelm Mertens (1 December 1894 – 23 August 1975) was a German herpetologist. Several taxa of reptiles are named after him.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii. ("Mertens", p. 176; "Robert", p. 223; "Robert Mertens", p. 223). He postulated Mertensian mimicry. Mertens was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He moved to Germany in 1912, where he earned a doctorate in zoology from the University of Leipzig in 1915. During World War I he served in the German army. Mertens worked at the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt for many years, beginning as an assistant in 1919, and retiring as director emeritus in 1960. He also became a lecturer at Goethe University Frankfurt in 1932, and became a Professor there in 1939. Both jobs provided him with ample time for extensive travel and the study of lizards. He collected specimens in 30 countries. During World War II, he ev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Squamate
Squamata (, Latin ''squamatus'', 'scaly, having scales') is the largest order of reptiles, comprising lizards, snakes, and amphisbaenians (worm lizards), which are collectively known as squamates or scaled reptiles. With over 10,900 species, it is also the second-largest order of extant (living) vertebrates, after the perciform fish. Members of the order are distinguished by their skins, which bear horny scales or shields, and must periodically engage in molting. They also possess movable quadrate bones, making possible movement of the upper jaw relative to the neurocranium. This is particularly visible in snakes, which are able to open their mouths very wide to accommodate comparatively large prey. Squamata is the most variably sized order of reptiles, ranging from the dwarf gecko (''Sphaerodactylus ariasae'') to the Reticulated python (''Malayopython reticulatus'') and the now-extinct mosasaurs, which reached lengths over . Among other reptiles, squamates are most close ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bendering
Bendering is a town located between Kondinin and Narembeen in the eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. The town was gazetted in 1921. The name of the town is taken from a nearby spring and is Aboriginal in origin; its meaning is unknown. The surrounding areas produce wheat and other cereal crops. The town is a receival site for Cooperative Bulk Handling The CBH Group (commonly known as CBH, an acronym for Co-operative Bulk Handling), is a grain growers' cooperative that handles, markets and processes grain from the wheatbelt of Western Australia. History CBH was formed on 5 April 1933, at a .... References Towns in Western Australia Grain receival points of Western Australia Shire of Kondinin {{WesternAustralia-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melanism
The term melanism refers to black pigment and is derived from the gr, μελανός. Melanism is the increased development of the dark-colored pigment melanin in the skin or hair. Pseudomelanism, also called abundism, is another variant of pigmentation, identifiable by dark spots or enlarged stripes, which cover a large part of the body of the animal, making it appear melanistic. The morbid deposition of black matter, often of a malignant character causing pigmented tumors, is called melanosis. Adaptation Melanism related to the process of adaptation is called adaptive. Most commonly, dark individuals become Fitness (biology), fitter to survive and reproduce in their environment as they are better camouflaged. This makes some species less conspicuous to predators, while others, such as leopards, use it as a foraging advantage during night hunting. Typically, adaptive melanism is Heritability, heritable: A Dominance (genetics), dominant allele, which is entirely or nearly ent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trichosurus Vulpecula
The common brushtail possum (''Trichosurus vulpecula'', from the Greek for "furry tailed" and the Latin for "little fox", previously in the genus ''Phalangista'') is a nocturnal, semiarboreal marsupial of the family Phalangeridae, native to Australia and naturalised in New Zealand, and the second-largest of the possums. Like most possums, the common brushtail possum is nocturnal. It is mainly a folivore, but has been known to eat small mammals such as rats. In most Australian habitats, eucalyptus leaves are a significant part of the diet, but rarely the sole item eaten. Its tail is prehensile and naked on its lower underside. The four colour variations are silver-grey, brown, black, and gold. It is the Australian marsupial most often seen by city dwellers, as it is one of few that thrive in cities and a wide range of natural and human-modified environments. Around human habitations, common brushtails are inventive and determined foragers with a liking for fruit trees, vegetable g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macropus Fuliginosus
The western grey kangaroo (''Macropus fuliginosus''), also referred to as a western grey giant kangaroo, black-faced kangaroo, mallee kangaroo, sooty kangaroo and (when referring to the Kangaroo Island subspecies) Kangaroo Island grey kangaroo, is a large and very common kangaroo found across almost the entire southern part of Australia, from just south of Shark Bay through coastal Western Australia and South Australia, into western Victoria (Australia), Victoria, and in the entire Murray–Darling basin in New South Wales and Queensland. Taxonomy Long known to the Aboriginal Australians, for Europeans, the western grey kangaroo was the centre of a great deal of sometimes comical taxonomic confusion for almost 200 years. It was first noted by European maritime exploration of Australia, European explorers when Matthew Flinders landed on Kangaroo Island in 1802. Flinders shot several for food, but assumed that they were eastern grey kangaroos. In 1803, Baudin expedition to Australia, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rattus Fuscipes
The bush rat or Australian bush rat (''Rattus fuscipes'') is a small Australian nocturnal animal. It is an omnivore and one of the most common indigenous species of rat on the continent, found in many heathland areas of Victoria and New South Wales. Taxonomy The description of the species by G. R. Waterhouse was published in the second part of the series '' Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle'', edited by Charles Darwin. The species was assigned to the genus '' Mus'', a once broader classification, and later placed with the genus ''Rattus''. The collection of the type specimen was made when HMS ''Beagle'' was anchored at King George Sound, a port at the southwest of the continent. The capture was noted by Darwin as "caught in a trap baited with cheese, amongst the bushes …". The type locality has been determined as Little Grove, Western Australia, south of Mount Melville in the city of Albany. The population is regarded as the ''fuscipes'' species group, as the spe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Road Kill
Roadkill is an animal or animals that have been struck and killed by drivers of motor vehicles on highways. Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) have increasingly been the topic of academic research to understand the causes, and how it can be mitigated. History Essentially non-existent before the advent of mechanized transport, roadkill is associated with increasing automobile speed in the early 20th century. Naturalist Joseph Grinnell noted in 1920 that "this oadkillis a relatively new source of fatality; and if one were to estimate the entire mileage of such roads in the state alifornia the mortality must mount into the hundreds and perhaps thousands every 24 hours." In Europe and North America, deer are the animal most likely to cause vehicle damage. In Australia, specific actions taken to protect against the variety of animals that can damage vehicles – such as bullbars (usually known in Australia as 'roo bars', in reference to kangaroos) – indicate the Australian ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limnodynastes
''Limnodynastes'' (commonly known as the Australian swamp frogs) is a genus of frog native to Australia, southern New Guinea and some Torres Strait Islands. They are ground-dwelling frogs, with no toe pads. The size varies from 45 mm to 90 mm in the giant banjo frog. The webbing on the feet ranges between species, from very little, to almost complete. The tympanum is not visible in any species, except in the woodworker frog, which is sometimes classed in a separate genus ''Megistolotis''. All species construct a foam nest in which the eggs are laid. However, in south-eastern South Australia female striped marsh frog and spotted grass frog lack the flanges of skin on the hands that helps trap the air bubble and do not construct foam nests. Species Following a major revision of amphibians in 2006, two species, the ornate burrowing frog The ornate burrowing frog (''Platyplectrum ornatum'') is a species of ground frog native to Australia. It was moved to the genus ''Opi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coleoptera
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] |
Blattoidea
Blattoidea is a superfamily of cockroaches and termites in the order Blattodea. There are about 17 families and more than 4,100 described species in Blattoidea. The 12 families of termites are sometimes considered members of the suborder Isoptera, but recent phylogenetic analysis places them within the cockroach superfamily Blattoidea. Within Blattoidea, the termites are grouped under the epifamily Termitoidae. The great coal deposits of the Carboniferous Period have been attributed in part to the lack of wood-consuming insects such as blattoids, which do not appear in the fossil record until the late Carboniferous. Families These 17 families belong to the superfamily Blattoidea: Cockroaches Epifamily Blattoidae * Anaplectidae Walker, 1868 * Blattidae Latreille, 1810 * Lamproblattidae McKittrick, 1964 * Tryonicidae McKittrick & Mackerras, 1965 Epifamily Cryptocercoidae * Cryptocercidae Handlirsch, 1925 (brown-hooded cockroaches) Termites Epifamily Termitoidae * Arc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Areneidae
Areneidae is a family of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Vetigastropoda.MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Areneidae McLean, 2012. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=413480 on 2020-05-25 Areneidae was previously not officially described as a taxon name.WoRMS (2010). ''Arene'' Adams, 1845. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2010) World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=413481 on 2010-04-17 Areneidae is provisionally placed within the superfamily Angarioidea according to Williams et al. (2008).Williams S. T., Karube S. & Ozawa T. (September 2008) "Molecular systematics of Vetigastropoda: Trochidae, Turbinidae and Trochoidea redefined". ''Zoologica Scripta'' 37(5): 483-506. In 2012 it was moved to the superfamily Trochoidea Genera There are two genera within the family Aren ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
