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Sittella
The sittellas are a family, Neosittidae, of small passerine birds found only in Australasia. They resemble nuthatches, but whilst they were considered to be in that family for many years they are now afforded their own family. They do not migrate other than for local movements. The sittellas are small woodland birds with thin pointed down-curved bills, which they use to extricate insects from bark. Nests are open cups in forked branches. They were formerly classified in two separate genera with the black sittella in ''Daphoenositta'' and the varied and Papuan sittellas in ''Neositta''. The two genera are now usually merged, with ''Daphoenositta'' having priority. Evolution and taxonomy The true evolutionary affinities of the sittellas have long been clouded by their close resemblance to the Northern Hemisphere nuthatches.Noske, R. (2007) "Family Neosittidae (Sittellas)", pp. 628-639 in Del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie D. (editors). (2007). ''Handbook of the Birds of the Worl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Varied Sittella
The varied sittella (''Daphoenositta chrysoptera'') is a small, around 10–11 cm long, songbird native to Australia. It is also known as the Australian nuthatch, orange-winged sittella and the barkpecker. Taxonomy The varied sittella was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the binomial name ''Sitta chrysoptera''. The generic name ''Daphoenositta is'' derived from Greek ''daphoinos''/δαφοινός, 'blood-red, tawny' and ''sittē'', a bird like a woodpecker mentioned by Aristotle. The specific name ''chrysoptera'' is from Greek ''khrusopteros''/χρυσό-πτερος, 'golden-winged'. This species inhabits a broad range, and its appearance changes depending on its location, hence the name varied sittella. There are five subspecies: * ''D. c. leucoptera'' (Gould, 1840) - northwest to north-central Australia (white-winged sitella) * ''D. c. striata'' (Gould, 1869) - northeast Australia (streaked sitella) * ''D. c. leucocephala'' (Gould ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Varied Sittella
The varied sittella (''Daphoenositta chrysoptera'') is a small, around 10–11 cm long, songbird native to Australia. It is also known as the Australian nuthatch, orange-winged sittella and the barkpecker. Taxonomy The varied sittella was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the binomial name ''Sitta chrysoptera''. The generic name ''Daphoenositta is'' derived from Greek ''daphoinos''/δαφοινός, 'blood-red, tawny' and ''sittē'', a bird like a woodpecker mentioned by Aristotle. The specific name ''chrysoptera'' is from Greek ''khrusopteros''/χρυσό-πτερος, 'golden-winged'. This species inhabits a broad range, and its appearance changes depending on its location, hence the name varied sittella. There are five subspecies: * ''D. c. leucoptera'' (Gould, 1840) - northwest to north-central Australia (white-winged sitella) * ''D. c. striata'' (Gould, 1869) - northeast Australia (streaked sitella) * ''D. c. leucocephala'' (Gould ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Sittella
The black sittella (''Daphoenositta miranda'') is one of two species of birds in the family Neosittidae. It is found in endemic to New Guinea, where it is found in the highlands. References * del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie D. (editors). (2007). ''Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. T ...''. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions. black sittella Birds of New Guinea black sittella Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Endemic fauna of New Guinea {{corvoidea-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Sittella
The black sittella (''Daphoenositta miranda'') is one of two species of birds in the family Neosittidae. It is found in endemic to New Guinea, where it is found in the highlands. References * del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie D. (editors). (2007). ''Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. T ...''. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions. black sittella Birds of New Guinea black sittella Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Endemic fauna of New Guinea {{corvoidea-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Papuan Sittella
The Papuan sittella (''Daphoenositta papuensis'') is one of three species of bird in the family Neosittidae. It is endemic to New Guinea, where it is found in the highlands. References Papuan sittella Birds of New Guinea Papuan sittella Endemic fauna of New Guinea {{corvoidea-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riversleigh World Heritage Area
Riversleigh World Heritage Area is Australia's most famous fossil location, recognised for the series of well preserved fossils deposited from the Late Oligocene to more recent geological periods. The fossiliferous limestone system is located near the Gregory River in the north-west of Queensland, an environment that was once a very wet rainforest that became more arid as the Gondwanan land masses separated and the Australian continent moved north. The approximately area has fossil remains of ancient mammals, birds, and reptiles of the Oligocene and Miocene ages, many of which were discovered and are only known from the Riversleigh area; the species that have occurred there are known as the Riversleigh fauna. The fossils at Riversleigh are unusual because they are found in soft freshwater limestone which has not been compacted. This means the animal remains retain their three-dimensional structure, rather than being partially crushed like in most fossil sites. The area is locat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Handbook Of The Birds Of The World
The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. The series was edited by Josep del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott, Jordi Sargatal and David A. Christie. All 16 volumes have been published. For the first time an animal class will have all the species illustrated and treated in detail in a single work. This has not been done before for any other group in the animal kingdom. Material in each volume is grouped first by family, with an introductory article on each family; this is followed by individual species accounts (taxonomy, subspecies and distribution, descriptive notes, habitat, food and feeding, breeding, movements, status and conservation, bibliography). In addition, all volumes except the first and second contain an essay on a particular ornithological theme. More than 200 renowned speci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Passerine
A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by the arrangement of their toes (three pointing forward and one back), which facilitates perching. With more than 140 families and some 6,500 identified species, Passeriformes is the largest clade of birds and among the most diverse clades of terrestrial vertebrates, representing 60% of birds.Ericson, P.G.P. et al. (2003Evolution, biogeography, and patterns of diversification in passerine birds ''J. Avian Biol'', 34:3–15.Selvatti, A.P. et al. (2015"A Paleogene origin for crown passerines and the diversification of the Oscines in the New World" ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'', 88:1–15. Passerines are divided into three clades: Acanthisitti (New Zealand wrens), Tyranni (suboscines), and Passeri (oscines or songbirds). The passeri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pachycephalidae
The Pachycephalidae are a family of bird species that includes the whistlers, shrikethrushes, and three of the pitohuis, and is part of the ancient Australo-Papuan radiation of songbirds. The family includes 64 species that are separated into five genera. Its members range from small to medium in size, and occupy most of Australasia. Australia and New Guinea are the centre of their diversity and, in the case of the whistlers, the South Pacific islands as far as Tonga and Samoa and parts of Asia as far as India. The exact delimitation of boundaries of the family are uncertain, and one species, the golden whistler, has been the subject of intense taxonomic scrutiny in recent years, with multiple subspecies and species-level revisions. Taxonomy and systematics The family Pachycephalidae was introduced (as the subfamily Pachycephalinae) by the English ornithologist William John Swainson in 1832. The genera ''Pachycare'', ''Hylocitrea'', the crested bellbird and the crested shriket ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuthatch
The nuthatches () constitute a genus, ''Sitta'', of small passerine birds belonging to the family Sittidae. Characterised by large heads, short tails, and powerful bills and feet, nuthatches advertise their territory using loud, simple songs. Most species exhibit grey or bluish upperparts and a black eye stripe. Most nuthatches breed in the temperate or montane woodlands of the Northern Hemisphere, although two species have adapted to rocky habitats in the warmer and drier regions of Eurasia. However, the greatest diversity is in Southern Asia, and similarities between the species have made it difficult to identify distinct species. All members of this genus nest in holes or crevices. Most species are non-migratory and live in their habitat year-round, although the North American red-breasted nuthatch migrates to warmer regions during the winter. A few nuthatch species have restricted ranges and face threats from deforestation. Nuthatches are omnivorous, eating mostly insects, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australasia
Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologically, where the term covers several slightly different, but related regions. Derivation and definitions Charles de Brosses coined the term (as French ''Australasie'') in ''Histoire des navigations aux terres australes'' (1756). He derived it from the Latin for "south of Asia" and differentiated the area from Polynesia (to the east) and the southeast Pacific (Magellanica). In the late 19th century, the term Australasia was used in reference to the "Australasian colonies". In this sense it related specifically to the British colonies south of Asia: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia, Victoria (i.e., the Australian colonies) and New Zealand. Australasia found continued geopolitical attention in the earl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DNA–DNA Hybridization
In genomics, DNA–DNA hybridization is a molecular biology technique that measures the degree of genetic similarity between pools of DNA sequences. It is usually used to determine the genetic distance between two organisms and has been used extensively in phylogeny and taxonomy. Method The DNA of one organism is labelled, then mixed with the unlabelled DNA to be compared against. The mixture is incubated to allow DNA strands to dissociate and then cooled to form renewed hybrid double-stranded DNA. Hybridized sequences with a high degree of similarity will bind more firmly, and require more energy to separate them: i.e. they separate when heated at a higher temperature than dissimilar sequences, a process known as "DNA melting". To assess the melting profile of the hybridized DNA, the double-stranded DNA is bound to a column and the mixture is heated in small steps. At each step, the column is washed; sequences that melt become single-stranded and wash off the column. The tem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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