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Mohave Ground Squirrel
The Mohave ground squirrel (''Xerospermophilus mohavensis'') is a species of ground squirrel found only in the Mojave Desert in California. The squirrel was first described in 1886 by Frank Stephens of San Diego. It is listed as a threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act, but not under the federal Endangered Species Act. The IUCN lists this species as near threatened. Description The Mohave ground squirrel measures about nine inches from nose to tail and feeds on leaves and seeds from February to July. Near the end of July, the squirrels begin a period of estivation, but this may occur as early as April in drought years. Populations generally do not reproduce following winters with less than 80mm of precipitation. Local populations can be wiped out if a drought lasts for multiple years. Habitat and diet This squirrel inhabits the western Mojave Desert in portions of Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino counties. It can occupy Joshua tree woodlands ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clinton Hart Merriam
Clinton Hart Merriam (December 5, 1855 – March 19, 1942) was an American zoologist, mammalogist, ornithologist, entomologist, ecologist, ethnographer, geographer, naturalist and physician. He was commonly known as the 'father of mammalogy', a branch of zoology referring to the study of mammals. Early life Clinton Hart Merriam was born in New York City in 1855 to Clinton Levi Merriam, a U.S. congressman, and Caroline Hart, a judge's daughter and a graduate of Rutgers Institute. The name Clinton, shared by both father and son, was in honor of New York governor DeWitt Clinton, whom the Merriam family had connections with. To avoid confusion, the younger Merriam went by his first initial combined with his middle name, his mother's maiden name, and thus often appears as C. Hart Merriam in both the literature of his time and thereafter. Although born in New York City, where his parents were staying the winter, the family home and place where Merriam spent his boyhood days was "L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coreopsis
''Coreopsis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Common names include calliopsis and tickseed, a name shared with various other plants. Description These plants range from in height. The flowers are usually yellow with a toothed tip, but may also be yellow-and-red bicolor. They have showy flower heads with involucral bracts in two distinct series of eight each, the outer being commonly connate at the base. The flat fruits are small and dry and look like insects. There are 75–80 species of ''Coreopsis'', all of which are native to North, Central, and South America. The name ''Coreopsis'' is derived from the Greek words κόρις (''koris''), meaning "bedbug", and ὄψις (''opsis''), meaning "view", referring to the shape of the achene. Taxonomy ''Coreopsis'' is a variable genus closely related to ''Bidens''. In fact, neither ''Coreopsis'' nor ''Bidens'', as defined in the 20th century, is strictly monophyletic. ''Coreopsis'' is best describe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fauna Of The Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in southeastern California and southwestern Nevada, with small portions extending into Arizona and Utah. The Mojave Desert, together with the Sonoran, Chihuahuan, and Great Basin deserts, forms a larger North American Desert. Of these, the Mojave is the smallest and driest. The Mojave Desert displays typical basin and range topography, generally having a pattern of a series of parallel mountain ranges and valleys. It is also the site of Death Valley, which is the lowest elevation in North America. The Mojave Desert is often colloquially called the "high desert", as most of it lies between . It supports a diversity of flora and fauna. The desert supports a number of human activities, including recreation, ranching, and military training. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic Fauna Of California
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example '' Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. '' Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xerospermophilus
Pygmy ground squirrels are small ground squirrels in the genus ''Xerospermophilus'', family Sciuridae, containing four species from Mexico and the United States. The members of this genus were formerly placed in the large ground squirrel genus '' Spermophilus''. Since DNA sequencing of the cytochrome ''b'' gene has shown ''Spermophilus'' to be paraphyletic to the prairie dogs and marmots, this group is now separated, along with six other genera. Within the genus, the Mohave ground squirrel and the round-tailed ground squirrel were thought to be close relatives, sometimes a subgenus ''Xerospermophilus'', while the spotted ground squirrel and the Perote ground squirrel were placed in the subgenus (now a genus) '' Ictidomys''. The name of the genus is a combination of the Greek word ''xeros'', "dry", and '' Spermophilus'', which also comes from Greek, meaning "seed lovers". Species The four species in ''Xerospermophilus'' are listed below. These are the same species that were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CDFG
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), formerly known as the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), is a state agency under the California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Wildlife manages and protects the state's wildlife, wildflowers, trees, mushrooms, algae (kelp) and native habitats (ecosystems). The department is responsible for regulatory enforcement and management of related recreational, commercial, scientific, and educational uses. The department also prevents illegal poaching. History The Game Act was passed in 1852 by the California State Legislature and signed into law by Governor John Bigler. The Game Act closed seasons in 12 counties for quail, partridge, mallard and wood ducks, elk, deer, and antelope. A second legislative action enacted the same year protected salmon runs. In 1854, the Legislature extended the act to include all counties of California. In 1860, protection controls were extended for trout. Lake Merrit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horned Lark
The horned lark or shore lark (''Eremophila alpestris'') is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae found across the northern hemisphere. It is known as "horned lark" in North America and "shore lark" in Europe. Taxonomy, evolution and systematics The specific ''alpestris'' is Latin and means "of the high mountains", from ''Alpes'', the Alps. The horned lark was originally classified in the genus '' Alauda''. The horned lark is suggested to have diverged from Temminck's lark (''E. bilopha'') around the Early-Middle Pleistocene, according to genomic divergence estimates. The horned lark is known from around a dozen localities of Late Pleistocene age, including those in Italy, Russia, The United Kingdom and the United States. The earliest known fossil is from the Calabrian of Spain, around 1–0.8 million years old. In 2020, a 46,000 year old frozen specimen was described from the Russian Far East. Recent genetic analysis has suggested that the species consists of six clades ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lupinus
''Lupinus'', commonly known as lupin, lupine, or regionally bluebonnet etc., is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centers of diversity in North and South America. Smaller centers occur in North Africa and the Mediterranean. They are widely cultivated, both as a food source and as ornamental plants, but are invasive to some areas. Description The species are mostly herbaceous perennial plants tall, but some are annual plants and a few are shrubs up to tall. An exception is the ''chamis de monte'' ('' Lupinus jaimehintoniana'') of Oaxaca in Mexico, which is a tree up to tall. Lupins have soft green to grey-green leaves which may be coated in silvery hairs, often densely so. The leaf blades are usually palmately divided into five to 28 leaflets, or reduced to a single leaflet in a few species of the southeastern United States and eastern South America. The flowers are produced in dense or open whorls on an erect spik ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astragalus
''Astragalus'' is a large genus of over 3,000 species of herbs and small shrubs, belonging to the legume family Fabaceae and the subfamily Faboideae. It is the largest genus of plants in terms of described species. The genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names include milkvetch (most species), locoweed (in North America, some species) and goat's-thorn ( ''A. gummifer'', ''A. tragacantha''). Some pale-flowered vetches (''Vicia'' spp.) are similar in appearance, but they are more vine-like than ''Astragalus''. Description Most species in the genus have pinnately compound leaves. There are annual and perennial species. The flowers are formed in clusters in a raceme, each flower typical of the legume family, with three types of petals: banner, wings, and keel. The calyx is tubular or bell-shaped. Ecology ''Astragalus'' species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including many case-bearing moths of the genus ''Col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eremalche
''Eremalche'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family. They are endemic to the United States desert southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, N .... Species: *'' Eremalche exilis'' - white mallow *'' Eremalche parryi'' - Parry's mallow *'' Eremalche rotundifolia'' - desert five-spot The California endangered plant sometimes called ''Eremalche kernensis'' is today generally considered to be a subspecies of Parry's mallow, ''Eremalche parryi'' ssp ''kernensis''. References Malveae Malvaceae genera {{Malveae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lycium
''Lycium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. The genus has a disjunct distribution around the globe, with species occurring on most continents in temperate and subtropical regions. South America has the most species, followed by North America and southern Africa. There are several scattered across Europe and Asia, and one is native to Australia.Fukuda, T., et al. (2001)Phylogeny and biogeography of the genus ''Lycium'' (Solanaceae): Inferences from chloroplast DNA sequences. ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 19(2), 246-58. Common English names for plants of this genus include box-thorn''Lycium''. The Jepson eFlora 2013. and desert-thorn. There are about 70 to 80 [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ground Squirrel
Ground squirrels are members of the squirrel family of rodents ( Sciuridae), which generally live on or in the ground, rather than trees. The term is most often used for the medium-sized ground squirrels, as the larger ones are more commonly known as marmots (genus ''Marmota'') or prairie dogs, while the smaller and less bushy-tailed ground squirrels tend to be known as chipmunks (genus ''Tamias''). Together, they make up the "marmot tribe" of squirrels, Marmotini, a division within the large and mainly ground squirrel subfamily Xerinae, and containing six living genera. Well-known members of this largely Holarctic group are the marmots (''Marmota''), including the American groundhog, the chipmunks, the susliks (''Spermophilus''), and the prairie dogs (''Cynomys''). They are highly variable in size and habitus, but most are remarkably able to rise up on their hind legs and stand fully erect comfortably for prolonged periods. They also tend to be far more gregarious than other s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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