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Pacific Kingfisher
The Pacific kingfisher (''Todiramphus sacer'') is a medium-sized kingfisher belonging to the subfamily Halcyoninae, the tree kingfishers. It has a wide range throughout the South Pacific islands. It was previously considered a subspecies of the collared kingfisher. Taxonomy The Pacific kingfisher was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it with the other kingfishers in the genus ''Alcedo'' and coined the binomial name ''Alcedo sacra''. Gmelin based his description on the "Sacred kingfisher" that had been described and illustrated in 1782 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his multi-volume ''A General Synopsis of Birds''. Latham had access to a specimen in the Leverian Museum in London that had been collected during James Cook's third voyage to the Pacific Ocean from 1776 to 1780. The type locality was designated as the island of Tongatabu by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johann Friedrich Gmelin
, fields = , workplaces = University of GöttingenUniversity of Tübingen , alma_mater = University of Tübingen , doctoral_advisor = Philipp Friedrich Gmelin Ferdinand Christoph Oetinger , academic_advisors = , doctoral_students = Georg Friedrich HildebrandtFriedrich StromeyerCarl Friedrich Kielmeyer Wilhelm August Lampadius Vasily Severgin , notable_students = , known_for = Textbooks on chemistry, pharmaceutical science, mineralogy, and botany , author_abbrev_bot = J.F.Gmel. , author_abbrev_zoo = Gmelin , influences = Carl Linnaeus , influenced = , relatives = Leopold Gmelin (son) , awards = Johann Friedrich Gmelin (8 August 1748 – 1 November 1804) was a German naturalist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist, and malacologist. Education Johann Friedrich Gmelin was born as the eldest son of Philipp Friedrich Gmelin in 1748 in Tübingen. He studied medicine under his father at University of T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Todiramphus
''Todiramphus'' is a genus of kingfishers in the subfamily Halcyoninae. The genus was introduced by the French surgeon and naturalist René Lesson in 1827. The name is often spelt ''Todirhamphus'' (with ''rh''), but ''Todiramphus'' is the original valid spelling. The name literally means "tody-bill"; tody is a relative of the kingfishers with a similar slender long bill, and the Greek ' () means "beak" or "bill". There are around 30 extant species in the genus, but the classification of several Pacific island forms is still unclear. The range of the genus extends from the Red Sea in the west to French Polynesia in the east, with the greatest diversity in Australasia. Members of ''Todiramphus'' are medium-sized kingfishers with flattened beaks. They are typically blue or blue-green above with pale underparts. They often have a pale collar and stripe over the eye. Many species are commonly found well away from water and feed largely on terrestrial animals such as insects and liza ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malo Island
Malo (formerly known as ''St. Bartholomew'') is an island in Vanuatu off the southern coast of Vanuatu's largest island, Espiritu Santo, in Sanma Province. It has a circumference of and an area of . It is long, and wide. The highest point on the island is Mount Malo (). The climate is perhumid tropical. The average annual amount of rainfall is roughly . The island is frequently subjected to cyclones and earthquakes. Geography Like most of the islands of Vanuatu, Malo is of volcanic origin. The highest point on the island is Malo Peak, which rises to above sea level. The main products of the island are copra and cocoa. Both crops are grown on plantations. Natural history A tract, encompassing the western end of the island, has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International, because it supports populations of Vanuatu megapodes, Vanuatu kingfishers, palm lorikeets, fan-tailed gerygones, and Vanuatu white-eyes. Demographics In 1979, the islan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Espiritu Santo
Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region of Melanesia. It is in the Sanma Province of Vanuatu. The town of Luganville, on Espiritu Santo's southeast coast, is Vanuatu's second-largest settlement and the provincial capital. Roads run north and west from Luganville, but most of the island is far from the limited road network. Around Espiritu Santo lie a number of small islands and islets; among them are: Dany Island, Araki, Elephant Island, Sakao, Lataroa, Lataro, Thion, Malohu, Malwepe, Malvapevu, Malparavu, Maltinerava, Oyster Island, Tangoa, and Bokissa. Vanuatu's highest peak is the 1879 metre (6165 foot) Mount Tabwemasana in west-central Espiritu Santo. History A Spanish expedition of three ships, led by Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Banks Islands
The Banks Islands (in Bislama ''Bankis'') are a group of islands in northern Vanuatu. Together with the Torres Islands to their northwest, they make up the northernmost province of Torba. The island group lies about north of Maewo, and includes Gaua and Vanua Lava, two of the 13 largest islands in Vanuatu. In 2009, the islands had a population of 8,533. The island group's combined land area is 780 km2. Geography The largest island is Gaua (formerly called Santa Maria), which has a rugged terrain, rising to Mount Gharat, an active volcano at the centre of the island, at . Gaua's freshwater Lake Letas, in its volcanic crater, is the largest lake in Vanuatu. A slightly smaller island in the group, Vanua Lava, is higher, at ; it too has an active volcano: Mount Suretamate (also spelled Süretimiat or Sere'ama, ). To the east of Vanua Lava are two islets in the groupo, Ravenga and Kwakea (also spelled Qakea). Sola, the provincial capital, is on Vanua Lava. The third ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lo (island)
Lo (sometimes wrongly spelled ''Loh'') is an island in the Torres group of islands, in northern Vanuatu. The island is located 2.25 miles from the Toga Island. As of 2009, the population of the island was 210. They speak the Lo dialect of the Lo-Toga language. Transportation The Torres islands are served by Torres Airport, which is located on the Linua island, just off the north coast of Lo. The airport is mostly used by Lo residents. Lo is not frequently visited by outsiders. Villages Lo has two main villages: ''Lun̄haregi'' (a.k.a. ''Lunghariki'') and ''Rinuhe'' ; and a smaller hamlet, ''Telaqlaq'' . In 2018, the Vanuatu Coastal Adaptation Project provided the villages with access to fresh water. Name The name ''Lo'' comes from the Lo-Toga language Lo-Toga is an Oceanic language spoken by about 580 people on the islands of Lo and Toga, in the Torres group of northern Vanuatu. The language has sometimes been called ''Loh'' ('' sic'') or ''Toga'', after either of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hiw Island
Hiw (sometimes spelled ''Hiu'') is the northernmost island in Vanuatu, located in Torba Province. Name The island's name ''Hiw'' is taken from the local Hiw language; it is known as ''Hiu'' in neighboring Lo-Toga. Etymologically, these forms reflect Proto-Torres-Banks *''siwo'', from Proto-Oceanic *''sipo'' “(go) down”, understood here in its geocentric sense of “located northwest”. Geography Hiw is the largest island in the Torres Islands in Torba Province. It is situated east of the Torres Trench, south of Vanikoro in the Solomon Islands. It has an area of . The highest point is Mount Wonvara (. Hiw's climate is humid tropical. The average annual rainfall is about 4000 mm. The island is subject to frequent cyclones and earthquakes. ''Vewoag Point'' (locally called ''Ngrë Twome''), the northern cape of Hiw, is the northernmost point of land of Vanuatu. of Hiw is a submerged coral reef, ''Ngwey Gakwe'' (formerly ''Recif Giraudeau''), over which the waves br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carl Eduard Hellmayr
Carl Eduard Hellmayr (29 January 1878 in Vienna, Austria – 24 February 1944 in Orselina, Switzerland) was an Austrian ornithologist. Biography Hellmayr was born in Vienna and studied at the University of Vienna, although he did not complete his degree. After his studies he worked in Vienna, Munich, Berlin, Paris, Tring (England), and Chicago. He spent the years 1905–1908 studying Baron Rothschild's private collection of natural history specimens at Tring, near London. There he received guidance from the German ornithologist Ernst Hartert. In 1908, Hellmayr was appointed Curator of the Bird Department at the Bavarian State Museum, which he had helped organize in 1903 and where he became a specialist in Neotropical birds, studying Johann Baptist von Spix's collection of Brazilian birds. In 1922, he was made Curator in Zoology at the Field Museum in Chicago. He stayed there until 1931. His books included 13 of the 15 volumes of the ''Catalogue of Birds of the Americas'' (191 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paraphyletic
In taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In contrast, a monophyletic group (a clade) includes a common ancestor and ''all'' of its descendants. The terms are commonly used in phylogenetics (a subfield of biology) and in the tree model of historical linguistics. Paraphyletic groups are identified by a combination of synapomorphies and symplesiomorphies. If many subgroups are missing from the named group, it is said to be polyparaphyletic. The term was coined by Willi Hennig to apply to well-known taxa like Reptilia ( reptiles) which, as commonly named and traditionally defined, is paraphyletic with respect to mammals and birds. Reptilia contains the last common ancestor of reptiles and all descendants of that ancestor, including all extant reptiles as well as the extinct synaps ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Molecular Phylogenetic
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to determine the processes by which diversity among species has been achieved. The result of a molecular phylogenetic analysis is expressed in a phylogenetic tree. Molecular phylogenetics is one aspect of molecular systematics, a broader term that also includes the use of molecular data in taxonomy and biogeography. Molecular phylogenetics and molecular evolution correlate. Molecular evolution is the process of selective changes (mutations) at a molecular level (genes, proteins, etc.) throughout various branches in the tree of life (evolution). Molecular phylogenetics makes inferences of the evolutionary relationships that arise due to molecular evolution and results in the construction of a phylogenetic tree. History The theoretical framew ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics ( morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species have subspecies, but for those that do there must be at least two. Subspecies is abbreviated subsp. or ssp. and the singular and plural forms are the same ("the subspecies is" or "the subspecies are"). In zoology, under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, the subspecies is the only taxonomic rank below that of species that can receive a name. In botany and mycology, under the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, other infraspecific ranks, such as variety, may be named. In bacteriology and virology, under standard bacterial nomenclature and virus nomenclature, there are recommendations but not strict requirements for recognizing other important infraspecific ranks. A taxonomist decides whe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the Roman Republic it became the dominant language in the Italian region and subsequently throughout the Roman Empire. Even after the fall of Western Rome, Latin remained the common language of international communication, science, scholarship and academia in Europe until well into the 18th century, when other regional vernaculars (including its own descendants, the Romance languages) supplanted it in common academic and political usage, and it eventually became a dead language in the modern linguistic definition. Latin is a highly inflected language, with three distinct genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter), six or seven noun cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative, and vocative), five declensions, four verb conjug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
