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Cross-foster
Cross-fostering is a technique used in animal husbandry, animal science, genetic and nature versus nurture studies, and conservation, whereby offspring are removed from their biological parents at birth and raised by surrogates, typically of a different species, hence 'cross.' This can also occasionally occur in nature. Animal husbandry Cross-fostering young animals is usually done to equalize litter size. Individual animals born in large litters are faced with much more competition for resources, such as breast milk, food and space, than individuals born in smaller litters. Herd managers will typically move some individuals from a large litter to a smaller litter where they will be raised by a non-biological parent. This is typically done in pig farming because litters with up to 15 piglets are common. A sow with a large litter may have difficulty producing enough milk for all piglets, or the sow may not have enough functional teats to feed all piglets simultaneously. When this o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Robin
The black robin or Chatham Island robin (Moriori language, Moriori: , ; ''Petroica traversi'') is an endangered bird from the Chatham Islands off the east coast of New Zealand. It is closely related to the South Island robin (''P. australis''). It was first described by Walter Buller in 1872. The binomial commemorates the New Zealand botanist Henry H. Travers (1844–1928). Unlike its mainland counterparts, its flight capacity is somewhat reduced. Evolution in the absence of mammalian predators made it vulnerable to introduced species, such as cats and rats, and it became extinct on the main island of the Chatham group before 1871, being restricted to Little Mangere Island thereafter.Falla, R.A.,Sibson, R.B. and Turbott, E.G., illustrated by Elaine Power. (1979) The new guide to the birds of New Zealand and outlying islands. Collins, Auckland. Discovery and taxonomy The first mention of the black robin in science was at a presentation given by William Travers (New Zealand polit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animal Husbandry
Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, animal fiber, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starting with the Neolithic Revolution when animals were first Domestication, domesticated, from around 13,000 BC onwards, predating farming of the History of agriculture, first crops. During the period of ancient societies like ancient Egypt, cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs were being raised on farms. Major changes took place in the Columbian exchange, when Old World livestock were brought to the New World, and then in the British Agricultural Revolution of the 18th century, when livestock breeds like the English Longhorn, Dishley Longhorn cattle and Lincoln (sheep), Lincoln Longwool sheep were rapidly improved by agriculturalists, such as Robert Bakewell (agriculturalist), Robert Bakewell, to yi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conservation Biology
Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an interdisciplinary subject drawing on natural and social sciences, and the practice of natural resource management. The nature conservation, conservation ethic is based on the findings of conservation biology. Origins The term conservation biology and its conception as a new field originated with the convening of "The First International Conference on Research in Conservation Biology" held at the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla, California, in 1978 led by American biologists Bruce A. Wilcox and Michael E. Soulé with a group of leading university and zoo researchers and conservationists including Kurt Benirschke, Sir Otto Frankel, Thomas Lovejoy, and Jared Diamond. The meeting was prompted due to concern over tropical de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nest
A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold Egg (biology), eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic material such as twigs, grass, and leaves, or may be a simple depression in the ground, or a hole in a rock, tree, or building. Human-made materials, such as string, plastic, cloth, or paper, may also be used. Nests can be found in all types of habitat. Nest building is driven by a biological urge known as the nesting instinct in birds and mammals. Generally each species has a distinctive style of nest. Nest complexity is roughly correlated with the level of parental care by adults. Nest building is considered a key adaptive advantage among birds, and they exhibit the most variation in their nests ranging from simple holes in the ground to elaborate communal nests hosting hundreds of individuals. Nests of prairie dogs and severa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interspecific Competition
Interspecific competition, in ecology, is a form of competition in which individuals of ''different'' species compete for the same resources in an ecosystem (e.g. food or living space). This can be contrasted with mutualism, a type of symbiosis. Competition between members of the same species is called intraspecific competition. If a tree species in a dense forest grows taller than surrounding tree species, it is able to absorb more of the incoming sunlight. However, less sunlight is then available for the trees that are shaded by the taller tree, thus interspecific competition. Leopards and lions can also be in interspecific competition, since both species feed on the same prey, and can be negatively impacted by the presence of the other because they will have less food. Competition is only one of many interacting biotic and abiotic factors that affect community structure. Moreover, competition is not always a straightforward, direct, interaction. Interspecific competition may ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Range (biology)
Species distribution, or species dispersion, is the manner in which a biological taxon is spatially arranged. The geographic limits of a particular taxon's distribution is its range, often represented as shaded areas on a map. Patterns of distribution change depending on the scale at which they are viewed, from the arrangement of individuals within a small family unit, to patterns within a population, or the distribution of the entire species as a whole (range). Species distribution is not to be confused with dispersal, which is the movement of individuals away from their region of origin or from a population center of high density. Range In biology, the range of a species is the geographical area within which that species can be found. Within that range, distribution is the general structure of the species population, while dispersion is the variation in its population density. Range is often described with the following qualities: * Sometimes a distinction is made between ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pink Cockatoo
The pink cockatoo (''Cacatua leadbeateri''), also known as Major Mitchell's cockatoo or Leadbeater's cockatoo, is a medium-sized cockatoo that inhabits arid and semi-arid inland areas across Australia, with the exception of the north east. Taxonomy and naming Irish naturalist Nicholas Aylward Vigors described the species in 1831 as ''Plyctolophus leadbeateri''. The scientific name commemorates the London naturalist and taxidermist Benjamin Leadbeater, who had given Vigors what would become the type specimen. Edward Lear painted it in his 1832 work '' Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae, or Parrots''. Citing Lear, William Swainson gave it the name ''Plyctolophus erythropterus''. The pink cockatoo is more closely related to ''Cacatua'' than is the galah. Its lineage diverged around the time of or shortly after the acquisition of the long crest; probably the former as this crest type is not found in all ''Cacatua'' cockatoos, so must have been present in an early or incip ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galah
The galah (; ''Eolophus roseicapilla''), less commonly known as the pink and grey cockatoo or rose-breasted cockatoo, is an Australian species of cockatoo and the only member of the genus ''Eolophus''. The galah is adapted to a wide variety of modified and unmodified habitats and is one of Australia's most abundant and widespread bird species. The species is endemic to mainland Australia. It was introduced species, introduced to Tasmania, where it is now widespread, in the mid-19th century and much more recently to New Zealand. Etymology The term galah is derived from ''gilaa'', a word from the Yuwaalaraay and neighbouring Australian Aboriginal languages, Aboriginal languages spoken in north-western New South Wales. Description The galah is about in length, and weighs . It has a pale silver to grey back, a pale grey rump, a pink face and breast, and a light pink mobile Crest (feathers), crest. It has a bone-coloured beak, and the bare skin of the eye ring is caruncle (bird an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cockatoo
A cockatoo is any of the 21 species of parrots belonging to the family Cacatuidae, the only family in the superfamily Cacatuoidea. Along with the Psittacoidea ( true parrots) and the Strigopoidea (large New Zealand parrots), they make up the order Psittaciformes. The family has a mainly Australasian distribution, ranging from the Philippines and the eastern Indonesian islands of Wallacea to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Australia. Cockatoos are recognisable by their prominent crests and curved bills. Their plumage is generally less colourful than that of other parrots, being mainly white, grey, or black and often with coloured features in the crest, cheeks, or tail. On average, they are larger than other parrots; however, the cockatiel, the smallest cockatoo species, is medium-sized. The phylogenetic position of the cockatiel remains unresolved, except that it is one of the earliest offshoots of the cockatoo lineage. The remaining species are in two main clades. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller islands. It has a total area of , making it the list of countries and dependencies by area, sixth-largest country in the world and the largest in Oceania. Australia is the world's flattest and driest inhabited continent. It is a megadiverse countries, megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and Climate of Australia, climates including deserts of Australia, deserts in the Outback, interior and forests of Australia, tropical rainforests along the Eastern states of Australia, coast. The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south-east Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during the Last Glacial Period, last glacial period. By the time of British settlement, Aboriginal Australians spoke 250 distinct l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galahs Flying Motion Blur
The galah (; ''Eolophus roseicapilla''), less commonly known as the pink and grey cockatoo or rose-breasted cockatoo, is an Australian species of cockatoo and the only member of the genus ''Eolophus''. The galah is adapted to a wide variety of modified and unmodified habitats and is one of Australia's most abundant and widespread bird species. The species is endemic to mainland Australia. It was introduced species, introduced to Tasmania, where it is now widespread, in the mid-19th century and much more recently to New Zealand. Etymology The term galah is derived from ''gilaa'', a word from the Yuwaalaraay and neighbouring Australian Aboriginal languages, Aboriginal languages spoken in north-western New South Wales. Description The galah is about in length, and weighs . It has a pale silver to grey back, a pale grey rump, a pink face and breast, and a light pink mobile Crest (feathers), crest. It has a bone-coloured beak, and the bare skin of the eye ring is caruncle (bird an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
