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Dodo

Dodo

:This article is about the extinct bird. For other uses, see Dodo (disambiguation)

The Mauritius Dodo (Raphus cucullatus, called Didus ineptus by Linnaeus), more commonly just Dodo, was a metre-high flightless bird of the island of Mauritius. The Dodo, which is now extinct, lived on fruit and nested on the ground.

Description

There are few remains of the Dodo left today. The most intact remains from a single bird are a skeletal foot and a head. The head contains the only soft tissue remains of the species. The decaying remnants of the last complete stuffed Dodo, in Oxford's Ashmolean Museum, were burned in 1755. Nevertheless, from artists' renditions we know that the Dodo had blue-grey plumage, a 23-centimetre (9-inch) blackish hooked bill with a reddish point, very small useless wings, stout yellow legs, and a tuft of curly feathers high on its rear end. Dodos were very large birds, weighing about 23 kg (50 pounds). The breast structure was insufficient to have ever supported flight. These ground-bound birds evolved to take advantage of an island ecology with no predators. The traditional image of the Dodo is of a fat, clumsy bird, but this view has been challenged by Andrew Kitchener, a biologist at the Royal Museum of Scotland (reported in National Geographic News, February 2002), who believes that the old drawings showed overfed captive specimens. As Mauritius has marked dry and wet seasons, the Dodo probably fattened itself on ripe fruits at the end of the wet season to live through the dry season where food was scarce; contemporary reports speak of the birds' "greedy" appetite. Thus, in captivity with its ready availability of food, the birds would become overfed very easily. It had lived for thousands of years on Mauritius without any predators, being the largest animal then on the island (including humans - Mauritius had no native people).

Extinction

The Dodo was entirely fearless of people, and this, in combination with its flightlessness, made it easy prey. The name dodo comes from the archaic Portuguese word doudo, meaning "simpleton", doido in modern Portuguese meaning fool or mad. (The island was first visited by the Portuguese in 1505, but the Dutch were the first permanent settlers on the island.) There is a persistent myth that Dodos were eaten as food for the long voyages between the Cape of Good Hope and Asia, but neither historical nor archeological findings corroborate this. Dodos were hardly ever eaten by the Portuguese, who found the birds hard to eat and very messy. Dutch records concur. The Dutch settlers called it the Walgvogel ("disgusting bird") for the unpleasant taste and texture of the meat. No Dodo bones have been found in the old middens of the Dutch fort Frederik Hendrik. However, when humans first arrived on Mauritius, they also brought with them other animals that had not existed on the island before, including dogs, pigs, rats and monkeys, which plundered the Dodo nests, while humans destroyed the forests where they made their homes. There is some controversy surrounding the extinction date of the Dodo. David Roberts states that "the extinction of the Dodo is commonly dated to the last confirmed sighting in 1662, reported by shipwrecked mariner Volkert Evertsz", but other sources suggest 1681. Roberts points out that because the sighting prior to 1662 was in 1638 (i.e. 24 years earlier), the Dodo was likely already very rare by the 1660s. However, statistical analysis of the hunting records of Isaac Joan Lamotius, carried out by Julian Hume and coworkers, gives a new estimated extinction date of 1693, with a 95% confidence interval of 1688 to 1715. The last known Dodo was killed less than 100 years after the species' discovery, and no complete specimens are preserved, although a number of museum collections contain Dodo skeletons. A Dodo egg is on display at the East London museum in South Africa. Genetic material has been recovered from these and its analysis has confirmed that the Dodo was a close relative of pigeon species that are to be found in Africa and especially South Asia. No one took particular notice of the extinct bird, until it was featured in the Caucus race in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). With the popularity of the book, the Dodo became a household word: "as dead as a Dodo." The character was named Dodo.

Family Raphidae

right Traditionally, the Dodo has been taxonomically assigned to the family Raphidae, one of two families within the Order Columbiformes. The other family, the Columbidae, consists of all pigeon and dove species. Two Dodo-like birds were reported by sailors to be living on islands near Mauritius: in 1613 the Réunion Solitaire, Raphus solitarius on Réunion, and in 1691 the Rodrigues Solitaire, Pezophaps solitarius on Rodrigues. The latter became extinct during the 1760s. No evidence has ever been found to support the existence of the Réunion Solitaire, and ornithologists now believe that the bird actually seen was the Réunion Flightless Ibis Threskiornis solitarius, which is also now extinct. When it was believed to exist, it was also referred to as 'White Dodo', as travellers' descriptions of the Flightless Ibis correctly gave its plumage as mainly white, and as there exist some paintings of white Dodos, it was believed that these showed the assumed Dodo of Réunion. However, at least some descriptions clearly state that wingtips and tail of the Réunion "Solitaire" were black (as it certainly was the case, still seen in its close living relative, the Sacred Ibis), while the paintings show an entirely white bird (apart from what is probably soiling of some feathers with dirt in captivity). The paintings were most certainly of captive birds in some European menagerie; they show a rounded, not hooked beak which seems to indicate cropping as a precaution against attacks on the keepers (travellers' reports state that, if cornered, Dodos would bite quite viciously, as can be expected of a bird with such considerable bulk). The most likely source of the 'White Dodo' paintings is a small number of albinotic Dodos — perhaps even only one — that reached Europe and were kept as curiosities. Dr Alan Cooper and Dr Beth Shapiro from Oxford's Henry Wellcome Ancient Biomolecules Centre, Dr Dean Sibthorpe, Andrew Rambaut, Dr Graham Wragg, Dr Olaf Bininda-Emonds and Dr Patricia Lee from Oxford's Department of Zoology, and Dr Jeremy Austin from the Natural History Museum, London, carried out research in 2000-2002 by extracting tiny fragments of Dodo DNA. The samples were taken from the only surviving Dodo specimen with soft tissues remaining - the 300 year old 'Alice in Wonderland' specimen in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. DNA was also extracted from a Solitaire bone excavated from a cave on Rodrigues Island. The results of this analysis showed that, as expected, the Dodo and Solitare were very closely related to each other. However, rather than belonging to a separate family from the pigeons, the DNA results showed that the Dodo and Solitaire actually belong inside the pigeon family, and most closely related to the Nicobar Pigeon, Caloenus nicobarica. In 1973, scientists discovered that a species of tree on Mauritius, the dodo tree Sideroxylon grandiflorum = Calvaria major, was dying out. There were only 13 specimens reported left, and all of them were about 300 years old, dating from the time when the last Dodo was killed. It was discovered that the Dodos ate the seeds of the tree, and only by passing through the digestive tract of the Dodo did the seeds become active and start to grow. After a while, it was discovered that the same effect could be accomplished by letting turkeys eat the seeds. The tree species has been saved. However, more recent research suggests that young specimens were simply overlooked and that it probably was the extinct Broad-billed Parrot Lophopsittacus mauritianus rather than Dodos which were chiefly responsible for spreading the seeds. See the dodo tree article for more details and references.

Use as a symbol

The Dodo is the symbol of the Brasseries de Bourbon, a popular brewer on Réunion Island. The Dodo is the symbol and mascot of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Jersey Zoological Park, founded by Gerald Durrell. The Dodo is the name, symbol and mascot of Finnish enviromental organisation Dodo. http://www.dodo.org

See also


- Extinct birds
- Gogo Dodo

References


- Errol Fuller (2003): Dodo: A Brief History - Universe. ISBN 0789308401
- Beth Shapiro et al (2002): Flight of the Dodo Science 295: 1683.
- Errol Fuller (2002): Dodo : from extinction to icon
- Georg Menting und Gerhard Hard (2001): Vom Dodo lernen - Öko-Mythen um einen Symbolvogel des Naturschutzes - In: Naturschutz und Landschaftsplanung H. 1, ISSN 09406808
- Vincent Ziswiler (1996): Der Dodo - Fantasien und Fakten zu einem verschwundenen Vogel, Zoologisches Museum der Unviversität Zürich, Ausstellungskatalog, ISBN 3952104310
- David Quammen (1996): The Song of the Dodo - New York
- Clara Pinto Correia (2003): Return of the Crazy Bird : the sad, strange tale of the dodo - Copernicus Books. ISBN 0387988769

External links


- [http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/dodo.htm Dodos at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History]
- http://www.kritische-naturgeschichte.de/Seiten/beitraege.html (Vom Dodo lernen - Öko-Mythen um einen Symbolvogel des Naturschutzes) Category:Extinct birds category:Raphidae ja:ドードー

Dodo (disambiguation)

The word dodo could refer to:
- The dodo, an extinct species of bird
- The unofficial but widely used name of the main product of the Brasseries de Bourbon, a brewery on Réunion Island, whose emblem is a dodo bird
- The antagonist from the black-and-white Warner Brothers short Porky in Wackyland
- Gogo Dodo, a fictional character in the animated series Tiny Toon Adventures
- Dodo Chaplet, a fictional character from the TV series, Doctor Who
- Prince Dodo, a Manchu general from the imperial family
- Dodo, a name given to three individuals referenced in The Bible
- Dodo, an Australia-based Internet service provider
- The Dodo, a character in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
- In French, "dodo" is a childish word for "sleep"
- The Dodo is an aeroplane in the video game Grand Theft Auto III
- Dodo & The Dodos is a Danish band
- It is the nickname of the jazz pianist Michael "Dodo" Marmarosa
- Shit

Carolus Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as , and in English usually under the Latinized name Carolus Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist and physician who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of taxonomy. He is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology (see History of ecology).

Biography

Carl Linnaeus was born at a farm called Råshult in Älmhult Municipality, the province of Småland in southern Sweden. Like his father and maternal grandfather, Linnaeus was groomed as a youth to be a churchman, but he showed little enthusiasm for it. His interest in botany impressed a physician from his town and he was sent to study at Lund University, transferring to Uppsala University after one year. During this time Linnaeus became convinced that in the stamens and pistils of flowers lay the basis for the classification of plants, and he wrote a short work on the subject that earned him the position of adjunct professor. plant In 1732 the Academy of Sciences at Uppsala financed his expedition to explore Lapland, then virtually unknown. The result of this was the Flora Laponica published in 1737. Thereafter Linnaeus moved to the continent. While in The Netherlands he met Jan Frederik Gronovius and showed him a draft of his work on taxonomy, the Systema Naturae which in its 10th edition, published in 1758, classified 4,400 species of animals and 7,700 species of plants. In it, the unwieldy descriptions mostly used at the time, such as "physalis amno ramosissime ramis angulosis glabris foliis dentoserratis", were replaced by the concise and now familiar genus-species names in the form Physalis angulata. Higher taxa were constructed and arranged in a simple and orderly manner. Although the system now known as binomial nomenclature was developed by the Bauhin brothers (see Gaspard Bauhin and Johann Bauhin) almost 200 years earlier, Linnaeus may be said to have popularized it within the scientific community. Linnaeus named taxa in ways that personally struck him as common-sensical; for example, human beings are Homo sapiens (see sapience). He also briefly described a second human species, Homo troglodytes ("cave-dwelling man"). This was however likely a confusion originating from exaggerated second- or third-hand accounts of the chimpanzee (currently most often placed in a different genus, as Pan troglodytes). The group "mammalia" are named for their mammary glands because one of the defining characteristics of mammals is that they nurse their young. Of all the features distinguishing the mammals from other animals, Linnaeus may have picked this one because of his views on the importance of natural motherhood. He campaigned against the practice of wet nursing, declaring that even aristocratic women should be proud to nurse their own children. In 1739 Linnaeus married Sara Morea, daughter of a physician. He ascended to the chair of medicine at Uppsala two years later, soon exchanging it for the chair of Botany. He continued to work on his classifications, extending them to the kingdom of animals and the kingdom of minerals. The last strikes us as somewhat odd, but the theory of evolution was still a long time away. Linnaeus was only attempting a convenient way of categorizing the elements of the natural world. Still, Linnaeus' research had begun to take science on a path that diverged from what had been taught by religious authorities; the local Lutheran Archbishop had accused him of "impiety." In [http://linnaeus.c18.net/Letters/display_txt.php?id_letter=L0783 a letter] to Johann Georg Gmelin dated February 25, 1747, Linnaeus wrote: The Swedish king, Adolf Fredrik, ennobled Linnaeus in 1757, and after the privy council had confirmed the ennoblement Linnaeus took the surname von Linné, later often signing just Carl Linné. His father, born Nils Ingemarsson, had adopted the Latin surname Linnaeus as more appropriate for a clergyman on his matriculation at Lund University; the name deriving from the lime [http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/tilia/tilia/tilicor.html] tree after which the family farm, Linnagård, took its name. Declining in his later years, Linnaeus suffered from a series of strokes in 1774. He died four years later, in 1778.

Linnaean taxonomy

lime Although taxonomists, in almost any biological field, are familiar with the work of Carolus Linnaeus, his contribution to taxonomy goes far beyond contributing so-called scientific names to many of the world's plants and animals. Linnaeus developed, during the great 18th century expansion of natural history knowledge, what became known as the Linnaean taxonomy: the system of scientific classification now widely used in the biological sciences. The Linnaean system classified living things within a hierarchy, starting with two kingdoms. Kingdoms were divided into classes and they, in turn, into orders, families, genera (singular: genus), and species (singular: species). Since then a few other ranks have been added, most notably phyla (singular: phylum) or divisions between kingdoms and classes. Groups of organisms at any rank are now called taxa (singular: taxon) or taxonomic groups. His groupings were based upon shared physical characteristics. Although the groupings themselves have been significantly changed since Linnaeus' conception, as well as the principles behind them, he is credited with establishing the idea of a hierarchical structure of classification based upon observable characteristics. Linnaeus was also a pioneer in defining the concept of "race". He proposed that inside of Homo sapiens, there were four subcategories. These categories, Americanus, Asiaticus, Africanus, and Europeanus were based on place of origin at first, and later skin color. Each race had certain characteristics that members supposedly had. Native Americans were reddish, stubborn, and angered easily. Africans were black, relaxed and negligent. Asians were sallow, avaricious, and easily distracted. Europeans were white, gentle, and inventive. Linnaeus's races were clearly skewed in favour of Europeans. Over time, this classification led to a racial hierarchy, in which Europeans were at the top.

Students

His students include such renowned botanists as Pehr Kalm (from Finland) and Daniel Solander (from Sweden).

Other accomplishments

Sweden
- Linnaeus is one of the finest prose writers in Swedish. His travel journals contain pithy notes on everything of interest he encountered, not just plants. He didn't just write from personal interest, but as a reporter to the enlightened scientific and political public. His journey to sub-Arctic Lapland is notable for exotic and adventurous episodes. He also composed some down-to-earth sex-instruction lectures published as "Om sättet att tillhopa gå" [How to go together].
- Linnaeus' original botanical garden may still be seen in Uppsala.
- He originated the practice of using the ♂ - (shield and arrow) Mars and ♀ - (hand mirror) Venus glyphs as the symbol for male and female.
- Linnaeus was instrumental in the development of the Celsius (then called Centigrade) temperature scale. Anders Celsius had proposed using 0 as the boiling point of water, and 100 as the freezing point; Linneaus inverted it to the form we are familiar with today [http://www.astro.uu.se/history/Celsius_eng.html].
- His picture can be found on the current Swedish 100 kronor bank notes [http://www.riksbank.com/templates/Page.aspx?id=10571].
- Linnaeus was one of the founders of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
- Linnaeus is the only botanist currently referred to by a single initial: L. (Previously, the abbreviation assigned was Linn.) In botany, the names, abbreviated, of the botanists who first describe and codify a species follow immediately after the scientific name. For example, Cocos nucifera L. is the complete scientific name for the coconut, with the "L." referring to Carolus Linnaeus.
- Linnaeus was said to be a man of great social skills. Erik Axel Karlfeldt's words "han talte med bönder på bönders vis, och med lärde män på latin" [he talked to peasants as peasants do, and to learned men in Latin] give a good characterization of his manner.
- He created the "Petal Time Clock". His findings found that different species of flowers open at different times everyday. For example, he discovered that the hawk's beard plant, opened its flowers at 6:30 am, whereas another species, the hawkbit, did not open its flowers until 7 am. After much research into this, he soon concluded that one could tell the time of day simply by watching the flowers in their garden. This method of keeping time did not catch on with everyone.

See also


- Carolus Linnaeus the Younger. Linnaeus's son, also named Carl Linnaeus and also a botanist, is commonly so referred with filius (abbreviated "L. f.") to distinguish him from his famous father.
- Linnean Society of London
- Linnaeus Arboretum
- Jonas C. Dryander
- Carl Peter Thunberg
- Frederik Hasselquist
- Peter Artedi

External links


- [http://www.linnaeus.uu.se/LTeng.html Linnaeus Botanical Garden]
- [http://www.systbot.uu.se/history/linnaeus.html Biography] at the Department of Systematic Botany, University of Uppsala
- [http://linnean.org/index.php?id=47 Biography] at The Linnean Society of London
- [http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/linnaeus.html Biography] at the University of California Museum of Paleontology
- [http://linnaeus.c18.net/ The Linnaean Correspondence]
- List of several Beetle species discovered by [http://www.goliathus.cz/en/result.php?q=Linnaeus Carolus Linnaeus] Linnaeus, Carolus Linnaeus, Carolus Linnaeus, Carolus Linnaeus, Carolus Linnaeus, Carolus Linnaeus, Carolus Linnaeus, Carolus Linnaeus, Carolus Linnaeus, Carolus Linnaeus, Carolus Linnaeus, Carolus Linnaeus, Carolus zh-min-nan:Carolus Linnaeus ko:칼 폰 린네 ja:カール・フォン・リンネ

Mauritius

The Republic of Mauritius is an island nation in the southwest Indian Ocean, about 900 km east of Madagascar. In addition to the island of Mauritius, the republic includes the islands of St. Brandon and Rodrigues and the Agalega Islands. Mauritius is part of the Mascarene Islands, with the French island of Réunion 200 km to the southwest.

History

Main article: History of Mauritius While Arab and Malay sailors knew of Mauritius as early as the 10th century and Portuguese sailors first visited it on 1505, the island was not inhabited until 1638 when it was colonized by the Dutch in 1638. They named the island in honour of Prince Maurice of Nassau. The French controlled the island during the 18th century and renamed it Ile de France. The island was taken over by the British in 1810 and reverted to its former name. 1810 Independence was attained in 1968, with the country becoming a republic within the Commonwealth in 1992. Mauritius has been a stable democracy with regular free elections and a positive human rights record, and has attracted considerable foreign investment earning one of Africa's highest per capita incomes.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Mauritius The head of state of Mauritius is the President, who is elected for a five-year term by the National Assembly, the unicameral Mauritian parliament. The National Assembly consists of 62 members elected directly by popular vote, with between 4 and 8 further members appointed from "best losers" election candidates to represent ethnic minorities, depending on the results of the election. The government is headed by the prime minister and a council of ministers. The most recent general elections took place on the 3 July 2005 in all the 20 mainland constituencies, as well as the constituency covering the island of Rodrigues. Results are available on the website of the electoral commissioner's office (http://electoral.gov.mu/). Historically, elections have always adhered to a two-party system in Mauritius and this has also been the case this time, with the outgoing MSM/MMM/PMSD coalition against the PTr-led Alliance Sociale which includes PMXD, Les Verts, MR, MSD and MMSM. The Alliance Sociale coalition won 38 seats and will form the next government with PTr leader Navinchandra Ramgoolam as Prime Minister. The MSM/MMM/PMSD coalition won 22 seats and will form the opposition. The 2 remaining seats for Rodrigues were won by OPR candidates. According to the Constitution, an additional eight seats were allocated to "best losers" to guarantee equitable representation of all ethnic groups. This brought the total representation to 42 Alliance Sociale, 24 MSM/MMM/PMSD, and 4 OPR. In international affairs, Mauritius is part of the Indian Ocean Commission.

Districts and dependencies

Indian Ocean Commission Main article: Districts and dependencies of Mauritius The island of Mauritius itself is divided into 9 districts:
- Black River
- Flacq
- Grand Port
- Moka
- Pamplemousses
- Plaines Wilhems
- Port Louis
- Rivière du Rempart
- Savanne Rodrigues, which used to be Mauritius's 10th district is now autonomous The latter, together with Agalega and Cargados Carajos Shoals (aka Saint Brandon Rocks) are dependencies of Mauritius. Note: Mauritius also claims the French-owned Tromelin Island and the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory). A number of shallow banks also belong to Mauritius, such as:
- Soudan Banks (including East Soudan Bank)
- Nazareth Bank Note: Mauritius also claims the Saya de Malha Bank as part of its exclusive economic zone as it falls into Mauritian Territorial Waters.

Geography

Saya de Malha Bank Saya de Malha Bank Saya de Malha Bank Main article: Geography of Mauritius Together with Réunion and Rodrigues, Mauritius is part of the Mascarene Islands. This archipelago was formed in a series of undersea volcanic eruptions, as the African plate drifted over the Réunion hotspot. Mauritius and Rodrigues were formed 8-10 million years ago. They are no longer volcanically active, and the hotspot now rests under Réunion. The island of Mauritius itself is formed around a central plateau, with its highest peak in the southwest, Piton de la Riviere Noire at 828 m. Around the plateau, the original crater can still be distinguished from several mountains. The local climate is tropical, modified by southeast trade winds; there is a warm, dry winter from May to November and a hot, wet, and humid summer from November to May. Cyclones affect the country during November-April. The island's capital and largest city is Port Louis, in the northwest. Other important towns are Curepipe, Vacoas, Phoenix, Quatre Bornes, Rose-Hill and Beau-Bassin. The island is well known for its exceptional natural beauty; "First God made Mauritius, then he copied Paradise after it" and "God modeled heaven on Mauritius" are quotes attributed variously to Mark Twain and Rudyard Kipling respectively. Rudyard Kipling

Economy

Main article: Economy of Mauritius Since independence in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculturally based economy to a middle income diversified economy with growing industrial, financial, and tourist sectors. For most of the period, annual growth has been of the order of 5% to 6%. This remarkable achievement has been reflected in increased life expectancy, lowered infant mortality and a much improved infrastructure. Sugar cane is grown on about 90% of the cultivated land area and accounts for 25% of export earnings. However, a record-setting drought severely damaged the sugar crop in 1999. The government's development strategy centres on foreign investment. Mauritius has attracted more than 9,000 offshore entities; many aimed at commerce in India and South Africa while investment in the banking sector alone has reached over USD 1 billion. Economic performance during the period from 2000 through 2004 combined strong economic growth with unemployment at 7.6% in December 2004. On the 4th of April 2005 during his [http://mof.gov.mu/budget/20052006/speech.htm budget speech], Hon. Pravind Jugnauth, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economic Development announced that Mauritius will become a duty-free island and that will take about 4 years. Duty has been decreased (and for many products completely eliminated) for more than 1850 products including clothing, food, jewellery, photographic equipment, audio visual equipment, lighting equipment etc. The main motivations are (1) Attract more tourists going to Singapore and Dubai, and, (2) Give all Mauritians easier access to quality products at affordable prices. A plan by ADB Networks calls for Mauritius to become the first nation to have coast-to-coast wireless internet access. The wireless hot spot currently covers about 60% of the island and is accessible by about 70% of its population. By year's end antennas should provide access to 90% of the island.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Mauritius Mauritius is probably the most multicultural island in the Indian Ocean. There are people from India, Africa, Madagascar, China, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, France, Arabia plus a few other places. The official language of Mauritius is English although French is still widely spoken despite France having lost its colonial dominion over the island nearly 200 years ago. A French-derived Creole language, with influence from English, is widely spoken on the island and is considered the lingua franca of the country. Several Asian languages, including numerous South Asian languages such as Urdu, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bhojpuri and Gujarati are also spoken by a minority of Mauritians. The latter South Asian languages are spoken by descendants of the labourers brought from British India during the British rule. These Indo-Mauritians form approximately 70% of the total population, while the rest of the population are of either African, French, Chinese, or mixed descent. There are approximately 30,000 Mauritians of Chinese descent, from Hakka, Mandarin and Cantonese language groups. Of all religiously affiliated Mauritians, Hindus constitute 52%, while the remainder is composed mostly of Christians (28%) and Muslims (17%). Buddhists, Sikhs and other religions are also followed.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Mauritius The mixed colonial past of Mauritius is reflected in its culture. For example, the cuisine of Mauritius is a blend of Indian, Creole, Chinese and European. In 1847 Mauritius became the fifth country in the world to issue postage stamps. The two types of stamps issued then, known as the Red Penny and the Blue Penny are probably the most famous stamps in the world, being very rare and therefore also very expensive. When discovered, the island of Mauritius was home to a previously unknown species of bird, which the Portuguese named the dodo (simpleton), as they appeared not too bright. However, by 1681, all dodos had been killed by settlers or their domesticated animals. Nevertheless, the dodo is prominently featured as a supporter of the national coat-of-arms(see above).
- Music of Mauritius

Miscellaneous topics


- University of Technology, Mauritius
- List of Mauritians
- Communications in Mauritius
- Transportation in Mauritius
- Military of Mauritius
- Foreign relations of Mauritius
- Tertiary education in Mauritius

Further reading


- Dodd, Jan and Madeleine Philippe. Lonely Planet Mauritius Reunion & Seychelles. Lonely Planet Publications, 2004. ISBN 1740593014

External links

Government


- [http://www.gov.mu/ Government of Mauritius] official government site

News


- [http://allafrica.com/mauritius/ allAfrica.com - Mauritius] news headline links
- [http://mbc.intnet.mu/ Mauritius broadcasting Corp.] - Public TV/Radio Broadcasting
- [http://www.lexpress.mu/ L'Express (Mauritius)] - Newspaper
- [http://www.lemauricien.com/ Le Mauricien] - Newspaper

Bank


- [http://www.mcb.mu/ Mauritius Commercial Bank]
- [http://www.sbmonline.com State Bank of Mauritius]

Business


- [http://www.mcci.org/ Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry]

Tourism


-
- [http://www.mauritius.net/ Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority] official tourism site
- Idyllic Isles Portal to [http://www.mauritius.idyllicisles.com/ Mauritius]
- [http://www.propertiesmauritius.com/ Real Estate in Mauritius]
- [http://www.spectra.mauritiuslinks.com/ Spectra Real Estate Agents in Mauritius]
- [http://www.mauritiuslinks.com/ Mauritius Listings Portal]

Free Travel Quotes


- [http://www.passion-mauritius.com/ Free Quotes for Hotels in Mauritius, Bungalows Villas in Mauritius]
- [http://www.mauritius-maurice.net/ Free quotes for Bungalows, Ship Models, Hotels, Apartments in mauritius]
- [http://www.mauritius-rentals.com/ Mauritus Rentals of Apartments and car rentals in Mauritius]

Other


- [http://www.uom.ac.mu/ University of Mauritius]
- [http://www.quatre-bornes.com/ Quatre Bornes Town Portal in Mauritius]
- [http://www.flacq.net/ Flacq Portal] Category:African Union member states zh-min-nan:Mauritius ko:모리셔스 ms:Mauritius ja:モーリシャス

Extinct birds

.]] Since 1600, over 100 species of birds have become extinct, and this rate of extinction seems to be increasing. The situation is exemplified by Hawaii, where 30% of all now-extinct species originally lived. Other areas, such as Guam, have also been hard hit; Guam has lost over 60% of its native species in the last 30 years, many of them to imported snakes. There are today about 10,000 species of birds, and 1186 of them are considered to be under threat of extinction. Except for 11 species, the threat is man-made. Island species in general, and flightless island species in particular are most at risk. The disproportionate number of rails in the list reflects the tendency of that family to lose the ability to fly when geographically isolated. (This page refers only to birds that have gone extinct in historical times. See also Prehistoric birds.)

Extinct species

Ratites


- Aepyornis, Aepyornis maximus
- Moa, Dinornithiformes. Large flightless birds in New Zealand- they were probably already extinct in 1642 when Europeans landed there. The extinction of the moa and its main predator, the Harpagornis, is attributed to the arrival of human settlers around 1000 A.D. Very early European arrivals, ca 1830-40, described seeing birds that might have been the last of the moa but the sightings have never been reliably confirmed . New Zealand has no significant indigenous mammal life. The entire animal ecology consisted of birds, with the moa filling the niche of deer or cattle, and the harpagornis filling the niche of the wolf or tiger. There were ten species. Amongst them were Slender Moa, Dinornis robustus, Great Broad-billed Moa, Euryapteryx gravis and Lesser Megalapteryx, Megalapteryx didinus. It has been long suspected that the species of moa described as Euryapteryx curtus / E. exilis, E. huttonii / E. crassus, and Pachyornis septentrionalis / P. mappini constituted males and females, respectively. This has been confirmed by analysis for sex-specific genetic markers of DNA extracted from bone material (Nature 425 p.175). More interestingly, the former three species of Dinornis: D. giganteus = robustus, D. novaezealandiae and D. struthioides have turned out to be males (struthioides) and females of only two species, one each formerly occurring on New Zealands North Island (D. novaezealandiae) and South Island (D. robustus) [Nature paper cited above, also Nature 425 p. 172]. Moa females were larger than males, being up to 150% of the male's size and 280% of their weight. This phenomenon - reverse size dimorphism, is not uncommon amongst ratites, being most pronounced in moa and kiwis. On a side note, the plural form of moa is also moa, as Maori words do not feature plurals.
- King Island Emu, Dromaius ater (Australia 1850)
- Kangaroo Island Emu, Dromaius baudinianus (Australia 1827)

Ducks, geese and swans


- Korean Crested Shelduck, Tadorna cristata. Officially critically endangered due to recent unconfirmed reports. Last confirmed record in 1964.
- Réunion Shelduck, Alopochen kervazoi (Mascarenes 1674)
- Mauritian Shelduck, Alopochen mauritianus (Mascarenes 1698)
- Amsterdam Island Duck, Anas marecula (Amsterdam Island 1800)
- Mauritian Duck, Anas theodori (Mascarenes 1710)
- Pink-headed Duck, Netta caryophyllacea. Officially critically endangered due to parts of its former range not yet being surveyed, but probably extinct. The only area in which it might reasonably still exist is Northern Myanmar due to its remoteness: the Leaf Muntjac, a species of small deer, was newly described from the Putao area as late as 1998. Reports of Pink-headed Ducks continue to be received from this area, but searches have been inconclusive.
- Madagascar Pochard, Aythya innotata. Officially critically endangered, but probably extinct: only one, a semi-captive bird at Antananarivo Botanic Gardens, seen alive since 1991, this bird dying in 1992.
- Labrador Duck, Camptorhynchus labradorius. This eider-like sea duck was never very common. Although it has been hunted for food, it probably died out because of decline of mussels and shellfish due to pollution. The last one was seen at Elmira, New York, in 1878.
- Auckland Islands Merganser, Mergus australis (Auckland Islands 1902)
- Nēnē-nui, Branta hylobadistes
- Branta (new species), Hawaiian Giant Goose
- Chendytes lawi, flightless diving duck, common to the California Coast, California Channel Islands, and possibly southern Oregon. Lived in the Pleistocene and survived into the Holocene. Appears to have gone extinct about 3000 BP. Remains found in fossil deposits and in early archeological sites. Probably driven to extinction by hunting and loss of habitat.

Quails and relatives


- Heath Hen, Tympanuchus cupido cupido, a subspecies of the Greater Prairie-Chicken
- New Zealand Quail, Coturnix novaezelandiae (New Zealand, 1875)
- Himalayan Quail, Ophrysia superciliosa. Officially critically endangered. Not recorded with certainty since 1876, but thorough surveys are still required, and there is a recent set of possible (though unlikely) sightings around Naini Tal in 2003. A little-known native name from Western Nepal probably refers to this bird, but for various reasons, no survey for Ophrysia has ever been conducted in that country, nor is it generally assumed to occur there (due to the native name being overlooked).

Grebes


- Colombian Grebe, Podiceps andinus. Last seen in Colombia in 1977.
- Atitlan Grebe, Podilymbus gigas. Last seen in Guatemala in 1986.

Petrels


- St Helena Bulwer's Petrel, Bulweria bifax (St Helena 1550)
- St Helena Gadfly Petrel, Pterodroma rupinarum (St Helena 1550)
- Guadalupe Storm Petrel, Oceanodroma macrodacyla

Cormorants and related birds


- Spectacled Cormorant, Phalacrocorax perspicillatus

Herons and related birds


- New Zealand Little Bittern, Ixobrychus novazelandiae (New Zealand 1900)
- Réunion Night Heron, Nycticorax duboisi (Mascarenes 1674)
- Mauritius Night Heron, Nycticorax mauritianus (Mascarenes 1700)
- Rodrigues Night Heron, Nycticorax megacephalus (Mascarenes 1761)
- Réunion Flightless Ibis, Threskiornis solitarius (Mascarenes 1750) This species was the base for the supposed 'Réunion Solitaire', a supposed relative of the Dodo and the Rodrigues Solitaire. Given the fact that ibis, but no dodo-like bones were found on Réunion and that old descriptions match a flightless Sacred Ibis quite well, the 'Réunion Solitaire' hypothesis has been refuted.
- Apteribis, a small flightless ibis from the Hawaiian Islands.

Bird of prey


- Argentavis, Argentavis magnificens
- Guadalupe Caracara, Polyborus lutosus
- Haast's Eagle, Harpagornis moorei. Giant eagle (up to 2.6m wingspan) endemic to New Zealand. Extinct approximately 1400 A.D. due to habitat loss and the extinction of its large flightless bird prey following human occupation. Flexiraptor(Pengana robertbolesi, an Austrilian caracara-like bird that lived 23-16 million years ago in Queensland.

Rails


- Chatham Islands Rail, Rallus modestus
- Wake Island Rail, Rallus wakensis
- Tahitian Red-billed Rail, Rallus pacificus
- Ascension Island Rail, Atlantisia elpenor
- Kusaie Island Crake, Porzana monasa
- Hawaiian Rail, Porzana sandwichensis
- Laysan Rail, Porzana palmeri
- Samoan Wood Rail, Gallinula pacifica
- Lord Howe Swamphen, Porphyrio albus
- Mauritius Red Hen, Aphanapteryx bonasia
- Leguat's Gelinote, Aphanapteryx leguatz

Waders, gulls and auks


- Javanese Lapwing, Vanellus macropterus
- White-winged Sandpiper, Prosobonia leucoptera
- Eskimo Curlew, Numenius borealis
- Great Auk, Alca impennis or Pinguinus impennis. At 75 centimeters, the flightless Great Auk was the largest of the auks. It was hunted to extinction for food and down for mattresses. The last pair were killed July 3, 1844.

Pigeons and Dodos

Dodo
- Liverpool Pigeon, Caloenas maculata. Also known as the Spotted Green Pigeon, the only specimen has been in Liverpool Museum since 1851, and was probably collected on a Pacific island for Edward Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby.
- Rodrigues Pigeon, Columba rodericana
- Bonin Wood Pigeon, Columba versicolor
- Mauritius Blue Pigeon, Alectroenas nitidissima Extinct in 19th century.
- Forster's Dove of Tanna, Gallicolumba ferruginea
- Marquesas Fruit Pigeon, Ptilinopus mercierii
- Choiseul Crested Pigeon, Microgoura meeki
- Passenger Pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius. The passenger pigeon was once probably the most common bird in the world. It was hunted close to extinction for food and sport in the late 19th century. The last one died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914.
- Dodo, Raphus cucullatus, called Didus ineptus by Linnaeus. A meter-high (yard-high) flightless bird on Mauritius. Its forest habitat was lost when Dutch settlers moved to the island and the dodo's nests were destroyed by the rats, pigs, and cats the Dutch brought with them. The last specimen was killed in 1681, only 80 years after the arrival of the new predators. See dodo tree for a dodo-dependent plant species threatened with extinction after another 300 years. Of the 45 bird species originally found on Mauritius, 24 are now extinct.
- Rodrigues Solitaire, Pezophaps solitaria. Last seen c.1730.

Parrots


- Norfolk Island Kaka, Nestor productus
- Paradise Parrot, Psephotus pulcherrimus
- Society Parakeet, Cyanoramphus ulietanus
- Black-fronted Parakeet, Cyanoramphus zealandicus
- Newton's Parakeet, Psittacula exsul
- Mascarene Parrot, Mascarinus mascarinus
- Broad-billed Parrot, Lophopsittacus mauritianus
- Rodrigues Parrot, Necropsittacus rodericanus
- Cuban Red Macaw, Ara tricolor
- Glaucous Macaw, Anodorhynchus glaucus Officially critically endangered due to persistent rumours of wild birds, but probably extinct.
- Carolina Parakeet, Conuropsis carolinensis. The only parrot native to the eastern US, the Carolina Parakeet was hunted to extinction for its plumage and to prevent damage to crops; it also suffered from destruction of its habitat. The last one died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1918.

Cuckoos


- Delalande's Coucal, Coua delalandei (Madagascar)
- St Helena Cuckoo, Nannococcyx psix

Owls


- Reunion Owl, Mascarenotus grucheti
- Mauritius Owl, Mascarenotus sauzieri
- Rodrigues Little Owl, Athene murivora
- Laughing Owl, Sceloglaux albifacies (New Zealand)

Nightjars


- Jamaica Least Pauraque, Siphonorhis americanus

Hummingbirds


- Brace's Emerald, Chlorostilbon bracei (Bahamas 1900)
- Gould's Emerald, Chlorostilbon elegans (Jamaica & Bahamas 1900)

Kingfishers and related birds


- Ryukyu Kingfisher, Halcyon miyakoensis. This was a sub-species of the Micronesian Kingfisher Halycon cinnamomina.
- St Helena Hoopoe, Upupa antaois (St Helena 1550)

Woodpeckers


- Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Campephilus principalis. This species was believed to be extinct since 1987, when the last positive sighting was made in Cuba. However, at least one living male was rediscovered in Arkansas in 2004 and 2005.
- Imperial Woodpecker, Campephilus imperialis. This 60-centimeter-long woodpecker is officially listed as critically endangered and is believed to now be extinct.

Passerines


- Stephens Island Wren, Xenicus lyalli
- New Zealand Bush Wren, Xenicus longipes
- Bonin Islands Thrush, Zoothera terrestris
- Bay Thrush, "Turdus" ulietensis (Society Islands 1774-1850). A completely mysterious bird from Raiatea, now only known from a painting and some descriptions of a (now lost) specimen. Its taxonomic position is unresolvable, although for biogeographic reasons and because of the surviving material, it possibly was a honeyeater. However, with the discovery of fossils of the prehistorically extinct starling Aplonis diluvialis on neighboring Huahine, it seems more likely that this bird also belonged into this genus.
- Grand Cayman Thrush, Turdus ravidus
- Kittlitz's Thrush, Zoothera terrestis
- Chatham Island Fernbird, Bowdleria rufescens
- Aldabran Brush Warbler, Nesillas aldabranus
- Lord Howe Gerygone, Gerygone insularis
- Guam Flycatcher, Myiagra freycineti
- Maupiti Monarch, Pomarea pomerea (Society Islands 1850)
- South Island Piopio, Turnagra capensis
- North Island Piopio, Turnagra tanagra
- Lord Howe Island White-eye, Zosterops strenua
- Kioea, Chaetoptila angustipluma
- Hawaii 'O'o, Moho nobilis
- Oahu 'O'o, Moho apicalis
- Molokai 'O'o, Moho bishopi
- Kauai 'O'o, Moho braccatus
- Bachman's Warbler, Vermivora bachmanii
- Akialoa,Hemignathus obscurus
- Ula-'ai-hawane, Ciridops anna
- Black Mamo, Drepanis funerea
- Hawaii Mamo, Drepanis pacifica
- Kakawahie, Paroreomyza flammea
- Kona Grosbeak, Psittirostra kona
- Lesser Koa-finch, Rhodacanthus flaviceps
- Greater Koa-finch, Rhodacanthus palmeri
- Greater Amakihi, Viridonia sagittirostris
- Slender-billed Grackle, Quiscalus palustris (Mexico 1910)
- Bonin Islands Grosbeak, Chaunoproctus ferreorostris
- Kusaie Island Starling, Aplonis corvina
- Mysterious Starling, Aplonis mavornata
- Norfolk and Lord Howe Starling, Aplonis fusca
- Bourbon Crested Starling, Fregilupus varius
- Rodrigues Starling, Necropsar rodericanus. The bird variously described as Testudophaga bicolor, Necropsar leguati or Orphanopsar leguati which was considered to be identical with N. rodericanus (which is only known from fossils) was finally resolved to be based on a misidentified partially albinistic specimen of the Martinique Trembler (Cinclocerthia gutturalis) (Olson et al., Bull. B.O.C. 125: 31).
- Huia, Heteralocha acutirostris
- Po'o-uli, Melamprosops phaeosoma (the last known bird has died in captivity at 28 November 2004)

See also


- List of extinct animals
- Prehistoric birds

External links and references


- [http://www.redlist.org/ The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species]
- [http://www.stockpix.com/stock/animals/birds/extinctbirds/ Extinct Birds Stock Photography]
- [http://www.abirdshome.com/Audubon/extinct.html Extinct Birds from John James Audubon's Birds of America]
- [http://www.nrm.se/jourhavande_biolog/sida15.html Utrotade faaglar] (in Swedish)
- [http://www.kcc.org.nz/birds/extinct/list.asp New Zealand Extinct Birds List] List adapted from that in Extinct Birds, Fuller, ISBN 0-19-850837-9
- Category:Ornithology

Ashmolean Museum

The Ashmolean Museum (in full the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology) in Oxford, England is the world's first university museum. Its first building was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and built in 1678–1683 to house the collection of curiosities Elias Ashmole gave Oxford University in 1677 — the ones he had collected himself as well as those he had inherited from the travellers John Tradescant, father and son. The collection included antique coins, books, engravings, geological specimens, and zoological specimens — one of which was the stuffed body of the last Dodo ever seen in Europe, but by 1755 it was so moth-eaten it was destroyed, except for its head and one claw. The museum opened on 6 June 1683, with naturalist Robert Plot as the first keeper. After the various specimens had been moved into new museums, the "Old Ashmolean" building on Broad Street was used as office space for the Oxford English Dictionary staff. Since 1935, the building has been established as the Museum of the History of Science, with exhibitions including the scientific instruments given to Oxford University by Lewis Evans (1853–1930), amongst them the world's largest collection of astrolabes. The present building dates from 1845. It was designed by Charles Cockerell in a classical style and stands in Beaumont Street. One wing of the building is occupied by the Taylor Institution, the modern languages faculty of the university. The main museum contains the original collections of Elias Ashmole and John Tradescant (father and son), as well as huge collections of archaeology specimens and fine art. It has one of the best collections of Pre-Raphaelite paintings, majolica pottery and English silver. The archaeology department includes the bequest of Arthur Evans and so has an excellent collection of Greek and Minoan pottery. The interior of the Ashmolean has been extensively modernised in recent years and now includes a restaurant and large gift shop. The Sackler Library, incorporating the older library collections of the Ashmolean, opened in 2001 and has allowed an expansion of the book collection, which concentrates on classical civilization, archaeology and art history. Highlights of the collection include:
- The Alfred Jewel
- Drawings by Michaelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci
- Watercolours by Turner
- Paintings by Piero di Cosimo, John Constable, Claude Lorraine, Pablo Picasso
- Arab ceremonial dress owned by Lawrence of Arabia
- A death mask of Oliver Cromwell
- The collection of Posie Rings that supposedly inspired The One Ring in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings
- The Parian Marble, the earliest extant example of a Greek chronological table
- The ceremonial cloak of Chief Powhatan On 31 December 1999 (New Year's Eve), thieves used scaffolding on an adjoining building to climb onto the roof of the Ashmolean and broke through a skylight, stealing a painting by Cézanne. As the thieves ignored other works in the same room and it has not been offered for sale it is speculated that this was a case of an artwork stolen to order. Among the more noted of the Ashmolean's Keepers is the late Roger Moorey.

External links


- [http://www.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/ Ashmolean Museum website]
- [http://www.saclib.ox.ac.uk/ Sackler Library]
- [http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/ Museum of the History of Science] Category:British archaeology Category:University of Oxford Category:Visitor attractions in Oxfordshire Category:Oxford Category:Archaeological organisations Category:Art museums and galleries in the United Kingdom Category:Archaeological organisations Category:Archaeology museums Category:University museums

Plumage

---- Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds. They are the outstanding characteristic that distinguishes the Class Aves from all other living groups. Other Theropoda also had feathers (see Feathered dinosaurs).

Characteristics

Feathers are among the most complex structural organs found in vertebrates: integumentary appendages, formed by controlled proliferation of cells in the epidermis, or outer skin layer, that produce keratin proteins. The β-keratins in feathers, beaks and claws — and the claws, scales and shells of reptiles — are composed of protein strands hydrogen-bonded into β-pleated sheats, which are then further twisted and crosslinked by disulfide bridges into structures even tougher than the α-keratins of mammalian hair, horns and hooves. Feathers insulate birds from water and cold temperatures. Individual feathers in the wings and tail play important roles in controlling flight. These have their own identity and are not just randomly distributed. Although feathers are light, a bird's plumage weighs two or three times more than its skeleton, since many bones are hollow and contain air sacks. Colour patterns serve as camouflage against predators for birds in their habitats, and by predators looking for a meal. As with fish, the top and bottom colors may be different to provide camouflage during flight. Striking differences in feather patterns and colours are part of the sexual dimorphism of many bird species and are particularly important in selection of mating pairs. The remarkable colors and feather sizes of some species have never been fully explained. There are two basic types of feather: vaned feathers which cover the exterior of the body, and down feathers which are underneath the vaned feathers. The pennaceous feathers are vaned feathers. Also called contour feathers, pennaceous feathers are distributed over the whole body. Some of them are modified into remiges, the flight feathers of the wing, and rectrices, the flight feathers of the tail. A typical vaned feather features a main shaft, called the rachis. Fused to the rachis are a series of branches, or barbs; the barbs themselves are also branched and form the barbules. These barbules have minute hooks called barbicels for cross-attachment. Down feathers are fluffy because they lack barbicels, so the barbules float free of each other, allowing the down to trap much air and provide excellent thermal insulation. At the base of the feather, the rachis expands to form the hollow tubular calamus, or quill, which inserts into a follicle in the skin. skin A bird's feathers are replaced periodically during its life through molting, new feathers are formed through the same follicle from which the old ones were fledged. Some birds have a supply of powder-down feathers which grow continuously, with small particles regularly breaking off from the ends of the barbules. These particles produce a powder that sifts through the feathers on the bird's body and acts as a waterproofing agent and a feather conditioner. Most waterbirds produce a large amount of powder down. Waterproofing can be lost by exposure to emulsifying agents due to human pollution. Feathers can become waterlogged and birds may sink. It is also very difficult to clean and rescue birds whose feathers have been fouled by oil spills. Bristles are stiff, tapering feathers with a large rachis but few barbs. Rictal bristles are bristles found around the eyes and bill. They serve a similar purpose to eyelashes and vibrissae in mammals.

Origins

Feathers most likely originated as a filamentous insulation structure, or possibly as markers for mating, with flight emerging only as a secondary purpose. It had been thought that feathers evolved from the scales of reptiles, but recent research casts doubt on this homology (see Quarterly Review of Biology 77:3 (September 2002): 261-95). Experiments show that the same protein (when missing before birth) that causes bird feet to stay webbed, causes reptile scales to become feathers. [http://www.dinosauria.com/jdp/archie/scutes.htm]

Feathered dinosaurs

Main article: Feathered dinosaurs Although birds use feathers primarily for flight, several dinosaurs have been discovered with feathers on their limbs that would not have functioned for flight. One theory is that feathers originally developed on dinosaurs as a means of insulation; those small dinosaurs that then grew longer feathers may have found them helpful in gliding, which would have begun the evolutionary process that resulted in some proto-birds like Archaeopteryx and Microraptor zhaoianus. Other dinosaurs discovered with feathers include Pedopenna daohugouensis, Sinosauropteryx, and Dilong paradoxus. Currently the question is whether birds are deinonychosaurians or dromaeosaurids, not whether birds are dinosaurs. It has been suggested that Pedopenna is older than Archaeopteryx, however, their age remains doubted by some experts. Dilong is a tyrannosauroid which predates Tyrannosaurus rex by 60 to 70 million years.

Human uses

Feathers are both soft and excellent at trapping heat; thus, they are sometimes used in high-class bedding, especially pillows, blankets, and mattresses. They are also used as filling for winter clothing, such as quilted coats and sleeping bags; goose down especially has great loft, the ability to expand from a compressed, stored state to trap large amounts of compartmentalized, insulating air. Bird feathers have long been used for fletching arrows and in the past were used for ink pens. They have also been put to use as sexual aids; see feather dancing. Colorful feathers such as those belonging to pheasants have been used in the past to decorate hats and fishing lures. Eagle feathers have great cultural value to American Indians. Various birds and their plumages serve as cultural icons throughout the world, from the hawk in ancient Egypt to the bald eagle and the turkey in the United States. In Greek mythology, Icarus tried to escape his prison by attaching feathered wings to his shoulders with wax, which melted near the Sun.

References

Category:Animal products ja:羽根

Beak

The beak - otherwise known as the bill - is the only device a bird has for consuming food. It is composed of an upper jaw called the maxilla, and the lower jaw called a mandible. Birds have no teeth so they must swallow their food whole. A bird's beak can vary in size and shape depending on the nature of their diet. Some birds such as the falcons have evolved to have a cutting type beak which allows them to tear through flesh, whereas the hummingbird has a probe like beak which allows them to drink the nectar from certain flowers. Bird beaks are useful in other ways, e.g. woodpeckers use theirs to cut wood, parrots have sharp swivelled beaks to tear fruits. Herons have long beaks to pull out fish from the water and ducks have flat beaks that allow them to retain all the fish and plants while draining out the water.

See also


- Bird skeleton

References


- Gilbertson, Lance; Zoology Lab Manual; McGraw Hill Companies, New York; ISBN 0-07-237716-X (fourth edition, 1999) category:zoology ja:くちばし

Wing

:For some other uses of the word "wing" please see Wing (disambiguation). Wing (disambiguation).]] Wing (disambiguation) A wing is a surface used to produce an aerodynamic force normal to the direction of motion by travelling in air or another gaseous medium, facilitating flight. It is a specific form of airfoil. The first use of the word was for the foremost limbs of birds, but has been extended to include other animal limbs and man-made devices. A wing is an extremely efficient device for generating lift. Its aerodynamic quality, expressed as a Lift-to-drag ratio, can be up to 60 on some gliders and even more. This means that a significantly smaller thrust force can be applied to propel the wing through the air in order to obtain a specified lift.

Use

The most common use of wings is to fly by deflecting air downwards to produce lift, but upside-down wings are also commonly used as a way to produce downforce and hold objects to the ground (for example racing cars). A sailing boat moves by using its sails as wings to produce lift (in the horizontal plane) from the force of the wind.

Artificial wings

Terms used to describe aeroplane wings

Image:Aircraft wing flaps small dsc06830.jpg|Flaps partially deployed Image:Aircraft wing flaps full dsc06835.jpg|Full flaps Image:Aircraft wing flaps full airbrakes dsc06838.jpg|Full flaps, with airbrakes and spoilers deployed for ground braking
- Leading edge: the front edge of the wing
- Trailing edge: the back edge of the wing
- Span: distance from wing tip to wing tip
- Chord: distance from wing leading edge to wing trailing edge, usually measured parallel to the long axis of the fuselage
- Aspect ratio: ratio of span to standard mean chord
- Aerofoil (or Airfoil in US English): the shape of the top and bottom surfaces when viewed as cross sections cut from leading edge to trailing edge.
- Sweep angle: the angle between the perpendicular to the design centreline of the wing in the wing plane, and either the leading edge or 1/4 chord line.
- Twist: gradual change of the airfoil (aerodynamic twist) and/or angle of incidence of the wing cross-sections (geometrical twist) along the span.

Design features

Aeroplane wings may feature some of the following:
- A rounded (rarely sharp) leading edge cross-section
- A sharp trailing edge cross-section
- Leading-edge devices such as slats, slots, or extensions
- Trailing-edge devices such as flaps
- Ailerons (usually near the wingtips) to provide roll control
- Spoilers on the upper surface to disrupt lift and additional roll control
- Vortex generators to help prevent flow separation
- Wing fences to keep flow attached to the wing
- Dihedral, or a positive wing angle to the horizontal. This gives inherent stability in roll. Anhedral, or a negative wing angle to the horizontal, has a destabilising effect
- Folding wings allow more aircarft to be carried in the confined space of the hangar of an aircraft carrier.

Wing types


- Swept wings are wings that are bent back at some angle, instead of sticking straight out from the fuselage.
- Forward-swept wings are high performance wings that are bent forward, the reverse of a traditional swept wing. Forward swept wings are also used in some two seat gliders.
- Elliptical wings (technically wings with an elliptical lift distribution) are theoretically optimum for efficiency at subsonic speeds.
- Delta wings have reasonable performance at subsonic and supersonic speeds and are good at high angles of attack.
- Waveriders are efficient supersonic wings that take advantage of shock waves.
- Rogallo wings are two hollow half-cones of fabric, one of the simplest wings to construct.
- Swing-wings (or variable geometry wings) are able to move in flight to give the benefits of dihedral and delta wing. Although they were originally proposed by German aerodynamicists during the 1940s, they are currently only found on some military aircraft such as the Grumman F-14, Panavia Tornado, General Dynamics F-111, B-1 Lancer, Tupolev Tu-160, MiG-23 and Sukhoi Su-24.
- Ring wings are optimally loaded closed lifting surfaces with higher aerodynamic efficiency than planar wings having the same aspect-ratios. Other non planar wing systems display an aerodynamic efficiency intermediate between ring wings and planar wings. Ring wing

Science of wings

The science behind how wings work can be complex and is one of the principal applications of the science of aerodynamics. However at the simplest level, both the upper and lower surfaces of a wing produces lift by deflecting air downward, which propels the flying body upward with an equal and opposite force (see Newton's Third Law). The air is deflected downwards because of Bernoulli's principle. This relates the pressure of air to its local velocity. If the velocity of the air changes as it flows around an object, such as a wing, the pressure of the air also changes. The shape and the angle of attack of the wing causes the air to flow faster above the wing than below, and so the pressure above the wing is less than below the wing. This pressure difference causes a force, called lift that acts at right angles to the air-flow. The science of wings applies in other areas beyond conventional fixed-wing aircraft, including:
- Helicopters which use a rotating wing with a variable pitch or angle to provide a directional force
- The space shuttle which uses its wings only for lift during its descent
- Formula One cars which use upside-down wings to give cars greater adhesion at high speeds
- Sailing boats which use sails as vertical wings with variable fullness and direction to move across water. Structures with the same purpose as wings, but designed to operate in liquid media, are generally called fins or hydroplanes, with hydrodynamics as the governing science. Applications arise in craft such as hydrofoils and submarines. Interestingly sailing boats use both fins and wings.

Evolution of wings in animals

Biologists believe that animal wings evolved at least four separate times, an example of convergent evolution. Insect wings are believed to have evolved about 300 million years ago, pterosaur wings about 225 million years ago, bird wings about 150 million years ago, and bat wings about 55 million years ago. Wings in these groups are analogous structures because they evolved independently rather than being passed from a common ancestor. See also flight.

External links


- [http://www.av8n.com/how/ An Excellent treatment of why and how wings generate lift]
- [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3875411 Demystifying the Science of Flight] - Audio segment on NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Friday
- [http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/short.html NASA's explanations and simulations]
- [http://aerodyn.org/Wings/ Advanced Topics in Aerodynamics] Wings for all speeds
- [http://www.nurseminerva.co.uk/adapt/evolutio.htm Evolution of flight] in animals
- [http://jef.raskincenter.org/published/coanda_effect.html Explanation invoking Coanda Effect] Category:Aerospace engineering Category:Aerodynamics Category:Aircraft components ja:翼

Ecology

Ecology, or ecological science, is the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of living organisms and how these properties are affected by interactions between the organisms and their environment. The environment of an organism includes both the physical properties, which can be described as the sum of local abiotic factors like climate and geology, as well as the other organisms that share its habitat. The term oekologie was coined in 1866 by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel; the word is derived from the Greek oikos ("household") and logos ("study")–therefore, "ecology" means the "study of the household of nature".

Scope

Ecology is usually considered a branch of biology, the general science that studies living organisms. Organisms can be studied at many different levels, from proteins and nucleic acids (in biochemistry and molecular biology), to cells (in cellular biology), to individuals (in botany, zoology, and other similar disciplines), and finally at the level of populations, communities, and ecosystems, to the biosphere as a whole; these latter strata are the primary subjects of ecological inquiries. Ecology is a multi-disciplinary science. Because of its focus on the higher levels of the organization of life on earth and on the interrelations between organisms and their environment, ecology draws heavily on many other branches of science, especially geology and geography, meteorology, pedology, chemistry, and physics. Thus, ecology is said to be a holistic science, one that over-arches older disciplines such as biology which in this view become sub-disciplines contributing to ecological knowledge. Agriculture, fisheries, forestry, medicine and urban development are among human activities that would fall within Krebbs' (1972: 4) explanation of his definition of ecology: "where organisms are found, how many occur there, and why". As a scientific discipline, ecology does not dictate what is "right" or "wrong". However, maintaining biodiversity and related ecological goals have provided a scientific basis for expressing the goals of environmentalism and have given scientific methodology, measure, and terminology to environmental issues. Additionally, a holistic view of nature is stressed in both ecology and environmentalism. Consider the ways an ecologist might approach studying the life of honeybees:
- the behavioral relationship between individuals of a species is behavorial ecology — for example, the study of the queen bee, and how she relates to the worker bees and the drones.
- The organized activity of a species is community ecology; for example, the activity of bees assures the pollination of flowering plants. Bee hives additionally produce honey which is consumed by still other species, such as bears.
- The relationship between the environment and a species is environmental ecology — for example, the consequences of environmental change on bee activity. Bees may die out due to environmental changes (see pollinator decline). The environment simultaneously affects and is a consequence of this activity and is thus intertwined with the survival of the species.

Disciplines of ecology

: Main article: Disciplines of ecology Ecology is a broad science which can be subdivided into major and minor sub-disciplines. The major sub-disciplines include (in a nested series from the smallest to the largest in scope):
- Physiological Ecology (or ecophysiology), which studies the influence of the biotic and abiotic environment on the physiology of the individual, and the adaptation of the individual to its environment;
- Behavioral ecology, which studies the ecological and evolutionary basis for animal behavior, and the roles of behavior in enabling animals to adapt to their ecological niches;
- Population ecology (or autecology), which deals with the dynamics of populations within species, and the interactions of these populations with environmental factors;
- Community ecology (or synecology) which studies the interactions between species within an ecological community;
- Ecosystem ecology, which studies the flows of energy and matter through ecosystems;
- Landscape ecology, which studies the interactions between discrete elements of a landscape;
- Global ecology, which looks at ecological questions at the global level, often asking macroecological questions. Ecology can also be sub-divided on the basis of target groups:
- Animal ecology, plant ecology, insect ecology; Ecology can also be sub-divided from the perspective of the studied biomes:
- Arctic ecology (or polar ecology), tropical ecology, desert ecology (temperate zone ecology could also exist as a distinct sub-field, but ecology as a whole has an overwhelmingly temperate bias, so the sub-field is redundant). Spanning all of the above is:
- Evolutionary ecology.

History of ecology

: Main article: History of ecology

Fundamental principles of ecology

Biosphere and biodiversity

Main articles: Biosphere, Biodiversity, Unified neutral theory of biodiversity For modern ecologists, ecology can be studied at several levels: population level (individuals of the same species), biocoenosis level (or community of species), ecosystem level, and biosphere level. The outer layer of the planet Earth can be divided into several compartments: the hydrosphere (or sphere of water), the lithosphere (or sphere of soils and rocks), and the atmosphere (or sphere of the air). The biosphere (or sphere of life), sometimes described as "the fourth envelope", is all living matter on the planet or that portion of the planet occupied by life. It reaches well into the other three spheres, although there are no permanent inhabitants of the atmosphere. Relative to the volume of the Earth, the biosphere is only the very thin surface layer which extends from 11,000 meters below sea level to 15,000 meters above. It is thought that life first developed in the hydrosphere, at shallow depths, in the photic zone. Multicellular organisms then appeared and colonized benthic zones. Terrestrial life developed later, after the ozone layer protecting living beings from UV rays formed. Diversification of terrestrial species is thought to be increased by the continents drifting apart, or alternately, colliding. Biodiversity is expressed at the ecological level (ecosystem), population level (intraspecific diversity), species level (specific diversity), and genetic level. Recently technology has allowed the discovery of the deep ocean vent communities. This remarkable ecological system is not dependant on sunlight but bacteria, utilising the chemistry of the hot volcanic vents, are at the base of its food chain. The biosphere contains great quantities of elements such as carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. Other elements, such as phosphorus, calcium, and potassium, are also essential to life, yet are present in smaller amounts. At the ecosystem and biosphere levels, there is a continual recycling of all these elements, which alternate between the mineral and organic states. While there is a slight input of geothermal energy, the bulk of the functioning of the ecosystem is based on the input of solar energy. Plants and photosynthetic microorganisms convert light into chemical energy by the process of photosynthesis, which creates glucose (a simple sugar) and releases free oxygen. Glucose thus becomes the secondary energy source which drives the ecosystem. Some of this glucose is used directly by other organisms for energy. Other sugar molecules can be converted to other molecules such as amino acids. Plants use some of this sugar, concentrated in nectar to entice pollinators to aid them in reproduction. Cellular respiration is the process by which organisms (like mammals) break the glucose back down into its constituents, water and carbon dioxide, thus regaining the stored energy the sun originally gave to the plants. The proportion of photosynthetic activity of plants and other photosynthesizers to the respiration of other organisms determines the specific composition of the Earth's atmosphere, particularly its oxygen level. Global air currents mix the atmosphere and maintain nearly the same balance of elements in areas of intense biological activity and areas of slight biological activity. Water is also exchanged between the hydrosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere and biosphere in regular cycles. The oceans are large tanks, which store water, ensure thermal and climatic stability, as well as the transport of chemical elements thanks to large oceanic currents. For a better understanding of how the biosphere works, and various dysfunctions related to human activity, American scientists simulated the biosphere in a small-scale model, called Biosphere II.

The ecosystem concept

: Main article: Ecosystem The first principle of ecology is that each living organism has an ongoing and continual relationship with every other element that makes up its environment. An ecosystem can be defined as any situation where there is interaction between organisms and their environment. The ecosystem is composed of two entities, the entirety of life (called the biocoenosis) and the medium that life exists in (the biotope). Within the ecosystem, species are connected and dependent upon one another in the food chain, and exchange energy and matter between themselves and with their environment. The concept of an ecosystem can apply to units of variable size, such as a pond, a field, or a piece of deadwood. A unit of smaller size is called a microecosystem. For example, an ecosystem can be a stone and all the life under it. A mesoecosystem could be a forest, and