Ducks, Rails, and Limicoline Waders (Aves: Anseriformes, Gruiformes, Charadriiformes) from the Lowermost Oligocene of Belgium
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Quantifying Crop Damage by Grey Crowned Crane Balearica
QUANTIFYING CROP DAMAGE BY GREY CROWNED CRANE BALEARICA REGULORUM REGULORUM AND EVALUATING CHANGES IN CRANE DISTRIBUTION IN THE NORTH EASTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA. By MARK HARRY VAN NIEKERK Department of the Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE December 2010 Supervisor: Prof. Adrian Craig i TABLE OF CONTENTS List of tables…………………………………………………………………………iv List of figures ………………………………………………………………………...v Abstract………………………………………………………………………………vii I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 1 Species account......................................................................................... 3 Habits and diet ........................................................................................... 5 Use of agricultural lands by cranes ............................................................ 6 Crop damage by cranes ............................................................................. 7 Evaluating changes in distribution and abundance of Grey Crowned Crane………………………………………………………..9 Objectives of the study………………………………………………………...12 II. STUDY AREA…………………………………………………………………...13 Locality .................................................................................................... 13 Climate ..................................................................................................... 15 Geology and soils ................................................................................... -
Current Perspectives on the Evolution of Birds
Contributions to Zoology, 77 (2) 109-116 (2008) Current perspectives on the evolution of birds Per G.P. Ericson Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 50007, SE-10405 Stockholm, Sweden, [email protected] Key words: Aves, phylogeny, systematics, fossils, DNA, genetics, biogeography Contents (cf. Göhlich and Chiappe, 2006), making feathers a plesiomorphy in birds. Indeed, only three synapo- Systematic relationships ........................................................ 109 morphies have been proposed for Aves (Chiappe, Genome characteristics ......................................................... 111 2002), although monophyly is never seriously ques- A comparison with previous classifications ...................... 112 Character evolution ............................................................... 113 tioned: 1) the caudal margin of naris nearly reaching Evolutionary trends ............................................................... 113 or overlapping the rostral border of the antorbital Biogeography and biodiversity ............................................ 113 fossa (in the primitive condition the caudal margin Differentiation and speciation ............................................. 114 of naris is farther rostral than the rostral border of Acknowledgements ................................................................ 115 the antorbital fossa), 2) scapula with a prominent References ................................................................................ 115 acromion, -
A Preliminary Reassessment of Philippine Species-Level Bird Taxonomy
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by KU ScholarWorks Bird Conservation International (2006) 16:155–173. BirdLife International 2006 doi:10.1017/S0959270906000256 Printed in the United Kingdom Taxonomy is important in conservation: a preliminary reassessment of Philippine species-level bird taxonomy A. TOWNSEND PETERSON SummarySummarySummary Alpha taxonomy involves delineation of the basic unit of biology: the species. The concepts by which we define species, however, have been controversial, with several alternatives competing at present, some creating fewer and some more species units, depending on interpretation of species limits. Although it is tempting to assume that species concepts would have little inter- action with the geographic foci of species richness and endemism — and some have so argued — this assumption does not withstand careful analysis. In this paper, I develop a first-pass assessment of Philippine bird taxonomy under an alternative species concept, and compare the results with the traditional biological species concept lists. Differences between the two lists were dramatic, but not just in numbers of species; rather, new, previously unrecognized or previously underappreciated foci of endemism were noted. A thorough understanding of the taxonomic basis of species lists is therefore critical to conservation planning. Introduction Recent taxonomic studies have pointed out conservation implications of their results for several parts of the world (Boon et al. 2000; Lovette et al. 1999; Ortíz-Pulido et al. 2002): new viewpoints on species limits led to new priorities for conservation action, mainly via recognition of ‘new’ (although not necessarily undescribed) species-level taxa. -
02 Whole.Pdf
Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without the permission of the Author. The influence of space and time on the genetic architecture of rail species (Aves: Rallidae) A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Evolutionary Ecology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand JUAN CARLOS GARCIA RAMIREZ 2014 Abstract The main subject of this PhD research is the study of the underlying processes of evolutionary changes that lead to biological diversity. Such processes include those operating within and between populations (population divergence), as well as those operating among species (speciation), above the species level (e.g. genera and families) and the mechanisms that promote these divisions. Fundamental to these processes are the effects of genetic, demographic, geographical, ecological, behavioural and environmental factors on diversification. Rails (Aves: Rallidae) are used as an example to address central questions related to how these biological entities originated, when was that biological diversity generated, and why this biodiversity is distributed as it is. This thesis has been divided into four main chapters/papers for convenience to achieve this aim. In the first chapter, complete mitochondrial genomes and fossil data are used to provide a likely estimated time of rail ecology. I estimated that the origin and diversification of crown group Rallidae was during the Eocene about 40.5 (49–33) Mya with evidence of intrafamiliar diversification from Late Eocene to Miocene time. -
Disaggregation of Bird Families Listed on Cms Appendix Ii
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals 2nd Meeting of the Sessional Committee of the CMS Scientific Council (ScC-SC2) Bonn, Germany, 10 – 14 July 2017 UNEP/CMS/ScC-SC2/Inf.3 DISAGGREGATION OF BIRD FAMILIES LISTED ON CMS APPENDIX II (Prepared by the Appointed Councillors for Birds) Summary: The first meeting of the Sessional Committee of the Scientific Council identified the adoption of a new standard reference for avian taxonomy as an opportunity to disaggregate the higher-level taxa listed on Appendix II and to identify those that are considered to be migratory species and that have an unfavourable conservation status. The current paper presents an initial analysis of the higher-level disaggregation using the Handbook of the Birds of the World/BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World Volumes 1 and 2 taxonomy, and identifies the challenges in completing the analysis to identify all of the migratory species and the corresponding Range States. The document has been prepared by the COP Appointed Scientific Councilors for Birds. This is a supplementary paper to COP document UNEP/CMS/COP12/Doc.25.3 on Taxonomy and Nomenclature UNEP/CMS/ScC-Sc2/Inf.3 DISAGGREGATION OF BIRD FAMILIES LISTED ON CMS APPENDIX II 1. Through Resolution 11.19, the Conference of Parties adopted as the standard reference for bird taxonomy and nomenclature for Non-Passerine species the Handbook of the Birds of the World/BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World, Volume 1: Non-Passerines, by Josep del Hoyo and Nigel J. Collar (2014); 2. -
Insular Vertebrate Evolution: the Palaeontological Approach': Monografies De La Societat D'història Natural De Les Balears, Lz: Z05-118
19 DESCRIPTION OF THE SKULL OF THE GENUS SYLVIORNIS POPLIN, 1980 (AVES, GALLIFORMES, SYLVIORNITHIDAE NEW FAMILY), A GIANT EXTINCT BIRD FROM THE HOLOCENE OF NEW CALEDONIA Cécile MOURER-CHAUVIRÉ & Jean Christophe BALOUET MOUREH-CHAUVIRÉ, C. & BALOUET, l.C, zoos. Description of the skull of the genus Syluiornis Poplin, 1980 (Aves, Galliformes, Sylviornithidae new family), a giant extinct bird from the Holocene of New Caledonia. In ALCOVER, J.A. & BaVER, P. (eds.): Proceedings of the International Symposium "Insular Vertebrate Evolution: the Palaeontological Approach': Monografies de la Societat d'Història Natural de les Balears, lZ: Z05-118. Resum El crani de Sylviornismostra una articulació craniarostral completament mòbil, amb dos còndils articulars situats sobre el rostrum, el qual s'insereix al crani en dues superfícies articulars allargades. La presència de dos procesos rostropterigoideus sobre el basisfenoide del rostrum i la forma dels palatins permet confirmar que aquest gènere pertany als Galliformes, però les característiques altament derivades del crani justifiquen el seu emplaçament a una nova família, extingida, Sylviornithidae. El crani de Syluiornis està extremadament eixamplat i dorsoventralment aplanat, mentre que el rostrum és massís, lateralment comprimit, dorsoventralment aixecat i mostra unes cristae tomiales molt fondes. El rostrum exhibeix un ornament ossi gran. La mandíbula mostra una símfisi molt allargada, les branques laterals també presenten unes cristae tomiales fondes, i la part posterior de la mandíbula és molt gruixada. Es discuteix el possible origen i l'alimentació de Syluiornis. Paraules clau: Aves, Galliformes, Extinció, Holocè, Nova Caledònia. Abstract The skull of Syluiornis shows a completely mobile craniorostral articulation, with two articular condyles situated on the rostrum, which insert into two elongated articular surfaces on the cranium. -
A Classification of the Rallidae
A CLASSIFICATION OF THE RALLIDAE STARRY L. OLSON HE family Rallidae, containing over 150 living or recently extinct species T and having one of the widest distributions of any family of terrestrial vertebrates, has, in proportion to its size and interest, received less study than perhaps any other major group of birds. The only two attempts at a classifi- cation of all of the recent rallid genera are those of Sharpe (1894) and Peters (1934). Although each of these lists has some merit, neither is satisfactory in reflecting relationships between the genera and both often separate closely related groups. In the past, no attempt has been made to identify the more primitive members of the Rallidae or to illuminate evolutionary trends in the family. Lists almost invariably begin with the genus Rdus which is actually one of the most specialized genera of the family and does not represent an ancestral or primitive stock. One of the difficulties of rallid taxonomy arises from the relative homo- geneity of the family, rails for the most part being rather generalized birds with few groups having morphological modifications that clearly define them. As a consequence, particularly well-marked genera have been elevated to subfamily rank on the basis of characters that in more diverse families would not be considered as significant. Another weakness of former classifications of the family arose from what Mayr (194933) referred to as the “instability of the morphology of rails.” This “instability of morphology,” while seeming to belie what I have just said about homogeneity, refers only to the characteristics associated with flightlessness-a condition that appears with great regularity in island rails and which has evolved many times. -
Breeding Birds of the Texas Coast
Roseate Spoonbill • L 32”• Uncom- Why Birds are Important of the mon, declining • Unmistakable pale Breeding Birds Texas Coast pink wading bird with a long bill end- • Bird abundance is an important indicator of the ing in flat “spoon”• Nests on islands health of coastal ecosystems in vegetation • Wades slowly through American White Pelican • L 62” Reddish Egret • L 30”• Threatened in water, sweeping touch-sensitive bill •Common, increasing • Large, white • Revenue generated by hunting, photography, and Texas, decreasing • Dark morph has slate- side to side in search of prey birdwatching helps support the coastal economy in bird with black flight feathers and gray body with reddish breast, neck, and Chuck Tague bright yellow bill and pouch • Nests Texas head; white morph completely white – both in groups on islands with sparse have pink bill with Black-bellied Whistling-Duck vegetation • Preys on small fish in black tip; shaggy- • L 21”• Lo- groups looking plumage cally common, increasing • Goose-like duck Threats to Island-Nesting Bay Birds Chuck Tague with long neck and pink legs, pinkish-red bill, Greg Lavaty • Nests in mixed- species colonies in low vegetation or on black belly, and white eye-ring • Nests in tree • Habitat loss from erosion and wetland degradation cavities • Occasionally nests in mesquite and Brown Pelican • L 51”• Endangered in ground • Uses quick, erratic movements to • Predators such as raccoons, feral hogs, and stir up prey Chuck Tague other woody vegetation on bay islands Texas, but common and increasing • Large -
Bird Checklists of the World Country Or Region: Ghana
Avibase Page 1of 24 Col Location Date Start time Duration Distance Avibase - Bird Checklists of the World 1 Country or region: Ghana 2 Number of species: 773 3 Number of endemics: 0 4 Number of breeding endemics: 0 5 Number of globally threatened species: 26 6 Number of extinct species: 0 7 Number of introduced species: 1 8 Date last reviewed: 2019-11-10 9 10 Recommended citation: Lepage, D. 2021. Checklist of the birds of Ghana. Avibase, the world bird database. Retrieved from .https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/checklist.jsp?lang=EN®ion=gh [26/09/2021]. Make your observations count! Submit your data to ebird. -
Onetouch 4.0 Scanned Documents
/ Chapter 2 THE FOSSIL RECORD OF BIRDS Storrs L. Olson Department of Vertebrate Zoology National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC. I. Introduction 80 II. Archaeopteryx 85 III. Early Cretaceous Birds 87 IV. Hesperornithiformes 89 V. Ichthyornithiformes 91 VI. Other Mesozojc Birds 92 VII. Paleognathous Birds 96 A. The Problem of the Origins of Paleognathous Birds 96 B. The Fossil Record of Paleognathous Birds 104 VIII. The "Basal" Land Bird Assemblage 107 A. Opisthocomidae 109 B. Musophagidae 109 C. Cuculidae HO D. Falconidae HI E. Sagittariidae 112 F. Accipitridae 112 G. Pandionidae 114 H. Galliformes 114 1. Family Incertae Sedis Turnicidae 119 J. Columbiformes 119 K. Psittaciforines 120 L. Family Incertae Sedis Zygodactylidae 121 IX. The "Higher" Land Bird Assemblage 122 A. Coliiformes 124 B. Coraciiformes (Including Trogonidae and Galbulae) 124 C. Strigiformes 129 D. Caprimulgiformes 132 E. Apodiformes 134 F. Family Incertae Sedis Trochilidae 135 G. Order Incertae Sedis Bucerotiformes (Including Upupae) 136 H. Piciformes 138 I. Passeriformes 139 X. The Water Bird Assemblage 141 A. Gruiformes 142 B. Family Incertae Sedis Ardeidae 165 79 Avian Biology, Vol. Vlll ISBN 0-12-249408-3 80 STORES L. OLSON C. Family Incertae Sedis Podicipedidae 168 D. Charadriiformes 169 E. Anseriformes 186 F. Ciconiiformes 188 G. Pelecaniformes 192 H. Procellariiformes 208 I. Gaviiformes 212 J. Sphenisciformes 217 XI. Conclusion 217 References 218 I. Introduction Avian paleontology has long been a poor stepsister to its mammalian counterpart, a fact that may be attributed in some measure to an insufRcien- cy of qualified workers and to the absence in birds of heterodont teeth, on which the greater proportion of the fossil record of mammals is founded. -
Trip 17-Apr 18-Apr Havana Las Terrazas ANSERIFORMES: Anatidae Fulvous Whistling-Duck X Wood Duck X Blue-Winged Teal X Northern Pintail X Red-Breasted Merganser X
trip 17-Apr 18-Apr Havana Las Terrazas ANSERIFORMES: Anatidae Fulvous Whistling-Duck X Wood Duck X Blue-winged Teal X Northern Pintail X Red-breasted Merganser X PHOENICOPTERIFORMES: Phoenicopteridae American Flamingo X PODICIPEDIFORMES Least Grebe X SULIFORMES: Fregatidae Magnificent Frigatebird X SULIFORMES: Sulidae Brown Booby X SULIFORMES: Phalacrocoracidae Neotropic Cormorant X Double-crested Cormorant X SULIFORMES: Anhingidae Anhinga X PELECANIFORMES: Pelecanidae Brown Pelican X X X American White Pelican X PELECANIFORMES: Ardeidae Great Blue Heron X Great Egret X X Snowy Egret X X Little Blue Heron X X Tricolored Heron X Reddish Egret X Cattle Egret X X Green Heron X X Yellow-crowned Night-Heron X PELECANIFORMES: Threskiornithidae White Ibis X Glossy Ibis X Roseate Spoonbill X CATHARTIFORMES: Cathartidae Turkey Vulture X X X ACCIPITRIFORMES: Pandionidae Osprey X ACCIPITRIFORMES: Accipitridae Snail Kite X X Cuban Black Hawk X Red-tailed Hawk X X GRUIFORMES: Rallidae Common Gallinule X X CHARADRIIFORMES: Recurvirostridae Black-necked Stilt X American Avocet X CHARADRIIFORMES: Charadriidae Black-bellied Plover X Killdeer X CHARADRIIFORMES: Scolopacidae Ruddy Turnstone Stilt Sandpiper X Sanderling X Semipalmated Sandpiper X Short-billed Dowitcher X Spotted Sandpiper X X Solitary Sandpiper X Greater Yellowlegs X Lesser Yellowlegs X CHARADRIIFORMES: Laridae Laughing Gull X X Herring Gull X Least Tern X Royal Tern X X X Sandwich Tern X Black Skimmer X CHARADRIIFORMES: Stercocariidae Pomarine Jaeger X COLUMBIFORMES: Columbidae Rock Pigeon -
Avian Premaxilla and Tarsometatarsus from The
762 ShortCommunications andCommentaries [Auk,Vol. 112 The Auk 112(3):762-767, 1995 Avian Premaxilla and Tarsometatarsusfrom the Uppermost Cretaceous of Montana ANDRZEJ ELZANOWSKIa AND MICHAEL K. BRETT-$URMAN2 •Departmentof VertebrateZoology, National Museum of NaturalHistory, SmithsonianInstitution, Washington, D.C. 20560, USA; and 2Departmentof Geology,George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 20052,USA Despitea variety of fragmentary,apparently neog- is rounded and smooth,and the sidesare very steep. nathousavian fossilsknown from the uppermostCre- The largest among the neurovascularforamina scat- taceousdeposits (Brodkorb 1963, Olson 1985, Olson tered on each side are two elongatedorsal foramina: and Parris 1987),we still lack even an approximate the vessel from the rostral one coursed rostrad, whereas idea of how many neognathouslineages survived be- the vesselfrom the caudalone apparentlybifurcated yond the Cretaceous/Tertiaryboundary. Most of the into a smaller rostral and a larger caudal branch. In Maastrichtian avian bones reveal a charadriiform or addition, a number of smaller openingsperforates transitional charadriiform-gruiform morphology, eachside of the symphysis. which may be plesiomorphicfor most (Olson 1985) The ventral surfaceof the premaxillarysymphysis but probably not all of the neognaths(Elzanowski is strongly concave(Fig. lc, d). There are no distinct 1995). Other than that, there is some fossil evidence neurovascularforamina on the ventral (palatal) sur- for the existence of loons in the Cretaceous(Olson face,with the possibleexception of one small opening 1992)and mostly indirect evidencefor the pre-Ter- on the left side. The palatal shelvesof the premaxilla tiary origins of the relict pelecaniforms(Phaethon- begin from the symphysialtip and graduallybroaden tidae and Fregatidae) and procellariiforms (Elza- caudally where each of them occupiesone-third of nowski and Gaiton 1991).