...Brenda Greer 05/11/2011 Biology Concepts John Distefano The Texas horned lizard, known by most people as a horny toad has been on the Texas endangered species list since 1967. The Texas horned lizard has a spiky body, which gives them their name horned lizard or horny toad. The horny toad can be found in Texas, Georgia, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, the Carolinas, and Mexico. The Texas horny toad is the largest and most widely distributed of the 14 species of horned lizards in the western United States and Mexico. These unique looking creatures have a flat body and are fierce looking. The head of a horny toad has numerous horns; the two central head spines are much longer than the other horns. Most of the Texas horned lizards have a light line that extends from its head down the middle of its back. The Texas horned lizard is the only species that has dark brown stripes that radiate down from their eyes across the top of their head. The horny toad can be found in aired regions as well as semiarid habitats that have at least some loose soil for burrowing. They are usually found in sandy soil with a limited amount of vegetation. They can also be found in areas with gravely soil as well. The Texas horned toad hibernates from September or October to around late April or May. While the horny toad hibernates they slow their metabolism down so they can go for long periods of time with no food or water. Their mating usually occurs soon after hibernation. After the female...
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...the temperatures can change drastically, during the day temperatures can be as hot as 32 degrees Celsius, but at night temperatures can drop as low as -4 degrees Celsius because when the sun goes down there is no moisture in the air to trap the heat so it escapes into space creating cool temperatures. The organisms that can be found in this ecosystem are the following: Organisms in Ecosystem Cactus Wren | Desert Lark | Fat Sand Rat | Gila Monster | Great Jerboa | Horned Lizard | Rattlesnakes | Roadrunner | Thorny Devil | Camel | Lappet Faced Vulture | Sidewinder | Fennec Fox | Great Mouse Tailed Bat | Addax | There is not much benefit of this biodiversity within this ecosystem. The extremely hot temperatures and the very little rainfall makes it hard for trees to grow. Because there is limited water the few animals that live in this ecosystem have adaptations that help them survive. Major organisms in Ecosystem (P) Producers | (C) Consumers | (D) Decomposers | Cactus | Horned Lizard | Earthworms | Desert Shrubs | Great Mouse Tailed Bat | Millipedes | Soap tree Yucca | Desert Tortoises | Bacteria | Jumping Cholla | Water-holding frog | Fungi | There are three major categories of all living organisms’ producers, consumers and decomposers. Producers, also called autotrophs, in an ecosystem consist of mostly plants and some bacteria and algae that use photosynthesis to catch energy by sunlight, carbon dioxide, water to create carbohydrates. Consumers...
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...Quetzalcoatlus is one of the larger pterosaurs and could even be one the largest flying animals although, there is uncertainty as to whether it was able to fly. The diet of the giant pterosaur is not understood but there is evidence showing that they were terrestrial foragers living in a stork-like ecology. The fossil remains of Quetzalcoatlus were first discovered in Texas, USA in the Upper Cretaceous Javelina Formation sediments consisting of fluvial and lacustrine mudstones and sandstones typically interpreted as fluvial overbank flood-plain deposits (Lehman et al, 2006). A new genus and species – Quetzalcoatlus northropi had an approximate wingspan of up to 11 metres and a mass of about 180 – 250 kg based on predictions and estimates made from available datasets and three-dimensional modelling (Witton et al, 2010). Smaller remains were later discovered in Texas resembling the Quetzalcoatlus northropi and were thought to be its juveniles, it later received unofficial species recognition and has been temporarily referred to as Quetzalcoatlus sp. (Kellner et al, 1996). The Quetzalcoatlus sp. had an approximate wing span of 5 metres (Witton et al, 2010). Skull remains of the latter ‘species’ show that Quetzalcoatlus had a sharp triangular beak (Kellner et al, 1996). Quetzalcoatlus had an elongated neck thought to have been used to probe into carcasses as scavenger do and they were also thought to have a piscivorous diet living in a stork-like ecology due to its strong hind limbs...
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...thank the officials of Perambikulam Forest Division, Kerala for permission and for providing the necessary facilities during collection of teak samples. We are grateful to IMD, New Delhi for providing the meteorological data. Generation of MVA data through image analysis was done in the laboratory of the Wood Biology, Department of Wood Science, University of Hamburg, Germany through funding under the INSA/DFG Scientist Exchange Programme. We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their critical reviews of this paper. Received 30 October 2006; revised accepted 8 August 2007 Ethogram of courtship and mating behaviour of garden lizard, Calotes versicolor Bhagyarekha N. Pandav, Bhagyashri A. Shanbhag* and Srinivas K. Saidapur Department of Zoology, Karnatak University, Dharwad 580 003, India An ethogram of courtship and mating in the garden lizard, Calotes versicolor was prepared by recording these behaviours in outdoor terraria. Courtship behaviour was recorded by video camera and handwritten notes of direct observations in nine encounters. A behaviour inventory defining 25 distinctive postures/ gestures, orientations and simple movements is presented, and these units are grouped into...
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...The Ecology of Chameleons The chameleon is 1 of the rare organisms that evolved to change its skin color in order to survive, with the ability to hunt from over 11/2 times its body length away. The chameleon is forced to interact with many organisms to survive. All these interactions have formed interspecific relationships with these organisms. Although the chameleon is not limited to one ecosystem, it has different species that have evolved to be in several ecosystems. Because the chameleon has these different branches of the chameleon family over the world, it is unlikely that the chameleon will go extinct any time soon, unless the rapid destruction of their habitats starts to increase. In other words, the chameleon family is a healthy species of reptile that will be able to thrive as long as the environment. A chameleon interacts with all kinds of organisms. It will eat almost any bug that will fit in it’s mouth or get caught by its bullet-like tongue. This is predation where the dominant organisms will take advantage of its prey and hunt it and eat it. This is a (-,+)situation where the prey obviously suffers from dying and being eaten while the predator thrives and survives. Although, the chameleon is not the dominant species. It is hunted by monkeys and other larger omnivores/herbivores. This puts it on the negative side of the predatory relationship. The chameleon helps keep bug species in check while being put in check by other organisms. A couple of the 180 species are...
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...Lizard Physiology Derrick Keyser BIO/101 March 17, 2014 Brian Fox Lizard Physiology Lizards once ruled the earth as massive beasts, but over the course of time, evolution has changed them to be much smaller than they once were. While these creatures have been around for millions of years, they’ve had to change to become better suited for the environments that they currently inhabit. The lizards that I am the most familiar with are now living in developed areas, such as rural neighborhoods and urban sprawls. While walking around my house or place of work, I often see the little green Anole lizards scurrying about. These little guys are small because they are naturally inclined to hide from danger. If I move slowly enough, I can catch them out on the sidewalks or the sides of trees sunning themselves. But if I get too near, they hurry away to the nearest hiding spot; under a bush, into a hole in a brick wall, whatever happens to be nearby. If these creatures haven’t evolved to become smaller, they wouldn’t be able to fit where they can now. According to the website published by Joanides (2011) there are upwards of 3000 different types of lizards, each varying in color, size, and location. Many of these lizards primarily eat insects, which helps to keep the insect population under control. Since insects are available virtually everywhere, I can imagine that the Anole lizards in Florida have plenty to eat, even in the urban areas. The majority of lizards are found in tropical...
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...Evolutionary Diversification of Caribbean Anolis Lizards. In: Adaptive Speciation, eds. Dieckmann U, Doebeli M, Metz JAJ & Tautz D, pp. 322–344. Cambridge University Press 2004. c International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis Please cite as: J.B. Losos and R.S. Thorpe. Introduction. Pp. 322-324 in Adaptive Speciation, reference above 16 Evolutionary Diversification of Caribbean Anolis Lizards 16.1 Introduction Jonathan B. Losos and Roger S. Thorpe The diversification of the lizard genus Anolis on Caribbean islands surely represents one of the best-studied cases of adaptive radiation in evolutionary biology. Over the course of the past four decades, researchers have studied almost every aspect of anole evolutionary ecology. These include systematics; community, physiological, and behavioral ecology; functional morphology; ethology; and demography. Studies have been conducted in the laboratory and in the field, and have included basic natural history, geographic and temporal comparisons of populations, and a wide variety of experimental approaches to the study of phenotypic plasticity, ethology, ecology, and evolution [recent reviews include Losos (1994) and Roughgarden (1995)]. The result is an unusually broad and detailed understanding of the factors that promote and sustain evolutionary diversification and species coexistence. Speciation and adaptation in anoles Two conclusions from the current body of work are obvious. First, the genus Anolis has experienced extensive speciation...
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...Jurassic Park Michael Crichton Copyright Michael Crichton (c) 1991 All Rights Reserved The right of Michael Crichton to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published in Great Britain in 1991 by the Random Century Group 20 Vauxhall Bridge Rd, London SWIV 2SA Century Hutchinson South Africa (Pty) Ltd PO Box 337, Bergvlei 2012 South Africa Random Century Australia Pty Ltd 20 Alfred St, Milsons Point, Sydney, NSW 2061 Australia Random Century New Zealand Ltd PO Box 40-086, Glenfield, Auckland 10 New Zealand A CIP Catalogue Record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 0 7126 4686 8 Printed in England by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc For A-M and T "Reptiles are abhorrent because of their cold body, pale color, cartilaginous skeleton, filthy skin, fierce aspect, calculating eye, offensive smell, harsh voice, squalid habitation, and terrible venom; wherefore their Creator has not exerted his powers to make many of them." LINNAEUS, 1797 "You cannot recall a new form of life." ERWIN CHARGAFF, 1972 Introduction "The InGen Incident" The late twentieth century has witnessed a scientific gold rush of astonishing proportions: the headlong and furious haste to commercialize genetic engineering. This enterprise has proceeded so rapidly-with so little outside commentary-that its dimensions and implications are hardly understood at all. Biotechnology promises the...
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...Komodo Dragons Research Paper The komodo dragon is one of the largest lizard species, also known as the Monitor Lizard. The lizard has a prototype of a dragon body and a venomous bite as a snake. Komodo Dragons are amazing animals, with interesting characteristics, limited habitats, and few predators. According to the article” Komodo Dragon” the komodo dragon is an enormous reptile that can grow up to three meters long and weigh 150kg ( Komodo Dragon). The komodo dragon is a heavy reptile that very muscular with a long thick head and neck. There skin colour is a grayish- brown cover in small rough scales that looks beaded . It already come equipped with razor-sharp claws, lighting reflexes, and teeth notched like streak knives (“Komodo Dragon has Poisonous Bite?”). Komodo Dragons have relatively small heads compared to their large body size and wide, powerful jaws that conceal a mouth that is fulled with deadly bacteria. Although the komodo dragon has good eyesight, the majority of it’s surroundings are sensed to smell which the komodo dragon does with it long and deeply forked tough(“ Komodo Dragon”). So where exactly does these Monitor Lizards live? Although the komodo dragon would have once been widespread across many of the Indonesian islands, they are today confined to just five which all lie in the Komodo National Park(“ Komodo Dragon”). Most of theses lizards are inhabit in these islands named Flores, Rinca, Gillimontang, Padar, Rintia, and...
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...Friend or Foe, The Lizards of the Mohave Desert. Ronald R. Espenschied COM/156 November 3, 2013 Bobbie Sepulveda Friend or Foe, The Lizards of the Mohave Desert. If you ever find yourself in Southern Arizona or Southern California it would be well worth your time to take a hike through the beautiful Mojave Desert. For what some consider to be a harsh dry climate the abundance of different types of animal life is truly amazing. Of the different types of animal life the lizard population is one the most diverse with over fifty different lizards from eight different species (Brennan, 2008). Unlike other inhabitants of this area, most of the different lizards that you could come across are completely harmless even though they may look like they are not. However, there is danger so when in the Mojave Desert it is important to know which variety of lizard is venomous, how to tell the difference, and what you should do if you encounter one. The Mojave Desert is home to a diverse population of lizards with 56 different lizards from eight different species (Brennan, 2008). Each different lizard varies in both its appearance and its size; this is an important thing to know when trying to identify them. While most are tan or gray to blend into their environment there are some that display vibrant blue, green, yellow, and red colors and are quite beautiful. Although a person might think that these colors would suggest that they are venomous they are not harmful...
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...and then demonizing anything that didn't fit or they wanted to do away with. Samhain was one of those festivals that the Church would have done away with for the people revered this holiday a great deal. The time of Halloween, or Samhain, in an effort to eradicate these beliefs and practices, was depicted as a demonic evil time filled with horror with October 31 being the night of great dissonance and mischief. In actuality, Samhain is the third and last of the harvest festivals. It was a time in which farmers brought their herds down from the summer pastures and thinned out the animals that would not survive the harsh winter ahead. It was a time in which the Goddess in her dark aspect or Crone aspect was revered and the death of the Horned God was mourned and commemorated; thus the association of this sabbat with black and death....
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...over 20 feet. (Indian Python) Their weight may exceed 200 pounds. Most owners begin feeding their juvenile pythons mice, but a snake grows quickly and graduates to rabbits, chickens and eventually pigs. A full grown python requires a cage of at least 8 feet in length. Because a Burmese python has a life expectancy of over 20 years, the potential buyer must carefully evaluate the long term commitment required with this purchase. Another well know pet to predator is the Nile monitor lizard. These lizards average 4 to 6 feet in length, but can soon grow to 7 feet. They are a carnivorous lizard that as a juvenile begins eating crickets, then graduates to gold fish and later to rats and other small animals. When full grown, monitor lizards like the Burmese python, need an enclosure of at least 8 feet, however, it is recommended that they have their own room. Because they are water lizards, an owner should also provide a monitor lizard with a small swimming pool. The Nile monitor lizard can live 10 to 15 years. Again, a potential buyer must evaluate the long term responsibilities associated with this purchase. There are numerous types of reptiles released into neighborhoods and parks every...
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...males and females Diet Primary diet and quantity Hunting Diurnal, not nocturnal Area of hunting ground Decline of food source Breeding Mates for life Protection of nesting area Normal clutch size Food availability effects on clutch size Migration How far do they travel for food? A population decline or local extinction The snowy owl is a larger raptor type carnivorous bird whose body height is between 20 and 28 inches high. The wingspan of this owl reaches 4.2 to 4.8 feet across and its weight is between 3.5 to 6.5 pounds (“Snowy Owls”, 2012). The genus of this bird has recently been changed from Nyetea Scandiata to Bubo Scandiacus from analyzing their DNA they have found that they are more closely related to the Great Horned Owl which makes them a Bubo ("Snowy Owl," n.d.). The snowy owl is also known by other names such as the Arctic owl or the Great White owl. Most people know the snowy owl from the Harry Potter movies and the character Hedwig. Many snowy owls look this way. The younger owls are white with darker markings and as they age they lose the dark markings and become almost completely white. Females, on the other hand, do not lose all their dark markings. They may become whiter as they age, but still retain some darker or grayish marks on their plumage (“Snowy Owls”, 2012). They have golden colored eyes, their feet have talons and are covered in feathers, and they have short dark colored bills which are very sharp and strong. Their diet consists...
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...Abstract After reading the “Mr. Edens Profits from Watching His Workers Every Move” case study in our Contemporary Management textbook, our class was assigned to determine if Mr. Edens’ behavior was ethical and acceptable or unethical and unacceptable. Secondly, we needed to provide the rationale for our answers and provide examples. Mr. Edens has created a highly controlled workplace with close manager supervision and surveillance. Even though I don’t agree with this environment, I think Mr. Edens’ behavior has been ethical and acceptable. Lockbox Processing: No Place to Hide Mr. Edens’ company, Electronic Banking System Inc., specializes in “lockbox processing.” Due to the sensitive nature of this financial service, Mr. Edens has implemented many controls to monitor his employees. Workers handle thousands of dollars in checks and cash, and thus they need to be monitored closely. These controls are designed to limit theft which reassures customers that their money is safe. Managers sit at the front of the room on raised platforms; other supervisors watch employees from the rear. While some may consider this approach intrusive, these techniques exist in many workplaces today where employees come in direct contact with money. Mr. Edens’ employees work in an area called “the cage.” No talking is permitted, the windows are covered, and many common items that workers usually have at their desks are banned. Mr. Edens is able to monitor this environment with a series...
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...Do you know what a Komodo dragon is? A Komodo dragon is an animal located on the Indonesian Lesser Sunda Islands. A Komodo dragon eats a lot of food. A Komodo dragon is also really big and heavy. The Komodo dragon is a reptile. The Komodo dragons is a reptile. According to National Geographic, the Komodo dragon can live up to 30 years. The Komodo dragon can grow up to 10 feet. According to Ruth Bjorklund in the book Komodo Dragons, they can weigh from 150 to 300 pounds. Komodo dragons are also cold-blooded. A Komodo dragon’s strongest sense is smell. The Komodo dragon eats meat. Did you know that Komodo dragons are cannibals? Komodo dragons are carnivores. According to Ruth Bjorklund in the book Komodo Dragons, they mostly eat...
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