tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84533587945160540662024-03-13T23:47:53.863+08:00Science and Technologysc. teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902658061445036466noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453358794516054066.post-78055743889944458942010-05-10T08:16:00.002+08:002010-05-10T08:25:00.916+08:00Solar Eclipse<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="data:image/jpg;base64,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"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 177px; height: 132px;" src="data:image/jpg;base64,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" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="mw-headline" id="Partial_and_annular_eclipses">Partial and annular eclipses</span><p>Viewing the Sun during partial and annular eclipses (and during total eclipses outside the brief period of totality) requires special eye protection, or indirect viewing methods, if eye damage is to be avoided. The Sun's disk can be viewed using appropriate filtration to block the harmful part of the Sun's radiation. Sunglasses do not make viewing the sun safe. Only properly designed and certified solar filters should be used for direct viewing of the Sun's disk.<sup id="cite_ref-41" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse#cite_note-41"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Especially, self-made filters using common objects such as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk" title="Floppy disk">floppy disk</a> removed from its case, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Disc" title="Compact Disc">Compact Disc</a>, a black colour slide film, etc. must be avoided despite what may have been said in the media.<sup id="cite_ref-42" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse#cite_note-42"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></p> <p>The safest way to view the Sun's disk is by indirect projection. This can be done by projecting an image of the disk onto a white piece of paper or card using a pair of binoculars (with one of the lenses covered), a telescope, or another piece of cardboard with a small hole in it (about 1 mm diameter), often called a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinhole_camera" title="Pinhole camera">pinhole camera</a>. The projected image of the Sun can then be safely viewed; this technique can be used to observe <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunspot" title="Sunspot">sunspots</a>, as well as eclipses. Care must be taken, however, to ensure that no one looks through the projector (telescope, pinhole, etc.) directly. Viewing the Sun's disk on a video display screen (provided by a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_camera" title="Video camera">video camera</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_camera" title="Digital camera">digital camera</a>) is safe, although the camera itself may be damaged by direct exposure to the Sun. The optical viewfinders provided with some video and digital cameras are not safe. Securely mounting #14 welder's glass in front of the lens and viewfinder protects the equipment and makes viewing possible. Professional workmanship is essential because of the dire consequences any gaps or detaching mountings will have. In the partial eclipse path one will not be able to see the corona or nearly complete darkening of the sky, yet, depending on how much of the sun's disk is obscured, some darkening may be noticeable. If two-thirds or more of the sun is obscured, then an effect can be observed by which the daylight appears to be dim, as if the sky were overcast, yet objects still cast sharp shadows.</p> <h3><span class="editsection"><br /></span></h3>sc. teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902658061445036466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453358794516054066.post-26690335043879734032010-05-10T08:07:00.003+08:002010-05-10T08:15:07.866+08:00Solar Eclipse<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Geometry_of_a_Total_Solar_Eclipse.svg/300px-Geometry_of_a_Total_Solar_Eclipse.svg.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 228px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Geometry_of_a_Total_Solar_Eclipse.svg/300px-Geometry_of_a_Total_Solar_Eclipse.svg.png" alt="" border="0" /></a> Geometry of a Total Solar Eclipse<br /><p>As seen from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth" title="Earth">Earth</a>, a <b>solar <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse" title="Eclipse">eclipse</a></b> occurs when the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon" title="Moon">Moon</a> passes between the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun" title="Sun">Sun</a> and the Earth, and the Moon fully or partially covers the Sun as viewed from some location on Earth. This can only happen during a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_moon" title="New moon">new moon</a>, when the Sun and Moon are in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunction_%28astronomy_and_astrology%29" title="Conjunction (astronomy and astrology)">conjunction</a> as seen from Earth. At least two, and up to five, solar eclipses occur each year; no more than two can be total eclipses.<sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse#cite_note-0"><span></span><span></span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse#cite_note-1"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Total solar eclipses are nevertheless rare at any particular location because totality exists only along a narrow path traced by the Moon's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbra" title="Umbra">umbra</a>.</p> <p>Many people will travel to remote locations to observe a central solar eclipse (<i>see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse#Types">Types</a> below</i>). The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_August_11,_1999" title="Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999">solar eclipse of August 11, 1999</a>, in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe" title="Europe">Europe</a> helped to increase public awareness of the phenomenon, which apparently led an unusually large number of journeys made specifically to witness the total <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_October_3,_2005" title="Solar eclipse of October 3, 2005">solar eclipse of October 3, 2005</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_March_29,_2006" title="Solar eclipse of March 29, 2006">of March 29, 2006</a>.</p> <p>The last total eclipse was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_July_22,_2009" title="Solar eclipse of July 22, 2009">solar eclipse of July 22, 2009</a>; the next will be the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_July_11,_2010" title="Solar eclipse of July 11, 2010">solar eclipse of July 11, 2010</a>. The recent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_January_15,_2010" title="Solar eclipse of January 15, 2010">solar eclipse of January 15, 2010</a>, was an annular eclipse (<i>see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse#Types">Types</a> below</i>); the next annular eclipse will occur on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_May_20,_2012" title="Solar eclipse of May 20, 2012">solar eclipse of May 20, 2012</a>.</p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Solar_eclips_1999_4.jpg/120px-Solar_eclips_1999_4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 196px; height: 149px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Solar_eclips_1999_4.jpg/120px-Solar_eclips_1999_4.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><p><br /></p> <p>A total solar eclipse is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_phenomenon" title="Natural phenomenon">natural phenomenon</a>. Nevertheless, in ancient times, and in some cultures today, solar eclipses have been attributed to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernatural" title="Supernatural">supernatural</a> causes or regarded as bad <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omen" title="Omen">omens</a>. A total solar eclipse can be frightening to people who are unaware of their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomy" title="Astronomy">astronomical</a> explanation, as the Sun seems to disappear in the middle of the day and the sky darkens in a matter of minutes.</p>sc. teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902658061445036466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453358794516054066.post-49503154745661743172010-05-07T19:18:00.002+08:002010-05-07T19:25:36.044+08:00Meteoroid<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Meteoroid_meteor_meteorite.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 450px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Meteoroid_meteor_meteorite.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p>A <b>meteoroid</b> is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand" title="Sand">sand</a>- to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulder" title="Boulder">boulder</a>-sized particle of debris in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System" title="Solar System">Solar System</a>. The visible path of a meteoroid that enters <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth" title="Earth">Earth's</a> (or another body's) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_atmosphere" title="Earth's atmosphere" class="mw-redirect">atmosphere</a> is called a <i><b>meteor</b></i>, or colloquially a <i><b>shooting star</b></i> or <i><b>falling star</b></i>. If a meteor reaches the ground and survives impact, then it is called a <i><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorite" title="Meteorite">meteorite</a></b></i>. Many meteors appearing seconds or minutes apart are called a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_shower" title="Meteor shower">meteor shower</a>. The root word <i>meteor</i> comes from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek" title="Ancient Greek">Greek</a> <i>meteōros</i>, meaning "high in the air".</p><p>The current official definition of a meteoroid from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Astronomical_Union" title="International Astronomical Union">International Astronomical Union</a> is "a solid object moving in interplanetary space, of a size considerably smaller than an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid" title="Asteroid">asteroid</a> and considerably larger than an atom."<sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid#cite_note-0"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Astronomical_Society" title="Royal Astronomical Society">Royal Astronomical Society</a> has proposed a new definition where a meteoroid is between 100 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micrometre" title="Micrometre">µm</a> and 10 m across.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid#cite_note-1"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-earth_object" title="Near-earth object" class="mw-redirect">NEO</a> definition includes larger objects, up to 50 m in diameter, in this category. Very small meteoroids are known as <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micrometeoroid" title="Micrometeoroid">micrometeoroids</a></b> (see also <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interplanetary_dust" title="Interplanetary dust" class="mw-redirect">interplanetary dust</a>).</p> <p>The composition of meteoroids can be determined as they pass through Earth's atmosphere from their trajectories and the light spectra of the resulting meteor. Their effects on radio signals also give information, especially useful for daytime meteors which are otherwise very difficult to observe. From these trajectory measurements, meteoroids have been found to have many different orbits, some clustering in streams (see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_showers" title="Meteor showers" class="mw-redirect">Meteor showers</a>) often associated with a parent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet" title="Comet">comet</a>, others apparently sporadic. Debris from meteoroid streams may eventually be scattered into other orbits. The light spectra, combined with trajectory and light curve measurements, have yielded various compositions and densities, ranging from fragile snowball-like objects with density about a quarter that of ice,<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid#cite_note-2"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> to nickel-iron rich dense rocks.</p> <p>Meteoroids travel around the sun in a variety of orbits and at various velocities. The fastest ones move at about 26 miles per second (42 kilometers per second) through space in the vicinity of Earth's orbit. The earth travels at about 18 miles per second (29 kilometers per second). Thus, when meteoroids meet the Earth's atmosphere head-on (which would only occur if the meteor were in a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrograde_orbit" title="Retrograde orbit" class="mw-redirect">retrograde orbit</a>), the combined speed may reach about 44 miles per second (71 kilometers per second).</p><p> </p>sc. teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902658061445036466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453358794516054066.post-67509635270707780802010-05-07T19:06:00.002+08:002010-05-07T19:18:38.862+08:00Meteoroid, Meteor And Meteorite<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yYgEwXWilUc&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yYgEwXWilUc&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>sc. teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902658061445036466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453358794516054066.post-2737903948090923392010-04-17T12:10:00.002+08:002010-04-17T12:29:52.868+08:00Comets<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Comet-Hale-Bopp-29-03-1997_hires_adj.jpg/220px-Comet-Hale-Bopp-29-03-1997_hires_adj.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 287px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Comet-Hale-Bopp-29-03-1997_hires_adj.jpg/220px-Comet-Hale-Bopp-29-03-1997_hires_adj.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p>A <b>comet</b> is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Solar_System_body" title="Small Solar System body">relatively small, rocky, and icy mass in the Solar System</a>, usually larger than a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid" title="Meteoroid">meteoroid</a>, that, when it is close enough to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun" title="Sun">Sun</a>, displays a visible <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coma_%28cometary%29" title="Coma (cometary)">coma</a> (a thin, fuzzy, temporary <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere" title="Atmosphere">atmosphere</a>), and sometimes also a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_tail" title="Comet tail">tail</a>, both because of the effects of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_radiation" title="Solar radiation" class="mw-redirect">solar radiation</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_wind" title="Solar wind">solar wind</a> upon the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_nucleus" title="Comet nucleus">nucleus of the comet</a>. Comet nuclei are loose collections of ice, dust, and small rocky particles, ranging from a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P/2007_R5" title="P/2007 R5" class="mw-redirect">few hundred meters</a> to tens of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilometer" title="Kilometer" class="mw-redirect">kilometers</a> across. Comets have been observed since ancient times and have historically been considered bad omens. The number visible to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_eye" title="Naked eye">naked eye</a> averages to roughly one per year, though many of these are faint and unspectacular.<sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet#cite_note-0"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Particularly bright or notable examples are called "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Comet" title="Great Comet">Great Comets</a>".</p> <p>Comets have a wide range of different <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_period" title="Orbital period">orbital periods</a>, ranging from just a few years to hundreds of thousands of years. Some rare <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbolic_trajectory" title="Hyperbolic trajectory">hyperbolic</a> comets have been found by calculations in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_mechanics" title="Celestial mechanics">celestial mechanics</a> to pass only once through the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_Solar_System" title="Inner Solar System" class="mw-redirect">inner Solar System</a> before being thrown out into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_space" title="Interstellar space" class="mw-redirect">interstellar space</a> along <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbola" title="Hyperbola">hyperbolic</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trajectory" title="Trajectory">trajectories</a>.</p> <p>Short-period comets have been found to originate in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuiper_Belt" title="Kuiper Belt" class="mw-redirect">Kuiper Belt</a>, or its associated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scattered_disc" title="Scattered disc">scattered disc</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-Davidsson_1-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet#cite_note-Davidsson-1"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> which lie beyond the orbit of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune" title="Neptune">Neptune</a>. Longer-period comets are thought to have their origins much further away in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oort_Cloud" title="Oort Cloud" class="mw-redirect">Oort Cloud</a>, a cloud of icy bodies at the outer boundaries of the Solar System that were left behind during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condensation" title="Condensation">condensation</a> of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_nebula" title="Solar nebula" class="mw-redirect">solar nebula</a>. Long-period comets plunge towards the Sun from the Oort Cloud because of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_perturbation" title="Gravitational perturbation" class="mw-redirect">gravitational perturbations</a> caused by either the massive outer planets of the Solar System (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter" title="Jupiter">Jupiter</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn" title="Saturn">Saturn</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus" title="Uranus">Uranus</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune" title="Neptune">Neptune</a>), or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nearest_stars" title="List of nearest stars" class="mw-redirect">passing stars</a>.</p> <p>Comets are distinguished from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid" title="Asteroid">asteroids</a> by the presence of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coma_%28cometary%29" title="Coma (cometary)">coma</a> and/or a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_tail" title="Comet tail">tail</a>. However, ancient comets that have passed close to the Sun many times have lost nearly all of their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatility_%28chemistry%29" title="Volatility (chemistry)">volatile</a> ices and dust, and may come to resemble small asteroids (see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinct_comets" title="Extinct comets" class="mw-redirect">Extinct comets</a>).<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet#cite_note-2"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Asteroids are thought to have a different origin from comets, having formed in the inner Solar System (inside the orbit of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter" title="Jupiter">Jupiter</a>) rather than in the outer Solar System,<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet#cite_note-3"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> but recent findings<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet#cite_note-4"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> have somewhat blurred the distinction between asteroids and comets (see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaur_%28minor_planet%29" title="Centaur (minor planet)">centaurs</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid#Terminology" title="Asteroid">asteroid terminology</a>).</p> As of May 2009<sup class="plainlinks noprint asof-tag update" style="display: none;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Comet&action=edit" class="external text" rel="nofollow">[update]</a></sup> there are a reported 3,648 known comets of which about 1,500 are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kreutz_Sungrazers" title="Kreutz Sungrazers">Kreutz Sungrazers</a> and about 400 are short-period. This number is steadily increasing. However, this represents only a tiny fraction of the total potential comet population: the reservoir of comet-like bodies in the outer solar system may number one trillion.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/17pHolmes_071104_eder_vga.jpg/220px-17pHolmes_071104_eder_vga.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 143px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/17pHolmes_071104_eder_vga.jpg/220px-17pHolmes_071104_eder_vga.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /> Comet Holmes (17P/Holmes) in 2007 showing blue <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet#Physical_characteristics" title="Comet">ion tail</a> on right<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/Great_Comet_of_1882.jpg/690px-Great_Comet_of_1882.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 690px; height: 494px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/Great_Comet_of_1882.jpg/690px-Great_Comet_of_1882.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Comet_of_1882" title="Great Comet of 1882">Great Comet of 1882</a>, is a member of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kreutz_Sungrazers" title="Kreutz Sungrazers">Kreutz group</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Comet_P1_McNaught02_-_23-01-07.jpg/220px-Comet_P1_McNaught02_-_23-01-07.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 321px; height: 147px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Comet_P1_McNaught02_-_23-01-07.jpg/220px-Comet_P1_McNaught02_-_23-01-07.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_McNaught" title="Comet McNaught">Comet McNaught</a> (C/2006 P1)<br /></div>sc. teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902658061445036466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453358794516054066.post-25503805811595063832010-03-13T13:00:00.005+08:002010-03-13T13:11:54.846+08:00The Solar System<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.usm.maine.edu/planet/Solar%20System%20Graphic.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 606px; height: 640px;" src="http://www.usm.maine.edu/planet/Solar%20System%20Graphic.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Our solar system consists of an average star we call the <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/sun.htm">Sun</a>, the planets <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/mercury.htm">Mercury</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/venus.htm">Venus</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/earth.htm">Earth</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/mars.htm">Mars</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/jupiter.htm">Jupiter</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/saturn.htm">Saturn</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/uranus.htm">Uranus</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/neptune.htm">Neptune</a>, and <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/pluto.htm">Pluto</a>. It includes: the satellites of the planets; numerous <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/comet.htm">comets</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/asteroid.htm">asteroids</a>, and meteoroids; and the interplanetary medium. The Sun is the richest source of electromagnetic energy (mostly in the form of heat and light) in the solar system. The Sun's nearest known stellar neighbor is a red dwarf star called Proxima Centauri, at a distance of 4.3 <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/terms.htm#lightyear">light years</a> away. The whole solar system, together with the local stars visible on a clear night, orbits the center of our home galaxy, a spiral disk of 200 billion stars we call the <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/solarsys.htm#milky">Milky Way</a>. The Milky Way has two small galaxies orbiting it nearby, which are visible from the southern hemisphere. They are called the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud. The nearest large galaxy is the <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/solarsys.htm#andromeda">Andromeda Galaxy</a>. It is a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way but is 4 times as massive and is 2 million light years away. Our galaxy, one of billions of galaxies known, is traveling through intergalactic space. <p> The planets, most of the satellites of the planets and the asteroids revolve around the Sun in the same direction, in nearly circular orbits. When looking down from above the Sun's north pole, the planets orbit in a counter-clockwise direction. The planets orbit the Sun in or near the same plane, called the <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/terms.htm#ecliptic"><i>ecliptic</i></a>. Pluto is a special case in that its orbit is the most highly inclined (18 degrees) and the most highly elliptical of all the planets. Because of this, for part of its orbit, Pluto is closer to the Sun than is <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/neptune.htm">Neptune</a>. The axis of rotation for most of the planets is nearly perpendicular to the ecliptic. The exceptions are <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/uranus.htm">Uranus</a> and <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/pluto.htm">Pluto</a>, which are tipped on their sides. </p><h3><a name="comp">Composition Of The Solar System</a></h3> The Sun contains 99.85% of all the matter in the Solar System. The planets, which condensed out of the same disk of material that formed the Sun, contain only 0.135% of the mass of the solar system. Jupiter contains more than twice the matter of all the other planets combined. Satellites of the planets, comets, asteroids, meteoroids, and the interplanetary medium constitute the remaining 0.015%. The following table is a list of the mass distribution within our Solar System. <ul><li> Sun: 99.85% </li><li> Planets: 0.135% </li><li> Comets: 0.01% ? </li><li> Satellites: 0.00005% </li><li> <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/terms.htm#minor">Minor Planets</a>: 0.0000002% ? </li><li> Meteoroids: 0.0000001% ? </li><li> Interplanetary Medium: 0.0000001% ? </li></ul> <p> </p><h3><a name="space">Interplanetary Space</a></h3> Nearly all the solar system by volume appears to be an empty void. Far from being nothingness, this vacuum of "space" comprises the interplanetary medium. It includes various forms of energy and at least two material components: interplanetary dust and interplanetary gas. Interplanetary dust consists of microscopic solid particles. Interplanetary gas is a tenuous flow of gas and charged particles, mostly protons and electrons -- <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/terms.htm#plasma">plasma</a> -- which stream from the <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/sun.htm">Sun</a>, called the <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/terms.htm#solarwind">solar wind</a>. <p> </p><center> <img src="http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/misc/solarwnd.gif" alt="Solar wind diagram" width="321" height="177" /> </center> <p> The solar wind can be measured by spacecraft, and it has a large effect on comet tails. It also has a measurable effect on the motion of spacecraft. The speed of the solar wind is about 400 kilometers (250 miles) per second in the vicinity of Earth's orbit. The point at which the solar wind meets the interstellar medium, which is the "solar" wind from other stars, is called the heliopause. It is a boundary theorized to be roughly circular or teardrop-shaped, marking the edge of the Sun's influence perhaps 100 AU from the Sun. The space within the boundary of the heliopause, containing the Sun and solar system, is referred to as the heliosphere. </p><p> The solar magnetic field extends outward into interplanetary space; it can be measured on Earth and by spacecraft. The solar magnetic field is the dominating magnetic field throughout the interplanetary regions of the solar system, except in the immediate environment of planets which have their own magnetic fields. </p><h3><img src="http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/misc/terplnt.gif" alt="Terrestrial Planets" width="160" height="59" /> <a name="ter">The Terrestrial Planets</a></h3> The terrestrial planets are the four innermost planets in the solar system, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/mercury.htm">Mercury</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/venus.htm">Venus</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/earth.htm">Earth</a> and <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/mars.htm">Mars</a>. They are called terrestrial because they have a compact, rocky surface like the Earth's. The planets, Venus, Earth, and Mars have significant atmospheres while Mercury has almost none. The following diagram shows the approximate distance of the terrestrial planets to the Sun. <p> </p><center> <img src="http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/misc/inner.gif" alt="Inner Planets" width="400" height="381" /> </center> <p> </p><h3><img src="http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/misc/jovian.gif" alt="Jovian Planets" width="160" height="89" /> <a name="jov">The Jovian Planets</a></h3> <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/jupiter.htm">Jupiter</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/saturn.htm">Saturn</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/uranus.htm">Uranus</a>, and <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/neptune.htm">Neptune</a> are known as the Jovian (Jupiter-like) planets, because they are all gigantic compared with Earth, and they have a gaseous nature like Jupiter's. The Jovian planets are also referred to as the <i>gas giants</i>, although some or all of them might have small solid cores. The following diagram shows the approximate distance of the Jovian planets to the Sun. <p> </p><center> <img src="http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/misc/outer.gif" alt="Outer Planets" width="400" height="429" /> </center> <div class="box"><a name="movie">Solar System Animation</a></div><p> </p><ul><li><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/misc/ssanim.htm">Formation of the Solar System</a>. </li></ul> <div class="box"><a name="views">Views of the Solar System</a></div><p> <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/ds/milkyway.htm" name="milky"> <img src="http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/ds/milkyway.gif" alt="Milky Way" class="left" width="150" height="108" /></a> <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/ds/milkyway.htm" class="ct">Our Milkyway Galaxy</a><br />This image of our galaxy, the Milky Way, was taken with NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer's (COBE) Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE). This never-before-seen view shows the Milky Way from an edge-on perspective with the galactic north pole at the top, the south pole at the bottom and the galactic center at the center. The picture combines images obtained at several near-infrared wavelengths. Stars within our galaxy are the dominant source of light at these wavelengths. Even though our solar system is part of the Milky Way, the view looks distant because most of the light comes from the population of stars that are closer to the galactic center than our own Sun. <i>(Courtesy NASA)</i><br /><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/pia/PIA10748.htm"> <img src="http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/pia/PIA10748.jpg" alt="Our Milky Way Gets a Makeover" class="left" border="1" width="170" height="170" /></a> <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/pia/PIA10748.htm" class="ct">Our Milky Way Gets a Makeover</a><br />Like early explorers mapping the continents of our globe, astronomers are busy charting the spiral structure of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Using infrared images from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, scientists have discovered that the Milky Way's elegant spiral structure is dominated by just two arms wrapping off the ends of a central bar of stars. Previously, our galaxy was thought to possess four major arms. </p><p> This artist's concept illustrates the new view of the Milky Way, along with other findings presented at the 212th American Astronomical Society meeting in St. Louis, Mo. The galaxy's two major arms (Scutum-Centaurus and Perseus) can be seen attached to the ends of a thick central bar, while the two now-demoted minor arms (Norma and Sagittarius) are less distinct and located between the major arms. The major arms consist of the highest densities of both young and old stars; the minor arms are primarily filled with gas and pockets of star-forming activity. </p><p> The artist's concept also includes a new spiral arm, called the "Far-3 kiloparsec arm," discovered via a radio-telescope survey of gas in the Milky Way. This arm is shorter than the two major arms and lies along the bar of the galaxy. </p><p> Our sun lies near a small, partial arm called the Orion Arm, or Orion Spur, located between the Sagittarius and Perseus arms. <i>(Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech)</i><br /><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/ds/ngc4414.htm" name="andromeda"> <img src="http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/ds/ngc4414.jpg" alt="Andromeda" class="left" width="170" height="133" /></a> <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/ds/ngc4414.htm" class="ct">Spiral Galaxy, NGC 4414</a><br />The majestic galaxy, NGC 4414, is located 60 million light-years away. Like the Milky Way, NGC 4414 is a giant spiral-shaped disk of stars, with a bulbous central hub of older yellow and red stars. The outer spiral arms are considerably bluer due to ongoing formation of young, blue stars, the brightest of which can be seen individually at the high resolution provided by the Hubble camera. The arms are also very rich in clouds of interstellar dust, seen as dark patches and streaks silhouetted against the starlight. <i>(Courtesy NASA/STSCI)</i><br /><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/vss/VSS00105.htm"> <img src="http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/vss/VSS00105.jpg" alt="Planet Obliquity" class="left" width="400" height="81" /></a> <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/vss/VSS00105.htm" class="ct">Obliquity of the Eight Planets</a><br />This illustration shows the obliquity of the eight planets. Obliquity is the angle between a planet's equatorial plane and its orbital plane. By International Astronomical Union (IAU) convention, a planet's north pole lies above the ecliptic plane. By this convention, Venus, Uranus, and Pluto have a retrograde rotation, or a rotation that is in the opposite direction from the other planets. <i>(Copyright 2008 by Calvin J. Hamilton)</i><br /><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/misc/ss2.htm"> <img src="http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/misc/ss2.jpg" alt="Solar System" class="left" width="150" height="146" /></a> <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/misc/ss2.htm" class="ct">The Solar System</a><br />During the past three decades a myriad of space explorers have escaped the confines of planet Earth and have set out to discover our planetary neighbors. This picture shows the Sun and all nine planets of the solar system as seen by the space explorers. Starting at the top-left corner is the <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/sun.htm">Sun</a> followed by the planets <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/mercury.htm">Mercury</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/venus.htm">Venus</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/earth.htm">Earth</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/mars.htm">Mars</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/jupiter.htm">Jupiter</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/saturn.htm">Saturn</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/uranus.htm">Uranus</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/neptune.htm">Neptune</a>, and <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/pluto.htm">Pluto</a>. <i>(Copyright 1998 by Calvin J. Hamilton)</i><br /><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/misc/solarsystem.htm"> <img src="http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/misc/solarsystem.jpg" alt="Solar System" class="left" width="250" height="95" /></a> <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/misc/solarsystem.htm" class="ct">Sun and Planets</a><br />This image shows the Sun and nine planets approximately to scale. The order of these bodies are: <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/sun.htm">Sun</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/mercury.htm">Mercury</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/venus.htm">Venus</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/earth.htm">Earth</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/mars.htm">Mars</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/jupiter.htm">Jupiter</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/saturn.htm">Saturn</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/uranus.htm">Uranus</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/neptune.htm">Neptune</a>, and <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/pluto.htm">Pluto</a>. <i>(Copyright Calvin J. Hamilton)</i><br /><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/misc/jovian.htm"> <img src="http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/misc/jovian.gif" alt="Jovian Planets" class="left" width="160" height="89" /></a> <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/misc/jovian.htm" class="ct">Jovian Planets</a><br />This image shows the Jovian planets <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/jupiter.htm">Jupiter</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/saturn.htm">Saturn</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/uranus.htm">Uranus</a> and <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/neptune.htm">Neptune</a> approximately to scale. The Jovian planets are named because of their gigantic Jupiter-like appearance. <i>(Copyright Calvin J. Hamilton)</i><br /><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/misc/plntmoon.htm"> <img src="http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/misc/plntmoon.jpg" alt="Largest moons and smallest planets" class="left" width="150" height="95" /></a> <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/misc/plntmoon.htm" class="ct">The Largest Moons and Smallest Planets</a><br />This image shows the relative sizes of the largest moons and the smallest planets in the solarsystem. The largest satellites pictured in this image are: <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/ganymede.htm">Ganymede</a> (5262 km), <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/titan.htm">Titan</a> (5150 km), <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/callisto.htm">Callisto</a> (4806 km), <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/io.htm">Io</a> (3642 km), the <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/moon.htm">Moon</a> (3476 km), <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/europa.htm">Europa</a> (3138 km), <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/triton.htm">Triton</a> (2706 km), and <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/titania.htm">Titania</a> (1580 km). Both Ganymede and Titan are larger than planet <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/mercury.htm">Mercury</a> followed by Io, the Moon, Europa, and Triton which are larger than the planet <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/pluto.htm">Pluto</a>. <i>(Copyright Calvin J. Hamilton)</i><br /><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/misc/vgr_fam2.htm"> <img src="http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/misc/vgr_fam2.gif" alt="Solar System" class="left" width="150" height="104" /></a> <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/misc/vgr_fam2.htm" class="ct">Diagram of Portrait Frames</a><br />On February 14, 1990, the cameras of <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/voyager.htm">Voyager 1</a> pointed back toward the <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/sun.htm">Sun</a> and took a series of pictures of the Sun and the planets, making the first ever "portrait" of our solar system as seen from the outside. This image is a diagram of how the frames for the solar system portrait were taken. <i>(Courtesy NASA/JPL)</i><br /><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/misc/vgr_fam3.htm"> <img src="http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/misc/vgr_fam3.gif" alt="Solar System" class="left" width="150" height="140" /></a> <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/misc/vgr_fam3.htm" class="ct">All Frames from the Family Portrait</a><br />This image shows the series of pictures of the Sun and the planets taken on February 14, 1990, for the solar system family portrait as seen from the outside. In the course of taking this mosaic consisting of a total of 60 frames, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/voyager.htm">Voyager 1</a> made several images of the inner solar system from a distance of approximately 6.4 billion kilometers (4 billion miles) and about 32° above the <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/terms.htm#ecliptic">ecliptic</a> plane. Thirty-nine wide angle frames link together six of the planets of our solar system in this mosaic. Outermost <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/neptune.htm">Neptune</a> is 30 times further from the Sun than <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/earth.htm">Earth</a>. Our <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/sun.htm">Sun</a> is seen as the bright object in the center of the circle of frames. The insets show the planets magnified many times. <i>(Courtesy NASA/JPL)</i><br /><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/misc/vgr_fam1.htm"> <img src="http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/misc/vgr_fam1.gif" alt="Solar System" class="left" width="150" height="122" /></a> <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/cap/misc/vgr_fam1.htm" class="ct">Portrait of the Solar System</a><br />These six narrow-angle color images were made from the first ever "portrait" of the solar system taken by <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/voyager.htm">Voyager 1</a>, which was more than 6.4 billion kilometers (4 billion miles) from <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/earth.htm">Earth</a> and about 32° above the <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/terms.htm#ecliptic">ecliptic</a>. <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/mercury.htm">Mercury</a> is too close to the <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/sun.htm">Sun</a> to be seen. <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/mars.htm">Mars</a> was not detectable by the Voyager cameras due to scattered sunlight in the optics, and <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/pluto.htm">Pluto</a> was not included in the mosaic because of its small size and distance from the Sun. These blown-up images, left to right and top to bottom are <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/venus.htm">Venus</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/earth.htm">Earth</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/jupiter.htm">Jupiter</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/saturn.htm">Saturn</a>, <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/uranus.htm">Uranus</a>, and <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/neptune.htm">Neptune</a>. <i>(Courtesy NASA/JPL)</i><br /></p><div class="box"><a name="sun">Sun and Planet Summary</a></div><p> The following table lists statistical information for the Sun and planets: </p><p> </p><table style="width: 634px; height: 230px;" border="2"> <tbody><tr align="CENTER" valign="TOP"> <td><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;"><b>Distance</b><br />(<a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/terms.htm#astunit">AU</a>) </span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;"><b>Radius</b><br />(Earth's)</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;"><b>Mass</b><br />(Earth's)</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;"><b>Rotation</b><br />(Earth's) </span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;"><b># Moons</b></span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;"><b>Orbital<br />Inclination</b></span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;"><b>Orbital<br />Eccentricity</b></span> </td><td><span style="font-size:78%;"><b>Obliquity</b></span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;"><b>Density</b><br />(g/cm<sup>3</sup>) </span></td></tr><tr align="CENTER"> <th><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/sun.htm">Sun</a></span></th><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">109</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">332,800</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">25-36*</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">9</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">---</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">---</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">---</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">1.410 </span></td></tr><tr align="CENTER"> <th><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/mercury.htm">Mercury</a></span></th><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.39</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.38</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.05</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">58.8</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">7</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.2056</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.1°</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">5.43 </span></td></tr><tr align="CENTER"> <th><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/venus.htm">Venus</a></span></th><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.72</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.95</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.89</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">244</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">3.394</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.0068</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">177.4°</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">5.25 </span></td></tr><tr align="CENTER"> <th><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/earth.htm">Earth</a></span></th><td><span style="font-size:78%;">1.0</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">1.00</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">1.00</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">1.00</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">1</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.000</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.0167</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">23.45°</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">5.52 </span></td></tr><tr align="CENTER"> <th><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/mars.htm">Mars</a></span></th><td><span style="font-size:78%;">1.5</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.53</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.11</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">1.029</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">2</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">1.850</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.0934</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">25.19°</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">3.95 </span></td></tr><tr align="CENTER"> <th><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/jupiter.htm">Jupiter</a></span></th><td><span style="font-size:78%;">5.2</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">11</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">318</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.411</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">16</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">1.308</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.0483</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">3.12°</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">1.33 </span></td></tr><tr align="CENTER"> <th><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/saturn.htm">Saturn</a></span></th><td><span style="font-size:78%;">9.5</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">9</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">95</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.428</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">18</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">2.488</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.0560</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">26.73°</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.69 </span></td></tr><tr align="CENTER"> <th><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/uranus.htm">Uranus</a></span></th><td><span style="font-size:78%;">19.2</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">4</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">17</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.748</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">15</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.774</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.0461</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">97.86°</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">1.29 </span></td></tr><tr align="CENTER"> <th><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/neptune.htm">Neptune</a></span></th><td><span style="font-size:78%;">30.1</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">4</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">17</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.802</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">8</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">1.774</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.0097</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">29.56°</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">1.64 </span></td></tr><tr align="CENTER"> <th><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/pluto.htm">Pluto</a></span></th><td><span style="font-size:78%;">39.5</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.18</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.002</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.267</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">1</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">17.15</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">0.2482</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">119.6°</span></td><td><span style="font-size:78%;">2.03 </span></td></tr></tbody></table> * The Sun's period of rotation at the surface varies from approximately 25 days at the equator to 36 days at the poles. Deep down, below the <a href="http://www.solarviews.com/eng/terms.htm#convection">convective</a> zone, everything appears to rotate with a period of 27 days.sc. teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902658061445036466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453358794516054066.post-89244692501387362972010-03-06T21:27:00.002+08:002010-03-06T22:05:24.789+08:00Extinct Species<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/Toromiro.jpg/150px-Toromiro.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 144px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/Toromiro.jpg/150px-Toromiro.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Sophora Toromiro<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Cosmos-atrosanguineus.jpg/150px-Cosmos-atrosanguineus.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Cosmos-atrosanguineus.jpg/150px-Cosmos-atrosanguineus.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Cosmos Atrosanguineus<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Nesiota_elliptica.jpg/150px-Nesiota_elliptica.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 185px; height: 224px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Nesiota_elliptica.jpg/150px-Nesiota_elliptica.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Saint Helena Olive<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Cooksonia.png/150px-Cooksonia.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 200px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Cooksonia.png/150px-Cooksonia.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Cooksonia<br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" 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alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">pvorchirds<br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>sc. teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902658061445036466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453358794516054066.post-11287000868598957882010-03-05T23:10:00.002+08:002010-03-05T23:31:25.767+08:00Enviromental Destruction 4<b>Pollution</b> is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecosystem" title="Ecosystem">ecosystem</a> i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_substance" title="Chemical substance">chemical substances</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy" title="Energy">energy</a>, such as noise, heat, or light. Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be foreign substances or energies, or naturally occurring; when naturally occurring, they are considered contaminants when they exceed natural levels. Pollution is often classed as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_source_pollution" title="Point source pollution">point source</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonpoint_source_pollution" title="Nonpoint source pollution">nonpoint source pollution</a>. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blacksmith_Institute" title="Blacksmith Institute">Blacksmith Institute</a> issues annually a list of the world's worst polluted places. In the 2007 issues the ten top nominees are located in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan" title="Azerbaijan">Azerbaijan</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China" title="People's Republic of China">China</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India">India</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peru" title="Peru">Peru</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia" title="Russia">Russia</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine" title="Ukraine">Ukraine</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zambia" title="Zambia">Zambia</a>.<p><br /></p> <p>The major forms of pollution are listed below along with the particular pollutants relevant to each of them:</p> <ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollution" title="Air pollution">Air pollution</a>, the release of chemicals and particulates into the atmosphere. Common gaseous air pollutants include <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_monoxide" title="Carbon monoxide">carbon monoxide</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur_dioxide" title="Sulfur dioxide">sulfur dioxide</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorofluorocarbon" title="Chlorofluorocarbon">chlorofluorocarbons</a> (CFCs) and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_oxide" title="Nitrogen oxide">nitrogen oxides</a> produced by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industry" title="Industry">industry</a> and motor vehicles. Photochemical <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone" title="Ozone">ozone</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smog" title="Smog">smog</a> are created as nitrogen oxides and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrocarbon" title="Hydrocarbon">hydrocarbons</a> react to sunlight. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particulate_matter" title="Particulate matter" class="mw-redirect">Particulate matter</a>, or fine dust is characterized by their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micrometre" title="Micrometre">micrometre</a> size PM<sub>10</sub> to PM<sub>2.5</sub>.</li></ul> <p><span id="Water_pollution"></span></p> <ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_pollution" title="Water pollution">Water pollution</a>, by the release of waste products and contaminants into surface <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_runoff" title="Surface runoff">runoff</a> into river drainage systems, leaching into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundwater" title="Groundwater">groundwater</a>, liquid spills, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wastewater" title="Wastewater">wastewater</a> discharges, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eutrophication" title="Eutrophication">eutrophication</a> and littering.</li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_contamination" title="Soil contamination">Soil contamination</a> occurs when chemicals are released by spill or underground leakage. Among the most significant <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_contaminant" title="Soil contaminant" class="mw-redirect">soil contaminants</a> are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrocarbon" title="Hydrocarbon">hydrocarbons</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_metals" title="Heavy metals" class="mw-redirect">heavy metals</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTBE" title="MTBE" class="mw-redirect">MTBE</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution#cite_note-7"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbicides" title="Herbicides" class="mw-redirect">herbicides</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticides" title="Pesticides" class="mw-redirect">pesticides</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorinated_hydrocarbons" title="Chlorinated hydrocarbons" class="mw-redirect">chlorinated hydrocarbons</a>.</li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Littering" title="Littering" class="mw-redirect">Littering</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_contamination" title="Radioactive contamination">Radioactive contamination</a>, resulting from 20th century activities in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_physics" title="Atomic physics">atomic physics</a>, such as nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons research, manufacture and deployment. (See <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_emitter" title="Alpha emitter" class="mw-redirect">alpha emitters</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actinides_in_the_environment" title="Actinides in the environment">actinides in the environment</a>.)</li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise_pollution" title="Noise pollution">Noise pollution</a>, which encompasses <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadway_noise" title="Roadway noise">roadway noise</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_noise" title="Aircraft noise">aircraft noise</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_noise" title="Industrial noise">industrial noise</a> as well as high-intensity <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonar" title="Sonar">sonar</a>.</li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_pollution" title="Light pollution">Light pollution</a>, includes light trespass, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over-illumination" title="Over-illumination">over-illumination</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical" title="Astronomical" class="mw-redirect">astronomical</a> interference.</li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_pollution" title="Visual pollution">Visual pollution</a>, which can refer to the presence of overhead <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_power_transmission" title="Electric power transmission">power lines</a>, motorway <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_%28advertising%29" title="Billboard (advertising)" class="mw-redirect">billboards</a>, scarred <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landform" title="Landform">landforms</a> (as from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strip_mining" title="Strip mining" class="mw-redirect">strip mining</a>), open storage of trash or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_solid_waste" title="Municipal solid waste">municipal solid waste</a>.</li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_pollution" title="Thermal pollution">Thermal pollution</a>, is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperature" title="Temperature">temperature</a> change in natural water bodies caused by human influence, such as use of water as coolant in a power plant.</li></ul><br /><h4>Air pollution</h4> <p>A government committee has estimated that 12,000 to 24,000 people in the UK die every year from the acute effects of air pollution. More die from chronic effects. Air pollution is therefore a major health issue. </p> <p>In many parts of West London our air is not fit to breathe. The main source of air pollution is traffic emissions. Significant amounts also come from residential and commercial gas use, industry, construction sites and emissions from outside London. A particularly large and concentrated source of air pollution is Heathrow. Indeed, it is the biggest single source of pollution in Western Europe.</p><p><br /></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:9nLDf0BV-lyOBM"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 238px; height: 186px;" src="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:9nLDf0BV-lyOBM" alt="" border="0" /></a><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h4><a>Water pollution</a></h4> <a> </a><p><a>The quality of the water in our rivers and canals is generally not too good. They are not fit for us to swim in and they are often not too good for wildlife either. There have been improvements in recent years, but they are still far from what we would wish to see. </a></p> <a> </a><p><a>The Environment Agency is the government body responsible for water quality. It does some admirable work, but it suffers from the failing of most public bodies - it is not really prepared to take on those parties who are polluting our water. A notable instance has been heavy pollution of water bodies by Heathrow Airport. Nothing was being done about it by the Environment Agency until a concerted campaign was launched by </a><a href="http://www.hacan.org.uk/learn/Water.htm" target="blank">local residents.</a> </p> A particular class of pollutants which can get into water and which threaten our health and our wildlife are <b>pesticides</b>. 31,000 tonnes of pesticides are used in the UK every year. Overuse, careless use and incorrect disposal of pesticides mean that a range of dangerous chemicals get into our watercourses. Water companies have to constantly test for pesticides and removing them drinking water costs us - consumers of water - large sums of money.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:kheeexaJuVKitM:http://www.paranormalknowledge.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/waterpollution.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 186px;" src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:kheeexaJuVKitM:http://www.paranormalknowledge.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/waterpollution.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Contaminated land and pollution of groundwater <p>There are significant areas of contaminated land in West London. This is the legacy of earlier industrial activity, at a time when looking after the environment and cleaning up after one had finished were not even considered. </p> There is now legislation that requires local authorities to identify contaminated land and, if necessary, make it safe. However, it has to be said that this is very low in the government's set of priorities.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:7DjqcDrDKMsVQM:http://06vars.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/debris.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 233px; height: 165px;" src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:7DjqcDrDKMsVQM:http://06vars.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/debris.jpeg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Noise pollution <p>Noise is a common problem in modern-day life and it represents a serious threat to our quality of life. A recent survey showed that the biggest problems in London are, in order of priority: </p><ul><li>Traffic noise</li><li>Aircraft noise</li><li>Neighbour noise</li><li>Construction noise</li><li>Railway noise</li></ul> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:lJP51RCukkjuoM:http://lowerbloodpressurecheap.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/aircraft_noise.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 164px;" src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:lJP51RCukkjuoM:http://lowerbloodpressurecheap.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/aircraft_noise.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>sc. teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902658061445036466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453358794516054066.post-29394894638817372452010-03-05T22:49:00.004+08:002010-03-05T23:04:18.377+08:00Enviromental Destructions 3<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:waZg6kVuRUGgYM"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 139px;" src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:waZg6kVuRUGgYM" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:5NExuNIaGSsfWM"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 123px;" src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:5NExuNIaGSsfWM" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:WdjonekwoXn4DM"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 129px;" src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:WdjonekwoXn4DM" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:RDjM-HH6rOtU0M"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 231px; height: 107px;" src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:RDjM-HH6rOtU0M" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />A <b>flash flood</b> is a rapid <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood" title="Flood">flooding</a> of geomorphic low-lying areas - washes, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River" title="River">rivers</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_lake" title="Dry lake">dry lakes</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depression_%28geology%29" title="Depression (geology)">basins</a>. It may be caused by heavy <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain" title="Rain">rain</a> associated with a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm" title="Storm">storm</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane" title="Hurricane" class="mw-redirect">hurricane</a>, or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_storm" title="Tropical storm" class="mw-redirect">tropical storm</a> or meltwater from ice or snow flowing over icesheets or snowfields. Flash floods can also occur after the collapse of an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_dam" title="Ice dam">ice dam</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debris_dam" title="Debris dam" class="mw-redirect">debris dam</a> or a human structure, such as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dam" title="Dam">dam</a>, for example, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstown_Flood" title="Johnstown Flood">Johnstown Flood</a> of 1889. Flash floods are distinguished from a regular <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood" title="Flood">flood</a> by a timescale less than six hours. The temporary availability of water is often utilised by plants with rapid germination and short growth cycle, and by specially adapted animal life.<br /><br />Flash flooding occurs when a barrier holding back water fails or when water falls too quickly on saturated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil" title="Soil">soil</a> or dry soil that has poor absorption ability. The runoff collects in low-lying areas and rapidly flows downhill. Flash floods most often occur in normally dry areas that have recently received precipitation, but may be seen anywhere downstream from the source of the precipitation, even dozens of miles from the source. In areas on or near <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcano" title="Volcano">volcanoes</a>, flash floods have also occurred after eruptions, when <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier" title="Glacier">glaciers</a> have been melted by the intense heat.sc. teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902658061445036466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453358794516054066.post-73898337356281525842010-03-03T20:56:00.002+08:002010-03-03T21:05:32.435+08:00Pictures<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/LS-usgs.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 360px; height: 360px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/LS-usgs.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /> A "slump" landslide in San Mateo County, California in January 1997<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" 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palwASjAByOfzw/1itLSVMVREP3N2aRdw66u1ubEf5vjl9aBHVvEASwO23y3xX9Ok00bHK42hpyHNqX7ankUsoYEG6sFIsb9sNGdRUuZZY8i0RaeHzHRS1rNe5AAAPt2uMI+RwELeWyq/dQWU8XH1w4ZXVPHI8bFGUHbS3O9hse+DiQSdoxYmNNPYUKeqcPGIdEcZXV+6QG3P5bd8HKasnllvM5lC2DK92Htt8u3TFHPaAZfX/aR6aWYM8ZXfyzvdb8fD+282UCOZiSAJCLakHTba5399tvluKOnGxZzbjY5UWaK2hWgjRGN/So+q3435vt153xpmNbJQ17FoY3hsLODbVsb73vb58HFOGllaPWXddgQ+knfue1/bffEVE9dJGabN1hmVR6GVSGW23X9P+cZqV2SUm0SPXCVjIfMQtuVDbYzFJsuIY6EVlvyzSX/ACGMw1QOzfkWXZX9Ehl1EBm0OSD0uRq5533+WLMZcKXhVi113AFwflz1+n1CzENUxqbkkjctuAebe21vh3waMcojQqusKwv/AIL9jxtti7SNmJK+DfyqeKjraiq8pp4hrjY3Lbncccb9/wBcVKfMKyCjgh3eCUq5JOrymtaxsNhYcbHfFmqleShrY5oZfKp49ZdG0oRqA4779rHArLpKukzJnhDqhJjk1LqUqQQb8fw6voe18CuR8OnGmNUEsjwx0HlKGlQFQsQ4JtbUd/5SD74vzUECSLHU1ACN+8YodBU3IAAG/S/O31vA9atPEKossVU5ZIFaJgCpHp6bd99tzixHTOZitS6jUSGZkCk9Ljv0F8Z5SZ2nlfxRUpjLRRzKqrNA1yh88khbkW0m2426325wVoJftM/l05QRsuq2o6dub82G9uNrYnZaedvKp6ZwUUaiW1iQEgHkAjrx9MB82yLOaXNjDSCMQErUKkr3U889ze9gDva+FjJSFeDf3G/LKqmSndUCNAgESmVAhkLWGknm1+nxv0wqeO8kol8VRSUsLxLJADMIwAtwxGrr0H+b4hlq69KemRvKK+bqeNDcMQb9ee/z5xf8UVKx5swe0UL06rGy8AK7C4vyNxtbr8cLhQccVOyuIsuHsBbLqbybgBrjU59I02II6c/PnE5Vls8Z1AG67WP+C/v02xGKZTAWEaroJSNibjkHT1sOwNrb9MaGVCW1g3AsQpa6kbWN7/D5fDGxnnPct5vE1XlE0cYcSopaLa+6jYfMXFvfC1QVRhKsxW++4Fr8m3+398MdLWeW/LFb2JW4JHTjrcYEeIsrhiH22kbyoH2mUEgodiD/AOJP0PsRYR22Z0P8WHMtzhJE/dlQRYXBHA3/AMGCUhimsCBfqwJHa2OYStNCY2jcswJ4ax5/v+u+C+V+ImTTHWEshFtTHbc8n5HAng9o6eA6uLH0RyAW1E24IAxmAYqw/qikuh407j9D+uMxLJIjpyOf05NRUAsWUjTqOlR2FjYW6ixPtgwauUCnWSMsWIBWQ2O43FrAHgfXFaroRRSSVTxAx6izFhwdr208bknnp77zZaTNWMsOiXzbKpAsCT7Hje3TvsNrauje6a2C9SrzZW8cTkvKCbMNQuOLnpvqFiMCqOqKOgfRGdQQgsUvYmwY32Itffub7XxLSvLNNU6fLa8mlND2sBfYWFrHbAxTPWV7RxQiZ12fQgZ9he/AGwHPOFSBDmhg89aiqip5ArpErIQTpOsEqoYk32723uOLHDFR5xUQ0sCwurxG7+W1OGCsbX5va1utvocKuX0sghZ51FyRqVD0LHddO3JB3PPTBvyaI0/mMSs2kvH6CCHH4QQOb7jr7bnE5xTC5NsZKrxNUoaeKGRaOOSASSfZ0VSpDEHpe1rH/cYpZpVOIPthqIaiRio1KguGHUbgH0m/yv12CDRHA+kySFGXW6DZeeo3BHX2xEKgtG6y2sfSCxOx4PG3fr1J2xNYSXA1t8jZTR0GeUUSuwp6jmFo/So2vuvHPNj12NsKvi6d4KjL4p1dWSN9brsRuvfa22Dvh1jTSulRqEGr0gixQjk/6gbDseObY38ZeHGz+iWsy1lNREhKBXDCUbHY7bkf0xKMlh4u/Bo+0KEuLMpoJbEeaP4iZCLrbkH339t8b/bKmpBOoMHvvbSdxv2APJ46dRwPy6n01BirWlUxkh4y9yu2/uN8W5KCnp2bRE+qJlLhvUCp6j5HG+10YJNJ0SBvtUIVnRyNj6hfcA3526/T548y3NZKSs8vXeJtgtzx1Uj4ewHTEchpKCSOYeUkbmwuos/+nsdu/f442zagpI6xFp/L0SMGKamBX/Sel73G/Nu+BaFTXhpnFLTqFlhLrBKw0Xa6LcE6djwemAdRGsTMiFg1rfit1O1yL/7fnhyo8vkloXpvsruputwCPLY30tvfa+++FvMUraVWjcaJtV2COpVhb8Q3uOb8b39tujO9h8Kd7IrQwRSRh2gcE8+W1lPuAVvjMV455EjVRJKoAG3Nvqt8Zhy1M6f4eyAZgI1zCpokacalSKcSkruSbgEWsLggnkcYrVnhStqDmFVk86rFSKVEVSw1utrvpKgAKVtyDe/OC02ReI8t8OzUtPlkMVQtOsa1tPUh3vYAlVCBxcDgHqed8UM8zDMPCtLC01JSxtUQMkshaL92xuG0qEUnffkizC+MylGTuLsVYeUWfD0stdTSRZNQzzSxxeaQsRk0kfwkAbCxtxzbucVo6Gtoknnq8lq6a7EmJqZkS2wW5IsdyP8ALDB/I/ETZTmEFblWYxPDIClRl9U+iKQHqrgWBHp5H5HDb4lzGq8UeEqhnFLlsKNHJKZKwNoQb32FweLC1za3wbOlyOoJcdnM6WeokMfl3W5WzFxd+rDi4JNvr2wZgp5qmmkDwyQrDLYSSJup5JNlPJAB1bbjvfA+ky14a9EpMzpJ2YaY5rsrLte9vxCwF/y3xIte1LJT0EDpUTOTpRGDljYjSSOdrd732wJS8KLDXLDTJ5UVjN58kh1KiqbdN7m5F7Hcf7nFdBT0lQIacuyuoku76rA8p7bXsdtjgvTZLUwyQQQ1tHIzEp6Z9SpJpOlWsDuSDyNrE9sBM68O+Jclq2q6uOlkhd1UMrq0f4TcWJ1Wtfp8+MIrfZX4LYbRnLy03myqFRVKtKyMAmnqwtuPlfjodtFrKLL6KeqpggQJrYKNNu5FunXb64SMtq44qaWj+0IJpAxcLMdDbkDVbncb+2GWHwrV1GSLDUZrQRxzjVG8TM4Avex2Gw33xCWFGPLOUot0bS5xk+eZTBWV8TxZjOzpCq7C6MBu/IJFudr/AAwDl8Gas+H3bmVS1DJHHI0tjIyFzuGG1+/PB9sGKHwVRwUkFVBnRlgUFm0J5jI459JaxB53sbb4UfEElXQ589M7ebFWWbVAzRmYcKSoNgbEbG4398aINZagyTis2Z8AvPkpabxF9jq54q+CH92jwsygj+a/N/bcdMb00xyasaK8soILxHRsRYm4PsLHjbEWc+Fc5y5WzCvpZI6VGBVpZNPmDj0nubHYb7HbHv2irqGNdSUqCGpf7Nr6BQu6Eb8gDf2PUnFuUTlBPjgN5xV+JjVQBamkiumoRRVcRZ13B2BNrXOxG2+FCTMK7N6pNTGao2RUKhdIF9hb3P64aBXZhS1CwU0EdZI661poQQ6A7tYr+LcHgm2+IMv8NeJM0Ei1GVTsQf3U6041Rt0F9tub4CaXJyjFRTQT/wCg/EkNopKalV0FiBUxgfGx4xmHHJfAOYVGV00lbmsEVQUtIlVlcMsgINt2ZSTxtc8WxmJ6q9QaYN8DVfinxBnay19VVU1HTMJJIDI1mA4Xfm+1z8cS/tB8ORZtmFHST5nVtKLnSzIRGzkWAFhbYD6fW3mIm8OeDaioy2UtLXMh88tpZUbgLvck3tz1PbHOVrqpZI5K+hSrqdtMlUhDFuB6WuCeOnxvfCQTnJzi6QYtJfIa679k2X0dPNJS+KwJYQ14ygNyP4TY87AYAnKq3L6igpc8qJqdKmsjhniEoZnjBvr2J1KO/AIwYy3OM5WSSaLJ6mL1SPrCkKhY9PTba/Ht03OIKzwmlZNLVUU01QInhUmGVdakxqSwHJANybbjtfittbSOtXY+ZOvhqGWSNJqiOqbUgnmC2exsCbqBfjdl5A5665UtWmYvDXS1sBhl8tPtWXiOBxvbS1rbkX27bEXvinmv7Pqenmhlgq8wiEYYsrgTmTe5sSdvp174HZNSVFFm2atS1E+YwU8qafNc/vmKFibudj6r267+14NJq4hzNbEviZaKuzGjynK55Y8xE0sxMMvpjNrqCBydK9CLaieuFrxB4NzulhWrzPOyS/pBeNz6t7A6bkbA9LYzNTVLmVVJmIhpIyBIIEkCyKCCC52IOxsRe9j2GJno6qnio0oqwTyvUi1LHIHq2A2LKhWxsAevXcb4tGLS2YVNXlcbF6XJM4yyYyVssegyiJpI7OpG4NiOdtO3XUPezH4R8KQZ3+6o/EkSFrskUkL3ZBwQQ44vuOe4xB+0vIEy5KB1mzV6eVistTVoYw3XSEsDta/ABuLE22l/Z5mGSZUDFWQ061ugzJVlAFSMKL3Z+Dc225Jtgycoxvk7Lb2D2deFvuCjpoqbOoiszeS0dOulurBr3awFrbadjzhafJ/u+CPMYZDNU0NSskcLuAJ0JXWl+dtAItfZj2w2mkyfMpfOejihr61gcvk0ONTCEOGY7L+Eqbj3Hc41zmkoaGWamzFKeoZAzxRS1BjWRtBIsykG2EjiNvigTTi+TXwnBP4iSvSvq6mraRxJEI53TTGbg6kPpAI4Gnmx64WP2geGaLw/TU1VDSV1A5ffzqkMZUAAIXTwRf8A/bG3h/Jc8uKrw5M9IJ4hKwlQMERiQPxb/wAI77b/ABsVHhXOMzp5KjxdnJo46Kb8ZovNicGwDBgwBBvaxHS2DxK7FU4t1Yt+FKygnzmBM3lSeik1F4wxjZRuQAT11dDsRh4z/NcmyTys98O1NUakOHnWardxLHYKBpN7b2Gwta/YWTPD2U5FTZtXQZlnCQ08YBgm+yl1lFzYg7EGxvcG3PUDHRl8M+H3ylTmMdfNl6xqTLLT1CXBNwQSxO5a+w6nvh5ZWtxXd7cDHldbJmGXU1ZHmBKzxiThja+5Hy4xmKGXVtNl9FFS5VldalDGLQAF7FL3B/Aeb35POMxieDKx8wDzavpKPxFlUVXmvlUlOyyfZ2DOA/EY0KANvxXZtr4a85hy7PMvqKOfOIFEoCiaCNRJGQdVwd+3HbHK86zaZ/FT1LUNQwiW0CSROFbYktxbnb4AYyUVlZZaLKaymJH7yQTek2vqJ2Fhza3Ycnc6IQaSQ7hFq2xkmy+p8P1smXQZlUV1LUU7JTUpqFJcWbUGTbSDqYA37HfcFdoMwTK4oMspIBVZtSVpkFRE5Okrc6I9x6dTC/AO/N8CIcx+x1OZztF/39VTkQxOFmJkZhr3Fggsp23/ABfPE+VSxVeqapyamqFq1srVH/teo3I02v12PFucUrmwJbjplvifxjnk9OlOrwxTPZJgkfINmAN7d+f+S8OX5pl9PmGaZokBqa6carVPmAppCgbKApGkna9745vNLHlVSEyWZYCwIWop6gqRYXI2O5sPgb9cdBjqhVeFaajTXHK6RxyWJsnpJJBO1iS+/G2JzOk32hKmy+CpzWiqZM5lnSSRYTG12bTJe2kH49edyew6o2VJVHK6ialqVmysjySkZU3sF3VuR6eB8ccWyuOqyfPairpMypqWrhW4SWLWmlrAG244K83I2vbDhTeMfECvFJNW00kLIWYimWP1gkhTdQRuT06nfrgzhm3TFz1sW/Geb1s8XkeJ6OianpJDIqRsdM/SwPIvcb264lpsn8P+OcsonXKZ6CoEDeQ8AQLLGraSeRchrAi9xfCf4l8ZivzypiSjjAMjAllZyym3AJNj8O2Og+EvE0NRktBkTOKXMRTrDFLDHrIfSSDpt2G99ud8OrS3EWz3K8H7Parzg8lNHHdl9VK6ROLKFNzY8hR+G1rtgA1H9syQQCop46qnJhd2cylCpPXkcdP7Yu0tf4ips7/9dzqaMQo2iMMqiV7bKU1i1zaxIxpk8EaGZKRYI4SwKxwMHAAX1MbcHv8AAHvhG0nYsp7pCf4brMxWQU+X1KVNPTka45o7BdjYi/I9iAODbbB3M6jP58uWhmqkFKY/LeHRdWHcnc825v364IeIUyvLayGreaKOKWMAOy6TqHpI2/8AH8/cYBfeGWSK0DTsY2JuYgxIHY3Hw+h+bXfBnm5udpAnU+S+UsEkNQzoYFgkgWRrM1wRcW2II6Hfrc4dsom8Uz5NDRU7VzCnplR4Ai3Chdrgi/qANrnfjCHW1+XTMcvaRmhVAQR+JHBsCCTtba47HBDwZLmfiPP6nLIMzbL4pQxLRyyDYXsqm4Yi/FztffDtM0wvLbGMeDfGGbKtdT5ksUUgAWOR5oWWw02KEbHbGYJTfsrzmSQs3iatYnqapwTjMLv/AMh8yBWR/tGzalyqngqjTNJGoUu7OWYdSbXBOLWYeOYs5oJaLNqYVFNrR5EppZI2Cq1zdud7D64R6LPaKOuhjMBkiDjUKokQgceoLuR7DnAefNDmGdn7LS00EcstkhQMYwSQLgMSQTx7fU4OnEfKr4Jc6y9xmX2eOSnAdPNiCyHTGjkFVBJJuARsSeMXoMpnWngE0pSQJt+7ZtPfge+N8xyurhpZc2hqqNKemMVE0d18xvQL6U5IsbXve18HvCWZ+GFyxUzLK4arMdbmRnhv/EbAXIFrW6YMpZY3VlFtsgXRZZU6JWiljAhjMru8RUgC4PqYhRs1t/8AnojQCX7CtRdfMKicMSNlUBd/ZBvxuSbC+EnMZqStz2I06SZZlsmmGWCEhUnUNqOpRsCeL77D2Jw45/VsadKy0azy0XnCMm6iRwPyG/5YnO3ROfIrT+JMkp8ynosvyTLJaSSpZWLxB7gbgg2J3N+vfnBDyPCniSaiqK6kzbLQQFaniRTBcHe97kX2JPbrjna5bTTlUExklD6RHCxckdhb/L4csvrYKOFqavQxyQpby5GOsqb72t1v372xWkhJLKsw1Vfhrwj4ap5c0oqwV9QoCojTxP5QLaQyBRsdQ03+I5wCyjK838XeHB9wS5fSTsStS7VLxySX33ABBB29hbbk453UGCDMxaIRlpNQMcpdrXvYqbDfD/8AshpKuoqpK2iqoonpovISNpAjSq19xcMbent0G+xxzXZ19lD/AKS8TUlf5EuVzyVExUKYGLJbcXLC4XcDk9b8HYpFFWZPVZVBmmUyUs88vnGr8y7RjdH9FvVsTffi3cE2fEH7SfEmQ+IZaFEjlUxhglRFunqIJ/huNtjYbW+OF/P/ABjmfiWqpmzaGOlWlRjBNGCml731cm19IF+1+cCrBVqy54rhqakrPTs3lGGWJn1aDc2ZTvxdkA77264VKSmzitS5WoRgupXUFgeBay3P5YPeIM+zasyLz5J1hrKhw7pGbF3O/pA298ReFMpfPoZ6xqyCGoiZUVZyQFUggHUL7Gx6c4aMXVJCvE01bKNXQx5f9krZ11VDIZWLQMsci6wuldag33a5sB2xRynMBkeepmuWzPeNtUasltJYaSxBuDye3OKmc5dN9uqUgeMlX0hYASslr3I2HFuu+/yxqmSZ1FUQCeikjaZSY9cekyWF7Di59vbBr0qpJo6tkX7SstlyqnfN8zkjrrETLG2lbgkXAHAIsfnjMcSmDJKyymQSLswMdrH64zCZIiaaOq+H8uoc+y1XqqSOO1G7WhLAXWNiOSeoDfEXwKyHJaCkynKq6OG9VL+/MrEkg2K6R0AF797gb9MZjMBvY6DeZf7F2rqHhppADr86Z0bWSbbcj3/2GI8vHk0qSxk6yvPbGYzFFwaV9mM+WoKmqppJdyFmbSNhdYnYH6gfTBTxXI5o6y7X0rHGB2UC4GMxmFolL7Cp4O9WY0itwtREw+JCk/nh38cKoekcKNR8y57/AIP9sZjMQk/5kHG/onLM1Iiq1eNFVmJLHc3478fLFjJM4q8uWpnp2UPCA8dx+Fjtce++MxmNRNcH1D4Wm+8fDOUZjVxQvU1FHE8j+WNyUBOOeftyy2mjyoZ1ErJWLNHTelrKUs53Xi9+uMxmJJ7h7OX+FameqmYTSsyCPy/L/hsdR477c43q6+tyJIKfLaqRIlUMquFcAkBtgwI5Zvqe+MxmKdgpN0yhHNLOiyTSMzArYg6bb9LWtwMF62eoOTUmYy1M804q5NPnSs6oQRuAT/lsZjMdI59FTPqSNc1mtf1BXPG5ZQT+ZOMxmMxMc//Z"><img 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" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ahmadalikarim.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/n_crush_landslide.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://ahmadalikarim.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/n_crush_landslide.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.anwaribrahimclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/landslide2-dec6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 540px; height: 360px;" src="http://www.anwaribrahimclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/landslide2-dec6.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>sc. teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902658061445036466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453358794516054066.post-52449993771600841322010-03-03T20:47:00.002+08:002010-03-03T20:53:57.650+08:00Enviromental Destruction 3A <b>landslide</b> or <b>landslip</b> is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_geological_phenomena" title="List of geological phenomena">geological phenomenon</a> which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments. Although the action of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity" title="Gravity" class="mw-redirect">gravity</a> is the primary driving force for a landslide to occur, there are other contributing factors affecting the original <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slope_stability" title="Slope stability">slope stability</a>. Typically, pre-conditional factors build up specific sub-surface conditions that make the area/slope prone to failure, whereas the actual landslide often requires a trigger before being released.<p>Landslides occur when the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slope_stability" title="Slope stability">stability of a slope</a> changes from a stable to an unstable condition. A change in the stability of a slope can be caused by a number of factors, acting together or alone. Natural causes of landslides include:</p> <ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundwater" title="Groundwater">groundwater</a> (porewater) pressure acting to destabilize the slope</li><li>Loss or absence of vertical vegetative structure, soil nutrients, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_structure" title="Soil structure">soil structure</a> (e.g. after a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildfire" title="Wildfire">wildfire</a>)</li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erosion" title="Erosion">erosion</a> of the toe of a slope by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River" title="River">rivers</a> or ocean <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave" title="Wave">waves</a></li><li>weakening of a slope through saturation by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow" title="Snow">snowmelt</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier" title="Glacier">glaciers</a> melting, or heavy <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain" title="Rain">rains</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake" title="Earthquake">earthquakes</a> adding loads to barely-stable slopes</li><li>earthquake-caused <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_liquefaction" title="Soil liquefaction">liquefaction</a> destabilizing slopes (see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Slide" title="Hope Slide">Hope Slide</a>)</li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcano" title="Volcano">volcanic eruptions</a></li></ul> <p>landslides are aggravated by human activities, Human causes include:deforestation, cultivation and construction, which destabilize the already fragile slopes</p> <ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscillation" title="Oscillation">vibrations</a> from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine" title="Machine">machinery</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic" title="Traffic">traffic</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosive_material" title="Explosive material">blasting</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthworks_%28engineering%29" title="Earthworks (engineering)">earthwork</a> which alters the shape of a slope, or which imposes new loads on an existing slope</li><li>in shallow <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil" title="Soil">soils</a>, the removal of deep-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root" title="Root">rooted</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetation" title="Vegetation">vegetation</a> that binds <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colluvium" title="Colluvium">colluvium</a> to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedrock" title="Bedrock">bedrock</a></li><li>Construction, agricultural or forestry activities (logging) which change the amount of water which infiltrates the soil.</li></ul> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/63/Slide-guerrero1.JPG/437px-Slide-guerrero1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 437px; height: 600px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/63/Slide-guerrero1.JPG/437px-Slide-guerrero1.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a>sc. teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902658061445036466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453358794516054066.post-40017398273160838812010-03-02T21:49:00.003+08:002010-03-02T22:15:13.442+08:00Enviromental Destructions 2<span style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Soil erosion by water, wind and tillage affects both agriculture and the natural environment. Soil loss, and its associated impacts, is one of the most important (yet probably the least well-known) of today's environmental problems </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;">(<span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_758000/758899.stm" target="_top">BBC 2000</a>; <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1148009,00.html" target="_top">Guardian 2004</a></span>)</span>.</span> <blockquote style="font-family:arial;"> <span class="mainmedium" style="font-size:100%;">"The threat of nuclear weapons and man's ability to destroy the environment are really alarming. And yet there are other almost imperceptible changes - I am thinking of the exhaustion of our natural resources, and especially of soil erosion - and these are perhaps <span class="mainmedium">more</span> dangerous still, because once we begin to feel their repercussions it will be too late." </span><span class="maintiny" style="font-size:100%;">(p144 of <i>The Dalai Lama's Little Book of Inner Peace</i>: 2002, Element Books, London)</span> </blockquote> <p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">It isn't easy to find comprehensive information on erosion, however. To a large extent this is because soil erosion does not fit neatly under any one heading: it is studied by geomorphologists, agricultural engineers, soil scientists, hydrologists and others; and is of interest to policy-makers, farmers, environmentalists and many other individuals and groups.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://soilerosion.net/image/africaerosion_s.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 465px; height: 461px;" src="http://soilerosion.net/image/africaerosion_s.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> </p><center class="main_pagetitle"> <p><span style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p></p></center> <table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="10" width="366"> <tbody><tr> <td> <table bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" width="320"> <tbody><tr> <td><br /></td></tr><tr><td><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://soilerosion.net/image/glasod.gif"><img style="width: 677px; height: 1398px;" src="http://soilerosion.net/image/glasod_s.jpg" alt="Global land degradation, as estimated by GLASOD" border="0" /></a></span><br /><br /><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Despite the global nature of the problem of erosion by water, even today we do not have good information regarding the global extent of erosion by water. Data on the severity of erosion is also often limited.<br /></span> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="main">The <a href="http://lime.isric.nl/index.cfm?contentid=158" target="_top">GLASOD study</a> estimated that around 15 per cent of the Earth's ice-free land surface is afflicted by all forms of land degradation. Of this, accelerated soil erosion by water is responsible for about 56 per cent and wind erosion is responsible for about 28 per cent.</span></span> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">This means that the area affected by water erosion is, very roughly, around 11<br /></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">million square km., and the area affected by wind erosion is around 5.5 million square km. </span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The area affected by tillage erosion is currently unknown.</span> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Because soil is formed slowly, it is essentially a finite resource. The severity of the global erosion problem is only now becoming widely appreciated.</span> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p>sc. teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902658061445036466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453358794516054066.post-77165081600702874442010-03-01T20:28:00.003+08:002010-03-01T21:08:25.862+08:00ENVIROMENTALISME<b>Environmentalism</b> is a broad philosophy and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_movement" title="Social movement">social movement</a> regarding concerns for environmental <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_movement" title="Conservation movement">conservation</a> and improvement of the state of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_%28biophysical%29" title="Environment (biophysical)">environment</a>. Environmentalism and environmental concerns are often represented by the colour green.<br /><p>Environmentalism can also be defined as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_movement" title="Environmental movement">social movement</a> that seeks to influence the political process by lobbying, activism, and education in order to protect natural resources and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecosystem" title="Ecosystem">ecosystems</a>. In recognition of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human" title="Human">humanity</a> as a participant in ecosystems, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_movement" title="Environmental movement">environmental movement</a> is centered on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecology" title="Ecology">ecology</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health" title="Health">health</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights" title="Human rights">human rights</a>.</p> <p>An <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmentalist" title="Environmentalist">environmentalist</a></b> is a person who may advocate stewardship of the natural environment and the sustainable management of its resources through changes in public policy or individual behavior by supporting practices such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling" title="Recycling">recycling</a>. In various ways (for example, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grassroots" title="Grassroots">grassroots</a> activism and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests" title="Protests" class="mw-redirect">protests</a>), environmentalists and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_organization" title="Environmental organization">environmental organizations</a> seek to give the natural world a stronger voice in human affairs.</p> <p>In recent years environmentalism has frequently been called, or compared to, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion" title="Religion">religion</a> by its <a href="http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig8/ostrowski-john1.html" class="external text" rel="nofollow">detractors</a>. This is usually done at the same time as pointing out what are perceived as extremist viewpoints or actions of self-identified environmentalists or groups.</p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Enviromental Movement</span><br /></p>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_movement" title="Environmental movement">environmental movement</a> (a term that sometimes includes the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_movement" title="Conservation movement">conservation</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_movement" title="Green movement" class="mw-redirect">green</a> movements) is a diverse scientific, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_movement" title="Social movement">social</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_movement" title="Political movement">political movement</a>. In general terms, environmentalists advocate the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability" title="Sustainability">sustainable</a> management of resources, and the protection (and restoration, when necessary) of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_environment" title="Natural environment">natural environment</a> through changes in public policy and individual behavior. In its recognition of humanity as a participant in ecosystems, the movement is centered around <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecology" title="Ecology">ecology</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health" title="Health">health</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights" title="Human rights">human rights</a>. Additionally, throughout history, the movement has been incorporated into religion. The movement is represented by a range of organizations, but has a younger demographic than is common in other social movements (see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_seniors" title="Green seniors">green seniors</a>). Because of its large membership, varying and strong beliefs, the movement is not entirely united. Some argue that an environmental ethic of at least some sort is so urgently needed in all quarters and that the broader the movement is the better. Conversely, others assert that disunity can be a weakness in the face of strong opposition from unsympathetic political and industrial forces.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Free Market Enviromentalism</span><br />Free market environmentalism is a theory that argues that the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_market" title="Free market">free market</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Property_rights" title="Property rights" class="mw-redirect">property rights</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tort" title="Tort">tort</a> law provide the best tools to preserve the health and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability" title="Sustainability">sustainability</a> of the environment. It considers environmental stewardship to be natural, as well as the expulsion of polluters and other aggressors through individual and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_action" title="Class action">class action</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Preservation and Conservation</span><b><br />Environmental preservation</b> in the United States is viewed as the setting aside of natural resources to prevent damage caused by contact with humans or by certain human activities, such as logging, mining, hunting, and fishing, only to replace them with new human activities such as tourism and recreation.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmentalism#cite_note-9"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Regulations and laws may be enacted for the preservation of natural resources.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Organizations and Conferences</span><br />Environmental organizations can be global, regional, national or local; they can be government-run or private (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGO" title="NGO" class="mw-redirect">NGO</a>). Despite a tendency to see environmentalism as an American or Western-centered pursuit, almost every country has its share of environmental activism. Moreover, groups dedicated to community development and social justice may also attend to environmental concerns. <p>There are some volunteer organizations. For example <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ecoworld&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Ecoworld (page does not exist)">Ecoworld</a>, which is about the environment and is based in team work and volunteer work. Some US environmental organizations, among them the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Resources_Defense_Council" title="Natural Resources Defense Council">Natural Resources Defense Council</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_Defense_Fund" title="Environmental Defense Fund">Environmental Defense Fund</a>, specialize in bringing lawsuits (a tactic seen as particularly useful in that country). Other groups, such as the US-based <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Wildlife_Federation" title="National Wildlife Federation">National Wildlife Federation</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nature_Conservancy" title="The Nature Conservancy">the Nature Conservancy</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wilderness_Society_%28United_States%29" title="The Wilderness Society (United States)">The Wilderness Society</a>, and global groups like the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Fund_for_Nature" title="World Wide Fund for Nature">World Wide Fund for Nature</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friends_of_the_Earth" title="Friends of the Earth">Friends of the Earth</a>, disseminate information, participate in public hearings, lobby, stage demonstrations, and may purchase land for preservation. Smaller groups, including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_Conservation_International" title="Wildlife Conservation International">Wildlife Conservation International</a>, conduct research on endangered species and ecosystems. More radical organizations, such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenpeace" title="Greenpeace">Greenpeace</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_First%21" title="Earth First!">Earth First!</a>, and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Liberation_Front" title="Earth Liberation Front">Earth Liberation Front</a>, have more directly opposed actions they regard as environmentally harmful. While <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenpeace" title="Greenpeace">Greenpeace</a> is devoted to nonviolent confrontation as a means of bearing witness to environmental wrongs and bringing issues into the public realm for debate, the underground Earth Liberation Front engages in the clandestine destruction of property, the release of caged or penned animals, and other criminal acts. Such tactics are regarded as unusual within the movement, however.</p> <p>On an international level, concern for the environment was the subject of a UN conference in Stockholm in 1972, attended by 114 nations. Out of this meeting developed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNEP" title="UNEP" class="mw-redirect">UNEP</a> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Environment_Programme" title="United Nations Environment Programme">United Nations Environment Programme</a>) and the follow-up <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Summit" title="Earth Summit" class="mw-redirect">United Nations Conference on Environment and Development</a> in 1992. Other international organizations in support of environmental policies development include the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commission_for_Environmental_Cooperation" title="Commission for Environmental Cooperation">Commission for Environmental Cooperation</a> (NAFTA), the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Environment_Agency" title="European Environment Agency">European Environment Agency</a> (EEA), and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change" title="Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> (IPCC).</p><p>For more information, please click <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Environment"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Enviroment Portal</span></a></p><p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Environment"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></a></p><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/BDX/BDX001/bxp63640.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 113px;" src="http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/BDX/BDX001/bxp63640.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/BDX/BDX229/bxp40085.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 107px;" src="http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/BDX/BDX229/bxp40085.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/CSP/CSP133/k1337461.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 127px;" src="http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/CSP/CSP133/k1337461.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/CSP/CSP094/k0944611.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 112px;" src="http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/CSP/CSP094/k0944611.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/CSP/CSP157/k1574228.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 111px;" src="http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/CSP/CSP157/k1574228.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/UNY/UNY623/u17855871.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 112px;" src="http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/UNY/UNY623/u17855871.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmentalism#cite_note-Light.2C_Dark_and_Bright_Green_Environmentalism-0"><span></span></a>sc. teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902658061445036466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453358794516054066.post-16622735622505596182010-02-19T19:07:00.003+08:002010-02-19T20:01:44.544+08:00Endangered Species<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Dhole.jpg/250px-Dhole.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 329px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Dhole.jpg/250px-Dhole.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> dhole<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Siberischer_tiger_de_edit02.jpg/250px-Siberischer_tiger_de_edit02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 188px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Siberischer_tiger_de_edit02.jpg/250px-Siberischer_tiger_de_edit02.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> Siberian tiger<br /><br /><br />An <b>endangered species</b> is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters. Also it could mean that due to deforestation there may be a lack of food and/or water. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Union_for_Conservation_of_Nature" title="International Union for Conservation of Nature">International Union for Conservation of Nature</a> (IUCN) has calculated the percentage of endangered species as 40 percent of all organisms based on the sample of species that have been evaluated through 2006. (Note: the IUCN groups all threatened species for their summary purposes.) Many nations have <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law" title="Law">laws</a> offering protection to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_reliant_species" title="Conservation reliant species">conservation reliant species</a>: for example, forbidding <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunting" title="Hunting">hunting</a>, restricting land development or creating preserves. Only a few of the many species at risk of extinction actually make it to the lists and obtain <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law" title="Law">legal</a> protection. Many more species become extinct, or potentially will become extinct, without gaining public notice.<br /><h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Impact_on_biodiversity_and_endangered_species">Impact on biodiversity and endangered species</span></h2> <p>In order to conserve the biodiversity of the planet, one must take into consideration the reasons why so many species are becoming endangered. “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitat_loss" title="Habitat loss" class="mw-redirect">Habitat loss</a> is the most widespread cause of species endangerment in the U.S., affecting 85% of imperiled species” (Wilcove & Master, 2008, p. 416). When an animal’s ecosystem is not maintained, they lose their home and are either forced to adapt to new surroundings or perish. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution" title="Pollution">Pollution</a> is another factor that causes many species to become endangered, especially a large proportion of aquatic life. Also, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over-exploitation" title="Over-exploitation" class="mw-redirect">over-exploitation</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disease" title="Disease">disease</a> (Wilcove & Master, 2008, p. 416), and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change" title="Climate change">climate change</a> (Kotiaho et al., 2005, p. 1963) have led to the endangerment of several species.</p> <p>However, the most important factor leading to the endangerment of the majority of wildlife in the world is the human impact on the species and their environment. “As human use of resources, energy, and space intensified over the past few centuries, the diversity of life has been substantially diminished in most parts of the world” (Ishwaran & Erdelen, 2006, p.179). Basically, as the human impact on the environment increases, the diversity of life decreases. Humans are constantly using the resources and space of other species for themselves, negatively impacting the survival rate of many creatures.</p> <p>Humans also set standards for which species they think should be saved and which species they find unimportant or undesirable. For example, the coqui frog, an invasive species in Hawaii, is so common there that its “nocturnal singing” reduces the value of homes and prevents hotels from using rooms near forests. Hawaiians have proposed eliminating the frog, and several wildlife managers want to release a pathogen to kill the frogs (Minteer & Collins, 2005, p. 333). The frog has decreased the value of homes and caused a loss of business for several hotels, so the Hawaiians decided it was acceptable to get rid of the group of coqui frog living near them.</p> <p>Another example where the human impact affected the welfare of a species sex in the instance of non-native mute swans establishing themselves at Arrowhead Lake in Vermont. When the population of swans grew to eight birds, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department decided to take action. Two swans were eventually killed, angering animal welfare organizations and people living near the lake (Minteer & Collins, 2005, p. 333). The case of the Arrowhead Lake swans demonstrates what one considers the natural environment based on human assumptions. Simply because the swans were not normally living there does not mean it is not part of their natural habitat, and there is certainly no reason for them to be destroyed because of human dissatisfaction.</p> <p>Yet another example of the human impact in the lives of endangered species is that of the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse. Research has shown that the mouse is not taxonomically different from the Bear Lodge meadow jumping mouse and the US Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed removing the Preble’s mouse from the endangered species list based on this information (Minteer & Collins, 2005, p. 333).</p> <p>A final example of the human impact on existing species is the issue of toe clipping in ecological research. While ecologists are doing research on different species to advance their knowledge of methods of conservation, they must take into consideration the impact they have on the wildlife they are studying. Toe clipping “has been reported to result in a number of adverse effects on the animals, including inflammation and infection of the feet and limbs” (Minteer & Collins, 2005, p. 334). This example demonstrates how humans must take into consideration the well-being of the animal even before they perform research to help conserve the species. The human impact on species and their environments has many negative effects. It is important for humans to help maintain all species in the world and not deter their development.<span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></p><h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Species_maintaining_importance">Species maintaining importance</span></h2> <p>“Diversity of life and living systems are a necessary condition for human development” (Ishwaran & Erdelen, 2006, p.179). Many question the importance of maintaining biodiversity in today’s world, where conservation efforts prove costly and time consuming. The fact is that the preservation of all species is necessary for human survival. Species should be saved for “aesthetic and moral justifications; the importance of wild species as providers of products and services essential to human welfare; the value of particular species as indicators of environmental health or as keystone species crucial to the functioning of ecosystems; and the scientific breakthroughs that have come from the study of wild organisms” (Wilcove & Master, 2008, p. 418). In other words, species serve as a source of art and entertainment, provide products such as medicine for human well-being, indicate the welfare of the overall environment and ecosystem, and provided research that resulted in scientific discoveries. An example of an “aesthetic justification” in conserving endangered species is that of the introduction of the gray wolf into Yellowstone National Park. The gray wolf has brought numerous amounts of tourists to the park and added to the biodiversity in the protected region (Wilcove & Master, 2008, p. 418).</p> <p>Another example, supporting the conservation of endangered species as providers of products for human well-being, is the scrub mint. It has been found that the scrub mint contains an anti-fungal agent and a natural insecticide (Wilcove & Master, 2008, p. 418). Also, the deterioration of the bald eagle and the peregrine falcon “alerted people to the potential health hazards associated with the widespread spraying of DDT and other persistent pesticides” (Wilcove & Master, 2008, p. 418).</p><h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Helping_preserve_endangered_species">Helping preserve endangered species</span></h2> <p>It is the goal of conservationists to create and expand upon ways to preserve endangered species and maintain biodiversity. There are several ways in which one can aid in preserving the world’s species who are nearing extinction. One such way is obtaining more information on different groups of species, especially invertebrates, fungi, and marine organisms, where sufficient data is lacking.</p> <p>For example, to understand the causes of population declines and extinction an experiment was conducted on the butterfly population in Finland. In this analysis, the butterflies’ endangered list classification, distribution, density, larval specificity, dispersal ability, adult habitat breadth, flight period and body size were all recorded and examined to determine the threatened state of each species. It was found that the butterflies’ distribution has declined by fifty-one and a half percent, and they have a severely restricted habitat. One example of specific butterflies who have a declining distribution rate are the Frigga’s Fritillary and Grizzled Skipper, who have been affected by habitat loss due to extensive draining of the bogs where they live (Kotiaho et al., 2005, p. 1963-1967). This experiment proves that when we know the causes of endangerment, we can successfully create solutions for the management of biodiversity.</p> <p>Another way to help preserve endangered species is to create a new professional society dedicated to ecological ethics. This could help ecologists make ethical decisions in their research and management of biodiversity. Also, creating more awareness on environmental ethics can help encourage species preservation. “Courses in ethics for students, and training programs for ecologists and biodiversity managers” all could create environmental awareness and prevent violations of ethics in research and management (Minteer & Collins, 2005, p. 336). One final way in which one can conserve endangered species is through federal agency investments and protection enacted by the federal government. “Ecologists have proposed biological corridors, biosphere reserves, ecosystem management, and ecoregional planning as approaches to integrate biodiversity conservation and socioeconomic development at increasingly larger spatial scales” (Ishwaran & Erdelen, 2006, p.179).</p> <p>One example of a federal mandated conservation zone is the Northwest Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument, the largest marine protected area in the world. The monument is essential to the preservation of underwater communities and overfished regions. Only researchers working in the area are permitted to fish, no corals may be removed, and the Department of Homeland Security will enforce restrictions on vessels passing through the waters via satellite imaging. The monument will serve as a home to an estimated seven thousand species, most of which cannot be found anywhere else in the world (Raloff, 2006, p. 92). This environmental monument demonstrates the fact that it is possible to create a safe environment for endangered species, as well as maintaining some of the world’s largest ecosystems.</p><h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Captive_breeding_programs">Captive breeding programs</span></h2><p>Captive breeding is the process of breeding rare or endangered species in human controlled environments with restricted settings, such as wildlife preserves, zoos and other conservation facilities. Captive breeding is meant to save species from going extinct. It is supposed to stabilize the population of the species so it is no longer at risk for disappearing.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_species#cite_note-9"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></p> <p>This technique has been used with success for many species for some time, with probably the oldest known such instances of captive mating being attributed to menageries of European and Asian rulers, a case in point being the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pere_David%27s_Deer" title="Pere David's Deer" class="mw-redirect">Pere David's Deer</a>. However, captive breeding techniques are usually difficult to implement for highly mobile species like some migratory birds (eg. cranes) and fishes (eg. Hilsa). Additionally, if the captive breeding population is too small, inbreeding may occur due to a reduced <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_pool" title="Gene pool">gene pool</a>; this may lead to the population lacking <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immunity_%28medical%29" title="Immunity (medical)">immunity</a> to diseases.</p><h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Legal_private_farming_for_profit">Legal private farming for profit</span></h2> <p>Whereas poaching causes substantial reductions in endangered animal populations, legal private farming for profit has the opposite effect. Legal private farming has caused substantial increases in the populations of both the southern <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_rhinoceros" title="Black rhinoceros" class="mw-redirect">black rhinoceros</a> and the southern <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_rhinoceros" title="White rhinoceros" class="mw-redirect">white rhinoceros</a>. Dr Richard Emslie, a scientific officer at the IUCN, said of such programs, "Effective law enforcement has become much easier now that the animals are largely privately owned... We have been able to bring local communities into the conservation programmes. There are increasingly strong economic incentives attached to looking after rhinos rather than simply poaching: from eco-tourism or selling them on for a profit. So many owners are keeping them secure. The private sector has been key to helping our work. " <sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_species#cite_note-10"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></p> <p>Conservation experts view the effect of China's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_farming" title="Turtle farming">turtle farming</a> on the wild turtle populations of China and South-Eastern Asia - many of which are endangered - as "poorly understood".<sup id="cite_ref-scale_11-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_species#cite_note-scale-11"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> While they commend the gradual replacement of wild-caught turtles with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_farming" title="Turtle farming">farm-raised ones</a> gradually in the marketplace ( the percentage of farm-raised individuals in the "visible" trade growing from around 30% in 2000 to around 70% ca. 2007),<sup id="cite_ref-ff_12-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_species#cite_note-ff-12"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> they are concerned with the fact that a lot of wild animals are caught to provide farmers with the breeding stock. As the conservation expert <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_Paul_van_Dijk&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Peter Paul van Dijk (page does not exist)">Peter Paul van Dijk</a> noted, turtle farmers often believe in the superiority of wild-caught animals as the breeding stock, which may create an incentive for turtle hunters to seek and catch the very last remaining wild specimens of some endangered turtle species.<sup id="cite_ref-ff_12-1" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_species#cite_note-ff-12"><span></span><span></span></a></sup></p> <p>In 2009, researchers in Australia managed for the first time to coax <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_bluefin_tuna" title="Southern bluefin tuna">southern bluefin tuna</a> to breed in landlocked tanks, opening up the possibility of using <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_farming" title="Fish farming">fish farming</a> as a way to save the species from the problems of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overfishing" title="Overfishing">overfishing</a> in the wild.</p><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;">Pitcher Plant</span></div> <p align="CENTER"><em><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;">Sarracenia oreophila</span></em></p> <p align="CENTER"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:180%;"><img src="http://library.thinkquest.org/5802/_borders/pitcher.jpg" alt="pitcher.tif (531260 bytes)" width="93" height="120" /></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> <span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;">The Pitcher Plant has hollow leaves which hold water, which gives it its name. There are eighty kinds of pitcher plants. They are found in tropical wetlands, mostly in Malaysia, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka.</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> The leaves of the pitcher plant can be from two inches to more than two feet in length. Large pitcher plants can trap small frogs and mice, and small plants can catch insects. Rainwater fills the jugs of the plant. Around the lip of the pitcher, nectar is produced. This attracts flies who like the nectar. As they search farther into the jug, they slip down into it and drown. There it is digested by the plant.</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> People are growing carnivorous plants in indoor greenhouses. This helps preserve these fascinating plants. If they were left to grow in their natural habitat, they would be destroyed by people draining the marshlands where the plant lives to build buildings and roads.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><br /></span></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;">Arizona Cliffrose</span> </div><i><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"> </span></i><p align="CENTER"><i><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;">Purshia subintegra</span></i></p> <p align="CENTER"><i><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"> </span></i></p><p align="CENTER"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:uIO0eorUDQiKJM:http://www.naturesongs.com/vvplants/azcliffrose2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 137px; height: 103px;" src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:uIO0eorUDQiKJM:http://www.naturesongs.com/vvplants/azcliffrose2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p align="CENTER"><br /></p><p align="CENTER"></p><p align="CENTER"><i><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"> </span></i></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"> <span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:130%;" >The Arizona Cliffrose is found in four counties in the state of Arizona: Mojave, Graham, Yavapai and Maricopa. It is a member of the Rosaceae family, which includes the rose, blackberry, and hawthorn plants. </span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> It is an evergreen shrub that grows about 1.5 meters tall. It has white and yellow petals, and is the leaves are gray in color. It is found in limestone lakebed deposits, and is food for muledeer. People like to use them as decorative plants for their homes.</span></p> <span style="font-family: arial;font-size:130%;" > It is on the endangered species list because of the damage done to them by off-road vehicle traffic, mining, pesticides, and road construction.</span><p align="CENTER"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;">Venus Fly Trap</span></p> <span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><i> </i></span><p align="CENTER"><i><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;">Dionaea Muscipula</span></i></p> <p align="CENTER"><i><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><img src="http://library.thinkquest.org/5802/_borders/venus.jpg" alt="venus.tif (535676 bytes)" width="143" height="104" /></span></i></p> <p align="CENTER"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:130%;" >The Venus Fly Trap belongs to the Doseraceae, or Sundew, family of plants. There are over 150 species. The Venus Fly Trap grows in between Florida and North and South Carolina. They grow well in acidic, boggy areas. </span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> It is a carnivorous plant, which means it eats insects. If a fly lands on its leaves, it touches the adaxial receptors, which are small hairs on the plant. These receptors have to be touched three times before the chemical reaction occurs that makes the Venus Fly Trap close its leaves in a quick motion. The fly is then stuck in the leaf and can’t get out. The bug is then "digested" by the plant. The plant can digest things three times before it dies.</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Their natural habitats are being destroyed by development in its region. If you want one, it is best to buy one from a plant nursery rather than take one from its natural habitat.</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> You can buy a Venus Fly Trap at big hardware chain stores, and they cost about three to five dollars. You have to transplant your plant in the spring in a peat moss mix. If you want to feed your plant, you should let it have a live bug, because the motion helps its feeding instinct.</span></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Rafflesia</span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="binomial"><i>Rafflesia arnoldii</i></span></b><br /></div><br /><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:4QEee3XNXhnVrM:http://www.funnyphotos.net.au/images/rafflesia-corpse-flower-or-meat-flower.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 124px; height: 106px;" src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:4QEee3XNXhnVrM:http://www.funnyphotos.net.au/images/rafflesia-corpse-flower-or-meat-flower.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><i><b>Rafflesia arnoldii</b></i> is a member of the genus <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafflesia" title="Rafflesia">Rafflesia</a></i>. It is noted for producing the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largest_organism" title="Largest organism" class="mw-redirect">largest individual flower</a> on earth, and a strong odor of decaying flesh - the latter point earning it the nickname of "corpse flower". It occurs only in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainforest" title="Rainforest">rainforests</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumatra" title="Sumatra">Sumatra</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borneo" title="Borneo">Borneo</a> in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_Archipelago" title="Indonesian Archipelago" class="mw-redirect">Indonesian Archipelago</a>. Although there are some plants with larger flowering organs like the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_Arum" title="Titan Arum" class="mw-redirect">Titan Arum</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talipot_palm" title="Talipot palm" class="mw-redirect">Talipot palm</a>, those are technically clusters of many flowers.</p><p style="font-family: arial;">Several species of <i>Rafflesia</i> grow in the jungles of southeast Asia, including the Philippines. Many of them are threatened or endangered. The flower of <i>Rafflesia arnoldii</i> is the largest which attains a diameter of nearly one <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meter" title="Meter" class="mw-redirect">meter</a> (3 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_%28length%29" title="Foot (length)">ft</a>) and can weigh up to 11 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilogram" title="Kilogram">kilograms</a> (24 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_%28mass%29" title="Pound (mass)">lb</a>).<sup class="Template-Fact" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from June 2009" style="white-space: nowrap;"><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><br /></a></i></sup></p> <p style="font-family: arial;">It lives as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasite" title="Parasite" class="mw-redirect">parasite</a> on the <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrastigma" title="Tetrastigma">Tetrastigma</a></i> vine, which grows only in primary (undisturbed) rainforests. <i>Rafflesia</i> lacks any observable <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaf" title="Leaf">leaves</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_stem" title="Plant stem">stems</a> or even <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root" title="Root">roots</a>, yet is still considered a vascular plant. Similar to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungi" title="Fungi" class="mw-redirect">fungi</a>, individuals grow as thread-like strands of tissue completely embedded within and in intimate contact with surrounding <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Host_%28biology%29" title="Host (biology)">host cells</a> from which <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutrients" title="Nutrients" class="mw-redirect">nutrients</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water" title="Water">water</a> are obtained. Perhaps the only part of <i>Rafflesia</i> that is identifiable as distinctly plant-like are the flowers; although, even these are unusual since they attain massive proportions, have a reddish-brown coloration and stink of rotting flesh, which is why it was nicknamed the "corpse flower". This scent attracts insects such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flies" title="Flies" class="mw-redirect">flies</a> which then pollinate the rare plant. It is not to be confused with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_Arum" title="Titan Arum" class="mw-redirect">Titan Arum</a>, <i>Amorphophallus titanum</i>, which is also commonly referred to as the "corpse flower".</p> <h2><span class="editsection"><br /></span></h2><p><br /></p>sc. teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902658061445036466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453358794516054066.post-883353775247832612010-02-17T23:40:00.005+08:002010-02-18T11:14:27.929+08:00Endangered Species<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://teachers.greenville.k12.sc.us/sites/ekrezdor/Endangered%20Exotics/American%20Endangered%20Species.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 563px; height: 695px;" src="http://teachers.greenville.k12.sc.us/sites/ekrezdor/Endangered%20Exotics/American%20Endangered%20Species.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);font-size:130%;" >Habitat Destruction</span><br /><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;">When discussing the causes of endangerment, it is important to understand that individual species are not the only factors involved in this dilemma. Endangerment is a broad issue, one that involves the habitats and environments where species live and interact with one another. Although some measures are being taken to help specific cases of endangerment, the universal problem cannot be solved until humans protect the natural environments where endangered species dwell.</span></p> <span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;">There are many reasons why a particular species may become endangered. Although these factors can be analyzed and grouped, there are many causes that appear repeatedly. Below are several factors leading to endangerment:</span></p><span style="font-size:130%;">Our planet is continually changing, causing habitats to be altered and modified. Natural changes tend to occur at a gradual pace, usually causing only a slight impact on individual species. However, when changes occur at a fast pace, there is little or no time for individual species to react and adjust to new circumstances. This can create disastrous results, and for this reason, rapid habitat loss is the primary cause of species endangerment. The strongest forces in rapid habitat loss are human beings. Nearly every region of the earth has been affected by human activity, particularly during this past century. The loss of microbes in soils that formerly supported tropical forests, the extinction of fish and various aquatic species in polluted habitats, and changes in global climate brought about by the release of greenhouse gases are all results of human activity.</span> <span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;">It can be difficult for an individual to recognize the effects that humans have had on specific species. It is hard to identify or predict human effects on individual species and habitats, especially during a human lifetime. But it is quite apparent that human activity has greatly contributed to species endangerment. For example, although tropical forests may look as though they are lush, they are actually highly susceptible to destruction. This is because the soils in which they grow are lacking in nutrients. It may take Centuries to re-grow a forest that was cut down by humans or destroyed by fire, and many of the world's severely threatened animals and plants live in these forests. If the current rate of forest loss continues, huge quantities of plant and animal species will disappear.</span></p> <span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><center> <span style="font-size:130%;"> <b> <p><a name="Introduction of Exotic Species" href="http://www.endangeredspecie.com/causes_of_endangerment.htm">Introduction of Exotic Species</a></p> </b> </span></center> <span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;">Native species are those plants and animals that are part of a specific geographic area, and have ordinarily been a part of that particular biological landscape for a lengthy period of time. They are well adapted to their local environment and are accustomed to the presence of other native species within the same general habitat. Exotic species, however, are interlopers. These species are introduced into new environments by way of human activities, either intentionally or accidentally. These interlopers are viewed by the native species as foreign elements. They may cause no obvious problems and may eventual be considered as natural as any native species in the habitat. However, exotic species may also seriously disrupt delicate ecological balances and may produce a plethora of unintended yet harmful consequences.</span></p> <span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;">The worst of these unintended yet harmful consequences arise when introduced exotic species put native species in jeopardy by preying on them. This can alter the natural habitat and can cause a greater competition for food. Species have been biologically introduced to environments all over the world, and the most destructive effects have occurred on islands. Introduced insects, rats, pigs, cats, and other foreign species have actually caused the endangerment and extinction of hundreds of species during the past five centuries. Exotic species are certainly a factor leading to endangerment.</span></p> <span style="font-size:130%;"> <b> </b></span><center> <span style="font-size:130%;"><b> </b></span><p><span style="font-size:130%;"><b><a name="Overexploitation" href="http://www.endangeredspecie.com/causes_of_endangerment.htm"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Overexploitation</span></a></b></span></p> </center> <span style="font-size:130%;"><b> </b></span><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;">A species that faces <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">overexploitation</span> is one that may become severely endangered or even extinct due to the rate in which the species is being used. Unrestricted whaling during the 20<sup><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">th</span></sup> century is an example of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">overexploitation</span>, and the whaling industry brought many species of whales to extremely low population sizes. When several whale species were nearly extinct, a number of nations (including the United States) agreed to abide by an international moratorium on whaling. Due to this moratorium, some whale species, such as the grey whale, have made remarkable comebacks, while others remain threatened or endangered.</span></p> <span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;">Due to the trade in animal parts, many species continue to suffer high rates of exploitation. Even today, there are demands for items such as rhino horns and tiger bones in several areas of Asia. It is here that there exists a strong market for traditional medicines made from these animal parts.</span></p> <span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><center> <span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><p><span style="font-size:130%;"><b><a name="More Factors" href="http://www.endangeredspecie.com/causes_of_endangerment.htm">More Factors</a></b></span></p> </center> <span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;">Disease, pollution, and limited distribution are more factors that threaten various plant and animal species. If a species does not have the natural genetic protection against particular pathogens, an introduced disease can have severe effects on that specie. For example, rabies and canine distemper viruses are presently destroying carnivore populations in East Africa. Domestic animals often transmit the diseases that affect wild populations, demonstrating again how human activities lie at the root of most causes of endangerment. Pollution has seriously affected multiple terrestrial and aquatic species, and limited distributions are frequently a consequence of other threats; populations confined to few small areas due to of habitat loss, for example, may be disastrously affected by random factors.</span></p><p align="left"><br /></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ways You Can Help Endangered Species<br /></span></span></p><p align="left"><br /></p><p><strong><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);font-size:130%;" >Conserve Habitats</span></strong></p> <center> <table border="0" width="99%" height="354"> <tbody><tr> <td width="100%" height="350"> <ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><b>One of the most important ways to help threatened plants and animals survive is to protect their habitats permanently in national parks, nature reserves or wilderness areas. There they can live without too much interference from humans. It is also important to protect habitats outside reserves such as on farms and along roadsides.</b></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><b>You can visit a nearby national park or nature reserve. Some national parks have special guided tours and walks for kids. Talk to the rangers to find out whether there are any threatened species and how they are being protected. You and your friends might be able to help the rangers in their conservation work.</b></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><b>When you visit a national park, make sure you obey the wildlife code: follow fire regulations; leave your pets at home; leave flowers, birds’ eggs, logs and bush rocks where you find them; put your rubbish in a bin or, better still, take it home.</b></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><b>If you have friends who live on farms, encourage them to keep patches of bush as wildlife habitats and to leave old trees standing, especially those with hollows suitable for nesting animals.</b></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><b>Some areas have groups which look after local lands and nature reserves. They do this by removing weeds and planting local native species in their place. You could join one of these groups, or even start a new one with your parents and friends. Ask your local parks authority or council for information.</b></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><b>By removing rubbish and weeds and replanting with natives you will allow the native bush to gradually regenerate. This will also encourage native animals to return.</b> </span></li></ul> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </center> <p> </p> <table border="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td width="100%"> <p align="left"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);font-size:130%;" ><b>Make Space For Our Wildlife</b></span></p> <ul msimagelist=""><li><b>Build a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">birdfeeder</span> and establish a birdbath for the neighborhood birds.</b></li><li><b>Plant a tree and build a birdhouse in your backyard.</b></li><li><b>Start composting in your backyard garden or on your balcony. It eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers which are harmful to animals and humans, and it benefits your plants!</b></li><li><b>Ask your parents not to use harmful chemicals in your garden or home.</b></li></ul> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p> </p> <table border="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td width="100%"> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);font-size:130%;" ><b>Recycle, Reduce, And Reuse </b></span> </p><ul msimagelist=""><li><b>Encourage your family to take public transportation. Walk or ride bicycles rather than using the car.</b></li><li><b>Save energy by turning off lights, radios and the TV when you are not using them.</b></li><li><b>Turn off the tap while you brush your teeth and use water-saving devices on your toilet, taps and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">showerhead</span>.</b></li><li><b>Ask your parents to buy products and food without packaging whenever possible. Take your own bag to the store. It will reduce the amount of garbage and waste your family produces.</b></li><li><b>Recycle your toys, books and games by donating them to a hospital, daycare, nursery school or children's charity.</b></li><li><b>Encourage your family to shop for organic fruits and vegetables.</b><br /></li></ul> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table border="0" width="94%" height="108"> <tbody><tr> <td width="100%" height="144"><b><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);font-size:130%;" >Plant Native Plants That Are Local To The Area </span></b> <ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><b>If you can, plant native plants instead of non-native or introduced ones in your garden. You don’t want seeds from introduced plants escaping into the bush. Native grasses, flowers, shrubs and trees are more likely to attract native birds, butterflies and other insects, and maybe even some threatened species.</b></span></li></ul> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table border="0" width="94%" height="108"> <tbody><tr> <td width="100%" height="1"> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);font-size:130%;" ><b>Control Introduced Plants And Animals </b></span> </p> <ul><li> <p style="line-height: 100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><b>Non-native plants and animals are ones that come from outside your local area.</b></span> </p></li><li> <p style="line-height: 100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><b>Some parks and reserves, beaches, bush-land and rivers are now infested with invasive plants, and native species often cannot compete with these plants. </b></span> </p></li><li> <p style="line-height: 100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" > <b> Many environmental weeds come from people’s gardens. </b></span> </p></li><li> <p style="line-height: 100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" > <b> Sometimes, the seeds are taken into the bush by the wind or by birds.</b></span> </p></li><li> <p style="line-height: 100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><b>Controlling these foreign species is an important step in protecting wildlife</b><br /> <br /> </span> </p></li></ul> </td></tr></tbody></table> <table border="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td width="100%"><b><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);font-size:130%;" >Join An Organization </span></b> <ul><li><b><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" >There are many community groups working on conservation activities. Join an organization in your area and start helping today!</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);font-size:130%;" > <br /> </span></b> </li></ul> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p> </p> <p><strong><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);font-size:130%;" >Make Your Voice Heard</span></strong></p> <ul msimagelist=""><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><b>State and territory government conservation agencies are responsible for the management of national parks and the protection of wildlife. They are sometimes supported by public foundations.</b></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><b>Tell your family, friends and work mates about threatened species and how they can help them.</b></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><b>Start a group dedicated to protecting a threatened plant or animal in your area or perhaps to help care for a national park.</b></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><b>Write articles or letters about threatened species to newspapers.</b></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><b>Ring up talk-back radio programs to air your concerns, or arrange to talk on your community radio station.</b></span></li></ul><p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Why Save Endangered Species</span></span><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Plants and animals hold medicinal, agricultural, ecological, commercial and aesthetic/recreational value. Endangered species must be protected and saved so that future generations can experience their presence and value.</b></p> <b> <p align="CENTER"><span style="color: rgb(173, 52, 88);font-size:180%;" >Medicinal</span></p> </b> <p><b>Plants and animals are responsible for a variety of useful medications. In fact, about forty percent of all prescriptions written today are composed from the natural compounds of different species. These species not only save lives, but they contribute to a prospering pharmaceutical industry worth over $40 billion annually. Unfortunately, only 5% of known plant species have been screened for their medicinal values, although we continue to lose up to 100 species daily.</b></p> <p><b>The Pacific yew, a slow-growing tree found in the ancient forests of the Pacific Northwest, was historically considered a "trash" tree (it was burned after <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">clearcutting</span>). However, a substance in its bark <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">taxol</span> was recently identified as one of the most promising treatments for ovarian and breast cancer.</b></p> <p><b>Additionally, more than 3 million American heart disease sufferers would perish within 72 hours of a heart attack without digitalis, a drug derived from the purple foxglove.</b></p> <p> </p> <p align="CENTER"><b><span style="color: rgb(173, 52, 88);font-size:180%;" >Agricultural</span></b></p> <p><b>There are an estimated 80,000 edible plants in the world. Humans depend upon only 20 species of these plants, such as wheat and corn, to provide 90% of the world's food. Wild relatives of these common crops contain essential disease-resistant material. They also provide humans with the means to develop new crops that can grow in inadequate lands such as in poor soils or drought-stricken areas to help solve the world hunger problem. In the 1970s, genetic material from a wild corn species in Mexico was used to stop a leaf fungus that had previously wiped out 15% of the U.S. corn crop.</b></p> <p align="CENTER"><b><span style="color: rgb(173, 52, 88);font-size:180%;" >Ecological</span></b></p> <p><b>Plant and animal species are the foundation of healthy ecosystems. Humans depend on ecosystems such as coastal estuaries, prairie grasslands, and ancient forests to purify their air, clean their water, and supply them with food. When species become endangered, it is an indicator that the health of these vital ecosystems is beginning to unravel. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that losing one plant species can trigger the loss of up to 30 other insect, plant and higher animal species.</b></p> <p><b>The northern spotted owl, listed as threatened in 1990, is an indicator of the declining health of the ancient forests of the Pacific Northwest. These forests are the home to over 100 other old-growth dependent species, which are at risk due to decades of unsustainable forest management practices.</b></p> <p><b>Pollution off the coast of Florida is killing the coral reefs along the Florida Keys, which serve as habitat for hundreds of species of fish. Commercial fish species have begun to decline, causing a threat to the multi-million dollar tourism industry, which depends on the quality of the environment.</b></p> <p align="CENTER"><b><span style="color: rgb(173, 52, 88);font-size:180%;" >Commercial</span></b></p> <p><b>Various wild species are commercially raised, directly contributing to local and regional economies. Commercial and recreational salmon fishing in the Pacific Northwest provides 60,000 jobs and $1 billion annually in personal income, and is the center of Pacific Northwest Native American culture. This industry and way of life, however, is in trouble as salmon decline due to habitat degradation from dams, clearcutting, and overgrazing along streams.</b></p> <p><b>Freshwater mussels which are harvested, cut into beads, and used to stimulate pearl construction in oysters form the basis of a thriving industry which supports approximately 10,000 U.S. jobs and contributes over $700 million to the U.S. economy annually. Unfortunately, 43% of the freshwater mussel species in North America are currently endangered or extinct.</b></p> <p> </p> <p align="CENTER"><b><span style="color: rgb(173, 52, 88);font-size:180%;" >Aesthetic/Recreational</span></b></p> <p><b>Plant and animal species and their ecosystems form the basis of America’s multi-billion dollar, job-intensive tourism industry. They also supply recreational, spiritual, and quality-of-life values as well.</b></p> <p><b>Each year over 108 million people in the United States participate in wildlife-related recreation including observing, feeding, and photographing wildlife. Americans spend over $59 billion annually on travel, lodging, equipment, and food to engage in non-consumptive wildlife recreation. Our national heritage of biological diversity is an invaluable and irreplaceable resource. Our quality of life and that of future generations depends on our preservation of plant and animal species.</b></p> <span style="font-size:78%;"> <p align="center"><br /></p></span><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></p><div align="center"><center><table style="border-collapse: collapse;" border="0" bordercolor="#111111" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="4" width="600"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" align="center" width="100%"><br /></td></tr><tr><td align="center" width="50%"><br /></td><td align="center" width="50%"><br /></td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" align="center" width="100%"><img src="file:///D:/New%20Folder/endangeredspec/states/colorbar2.gif" width="526" height="1" /></td> </tr> </tbody></table> </center></div> <span style="font-size:130%;"><strong></strong></span>sc. teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902658061445036466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453358794516054066.post-76316428355799332732010-02-16T23:15:00.007+08:002010-02-18T11:16:57.573+08:00Science Yearly Planner for Primary School1. <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/scteamgroup/home/yearly-planner/YEAR1SCIENCESCHEMEOFWORK.DOC">Year 1</a><br /><br />2. <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/scteamgroup/home/yearly-planner/YEAR2SCIENCESCHEMEOFWORK.doc">Year 2</a><br /><br />3. <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/scteamgroup/home/yearly-planner/YEAR3SCIENCESCHEMEOFWORK.doc">Year 3</a><br /><br />4. <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/scteamgroup/home/yearly-planner/YEAR4SCIENCESCHEMEOFWORK.doc">Year 4</a><br /><br />5. <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/scteamgroup/home/yearly-planner/YEAR5SCIENCESCHEMEOFWORK.doc">Year 5</a><br /><br />6. <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/scteamgroup/home/yearly-planner/YEAR6SCIENCESCHEMEOFWORK.doc">Year 6</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://sites.google.com/site/scteamgroup/home/yearly-planner/YEAR6SCIENCESCHEMEOFWORK.DOC"></a>sc. teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902658061445036466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453358794516054066.post-67748800329464469062010-02-13T22:47:00.017+08:002010-02-17T17:04:27.524+08:00The Extinct Animals<span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Tyrannosaurus rex</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Tyrannosaurus (pronounced /tɨˌrænɵˈsɔrəs/ or /taɪˌrænɵˈsɔrəs/, meaning 'tyrant lizard') from the Greek words τυραννος (tyrannos, meaning "tyrant") and σαυρος (sauros, meaning "lizard") , was a genus of theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex ('rex' meaning 'king' in Latin), commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other tyrannosaurids. Fossils are found in a variety of rock formations dating to the last three million years of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 68 to 65 million years ago. It was among the last non-avian dinosaurs to exist prior to the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:U75keP72foq2uM:http://yepyep.gibbs12.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/bryce9-t-rex.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 127px; height: 95px;" src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:U75keP72foq2uM:http://yepyep.gibbs12.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/bryce9-t-rex.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Like other tyrannosaurids, Tyrannosaurus was a bipedal carnivore with a massive skull balanced by a long, heavy tail. Relative to the large and powerful hindlimbs, Tyrannosaurus forelimbs were small, though unusually powerful for their size, and bore two clawed digits. Although other theropods rivaled or exceeded Tyrannosaurus rex in size, it was the largest known tyrannosaurid and one of the largest known land predators, measuring up to 13 metres (43 ft) in length,[1] up to 4 metres (13 ft) tall at the hips,[2] and up to 6.8 metric tons (7.5 short tons) in weight.[3] By far the largest carnivore in its environment, Tyrannosaurus rex may have been an apex predator, preying upon hadrosaurs and ceratopsians, although some experts have suggested it was primarily a scavenger. The debate over Tyrannosaurus as apex predator or scavenger is among the longest running debates in paleontology.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >More than 30 specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex have been identified, some of which are nearly complete skeletons. Soft tissue and proteins have been reported in at least one of these specimens. The abundance of fossil material has allowed significant research into many aspects of its biology, including life history and biomechanics. The feeding habits, physiology and potential speed of Tyrannosaurus rex are a few subjects of debate. Its taxonomy is also controversial, with some scientists considering Tarbosaurus bataar from Asia to represent a second species of Tyrannosaurus and others maintaining Tarbosaurus as a separate genus. Several other genera of North American tyrannosaurids have also been synonymized with Tyrannosaurus.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Dodo : Raphus cucullatus</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.animalport.com/img/Dodo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 162px; height: 200px;" src="http://www.animalport.com/img/Dodo.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean, was the only home of the dodo, a large, flightless bird that weighed up to 14 kg and was very good to eat. Dodos were an easy-to-catch source of food for sailors and settlers.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Having developed in isolation, the dodo easily fell victim to this new pressure. In addition, forest clearing destroyed the bird’s habitat, and introduced pigs, goats, cats, rats, and monkeys became competitors as well as predators.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >First seen by Europeans in 1507, the dodo was extinct by 1681. Today it is represented in museums by only parts of skeletons and one complete skeleton made up of many individuals.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Quagga</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Quagga-london.jpg/180px-Quagga-london.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 127px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Quagga-london.jpg/180px-Quagga-london.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The quagga (Equus quagga quagga) is an extinct subspecies of the Plains zebra,which was once found in great numbers in South Africa's Cape Province and the southern part of the Orange Free State. It was distinguished from other zebras by having the usual vivid marks on the front part of the body only. In the mid-section, the stripes faded and the dark, inter-stripe spaces became wider, and the rear parts were a plain brown. The name comes from a Khoikhoi word for zebra and is onomatopoeic, being said to resemble the quagga's call. The only quagga to have ever been photographed alive was a mare at the Zoological Society of London's Zoo in Regent's Park in 1870.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The quagga lived in the drier parts of South Africa, on grassland. The northern limit seems to have been the Orange River in the west and the Vaal River in the east; the south-eastern border may have been the Great Kei River. It was hunted for its meat and hide, and is one of the many victims of modern mass extinction.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The quagga was originally classified as an individual species, Equus quagga, in 1778. Over the next 50 years or so, many other zebras were described by naturalists and explorers. Because of the great variation in coat patterns (no two zebras are alike), taxonomists were left with a great number of described "species", and no easy way to tell which of these were true species, which were subspecies, and which were simply natural variants.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Long before this confusion was sorted out, the quagga had been hunted to extinction for meat, hides, and to preserve feed for domesticated stock. The last wild quagga was probably shot in the late 1870s, and the last specimen in captivity, a mare, died on August 12, 1883 at the Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam. Because of the confusion between different zebra species, particularly among the general public, the quagga had become extinct before it was realized that it appeared to be a separate species.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The quagga was the first extinct creature to have its DNA studied. Recent genetic research at the Smithsonian Institution has demonstrated that the quagga was in fact not a separate species at all, but diverged from the extremely variable plains zebra, Equus burchelli, between 120,000 and 290,000 years ago, and suggests that it should be named Equus burchelli quagga. However, according to the rules of biological nomenclature, where there are two or more alternative names for a single species, the name first used takes priority. As the quagga was described about thirty years earlier than the plains zebra, it appears that the correct terms are E. quagga quagga for the quagga and E. quagga burchelli for the plains zebra, unless "Equus burchelli" is officially declared to be a nomen conservandum.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >After the very close relationship between the quagga and surviving zebras was discovered, the Quagga Project was started by Reinhold Rau in South Africa to recreate the quagga by selective breeding from plains zebra stock, with the eventual aim of reintroducing them to the wild. This type of breeding is also called breeding back. In early 2006, it was reported that the third and fourth generations of the project have produced animals which look very much like the depictions and preserved specimens of the quagga, though whether looks alone are enough to declare that this project has produced a true "re-creation" of the original quagga is controversial.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >DNA from mounted specimens was successfully extracted in 1984, but the technology to use recovered DNA for breeding does not yet exist. In addition to skins such as the one held by the Natural History Museum in London, there are 23 known stuffed and mounted quagga throughout the world. A twenty-fourth specimen was destroyed in Königsberg, Germany (now Kaliningrad), during World War II.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Saber Tooth Tiger</span><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" 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"><img 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" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Saber tooth tigers lived many, many years ago back when the earth was trapped in an Ice Age. At that time, woolly mammoths and mastodons roamed the icy land. Smilodons, which were a type of saber tooth tiger, were a tiny bit smaller than the panthers that live today. However, smilodons were heavier than panthers, weighing a whopping 440 lbs. The smilodons were the biggest kind of saber tooth. Saber tooths were very fierce predators. The saber tooth tiger was about the size of the African lion. Some saber tooth tigers grew up to 15 feet in length!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Scientists say that saber tooth tigers probably ate mammoths, antelope, deer, and buffalo. When they ate animals bigger than themselves, such as mammoths and buffalo, they would have had a big group of saber tooths, called a pack, kill the animal. Scientists also think that some saber tooth tigers could have possibly lived in grassy or woody habitats, but others could have lived in icy lands. Saber tooths lived in many places in Asia and Europe. However, some saber tooth tiger remains have been found in the La Brea tar pits in California. These bones are said to be over 10,000 years old. Obviously, the saber tooth made its way to North America.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Wooly Mammoth</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Wooly_Mammoth-RBC.jpg/180px-Wooly_Mammoth-RBC.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 120px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Wooly_Mammoth-RBC.jpg/180px-Wooly_Mammoth-RBC.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The woolly mammoth is common in the fossil record. Unlike most other prehistoric animals, their remains are often not literally fossilized - that is, turned into stone - but rather are preserved in their organic state. This is due in part to the frozen climate of their habitats, and also to their massive size. Woolly mammoths are therefore among the best-understood prehistoric vertebrates known to science in terms of anatomy.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Woolly mammoths lived in two groups (maybe subspecies). One group stayed in the middle of the high Arctic, while the other group had a much wider range.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >While large, woolly mammoths were not as gigantic as sometimes imagined. In fact, they were not noticeably taller than present-day Asian elephants, though they were heavier. Fully grown mammoth bulls reached heights between 2.8 m (9.2 ft) and 4.0 m (13 ft); the dwarf varieties reached between 1.8 m (5.9 ft) and 2.3 m (7.5 ft). They could weigh up to 8 tonnes (8.8 tons).[citation needed]</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Woolly mammoths had a number of adaptations to the cold, most famously the thick layer of shaggy hair, up to 1 meter in length with a fine underwool, for which the woolly mammoth is named. The coats were similar to those of muskoxen and it is likely mammoths moulted in summer. They also had far smaller ears than modern elephants; the largest mammoth ear found so far was only 30 cm (12 in) long, compared to 180 cm (71 in) for an African elephant. Other characteristic features included a high, peaked head that appears knob-like in many cave paintings and a high shoulder hump resulting from long spines on the neck vertebrae that probably carried fat deposits. Another feature at times found in cave paintings was confirmed by the discovery of the nearly intact remains of a baby mammoth named Dima. Unlike the trunk lobes of living elephants, Dima's upper lip at the tip of the trunk had a broad lobe feature, while the lower lip had a broad, squarish flap.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Their teeth were also adapted to their diet of coarse tundra grasses, with more plates and a higher crown than their southern relatives. Their skin was no thicker than that of present-day elephants, but unlike elephants they had numerous sebaceous glands in their skin which secreted greasy fat into their hair, improving its insulating qualities. They had a layer of fat up to 8 cm (3.1 in) thick under the skin which, like the blubber of whales, helped to keep them warm.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Woolly mammoths had extremely long tusks — up to 5 m (16 ft) long — which were markedly curved, to a much greater extent than those of elephants. It is not clear whether the tusks were a specific adaptation to their environment, but it has been suggested[who?] that mammoths may have used their tusks as shovels to clear snow from the ground and reach the vegetation buried below. This is evidenced by flat sections on the ventral surface of some tusks. It has also been observed in many specimens that there may be an amount of wear on top of the tusk that would suggest some animals had a preference as to which tusk it rested its trunk on.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Tasmanian Tiger</span><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="data:image/jpg;base64,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"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; 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display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 183px; height: 267px;" src="http://208.106.181.133/_media/imgs/articles/a98_Thylacine.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The thylacine (pronounced /ˈθaɪləsaɪn/, or in Australia /ˈθaɪləsiːn/, also /ˈθaɪləsɨn/) (binomial name: Thylacinus cynocephalus; Greek for "dog-headed pouched one") was the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times. It is commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger (because of its striped back), the Tasmanian wolf, and colloquially the Tassie (or Tazzy) tiger or simply the tiger. Native to continental Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea, it is thought to have become extinct in the 20th century. It was the last extant member of its genus, Thylacinus, although several related species have been found in the fossil record dating back to the early Miocene.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The thylacine had become extremely rare or extinct on the Australian mainland before European settlement of the continent, but it survived on the island state of Tasmania along with several other endemic species, including the Tasmanian devil. Intensive hunting encouraged by bounties is generally blamed for its extinction, but other contributory factors may have been disease, the introduction of dogs, and human encroachment into its habitat. Despite its official classification as extinct, sightings are still reported, though none proven.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Like the tigers and wolves of the Northern Hemisphere, from which it obtained two of its common names, the thylacine was an apex predator. As a marsupial, it was not closely related to these placental mammals, but because of convergent evolution it displayed the same general form and adaptations. Its closest living relative is thought to be either the Tasmanian devil or numbat.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The thylacine was one of only two marsupials to have a pouch in both sexes (the other being the water opossum). The male thylacine had a pouch that acted as a protective sheath, protecting the male's external reproductive organs while running through thick brush.</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The modern Thylacine first appeared about 4 million years ago. Species of the Thylacinidae family date back to the beginning of the Miocene; since the early 1990s, at least seven fossil species have been uncovered at Riversleigh, part of Lawn Hill National Park in northwest Queensland. Dickson's Thylacine (Nimbacinus dicksoni) is the oldest of the seven discovered fossil species, dating back to 23 million years ago. This thylacinid was much smaller than its more recent relatives. The largest species, the powerful thylacine (Thylacinus potens) which grew to the size of a wolf, was the only species to survive into the late Miocene. In late Pleistocene and early Holocene times, the modern Thylacine was widespread (although never numerous) throughout Australia and New Guinea.</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The skulls of the Thylacine (left) and the Timber Wolf, Canis lupus, are almost identical although the species are unrelated. Studies show the skull shape of the Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes, is even closer to that of the Thylacine.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >An example of convergent evolution, the thylacine showed many similarities to the members of the Canidae (dog) family of the Northern Hemisphere: sharp teeth, powerful jaws, raised heels and the same general body form. Since the thylacine filled the same ecological niche in Australia as the dog family did elsewhere it developed many of the same features. Despite this, it is unrelated to any of the Northern Hemisphere predators.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The indigenous peoples of Australia made first contact with the thylacine. Numerous examples of thylacine engravings and rock art have been found dating back to at least 1000 BC. Petroglyph images of the Thylacine can be found at the Dampier Rock Art Precinct on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia. By the time the first explorers arrived, the animal was already rare in Tasmania. Europeans may have encountered it as far back as 1642 when Abel Tasman first arrived in Tasmania. His shore party reported seeing the footprints of "wild beasts having claws like a Tyger". Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, arriving with the Mascarin in 1772, reported seeing a "tiger cat". Positive identification of the Thylacine as the animal encountered cannot be made from this report since the Tiger Quoll (Dasyurus maculatus) is similarly described. The first definitive encounter was by French explorers on 13 May 1792, as noted by the naturalist Jacques Labillardière, in his journal from the expedition led by D'Entrecasteaux. However, it was not until 1805 that William Paterson, the Lieutenant Governor of Tasmania, sent a detailed description for publication in the Sydney Gazette.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The first detailed scientific description was made by Tasmania's Deputy Surveyor-General, George Harris in 1808, five years after first settlement of the island. Harris originally placed the Thylacine in the genus Didelphis, which had been created by Linnaeus for the American opossums, describing it as Didelphis cynocephala, the "dog-headed opossum". Recognition that the Australian marsupials were fundamentally different from the known mammal genera led to the establishment of the modern classification scheme, and in 1796 Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire created the genus Dasyurus where he placed the thylacine in 1810. To resolve the mixture of Greek and Latin nomenclature the species name was altered to cynocephalus. In 1824, it was separated out into its own genus, Thylacinus, by Temminck. The common name derives directly from the genus name, originally from the Greek θύλακος (thýlakos), meaning "pouch" or "sack".</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Several studies support the thylacine as being a basal member of the Dasyuromorphia and that the Tasmanian devil is its closest living relative. However, research published in Genome Research in January 2009 suggests that the numbat may be more basal than the devil and more closely related to the thylacine</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Steller's Sea Cow</span><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="data:image/jpg;base64,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"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 141px; height: 94px;" src="data:image/jpg;base64,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" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) is a large extinct sirenian mammal. Formerly abundant throughout the North Pacific, its range was limited to a single, isolated population on the uninhabited Commander Islands by 1741 when it was first described by Georg Wilhelm Steller, chief naturalist on an expedition led by explorer Vitus Bering. Within 27 years of discovery by Europeans, the slow moving and easily</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >captured Steller's sea cow was hunted to extinction.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The sea cow grew at least 8 metres (26 ft) long, much larger than the manatee or dugong. Steller's work contains two contradictory weights: 4 and 24.3 tons. The true value probably lies between these figures, around 8-10 tons. It looked somewhat like a large seal, but had two stout forelimbs and a whale-like tail. According to Steller, "The animal never comes out on shore, but always lives in the water. Its skin is black and thick, like the bark of an old oak…, its head in proportion to the body is small…, it has no teeth, but only two flat white bones—one above, the other below". It was completely tame, according to Steller. They fed on a variety of kelp. Wherever sea cows had been feeding, heaps of stalks and roots of kelp were washed ashore. The sea cow was also a slow swimmer and apparently was unable to submerge.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The population of sea cows was small and limited in range when Steller first described them. Steller said they were numerous and found in herds, but zoologist Leonhard Hess Stejneger later estimated that at discovery there had been less than 1,500 remaining, and thus had been in immediate danger of extinction from overhunting by humans. They were quickly wiped out by the sailors, seal hunters, and fur traders that followed Bering's route past the islands to Alaska, who hunted them both for food and for their skins, which were used to make boats. They were also hunted for their valuable subcutaneous fat, which was not only used for food (usually as a butter substitute), but also for oil lamps because it did not give off any smoke or odor and could be kept for a long time in warm weather without spoiling. By 1768, 27 years after it had been discovered by Europeans, Steller's sea cow was extinct.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Fossils indicate that Steller's sea cow was formerly widespread along the North Pacific coast, reaching south to Japan and California. Given the rapidity with which its last population was eliminated, it is likely that aboriginal hunting caused its extinction over the rest of its original range (aboriginal peoples apparently never inhabited the Commander Islands).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >It has been argued that the sea cow's decline may have also been an indirect response to the harvest of sea otters by aboriginal people from the inland areas. With the otters reduced, the population of sea urchins would have increased and reduced availability of algae, the Steller's Sea Cow's primary source of food. Thus, aboriginal hunting of both species may have contributed to the sea cow's disappearance from continental shorelines.However, in historic times aboriginal hunting had depleted sea otter populations only in localized areas. The sea cow would have been easy prey for aboriginal hunters, who would likely have exterminated accessible populations with or without simultaneous otter hunting. In any event, the sea cow was limited to coastal areas off islands without a human population by the time Bering arrived, and was already endangered.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Irish Deer</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="data:image/jpg;base64,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"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 109px; height: 78px;" src="data:image/jpg;base64,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" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Megaloceros.jpg/457px-Megaloceros.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 457px; height: 599px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Megaloceros.jpg/457px-Megaloceros.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The Irish Elk or Giant Deer (Megaloceros giganteus), was a species of Megaloceros and one of the largest deer that ever lived. Its range extended across Eurasia, from Ireland to east of Lake Baikal, during the Late Pleistocene. The latest known remains of the species have been carbon dated to about 7,700 years ago. Although large numbers of skeletons have been found in Irish bogs, its common name, Irish Elk, is misleading as the animal was not exclusively Irish, and neither was it closely related to either of the living species currently called elk; for this reason, the name "Giant Deer" is preferred in more recent publications.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Megaloceros giganteus first appeared about 400,000 years ago. It possibly evolved from M. antecedens. The earlier taxon — sometimes considered a paleosubspecies M. giganteus antecedens — is similar but had more compact antlers.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The Irish Elk stood about 2.1 metres (6.9 ft) tall at the shoulders, and it had the largest antlers of any known cervid (a maximum of 3.65 m (12.0 ft) from tip to tip and weighing up to 40 kilograms (88 lb)). In body size, the Irish Elk matched the extant moose subspecies of Alaska (Alces alces gigas) as the largest known deer. A significant collection of M. giganteus skeletons can be found at the Natural History Museum in Dublin.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The size of Irish Elk antlers is distinctive, and several theories have arisen as to their evolution. One theory was that their antlers, under constant and strong sexual selection, increased in size because males were using them in combat for access to females; it was also suggested that they eventually became so unwieldy that the Irish Elk could not carry on the normal business of life and so became extinct. It was not until Stephen Jay Gould's important 1974 essay on Megaloceros that this theory was tested rigorously.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Gould demonstrated that for deer in general, species with a larger body size have antlers that are more than proportionately larger, a consequence of allometry, or differential growth rate of body size and antler size during development. Irish Elk had antlers of just the size one would predict from their body size. This does not mean that sexual selection played no part in maintaining large antler size, only that the antlers of the species' ancestors were already large to begin with. Indeed, Gould concluded that the large antler size and their position on the skull was very much maintained by sexual selection: they were morphologically ill-suited for combat between males, but their position was ideal to present them to intimidate rivals or impress females. Unlike other deer, M. giganteus did not even have to turn its head to present the antlers to best effect, but could accomplish this by simply looking straight ahead.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Discussion of the cause of their extinction has focused on the antlers (rather than on their overall body size), which may be due more to their impact on the observer than any actual property. Some have suggested hunting by man was a contributing factor in the demise of the Irish Elk as it may have been with other prehistoric megafauna, even assuming that the large antler size restricted the movement of males through forested regions or that it was by some other means a "maladaptation" (see Gould 1974). But evidence for overhunting is equivocal, and as a continental species, it would have co-evolved with humans throughout its existence and presumably have adapted to their presence.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >A folk memory of the Irish Elk was once thought to be preserved in the Middle High German word Shelch, a large beast mentioned in the 13th-century Niebelungenlied along with the then-extant aurochs (Dar nach schluch er schiere, einen Wisent und einen Elch, Starcher Ure vier, und einen grimmen Schelch / "After this he straightway slew a Bison and an Elk, Of the strong Wild Oxen four, and a single fierce Schelch."). The Middle Irish word segh was also suggested as a reference to the Irish Elk. These interpretations are now considered improbable.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >More recent research pointed out that high amounts of calcium and phosphate compounds are required to form antlers, and therefore large quantities of these minerals are required for the massive structures of the Irish Elk. The males (and male deer in general) met this requirement partly from their bones, replenishing them from food plants after the antlers were grown or reclaiming the nutrients from discarded antlers (as has been observed in extant deer). Thus, in the antler growth phase, Giant Deer were suffering from a condition similar to osteoporosis.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >When the climate changed at the end of the last glacial period, the vegetation in the animal's habitat also changed towards species that presumably could not deliver sufficient amounts of the required minerals, at least in the western part of its range. The most recent specimen of M. giganteus in northern Siberia, dated to approximately 8,000 years ago - well after the end of the last glacial period - shows no sign of nutrient stress. They come from a region with a continental climate where the proposed vegetation changes had not (yet) occurred.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >It is easy to advance a number of hypotheses regarding the disappearance of the more localized populations of this species. The situation is less clear regarding the final demise of the Irish Elk in continental Eurasia east of the Urals. Stuart et al. (2004) tentatively suggest that a combination of human presence along rivers and slow decrease in habitat quality in upland areas presented the last Irish Elk with the choice of either good habitat but considerable hunting pressure, or general absence of humans in a suboptimal habitat.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Caspian Tiger</span><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="data:image/jpg;base64,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"><img 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alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The </span><b style="font-family: arial;">Caspian tiger</b><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > (</span><i style="font-family: arial;">Panthera tigris virgata)</i><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, also known as the </span><b style="font-family: arial;">Persian tiger</b><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, </span><b style="font-family: arial;">Turanian tiger</b><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, </span><b style="font-family: arial;">Mazandaran tiger</b><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > or </span><b style="font-family: arial;">Hyrcanian tiger</b><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > was found in </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran" title="Iran">Iran</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasus" title="Caucasus">Caucasus</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq" title="Iraq">Iraq</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan" title="Afghanistan">Afghanistan</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey" title="Turkey">Turkey</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolia" title="Mongolia">Mongolia</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakhstan" title="Kazakhstan">Kazakhstan</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrgyzstan" title="Kyrgyzstan">Kyrgyzstan</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajikistan" title="Tajikistan">Tajikistan</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkmenistan" title="Turkmenistan">Turkmenistan</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, and </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzbekistan" title="Uzbekistan">Uzbekistan</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > until it apparently became </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction" title="Extinction">extinct</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > in the late 1950s, though there have been several alleged sightings of the tiger in the more recent years.</span><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >First thought to have been it's own distinct </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subspecies" title="Subspecies">subspecies</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, genetic research in 2009 proved that the animal was closely related to the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberian_tiger" title="Siberian tiger">Siberian tiger</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > (</span><i style="font-family: arial;">P. t. altaica</i><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >).</span><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > Separated by only one letter of genetic code, it is believed that the two split off from each other only in the past century. Some researchers suggest that it may be possible to reintroduce the closely related Siberian Tiger to the Caspian tiger's historical range in hopes of recreating this now-extinct </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_cat" title="Big cat">big cat</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The Caspian tiger's body was generally less massive than that of its Far Eastern cousins, and its average size slightly less. In </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkestan" title="Turkestan">Turkestan</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, male tigers exceeded 200 cm in length, though an estimated body length of 270 cm was recorded. Females were smaller in size, normally ranging between 160-180 cm. The maximum known weight was 240 kg. Maximum skull length in males was 297.0-365.8 mm, while that of females was 195.7-255.5 mm. Although tigers from Turkestan never reached the size of the Siberian tiger, there are records of very large individuals of the former population. On January 10, 1954, a tiger killed on the Sumbar in </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopet-Dag" title="Kopet-Dag" class="mw-redirect">Kopet-Dag</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > had a skull length of 385 mm, which is considerably more than the known maximum for this population and slightly exceeds that of most Far Eastern tigers,</span><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > though tigers in </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchuria" title="Manchuria">Manchuria</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > have been recorded as having larger skulls of 406 mm in length.</span> <p style="font-family: arial;" face="arial">The main background colour of its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelage" title="Pelage" class="mw-redirect">pelage</a> varied, though generally, it was brighter and more uniform than that of Far Eastern tigers. The stripes were narrower, fuller and more closely set than those of the Siberian tiger. The colour of its stripes were a mixture of brown or cinnamon shades. Pure black patterns were invariably found only on the head, neck, the middle of the back and at the tip of the tail. Angular patterns at the base of the tail were less developed than those of the Far Eastern populations. The contrast between the summer and winter coats was sharp, though not to the same extent as in Far Eastern populations. The winter coat was paler, with less distinct patterns. The summer coat had a similar density and hair length to that of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengal_tiger" title="Bengal tiger">Bengal tiger</a>, though its stripes were usually narrower, longer and closer set<span style="text-decoration: underline;">.</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" face="arial">In the southeast Trans-Caucasus, the Caspian tiger was mostly confined to the forests of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talysh" title="Talysh">Talysh</a> lowlands in areas where streams and reed thickets along marine lagoons were adjacent. In Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, the tiger favored river and lake basins, densely grown reeds, plume grass or tugai forests consisting of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poplar" title="Poplar" class="mw-redirect">poplar</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleaster" title="Oleaster" class="mw-redirect">oleaster</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow" title="Willow">willow</a>. The Caspian tiger was sometimes encountered in montane belts, in summer ascending up to the permanent snowling in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Tigers were captured in fir and juniper groves at heights of 2,500-3,000 meters above sea level in Kygryz, Trans-Ili and Dzhunarsk Alatau mountains. Generally, the Caspian tiger thrived in areas with an abundance of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_boar" title="Wild boar">wild boar</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bactrian_deer" title="Bactrian deer">Bactrian deer</a>, large water supplies, dense thickets and low snow cover.</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" face="arial">In the southeast Trans-Caucasus, the Caspian tiger's main prey was wild boar, though it occasionally fed on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_deer" title="Roe deer" class="mw-redirect">roe deer</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_deer" title="Red deer" class="mw-redirect">red deer</a> and domestic animals such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog" title="Dog">dogs</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle" title="Cattle">cattle</a> in winter. Tigers in Iran ate the same species with the addition of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gazelle" title="Gazelle">gazelle</a>. The Caspian tiger's prey in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan was primarily boar, as well as Bactrian deer. In the lower Amu-Darya River, tigers sometimes preyed on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackal" title="Jackal">jackals</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_cat" title="Jungle cat" class="mw-redirect">jungle cats</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locust" title="Locust">locusts</a>. On the Zhana-Darya and around the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea" title="Aral Sea">Aral Sea</a> in Kazakhstan, as well as boar, the tiger fed on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saiga" title="Saiga" class="mw-redirect">saiga</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goitered_gazelle" title="Goitered gazelle" class="mw-redirect">goitered gazelle</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_horse" title="Wild horse">wild horses</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_Wild_Ass" title="Mongolian Wild Ass">Mongolian Wild Ass</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_sheep" title="Mountain sheep" class="mw-redirect">mountain sheep</a>. In Tadzhikistan and other regions of central Asia, as well as Kazakhstan, tigers frequently attacked dogs, horses and rarely <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel" title="Camel">camels</a>. In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baikal" title="Baikal" class="mw-redirect">Baikal</a>, the Caspian tiger fed on wild boar, roe deer, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchurian_wapiti" title="Manchurian wapiti">Manchurian wapiti</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose" title="Moose">moose</a> and livestock. Like the Siberian tiger, the Caspian tiger rarely became a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-eater" title="Man-eater">man-eater</a>, unlike the Bengal tiger.</p><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > New genetic analysis revealed that the extinct Caspian tiger lives on in the Siberian Tiger (</span><i style="font-family: arial;">Panthera tigris altaica</i><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >). Researchers from the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Oxford" title="University of Oxford">University of Oxford</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > in the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a> collected tissue samples from 20 Caspian tiger specimens kept in museums across Eurasia. Afterwards, researchers from the <a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._National_Cancer_Institute" title="U.S. National Cancer Institute" class="mw-redirect">U.S. National Cancer Institute</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > (NCI) Laboratory of Genomic Diversity in </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick,_Maryland" title="Frederick, Maryland">Frederick, Maryland</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, sequenced parts of five mitochondrial genes. The Caspian Tiger's </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_DNA" title="Mitochondrial DNA">mitochondrial DNA</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > is only one letter of genetic code separated from Siberian Tiger DNA, while it is readily distinguishable from the DNA of other tiger subspecies. This indicates that the Caspian and the Siberian subspecies are really one. The scientists have concluded that the two are so similar because both were descended from the same migrating ancestor. The ancestor colonized Central Asia via the narrow Gansu Corridor (</span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road" title="Silk Road">Silk Road</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >) from eastern China. The researchers suggest that through the early 1900s, Caspian and Siberian tiger populations intermingled, but hunters subsequently isolated the two groups. This resulted in the Siberian population splitting off from the Caspian population only in the past century.</span><br /><br /><p style="font-family: arial;" face="arial">Until the 19th century, Caspian tigers still inhabited wide spaces of Western and Central Asia. In the mid-1800s, Caspian tigers were killed 180 km northeast of Atbasar, Kazakhstan and as far North as near <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnaul" title="Barnaul">Barnaul</a>, Russia (Ognev 1935, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vratislav_Maz%C3%A1k" title="Vratislav Mazák">Mazák</a> 1981). The only reported Caspian tiger from Iraq was killed near <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosul" title="Mosul">Mosul</a> in 1887 (Kock 1990). In 1899, the last Caspian tiger near the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lop_Nur" title="Lop Nur" class="mw-redirect">Lop Nur</a> basin in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang" title="Xinjiang">Xinjiang</a>, China, was killed (Ognev 1935). Caspian tigers disappeared from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarim_River" title="Tarim River">Tarim River</a> basin in Xinjiang, China, by the 1920s. (Nowell & Jackson 1996) In 1922, the last known tiger in the Caucasus region was killed near <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tbilisi" title="Tbilisi">Tbilisi</a>, Georgia, after killing domestic livestock (Ognev 1935). The last record of the Caspian tiger on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ili_River" title="Ili River">Ili River</a>, their last stronghold in the region of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Balkhash" title="Lake Balkhash">Lake Balkhash</a>, Kazakhstan, dates to 1948. (Nowell & Jackson 1996)</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" face="arial">The Russian government had worked heavily to eradicate the Caspian tiger during planning a huge land reclamation program in the beginning of the 20th century. They considered there was no room for the tiger in their plans and so instructed the Russian army to exterminate all tigers found around the area of the Caspian Sea, a project that was carried out very efficiently. Once the extermination of the Caspian tiger was almost complete, the farmers cleared forests and planted crops like rice and cotton. Due to intensive hunting and deforestation, the Caspian tiger retreated first from the lush lowlands to the forested ranges, then to the marshes around some of the larger rivers, and finally, deeper into the mountains, until it almost certainly became extinct. In 1938, national park <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tigrovaya_Balka&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Tigrovaya Balka (page does not exist)">Tigrovaya Balka</a> was opened in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajik_SSR" title="Tajik SSR" class="mw-redirect">Tajik SSR</a> to save Riparian forests and rare animals, including Caspian Tiger, but it didn't help the population of tigers. It was the last stronghold of the Caspian tiger in the Soviet Union. Tigrovaya Balka national park is situated in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajikistan" title="Tajikistan">Tajikistan</a> in the undercurrent of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vakhsh_River" title="Vakhsh River">Vakhsh River</a> between the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panj_River" title="Panj River">Piandj</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kofarnihon_River" title="Kofarnihon River">Kafirnighan</a> near the border of Afghanistan. The last Caspian Tiger was seen there in 1958.</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" face="arial">Some reports state that the last Caspian tiger was shot in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golest%C4%81n_Province" title="Golestān Province">Golestan</a> National Park (Iran) or in Northern Iran in 1959 (Vuosalo 1976). However, other reports claim that the last Chinese Caspian tigers disappeared from the Manas River basin in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tian_Shan" title="Tian Shan">Tian Shan</a> mountains, west of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Cr%C3%BCmqi" title="Ürümqi">Ürümqi</a>, China, in the 1960s. (Nowell & Jackson 1996) The last record from the lower reaches of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amu_Darya" title="Amu Darya">Amu Darya</a> river near <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea" title="Aral Sea">Lake Aral</a> was an unconfirmed observation near Nukus in 1968 while tigers disappeared from the river’s lower reaches and the Pyzandh Valley once a stronghold, in the Turkmen-Uzbek-Afghan border region by the early 1970s (Heptner and Sludskii 1972). (Nowell & Jackson 1996) There are even claims of a documented killing of this subspecies at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uludere" title="Uludere">Uludere</a>, Hakkari in Turkey during 1970 (Üstay 1990; Can 2004). Some reports even state that the final Caspian tiger was captured and killed in Northeast Afghanistan in 1997.</p> <p style="font-family: arial;">The most frequently quoted date is the late 1950s, but has almost no evidence to back it up. It appears this date came to be accepted after being quoted by H. Ziaie in "<i>A Field Guide to the Mammals of Iran</i>". Now, the most evidence reflects an even earlier date of extinction. The area of Iran that contained the last Caspian tigers was in fact the eastern region of Mazandaran, Northern Iran. According to E. Firouz in “<i>A Guide to the Fauna of Iran, 1999</i>”, the last tiger was killed in 1947 near Agh-Ghomish Village, 10 km East of Kalaleh, on the way to Minoodasht-Bojnoord. An exact date of extinction is unknown.</p><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > According to unanimous scientific opinion, the Caspian tiger, as a distinct population has been extinguished irreversibly. According to the confirmed official data and supported by the scientific researches (Hepter and Slutskiy, 1972)during 1900-1968 there were 9 tigers killed in </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopet_Dag" title="Kopet Dag">Kopet Dag Mountains</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >. According to scientists (Dement'yev and Rustamov) the last tiger was killed on 10 January 1954 at surrundings of Kone-Kosir in the valley of </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumbar_River" title="Sumbar River">Sumbar River</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > in Kopet Dag Mountains.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Aurochs</span><br /><p style="font-family: arial;">The <b>aurochs</b> or <b>urus</b> (<i><b>Bos primigenius</b></i>), the ancestor of domestic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle" title="Cattle">cattle</a>, was a type of huge wild cattle which inhabited <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe" title="Europe">Europe</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia" title="Asia">Asia</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Africa" title="North Africa">North Africa</a>, but is now <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinct" title="Extinct" class="mw-redirect">extinct</a>; it survived in Europe until 1627.The aurochs was far larger than most modern domestic cattle with a shoulder height of 2 metres (6.6 ft) and weighing 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb). Domestication occurred in several parts of the world at roughly the same time, about 8,000 years ago. It was regarded as a challenging <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunting" title="Hunting">quarry</a> animal, contributing to its extinction.The last recorded live aurochs, a female, died in 1627 in the Jaktorów Forest, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poland" title="Poland">Poland</a> and its skull is now the property of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livrustkammaren" title="Livrustkammaren">Livrustkammaren</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm" title="Stockholm">Stockholm</a>.Aurochs appear in prehistoric cave paintings, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar" title="Julius Caesar">Julius Caesar</a>'s <i>The Gallic War</i> and as the national symbol of many <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe" title="Europe">European</a> countries, states and cities such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alba-Iulia" title="Alba-Iulia" class="mw-redirect">Alba-Iulia</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaunas" title="Kaunas">Kaunas</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romania" title="Romania">Romania</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldavia" title="Moldavia">Moldavia</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Mecklenburg-Vorpommern" title="Coat of arms of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern">Mecklenburg-Vorpommern</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uri_%28canton%29" title="Uri (canton)" class="mw-redirect">Uri</a>.In 1920, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germans" title="Germans">German</a> biologists the Heck brothers attempted to recreate aurochs. The resulting cattle are known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heck_cattle" title="Heck cattle">Heck cattle</a> or Reconstructed Aurochs, and number in the thousands in Europe today with varying resemblance to original aurochs but without such impressive size.</p><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wBDAAkGBwgHBgkIBwgKCgkLDRYPDQwMDRsUFRAWIB0iIiAdHx8kKDQsJCYxJx8fLT0tMTU3Ojo6Iys/RD84QzQ5Ojf/2wBDAQoKCg0MDRoPDxo3JR8lNzc3Nzc3Nzc3Nzc3Nzc3Nzc3Nzc3Nzc3Nzc3Nzc3Nzc3Nzc3Nzc3Nzc3Nzc3Nzc3Nzf/wAARCABeAHQDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAHAAAAgIDAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGBwECBAMI/8QAPRAAAgEDAgMFBQUGBQUAAAAAAQIDAAQRBSEGEjETIkFRgQdhcZGhFCMyscEVQlJictEXRFNjkqKywvDx/8QAFwEBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMCAf/EAB4RAQADAAIDAQEAAAAAAAAAAAABAhEDIRNBURIx/9oADAMBAAIRAxEAPwC8KxRRQFFFFAUUUUBRRRQFFFFAq4g1caLaxXc1tLLbCTE7xKXMS4Pe5R1GQB61jSeItK1lA2nXsc2cbDIP1pq3T+1Vxfy2d7x0bPRYEiuol7C5niXlBZu8WIGxKqDv/ER5UEt0/XoJNSm0u9AtdQRjyQvnEkf7rKfHb5dKd1BeK9Rt5uIrWGGPnubN1iDjweUju+ijNTkeVBmiiigKKKhvGPG8GhKbezjW4ujt17ifH31yZwiNTLIoyPMVRM3GfEF9K5fUZoFJ/DFsPQCt04r16AgRavcnH+qQfpWP3CnisvOjI86pheNeJGXI1AEAeESb/wDTW0fFHFVzgLfSL8I0/tTyVPDZcFzcQW0LS3EqRRjqzsAB86Ry8YaUjcsDS3J/2k2+uKq+9vL+7dW1W6nmKnGHbIX4Dp6010u5tBju8znw5gDtWZ5fjdeH6nsfFNo7Ya2uUPmVH966LLiPR72Voob6ESqd4pDyMPQ9fSo3BKhDSISVK4KtjY/H86jfEulxSSpf2fKZYd3XG7qD+Y/Ws15Z3snij0sTVuJtK02NzLdLJIFJ7KI87Njw8h6mqPTjU23Ft1xBplt2aTOTLDI3MDkbnI8etNdOn0ydpnvNPktrVoxzShxjm5sMp2zgbDA3652JpfrF3bLdo2mXs1zCCPumUMqY/mAAA8Btv448dxyz8Znij6lPDurnVb/9sLbRxI16s0qGTmYsFwTjwABq243V1DowZT0IOQa+dtNs5Gv3hF4umzNmaOTlLD+gY2Hvqe8CcalXTTNTV+ckgMiMwjx4nxCn6VqL65amLOorVGVlDDBB3GNxiitpkvGerHRuHrq7jOJsckR8mbYH0zn0qm7MNq2mTyXFxzTs2MDrgdBVhe2OVo+GrcA7Pdqp/wCD/qPpVNwXE1q5aNsY3wOlTutx9dplZaVGyKsjIo+ZNY1jS7OxUPNcOBthRvS/Q9WcwlmfLj02rm1PUftT9pMSQjEAHfNSXd9iIrhSbcgsOincsK6Ibkxvycu+cEVHorpYLvtUBQEYKj92ms1+klk08QHaAAAj61ySDRrZrmJ2/ED4eVKR2lvc9iSVOcVvoWsOs6RzElWIByOtMdfs+0uoZLUIzMO8Obrv1xWZdSHRbkXEJjIHOo5Xwa8b7FpIXlySAWUZ67b/ADFLNBvRAzLJnvMMk+dc3EupyTTTLCR3CCnltWKkknFd/wDaYEijc8xk5MDxxkA+uV+VJrdksI2a5ALzbDByUGM/r9K3ndEZJJCSAwcD0H9x8q203S7niDVYNNtQGlmYIpY4VAoPMx+AFXp8RvPti3lvNWnRbW0uLueFf8uhYqPAnAOKeaDb3Ja6tBZX0+qTDsl7HAKLkFirbhSNjk4Hd9+1vcE8J2nCmm/Z4HM1xJgz3DDBc+4eA91PxBEszSiJO1YYMgUcxHlmrRWEv3JZwvptxpejQ2t/ci5uBlnflCqCTnlUeCjOB/6KKb4HiPlRWsYQn2wWhueDZZVBJtp45TjwGeU/RjVPapp1xpd2ILpcF41kjcdJEYAhh6HB+FfQnEsdvPw/qcN2QIHtZA5J2C8u5qq+JbyK99mPDN7dKPtXdhDAd7CgqR6hRWbV2NbpbJxBrKO47YxwqHB3603ieDTw6X8kCO2yKTkk+dcMV7Hb2iyQJzXJ2X+rw/SrL1f2Q6Xf2RktLi4g1ApntHkLozY8QckA5PQ+lTimrWvFVWXyNFcNJGRJFIx5GXfHuNb21y0JAUjB25TXHd2uqcO6hLZToY5Ymw8TjY+RHuI6V4i/Jk5nhcOTvg9aTxyzHJEm95Op5WiBWTPh7qacJ38k+olLon7pCcnyNROW+OD2SNzb9a10/UpbK7S5ZucD8ShuoIO1c8U415I1Z8ulsInKH70vzrtjAqJ61qRRkiMLRypI3OSPxUwub/VLZO07dZYhjfw6betRzUdSkvHWI4eTOD5gVPjr23e3QtY3vRIW6FQu42GOv0FWF7G9IddZvbx1ysEXIjeTOR+in51A7G5nuI0tLOBmlB2SJC7OfgMnFXt7P9Ek0TQI0u15byc9rMp6qT0U/AbfHNWruo3tGJNRRRVURRRRQVr7Xb28lS00eyR27ZTNIq57+GAVffuc48dvCueXhvTp9FtdJ1WJzdaXb83MrEKWcZ3PTAJ3+HlVgTaTFcaol7PhmiQLEMDu94N/4r9azDaK1/f9oodZeTYj+Ug09CgeELaC/wCNtMtI0Mlsl2MkDZuUFub1K19Hb9ABUC0jh9OHdajjs4lUEgKUGO1Tfl9RlgfnU+HQbU6/jszso9xPwfpnEr276jG/PASA8bYZlP7pPl+Xzyk/wn4Zzki9I/hNxt+VTyijiM2HAPC9jjstHt5CPGfMv/cSKrX23aZp+nXOkrp9ja2vapK0hijCc2CgGQNvE1eBqu+ObR9R4psIks47h4kjYcy83dLPn5ELXdEO4YZjDKtupeaaJBHCerSHYda7uE/ZVqv21bnX5IIoiwaSFH7SRsHOMjYCpZo3DNqOMLi6YBZbKXm5cHDhhlWXyxkip0Bj4VOlc1S9tecUKQoqRIqKowFUYAHwr0AxWaK2mKKKKAooooCvCOaI3E6KWEicvPlCBuNtyMH0r3pXxBoVtr2nmyvXmEZbmzFJyHP5Ee4g0HtdmGS2S6Q83Y/eIyDOQOuPPIztW/7RtQIeadFMwUorHlZubpsd+u3SvLSNKi0m2MEEkrqTkmRsnp7gK4r3hXTbvVRqbrMl0VKs0czKGU9QRnGP/tA9zRWqgKAB0Ax6VtQYPQ0pS7s4r64ubpvs0pPYp24CkqpP4fPJyRim53FKdW4d0vWJoZtQtu1khIZGEjLgg5H4SM4PnQdkcluLiaQbNyqXYjAxvjc7eBrojkSRQ0bBgRkEeIpRrPDdjrGnx2V0ZxHE3MhjmYMDnOc+dd2nWCWERjSSWQFi2ZCDjPlgCg66KKKAooooCiiig//Z"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 116px; height: 94px;" src="data:image/jpg;base64,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" alt="" border="0" /></a><p style="font-family: arial;">The words "aurochs", "urus", and "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisent" title="Wisent">wisent</a>" have all been used <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synonym" title="Synonym">synonymously</a> in English.However, the extinct aurochs/urus is a completely separate species from the still-extant wisent (the European bison).The animal's original scientific name, <i>Bos primigenius</i>, was meant as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin" title="Latin">Latin</a> translation of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_language" title="German language">German</a> term <i><span lang="de">Auerochse</span></i> or <i><span lang="de">Urochs</span></i>, which was (possibly incorrectly) interpreted as literally meaning "primeval ox" or "proto-ox". This scientific name is now considered invalid by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_Taxonomic_Information_System" title="Integrated Taxonomic Information System">Integrated Taxonomic Information System</a> (ITIS), who classify aurochs under <i>Bos taurus</i> – the same species as domestic cattle. In 2003, however, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Commission_on_Zoological_Nomenclature" title="International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature">International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature</a> "conserved the usage of 17 specific names based on wild species, which are pre-dated by or contemporary with those based on domestic forms", confirming <i>Bos primigenius</i> for the Aurochs. Taxonomists who consider domesticated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle" title="Cattle">cattle</a> a subspecies of the wild Aurochs should use <i>B. primigenius taurus</i>; the name <i>B. taurus</i> remains available for domestic cattle where it is considered to be a separate species.</p><p style="font-family: arial;">The word "aurochs" (pronounced <span title="Pronunciation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)" class="IPA"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English" title="Wikipedia:IPA for English">/ˈaʊrɒks/</a></span> or <span title="Pronunciation in IPA" class="IPA"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English" title="Wikipedia:IPA for English">/ˈɔrɒks/</a></span>) comes to English from German, where its normal spelling and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declension" title="Declension">declension</a> today is <i><span lang="de">Auerochs/Auerochse</span></i> (singular), <i><span lang="de">Auerochsen</span></i> (genitive), <i><span lang="de">Auerochsen</span></i> (plural). The declension in English varies, being either "aurochs" (singular), "aurochs" (plural) or "aurochs" (singular), "aurochses" (plural). The declension "auroch" (singular), "aurochs" (plural), acknowledged by MWU, is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_plural#Plural_to_singular_by_back-formation" title="English plural">back-formation analogous to "pea"-from-"pease"</a> derived from a misinterpretation of the singular form ending in the /s/ sound (being cognate to "ox/Ochs(e)"). The use in English of the plural form "<span lang="de">aurochsen</span>" is not acknowledged by AHD4 or MWU, but is mentioned in <i>The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language</i>. It is directly parallel to the German plural and analogous (and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognate" title="Cognate">cognate</a>) to English "ox" (singular), "oxen" (plural).The word "urus" (<span title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)" class="IPA">/ˈjʊərəs/</span>) comes to English from Latin, but may have come to Latin from Germanic origins. It declines in English as "urus" (singular), "uruses" (plural). The Germanic <i><span lang="de">aurochs</span></i> itself has evolved from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_language" title="Proto-Indo-European language">Proto-Indo-European</a> <i><span lang="art">*táwros</span></i>, just like Ancient Greek <span lang="el">ταϋρος</span> (<i><span lang="el">tauros</span></i>), Latin <i><span lang="la">taurus</span></i> and Slavic <i><span lang="sla"><a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tur" class="extiw" title="wikt:tur">tur</a></span></i> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Slavic" title="Proto-Slavic" class="mw-redirect">Proto-Slavic</a>: *<i><span lang="sla">turъ</span></i>).<br /></p><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >According to the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleontologisk_Museum" title="Paleontologisk Museum">Paleontologisk Museum</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Oslo" title="University of Oslo">University of Oslo</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, aurochs evolved in </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India">India</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > some two million years ago, migrated into the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East" title="Middle East">Middle East</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > and further into </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia" title="Asia">Asia</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, and reached </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe" title="Europe">Europe</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > about 250,000 years ago. They were once considered a distinct species from modern European </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle" title="Cattle">cattle</a> (<i style="font-family: arial;">Bos taurus</i><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >), but more recent taxonomy has rejected this distinction.</span><sup class="Template-Fact" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from November 2009" style="white-space: nowrap; font-family: arial;">[<i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a></i>]</sup><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > The South Asian domestic cattle, or </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebu" title="Zebu">zebu</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, descended from a different group of aurochs at the edge of the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thar_Desert" title="Thar Desert">Thar Desert</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >; this would explain the zebus' resistance to </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drought" title="Drought">drought</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >. Domestic </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yak" title="Yak">yak</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayal" title="Gayal">gayal</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > and </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javan_cattle" title="Javan cattle" class="mw-redirect">Javan cattle</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > do not descend from aurochs. Modern cattle have become much smaller than their wild forebears. Aurochs were about 1.75 metres (5.7 ft) tall, while a large domesticated cow is about 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) and most domestic cattle are much smaller than this. Aurochs also had several features rarely seen in modern cattle, such as </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyre" title="Lyre">lyre</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >-shaped horns set at a forward angle, a pale stripe down the spine, and </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_dimorphism" title="Sexual dimorphism">sexual dimorphism</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > of coat color. Males were black with a pale </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eel_stripe" title="Eel stripe" class="mw-redirect">eel stripe</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > or </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finching_%28cattle%29" title="Finching (cattle)">finching</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > down the spine, while females and calves were reddish (these colours are still found in a few domesticated cattle breeds, such as </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_cattle" title="Jersey cattle">Jersey cattle</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >). Aurochs were also known to have very aggressive temperaments and killing one was seen as a great act of courage in ancient cultures.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The recovery pattern of aurochs remains lead to the belief that they preferred swampy and </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet_woodland" title="Wet woodland">wet wooded</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > areas and, like modern cattle, could swim for short distances enabling them to inhabit islands within their range. Their diet is thought to have consisted of green grass and leaves with occasional tree fruits. Aurochs species were found to have lived on the island of </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicily" title="Sicily">Sicily</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > where once there was a land bridge to Italy. After disappearance of the land bridge, Sicilian aurochs evolved to a size 20% smaller than their mainland relatives. Although the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_bison" title="European bison" class="mw-redirect">European bison</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > prefers drier forest they would most certainly have lived in areas overlapping aurochs territory. Little else is known about Aurochs habits. Although they survived until the 17th century in Poland they were in competition with modern cattle for food and hunted by humans contributing to their extinction.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Domestication of the aurochs began in the southern </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasus" title="Caucasus">Caucasus</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > and northern </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamia" title="Mesopotamia">Mesopotamia</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > from about the 6th millennium BC, while genetic evidence suggests that aurochs were independently domesticated in northern </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa" title="Africa">Africa</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > and in </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India">India</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >.</span><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > The modern domesticated cattle descended from the aurochs are so different in size that they have been regarded as a separate species.</span><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_testing" title="Genetic testing">Comparison</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > of aurochs bones with those of modern cattle has provided many insights about the aurochs. Remains of the beast, from specimens believed to have weighed more than a ton, have been found in </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesolithic" title="Mesolithic">Mesolithic</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > sites around </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldcliff" title="Goldcliff" class="mw-redirect">Goldcliff</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales" title="Wales">Wales</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >. Though aurochs became extinct in Britain during the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_age" title="Bronze age" class="mw-redirect">Bronze age</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, analysis of bones from aurochs that lived in the same age as domesticated cattle there showed no genetic contribution to modern breeds. As a result, modern European cattle are now thought to have descended directly from the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_East" title="Near East">Near East</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > domestication event. Indian cattle (</span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebu" title="Zebu">zebu</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >), although domesticated eight to ten thousand years ago, are related to aurochs which diverged from the Near Eastern ones some 200,000 years ago. African cattle are thought to descend from aurochs more closely related to the Near Eastern ones. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The Near East and African aurochs groups are thought to have split some 25,000 years ago, probably 15,000 years before domestication. The "</span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turano-Mongolian" title="Turano-Mongolian" class="mw-redirect">Turano-Mongolian</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >" type of cattle now found in Northern China, Mongolia, Korea and Japan may represent a fourth domestication event (and a third event among </span><i style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bos_taurus" title="Bos taurus" class="mw-redirect">Bos taurus</a></i><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >–type aurochs). This group may have diverged from the Near East group some 35,000 years ago. Whether these separate genetic populations would have equated to separate subspecies is unclear. The original range of the aurochs was from </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Britain" title="Great Britain">Britain</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > and </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland" title="Ireland">Ireland</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > and southern </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavia" title="Scandinavia">Scandinavia</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, to northern </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa" title="Africa">Africa</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East" title="Middle East">Middle East</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India">India</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > and central Asia. By the 13th century A.D., the aurochs' range was restricted to </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poland" title="Poland">Poland</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuania" title="Lithuania">Lithuania</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldavia" title="Moldavia">Moldavia</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transylvania" title="Transylvania">Transylvania</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > and </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Prussia" title="East Prussia">East Prussia</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >. The right to hunt large animals on any land was restricted to nobles and gradually to the royal household. As the population of aurochs declined, hunting ceased but the royal court still required gamekeepers to provide open fields for the aurochs to graze in. The gamekeepers were exempted from local taxes in exchange for their service and a decree made </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poaching" title="Poaching">poaching</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > an aurochs punishable by death. In 1564, the gamekeepers knew of only 38 animals, according to the royal survey. The last recorded live aurochs, a female, died in 1627 in the Jaktorów Forest, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poland" title="Poland">Poland</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > from natural causes. The skull was later taken by the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_Army" title="Swedish Army">Swedish Army</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > during the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deluge_%28history%29" title="Deluge (history)">Swedish invasion of Poland</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > (1655–1660) and is now the property of </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livrustkammaren" title="Livrustkammaren">Livrustkammaren</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > in </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm" title="Stockholm">Stockholm</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >. The causes of extinction were hunting, a narrowing of habitat due to the development of farming, climatic changes and diseases transmitted by domestic cattle.</span><br /><br /><p style="font-family: arial;">In the 1920s two German zoo directors (in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin" title="Berlin">Berlin</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich" title="Munich">Munich</a>), the brothers <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz_Heck" title="Heinz Heck">Heinz</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutz_Heck" title="Lutz Heck">Lutz Heck</a>, began a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_breeding" title="Selective breeding">selective breeding</a> program in the attempt to breed the aurochs back into existence from the domestic cattle that were their descendants. Their plan was based on the concept that a species is not extinct as long as all its genes are still present in a living population. The result is the breed called <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heck_cattle" title="Heck cattle">Heck cattle</a></i>, "Recreated Aurochs", or "Heck Aurochs", which bears some resemblance to what is known about the appearance of the wild aurochs.Scientists of the Polish Foundation for Recreating the Aurochs (PFOT) in Poland now want to use DNA from bones of aurochs in museums to recreate the aurochs and return this animal to the forests of Poland. The project has gained the support of the Polish Ministry of the Environment. They plan research on ancient preserved DNA. Similar research projects have been run in the West over the past twenty years and their results published in such periodicals as <i>Nature</i> and <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA</i>. Polish scientists believe that modern genetics and biotechnology make recreating an animal almost identical to aurochs possible (99 percent gene compatibility). They say this research will lead to examining the causes of the extinction of the aurochs, and help in preventing a similar situation occurring among domestic cattle.</p><p style="font-family: arial;"><br /></p><p style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Great Auk</span></p><p style="font-family: arial;">The <b>Great Auk</b>, <i>Pinguinus impennis</i>, formerly of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genus" title="Genus">genus</a> <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razorbill" title="Razorbill">Alca</a></i>, is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird" title="Bird">bird</a> that became <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction" title="Extinction">extinct</a> in the mid-19th century. It was the only <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species" title="Species">species</a> in the genus <i><b>Pinguinus</b></i> - a group of birds that included several flightless giant <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auks" title="Auks" class="mw-redirect">auks</a> from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Ocean" title="Atlantic Ocean">Atlantic Ocean</a> region - to survive until modern times. The Great Auk was also known as a <i>garefowl</i> (from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Norse" title="Old Norse">Old Norse</a> <i>geirfugl</i>, meaning "spear-bird", referring to the shape of its beak) and <i>penguin</i> before the birds known by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin" title="Penguin">that name</a> today were so called.The Great Auk was found very extensively on islands off eastern <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada" title="Canada">Canada</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland" title="Greenland">Greenland</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland" title="Iceland">Iceland</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway" title="Norway">Norway</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland" title="Ireland">Ireland</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Britain" title="Great Britain">Great Britain</a> before being hunted to extinction. Remains found in Florida suggest that, at least occasionally, the Great Auk ventured that far south in winter as recently as the 14th century.</p><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Riesenalk.JPG/170px-Riesenalk.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 308px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Riesenalk.JPG/170px-Riesenalk.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><p style="font-family: arial;">The Great Auk was one of the many species originally described by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolus_Linnaeus" title="Carolus Linnaeus" class="mw-redirect">Carolus Linnaeus</a> in his 18<sup>th</sup> century work, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systema_Naturae" title="Systema Naturae">Systema Naturae</a></i>.Analysis of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MtDNA" title="MtDNA" class="mw-redirect">mtDNA</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_sequence" title="DNA sequence">sequences</a> have confirmed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphology_%28biology%29" title="Morphology (biology)">morphological</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biogeography" title="Biogeography">biogeographical</a> studies in regarding the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razorbill" title="Razorbill">Razorbill</a> as the Great Auk's closest living relative. They were also closely related to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Auk" title="Little Auk">Little Auk</a> (Dovekie), which underwent a radically different evolution compared to <i>Pinguinus</i>. Due to its outward similarity to the Razorbill (apart from flightlessness and size), the Great Auk was often placed in the genus <i>Alca</i>. The name <i>Alca</i> is a Latin derivative of the Scandinavian word for razorbills and their relatives. The word <i>impennis</i> in Latin refers to the lack of flight feathers or pennae.The molecular data are compatible with either view, but the weight of evidence suggests placing the Great Auk in a distinct genus.The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basque_language" title="Basque language">Basque</a> name for the Great Auk is "arponaz", and in early <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language" title="French language">French</a>, the name was "apponatz", both meaning "spearbill". The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norsemen" title="Norsemen">Norse</a> called the Great Auk "geirfugl", which means "spearbird". This has led to an alternative common name for the bird, "garefowl". <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_people" title="Spanish people">Spanish</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_people" title="Portuguese people">Portuguese</a> sailors called the bird "pingüinos". The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuit" title="Inuit">Inuit</a> (Eskimo) name for the Great Auk was "isarukitsck", which meant "little wing". The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_people" title="Welsh people">Welsh people</a> referred to this species as "pingwen".When European explorers discovered what are today known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin" title="Penguin">penguins</a> in the Southern Hemisphere, they noticed their similar appearance to the Great Auk and named them after this bird.Standing about 75 to 85 centimetres (30 to 33 in) tall and weighing around 5 kilograms (11 lb), the flightless Great Auk was both the largest of the auks and the largest member of the order <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charadriiformes" title="Charadriiformes">Charadriiformes</a>. Males and females were similar in size and plumage. The back was primarily a glossy black, while the stomach was white. The neck and legs were short, while the head and wings were small. The auk appeared chubby due to a thick layer of fat necessary for warmth.During the breeding season, the Great Auk developed a wide white eye patch over the eye. However, after the breeding season the auk lost this eye patch and instead a wide white band and a gray line of feathers which stretched from the eye to the ear.The eye had a hazel or chestnut iris. During the summer, the auk's chin and throat were blackish brown. During the winter, this alcid molted and the throat became white. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beak" title="Beak">bill</a> was large at 11 centimetres (4.3 in) long and curved downwards at the top. There were deep white grooves in both the upper and lower mandibles of the bill. The wings were only 15 centimetres (5.9 in) in length and the longest wing feathers were only 10 centimetres (3.9 in) long. Its feet and claws were black while the webbed skin between the toes was brownish black. The legs were far back on the bird's body to give it more powerful swimming and diving abilities. Juvenile birds had less prominent grooves in their beaks and had mottled white and black necks.<br /></p><br /><p style="font-family: arial;">The Great Auk was found in the cold <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic" title="North Atlantic" class="mw-redirect">North Atlantic</a> coastal waters along the coasts of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada" title="Canada">Canada</a>, the northeastern <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway" title="Norway">Norway</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland" title="Greenland">Greenland</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland" title="Iceland">Iceland</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland" title="Ireland">Ireland</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Britain" title="Great Britain">Great Britain</a>. The Great Auk left the North Atlantic waters for land only in order to breed. The rookeries of the Great Auk were found from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baffin_Bay" title="Baffin Bay">Baffin Bay</a> down to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_St._Lawrence" title="Gulf of St. Lawrence" class="mw-redirect">Gulf of St. Lawrence</a>, across the far northern Atlantic, including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland" title="Iceland">Iceland</a>, and in Norway and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles" title="British Isles">British Isles</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe" title="Europe">Europe</a>. The Great Auk's nesting colonies required rocky islands with sloping shorelines to provide the birds access to the seashore. This was an extremely limiting factor and it is believed that the Great Auk may never have had more than 20 breeding colonies. Only eight breeding colonies are known: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papa_Westray" title="Papa Westray">Papa Westray</a> in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orkney_Islands" title="Orkney Islands" class="mw-redirect">Orkney Islands</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Kilda,_Scotland" title="St Kilda, Scotland">St. Kilda</a> Island off Scotland, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faeroe_Islands" title="Faeroe Islands" class="mw-redirect">Faeroe Islands</a> between Iceland and Ireland, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gr%C3%ADmsey" title="Grímsey">Grímsey</a> Island and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldey_Island" title="Eldey Island" class="mw-redirect">Eldey Island</a> near Iceland, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin_Island" title="Penguin Island">Penguin Island</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk_Island" title="Funk Island">Funk Island</a> near <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newfoundland_and_Labrador" title="Newfoundland and Labrador">Newfoundland</a>, and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bird_Rocks&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Bird Rocks (page does not exist)">Bird Rocks</a> (Rochers-aux-Oiseaux) in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_St._Lawrence" title="Gulf of St. Lawrence" class="mw-redirect">Gulf of St. Lawrence</a>. Additionally, records suggest that this species may have bred on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Cod" title="Cape Cod">Cape Cod</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts" title="Massachusetts">Massachusetts</a>. By the late 1700s and early 1800s, the living range of the Great Auk were restricted to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk_Island" title="Funk Island">Funk Island</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimsey" title="Grimsey" class="mw-redirect">Grimsey</a> Island, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldey" title="Eldey">Eldey</a> Island, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_St._Lawrence" title="Gulf of St. Lawrence" class="mw-redirect">Gulf of St. Lawrence</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Kilda,_Scotland" title="St Kilda, Scotland">St. Kilda</a> Island.The Great Auk migrated south in the winter. Its bones have been found as far south as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida" title="Florida">Florida</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibraltar" title="Gibraltar">Gibraltar</a>, while it frequented <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France" title="France">France</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain" title="Spain">Spain</a>, and even <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy" title="Italy">Italy</a> in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_Sea" title="Mediterranean Sea">Mediterranean Sea</a>.</p> <p style="font-family: arial;">Great Auks walked slowly and sometimes used their wings to help them traverse rough terrain. They had few natural predators, mainly large <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_mammal" title="Marine mammal">marine mammals</a> (such as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walrus" title="Walrus">walrus</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orca" title="Orca" class="mw-redirect">orca</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_of_prey" title="Bird of prey">birds of prey</a>, and the Great Auk had no innate fear of human beings. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_bear" title="Polar bear">Polar bears</a> preyed on nesting colonies of the auk. Their flightlessness and their awkwardness on land compounded their vulnerability to human beings, who hunted them for food, feathers, and as specimens for museums and private collections. The Great Auk reacted to noises, but were rarely scared by the sight of something. The Great Auks were believed to have had a life span of about 20 to 25 years.The Great Auk was generally an excellent swimmer, using its wings to propel itself underwater. These great birds were capable of banking, veering, and turning underwater. The Great Auk was known to dive to depths of 76 metres (250 ft) and it has been claimed to be able to dive to 1 kilometre (3,300 ft). It could also hold its breath for 15 minutes, longer than a seal. The Great Auk was capable of swimming rapidly to gather speed, then shooting out of the water and landing on a rocky ledge not level with the ocean.During the winter, the Great Auk migrated south either in pairs or in small groups, and never with the entire nesting colony.</p><p style="font-family: arial;">This species is estimated to have had a maximum population in the millions, although some scientists dispute this estimation. The Great Auk was hunted on a significant scale for food, eggs, and its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_feather" title="Down feather">down feathers</a> from at least the 8th century. Prior to that, hunting by local natives can be documented from Late Stone Age <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavia" title="Scandinavia">Scandinavia</a> and Eastern North America, and from early 5th century <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labrador" title="Labrador">Labrador</a> where the bird seems to have occurred only as a straggler. Early explorers, including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Cartier" title="Jacques Cartier">Jacques Cartier</a> and numerous ships attempting to find gold on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baffin_Island" title="Baffin Island">Baffin Island</a>, were not provisioned with food for the journey home, and therefore they used this species as a handy food source. Some of the later vessels anchored next to a colony and ran out planks to the land. The sailors then herded hundreds of the Auks onto the ships, where they were then slaughtered.</p><p style="font-family: arial;">The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age" title="Little Ice Age">Little Ice Age</a> may have reduced the population of the Great Auk, but massive exploitation for their down drastically reduced the population. By the mid-1500s, the nesting colonies along the European side of the Atlantic were nearly all eliminated by individuals killing this bird for its down, which was used to make pillows. In 1553, the auk received its first official protection, and in 1794 London banned the killing of this species for their feathers. On the North American side, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eider" title="Eider">eider</a> down was initially preferred, but once the eiders were nearly driven to extinction in the 1770s, down collectors switched to the auk. Specimens of the Great Auk and its eggs became collectible and highly prized, and collecting of the eggs contributed to the demise of the species.</p> <p style="font-family: arial;">It was on the islet of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stac_an_Armin" title="Stac an Armin">Stac an Armin</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Kilda,_Scotland" title="St Kilda, Scotland">St Kilda, Scotland</a>, in July 1840, that the last <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_auk" title="Great auk" class="mw-redirect">great auk</a> seen in the British Isles was caught and killed. A then 75-year-old inhabitant of St Kilda told Henry Evans, a frequent visitor to the archipelago, that he and his father-in-law with another man had caught a "garefowl", noticing its little wings and the large white spot on its head. They tied it up and kept it alive for three days, and then killed it by beating it with a stick, apparently because they believed it to be a witch. Eggers, individuals who visited the nesting sites of the Great Auk to collect their eggs, quickly realized that the birds did not all lay their eggs on the same day, so they could make return visits to the same breeding colony. Eggers only collected eggs without embryos growing inside of them and typically discarded the eggs with embryos.</p> <p style="font-family: arial;">The last colony of Great Auks lived on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geirfuglasker" title="Geirfuglasker">Geirfuglasker</a> (the "Great Auk Rock") off Iceland. This islet was a volcanic rock surrounded by cliffs which made it inaccessible to humans, but in 1830 the islet submerged, and the birds moved to the nearby island of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldey" title="Eldey">Eldey</a>, which was accessible from a single side. When the colony was initially discovered in 1835, nearly fifty birds were present. Museums, desiring the skins of the auk for preservation and display, quickly began collecting birds from the colony. The last pair, found incubating an egg, were killed there in July 1844, with Jón Brandsson and Sigurður Ísleifsson strangling the adults and Ketill Ketilsson smashing the egg with his boot. However, a later claim of a live individual sighted in 1852 on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Banks_of_Newfoundland" title="Grand Banks of Newfoundland">Grand Banks of Newfoundland</a> has been accepted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IUCN" title="IUCN" class="mw-redirect">IUCN</a>).</p><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > Today, around 75 eggs of the Great Auk remain in museum collections, along with 24 complete skeletons and 81 mounted skins. While thousands of isolated bones have been collected from 19th century </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk_Island" title="Funk Island">Funk Island</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > to </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic" title="Neolithic">Neolithic</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midden" title="Midden">middens</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, only a small number of complete skeletons exist.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cave Lion<br /><br /></span></span><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Hoehlenloewe_CaveLion_hharder.jpg/220px-Hoehlenloewe_CaveLion_hharder.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 139px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Hoehlenloewe_CaveLion_hharder.jpg/220px-Hoehlenloewe_CaveLion_hharder.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >The </span><b style="font-family: arial;">cave lion</b><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > </span><i style="font-family: arial;">(Panthera leo spelaea)</i><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > also known as the </span><b style="font-family: arial;">European</b><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > or </span><b style="font-family: arial;">Eurasian cave lion</b><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, is an </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinct" title="Extinct" class="mw-redirect">extinct</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subspecies" title="Subspecies">subspecies</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > of </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion" title="Lion">lion</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > known from </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil" title="Fossil">fossils</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > and multiple examples of </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_art" title="Prehistoric art">prehistoric art</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >.This subspecies was one of the largest lions. An adult male, which was found in 1985 near </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegsdorf" title="Siegsdorf">Siegsdorf</a> (Germany), had a shoulder height of around 1.2 m (4 ft) and a body length of 2.1 m (7 ft) without tail. This is similar to the size of a very large modern lion. The size of this male has been exceeded by other specimens of this subspecies. Therefore this cat may have been around 5-10% bigger than modern lions, but it didn't reach the measures of the earlier cave lion subspecies <i style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panthera_leo_fossilis" title="Panthera leo fossilis">Panthera leo fossilis</a></i><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > or those of the huge </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_lion" title="American lion" class="mw-redirect">American lion</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > (</span><i style="font-family: arial;">Panthera leo atrox</i><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >). The cave lion is known from </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic" title="Paleolithic">Paleolithic</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_paintings" title="Cave paintings" class="mw-redirect">cave paintings</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivory" title="Ivory">ivory</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > carvings, and clay </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figurine" title="Figurine">figurines</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >. These representations indicate that cave lions had rounded, protruding ears, tufted tails, possibly faint tiger-like stripes, and that at least some had a "ruff" or primitive mane around their neck, indicating males. Other </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artifact_%28archaeology%29" title="Artifact (archaeology)">archaeological artifacts</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > indicate that they were featured in Paleolithic </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion" title="Religion">religious rituals</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >.</span><br /><p style="font-family: arial;">The cave lion received its common name from the fact that large quantities of its remains are found in caves <sup id="cite_ref-Arduini_.25_Teruzzi.2C_1993_1-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_Lion#cite_note-Arduini_.25_Teruzzi.2C_1993-1"><span></span><span></span></a></sup>, but it is doubtful whether they lived in them. It had a wide habitat tolerance, but probably preferred conifer forests and grasslands <sup id="cite_ref-Hublin.2C_1984_2-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_Lion#cite_note-Hublin.2C_1984-2"><span></span><span></span></a></sup>, where medium-sized to large herbivores occurred. Fossil footprints of lions, which were found together with those of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reindeer" title="Reindeer">reindeer</a>, demonstrate that these cats once occurred even in subpolar climates. The presence of fully articulated adult cave lion skeletons, deep in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_bear" title="Cave bear">cave bear</a> dens, indicates that lions may have occasionally entered dens to prey on hibernating cave bears, with some dying in the attempt.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_Lion#cite_note-3"><span></span><span></span></a></sup>These active carnivores <sup id="cite_ref-Arduini_.25_Teruzzi.2C_1993_1-1" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_Lion#cite_note-Arduini_.25_Teruzzi.2C_1993-1"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> probably preyed upon the large, herbivorous animals of their time, including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equidae" title="Equidae">horses</a>, deer and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bison" title="Bison">bison</a>. Some paintings of them in caves show several hunting together, which suggests the hunting strategy of contemporary <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion#Hunting_and_diet" title="Lion">lionesses</a>.</p><p style="font-family: arial;">Small prey was usually brought down with a blow of the front paw and then held down with both front feet. The animal was finally killed by a powerful bite of the sharp teeth <sup id="cite_ref-Lessem.2C_1999_4-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_Lion#cite_note-Lessem.2C_1999-4"><span></span><span></span></a></sup>, at the back of the neck, in the region of the throat and even in the chest. A cave lion usually could not run as fast as its prey, but could pounce on it from behind or run up next to it and bring it down with the paws. In this manner a running animal's balance could very easily be disturbed. It was most likely the most common predator (after the cave hyena) in plains ecosystems. Its extinction may have been related to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_extinction_event" title="Quaternary extinction event">Quaternary extinction event</a>, which wiped out most of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megafauna" title="Megafauna">megafauna</a> prey in those regions. Cave paintings and remains found in the refuse piles of ancient camp sites indicate that they were hunted by early humans, which also may have contributed to their demise.</p><p style="font-family: arial;">The cave lion is considered a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species" title="Species">species</a> in its own right, under the name <i>Panthera spelaea</i><sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_Lion#cite_note-5"><span></span><span></span></a></sup>, and at least one authority, based on a comparison of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull" title="Skull">skull</a> shapes, considers the cave lion to be more closely related to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger" title="Tiger">tiger</a>, which would result in the formal name <i>Panthera tigris spelaea</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_Lion#cite_note-6"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> However, recent genetic research shows that it was a close, but separate, relative of the modern lion and leopard.</p><p style="font-family: arial;">The cave lion (<i>Panthera spelea</i>) was derived from the earlier <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panthera_leo_fossilis" title="Panthera leo fossilis">Panthera leo fossilis</a></i>, which first appeared in Europe about 700,000 years ago. The cave lion itself lived from 370,000 to 10,000 years ago, during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleistocene" title="Pleistocene">Pleistocene</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epoch_%28geology%29" title="Epoch (geology)">epoch</a>. Apparently, it became extinct about 10,000 years ago<sup id="cite_ref-Hublin.2C_1984_2-1" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_Lion#cite_note-Hublin.2C_1984-2"><span></span><span></span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Lessem.2C_1999_4-1" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_Lion#cite_note-Lessem.2C_1999-4"><span></span><span></span></a></sup>, during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C3%BCrm_glaciation" title="Würm glaciation" class="mw-redirect">Würm glaciation</a>, although there are some indications it may have existed into historic times in southeastern Europe, as recently as 2,000 years ago in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkans" title="Balkans">Balkans</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_Lion#cite_note-8"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Cave lions were widespread in parts of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe" title="Europe">Europe</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia" title="Asia">Asia</a>, from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Britain" title="Great Britain">Great Britain</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany" title="Germany">Germany</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain" title="Spain">Spain</a> (Arduini & Teruzzi, 1993) all the way to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bering_Strait" title="Bering Strait">Bering Strait</a> and from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberia" title="Siberia">Siberia</a> to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkistan" title="Turkistan" class="mw-redirect">Turkistan</a>.<span></span></p><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_Lion#cite_note-9"></a><p style="font-family: arial;"><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_Lion#cite_note-7"><span></span></a></p><p><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Auk#cite_note-Crofford32-24"><span></span></a></p>sc. teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902658061445036466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8453358794516054066.post-31909890832392854762010-02-13T20:37:00.000+08:002010-02-13T20:55:46.641+08:00Crabzilla<h3 class="post-title entry-title"> <a href="http://orangmuo.blogspot.com/2010/02/crabzilla-at-5-feet-tall-biggest-known.html">Crabzilla! At 5 Feet Tall, Biggest Known Crab Heads to UK</a> </h3> <div class="post-body entry-content"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5PXvti7gFtI/S3ZgvwOUkcI/AAAAAAAABkE/CQ7dMiGhAWE/s1600-h/crabzilla.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5PXvti7gFtI/S3ZgvwOUkcI/AAAAAAAABkE/CQ7dMiGhAWE/s400/crabzilla.jpg" border="0" width="265" height="400" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"> </div> <div style=";font-family:Times,";"><br />Hail <span style="font-size:small;">Crabzilla! The Japanese Spider Crab is the biggest arthropod on Earth--their legs are believed to grow up to 12 feet long. But since they live at such great depths (typically 1,000 feet down or so) a full grown spider crab has yet to be caught. So for now, we'll have to make due with the 5 foot long Crabzilla (that's what it's called--I didn't make it up!), one of the largest known crabs in the planet.</span><br /><a name="more"></a><span style="font-size:small;"><br />The crabs are commonly found in the Pacific in 1,000 ft (300m) deep waters but have been known to live deeper. Curator Graham Burrows said: "It is rumoured these crabs can grow as big as four metres, big enough to straddle a car. "He will absolutely dwarf the other crabs in there, but he's not aggressive and they should have nothing to worry about."<br /><br /></span></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5PXvti7gFtI/S3ZhRSbIHyI/AAAAAAAABkM/PyaGFOnw87k/s1600-h/crabzilla1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img style="width: 357px; height: 229px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5PXvti7gFtI/S3ZhRSbIHyI/AAAAAAAABkM/PyaGFOnw87k/s320/crabzilla1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-size:small;"><br />The Japanese spider crab has long captured the imagination of sea life-lovers, and you can see why--underwater, the sinister-looking thing looks like the source for any number of horror or sci fi move creatures. With 10 legs, believed to live up to 100 years, and the biggest of them believed to be lurking at depths over 2,000 feet, few creatures retain as much mystique as the spider crab.</span></div> </div>sc. teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07902658061445036466noreply@blogger.com0