Spot-winged falconet

The spot-winged falconet ("Spiziapteryx circumcincta") is a species of bird of prey in the family Falconidae. It is monotypic within the genus Spiziapteryx. It is found in Argentina, southeastern Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay, where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.
Taxonomy.
The holotype specimen of "Harpagus curcumcinctus" Kaup (Proc. Zool. Soc. London (1851) 1852, p.43.) is held in the collections of National Museums Liverpool at World Museum, with accession number D959. The specimen was collected from “Chili” by Thomas Bridges on 22 June 1848 and came to the Liverpool national collection via the 13th Earl of Derby’s collection which was bequeathed to the city of Liverpool.


Retinella stabilei

Retinella stabilei is a species of snail in the family Zonitidae, the true glass snails. This species is endemic to Italy, where it lives in shady woodland habitat.


Coleophora zymotica

Coleophora zymotica is a moth of the family Coleophoridae. It is found in Chaco, Paraguay.
The wingspan is 8–9 mm.


Diceratobasis macrogaster

Diceratobasis macrogaster is a species of damselfly in the family Coenagrionidae endemic to Jamaica. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Unlike most damselflies, the larvae of "D. macrogaster" live in pools which form in the leaves of bromeliads.


Grey bush chat

The grey bush chat ("Saxicola ferreus") is a species of passerine bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in the Himalayas, southern China, Taiwan, Nepal and mainland Southeast Asia.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.


Scopula amseli

Scopula amseli is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is endemic to Iran.


Boana prasina

Boana prasina is a species of frog in the family Hylidae. It is endemic to Southeastern Brazil and known from the states of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo, and possibly further south. Common name Burmeister's treefrog has been proposed to this species.
"Boana prasina" occurs in forested habitats and in grassland and pastureland at elevations of above sea level. These frogs are usually found on vegetation near ponds, pools, and lakes. Breeding takes place in permanent pools and small streams; the egg clutches are attached to vegetation in the water.
"Boana prasina" is a common species, although some populations appear to have disappeared. It is threatened by water pollution and habitat loss caused by fire. It is present in several protected areas.


Phycopterus

Phycopterus is a genus of moths of the family Erebidae first described by Émile Blanchard in 1852. The species are all found in Chile.
It was described as: Body fairly slender. Head short, rounded. Protruding eyes. Setaceous (bristled) antennae in both sexes, simple, somewhat more dense in males than in females. Palpi three times longer than the head, rights(?), pointed and very flaky, with the last joint with a pointed end, almost acute. Oblong thorax. Forewings rather broad, nearly triangular, almost straight terminal edge. Hindwing rounded. Legs thin and very long. Abdomen conical.


Acanthodoxus delta

Acanthodoxus delta is a species of longhorn beetles of the subfamily Lamiinae. It was described by Martins and Monné in 1974, and is known from Brazil.


Collared aracari

The collared aracari or collared araçari ("Pteroglossus torquatus") is a toucan, a near-passerine bird. It breeds from southern Mexico(North America) to Panama; also Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela and Costa Rica.
Taxonomy and systematics.
The collared aracari was originally classified in the genus "Ramphastos". Alternate names include the banded aracari, ringed aracari and spot-chested aracari.
Subspecies.
Three subspecies are recognized:
Some authorities consider the stripe-billed aracari and the pale-mandibled aracari to also be subspecies of the collared aracari.
Description.
Like other toucans, the collared aracari is brightly marked and has a large bill. The adult is typically long and weighs The sexes are alike in appearance, with a black head and chest and dark olive green upperparts, apart from a red rump and upper tail. There is reddish collar on the rear neck which gives rise to the English and scientific ("torquatus") names. The underparts are bright yellow, with a round black spot in the centre of the breast and a red-tinted black band across the belly. The thighs are chestnut.
The bare facial skin is black, becoming ruddy behind the yellow eye. The upper mandible of the bill is dull yellow, marked with a black saw-tooth pattern on the cutting edge, and a black tip. The lower mandible is black, and the legs are green.
Juvenile collared aracaris are much duller, with sooty-black head and brownish green upperparts. The red rump and yellow underparts are paler, and the breast spot, belly band and bill pattern are indistinct.
The call of the collared aracari is a loud, sharp "pseek", or "peeseek".
Behaviour and ecology.
Small flocks, usually consisting of 6-15 birds, move through the forest with a rapid direct flight.
Breeding.
The collared aracari is a common resident breeder in lowland forests and slightly more open woodland. The 3 white eggs are laid in an unlined natural cavity or old woodpecker nest high in a tree.
Both sexes incubate the eggs for about 16 days, and the toucan chicks remain in the nest after hatching. They are blind and naked at birth, and have short bills and specialised pads on their heels to protect them from the rough floor of the nest. They are fed by both parents, assisted by up to three other adults, probably from a previous brood, and fledge after about 6 weeks, with feeding by the adults continuing for several weeks after leaving the nest.
The aracaris are unusual for toucans in that they roost socially throughout the year, up to six adults and fledged young sleeping in the same hole with tails folded over their backs.
Food and feeding.
This species is primarily an arboreal fruit-eater, but will also take insects, lizards, eggs, and other small prey.


Antilles leaf-toed gecko

The Antilles leaf-toed gecko ("Hemidactylus palaichthus"), also known as the Maria Islands leaf-toed gecko or spiny gecko, is a gecko species found in northern South America, where it is restricted to lowland areas. It can also be found on small rocks and islets offshore of Saint Lucia, Trinidad, and Tobago, though it is absent from the main islands.


Cnemaspis anslemi

Cnemaspis anslemi, or Anslems' day gecko, is a species of diurnal gecko endemic to island of Sri Lanka described from northwestern foothills of Samanalawewa Nature Reserve.
Etymology.
The specific name "anslemi" honors Sri Lankan herpetologist Kongahage Anslem Lawrence de Silva, who has worked nearly five decades on Sri Lanka herpetofauna. He is commonly known as the father of modern herpetology in Sri Lanka.
Taxonomy.
The species is closely related to "C. gemunu", "C. godagedarai", "C. phillipsi", and "C. scalpensis".
Ecology.
The species is restricted to home gardens and tropical evergreen rainforests in the Udamaliboda area, Lihinihela, Borangamuwa, and Warnagala areas. Researchers described the species as critically endangered due to tea and rubber plantations and mini hydropower plants.
It is sympatric with many other gecko species, including "Cnemaspis samanalensis", "Cyrtodactylus triedrus", "Gehyra mutilata", "Hemidactylus depressus", "H. pieresii", "H. frenatus", "H. parvimaculatus", and "Hemiphyllodactylus typus"".
Description.
Snout to vent length of adult male is 34.4 mm and female is 32.5 mm. Body slender and long. Eye relatively small with round pupil. Dorsum is covered with smooth granular scales. Chin and gular scales are smooth. Tubercles are well developed. Males have no precloacal pores. Dorsum is reticulated brown, black, and white in color with two large oval shaped patches on the neck region. Head has scattered black and white dots. Dark canthal stripe is indistinct. Chin and gular areas are bright yellow. Neck is bright yellow with black dots in zig-zag pattern. Femur is dirty yellow. Tail has 13–15 cinnamon brown blotches. Eggs are pure white and spherical.


Calliophis gracilis

Calliophis gracilis, is a species of coral snake in the family Elapidae.


Acteocina infrequens

Acteocina infrequens, common name the Magdalena barrel bubble, is a species of small sea snail, a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Acteocinidae, the barrel bubble snails.
Description.
The length of the shell attains 6.7 mm, its diameter 2.5 mm.
The small, slender shell has a subcylindric shape. It is translucent white and is polished. The shell contains four whorls. The protoconch is minute, subglobular and transparent. The suture is distinct, more or less channeled. The spire is short but distinctly turreted. The aperture is narrow. The outer lip is straight, rounding below into the thickened columella which has a strong plait with a groove behind it. The body has a slight glaze.
Distribution.
This marine species occurs in Magdalena Bay, Lower California; off Baja California to Pacific Panama.


Banded wren

The banded wren ("Thryophilus pleurostictus") is a small songbird of the wren family. It is a resident breeding species from central Mexico to Costa Rica. It was formerly placed in the genus "Thryothorus" (Mann et al., 2006).
This wren breeds in lowlands and foothills from sea level up to 800 m altitude in open or scrubby woodland, including forest clearings and second growth. It mainly occurs on the Pacific side of the central mountain ranges. Its flask-shaped nest has a long entrance tube angled downward and is lined with fine grasses. It is constructed 1–2.5 m high in a fork of a thorny tree or shrub, often close to a wasp nest. The female alone incubates the three or four unspotted white or pale greenish-blue eggs for about two weeks to hatching, and the young fledge in about the same length of time again.
The adult banded wren is 13.5 cm long and weighs 20 g. It has chestnut brown upperparts, strong white supercilia, a brown stripe through the eye and black streaking on the white cheeks. The underparts are white with much black barring on the lower belly and flanks. The wings and tail are barred with black. Young birds have duller upperparts and dull white underparts, faintly mottled with dusky brown.
The call of this species is a nasal "cherrrt" or a rattle and roll, "kert rrruk kert rrruk", and the melodious and complex song is a mix of clear whistles and musical trills.
The banded wren forages actively in low vegetation or sometimes on the ground in pairs or family groups. It eats mainly eats insects, spiders and other invertebrates.


Adenomus

Adenomus is a small genus of true toads, with only two species, endemic to Sri Lanka. "Adenomus kandianus" was considered as extinct for 133 years, but was rediscovered in October 2009 in the Kandy area.
Description.
"Adenomus" are slender toads that lack the supraorbital ridge (present in other Sri Lankan bufonids) and have smooth finger edges (versus granular). The largest species is "Adenomus kelaartii" where females can attain in snout–vent length.
Species.
There are two species:
The species are syntopic in parts of their range, but generally speaking "Adenomus kandianus" is a lower-altitude species whereas "Adenomus kelaartii" is a high-altitude species.
A third species, "Adenomus dasi" (Das's dwarf toad) was recognized in 2015 as being a synonym of "Adenomus kandianus"; the two show some morphological differences but negligible genetic divergence.


Amphisbaena bedai

Amphisbaena bedai is a species of worm lizards found in Brazil.


Methona confusa

Methona confusa (giant glasswing) is a species of butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.
Description.
"Methona confusa" has a wingspan of about . Wings are transparent with black margins and black cross-bars on the forewings and the hindwings. The margins of the hindwings show a series of small white spots. The body has a double parallel series of conspicuous white spots. Antennae are black, with yellowish tip.
Distribution.
This species can be found in Brazil, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and colombia


Coleophora xanthoptera

Coleophora xanthoptera is a moth of the family Coleophoridae. It is found in Algeria.


Allobates masniger

Allobates masniger is a species of frog in the family Aromobatidae.
It is endemic to Brazil.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, rivers, freshwater marshes, and intermittent freshwater marshes.
It is threatened by habitat loss.


Nebria talassica

Nebria talassica is a species of ground beetle in the Nebriinae subfamily that is endemic to Kyrgyzstan.


Finless porpoise

The Indo-Pacific finless porpoise ('), or finless porpoise, is one of seven porpoise species. Most of the population has been found around the Korean peninsula in the Yellow and East China Seas, although a freshwater population is found around Jiuduansha near Shanghai at the mouth of China's Yangtze River. Genetic studies indicate that the finless porpoise is the most basal living member of the porpoise family.
There is a degree of taxonomic uncertainty surrounding the species, with the "N. p. phocaenoides" subspecies perhaps representing a different species from "N. p. sunameri" and "N. p. asiaeorientalis", currently reclassified as the narrow-ridged finless porpoise.
Name.
The Korean communities of the porpoise are sometimes known as sanggwaengi (); the Chinese, particularly the subspecies "N. p. asiaorientalis", as jiangtun (,  "jiāngtún",  "river piglet"); and the Japanese, particularly the subspecies "N. p. sunameri", as sunameri ().
Distribution.
The Indo-Pacific finless porpoise lives in the coastal waters of Asia, especially around Japan, Korea, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, and Bangladesh. Throughout their range, the porpoises stay in shallow waters, up to deep, close to the shore, in waters with soft or sandy seabeds, or in estuaries and mangrove swamps. In exceptional cases, they have been encountered as far as off-shore in the East China and Yellow Seas, albeit still in shallow water.
There are two recognised subspecies:
At the western end, their range includes the length of the western coast of India and continues up into the Persian Gulf. "N. p. phocaenoides" has a wide ridge on its back and ranges from Pakistan to the Taiwan straits. "N. p. sunameri" has a narrower ridge, and is found from Taiwan, north to the Sea of Japan. The population in coastal waters around Japan is geographically isolated by the deep waters between Japan and continental Asia. Vagrant animals can reach the Ryukyu Islands. Finless porpoises are also one of the species protected at Sundarbans National Park.
Description.
The finless porpoise is the only porpoise to lack a true dorsal fin. Instead there is a low ridge covered in thick skin bearing several lines of tiny tubercles. In addition, the forehead is unusually steep compared with those of other porpoises. With fifteen to twenty-one teeth in each jaw, they also have, on average, fewer teeth than other porpoises, although there is some overlap, and this is a not a reliable means of distinguishing them.
Finless porpoises can grow to as much as in length, and can weigh up to , although most are rather smaller. The flippers are moderately large, reaching up to 20% of the total body length. Adults are typically a uniform, light grey colour, although some may have lighter patches of skin around the mouth or darker patches in front of the flippers. Newborn calves of the central and eastern subspecies are mostly black with grey around the dorsal ridge area, becoming fully grey after four to six months. However, newborn calves of the western subspecies are a light creamy grey, and become darker as they age.
Adults grow more than 1.55 m (5 ft) in length and up to 30–45 kg (65–100 lb) in weight.
Internal anatomy.
The anatomy of finless porpoises has been relatively well studied, compared with that of some other cetacean species. For example, the tubercles along the dorsal ridge are known to contain numerous nerve endings that may possess a sensory function. The auditory system also appears well-developed, with numerous large nerve fibres specialised for rapid communication between the ears and the brain. On the other hand, sight is relatively poor, with a reduced lens and a limited number of fibres in the optic nerve and to the muscles moving the eyes.
The skeleton is unusually light, accounting for only 5% of the total weight of the animal. There are between 58 and 65 vertebrae, about half of them in the tail, and with the first three cervical vertebrae fused into a single structure. There are ten to fourteen pairs of ribs in the chest, and an additional set of vestigial ribs has sometimes been reported in the neck, in association with the seventh cervical vertebra. There are 44 sets of spinal nerves.
The nasal passage contains nine or ten air sacs, which have a complicated structure, and are capable of sealing off all air within the passage. Behind these are an additional set of vomeronasal sacs. The trachea, however, is short, with only four cartilaginous rings. The stomach has three chambers, there is no caecum, and no distinct difference between the small and large intestines.
Diet.
Finless porpoises are opportunistic feeders using various kinds of available food items available in their habitat, including fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods. They are reported to eat fish, shrimp and squid in the Yellow Sea/Bohai area and off Pakistan. In Japanese waters, they are known to eat fish, shrimp, squid, cuttlefish and octopuses. Seasonal changes in their diets have not been studied. They also apparently ingest some plant material when living in estuaries, mangroves, and rivers, including leaves, rice, and eggs deposited on vegetation.
Behaviour.
In Chinese coastal waters and the Yangtze River, finless porpoises are generally found in groups of three to six, although aggregations of up to about fifty have been reported. In Japanese waters, groups appear to be smaller, with pairs being typical, and even rare aggregations being no larger than thirteen individuals. Recent data suggest the basic unit of a finless porpoise pod is a mother/calf pair or two adults, and schools of three or more individuals are aggregations of these units or of solitary individuals. Social structure seems to be underdeveloped in the species, and the mother/calf pair is probably the only stable social unit.
Like other porpoises, their behaviour tends to be not as energetic and showy as that of dolphins. They do not ride bow waves, and in some areas appear to be shy of boats. In the Yangtze River, finless porpoises are known to leap from the water and perform "tail stands".
Finless porpoises make both high frequency clicking sounds, and longer, low frequency tones, the latter perhaps being for communication, rather than echolocation. The clicks are narrow-band, with peaks of over 100 kHz.
A new study from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) study that was published in "The Journal of Experimental Biology", "highlights the differences in dolphins' ability to hear across species, reshaping the previous 'one-size-fits-all' approach taken on the hearing ability of the cetaceans".
Swimming style.
Although they show no acrobatics in the water, finless porpoises are believed to be very active swimmers. They typically swim just beneath the surface of the water and roll to one side when surfacing to breathe. This rolling movement disturbs very little water on the surface, so they are often overlooked when rising to breathe. Surfacing generally lasts for one minute, as they take three to four quick successive breaths, then quickly submerge into the water. They often surface a great distance from the point where they dive beneath the water's surface. Dives lasting over four minutes have been recorded, and a common pattern of behaviour is to take one long dive, followed by two shorter ones.
Reproduction.
Breeding occurs in late spring and early summer.. The young are born in spring, summer, or winter, depending on the geographic locality, after a gestation period of ten to eleven months. Newborn finless porpoises are reported to in length. Males reach sexual maturity at four to six years of age, and females at six to nine years. Finless porpoises have lived up to 33 years.
It has been claimed that young calves cling to the denticulated area of skin on their mother's back and are carried by her as she swims, but there is no clear evidence of this happening. Calves are weaned at 6–15 months.
Conservation.
The finless porpoise is listed on Appendix II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). It is listed on Appendix II as it has an unfavourable conservation status or would benefit significantly from international co-operation organised by tailored agreements.
Since this species remains in coastal waters, it has a high degree of interaction with humans, which often puts the finless porpoise at risk. Like other porpoises, large numbers of this species are killed by entanglement in gill nets. Except for being briefly hunted after World War II due to the lack of seaworthy fishing boats, finless porpoises have never been widely hunted in Japan. It is a species protected since 1930 at the area around Awajima Island, Takehara and this coverage had since been extended to all Japanese coastal waters. The primary danger to the species is environmental degradation. Unlike other members of this family, finless porpoises have lived in captivity for over 15 years.
There are no well-established estimates of the animals' abundance. However, a comparison of two surveys, one from the late 1970s and the other from 1999–2000, shows a decline in population and distribution. Scientists believe this decline has been ongoing for decades, and the current population is just a fraction of its historical levels. Along the southern coast of Pakistan in the Arabian Sea it is declared as an endangered species.
Local conservation groups in Korea, such as at Yeosu, have started campaigning for the protection of the local populations.
The WWF Website states that the finless porpoise is Critically endangered. However, it is not the official 'IUCN Endangered Status'.


Argyrodiaptomus neglectus

Argyrodiaptomus neglectus is a species of crustacean in the family Diaptomidae. It is endemic to Brazil.


Argistes seriatus

Argistes seriatus, is a species of spider of the genus "Argistes". It is endemic to Sri Lanka.


Crow-billed drongo

The crow-billed drongo ("Dicrurus annectens") is a species of bird in the family Dicruridae. It is native to moist tropical forests of southeastern Asia where its range extends from India to the Philippines and Indonesia. It is a completely black bird with a shallowly forked tail and is similar in appearance to the black drongo. It breeds between April and June, the cup-shaped nest being built in the fork of a branch by both birds, the female afterwards incubating the eggs. It is a common bird and the IUCN has listed it as "least concern".
Taxonomy.
The crow-billed drongo was originally described by the English naturalist Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1836 and given the binomial name "Bhuchanga annectans". The specific epithet is a misspelling of the Latin word "annectens" meaning "connecting". This error has been corrected following the rules of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature to give the current scientific name "Dicrurus annectens". The present genus "Dicrurus" had been introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1816.
Description.
This bird, which is similar to the black drongo, is jet-black in color and has a stout bill. It has a forked tail.
Distribution and Habitat.
It is found in: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.
Behavior.
This species inhabits dense evergreen forests and moist-deciduous forests. The nesting season is from April to June. The nest is usually a small cup made of grass that is held together by cobwebs. The nests can be found in the fork of a slender branch. The female incubates the eggs. However, both the male and female birds build the nest.
Diet and Feeding.
This species eats insects and other small animals.


Leptobrachella suiyangensis

Leptobrachella suiyangensis, also known as Suiyang leaf-litter toad, is a species of frog in the family Megophryidae. It is endemic to Guizhou province in southern China and so far only known from Huoqiuba Nature Reserve, its type locality in the eponymous Suiyang County.
Description.
Adult males measure and adult females in snout–vent length. The head is slightly longer than it is wide. The snout is slightly protruding. The tympanum is distinct and rounded; the supratympanic fold is also distinct. The finger and toe tips are rounded and slightly swollen. The fingers have no webbing whereas the toes have rudimentary webbing. Skin is dorsally shagreened. Dorsal coloration is purple-brown, turning to brown-purplish between the eyes and the scapular region. There are various dark-brown to black-brown markings. The elbows and upper arms have distinct dark-orange coloration. The ventral surface of the throat is grey-white; chest and belly are yellowish creamy-white. The iris is bicolored: coppery orange on the upper half and silver grey on the lower half.
Habitat and conservation.
This species is only known from its type locality at above sea level in the Huoqiuba Nature Reserve. The general area is characterized by subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest and evergreen deciduous broad-leaved mixed forest. The type series was collected from a shallow stream about one half meters wide and ten centimeters deep and from a nearby, well-preserved bamboo forests. During the time of collection in June, males were calling from under bamboo leaves. Others individuals were found perching on or hiding under rocks by the stream side.
As of late 2020, "Leptobrachella suiyangensis" had not yet been assessed for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The type locality is a reserve, but grazing and herb collection have caused disturbance in the area and could threaten this species. The range of this species might also extend into the adjacent Kuankuoshui National Nature Reserve.


White-capped bunting

The white-capped bunting or chestnut-breasted bunting ("Emberiza stewarti") is a species of bird in the family Emberizidae. It is found in Afghanistan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Its natural habitats are boreal forests, boreal shrubland, and temperate grassland.


Rufous fantail

The rufous fantail ("Rhipidura rufifrons") is a small Passerine bird, most commonly known also as the black-breasted rufous-fantail or rufous-fronted fantail, which can be found in Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. In these countries they inhabit rainforests, wet forests, swamp woodlands and mangroves.
Characteristic of species that have a large range, the rufous fantail has many subspecies. However the taxonomic treatment of its subspecies and other relatives is still debated. The rufous fantail is easily distinguished by their orange-reddish-brown back, rump and base of tail. They have a black and white breast that grades into a white colour on the chin and throat.
They are migratory, travelling to south-eastern Australia in the spring to breed, and then north in the autumn.
The rufous fantail tends to feed on small insects in the lower parts of the canopy. They are very active birds making short, frequent flights. They may also hop between foliage or on the ground, during foraging.
Although their population is thought to be declining, their relatively large range and abundance make them a species of least concern according to the IUCN.
Taxonomy.
The rufous fantail has complex evolutionary relationships and sometimes this results in conflicting taxonomy. This is not uncommon since taxonomies are merely hypotheses of a species' evolutionary status. Debate is still currently ongoing about the taxonomic treatment of the rufous fantail's subspecies and its related species.
History of naming.
The rufous fantail was first described by Latham in his 1801 work, "Index Ornithologicus" initially as "Muscicapa ruffifrons". It was later reclassified into the genus "Rhipidura" by Vigors and Horsfield. The rufous fantail's scientific name is consequently "Rhipidura ruffifrons". "Rhipidura" is derived from Greek: "ρϊπός" (pronounced rhipido), meaning fan-like and "οὐρά" (pronounced oura), meaning tail. "Ruffifrons" comes from two Latin words: "rufus" meaning red and "frons" meaning the forehead.
Alternate names.
The rufous fantail is also known by numerous other English names as well as several names in different languages. Some common English names include: rufous-fronted fantail, wood fantail, rufous-fronted flycatcher, wood flycatcher, red fantail, allied flycatcher, rufous flycatcher, rufous fan, red fan or redstart.
Related species.
It is one of over 40 member species of the genus Rhipidura, commonly known as the fantails. Within the genus it belongs to a group of five closely related species: "R. rufidorsa", "R. brachyrhyncha", "R. dahli", "R. teysmanni" and "R. dryas". A molecular phylogeny study showed the Arafura fantail "(Rhipidura dryas)" to be its closest relative.
It forms a superspecies with "R. dryas" and "R. semirubra", and all three are often considered conspecific. All are part of a larger species group that also includes "R. teysmanni", "R. superflua", "R. dedemi", "R. opistherythra", "R. lepida", "R. rufidorsa", "R. dahli", "R. matthiae" and "R. malaitae".
Evolution.
The current spatial distribution suggests an ancestry originating in the Papuan region, most likely New Guinea.
The ancestral form may have had a white chin, white throat, and a light grey breast as well as a greyish-brown head and back. Indirect evidence suggests that ancestral species undertook two periods of aggressive range expansions (dispersal) separated by a period of inactivity.
During the former dispersal period, it is hypothesised by Mayr "et al." (1946) that:
During the latter dispersal period, the true "rufifrons" group underwent "explosive sub-speciation". This is in stark contrast to the other members whose evolution was stagnant. The true "rufifrons" further evolved into eighteen subgroups.
Subspecies.
The rufous fantail is a superspecies comprising eighteen recognised subspecies. In alphabetical order, these are:
Description.
Adults are medium-sized birds, generally ranging from 14.5 cm – 18.5 cm in length, averaging at around 15 cm; their wingspan is between 18 cm – 22.5 cm, averaging at around 21 cm. They weigh roughly 10 grams. The male and female of the species look identical.
However, females are generally smaller than the males.
The forehead is a richly reddish-brown colour across the eyes. The eyes have a white arc just below them. The top of the head, back of the neck and the upper back, transition from an olive to reddish-brown colour, which then blends into a blackish-brown, long, fan-shaped tail. This blackish-brown tail, contrasts with the base of the tail, which is tipped with a paler colour, often white.
It has black ear-coverts (feathers over the ears, just below and behind the eyes). The throat is white (in most subspecies), and there is a black bar across the upper breast. Below this, the lower breast is off-white with black scale-like spots which transitions into an off-white colour towards the centre of the abdomen. The eyes, bill and feet of the bird are all a brown colour.
The aforementioned colours do not change during different seasons. However, compared to the adults, the juveniles have generally duller coloured backs and marginally browner tails and underparts. On the other hand, the base of the bill and their legs are a paler brown relative to an adult's.
A physical description that may help distinguishing between the different subspecies can be found in the subspecies section of this article.
The plumage in the immature birds is similar to those of the adults and in both sexes. Adults moult annually prior to the breeding season, and this basic plumage does not vary.
Vocalisations.
These have been not been well characterised in the rufous fantail. Nevertheless, it has been observed to create several different types of sounds such as chips, buzzes, and scolds. Their "chip call" is often what first attracts an observer's attention. This call is high pitched, with two chip noises given in quick succession. It is produced during food searching, territory defence and can be used as an alarm call when a predator is identified. They sing after sunset from perches, one reason is to attract the opposite sex.
Similar species.
Whilst it is similar in size and shape to grey fantails "(Rhipidura albiscapa)", it has a slightly larger fantail and creates higher pitched and softer songs.
Its diagnostic physical features: orange-reddish-brown back, rump and base of tail – easily differentiate it from other fantails. Moreover, it can be further distinguished from similar fantails as it tends to forage in shady and moist regions of habitats that are close to the ground.
Distribution and habitat.
Distribution.
The rufous fantail can be found in parts of Australia, southeast Asia, and in the Oceanic regions of Micronesia and Melanesia. They are residents of the Lesser Sunda Islands and the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, southern New Guinea and its associated islands, the Solomon Islands, the Marianas and the Carolinian island of Yap. In Australia, they are found in the northern and eastern coastal regions.
Certain subspecies tend to be restricted to some ranges. See the subspecies section of this article for more detailed information.
Habitat.
The rufous fantail inhabits moist and moderately dense habitats. Within these areas, it has astonishingly large variations in habitat requirements. They can be found in eucalyptus forests, mangroves, rainforests and woodlands (usually near a river or swamp). Rarely, they have even been found in dry sclerophyll forests. Apart from open grasslands and open arid areas, there are not many major types of landscape in the Australo-Pauan region that cannot be inhabited by at least one subspecies of the rufous fantail.
Rufous fantails will generally occupy the lower levels of their habitat, the understorey or the subcanopy, straying no further than 6m from the ground. Different subspecies may tend to prefer slightly different habitats which can be sometimes discrete or overlapping.
Behaviour and ecology.
 Studies on rufous fantail social behaviour are sparse. Some observers have anecdotally described them as curious and trustful, whilst others depict them as shy creatures. However, there is consensus in that they are almost always portrayed as hyperactive, constantly on the move, fidgeting and waving a fanned-out tail.
They are usually observed flitting about in the lower layers of their habitat, in close association with the shade, making short, frequent flights separated by brief moments of perching and sometimes hopping between foliage or onto the ground.
Breeding.
When they are spotted, they are usually either on their own or in pairs. Although their social bonding is not well known, they nest in pairs and are thought to be monogamous. Males will produce vocal songs to both defend and advertise their territory. Sometimes this can result in intense, rapid and prolonged vocal "battles".
After pairing, both will search for a suitable breeding site. The female has the final say on nest location. Some males have been known to feed their paired females for up to 2–3 weeks before and during the selection of the nest site and building of the nest. Their breeding sites are mainly in rainforest regions or sheltered, humid gulies with an abundance of dense cover such as trees, saplings, shrubs and vines. The nest, will usually be built at the fork between two nearly horizontal tree branches in proximity to a water source, such as a stream. The structure of the nest is often compared to a wine glass with a broken bottom stand. The nest is built, usually in November, December and January, using thin strips of tree bark, grass, moss rootlets and decayed wood.
The eggs themselves are round or oval in shape and occasionally have a point at one end. Their colour is generally described as somewhere between a pale cream to yellowish white. These have light brown and purplish markings or spots. There are normally 3 or 4 eggs produced in a nest.
Both the males and the females give (frequently alternating) parental care, which includes: feeding their nestlings and removing their feacal sacs from the nest. Whilst only females have actually been observed to incubate (brood) laid eggs, it is assumed males can do this as well.
Four to five weeks after hatching, the young will leave the nest. However, they will remain near their nest (natal area) until they undertake their first migration.
Migration.
Some subspecies have slightly differing migration patterns. However, the vast majority exhibit strong migratory behavior – they use the same route year after year and have regular departure and arrival times. They migrate to south-eastern Australia in the spring to breed, beginning in September, peaking in October, and then north in the autumn during March and April. This has been well characterised.
Food and feeding.
 They eat mostly small insects and will often join mixed species feeding flocks to do so. These usually comprise other small Passerine birds such as: the spectacled monarch, the little shrikethrush, the large-billed scrubwren and less occasionally, the green-backed honeyeater.
The rufous fantail is mostly an aerial forager, rarely perching during feeding. Prey are found during almost continuous movement in and between vegetation. They stop (perch) for very short periods of time, during which they fan their tails. Much more rarely, they perch for longer than five seconds to survey surroundings.
Once a prey is located, they will pursue it by exhibiting extremely agile and maneuverabile flight within the canopy ( by salling, flush-pursuit or flutter-chase).
However, they are versatile foragers, also capable of different foraging methods, occasionally hovering to glean prey from leaves and (very rarely) from the ground and other fallen debris. They have longer legs relative to other Rhipidura species, enabling them to have agile movement on the ground as well.
Threats/survival.
Many eggs and young are lost to the suspected predator, the pied currawong ("Strepera graculina").
Relationship to humans.
The logging of forests has been shown to influence foraging preference, changing from the forest floor to the lower canopy. However, they prefer undisturbed forests. Logging decreases breeding habitat and increases the risk of fragmentation, particularly if these forests are in migration routes.
Status.
The range of the rufous fantail is very extensive. On this basis it does not have a range small enough to be considered vulnerable (<20,000 km2). Although the population size has not been properly characterised, it is thought to be declining, but not rapidly enough to be placed into vulnerable status. Therefore, the species is of least concern as classified by the IUCN.


Chirocephalus marchesonii

Chirocephalus marchesonii is a species of fairy shrimp in the family Chirocephalidae. It is endemic to Pilate Lake.
Discovery.
The Chirocephalus marchesonii was observed for the first time in 1954 by Vittorio Marchesoni, director of the Botanical Institute of the University of Camerino, during an excursion. New samples were studied in 1957 by Ruffo and Vesentini, who established that it was a new species of crustacean. Chirocephalus name is in tribute to his first discoverer Vittorio Marchesoni.
Description.
Chirocephalus marchesonii stands out easily from other branchiopods thanks to its long, approximately cylindrical body as well as its lack of a shell. Its body, which presents an obvious metamerism, is divided into three sections: head, thorax equipped with eleven pairs of appendices/fins which also have a breathing function, and abdomen which contains the reproductive organs: an egg sac in the female, and two penises of the same length in the male.
These crustaceans, whose distinctive feature is that they swim on their backs, form part of the zooplankton. They move by making swinging movements of the appendices along the rib cage. Their swimming position seems to derive from a positive phototropism.
The species has a characteristic coral red coloring. The size ranges for both sexes between 9 and 12 mm.
The eggs are spherical in shape and compared to other similar species found in Italy (C. kerkyrensis, C. salinus, C. sibyllae, C. diaphanous and C. ruffoi) are among the largest, with an average diameter of 0.43 mm.
Chirocephalus marchesonii has an anamorphic development, where the embryo opens as a Nauplius larva, only reaching adult shape after a series of gradual morphological modifications, while new sections and appendices are gradually added. Its biological cycle is synchronized and totally dependent on the annual hydrological cycle of Pilate Lake, generally between the beginning of June and the end of September.
Habitat and behaviour.
One of the principal characteristics of the anostraca consists in their adaptability to environments subjected to strong seasonal stress. The environment is often made of temporary water pockets and of little aquatic ponds characterized by a total temporary lack of water and going through extreme phases (draining/freezing) and (or) by fluctuations of the water level and as a result by strong wavering of the physic-chemical factors.
In order to face up these kinds of difficulties, the Chirocephalus produce a form of resistance called cyst, inside of which the embryo is stopped at the stage of gastrulation, is isolated by a protective partition which allows it to keep its vitality until the moment when the ideal conditions for its development recreate themselves until the hatching.
Preservation.
The cysts are left season after season and do not all hatch out, a part stays in the sediment which constitutes de facto a stock and an extra guarantee for the species survival. The protection of the biotope is primordial because the life of the species under its adult form only goes for several months, whereas the cysts which are produced stay vital for many years if the anthropic factors do not disrupt the sediments where they build up.
The most important risk is particularly related to the climatic changes in progress. The ecosystem of altitude such as the Pilate Lake one is characterized by specific climatic conditions which make it particularly vulnerable to high temperatures.
The Pilate Lake is considered as a relic zone which, by its climatic and orographic conditions, constitutes a real refuge housing which keeps giving the necessary conditions to the survival of every species which populate it, among them the Chirocephalus marchesonii, stenothermic species of low temperature.
If the forecasts of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reinforce, the species could disappear from now until a few decades.
References.
This article comes partially or completely from the Wikipedia article in Italian entitled “Chirocephalus marchesonii”. (see the authors list):


Bufotes oblongus

Bufotes oblongus, the Eastern Persian toad, is a hybrid species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is found in eastern and central Iran north to adjacent parts of Turkmenistan. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, freshwater marshes, and freshwater springs.


Dusky catshark

The dusky catshark ("Bythaelurus canescens") is a catshark of the family Scyliorhinidae that is endemic to the southeast Pacific Ocean, off the coasts of Peru and Chile. It grows to a maximum length of 70 cm, and is oviparous like many other chondrichthyans in the Indo-Pacific.
Ecology.
"Bythaelurus canescens" is deep-sea shark, generally located between depths of 250–1260 meters. It lives primarily on mud on the upper continental slopes, but can also be found on rocky bottoms. It is an important mesopredator, and is often caught it shrimp trawl nets in northern and central Chilean coasts. Sometimes "B. canescens" makes up to 20.3% of the total catch. In spite of this, little is known about it because it is often thrown back without further consideration. Trophic ecology studies are often done on "B. canescens t"o obtain a general overview of their diet.
Diet Studies.
Much of what is known about the ecology and predicted behavior of the dusky catshark is known due to studies of stomach samples. Their most important prey were reported to be the squid "Loligo gahi", the siphonophore "Sulculeolaria quadrivalvis", and the bony fishes "Muggiea atlantica" and "Coelorhynchus fasciatus". Overall, the bulk mass consumed consisted of siphonophores. Other prey options such as octopus or crustaceans would depend on environmental availability, making the dusky catshark a general bentho-demersal predator that eats what fits in its mouth. Its diet is similar to those of other Scyliorhinidae sharks in the Chilean deep sea which are opportunistic hunters. It is also possible it undergoes vertical migration while following its food source.
In a separate study, the deep-sea shrimp "Heterocarpus reedi" is reported to be the main food source for "B. canescens", which is to be expected as dusky catsharks are often caught in the "H. reedi" nets. Its diet was again found to consist mostly of benthic prey sources. However, there is still some data lacking as most "Bythaelurus canescens" specimens caught are juveniles; adults tend to live at deeper depths of around 1000 meters.
At an active methane seep off the coast of Chile, "Bythaelurus canescens" was reported to be one of the top predators, with a highly variable diet.
Reproduction.
Like many sharks, "Bythaelurus canescens" reproduces using complex egg capsules which are deposited on the sea floor or attached to rocks and corals. Scyliorhinid shark eggs are vase-shaped, and are carried two at a time, one in each uterus. The capsules are light yellow-brown, and darken to brown after fixation to the sea floor. The capsule is slightly translucent, elongated and flattened, and ridged lengthwise, with a long tendril extending from each corner. Fixation occurs by two of the four tendrils, with two strong, coiled posterior tendrils designed to hold onto substrate. Development occurs after the egg has been laid, with no aid from the parents.


Colpophyllia

Colpophyllia is a genus of stony corals in the family Mussidae. It is monotypic with a single species, Colpophyllia natans, commonly known as boulder brain coral or large-grooved brain coral. It inhabits the slopes and tops of reefs, to a maximum depth of fifty metres. It is characterised by large, domed colonies, which may be up to two metres across, and by the meandering network of ridges and valleys on its surface. The ridges are usually brown with a single groove, and the valleys may be tan, green, or white and are uniform in width, typically 2 centimetres. The polyps only extend their tentacles at night.
Description.
Individual colonies of "Colpophyllia natans" are large and usually broadly domed, with curvature typically increasing with the size, and therefore age, of the colony. They grow up to two metres in diameter and morphologically earn the epithet "boulder". Colony shape may occasionally be flat-topped discs, particularly when younger. As a type of brain coral, the surface of the skeleton is a network of winding, curving valleys and ridges (or walls) that roughly resemble the familiar folding architecture of the mammal cerebrum.
The colour of the ridges and valleys vary among colonies, with the ridges being various shades of brown, and the valleys either whitish, green, or tan. The ridge tops are indented with a single thin groove. Ridges and valleys may be up to 2 centimetres wide, and this breadth distinguishes it from the narrower "Diploria", which may otherwise be similar in appearance. The polyps only extend their tentacles at night.
The robust shape, size, and slow growth of the boulder brain coral allows it more easily to survive conditions to which smaller and more fragile corals, such as the plate-like lettuce coral ("Agaricia agaricites"), succumb. "C. natans" and the sympatric and similarly named boulder star coral ("Montastraea annularis") are less likely to be smothered by algal bloom, and have also weathered reef-wrecking Hurricane Allen off the coast of Jamaica in 1980. Corals in the Caribbean are susceptible to bleaching caused by high water temperatures and solar radiation. A nine-month study conducted in 2005 compared the mortality of "C. natans" from bleaching to that of "Porites porites", which has a finger-like morphology. Although the severity of bleaching between the two species was similar, 56% of the "P. porites" colonies studied died from the bleaching, compared to only 8% mortality for bleach-affected "C. natans". However, bleaching induced widespread incidence of the coral syndrome White Plague Type II, resulting in bleaching-related mortality of 42% among "C. natans" over 9 months, nearly as high as that for "P. porites".
Distribution and habitat.
Boulder brain corals inhabit coral reefs in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, with most occurrences off the coasts of Belize, eastern Yucatán Peninsula, southern Florida, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Cuba. It is identifiable in fossil records at least since the early Pliocene.
"C. natans" is considered one of the dominant reef-building corals of the Caribbean region and is a familiar species of the shallower reef ledges and slopes. It can be found down to a depth of fifty metres, but is more often established closer to the surface.
Lifecycle.
"Colpophyllia natans" is a hermaphroditic broadcast spawner, releasing large numbers of gametes synchronously to aid fertilisation. Each individual polyp spawns both eggs and sperm, having the reproductive capabilities of both the male and female sexes. Following fertilisation, the zygote becomes a microscopic larva called a planula, which, upon swimming to suitable substrate, will anchor and establish a new colony. This method of sexual reproduction has a high rate of failure in several of its stages and few new colonies successfully grow.
"C. natans" is susceptible to more coral diseases than most other corals in its habitat. A total of seven diseases are known to afflict "C. natans", and it is one of only twenty-two coral species worldwide in which this count is higher than three. It is one of the Caribbean corals most afflicted by black band disease, and along with "Montastraea" spp., suffers from yellow-band disease. A particularly aggressive form of white plague known as WPL III has so far been documented attacking only very large colonies of "C. natans" and "Montastraea annularis". Other hosted diseases include white plague types I and II, dark spot, and skeletal anomalies, such as tumours and galls. Another pathogen, so far unidentified, killed in one year, between 2001 and 2002, approximately half of the corals present in Bird Key Reef of the Dry Tortugas.
Despite this susceptibility to disease, the boulder brain coral is long-lived, with specimens capable of living for more than two hundred years.
Taxonomy.
The first description of "Colpophyllia natans" as a species was published by the Dutch physician and naturalist Maarten Houttuyn. Basing his work on Linnaeus, between the years 1761 and 1785 Houttuyn published a 37-volume natural history series, titled "" ("Natural history, or an extensive description of the animals, plants and minerals, after the compilation of Linnaeus, with accurate illustrations"). Volumes 17 and 18, the final volumes of the zoology section, were published in 1772 and focused on polyps, wherein "C. natans" is described. Houttuyn gave the species name as "Madrepora natans", which was later included in the genus "Colpophyllia", by Henri Milne-Edwards and Jules Haime, 1848. His cousin Frans Houttuyn, a printer and bookseller, printed the series and is sometimes mistakenly credited for the work and also erroneously named as Houttuyn's father.
A synonym of "C. natans" is "Meandrina gyrosa", attributed to Lamarck, 1816. There is dispute over whether or not "Colpophyllia breviserialis" is the same species.


List of fauna of the Scottish Highlands

This is a list of fauna of the Scottish Highlands.
Sources.
Kempe and Wrightham, "Hostile Habitats: Scotland's Mountain Environment" Scottish Mountaineering Trust 2006,
See also.
Fauna of Scotland


Habronattus americanus

Habronattus americanus is a species of jumping spiders from the family Salticidae.
Description.
The female spider is brown and gray, with a small color range. The male spider is black coloured from top, and the male's pedipalp is red, along with parts of the legs. The red color is used to attract female mates with courtship displays.
Habitat.
This species lives in western North America, ranging from British Columbia, Canada, in the north to California, United States, in the south. It ranges from the coast into Alberta and Montana. It may reach further, but current knowledge is based only on reported sightings.


Alopoglossus amazonius

Alopoglossus amazonius, the Amazonanian teiid, is a species of lizard in the family Alopoglossidae. It is endemic to Brazil.


Hypopachus ustus

Hypopachus ustus, the two-spaded narrow-mouthed toad, is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae found in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico. Its natural habitats are tropical dry and moist lowland forests. Breeding takes place in both temporary and permanent ponds. As this species is widespread and can live modified habitats, it is not considered threatened.


Unicorn huanaco


Bare-eared squirrel monkey

The bare-eared squirrel monkey ("Saimiri ustus") is a squirrel monkey endemic to Brazil and possibly eastern Bolivia.


Ichnusomunda sacchii

Ichnusomunda sacchii is a species of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Hygromiidae, the hairy snails and their allies.
This species is endemic to Italy. Its natural habitats are temperate grassland and sandy shores. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Telmatobius hauthali

Telmatobius hauthali is a species of frog in the family Telmatobiidae.
It is endemic to Argentina.
Its natural habitat is geothermal wetlands.
It is threatened by habitat loss which may lead to its extinction.


Acalyptris martinheringi

Acalyptris martinheringi is a moth of the family Nepticulidae. It was described by Puplesis and Robinson in 2000. It is known from Belize.


Blue-cheeked bee-eater

The blue-cheeked bee-eater ("Merops persicus") is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family, Meropidae. The genus name "Merops" is Ancient Greek for "bee-eater", and "persicus" is Latin for "Persian".
It breeds in Northern Africa, and the Middle East from eastern Turkey to Kazakhstan and India. It is generally strongly migratory, wintering in tropical Africa, although some populations breed and live year-round in the Sahel. This species occurs as a rare vagrant north of its breeding range, with most vagrants occurring in Italy and Greece.
Taxonomy and systematics.
Two subspecies are recognized:
This species is closely related to blue-tailed bee-eater, "M. philippinus" of East Asia, and the olive bee-eater of Africa, and has been treated as being the same species (conspecific).
Description.
This species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly coloured, slender bird. It is predominantly green; its face has blue sides with a black eye stripe, and a yellow and brown throat; the beak is black. It can reach a length of , with the two elongated central tail feathers adding another . Sexes are mostly alike but the tail-streamers of the female are shorter.
This is a bird which breeds in sub-tropical semi-desert with a few trees, such as acacia. It winters in open woodland or grassland. As the name suggests, bee-eaters predominantly eat insects, especially bees, wasps and hornets, which are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch. However, this species probably takes more dragonflies than any other food item. Its preferred hunting perch is telephone wires if available.
Blue-cheeked bee-eaters may nest solitarily or in loose colonies of up to ten birds. They may also nest in colonies with European bee-eaters. The nests are located in sandy banks, embankments, low cliffs or on the shore of the Caspian Sea. They make a relatively long tunnel of in length in which the four to eight (usually six or seven), spherical white eggs are laid. Both the male and the female take care of the eggs, although the female alone incubates them at night. Incubation takes 23–26 days.
The call sounds 'flatter' and less 'fluty' than the European bee-eater.


Striated babbler

The striated babbler ("Argya earlei") is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is found in southern Asia from Pakistan to Myanmar.
This species was formerly placed in the genus "Turdoides" but following the publication of a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study in 2018, it was moved to the resurrected genus "Argya".


Titanodula grandis

Titanodula grandis, also known as the giant Asian mantis, is a species of praying mantis native to the region around the Bay of Bengal in southern Asia. It is found in north-eastern India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. It is a large mantis which grows up to 4 inches long.
Taxonomy.
"T. grandis" was originally placed in "Hierodula", but a 2020 study moved the species to a new genus, "Titanodula", based on its large size and the unique shape of the male genitalia.


Gegenes pumilio

Gegenes pumilio, the pigmy skipper or dark Hottentot, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found from the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea through Anatolia to the Himalaya and south in the whole of Africa.
The length of the forewings is about 14 mm. Adults are on wing from April to October in multiple generations.
The larvae feed on various grasses, including Gramineae species as well as "Pennisetum clandestinum", "Ehrharta" (including "Ehrharta erecta") and "Cynodon" species.


Odontophrynus cordobae

Odontophrynus cordobae (in Spanish: "escuercito") is a species of frog in the family Odontophrynidae. It is endemic to northern Argentina and known from Córdoba and Santiago del Estero Provinces. This diploid species was separated from the tetraploid "Odontophrynus americanus" in 2002. It inhabits montane grasslands and forests and can be found under rocks. Reproduction takes place in permanent mountain streams. The tadpoles require more than a year to reach metamorphosis. It is common in suitable habitats. It tolerates substantial habitat modification but habitat destruction for wood extraction and cattle ranching can threaten it.


Asaphocrita coronae

Asaphocrita coronae is a moth in the family Blastobasidae that is endemic to Costa Rica.


Variable wheatear

The variable wheatear ("Oenanthe picata") is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan.
Its natural habitat is hot deserts.
Description.
The variable wheatear is a bird of arid and semi-arid region, and is locally abundant in barren rocky areas, sand dunes with scrub vegetation, cultivation, ravines, outside villages and nomadic encampments.
It is polymorphic and has three distinct morphs.
The geographical dominance of the three types of females does not exactly correspond to the dominances of the three color phases of the males, but in their wintering grounds there is some corresponding separation.
Distribution and habitat.
This species is found in northeast and southeast Iran and Turkmenistan eastern to western Tien Shan, Pamirs, and northern and western Pakistan; non-breeding in southwest Asia. Common and generally distributed in winter in Pakistan and northwestern India southeast to Delhi, central Madhya Pradesh and northern Maharashtra (Khandesh). Arrives on breeding grounds in March (Baluchistan) or mid April (Chitral), remains till September. May be seen in winter quarters from the beginning of August (Karachi dist) till the end of March.
In winter frequents stony semi-desert, and desert with sparsely scrubbed sand dunes, cultivation, ravines, outskirts of villages and nomadic encampments, cattle corrals, etc.; usually from almost sea level to c. 1200 m, but has been observed also at 2700 m in deep snow.


Neophyllobius elegans

Neophyllobius elegans is a species of mites found in Italy.


Melanophryniscus stelzneri

Melanophryniscus stelzneri, commonly known as the bumblebee toad or black-and-yellow walking toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae which is endemic to Argentina and is harvested for the pet trade. Two subspecies are recognized.
Diet.
It feeds exclusively on insects and worms.


Percichthys melanops

Percichthys melanops is a species of temperate perch endemic to Chile, where it occurs in pre-Andean streams. This species can reach TL.


Chelemys megalonyx

Chelemys megalonyx, also known as the large long-clawed mouse or large long-clawed akodont is a species of rodent in the genus "Chelemys" of family Cricetidae. It is endemic to central Chile.


Bothrops alternatus

Bothrops alternatus is a highly venomous pit viper species found in South America (Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina). Within its range, it is an important cause of snakebite. The specific name, "alternatus", which is Latin for "alternating", is apparently a reference to the staggered markings along the body. No subspecies are currently recognized.
Description.
Size.
Large and stout, this terrestrial species reportedly exceeds in total length, although the verified maximum is . Most specimens are in total length, with females being significantly longer and heavier than males.
Color and markings.
The scalation includes 25-35 (usually 27-31/29-33 in males/females) rows of dorsal scales at midbody, 155-183/164-190 ventral scales in males/females, and 38-53/30-44 subcaudal scales in males/females. On the head there are 8-13 strongly keeled intersupraocular scales, 8-10 supralabial scales, none of which are fused with the prelacunal, and 12-14 sublabial scales.
The color pattern is exceedingly variable. The ground color may be brown, tan or gray, sometimes with an olive cast. The top of the head is usually chocolate brown to almost black with a range of transverse and longitudinal tan to white markings. On the body, there is a series of 22-28 dorsolateral markings that are chocolate brown to black in color and boldly bordered in cream or white. Along the vertebral line, these markings may either oppose or alternate. Each marking is widened and invaded from underneath by the paler ground color so that it either looks like a cross, encloses a darker blotch, or divides the marking into three parts to give it the shape of a headphone. On the tail, the pattern fuses to form a zigzag pattern. In some specimens, the pattern is so concentrated that there is no difference in color between the markings and the interspaces. The ventral surface includes a dark brown to black stripe that starts at the neck and runs down to the tail tip. Aberrant specimens, described by Lema (1960, 1987), had dark dorsal stripes running down the length of the body.
Common names.
"Urutu", "wutu", crossed pit viper. The common names "urutu" and "wutu" refer to the crescent markings on the body.
In Argentina, it is referred to as "víbora de la cruz" and "yarará grande". In Brazil it is called "boicoatiara", "boicotiara" (Tupi dialect), "coatiara", "cotiara" (southern Brazil), "cruzeira", "cruzeiro", "jararaca de agosto" (Rio Grande do Sul, Lagoa dos Patos region), "jararaca rabo-de-porco" (Rio Grande do Sul), and "urutu". In Paraguay it is called "mbói-cuatiá", "mbói-kwatiara" (Gí dialect), and "yarará acácusú" (Guaraní dialect). In Uruguay it is referred to as "crucera", "víbora de la cruz" and "yarará".
Geographic range.
Found in southeastern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and northern Argentina. In Argentina it is found in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Córdoba, Corrientes, Chaco, Entre Ríos, Formosa, La Pampa, Misiones, San Luis, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero and Tucumán. The type locality is listed as "Amérique méridionale" and "Paraguay."
Habitat.
Occurs in tropical and semitropical forests, as well as temperate deciduous forests. According to Gallardo (1977), it prefers marshes, low-lying swamps, riparian zones and other humid habitats. It is also said to be common in sugarcane plantations. It is found in a variety of habitats depending on the latitude, including open fields and rocky areas in the Sierra de Achiras in Córdoba and the Sierra de la Ventana in Buenos Aires in Argentina, fluvial areas, grasslands and cerrado. However, it is usually absent in dry environments.
Reproduction.
Females, depending on their size, give birth to varying numbers of live young. Leitão de Araujo and Ely (1980) reported on two litters that had average weights of and and average total lengths of and , with captive females giving birth to 3-12 young. Cardinale and Avila (1997) collected one female in 1995 that was found to contain 26 embryos. Haller and Martins (1999) determined that the species produces 1-24 offspring at a time. Neonates are identical to the adults, except that they are more brightly colored. Neonates are capable of a venomous strike immediately when they are born.
Venom.
An important cause of snakebite within its range, bites are rarely fatal but frequently cause severe local tissue damage. Although Spix and Martius (1824) found that it had a reputation for being one of the most venomous snakes in Brazil, its bite "said to occasion almost certain death", the statistics tell a different story. In his survey of 6,601 snakebite cases in Central and South America, Fonseca (1949) found that 384 were attributed to this species and that, of that number, only eight were fatal (2%).
In a study by Baub "et al." (1994) of the case histories of 32 patients bitten by this species and admitted to the hospital in Catanduva, São Paulo, Brazil, all developed local pain and swelling. Furthermore, in 97% of all cases the blood clotting time was prolonged (more than 12 minutes), 41% had bleeding (usually from the gums), 32% had local blistering and 9% had necrosis. In all cases, specific antivenin was used and there were no deaths. These findings contrast with other reports involving much more tissue damage. Silva Jr. (1956) includes a description of a Brazilian patient with gangrene on the hand and forearm that required amputation, as well as another bitten four years previously who had scarring over the anterior tibial compartment. Abalos and Pirosky (1963) considered this species to be responsible for many of the total number of snakebite cases in Argentina and included a picture of a young boy, bitten below the knee, with the bare fibula and tibia exposed. In 2004, a 44-year-old woman died from a bleed in the brain after getting bitten at her home. The median lethal dose of this species in Brazil varies according to the location, from 2.2 mg / kg to 4.1 mg / kg.


Greater fairy armadillo

The greater fairy armadillo ("Calyptophractus retusus"), also known as Burmeister's armadillo or the Chacoan fairy armadillo, is a species of armadillo in the family Chlamyphoridae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss and persecution. It is the only species in the genus Calyptophractus.
Description.
The greater fairy armadillo is a small species, growing to a length of from with a tail about long and weighing up to a kilogram (2.2 lb). Like other armadillos it has bands of armour on its dorsal (upper) surface but, in common with the pink fairy armadillo "Chlamyphorus truncatus" but unlike most other armadillos, these bands are fused to its pelvis and spine. They are soft in texture and are linked together with skin which gives flexibility to the body. They come to an abrupt end at the rear of the body. The ventral surface is clad in dense, woolly hair and there are some sparse hairs on the dorsal surface as well. The forefeet are scoop-shaped and have curved claws, and the hind feet have sharp claws for burrowing.
Distribution and habitat.
The greater fairy armadillo is native to the Gran Chaco region of northern Argentina, central and south-eastern Bolivia and western Paraguay. It inhabits dry grassy areas and is found only in places with light sandy soils in which it can burrow.
Behaviour.
The behaviour of the greater fairy armadillo has been little studied. It is an expert tunneller and spends most of its time in the shallow burrows that it excavates and is seldom seen above ground during the day. If disturbed, it can bury itself rapidly, and may block the entrance to its burrow with its hindermost plates. It has an omnivorous diet and feeds on worms, insect larvae, insects, snails, roots and seeds.
The breeding habits of this species are largely unknown. After mating has taken place, the fertilised egg may remain in the uterus for several months before implantation takes place. The egg may then divide and up to four embryos may develop from a single fertilised egg. The gestation period is probably about four months as in other species of armadillo. The young are precocial and can move about within a few hours of birth. Their body armour does not harden until they are a few weeks old and they are weaned about the same time. They become sexually mature at between six months and one year.
Status.
At one time the greater fairy armadillo was listed by the IUCN as "Near Threatened" because of the loss of its habitat but in 2010, its status was changed to "Data Deficient" on the grounds that the animal was insufficiently known for it to be properly evaluated. Its distribution is quite patchy and in some areas of the Guarani people, it is persecuted on sight due to a traditional belief that it is an animal of ill omen of death, or the spirit of a dead baby. However, it is present in some nature reserves and national parks where it should be undisturbed by humans.


Argentinian coral snake

The Argentinian coral snake ("Micrurus pyrrhocryptus") is a species of coral snake in the family Elapidae.
It is found in South America, particularly the Dry Chaco.


Ctenosaura acanthura

Ctenosaura acanthura, commonly known as the northeastern spinytail iguana or Veracruz spiny-tailed iguana, is a species of iguanid lizard found in Mexico and Guatemala.
Taxonomy.
The northeastern spinytail iguana was first described by British zoologist George Shaw in 1802. The generic name, "Ctenosaura", is derived from two Greek words: "ctenos" (Κτενός), meaning "comb" (referring to the comblike spines on the lizard's back and tail), and "saura" (σαύρα), meaning "lizard". Its specific name is the Greek word "akanthos" (Ἄκανθος), meaning "thorn".
Description.
Northeastern spinytail iguanas have distinctive keeled scales on their long tails, which give them their common name. The males are capable of growing up to in total length and females slightly shorter at . They have a crest of long spines which extends down the center of the back. Their base color is black with white or cream-colored markings.
Diet and behavior.
Northeastern spinytail iguanas are excellent climbers, and prefer a rocky habitat with plenty of crevices to hide in, rocks to bask on, and nearby trees to climb. They are diurnal and fast moving, employing their speed to escape predators but will lash with their tails and bite if cornered.
They are primarily herbivorous, eating flowers, leaves, stems, and fruit, but they will opportunistically eat smaller animals, eggs, and arthropods. Juveniles tend to be insectivores becoming more herbivorous as they get older.
Distribution.
This species may commonly be found around areas of human habitation. These large lizards range from central Tamaulipas to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec between the Mexican states of Veracruz and Oaxaca.
Reproduction.
Mating generally occurs in the spring. A male shows dominance and interest by head bobbing, eventually chasing the female until he can catch her and subdue her. Within eight to ten weeks, the female will dig a nest and lay clutches of up to 24 eggs. The eggs hatch in 90 days with the babies digging their way out of the sand. These juveniles are typically green with brown markings, although all-brown hatchlings have been recorded as well.


Lynchius nebulanastes

Lynchius nebulanastes is a species of frog in the family Craugastoridae. It is endemic to northwestern Peru where it is known from the vicinity of its type locality, El Tambo, on the western slope of the Cordillera de Huancabamba, Piura Region. Common name Canchaque Andes frog has been coined for it.
Description.
Adult males measure and adult females in snout–vent length. The snout is subacuminate in dorsal view and sloping in lateral profile. The canthus rostralis is sharp and slightly concave. The tympanum is concealed by skin. The supratympanic fold is weakly developed. Skin of dorsum and venter is smooth (dorsal skin occasionally finely areolate. Skin of the post-tympanic region is tuberculate. The fingers have ventral pads, with weak circumferential grooves in fingers I and II only. The toes have discs with weak circumferential grooves. The dorsum is brown, black, or dull green, and may have a creamy yellow line. The throat and belly are greenish yellow and have darker brown or gray markings. The ventral surfaces of the hind limbs are bright yellow. There also are bright yellow spots on the hidden surfaces of groin and hind limbs. The iris is dull bronze.
Habitat and conservation.
"Lynchius nebulanastes" occurs in humid montane forests at elevations of above sea level; it has been found along forest edges (including roads). It is a terrestrial frog that can be found under rocks. It is threatened by habitat loss caused by agricultural activities.


Tsing-ling pika

The Tsing-ling pika ("Ochotona huangensis") is a species of pika (or subspecies of daurian pika) endemic to the mountains in Central China. They inhabit mountainous forests and shrublands. It is a poorly known species.
It is a rarely found, one of the six pika species endemic to central China, with no true population studies.


Three-spined stickleback

The three-spined stickleback ("Gasterosteus aculeatus") is a fish native to most inland and coastal waters north of 30°N. It has long been a subject of scientific study for many reasons. It shows great morphological variation throughout its range, ideal for questions about evolution and population genetics. Many populations are anadromous (they live in seawater but breed in fresh or brackish water) and very tolerant of changes in salinity, a subject of interest to physiologists. It displays elaborate breeding behavior (defending a territory, building a nest, taking care of the eggs and fry) and it can be social (living in shoals outside the breeding season) making it a popular subject of enquiry in fish ethology and behavioral ecology. Its antipredator adaptations, host-parasite interactions, sensory physiology, reproductive physiology, and endocrinology have also been much studied. Facilitating these studies is the fact that the three-spined stickleback is easy to find in nature and easy to keep in aquaria.
Description.
This species can occasionally reach lengths of , but lengths of at maturity are more common. The body is laterally compressed. The base of the tail is slender. The caudal fin has 12 rays. The dorsal fin has 10–14 rays; in front of it are the three spines that give the fish its name (though some individuals may have only two or four). The third spine (the one closest to the dorsal fin) is much shorter than the other two. The back of each spine is joined to the body by a thin membrane. The anal fin has eight to 11 rays and is preceded by a short spine. The pelvic fins consist of just a spine and one ray. All spines can be locked in an erect position, making the fish extremely hard to swallow by a predator. The pectoral fins are large, with 10 rays. The body bears no scales, but is protected by bony plates on the back, flanks, and belly. Only one ventral plate is present, but the number of flank plates varies greatly across the distribution range and across habitat types (see below); it is normally higher in marine populations (some freshwater populations may in fact lack lateral plates altogether).
Dorsal coloration varies, but tends towards a drab olive or a silvery green, sometimes with brown mottling. The flanks and belly are silvery. In males during the breeding season, the eyes become blue and the lower head, throat, and anterior belly turn bright red. The throat and belly of breeding females can turn slightly pink. A few populations, however, have breeding males which are all black or all white.
Habitat and distribution.
The three-spined stickleback is found only in the Northern Hemisphere, where it usually inhabits coastal waters or freshwater bodies. It can live in either fresh, brackish, or salt water. It prefers slow-flowing water with areas of emerging vegetation. It can be found in ditches, ponds, lakes, backwaters, quiet rivers, sheltered bays, marshes, and harbours.
In North America, it ranges along the East Coast from Chesapeake Bay to the southern half of Baffin Island and the western shore of Hudson Bay, and along the West Coast from southern California to the western shore of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. It can be found throughout Europe between 35 and 70°N. In Asia, the distribution stretches from Japan and the Korean peninsula to the Bering Straits.
Its distribution could be said to be circumpolar were it not for the fact that it is absent from the north coast of Siberia, the north coast of Alaska, and the Arctic islands of Canada.
Variation in morphology and distribution.
Three subspecies are currently recognized by the IUCN:
These subspecies actually represent three examples from the enormous range of morphological variation present within three-spined sticklebacks. These fall into two rough categories, the anadromous and the freshwater forms.
The anadromous form spends most of its adult life eating plankton and fish in the sea, and returns to freshwater to breed. The adult fish are typically between 6 and 10 cm long, and have 30 to 40 lateral armour plates along their sides. They also have long dorsal and pelvic spines. The anadromous form is morphologically similar all around the Northern Hemisphere, such that anadromous fish from the Baltic, the Atlantic and the Pacific all resemble each other quite closely.
Three-spined stickleback populations are also found in freshwater lakes and streams. These populations were probably formed when anadromous fish started spending their entire lifecycle in fresh water, and thus evolved to live there all year round. Freshwater populations are extremely morphologically diverse, to the extent that many observers (and some taxonomists) would describe a new subspecies of three-spined stickleback in almost every lake in the Northern Hemisphere. One consistent difference between freshwater populations and their anadromous ancestors is the amount of body armour, as the majority of freshwater fish only have between none and 12 lateral armour plates, and shorter dorsal and pelvic spines. However, also large morphological differences occur between lakes. One major axis of variation is between populations found in deep, steep-sided lakes and those in small, shallow lakes. The fish in the deep lakes typically feed in the surface waters on plankton, and often have large eyes, with short, slim bodies and upturned jaws. Some researchers refer to this as the limnetic form. Fish from shallow lakes feed mainly on the lake bed, and are often long and heavy bodied with relatively horizontal jaws and small eyes. These populations are referred to as the benthic form.
Since each watershed was probably colonised separately by anadromous sticklebacks, morphologically similar populations in different watersheds or on different continents are widely believed to have evolved independently. A unique population is found in the meromictic Pink Lake in Gatineau Park, Quebec.
One aspect of this morphological variation is that a number of lakes contain both a limnetic and a benthic type, and these do not interbreed with each other. Evolutionary biologists often define species as populations that do not interbreed with each other (the biological species concept), thus the benthics and limnetics within each lake would constitute separate species. These species pairs are an excellent example of how adaptation to different environments (in this case feeding in the surface waters or on the lake bed) can generate new species. This process has come to be termed ecological speciation. This type of species pair is found in British Columbia. The lakes themselves only contain three-spined sticklebacks and cutthroat trout, and all are on islands. Tragically, the pair in Hadley Lake on Lasqueti Island was destroyed in the mid-1980s by the introduction of a predatory catfish, and the pair in Enos Lake on Vancouver Island has started to interbreed and are no longer two distinct species. The two remaining pairs are on Texada Island, in Paxton Lake and Priest Lake, and they are listed as Endangered in the Canadian Species at Risk Act.
Other species pairs which consist of a well-armored marine form and a smaller, unarmored freshwater form are being studied in ponds and lakes in south-central Alaska that were once marine habitats such as those uplifted during the 1964 Alaska earthquake. The evolutionary dynamics of these species pairs are providing a model for the processes of speciation which has taken place in less than 20 years in at least one lake. In 1982, a chemical eradication program intended to make room for trout and salmon at Loberg Lake, Alaska, killed the resident freshwater populations of sticklebacks. Oceanic sticklebacks introduced through nearby Cook Inlet recolonized the lake. In just 12 years beginning in 1990, the frequency of the oceanic form dropped steadily, from 100% to 11%, while a variety with fewer plates increased to 75% of the population, with various intermediate forms making up another small fraction. This rapid evolution is thought to be possible through genetic variations that confer competitive advantages for survival in fresh water when conditions shift rapidly from salt to fresh water. However, the actual molecular basis of this evolution still remains unknown.
Although sticklebacks are found in many locations around the coasts of the Northern Hemisphere and are thus viewed by the IUCN as species of least concern, the unique evolutionary history encapsulated in many freshwater populations indicates further legal protection may be warranted.
Diet.
In its different forms or stages of life, the three-spined stickleback can be a bottom-feeder (most commonly chironomid larvae) or a planktonic feeder in lakes or in the ocean; it can also consume terrestrial prey fallen to the surface. It can cannibalize eggs and fry.
Life history.
Many populations take two years to mature and experience only one breeding season before dying, and some can take up to three years to reach maturity. However, some freshwater populations and populations at extreme latitudes can reach maturity in only one year.
Reproduction.
Sexual maturation depends on environmental temperature and photo-period. Longer days and warmer days stimulate brighter colouration in males and the development of eggs in females.
From late April, males and females move from deeper waters to shallow areas. There, each male defends a territory where he builds a nest on the bottom. He starts by digging a small pit. He then fills it with plant material (often filamentous algae), sand, and various debris which he glues together with spiggin, a proteinaceous substance secreted from the kidneys. The word spiggin is derived from "spigg", the Swedish name for the three-spined stickleback. He then creates a tunnel through the more or less spherical nest by swimming vigorously through it. Nest building typically takes 5–6 hours though it may also be spread out over several days. After this, the male courts gravid females that pass by with a zigzag dance. He approaches a female by swimming very short distances left and right, and then swims back to the nest in the same way. If the female follows, the male often pokes his head inside the nest, and may swim through the tunnel. The female then swims through the tunnel as well, where she deposits 40–300 eggs. The male follows to fertilize the eggs. The female is then chased away by the male. For the duration of the eggs' development, the male will chase away other males and non-gravid females. He may, however, court other gravid females (more than one batch of eggs can be deposited in the same nest).
The sequence of territorial courtship and mating behaviours was described in detail by Niko Tinbergen in a landmark early study in ethology. Tinbergen showed that the red colour on the throat of the territorial male acts as a simple sign stimulus, releasing aggression in other males and attracting females. The red colouration may also be used by females as a way to assess male quality. Red colouration is produced from carotenoids found in the diet of the fish. As carotenoids cannot be synthesised "de novo", the degree of colouration gives an indication of male quality (ability to find food), with higher-quality males showing more intense colouration. Also, males that bear fewer parasites tend to exhibit brighter red colours. Many studies have shown that females prefer males with brighter red colouration. However, the response to red is not universal across the entire species, with black throated populations often found in peat-stained waters.
The male takes care of the developing eggs by fanning them. He lines himself up with the entrance of the nest tunnel and swims on the spot. The movement of his pectoral fins creates a current of water through the nest, bringing fresh (well-oxygenated) water to the eggs. He does this not only during the day, but throughout the night, as well. Fanning levels tend to increase until the eggs are about to hatch, which takes 7–8 days at 18–20 °C. Fanning levels also increase when the water is poorly oxygenated. Towards the end of the egg development phase, the male often makes holes in the roof and near the rim of the nest, presumably to improve ventilation of the nest during fanning at a time when the eggs are more metabolically active. Once the young hatch, the male attempts to keep them together for a few days, sucking up any wanderers into his mouth and spitting them back into the nest. Afterwards, the young disperse and the nest is either abandoned by the male, or repaired in preparation for another breeding cycle.
In Nova Scotia, a form of three-spined stickleback departs from the usual pattern of parental care. Unlike other sticklebacks that nest on the substrate, Nova Scotian male sticklebacks build nests in mats of filamentous algae. Surprisingly, almost immediately after fertilization, the males disperse the eggs from the nest and resume soliciting females for eggs. Hence, there appears to have been a loss of parental care in this population. Because these males have reduced dorsal pigmentation, resulting a pearlescent white appearance, they have been dubbed "white sticklebacks". It is currently unknown whether they are a distinct species, or simply a morph of the common Atlantic stickleback.
As the breeding cycle of the three-spined stickleback is light and temperature dependent, it is also possible to manipulate breeding in the lab. For example, it is possible to stimulate sticklebacks to breed twice in a calendar year, instead of once, under the right conditions. This can be useful for genetic and behavioural multi-generational studies.
Infection with the cestode parasite "Schistocephalus solidus" can cause a reduction in egg mass or complete absence of eggs in female three-spined sticklebacks.
Cooperative behavior.
Some evidence indicates the existence of cooperative behavior among three-spined sticklebacks, mainly cooperative predator inspection. Predator inspection appears to allow acquisition of information about the risk a potential predator presents, and may deter attack, with the cost being an increased chance of being attacked if the predator proves to be hungry.
Tit-for-tat strategy.
Sticklebacks are known to cooperate in a tit-for-tat (TFT) strategy when doing predator inspection. The idea behind TFT is that an individual cooperates on the first move and then does whatever its opponent does on the previous move. This allows for a combination of collaborative (it starts by cooperating), retaliatory (punishes defection), and forgiving (respond to cooperation of others, even if they had defected previously) behavioral responses. When three-spined sticklebacks approaching a live predator were provided with either a simulated cooperating companion or a simulated defecting one, the fish behaved according to tit-for-tat strategy, supporting the hypothesis that cooperation can evolve among egoists.
Typically, sticklebacks operate in pairs. Individuals have partners with which they repeatedly perform pairwise predator inspection visits. Two reciprocal pairs per trial occur significantly more often than what was expected due to chance. These results provide further evidence for a tit-for-tat cooperation strategy in sticklebacks.
Stickleback behavior is often cited as an archetypal example of cooperative behavior during predator inspection. Fish from three sites differing in predation risk inspected a model predator in pairs and reciprocated both cooperative moves and defections by the partner, but not on every opportunity. Sticklebacks that originated in the two sites containing piscivorous fish were more likely to reciprocate following a cooperative move than following a defection. Individuals from higher-risk sites were generally more cooperative. Individuals accompanied by a model companion show reciprocal moves of cooperation and defection in response to the model's movements about a third of the time. Both examples of stickleback behavior demonstrate the elements of a strategy of cooperation that may resemble tit-for-tat.
Partner-dependence.
The tit-for-tat cooperation strategy has been shown to be evident in sticklebacks. In addition, the size of a stickleback's partner fish may also be a factor in determining what a stickleback will do when both fish are faced with a predator. Two sticklebacks simultaneously presented to a rainbow trout, a predator much larger in size, will have differing risks of being attacked. Usually, the larger of the two sticklebacks has a higher risk of being attacked. Individual sticklebacks are more likely to move closer to a trout (or some other predator) when a larger potential partner moves close to the trout than when a smaller partner approaches the trout. Although both large and small partners behave similarly, a small partner's behavior affects the strategy of the test fish more than that of the large partner. Regardless of whether it is alone or with a partner that cooperates, a larger fish will approach a predator more closely than does a smaller fish. If a partner defects, then a stickleback's condition-factor (i.e. its ability to flee) determines how closely it approaches the predator rather than the stickleback's size. Both the strategy and reaction to different-sized partners seem to be dependent on whether the partner cooperates or defects.
Sensory biology.
Sticklebacks have four colour photoreceptor cells in their retina, making them potentially tetrachromatic. They are capable of perceiving ultraviolet wavelengths of light invisible to the human eye and use such wavelengths in their normal behavioural repertoire.
Parasites.
The three-spined stickleback is a known intermediate host for the hermaphroditic parasite "Schistocephalus solidus", a tapeworm of fish and fish-eating birds.
Genetics.
Three-spined sticklebacks have recently become a major research organism for evolutionary biologists trying to understand the genetic changes involved in adapting to new environments. The entire genome of a female fish from Bear Paw Lake in Alaska was recently sequenced by the Broad Institute and many other genetic resources are available. This population is under risk from the presence of introduced northern pike in a nearby lake.
Eco-evolutionary dynamics.
Three-spined stickleback research has been central to the field of eco-evolutionary dynamics. Eco-evolutionary dynamics is an area of study investigating how ecological processes (e.g., population dynamics, community interactions, and nutrient cycling) affect how populations evolve, and in turn, how these patterns of evolution feed back to affect ecological processes. Importantly, these dynamics arise when substantial evolutionary change occurs on the same time scale as ecological change (i.e., less than 1,000 generations). Three-spined stickleback are particularly useful for studying eco-evolutionary dynamics because multiple populations have evolved rapidly and in predictable, repeated patterns after colonizing new environments. These repeated patterns of evolution allow scientists to assess whether the impacts of stickleback evolution on ecological processes are reproduceable.
An eco-evolutionary framework has been used to explore multiple aspects of stickleback biology. Notably, this research has focused on how populations of three-spined stickleback have diverged to occupy different ecological niches (a process called adaptive radiation) and how sticklebacks have coevolved with their parasites.
Eco-evolutionary dynamics of adaptive radiation.
Most eco-evolutionary dynamics research in sticklebacks has focused on how the adaptive radiation of different ecotypes affects ecological processes. Ecotypes represent genetically and morphologically recognizable populations occupying distinct ecological niches. In three-spined stickleback, divergent ecotypes are often found as sympatric (i.e., co-occurring) or parapatric (i.e., partially overlapping, but mostly isolated) species pairs, including benthic—limnetic pairs, freshwater—anadromous pairs, and lake—stream pairs. Pairs of stickleback ecotypes have diverged at time scales ranging from 10,000 years to only decades ago.
Different combinations of stickleback ecotypes affect ecosystem processes in different ways. For example, the combined presence of specialized benthic and limnetic sticklebacks has a different effect on the diversity and abundance of prey species compared to the presence of only a generalist ancestral stickleback ecotype. Notably, this effect appears to be driven by limnetic sticklebacks specializing on zooplankton prey, rather than by an increase in the number of co-occurring stickleback species alone. The impacts of ecotype specialization on prey communities can even affect the abundance of algae and cyanobacteria that do not directly interact with sticklebacks, along with aspects of the abiotic environment, such as the amount of ambient light available for photosynthesis and levels of dissolved oxygen, carbon, and phosphorus. These diverse changes in ecosystem processes can persist to affect natural selection on subsequent stickleback generations, potentially shaping how stickleback populations will evolve in the future. Because the presence of specialist verses generalist ecotypes can impact ecosystems in a way that, in turn, affects selection on future stickleback generations, the adaptive radiation of specialized ecotypes could drive eco-evolutionary feedback loops in natural populations.
Eco-evolutionary dynamics of host-parasite interactions.
Sticklebacks have also been studied to investigate the eco-evolutionary dynamics of host-parasite coevolution. Three-spined sticklebacks can be hosts to a variety of parasites (e.g., "Schistocephalus solidus", a common tapeworm of fish and fish-eating birds). The diversity of parasite species within individual stickleback is influenced by an individual’s dietary niche and immune response. This covariation between parasite infection and host traits is likely a consequence of eco-evolutionary feedback, whereby the evolution of dietary and parasite resistance traits in sticklebacks alters parasite reproduction and infection rates, which in turn affects parasite exposure and selection on parasite resistance in sticklebacks. These feedbacks can also extend beyond stickleback-parasite interactions to modify ecosystem processes. Specifically, differences in resistance and infection rates among stickleback ecotypes can alter how sticklebacks affect the abundance of prey species and levels of dissolved nutrients and oxygen. These ecosystem impacts can further affect selection on sticklebacks in subsequent generations, which suggests a complex feedback loop between the evolution of host-parasite interactions, community composition, and abiotic conditions.
Common methods.
Many researchers have used mesocosm experiments to test how the adaptive radiation of stickleback ecotypes and stickleback-parasite interactions can impact ecological processes. In these experiments, researchers simulate the natural environments of sticklebacks in enclosed tanks, including natural plant and invertebrate communities and freshwater ecological zones. They then systematically manipulate an independent variable (e.g., which stickleback ecotypes were present or the presence of parasites), and measured differences in biotic and abiotic aspects of ecosystems among the different stickleback treatments. In some cases, researchers have then tested for potential feedback loops between ecotype evolution and ecological change by removing the adult stickleback from the mesocosms and replacing them with juveniles of different ecotypes. By doing so, the researchers could then measure how the affects of adult sticklebacks on their ecosystems influenced overall juvenile fitness (e.g., survival and growth rates) and differences in fitness between juveniles of different ecotypes.