Cassowary bird

 Cassowary bird:

The cassowaries are ratites, very large flightless birds, in the genus Casuarius native to the tropical forests of New Guinea, nearby islands, and northeastern Australia.There are three extant species recognized today. The most common of these, the Southern Cassowary, is the third tallest and second heaviest living bird, smaller only than the ostrich and emu.

Cassowaries feed mainly on fruit, although all species are truly omnivorous and will take a range of other plant food including shoots, grass seeds, and fungi in addition to invertebrates and small vertebrates. Cassowaries are very shy, but when provoked they are capable of inflicting injuries to dogs and people, although fatalities are extremely rare.

Description:

The Northern and Dwarf Cassowaries are not well known. All cassowaries are usually shy birds of the deep forest, adept at disappearing long before a human knows they are there. Even the more accessible Southern Cassowary of the far north Queensland rain forests is not well understood.

Females are bigger and more brightly colored. Adult Southern Cassowaries are 1.5 to 1.8 metres (4.9–5.9 ft) tall, although some females may reach 2 metres (6.6 ft), and weigh 58.5 kilograms (129 lb).

           All cassowaries have feathers that consist of a shaft and loose barbules. They do not have retrices (tail feathers) or a preen gland. Cassowaries have small wings with 5-6 large remeges. These are reduced to stiff, keratinous quills, like porcupine quills, with no barbs. A claw is on each second finger. The furcula and coracoid are degenerate, and their palatal bones and sphenoid bones touch each other. These, along with their wedge-shaped body, are thought to be adaptations to ward off vines, thorns, and saw-edged leaves, allowing them to run quickly through the rainforest.

A cassowary's three-toed feet have sharp claws. The second toe, the inner one in the medial position, sports a dagger-like claw that is 125 millimetres (5 in) long. This claw is particularly fearsome since cassowaries sometimes kick humans and animals with their enormously powerful legs (see Cassowary Attacks, below). Cassowaries can run up to 50 km/h (31 mph) through the dense forest. They can jump up to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) and they are good swimmers, crossing wide rivers and swimming in the sea as well.

All three species have horn-like but soft and spongy crests called casques on their heads, up to 18 cm (7 in).These consist of "a keratinous skin over a core of firm,cellular foam likema terial". Several purposes for the casques have been proposed. One possibility is that they are secondary sexual characteristics.Other suggestions include that they are used to batter through underbrush, as a weapon for dominance disputes, or as a tool for pushing aside leaf litter during foraging.

The latter three are disputed by biologist Andrew Mack, whose personal observation suggests that the casque amplifies deep sounds. However, the earlier article by Crome and Moore says that the birds do lower their heads when they are running "full tilt through the vegetation, brushing saplings aside and occasionally careening into small trees. The casque would help protect the skull from such collisions".

From an engineering perspective the wedge-shaped casque is also the most efficient way to protect the head by deflecting falling fruit. As cassowaries live on fallen fruit they spend a lot of time under trees where seeds the size of golfballs or larger are dropping from heights of up to 30 metres. Mack and Jones also speculate that the casques play a role in either sound reception or acoustic communication. This is related to their discovery that at least the Dwarf Cassowary and Southern Cassowary produce very-low frequency sounds, which may aid in communication in dense rainforest. This "boom" is the lowest known bird call, and is on the edge of human hearing. Crowe described a cooling function for the very similar casques of guineafowl.

The average lifespan of wild cassowaries is believed to be about 40 to 50 years.

Diet:

Cassowaries are predominantly frugivorous. Besides fruits, their diet includes flowers, fungi, snails, insects, frogs, birds, fish, rats, mice, and carrion. Fruit from at least 26 plant families has been documented in the diet of cassowaries. Fruits from the laurel, podocarp, palm, wild grape, nightshade, and myrtle families are important items in the diet. The cassowary plum takes its name from the bird.

Where trees are dropping fruit, cassowaries will come in and feed, with each bird defending a tree from others for a few days. They move on when the fruit is depleted. Fruit is swallowed whole, even items as large as bananas and apples.

Cassowaries are a keystone species of rain forests because they eat fallen fruit whole and distribute seeds across the jungle floor via excrement.

As for eating the Cassowary, it is supposed to be quite tough. Australian administrative officers stationed in New Guinea were advised that it "should be cooked with a stone in the pot: when the stone is ready to eat so is the Cassowary".

Role in seed dispersal and germination:

Cassowaries feed on the fruit of several hundred rainforest species and usually pass viable seeds in large dense scats. They are known to disperse seeds over distances greater than a kilometre, and thus play an important role in the ecosystem. Germination rates for seeds of the rare Australian rainforest tree Ryparosa were found to be much higher after passing through a cassowary's gut (92% versus 4%)

Cassowary attacks:

Cassowaries have a reputation for being dangerous to people and domestic animals. During World War II American and Australian troops stationed in New Guinea were warned to steer clear of them. In his book Living Birds of the World from 1958, ornithologist Thomas E. Gilliard wrote:

    "The inner or second of the three toes is fitted with a long, straight, murderous nail which can sever an arm or eviscerate an abdomen with ease. There are many records of natives being killed by this bird."

This assessment of the danger posed by cassowaries has been repeated in print by authors including Gregory S. Paul (1988)
and Jared Diamond (1997). Of 221 attacks studied in 2003, 150 were against humans. 75% of these were from cassowaries that had been fed by people. 71% of the time the bird chased or charged the victim. 15% of the time they kicked. Of the attacks, 73% involved the birds expecting or snatching food, 5% involved defending natural food sources, 15% involved defending themselves from attack, 7% involved defending their chicks or eggs. The 150 attacks included at least one human death.

One documented human death was caused by a cassowary on 6 April 1926. 16-year-old Phillip McClean and his brother, aged 13, came across a cassowary on their property and decided to try to kill it by striking it with clubs. The bird kicked the younger boy, who fell and ran away as his older brother struck the bird. The cassowary then charged and knocked the older McClean to the ground and kicked him in the neck, opening a 1.25 cm (0.49 in) wound which may have severed his carotid artery. The boy managed to escape, but died shortly afterwards as a result of his injuries.

Cassowary strikes to the abdomen are among the rarest of all, but there is one case of a dog that was kicked in the belly in 1995. The blow left no puncture, but there was severe bruising. The dog later died from an apparent intestinal rupture.

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crocodile attack

Crocodiles:

They are large aquatic tetra-pods that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. Crocodylinae, in which all its members are considered true crocodiles, is classified as a biological subfamily. A broader sense of the term crocodile, Crocodylidae, that includes the tomistoma, was excluded in this article since new genetic studies reveal the possibility of tomistoma as a close relative of the gharial.This article applies the term crocodile only to the species within the subfamily of Crocodylinae. The term is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: which includes all members of Crocodylidae, including the tomistoma, the alligators and caimans (family Alligatoridae) and the gharials (family Gavialidae), and the rest of Crocodylomorpha, which includes all of the prehistoric crocodile relatives and ancestors.

A mature saltwater crocodile:

The saltwater crocodile  also known as saltie, estuarine or Indo-Pacific crocodile, is the largest of all living reptiles, as well as the largest terrestrial and riparian predator in the world. The males of this species can reach sizes of up to 7 m (23 ft) and weigh as much as 2,000 kg (4,400 lb). However, an adult male saltwater crocodile is generally between 4.3 and 5.2 m (14 and 17 ft) in length and weighs 400–1,000 kg (880–2,200 lb), rarely growing larger. Females are much smaller and often do not surpass 3 m (9.8 ft). As its name implies, this crocodile can live in salt water, but usually resides in mangrove swamps, estuaries, deltas, lagoons, and lower stretches of rivers. They have the broadest distribution of any modern crocodile, ranging from the eastern coast of India, throughout most of Southeast Asia, stretching south to northern Australia, and historically ranging as far west as off the eastern coast of Africa and as far east as waters off of Japan.

CROCODILIAN SPECIES LIST:


Alligator mississippiensis: 

      
 Common name:   AMERICAN ALLIGATOR
 Distribution:        Southeast United States
                     

Alligator sinensis:

Common name:       CHINESE ALLIGATOR
Eastern Chinaame: CHINESE ALLIGATOR

 Caiman crocodilus:

Common name:  SPECTACLED CAIMAN  
Distribution:        Central & South America








Caiman latirostris:

Common name:    BROAD-SNOUTED CAIMAN
Distribution:         South America

Caiman yacare:

Common name:    JACARÉCAIMAN 
Distribution:         South America

Melanosuchus niger:

Common name:     BLACKCAIMAN
Distribution:          South America

Paleosuchus palpebrosus: 

Common name:   CUVIER'S DWARF CAIMAN 
Distribution:        South America
 
Paleosuchus trigonatus:

Common name:  SCHNEIDER'S DWARF CAIMAN
Distribution:       South America


 Crocodylus acutus:

Common name:   AMERICAN CROCODILE 
Distribution:        North, Central & South America

Crocodylus cataphractus:

Slender-snouted crocodile Common name:    SLENDER-SNOUTED CROCODILE
Distribution:                                                      Africa




Crocodylus intermedius:



Common name:      ORINOCO CROCODILE 
Distribution:           South America

 Crocodylus johnstoni:

Common name:   AUSTRALIAN FRESHWATER CROCODILE 
Distribution:        Australia

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King cobra

Secret of the king cobra:

The king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the world's longest venomous snake, with a length up to 18.5 to 18.8 ft (5.6 to 5.7 m).This species, which preys chiefly on other snakes, is found predominantly in forests from India through Southeast Asia. Despite the word "cobra" in its name, this snake is not a member of Naja ("true cobras") but belongs to its own genus.It has cultural significance as well.

Description:
The king cobra averages at 3 to 4 m (9.8 to 13 ft) in length and typically weighs about 6 kg (13 lb). The longest known specimen was kept captive at the London Zoo, and grew to around 18.5 to 18.8 ft (5.6 to 5.7 m) before being euthanised upon the outbreak of World War II. The heaviest wild specimen was caught at Royal Island Club in Singapore in 1951, which weighed 12 kilograms (26 lb) and measured 4.8 m (16 ft), though an even heavier captive specimen was kept at New York Zoological Park and was measured as 12.7 kilograms (28 lb) at 4.4 m (14 ft) long in 1972.The length and mass of the snakes highly depend on their localities and some other factors. Despite their large sizes, typical king cobras are fast and agile.

The skin of this snake is either olive-green, tan, or black, and it has faint, pale yellow cross bands down the length of the body. The belly is cream or pale yellow, and the scales are smooth. Juveniles are shiny black with narrow yellow bands (can be mistaken for a banded krait, but readily identified with its expandable hood). The head of a mature snake can be quite massive and bulky in appearance, though like all snakes, they can expand their jaws to swallow large prey items. It has proteroglyph dentition, meaning it has two short, fixed fangs in the front of the mouth, which channel venom into the prey like hypodermic needles. The male is larger and thicker than the female. The average lifespan of a wild king cobra is about 20 years.

The dorsal scales along the centre of the king cobra's body have 15 rows. Males have 235 to 250 ventral scales, while females have 239 to 265. The subcaudal scales are single or paired in each row, numbering 83 to 96 in males and 77 to 98 in females.

Taxonomy:

The king cobra is the sole member of genus Ophiophagus, while most other cobras are members of the genus Naja. They can be distinguished from other cobras by size and hood. King cobras are generally larger than other cobras, and the stripe on the neck is a chevron instead of a double or single eye shape that may be seen in most of the other Asian cobras. Moreover, the hood of the king cobra is narrower and longer.A foolproof method of identification is if on the head, clearly visible, is the presence of a pair of large scales known as occipitals, at the back of the top of the head. These are behind the usual "nine-plate" arrangement typical of colubrids and elapids, and are unique to the king cobra.
The species was first described by the Danish naturalist Theodore Edward Cantor in 1836.

Behavior:

A king cobra, like other snakes, receives chemical information via its forked tongue, which picks up scent particles and transfers them to a special sensory receptor (Jacobson's organ) located in the roof of its mouth.This is akin to the human sense of smell. When the scent of a meal is detected, the snake flicks its tongue to gauge the prey's location (the twin forks of the tongue acting in stereo); it also uses its keen eyesight (king cobras are able to detect moving prey almost 100 m [330 feet] away), intelligence,and sensitivity to earth-borne vibration to track its prey.

Following envenomation, the king cobra will begin to swallow its struggling prey while its toxins begin the digestion of its victim. King cobras, like all snakes, have flexible jaws. The jaw bones are connected by pliable ligaments, enabling the lower jaw bones to move independently. This allows the king cobra to swallow its prey whole, as well as letting it swallow prey much larger than its head.

Diet:

 The king cobra's generic name, Ophiophagus is a Greek-derived word which means "snake-eater", and its diet consists primarily of other snakes, including ratsnakes, small pythons and even other venomous snakes such as various members of the true cobras (of the genus Naja), and even the much more venomous krait.When food is scarce, they may also feed on other small vertebrates, such as lizards, birds, and rodents. In some cases, the cobra may "constrict" its prey, such as birds and larger rodents, using its muscular body, though this is uncommon.After a large meal, the snake may live for many months without another one because of its slow metabolic rate.The king cobra's most common meal is the ratsnake; pursuit of this species often brings king cobras close to human settlements.

Defence:

When confronted, this species will quickly attempt to escape and avoid any sort of confrontation.However, if provoked, the king cobra can be highly aggressive.

When confronted, it rears up the anterior portion (usually one-third) of its body when extending the neck, showing the fangs and hissing loudly.It can be easily irritated by closely approaching objects or sudden movements. When raising its body, the king cobra can still move forward to strike with a long distance and people may misjudge the safe zone. The king cobra may deliver multiple bites in a single attack but adults are known to bite and hold on. In spite of being a highly dangerous snake, it prefers to escape first unless there is nowhere to go.Since this species is secretive and tends to inhabit less-populated forested regions and dense jungle,it is rarely encountered and seldom comes across humans, except those individuals which are caught for performances and thus many victims bitten by king cobras are actually snake charmers.

If a king cobra encounters a natural predator, such as the mongoose, which has resistance to the neurotoxins,the snake generally tries to flee. If unable to do so, it forms the distinctive cobra hood and emits a hiss, sometimes with feigned closed-mouth strikes. These efforts usually prove to be very effective, especially since it is much more dangerous than other mongoose prey, as well as being much too large for the small mammal to kill with ease.

A good defence against a cobra for anyone who accidentally encounters this snake is to slowly remove a shirt or hat and toss it to the ground while backing away.

The growling hiss:

The hiss of the king cobra is a much lower pitch than many other snakes and many people thus liken its call to a "growl" rather than a hiss. While the hisses of most snakes are of a broad-frequency span ranging from roughly 3,000 to 13,000 Hz with a dominant frequency near 7,500 Hz, king cobra growls consist solely of frequencies below 2,500 Hz, with a dominant frequency near 600 Hz, a much lower sounding frequency closer to that of a human voice. Comparative anatomical morphometric analysis has led to a discovery of tracheal diverticula that function as low-frequency resonating chambers in king cobra and its prey, the mangrove rat snake, both of which can make similar growls

Reproduction:

The king cobra is unusual among snakes in that the female king cobra is a very dedicated parent. She makes a nest for her eggs, scraping up leaves and other debris into a mound in which to deposit them, and remains in the nest until the young hatch. A female usually deposits 20 to 40 eggs into the mound, which acts as an incubator. She stays with the eggs and guards the mound tenaciously, rearing up into a threat display if any large animal gets too close, for roughly 60 to 90 days.Inside the mound, the eggs are incubated at a steady 28 °C (82 °F). When the eggs start to hatch, instinct causes the female to leave the nest and find prey to eat so she does not eat her young. The baby king cobras, with an average length of 45 to 55 cm (18 to 22 in), have venom which is as potent as that of the adults. They may be brightly marked, but these colours often fade as they mature. They are alert and nervous, being highly aggressive if disturbed.

Venom:

The venom of the king cobra consists primarily of neurotoxins,but it also contains cardiotoxic and someothercompounds.Similar to other venomous creatures, toxic constituents inside the venom are mainly proteins and polypeptides.

Like other venomous snakes, LD50 values of the king cobra venom depend on the injection and research methods; typical values are 1.7 mg/kg for subcutaneous injection, 1.31 mg/kg for intravenous injection and 1.644 mg/kg for intraperitoneal injection.The mean value of subcutaneous LD50 of five wild-caught king cobras in Southeast Asia was determined as 1.93 mg/kg in another study. The book "Snake of medical importance" (1990) gives 0.34 mg/kg of intramuscular injection for the specimens found in China. Besides, the toxicity may vary among individuals coming from different geographical localities.

This species is fully capable of delivering a fatal bite and the victim may receive a large quantity of venom with a dose anywhere from 200–500 mg or even up to 7 ml.Engelmann and Obst (1981) list the average venom yield at 420 mg (dry weight).Accordingly, large quantities of antivenom may be needed to reverse the progression of symptoms developed if bitten by a king cobra.

During a bite, venom is forced through the snake's 1.25 to 1.5 cm (0.49 to 0.59 in) fangs into the wound, and the toxins begin to attack the victim's central nervous system. Symptoms may include severe pain, blurred vision, vertigo, drowsiness, and paralysis. Envenomation progresses to cardiovascular collapse, and the victim falls into a coma. Death soon follows due to respiratory failure. Moreover, envenomation from king cobras is clinically known to cause renal failure as observed from some snakebite precedents of this species.

The mortality rate and death time resulting from a bite can vary sharply with many factors, including the quantity of venom involved, the site of the bite and the health state of the victim.Data provided by different sources, which may be recorded in different regions, could also have a significant difference. For example, while a website mentions that many bites from king cobras involved non-fatal amounts of venom,another report of clinical statistics released by the South Indian Hospital reveals that two-thirds of the bitten patients actually received severe bites from this species.According to the University of Adelaide Department of Toxicology, an untreated bite has a mortality rate of 50–60%.Bites from a king cobra may result in a rapid fatality which can be as early as 30 minutes after envenomation.

There are two types of antivenom made specifically to treat king cobra envenomations. The Red Cross in Thailand manufactures one, and the Central Research Institute in India manufactures the other; however, both are made in small quantities and, while available to order, are not widely stocked.Ohanin, a protein component of the venom, causes hypolocomotion and hyperalgesia in mammals.Other components have cardiotoxic,cytotoxic and neurotoxic effects.In Thailand, a concoction of alcohol and the ground root of turmeric is ingested, which has been clinically shown to create a strong resilience against the venom of the king cobra, and other snakes with neurotoxic venom.
The haditoxin in the king cobra venom was discovered by Singaporean scientists to be structurally unique and can have unique pharmacological properties.Biochemical studies confirmed it existed as a noncovalent dimer species in solution. Its structural similarity to short-chain α-neurotoxins and κ-neurotoxins notwithstanding, haditoxin exhibited unique blockade of α7-nAChRs (IC50 180 nM), which is recognized by neither short-chain α-neurotoxins nor κ-neurotoxin.
 
Cultural significance:

In Burma, king cobras are often used by female snake charmers.The charmer is usually tattooed with three pictograms, using an ink mixed with snake venom; superstition holds that it protects the charmer from the snake.The charmer kisses the snake on the top of its head at the end of the show.

In the Indian Subcontinent, the king cobra is believed to possess exceptional memory. According to a myth, the picture of the killer of a king cobra stays in the eyes of the snake, which is later picked up by the partner and is used to hunt down the killer for revenge. To prove this theory, a king cobra was captured and left free in an enclosure that had small openings. Several people stood in front of the openings, but the snake rose to its full height and locked eyes only with the captor. Because of this myth, whenever a cobra is killed, especially in India, the head is either crushed or burned to damage the eyes completely.

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Attack by Fisher Cat:

The fisher (Martes pennanti) is a medium-sized mammal native to North America. It is a member of the mustelid family, commonly referred to as the weasel family. The fisher is closely related to but larger than the American Marten (Martes americana). The fisher is a forest-dwelling creature whose range covers much of the boreal forest in Canada to the northern fringes of the United States. Names derived from aboriginal languages include pekan, pequam, and wejack. It is also sometimes referred to as a fisher cat, although it is not a feline.

Males and females are similar in appearance but the males are larger. Males are 90–120 cm (35–47 in) in length and weigh 3.5 to 6 kilograms (8–13 lb). Females measure 75–95 cm (30–37 in) and weigh 2–2.5 kg (4–6 lb). The fur of the fisher varies seasonally, being denser and glossier in the winter. During the summer, the color becomes more mottled, as the fur goes through a moulting cycle. Fishers prefer to hunt in full forest. While they are agile climbers, most of their time is spent on the forest floor. They also prefer to forage where there is fallen dead wood on the forest floor. Fishers are omnivorous and feed on a wide variety of small animals and occasionally fruits and mushrooms. They show a preference for the snowshoe hare and are one of the few predators able to successfully hunt porcupine. Despite their name, fishers seldom eat fish.

The reproductive cycle of the fisher lasts almost the entire year. Female fishers give birth to a litter of three or four kits in the spring. They nurse and care for their kits up until late summer, when they are old enough to set out on their own. Females enter estrus shortly after giving birth and leave the den to find a mate. Implantation of the blastocyst is delayed until the following spring when they give birth and the cycle is renewed.

Fishers have few predators aside from humans. They have been trapped since the 18th century for their fur. Their pelts were in such demand that they were extirpated from several parts of the United States in the early part of the 20th century. Conservation and protection measures have allowed the species to rebound, but their current range is still reduced from its historic limits. In the 1920s, when pelt prices were high, some fur farmers attempted to raise fishers. However, their unusual delayed reproduction made breeding difficult. When pelt prices fell in the late 1940s, most fisher farming ended. While fishers usually avoid human contact, encroachments into forest habitats have resulted in some conflicts. There are anecdotal reports of fishers attacking pets and, in a 2009 case in Rhode Island, a 6-year-old boy

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Water and Development: Cases of Brazil and Viet Nam

 
Water and Development: Cases of Brazil and Viet Nam:

Artificial fluoridation of water, salt, and milk varies from country to country. Water fluoridation has been introduced to varying degrees in many countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ireland, Malaysia, the U.S., and Vietnam,and is used by 5.7% of people worldwide.Continental Europe largely does not fluoridate water, although some of its countries fluoridate salt; locations have discontinued water fluoridation in Germany, the Netherlands, and other countries.Although health and dental organizations support water fluoridation in the countries that practice water fluoridation,there has been considerable opposition to water fluoridation whenever it is proposed.

Only 1 percent of the world's fresh water is readily available for human use. Currently 700 million people in 43 countries face water stress and by 2030 around 40 percent of population will face water shortages. Given these challenges, the implementation of water efficient projects that combine nature conservation elements with making water available where there is a need is critical. This video profiles cases of Brazil and Viet Nam where World Bank implemented water projects. Video is narrated by Ron Parker, Author of the Independent Evaluation Group's (IEG) study on Water and Development: Evaluation of World Bank Support (1997-2007).

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Giant clouds over Beijing

Giant clouds over Beijing:                                                                

 

Huge Mushroom Cloud over Beijing:                                             

                                         

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The Kingfisher Bird

The Kingfisher Bird:

Kingfishers are a group of small to medium sized brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species being found in the Old World and Australasia. The group is treated either as a single family, Alcedinidae, or as a suborder Alcedines containing three families, Alcedinidae (river kingfishers), Halcyonidae (tree kingfishers), and Cerylidae (water kingfishers). There are roughly 90 species of kingfisher. All have large heads, long, sharp, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails. Most species have bright plumage with little differences between the sexes. Most species are tropical in distribution, and a slight majority are found only in forests. They consume a wide range of prey as well as fish, usually caught by swooping down from a perch. Like other members of their order they nest in cavities, usually tunnels dug into the natural or artificial banks in the ground. A few species, principally insular forms, are threatened with extinction. In Britain, the word 'kingfisher' normally refers to the Common Kingfisher.
Kingfishers are a group of small to medium sized brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species being found in the Old World and Australasia. The group is treated either as a single family, Alcedinidae, or as a suborder Alcedines containing three families, Alcedinidae (river kingfishers), Halcyonidae (tree kingfishers), and Cerylidae (water kingfishers). There are roughly 90 species of kingfisher. All have large heads, long, sharp, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails. Most species have bright plumage with little differences between the sexes. Most species are tropical in distribution, and a slight majority are found only in forests. They consume a wide range of prey as well as fish, usually caught by swooping down from a perch. Like other members of their order they nest in cavities, usually tunnels dug into the natural or artificial banks in the ground. A few species, principally insular forms, are threatened with extinction. In Britain, the word 'kingfisher' normally refers to the Common Kingfisher.

 

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Cardinal (bird)

Cardinal:

Kingdom:        Animalia
Phylum:           Chordata
Class:              Aves
Order:             Passeriformes
Suborder:        Passeri
Family:           Cardinalidae

 Cardinals, which make up the family Cardinalidae, are passerine birds found in North and South America. They are also known as cardinal-grosbeaks and cardinal-buntings. The South American cardinals in the genus Paroaria are placed in another family, the Thraupidae (previously placed in Emberizidae).

These are robust, seed-eating birds with strong bills. The family ranges in size from the 12-cm (4.7 inches), 11.5-gram (.40 oz) Orange-breasted Bunting to the 25-cm (9.8 inches), 85-gram (2.99 oz) Black-headed Saltator[verification needed]. They are typically associated with open woodland. The sexes usually have distinctive appearances. The Northern Cardinal type species was named by colonists for the male's red crest, reminiscent of a Catholic cardinal's mitre.

The "buntings" in this family are sometimes generically known as "tropical buntings" (though not all live in the tropics) or "North American buntings" (though there are other buntings in North America) to distinguish them from the true buntings, whose family does contain North American birds, but they are referred to as American sparrows (unrelated to Old World sparrows), juncos, and towhees rather than buntings. Likewise the grosbeaks in this family are sometimes called "cardinal-grosbeaks" to distinguish them from other grosbeaks. The name "cardinal-grosbeak" can also apply to this family as a whole.

Most species are rated by the IUCN as least concern, though some are near threatened.

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World's Deadliest - Cheetah Hunts Gazelle

World's Deadliest - Cheetah Hunts Gazelle:

The cheetah is a large feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. It is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx. The cheetah can run faster than any other land animal— as fast as 112 to 120 km/h (70 to 75 mph) in short bursts covering distances up to 500 m (1,600 ft), and has the ability to accelerate from 0 to over 100 km/h (62 mph) in five seconds.

This cat is also notable for modifications in the species' paws. It is one of the few felids with semi-retractable claws.

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