Month: October 2010

Arctic Tern

The Arctic Tern is a sea bird belonging to the tern family of Sternidae. It is a very migratory bird, which has a circumpolar breeding distribution covering the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of the northern hemisphere, such as Europe, Asia, and North America (as far south as the state of Massachusetts). This bird sees 2

Firewood banksia

Also known as the port wine banksia or the strawberry banksia, the firewood banksia is a flowering plant species in the genus, Banksia. It is actually either a gnarled up tree that stands 10 metres tall, or a shrub that spreads about 1 to 3 metres in the northern parts of its distribution range. It

American Black Vulture

The Black Vulture, also known as the American Black Vulture (as opposed to the unrelated Eurasian Black Vulture) is a bird that is found from the south-east of the United States of America to Central Chile and Uruguay in South America. It is a common and widespread species, and is the only current member of

Olm

Endemic to the subterranean waters of the Dinaric karts caves in southern Europe are the Olm, also known as the Proteus. They live in waters that flow in the underground caves in this large limestone region, which include the waters of the Soca River in Italy through to Slovenia, Croatia, and even Herzegovina. It is

Pallid sturgeon

The Pallid sturgeon is a species of ray-finned fish which is endemic to the waters of the Missouri and the lower Mississippi River basins in the USA. It is an endangered species, which is named after its pale color. It is closely related to its more common cousin, the shovelnose sturgeon. The differences between these

Elfin-woods Warbler

The Elfin-woods Warbler, also known as Reinita de Bosque Enano (in Spanish) is a bird that is endemic to Puerto Rico. It is a local but uncommon species. It was first discovered in 1968 and described in 1972 by Cameron and Angela Kepler, and Parkes. The elusive Elfin-woods Warbler This bird is predominantly black and

Elk

Also known as wapiti, the elk is one of the largest deer species in the world. It is also one of the largest mammals in eastern Asia and North America. As part of the deer family, only the moose is larger the sambar deer can rival the elk in size. Elks are almost identical to

Noronha Skink

The Noronha skink is native to Fernando de Noronha which is in north-eastern Brazil. A lot of research has been done throughout the centuries to actually define these species, as many Scientists have claimed that this poor skink has been labelled into the wrong category. Either way, this skink is thought to have descended from

Pied Currawong

Native to east Australia and Lord Howe Island, the Pied Currawong is a medium-sized black passerine bird. It is one of 3 currawong species in its genus, Strepera, and is closely related to the Australian Magpie and butcherbirds in the Artamidae famliy. There are 6 subspecies of the Pied Currawong that are currently recognised. In

Oceanic whitetip shark

The oceanic whitetip shark is a large pelagic shark that lives in tropical and warm temperate seas. This shark goes by many common names in English, such as brown shark, whitetip shark, nigano shark, whitetip whaler, and Brown Milbert’s sand bar shark. It was first described by the Naturalist, René-Primevère Lesson in Louis Dupprey’s world

Green and Golden Bell Frog

Also known as the Green Bell Frog, Green Frog, and the Green and Golden Swamp Frog, the Green and Golden Bell Frog is a ground-dwell tree frog that is native to the eastern part of Australia. However, this is a bit of a misnomer as it has been classified as a tree frog but does

Golden White-eye

The Golden White-eye is a species of bird in the white-eye family of Zosteropidae. It is the only species within its genus, Cleptornis. However, it was previously thought to be a honeyeater and was then calld a Golden Honeyeater. This bird’s range is restricted to the Aguijan and Saipan islands that form part of the

Amanita ocreata

The Amanita ocreata is known as the Western North American destroying angel (destroying angel for short) and the death angel. This is because it is a poisonous basidiomycete fungus. It primarily lives in the Pacific Northwest and the California floristic provinces of North America. It is strongly associated with oak trees, particluarly the coast live

Amanita muscaria

Also known as the fly Agaric or the fly Amanita, the Amanita muscaria is a poisonous and psychoactive basidiomycete fungi, which is one of many in the genus Amanita. There are several subspecies, and each of them have a different cap color. These include the yellow-range flavivolata guessowii, formosa, the pink persicina, and the brown

Blue Iguana

Also known as the Grand Cayman Iguana, the Blue Iguana is a critically endangered lizard species that is endemic to the Grand Cayman island. It is known as one of the longest living lizard species in the world, with the maximum age recorded at 69 years. The record for the Blue Iguana is 67 years.