Wedge-tailed Eagle

Author(s):  
Penny Olsen

Australia’s Wedge-tailed Eagle belongs to the family of eagles, which together span the world. Eagles are powerful predators, with exceptional powers of flight and sight. They may kill to survive, but they also sleep, play, enjoy a bath, make tender parents, and form lasting relationships. This book gives a comprehensive overview of Australia’s largest true eagle and one of the country’s few large predators and scavengers. First appearing in Aboriginal rock-paintings more than 5000 years ago, the Wedge-tailed Eagle was little more than a curiosity to the early European settlers. The book traces the subsequent changes in perception—from its branding as a vicious sheep killer to an iconic species worthy of conservation—and covers distribution, habitat, hunting, relationships, reproduction and chick development. A final section deals with threats to the existence of this magnificent bird. Winner of the 2006 Whitley Award for Best Natural History of an Iconic Species.

2019 ◽  

Since prehistoric times, the Baltic Sea has functioned as a northern mare nostrum — a crucial nexus that has shaped the languages, folklore, religions, literature, technology, and identities of the Germanic, Finnic, Sámi, Baltic, and Slavic peoples. This anthology explores the networks among those peoples. The contributions to Contacts and Networks in the Baltic Sea Region: Austmarr as a Northern mare nostrum, ca. 500-1500 ad address different aspects of cultural contacts around and across the Baltic from the perspectives of history, archaeology, linguistics, literary studies, religious studies, and folklore. The introduction offers a general overview of crosscultural contacts in the Baltic Sea region as a framework for contextualizing the volume’s twelve chapters, organized in four sections. The first section concerns geographical conceptions as revealed in Old Norse and in classical texts through place names, terms of direction, and geographical descriptions. The second section discusses the movement of cultural goods and persons in connection with elite mobility, the slave trade, and rune-carving practice. The third section turns to the history of language contacts and influences, using examples of Finnic names in runic inscriptions and Low German loanwords in Finnish. The final section analyzes intercultural connections related to mythology and religion spanning Baltic, Finnic, Germanic, and Sámi cultures. Together these diverse articles present a dynamic picture of this distinctive part of the world.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2021/1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Krisztina Teleki

The 20th century brought different periods in the history of Mongolia including theocracy, socialism and democracy. This article describes what renouncing the world (especially the home and the family), taking ordination, and taking monastic vows meant at the turn of the 20th century and a century later. Extracts from interviews reveal the life of pre-novices, illustrating their family backgrounds, connections with family members after ordination, and support from and towards the family. The master-disciple relationship which was of great significance in Vajrayāna tradition, is also described. As few written sources are available to study monks’ family ties, the research was based on interviews recorded with old monks who lived in monasteries in their childhood (prior to 1937), monks who were ordained in 1990, and pre-novices of the current Tantric monastic school of Gandantegčenlin Monastery. The interviews revealed similarities and differences in monastic life in given periods due to historical reasons. Though Buddhism could not attain its previous, absolutely dominant role in Mongolia after the democratic changes, nowadays tradition and innovation exist in parallel.


2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (7) ◽  
pp. 453-457
Author(s):  
Silvia Ventresca ◽  
Micol Bacchini ◽  
Giulia Graziani ◽  
Federico Marchetti

Rectal prolapse is an overall rare occurrence in children in the first 4 years of age. It typically tends to relapse. In the majority of cases it is not possible to highlight a single cause that determines prolapse, even if it is more frequent in children who suffer from constipation. In about 1 in 10 cases there is an underlying predisposing anatomical-neurological condition (in particular neurological: myelomenigocele, spina bifida occulta). A predisposing cause that must always be considered and excluded is cystic fibrosis, even in the age of newborn screening. Rectal prolapse management is conservative in most cases. Behavioural measures (correct toilet training, good hydration, diet rich in fibres) and the use of the macrogol laxative are fundamental. The prolapse that does not resolve spontaneously must be reduced manually by instructing the family on the technique to be used. In 90% of cases the natural history of rectal prolapse is favourable, with complete resolution within the first 4 years of age. After this age, it occurs more rarely. Surgery is rarely indicated. The current techniques that have a large consensus are sclerotherapy and laparoscopic rectopexy. The paper reports the management of recurrent rectal prolapse in a 3-year-old boy.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1975 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 348-349
Author(s):  
Joseph F. Fitzgerald

Though a frequent problem with a tremendous negative impact on the family as well as the child, fecal incontinence has received little attention in the pediatric literature. Levine's study of the natural history of children with encopresis in this issue of Pediatrics is, therefore, a welcome contribution. Encopresis is defined as incontinence of feces not due to organic defect or illness. Mercer preferred to define encopresis as the voluntary or involuntary passage of an ordinary bowel movement into the clothing, and soiling as the constant involuntary seepage of feces associated with impaction. He reported that the former was rare in his experience.


2018 ◽  
pp. 187-232
Author(s):  
Alison E. Martin

This chapter is devoted to Humboldt’s last, great work Cosmos. This multi-volume ‘Sketch of a Physical Description of the World’ ranged encyclopaedically from the darkest corners of space to the smallest forms of terrestrial life, describing the larger systems at work in the natural world. But, as British reviewers were swift to query, where was God in Humboldt’s mapping of the universe? Appearing on the market in 1846, just a year after Robert Chambers’ controversial Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation, Humboldt’s Cosmos unavoidably underwent close scrutiny. Hitherto overlooked correspondence between Humboldt and Edward Sabine shows how the Sabines deliberately reoriented the second volume of the English translation for Longman/Murray explicitly to include references to the ‘Creator’ and thus restore Humboldt’s reputation. The fourth volume of the Longman edition on terrestrial magnetism – Edward Sabine’s specialism – included additions endorsed by Humboldt which made Sabine appear as co-writer alongside the great Prussian scientist, and Cosmos a more obviously ‘English’ product. Otté, who produced the rival translation for Bohn, was initially under pressure herself to generate ‘original’ work that differed from its rival, producing a version of a work that would remain central to scientific thought well up to the end of the nineteenth century.


Zootaxa ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 1325 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
PETER JÄGER
Keyword(s):  

Anyone involved in research into the natural history of the Himalayas will certainly come across the publications of Jochen Martens or papers based on material collected by him. The same is true for the field of avian systematics and bioacoustics and for the taxonomy and systematics of harvestmen. On the occasion of the retirement of Prof. Dr Jochen Martens from the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, his colleagues from all over the world would like to honour him with scientific contributions compiled in this commemorative publication.


1995 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-99
Author(s):  
Sebastián Sanz ◽  
Dirk Platvoet

On several occasions, shrimps belonging to a new species of the genus Typhlatya were collected in a cave in the province of Castellón, Spain. This is the first record of the genus in the Iberian Peninsula. The species is described and the validity, distribution, and zoogeography of the genus, as well as the status of the genus Spelaeocaris, are discussed. Former models for the evolution of the genus Typhlatya and its genus group are reviewed, as well as the system of inner classification of the Atyidae and its biogeographical meaning. For the age and evolution of the genus we developed a new model based on vicariance principles that involves further evolution of each species after the disruption of the ancestral range. This allows new estimations for the age of the genus. Accordingly, we suppose that other proposals, such as recent dispersal through the sea, should be disregarded for this genus. The evolutionary development of this species is discussed in the context of the geological history of the area and the world distribution of the genus, the genus group, and the family.


1996 ◽  
Vol 110 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hidetoshi Haraguchi ◽  
Hitoshi Hentona ◽  
Hidekazu Tanaka ◽  
Atsushi Komatuzaki

AbstractPleomorphic adenoma arising in the external auditory canal is rare. We report the case of a 38-year-old man. To better grasp the clinical features and natural history of this uncommon tumour, we also reviewed the world wide literature and found 24 similar cases, which we analysed together with our own.


1993 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-278
Author(s):  
David M. Wilson

At a time when nationalism grows more strident, the role of national museums assumes great importance. National museums encourage not only an understanding of national identity, but also patriotism. While this is natural, it has dangers in that the museum can be used politically to endorse racial and other charged emotions. The great international museums have provided an antidote to such tendencies by providing a universal view of the culture and natural history of the world from the earliest times. Because these museums have important material from other countries they are often attacked as odious relics of colonialism. Rather they should be seen as representative of internationalism and encouraged to collect as widely as possible—within the law. They should not be pressurized into returning material to its country of origin for narrow nationalistic purposes. National museums should themselves collect outside their own national boundaries so that countries can see themselves against the background of other cultures. As nationalism grows, internationalism must be stressed in national museums so that countries may understand each others' culture and points of view.


Symbiosis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Sajnaga ◽  
Waldemar Kazimierczak

AbstractEntomopathogenic bacteria from the genera Photorhabdus and Xenorhabdus are closely related Gram-negative bacilli from the family Enterobacteriaceae (γ-Proteobacteria). They establish obligate mutualistic associations with soil nematodes from the genera Steinernema and Heterorhabditis to facilitate insect pathogenesis. The research of these two bacterial genera is focused mainly on their unique interactions with two different animal hosts, i.e. nematodes and insects. So far, studies of the mutualistic bacteria of nematodes collected from around the world have contributed to an increase in the number of the described Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus species. Recently, the classification system of entomopatogenic nematode microsymbionts has undergone profound revision and now 26 species of the genus Xenorhabdus and 19 species of the genus Photorhabdus have been identified. Despite their similar life style and close phylogenetic origin, Photorhabdus and Xenorhabdus bacterial species differ significantly in e.g. the nematode host range, symbiotic strategies for parasite success, and arrays of released antibiotics and insecticidal toxins. As the knowledge of the diversity of entomopathogenic nematode microsymbionts helps to enable the use thereof, assessment of the phylogenetic relationships of these astounding bacterial genera is now a major challenge for researchers. The present article summarizes the main information on the taxonomy and evolutionary history of Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus, entomopathogenic nematode symbionts.


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