Two new species of Chelus from the late tertiary of Northern South America Essay Example for Free

Two new species of Chelus from the late tertiary of Northern South America Essay Testudines Introduction            This is a group of animals widely known as the turtles. The order testudines has over 250 known species of turtles. Testudines are a very unique group of animals due to their shells. The shell is a modified ribcage and vertebral column. All testudines are placed in the order chelonia. (Keith p.5). They can be divided into different categories depending on where they live. Sea turtles and terrestrial turtles. Terrestrial turtles are mostly termed as tortoises while aquatic turtles are known as terrapins. Those that live in salty water oceans are referred to as sea turtles. Apart from Antarctica, testudines can be found in all other continents of the world. They are characterized by a shell. The upper side of the shell is known as the carapace while the lower side is known as plastrone. The shell is normally part of the skin. Evolution history            The first testudines are believed to have lived in the late Triassic periods. This is about two hundred and twenty million years ago. Over two hundred species represented by thirteen group exist today. Since Triassic period, turtles have evolved little by little though it is likely that the modern turtle could resemble the ancient ones with remarkably stable body plan. Testudines are believed to have evolved from body extensions of their back bones and broad ribs that enlarged and grew together to form the protective shell that offered protection at every stage of its evolution even when the components of the bones were not complete( Rieppel 1996 pg453). This is proved by the fossils of freshwater turtles; the odontochelys semitestacea dated back at Triassic period. This species display a complete bony plastrone and an incomplete shell which resembles that of a turtle at embryonic development.            There is no study that shows an exact ancestor for turtles. A molecular analysis of about two hundred and forty eight genes of sixteen vertebrate taxa suggests that testudines could be a sister to birds and crocodiles. (The Achosauria pg35). The separation dates of birds, crocodiles and a turtle is estimated to be two hundred and fifty five million years. The recent common ancestor of the modern turtle is estimated to have occurred about one hundred and fifty seven years ago and corresponds to the separation between cryptodira and preurodira.            Proganochelys is the earliest known fully shelled turtle of the late Triassic period. This genus had so many undisputed traits of the modern turtle. However it lacked the ability to pull its head back into the shell and had a long spiked tail ending in a club. This body form resembles that of ankylosaurs is believed to have resulted from convergent evolution.            Testudines have two extant suborders; pleurodira and cryptodira. Cryptodira is the larger of the two and include all terrestrial turtles, marine turtles and most of the freshwater turtles. Pleurodira is the smaller suborder and consists most of the freshwater species. Taxonomy            Testudines are commonly referred to as tortoises, turtles or terrapins. . There are fourteen extant families of this order. The order has more than three hundred known species though others may have been extinct with time. Ninety seven genera of testudines are also known. These genera are split into two suborders which are cryptodirans and pleurodirans in which the distinguishing factor is how the animals fold their neck to pull their head back into the shell. Pleurodirans have long necks and which they fold sideways while cryptodirans have short ones and they fold them straight back to pull their heads back into the shell. Pelomedusidae and cheidae are the only known extant families of the pleurodires.            The cryptodirans the following known families: carettochelydae, cheloniidae, Testudinae, Dermochelyidae, Chelydridae, kinosternidae, Emydidae and Trionychidae. (Romer 1933 pg 5)            Testudines are placed in a subclass known as Anapsida. Generally, testudines are placed in the following scientific classification.            Kingdom- AnimaliaPhylum- ChordataClass- SauropsidaOrder- Testudines (Linnaeus, 1758 pg 40) Diet            The diet of the testudines varies with the environment as well as the age. Adult turtles’ main diet is aquatic plants, invertebrates such as warms, insects and snails but sometimes they can eat dead marine animals. Some freshwater turtles are carnivals and are reported to feed on small fish and other aquatic small creatures. Young turtles are purely carnivores and feed on crab and snails. This is because proteins are essential for the formation of the carapace and other body features.            Sea turtles feed on sponge, jellyfish and other and other soft bodied sea creatures. Turtles that have stronger jaws have been reported to feed on jellyfish. Some turtles such as green sea turtles are purely herbivores and feed on mainly algae. Behavior            Turtles are extant reptiles and therefore are all of their species endotherms. With this they are seen basking in the sun especially in morning either on rocks or bare soil for terrestrial ones or floating on water for sea turtles. Turtles breathe through the lung and lay their egg on dry ground and not in water. A turtle will fold its neck and pull its head in the shell if it notices any form of danger. Turtles have good night vision due to large number of rod cells in their retina therefore most of them prey at night. They have a great color vision with sensitivities ranging from the near ultraviolet to red. Testudines have poor pursuit movement especially the terrestrial ones. However, carnivores ones can move their necks very fast to catch their prey.            All turtles have rigid beaks and use their jaws to catch, cut and chew their food. Testudines are social creatures and sometimes switch between promiscuity and monogamy in their sexual behavior. The rigid carapace of the turtle is dome-shaped which is difficult for any prey to crush and it is also used for camouflaging in case of danger or when preying. (Laurin 1999 pg65)            Turtles live for long and take long before they reach breeding age. They do not have any parental care so ones they lay their eggs, they leave them to hatch on their own and the young ones are left to find their way to their natural habitat. Habitat            Testudines resides in different environments ranging from freshwater, salt water, coastline and tropical reefs. They inhabit almost all non-arctic terrestrial region which include deserts, mountains, prairie and mountains. (Alderton, 2012 pg15) Interactions of turtles with human beings Some turtles such as red-eared sliders are considered pests where they are not native. The flesh of turtle’s calipii is used for food in some cultures. In the Island of Grand Cayman, turtles are a traditional diet. Fat from turtles is used in cosmetic industry in Mexico and Caribbean. Chinese use turtle plastrons as traditional medicine. Small sized Testudines are mostly used as pets in most parts of the world. References Alderton, David, and Susan Barraclough. Amazing snakes and reptiles. New York: Sandy Creek, 2012. Print.Fogel, David. Matamatas: the natural history, captive care, and breeding of Chelus fimbriatus. Ada: Living Art Publishing, 2011. Print. Wood, Roger Conant. Two new species of Chelus (Testudines: pleurodira): from the late tertiary of Northern South America. Cambridge, Mass.: Museum of Comparative Zoology, 1976. Print. Source document

The Rise of Ideas and the Fall of the State Essay -- Social Revolution

Social revolutions are swift and violent transformations, carried out by the lower classes, which ultimately transform the political, social, and socioeconomic structures of the government (Skocpol, 4). Revolutions do not easily occur and are not inevitable. In fact, there must be certain variables simultaneously present in order for the current regime to collapse and be replaced by a new system. In the following paper, I will illustrate how the simultaneous presence of two variables leads to the social revolutions in France in October of 1789, Russia, in February of 1917, and China in 1949. The first variable describes how wars can cause economic strain that leads to the neglection of the military, which causes defections. The second variable is the rise of radical ideologies resulting in the creation of political parties, which mobilize the peasants. Note that the Chinese Revolution of 1949 is chosen as the social revolution because it adheres to Skocpol’s definition as a r evolution by the lower classes and results in a total transformation of the state, whereas the revolution in 1911 does not. I will also discuss why social revolutions did not occur in the negative cases of the Prussian Reform, the Japanese Meiji Restoration and Russia in 1905. There are no current theories that explain why, how, and when revolutions occur. The volcanic model states that revolutions occur when the demands of the people are not met by the state and the eventual frustration of the people will mobilize the masses, resulting in a transformation of the system (Aya, 7). This theory neglects to identify the actors and the connection between mass frustration and social change. It also fails to identify the ultimate spark that motivates people to c... ...Meiji Restoration, there was no mobilization of the lower people, and the Samurai conducted the reforms from above. In Russia, radical ideas were present in 1905 and did mobilize the peasants, however, the military was present and therefore since both variables need to occur concurrently, there was no revolution in Russia in 1905. The collapse of the army alone would not cause a revolution; neither would protests or riots alone. However, it is the combination of both the collapse of the military as well as the uprisings against the state that results in a revolution. The collapse of the forces of the state allows for the uprisings to become powerful and therefore have the opportunity to attack the state when it is at its weakest point. The two variables that I have discussed show that it takes both variables at the same time in order for a revolution to occur.

Biofuel Versus Global Food Security Environmental Sciences Essay

With the planetary menace of wash uping our dodo fuel energy resources, a major focal point on biofuel as a renewable energy option has slightly shifted into the spotlight together with the desire to cut down dependence on oil and besides the emanation of nursery gases from transit. However, the development of biofuels from harvests has raised many concerns to the environment particularly refering to ‘sustainable development ‘ . A major issue is the struggle between biofuel development and planetary nutrient security as both peruse environmental resources for its production such as land, H2O and energy visual perception as both are dependant on similar resources. Switching to the usage of biofuels as an option to fossil fuels is a good attempt towards sustainable development but nutrient security is besides an component which is critical in the same topic as good. Hence, the inquiry: harvests for nutrient or harvests for fuel? This paper will analyze how the issue of biofuel versus planetary nutrient security is evaluated from the position of both strong and weak terminals of the sustainable development spectrum. This is followed by a reappraisal of the current scenario between the struggle of biofuel development and nutrient security together with the trade-offs that are built-in in the declaration and stakeholders involved. The potencies of which this issue can be resolved in a affair that can be considered truly sustainable, both short term and long term, will be discussed. Finally, the concluding subdivision would be a reappraisal of the attacks that are indispensable to accomplish advancement in both the development of biofuel and planetary nutrient security. This paper concludes that biofuel as a ‘weak ‘ signifier of sustainability can be developed in analogue with stableness in planetary nutrient security. Ethical reading of sustainable development has resulted in constructs of sustainability that give precedence to either economic or environmental aims, for illustration, there are the opposing paradigms of â€Å" weak † and â€Å" strong † sustainability ( Hediger, 2006 ) . Weak sustainable development, adopts an anthropocentric or a more human-centered focal point and discourse on the relationship between people and nature whereby the thought chiefly comprises of three positions that are the perceptual experience that people are separate from nature, the thought that nature is a ‘resource ‘ to be used for the benefit of society or persons and the position that we have the right to rule nature ( Williams and Millington, 2004 ) . On the other side of the philosophical spectrum of sustainable development, the stronger sustainability views the Earth as finite and that no habitable hereafter is possible unless the demand-side of the equation radically alters by r ethinking our attitude towards nature ( Williams and Millington, 2004 ) . It is normally viewed that the stronger sustainability stance is less outstanding now than it was in the earlier yearss of the environmental motion. Most likely because in the universe that we live in today, the use of natural resources for the benefits of homo is something that is a given as it would besides be an unconceivable impression to non encompass development at all. From a point of position, biofuel development can be seen slightly at a first glimpse as a ‘weak ‘ type of sustainable development. The development of biofuel as an alternate beginning of energy in the transit industry still uses natural resources such as land and H2O and does non represent the change of the flush life style that comes with it the use of private vehicles that is one of the perpetrators for nursery gas emanations into the ambiance. This is in line with the sentiment that â€Å" weak sustainability † requires that the public assistance potency of the overall capital base remains integral and is non restricted to prolonging a material criterion of life or ingestion, but besides includes values that are related to non-consumptive utilizations and the public good character ( agreeableness and recreational values ) of the environment ( Williams and Millington, 2004 ) . The current demand for biofuel is derived from several developed state ‘s displacement to replacing fossil fuels and lessens the dependance on imported oil. Linearly, this demand offers an chance for the developing states to run into the demands while at the same time bridging the spreads between hapless and rich states. However, biofuel harvests are traditionally used as nutrient beginning which besides competes with the use of land and H2O ( Bodigger, 2007 ) . This competition is said to upset the equilibrium between the supply and demand of nutrient harvests. A displacement from excess to shortage is due to the fact of lifting gasoline monetary values and a monolithic roar of biofuel produced from major harvests such as corn, maize and sugar harvests. Because of this, husbandmans from states of the universe ‘s manufacturers of the bulk of biofuel harvest production will bask the promise of higher incomes. However, the chance of prosperity through the demand of biofuel is said to merely be enjoyed by a minority few. Biofuel development is alleged as the major perpetrator to the drastic addition in the monetary value of nutrient stock. A World Bank policy research working paper ( Mitchell, 2008 ) concluded that biofuels have raised nutrient monetary values between 70 to 75 per centum. The study debates that the EU and US chase for biofuels has had the biggest impact on nutrient supply and monetary value displacements due to the increased production of biofuels in the US and EU that were supported by subsidies and duties on imports. While higher nutrient monetary values will be profitable for nutrient exporting states and big husbandmans, they will endanger the economic systems of nutrient importation states, the supports of their husbandmans every bit good as the nutrient available to the urban hapless in these states ( Sahai, 2010 ) . The chart below shows the addition in monetary valu es of major nutrient harvests in the universe from 1990 to 2006. selected nutrient monetary value increase.jpg Chart 1 Food Price Indices, Beginning: ( International Monetary Fund, 2007b ) Because if this, the hapless in food-importing states will hold to confront the chance of holding to pay much higher monetary values for basic basic nutrient and this besides means less grain to be provided for by planetary human-centered AIDSs. The chart below from International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) shows how hapless people who tend to pass comparatively more of their income for nutrient will hold to pay more if the monetary value of nutrient rises. hapless disbursement more on food.gif Chart 2- Paying More, Beginning: ( International Monetary Fund, 2007a ) Another position is that the addition in use of biofuels does farther damage the planetary environment that is to the universe nutrient system and besides through the emanation of nursery gases during the existent procedure of bring forthing biofuels particularly from nutrient harvests such as maize. The nutritionary value of major universe nutrient harvests are altered and reduced with the release of big measures of C dioxide from the processing of works stuffs for biofuels ( Pimentel et al. , 2009 ) . Meanwhile, corn-based ethyl alcohol as a type of biofuel outputs 1.5 times more energy than the fossil energy required to bring forth it ( Da Silva, 2008 ) . This shows that there non much significance of a difference in the lessening of fossil fuels to follow corn-based ethyl alcohol as a outstanding beginning of biofuel. Biofuel growing and its compatibility with sustainable development still remain questionable without a significant addition in research that specifically targets on the best environmental patterns for bring forthing crop-based feedstock. There are besides other inquiries that add to the uncertainness of the planetary economic system kineticss as the biofuel market blooms such as will hapless, little husbandman benefit from the addition of higher monetary values. ( Naylor et al. , 2007 ) . Bing on the ‘weak ‘ terminal of the spectrum in the sustainability construct, the biofuel versus the nutrient security issue can be resolved through the agencies of better adjustment of environmental concerns. The ‘weak ‘ sustainability attack advocate developments such as the proviso of environmental direction bureaus, more efficient usage of resources, better undertaking assessment techniques to measure the environmental impacts of proposals, and economic accommodations to take into history environmental costs ( Williams and Millington, 2004 ) . An of import attack as to which shows the potency of deciding this struggle between biofuel and planetary nutrient security would be the creative activity and design of policies that ensures that the development of biofuel industries â€Å" run into the aims on security of supply and clime alteration while guaranting sustainable development and non merely by merely switching environmental jobs from one sector to another or from one continent to another † ( Bodigger, 2007 ) . Free trade in the biofuel market should be allowed due to the current subsidies and duties which make it hard for low-priced biofuel such as sugar cane ethyl alcohol to vie with maize ethyl alcohol. If these barriers were eliminated, biofuel can profit the environment and be more economically feasible to be produced by developing states. This attack involves the caput of authoritiess who are the determination and policy shapers as the stakeholders involved. Since biofuel is derived from agricultural green goods, it is critical in order to decrease the struggle between biofuel and nutrient security to increase the output and multiply agribusiness productiveness growing. Researches for biofuel feedstock potency is presently done by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analyst ( IIASA ) and the Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO ) in measuring biofuel production capacity and constellation of the potency of different parts to spread out agricultural harvest production through two chief agencies: extensification through conveying extra land into cultivation or intensification through irrigation, multiple cropping and other output heightening techniques ( Pingali et al. , 2008 ) . Agricultural end product can be increased via multiple cropping, irrigation and the acceptance of other methods of agricultural intensification which besides includes the acceptance of modern cultivars, plague and alimentary direction and other impro ved engineerings. The development of 2nd and 3rd coevals biofuel that uses not nutrient based beginnings such as Jatropha, algae, residuary wastes from harvests and besides industrial wastes should be encouraged to spread out therefore cut downing the demand for the use of harvest and cultivable land that is better off used for nutrient production in the long tally. Here in lies the function of research workers and scientists to escalate research as a â€Å" push for farther and faster all-out development of 2nd coevals biofuel that do non straight endanger nutrient harvests production and requires less H2O † ( Bodigger, 2007 ) . Another stakeholder involved would be the husbandmans and their pick between cultivating harvests for nutrient or harvests for fuel. The jurisprudence of â€Å" supply and demand † can foretell that the pick would be for the 1 that brings in higher income at lesser inputs and costs. Therefore, it is besides imperative that there is an internationally determined monetary value cap for biofuel and besides nutrient harvests to assist control and prevent higher monetary value rush. Another indispensable attack would be to set up a planetary monitoring model than can be a standard theoretical account in the rating and appraisal of biofuel development and its impacts from changing angles. The design and execution of sustainability audits is critical as the biofuel industry develops, with a clear prosodies for measuring the environment and societal effects of biofuels and feedstock production and for guaranting that direction and authorities patterns are compatible with pre-determined sustainability ends ( Naylor et al. , 2007 ) . Global major agribusiness pudding stones can besides play their portion by guaranting that investings in biofuels do back up agricultural betterments across the board as this benefits nutrient production, speed up rural economic development and alleviate poorness and migration to metropoliss ( Bodigger, 2007 ) . More investing needs to be pumped into the research and development of 2nd and 3rd coevals biofuel from non-food beginnings every bit good as alternate harvests for basic nutrient ingestion. The struggle between biofuel development and planetary nutrient security has escalated these yearss due to a generation of demand for the former. The development of biofuel is seen as a signifier of ‘weak ‘ sustainability in the philosophical spectrum of sustainable development. This is due to the fact that natural resources such as land, H2O and energy are used in the production of biofuels for the benefit of the developed and rich states in their quest to decrease nursery gas emanations and dependence on fossil fuels. However, struggle arises when hapless states that depend on importing of nutrient supply have to confront higher monetary values due to the recreation of traditional nutrient harvest such as maize and manioc for the transition into biofuel. As such, the state of affairs is worsen with the competition of resources by biofuel and nutrient harvest agribusiness as both vie for the same resources and based on the tendency of the addition of nutrient monetary va lues, it can be seen that harvests for nutrient is on the losing terminal as compared to harvests for fuel. However, there are a few attacks that can be seen as a method of paving the manner for the parallel development of both biofuels and stableness in planetary nutrient security, provided that there is concrete support from all stakeholders involved every bit discussed as above. If decently implemented and monitored, biofuels can be the solution towards the battle against planetary heating while at the same clip play a major subscriber towards the economic and societal development of hapless states.

Transmission Control Protocol And Internet Protocol

The Internet is a growing phenomenon, which has revolutionized the world. In a nutshell, it is a system of interconnected computer networks using a model set of protocols known as TCP/IP. These are, Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol respectively. Their function is to regulate the transmission and reception of data over this complex network that links billions of gadgets today (Wikipedia, 2016). In an article in Forbes Magazine, contributor Jacob Morgan reports of a finding by a research firm Gartner that about 26 billion devices will be connected to the internet by 2020. Everything is connected to the Internet now, including people and plants. This has led to the coining of a phrase, the Internet of Things. Morgan writes,†¦show more content†¦Nowadays, play for many children is on virtual reality mostly, on video games most of which are connected to the Internet. According to a statistics gathered by the group Statista, a little over 80% individuals used th e Internet in the developed world in 2015 (Statista, 2016). Never in the history of mankind has there been a movement that has swept across the world like wildfire the way the Internet has. The advent of the World Wide Web unleashed a spate of innovations closely related to the Internet that made available, endless possibilities to people everywhere. Sir Tim Brenner invented it, in 1989 (History of the web, webfoundation.org, 2016) and in order to grow this innovation of the web, Brenner did not retain the rights to the technology because he believed that, â€Å"Had the technology been proprietary, and in my total control, it would probably not have taken off. You can’t propose that something be a universal space and at the same time keep control of it.†( History of the web, webfoundation.org, 2016). The web, commonly known as the Internet has resulted in many various ways in which life has been made far better than any period in the history of mankind. It has reduced the vastness of the globe, the universe among other things. P eople are able today, because of the web, to exchange ideas with others in all parts of the globe through social media.