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34-448: Owlet-nightjars are small crepuscular birds related to the nightjars and frogmouths . Most are native to New Guinea , but some species extend to Australia , the Moluccas , and New Caledonia . A flightless species from New Zealand is extinct. There is a single monotypic family Aegothelidae with the genus Aegotheles . Owlet-nightjars are insectivores which hunt mostly in

68-400: A German collector after Adolf Hitler in 1933 when he had recently become chancellor of Germany. It is not clear whether such a dedication would be considered acceptable or appropriate today, but the name remains in use. Species names have been chosen on many different bases. The most common is a naming for the species' external appearance, its origin, or the species name is a dedication to

102-403: A certain person. Examples would include a bat species named for the two stripes on its back ( Saccopteryx bilineata ), a frog named for its Bolivian origin ( Phyllomedusa boliviana ), and an ant species dedicated to the actor Harrison Ford ( Pheidole harrisonfordi ). A scientific name in honor of a person or persons is known as a taxonomic eponym or eponymic; patronym and matronym are

136-471: A single work documenting every species. Publishing a paper documenting a single species was much faster and could be done by scientists with less broadened scopes of study. For example, a scientist who discovered a new species of insect would not need to understand plants, or frogs, or even insects which did not resemble the species, but would only need to understand closely related insects. Formal species descriptions today follow strict guidelines set forth by

170-601: A species of lemur ( Avahi cleesei ) was named after the actor John Cleese in recognition of his work to publicize the plight of lemurs in Madagascar. Non-profit ecological organizations may also allow benefactors to name new species in exchange for financial support for taxonomic research and nature conservation. A German non-profit organisation, BIOPAT – Patrons for Biodiversity , has raised more than $ 450,000 for research and conservation through sponsorship of over 100 species using this model. An individual example of this system

204-458: Is NMNZ S.52917, a distal right tarsometatarsus. [REDACTED] Crepuscular A number of factors affect the time of day an animal is active. Predators hunt when their prey is available, and prey try to avoid the times when their principal predators are at large. The temperature may be too high at midday or too low at night. Some creatures may adjust their activities depending on local competition. The word crepuscular derives from

238-474: Is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species , typically articulated through a scientific publication . Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have been previously described or related species. For a species to be considered valid, a species description must follow established guidelines and naming conventions dictated by relevant nomenclature codes . These include

272-576: Is normally active during the day, but on islands like Santa Cruz that are home to the Galapagos hawk , the owl is crepuscular. Apart from the relevance to predation, crepuscular activity in hot regions also may be the most effective way of avoiding heat stress while capitalizing on available light. Crepuscular flight activity is preferred by some animals, such as the walnut twig beetle , due to warmer temperatures, moderate wind speeds, and low barometric pressure. Crepuscular activity can be influenced by

306-1090: Is the Callicebus aureipalatii (or "monkey of the Golden Palace"), which was named after the Golden Palace casino in recognition of a $ 650,000 contribution to the Madidi National Park in Bolivia in 2005. The International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants discourages this practice somewhat: "Recommendation 20A. Authors forming generic names should comply with the following ... (h) Not dedicate genera to persons quite unconcerned with botany, mycology, phycology, or natural science in general." Early biologists often published entire volumes or multiple-volume works of descriptions in an attempt to catalog all known species. These catalogs typically featured extensive descriptions of each species and were often illustrated upon reprinting. The first of these large catalogs

340-537: The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) for animals, the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) for plants, and the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) for viruses. A species description often includes photographs or other illustrations of type material and information regarding where this material is deposited. The publication in which

374-509: The Latin crepusculum ("twilight"). Its sense accordingly differs from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, which respectively peak during hours of daytime and night. The distinction is not absolute, because crepuscular animals may also be active on a bright moonlit night or on a dull day. Some animals casually described as nocturnal are in fact crepuscular. Special classes of crepuscular behaviour include matutinal, or "matinal", animals active only in

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408-496: The codes of nomenclature . Very detailed formal descriptions are made by scientists, who usually study the organism closely for a considerable time. A diagnosis may be used instead of, or as well as the description. A diagnosis specifies the distinction between the new species and other species, and it does not necessarily have to be based on morphology. In recent times, new species descriptions have been made without voucher specimens, and this has been controversial. According to

442-447: The common nighthawk , barn owl , owlet-nightjar , chimney swift , American woodcock , spotted crake , white-breasted waterhen , European nightjars , and common buzzards . Many moths , beetles , flies , and other insects are crepuscular and vespertine. For example, Coprophanaeus ensifer , a South American necrophagous beetle, is most active during at dusk and dawn. Species description A species description

476-401: The lunar cycle due to the change in nocturnal light. This creates changes in animal sleep , reproduction , and foraging behaviours, often becoming less active during periods of low light. Animal patterns of activity sometimes change during migration due to changes in environmental conditions. Mule deer are crepuscular, but they are only active at dusk before and during migration. In

510-445: The second millennium AD . The relationship between the owlet-nightjars and the (traditional) Caprimulgiformes has long been controversial and obscure and remains so today: in the 19th century they were regarded as a subfamily of the frogmouths , and they are still generally considered to be related to the frogmouths and/or the nightjars . It appears though that they are not as closely related to either as previously thought, and that

544-614: The spring they are only active at dawn because the snow is at its hardest , so it is easier for the deer to move without sinking in the snow. During migration, some types of swallow are active primarily during daytime hours with some activity during twilight hours. Crepuscular animal activity is affected by human activity , because humans are diurnal. Crepuscular animals are less likely to participate in typical foraging or reproductive behaviors and deal with increased stress and mortality rates when humans are present. Animals may change their usual activity patterns in response to

578-459: The 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, but many species names are based on words from other languages, and are Latinized. Once the manuscript has been accepted for publication, the new species name is officially created. Once a species name has been assigned and approved, it can generally not be changed except in the case of error. For example, a species of beetle ( Anophthalmus hitleri ) was named by

612-579: The British naturalist Peter Scott proposed the binomial name Nessiteras rhombopteryx ("Ness monster with diamond-shaped fin") for the Loch Ness Monster; it was soon spotted that it was an anagram of "Monster hoax by Sir Peter S". Species have frequently been named by scientists in recognition of supporters and benefactors. For example, the genus Victoria (a flowering waterplant) was named in honour of Queen Victoria of Great Britain. More recently,

646-596: The air but sometimes on the ground; their soft plumage is a cryptic mixture of browns and paler shades, they have fairly small, weak feet (but larger and stronger than those of a frogmouth or a nightjar), a tiny bill that opens extraordinarily wide, surrounded by prominent whiskers. The wings are short, with 10 primaries and about 11 secondaries; the tail long and rounded. A comprehensive 2003 study analyzing mtDNA sequences of Cytochrome b and ATPase subunit 8 suggests that 12 living species of owlet-nightjar should be recognized, as well as another that became extinct early in

680-479: The bill is narrow in the latter. Owlet-nightjars are an exclusively Australasian group, but close relatives apparently thrived all over Eurasia in the late Paleogene . A. savesi A. insignis A. tatei A. crinifrons A. cristatus A. bennettii A. affinis A. terborghi A. salvadorii A. wallacii A. archboldi A. albertisi Family Aegothelidae A fossil proximal right tarsometatarsus ( MNZ S42800)

714-459: The clade Daedalornithes . In form and habits, however, they are very similar to both caprimulgiform group – or, at first glance, to small owls with huge eyes. The ancestors of the swifts and hummingbirds , two groups of birds which are morphologically very specialized, seem to have looked very similar to a small owlet-nightjar, possessing strong legs and a wide gape, while the legs and feet are very reduced in today's swifts and hummingbirds, and

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748-471: The crepuscular populations, and offer better foraging opportunities to predators that increasingly focus their attention on crepuscular prey until a new balance is struck. Such shifting states of balance are often found in ecology. Some predatory species adjust their habits in response to competition from other predators. For example, the subspecies of short-eared owl that lives on the Galápagos Islands

782-449: The dawn, and vespertine, only in the dusk. Those active during both times are said to have a bimodal activity pattern. The various patterns of activity are thought to be mainly antipredator adaptations , though some could equally well be predatory adaptations . Many predators forage most intensively at night, whereas others are active at midday and see best in full sun. The crepuscular habit may both reduce predation pressure, increasing

816-564: The endangered Amazon river dolphin , some species of bats , hamsters , housecats , stray dogs , rabbits , ferrets , rats , jaguars , ocelots , bobcats , servals , strepsirrhines , red pandas , bears , deer , moose , sitatunga , capybaras , chinchillas , the common mouse , skunks , squirrels , foxes , wombats , wallabies , quolls , possums and marsupial gliders , tenrecs , and spotted hyenas . Snakes , lizards , and frogs , especially those in desert environments, may be crepuscular. Crepuscular birds include

850-522: The gendered terms for this. A number of humorous species names also exist. Literary examples include the genus name Borogovia (an extinct dinosaur), which is named after the borogove, a mythical character from Lewis Carroll 's poem " Jabberwocky ". A second example, Macrocarpaea apparata (a tall plant) was named after the magical spell "to apparate" from the Harry Potter novels by J. K. Rowling , as it seemed to appear out of nowhere. In 1975,

884-514: The owlet-nightjars share a more recent common ancestor with the Apodiformes . As has been suggested on occasion since morphological studies of the cranium in the 1960s, they are thus considered a distinct order , Aegotheliformes . This, the caprimulgiform lineage(s), and the Apodiformes, are postulated to form a clade called Cypselomorphae , with the owlet-nightjars and the Apodiformes forming

918-414: The presence of humans. For example, Asian black bears may avoid areas with high human activity during the day, but go to these locations during twilight or nighttime hours. Light pollution impacts crepuscular behaviour because it mimics natural light conditions, leading crepuscular animals to behave as they would on nights with more moonlight. Many familiar mammal species are crepuscular, including

952-455: The same far-away mythological creatures. Toward the end of the 12th century, Konungs skuggsjá , an Old Norse philosophical didactic work, featured several descriptions of the whales, seals, and monsters of the Icelandic seas. These descriptions were brief and often erroneous, and they included a description of the mermaid and a rare island-like sea monster called hafgufu . The author

986-468: The scientist has performed the necessary research to determine that the discovered organism represents a new species, the scientific results are summarized in a scientific manuscript, either as part of a book or as a paper to be submitted to a scientific journal . A scientific species description must fulfill several formal criteria specified by the nomenclature codes , e.g. selection of at least one type specimen . These criteria are intended to ensure that

1020-447: The species is described gives the new species a formal scientific name . Some 1.9 million species have been identified and described, out of some 8.7 million that may actually exist. Additionally, over five billion species have gone extinct over the history of life on Earth . A name of a new species becomes valid ( available in zoological terminology) with the date of publication of its formal scientific description. Once

1054-411: The species name is clear and unambiguous, for example, the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature states that "Authors should exercise reasonable care and consideration in forming new names to ensure that they are chosen with their subsequent users in mind and that, as far as possible, they are appropriate, compact, euphonious , memorable, and do not cause offence." Species names are written in

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1088-514: Was Aristotle 's History of Animals , published around 343 BC. Aristotle included descriptions of creatures, mostly fish and invertebrates, in his homeland, and several mythological creatures rumored to live in far-away lands, such as the manticore . In 77 AD Pliny the Elder dedicated several volumes of his Natural History to the description of all life forms he knew to exist. He appears to have read Aristotle's work since he writes about many of

1122-732: Was found at the Bannockburn Formation of the Manuherikia Group near the Manuherikia River in Otago , New Zealand . Dating from the Early to Middle Miocene ( Altonian , 19-16 million years ago ), it seems to represent an owlet-nightjar ancestral to A. novaezealandiae . In 2022, an additional specimen from the same locality was described by Worthy et al . as a new extinct species of Aeotheles , A. zealandivetus . The holotype specimen

1156-416: Was hesitant to mention the beast (known today to be fictitious) for fear of its size, but felt it was important enough to be included in his descriptions. However, the earliest recognized species authority is Carl Linnaeus , who standardized the modern taxonomy system beginning with his Systema Naturae in 1735. As the catalog of known species was increasing rapidly, it became impractical to maintain

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