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25-479: The human face carved into the stone is unremarkable except for the long bill that extends down to chest level. This bill has been identified as belonging to the boat-billed heron , a locally abundant bird along the Tabasco and southern Veracruz Gulf Coast. Raised wings or a wing-like cape envelop the body while feet have been incised into the base. The Tuxtla Statuette is particularly notable in that its glyphs include

50-644: A monotypic family, the Cochleariidae. It lives in mangrove swamps from Mexico south to Peru and Brazil . It is a nocturnal bird, and breeds semi colonially in mangrove trees, laying two to four bluish-white eggs in a twig nest. In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the boat-billed heron in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in French Guiana . He used

75-590: A brief description, coined the binomial name Cancroma cochlearia , and cited Brisson's work. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). However, Brisson also introduced names for genera and these are accepted by the ICZN. The boat-billed heron is now placed in Brisson's genus and has

100-646: A light source is present such as daylight, moonlight, or artificial light. One study hypothesized that in order to forage for food in the dark and in shallow, muddy water, their bills are sensitive to touch, which helps them feel for their prey. [REDACTED] Subspecies In biological classification , subspecies ( pl. : subspecies) is a rank below species , used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics ( morphology ), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species have subspecies, but for those that do there must be at least two. Subspecies

125-627: A semi-nude figure with a duckbill-like buccal mask , have also been noted. The Tuxtla Statuette was discovered in 1902 by a farmer plowing his field in the west foothills of the Tuxtlas mountains in the Mexican state of Veracruz . It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution shortly thereafter, reputedly smuggled into New York hidden in a shipment of tobacco leaf. At the time, several Mayanists including Sylvanus Morley , could not believe that

150-475: A species is a binomial or binomen, and comprises two Latin words, the first denoting the genus and the second denoting the species. The scientific name of a subspecies is formed slightly differently in the different nomenclature codes. In zoology, under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), the scientific name of a subspecies is termed a trinomen , and comprises three words, namely

175-446: A species of sleeper goby. Other fish preyed upon include mullet , snook , and catfish . They tend to forage in vegetative streams, shallow water, and lagoons. When foraging in streams, they use low-hanging branches and mangrove roots to stand over the water. In ponds, they will walk slowly through the water up to 10 cm (4 in) deep or will forage near the water's edge. In order to capture prey they will lunge at fish or scoop

200-426: A species. Botanists and mycologists have the choice of ranks lower than subspecies, such as variety (varietas) or form (forma), to recognize smaller differences between populations. In biological terms, rather than in relation to nomenclature, a polytypic species has two or more genetically and phenotypically divergent subspecies, races , or more generally speaking, populations that differ from each other so that

225-417: A subspecies. A common criterion for recognizing two distinct populations as subspecies rather than full species is the ability of them to interbreed even if some male offspring may be sterile. In the wild, subspecies do not interbreed due to geographic isolation or sexual selection . The differences between subspecies are usually less distinct than the differences between species. The scientific name of

250-464: Is a subspecies or a full species, the species name may be written in parentheses. Thus Larus (argentatus) smithsonianus means the American herring gull ; the notation within the parentheses means that some consider it a subspecies of a larger herring gull species and therefore call it Larus argentatus smithsonianus , while others consider it a full species and therefore call it Larus smithsonianus (and

275-712: Is abbreviated as subsp. or ssp. and the singular and plural forms are the same ("the subspecies is" or "the subspecies are"). In zoology , under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature , the subspecies is the only taxonomic rank below that of species that can receive a name. In botany and mycology , under the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants , other infraspecific ranks , such as variety , may be named. In bacteriology and virology , under standard bacterial nomenclature and virus nomenclature , there are recommendations but not strict requirements for recognizing other important infraspecific ranks. A taxonomist decides whether to recognize

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300-511: Is black and they have green-yellow legs. Juveniles are darker in color than adults and lack a crest. Boat-billed herons range from Mexico to Peru, Brazil, and northeastern Argentina. They are nonmigratory birds that tend to live in seasonal lagoons and estuaries , and nest in mangroves. Boat-billed herons breed during the rainy season and have been recorded as producing two clutches during this time, laying their first clutch in February during

325-478: Is currently on display in the National Museum of Natural History exhibit "Objects of Wonder". [REDACTED] Media related to Tuxtla Statuette at Wikimedia Commons Boat-billed heron The boat-billed heron ( Cochlearius cochlearius ), colloquially known as the boatbill , is an atypical member of the heron family. It is the only member of the genus Cochlearius and was formerly placed in

350-404: Is mainly black. This bird is also adorned with a crest which is thought to be used in mate attraction as it is larger in males. The sexes are similar in appearance, the main differences being that females are slightly smaller, grayer in appearance, and have shorter crests than males. Newly hatched nestlings have green-yellow skin, with their upperparts covered in gray down feathers. Their upper bill

375-582: The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar date of March 162 CE , which in 1902 was the oldest Long Count date discovered. A product of the final century of the Epi-Olmec culture , the statuette is from the same region and period as La Mojarra Stela 1 and may refer to the same events or persons. Similarities between the Tuxtla Statuette and Cerro de las Mesas Monument 5, a boulder carved to represent

400-498: The tautonym Cochlearius cochlearius . The name Cochlearius is from the Latin cocleare , coclearis , or cochlearium for a "spoon in the form of a snail shell". There are five subspecies : The boat-billed heron grows to about 54 cm (21 in) long. Adults are pale grey to white in color, with chestnut-colored abdomens and black flanks. The massive, broad, scoop-like bill, which gives rise to this species' name,

425-510: The French name La Cuillière and the Latin Cochlearius . Brisson placed the species in a new genus Cochlearius (with the same name as that of the species). When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition , he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the boat-billed heron. Linnaeus included

450-449: The binomen followed by the name of the subspecies. For example, the binomen for the leopard is Panthera pardus . The trinomen Panthera pardus fusca denotes a subspecies, the Indian leopard . All components of the trinomen are written in italics. In botany , subspecies is one of many ranks below that of species, such as variety , subvariety , form , and subform. To identify the rank,

475-558: The end of the dry season. Their clutch sizes range from two to four eggs, with more eggs being laid during the first nesting period than the second. They usually nest in colonies but have been observed nesting solitarily. Human disturbance can lead to a decrease in reproductive success, as herons tend to avoid human contact and will abandon nests if necessary. Boat-billed herons feed on small mammals, amphibians, annelids, molluscs, insects, crabs, shrimp such as Penaeus and Macrobrachium , and small fish such as Dormitator latifrons ,

500-467: The rank of variety are taken to be names of subspecies (see International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes ). As in botany, subspecies is conventionally abbreviated as "subsp.", and is used in the scientific name: Bacillus subtilis subsp. spizizenii . In zoological nomenclature , when a species is split into subspecies, the originally described population is retained as the "nominotypical subspecies" or "nominate subspecies", which repeats

525-418: The same name as the species. For example, Motacilla alba alba (often abbreviated M. a. alba ) is the nominotypical subspecies of the white wagtail ( Motacilla alba ). The subspecies name that repeats the species name is referred to in botanical nomenclature as the subspecies " autonym ", and the subspecific taxon as the "autonymous subspecies". When zoologists disagree over whether a certain population

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550-500: The statuette pre-dated the Maya and suggested that the date and text were inscribed much later than 162 CE. However, later discoveries, such as La Mojarra Stela 1 and Tres Zapotes Stela C, confirmed the antiquity of the statuette. The Tuxtla Statuette is in the collections of the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History , Smithsonian Institution , Washington, D.C. It

575-556: The subspecific name must be preceded by "subspecies" (which can be abbreviated to "subsp." or "ssp."), as in Schoenoplectus californicus subsp. tatora . In bacteriology , the only rank below species that is regulated explicitly by the code of nomenclature is subspecies , but infrasubspecific taxa are extremely important in bacteriology; Appendix 10 of the code lays out some recommendations that are intended to encourage uniformity in describing such taxa. Names published before 1992 in

600-414: The surface of the water with their bills which are uniquely shaped for this method of capture. Additionally, they have been observed using two different feeding techniques; standing and slowly stalking prey, or disturbing the water and chasing prey. Boat-billed herons will forage nocturnally and have been seen leaving the roost 30 minutes after sundown to feed. It has been observed that they do not feed when

625-425: The user of the notation is not taking a position). A subspecies is a taxonomic rank below species – the only such rank recognized in the zoological code, and one of three main ranks below species in the botanical code. When geographically separate populations of a species exhibit recognizable phenotypic differences, biologists may identify these as separate subspecies; a subspecies is a recognized local variant of

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