Species Hierarchy
Kingdom ANIMAL (ANIMALIA)
Phylum BACKBONED ANIMALS (CHORDATA)
Class BIRD (AVES)
Order BIRD - SHOREBIRD (CHARADRIIFORMES)
Family BIRD - PHALAROPES (PHALAROPODIDAE)
Common name: PHALAROPE - NORTHERN
Scentific name: PHALAROPUS LOBATUS

Species Info:

This lifeform is found in the Atlantic Ocean. This lifeform is found in northern Eurasia. This lifeform is found north of the Mason Dixon line in North America. This lifeform is found in the Pacific Ocean.

Northern phalarope or red necked phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus) is found widely in the northern hemisphere. In North America, it breeds from Alaska to Greenland, and south to the Aleutian Islands and Quebec. In winter this species is found off Peru, west Africa, and southern Asia (including the Philippines). The white breast in both sexes, and orange neck in the male, help identify this species. During migration this bird rests at sea. It measures fourteen inches.

Phalaropes (Family  Phalaropodidae) are a group of small birds related to the sandpipers with gull-like habits. However, they have longer necks than most shore birds. There are three species found in the world. In migration they frequently rest at sea as opposed to resting on land.

Shorebirds (Order Charadriformes) are a group of 305 species of
worldwide birds. While good fliers, they are much observed feeding along seashores and in the vicinity of inland bodies of water. Seagulls and Sandpipers are typical representatives of this order

Aves contains about 8,650 different species of living birds known to science. Each year about one new species is discovered in some remote rain forest or remote island. In addition, scientists have been raising many subspecies to full species status which may raise the species count to 10,000.

However, each year about one species goes extinct. The rate of extinction is increasing, and the rate of new discovery is decreasing, so that the number of bird species will soon begin to decline rapidly. Although different taxonomists would organize the birds differently, there are approximately twenty-seven orders of birds. These orders are broken down into about one hundred and fifty-five different families.

Recent research of the genetic structure of some of the shore birds and owls would indicate that the present organization of orders and families should have some modification.

The birds are a worldwide group of animals that are characterized by having the front limbs modified into wings that are used for flying. Perhaps the most unique feature of the birds is the feathers. These feathers are made up of a central support called a quill and a series of small filaments that are hooked together as barbs.

For many years it was believed that Archaeopteryx discovered in Bavaria was the oldest bird from about 150 million years ago.  However, in l986, Sankar Chattterjee, a Texas paleontologist, reportedly discovered a bird in the genus Protoavis that lived about 225 million years ago.

Backboned Animals (Phylum Chordata) are the most advanced group of animals on earth. These animals are characterized by having a spinal cord or backbone. Most members have a clearly defined brain that controls the organism through a spinal cord. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are in this phylum.

Currently, some taxonomists believe that the fish should be divided into two groups (sharks and regular fishes) and that there are some other primitive groups in the phylum such as hagfish or lampreys.

Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

 

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STERNA ANTILLARUM
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