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Curiosity

Curiosity

Curiosity is any natural inquisitive behaviour, evident by observation in many animal species, and is the emotional aspect of living beings that engenders exploration, investigation and learning. In essence, "curiosity" is a term that describes an unknown number of behavioural and psychological mechanisms, which have the effect of impelling beings to seek information and interaction with their environment and with other beings in their vicinity. Curiosity is common to human beings at all ages; from infancy to old age, and is easy to observe in many other animal species. From apes and cats to fish, reptiles and insects; many aspects of exploration are shared among all beings, as all known terrestrial beings share similar aspects: limited size, and a need to seek out food sources. Curiosity may also refer as a noun to a novel item or phenomenon kept as an attraction to the interest of the public; it is so named because it is intended to engender curiosity in its viewers. Though humans are sometimes considered curious, even especially curious, they sometimes seem to miss the obvious when compared to other animals. What seems to happen is that human curiosity combined with the ability to think in an abstract way, lead to mimesis, fantasy and imagination - eventually leading to a especially human way of thinking ("human reason"), which is abstract and self aware, or conscious. This in turn allows most adult humans to rely heavily upon beliefs which they have learnt long before, but which might only be imagined to be correct. See Francis Bacon concerning "idols". A morbid curiosity is a compulsion, fixed with excitement and fear, to know about macabre topics, such as death and horrible violence (snuff film). In a milder form, however, this can be understood as a cathartic form of behaviour or as something instinctive within humans. According to Aristotle, in his Poetics Ch 4 we even “enjoy contemplating the most precise images of things whose sight is painful to us”.

External links

- [http://www.virtuescience.com/curiosity.html Quotes about Curiosity] Category:Emotion

Nature

:For alternative meanings, see nature (disambiguation). nature (disambiguation). Image Credit: NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI) and the HUDF team.]] nature (disambiguation)s shown as cross-sections with color-coded probability density]] nature (disambiguation) nature (disambiguation) crew traveling toward the moon.]] Nature (also called the material world, the material universe, the natural world, and the natural universe) is all matter and energy, especially in its essential form. Nature is the subject of scientific study, and the history of the concept is linked to the history of science. The English word derives from a Latin term, natura, which was in turn a translation of a Greek term, physis (φύσις). Natura is related to the Latin words relating to "birth", while physis relates to Greek words relating to "growth". In scale, "nature" includes everything from the universal to the subatomic. This includes all things animal, plant, and mineral; all natural resources and events (hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes). It also includes the behaviour of living animals, and processes associated with inanimate objects - the "way" that things change.

Scientific divisions of Nature

Nature outside Earth and its atmosphere

Events and phenomena outside Earth and its atmosphere are in the natural science of astronomy.

Life

Life, the characteristics and behaviors of organisms, how species and individuals come into existence, and the interactions they have with each other and with their environment are all in the natural science of biology. The branch of biology that focuses on the relationships of organisms and their environment is the science of ecology.

Chemicals

The structure, properties, composition, and reactions of chemical elements and compounds are part of the natural science of chemistry.

Matter and force

The behaviour and interactions of matter and force are a part of the natural science of physics.

Earth

Everything relating to the planet Earth is a part of earth science.

Philosophy of Nature

Metaphysics

In philosophy, the view that the material world of atoms, animals, gravity, stars, wind, microbes, etc., actually exist independently of our observations of them is termed realism; the opposing view is called idealism.

The natural and the artificial

A distinction is often drawn between the "natural" and the "artificial" (="man-made"). Can such a distinction be justified? One approach is to exclude mind from the realm of the natural; another is to exclude not only mind, but also humans and their influence. In either case, the boundary between the natural and the artificial is a difficult one to draw (see mind-body problem). Some people believe that the problem is best avoided by saying that everything is natural, but that does little to clarify the concept of the "artificial". In any event, ambiguities about the distinction between the natural and the artificial animate much of art, literature and philosophy. Another approach is to distinguish natural processes and artificial (man-made) processes. In this viewpoint, a process is deemed to occur either at the behest of man, or not. For example, flipping a light switch might illuminate a room, or perhaps a sunrise might illuminate that room. In this viewpoint, the sunrise would be termed a natural process; the decision of a human being to flip the light switch would be termed an artificial illumination, in contrast. In this viewpoint, artifice (art or literature) is clearly the result of willful human action; furthermore, the act of stating a philosophical position could also be a willful action (and hence at the behest of man), whether or not the content of the philosophy were to be about science. The distinction between what is natural and artificial was initially important, as far as we know, to the ancient Greeks. Perhaps their main interest was in distinguishing good aims from ones that have been distorted.

Beauty in Nature

The writer Steven Fry has commented that if we look around us, anything ugly that we see will have been created by human hands; this exemplifies a widely held view that nature is intrinsically beautiful. That the beauty of nature has been celebrated by so large a proportion of our art is further proof of the strength of this association between nature and beauty. Many scientists also share the conviction that nature is beautiful; the French mathematician, Jules Henri Poincaré (1854-1912) said:
"The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful.
If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living."

Related concepts

The term natural science is used in a variety of ways, primarily:
- to denote the study of natural processes as opposed to human activities, in contrast to the social sciences; and
- to denote those sciences which employ the scientific method, in contrast, for example, to mathematics or computer science. The term natural philosophy formerly named the scientific discipline now known as physics. Natural theology straddles the disciplines of theology and philosophy of religion. In education and related areas, the contrast "natural/artificial" can appear as " nature/nurture". See also: praeternatural, unnatural and supernatural.

External links

- [http://nature.org/ The Nature Conservancy] - a charitable organization devoted to preserving natural diversity worldwide
- [http://www.english-nature.org.uk/ English Nature] UK government organization devoted to preserving natural diversity in the UK
- [http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk Nature Detectives] An online research and education project for under 18s in the UK
- [http://www.takesomeaction.co.uk A Guide to Nature and Wildlife Conservation] Category:Environmental science zh-min-nan:Chū-jiân ko:자연 ms:Alam Semulajadi ja:自然 simple:Nature

Behaviour

Behavior (or behaviour) refers to the actions or reactions of an object or organism, usually in relation to the environment. Behavior can be conscious or unconscious, overt or covert, and voluntary or involuntary. Behavior is controlled by the endocrine system, and the nervous system. The complexity of the behavior of an organism is related to the complexity of its nervous system. Generally, organisms with complex nervous systems have a greater capacity to learn new responses and thus adjust their behavior. of people (and other organisms or even mechanisms) falls within a range with some behaviors being common, some unusual, some acceptable, and some outside acceptable limits. The acceptablity of behavior is evaluated relative to social norms and regulated by various means of social control. For behavior of people see human behavior. In sociology, behavior is considered as having no meaning, being not directed at other people and thus is the most basic human action. Behavior should not be mistaken with social behavior, which is more advanced action, as social behavior is behavior specifically directed at other people. Animal behavior is studied in comparative psychology, ethology, behavioral ecology and sociobiology.

External link

- [http://www.colorado.edu/epob/epob3730rlynch/01introduction.html Brain and behavior – (EPOB 3730) - University of Colorado]
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Exploration

Exploration is the act of searching or traveling for the purpose of discovery, e.g. of unknown regions, including space (space exploration), or oil, gas, coal, ores, water (also known as prospecting), or information. Exploration has existed as long as human beings, but its peak is seen as being during the Age of Exploration when European navigators travelled around the world. In scientific research, exploration is one of three purposes of research (the other two being description and explanation). Exploration is the attempt to develop an initial, rough understanding of some phenomenon.

Main Explorers Since 1 AD

Erik the Red (950 - 1003) - Viking explorer. After being cast out from Greenland, he sailed to Newfoundland and settled. Marco Polo (1254 - 1324) - Italian explorer. John Cabot (c. 1450 - 1499) - Italian explorer. Discovered Newfoundland and claimed it for the Kingdom of England. Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1506) - Italian explorer. Sailed in 1492 and discovered the "New World" of the Americas. Juan Ponce de León (c. 1460 - 1521) - Spanish explorer. He explored Florida while vainly trying to find the Fountain of Youth. Vasco da Gama (c. 1469 - 1524) - Portuguese explorer. He sailed from Portugal to India to rounding the Cape of Good Hope. Vasco Núñez de Balboa (c. 1475 - 1519) - European Explorer. The first European to cross the Isthmus of Panama view the ocean from American shores. Francisco Pizarro (c. 1475 - 1541) - Spanish explorer. Conquered the Inca Empire. Ferdinand_Magellan (1480 - 1521) - Portuguese explorer. Sailed around Cape Horn and named Pacific Ocean. He died in the Philippines which he claimed for Spain but his ship made it back. Giovanni da Verrazano (c. 1485 - 1528) - Italian explorer. Explored the northeast coast, from Newfoundland to about present day South Carolina. Hernán Cortés (1485 - 1545) - Spanish explorer. Conquered the Aztec Empire for Spain. Hernando de Soto (c. 1496 - 1542) - Spanish explorer. Explored Florida, mainly northwest Florida, and discovered the Mississippi River. Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (c. 1510 - 1554) - Spanish explorer. Searched for the Seven Cities of Gold and discovered the Grand Canyon in the process. Sir Francis Drake (c. 1540 - 1596) - English explorer. The first Englishman to sail around the world and survive. Vitus Bering (1681 - 1741) - Danish explorer. Explored the Siberian Far West and Alaska and claimed it for Russia. James Cook (1728 - 1779) - English naval captain. Explored much of the Pacific including New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii. Robert Bartlett (1875 - 1946) - Newfoundland captain. Led over 40 expeditions to the Arctic, more than anyone before or since. Was the first to sail north of 88° N lattitude. Samuel_de_Champlain

Exploration by area

- Asian exploration
- Exploration of Asia
- Exploration of the Pacific
- African exploration
- Native American exploration
- American exploration
- Exploration of the Americas
- European exploration of Asia
- European exploration of Africa
- European exploration of Australia
- European exploration of North America
- Exploration of the High Alps
- Exploration of the moon
- Exploration of Mars

Investigation

:To see the article about the Nintendo game, see Gumshoe (video game). A detective is
- an officer of the police who performs criminal or administrative investigations,
- in some police departments, the lowest rank among such investigators (above the lowest rank of officers and below sergeants). Some departments have distinct levels of detectives, depending on their experiences and skills. New York City and Los Angeles both have three grades. A number of larger police departments have rank structures for their investigators that parallel the "street" police, such as Detective Sergeants and Detective Lieutenants,
- a civilian licensed to investigate information not readily available in public records (a private investigator, also called "P.I." or, in a pun on "private i.", private eye), or
- informally and primarily in fiction, any unlicensed person who solves crimes, including historical crimes, or looks into records.

Detectives and their work

Becoming a detective

In most American police departments, a candidate for detective must have served as a uniformed officer for a period of one to five years before becoming qualified for the position. Prospective British police detectives must have completed two years as a uniformed officer before applying to join the Criminal Investigation Department. In European police systems, most detectives are university graduates who join directly from civilian life without first serving as uniformed officers. In fact, many European police experts cannot understand why British, American and Commonwealth police forces insist on recruiting their detectives from the ranks of uniformed officers, arguing that they do a completely different job and therefore require completely different training, qualifications, qualities and abilities. The opposing argument is that without previous service as a uniformed patrol officer a detective cannot have a great enough command of standard police procedures and problems and will find it difficult to work with uniformed colleagues. Detectives obtain their position by competitive examination, covering such subjects as:
- Principles, practices and procedures of investigations
- Principles, practices and procedures of interviewing and interrogation
- Local criminal law and procedures
- Applicable law governing arrests, search and seizures, warrants and evidence
- Police department records and reports
- Principles, practices and objectives of courtroom testimony
- Police department methods and procedures Private detectives are licensed by the state in which they live after passing a competitive examination and a criminal background check. Some states, such as Maryland, require a period of classroom training as well.

Organization of detectives

The detective branch in most larger police agencies is organized into several squads or departments, each of which specializes in investigation into a particular type of crime or a particular type of undercover operation, which may include:
- Homicide
- Robbery
- Stolen vehicles
- Fraud
- Burglary
- Narcotics
- Forgery
- Criminal intelligence
- Sex crimes
- Street crime (mugging etc.)
- Computer crime
- Crimes against children
- Surveillance
- Arson

Techniques of detectives

Street work

Detectives have a wide variety of techniques available in conducting investigations. However, the majority of cases are solved by interrogation of suspects and witnesses, which takes time. In a policeman's career as a uniformed officer and as a detective, a detective develops an intuitive sense of the plausibility of suspect and witness accounts. This intuition may fail at times, but usually is reliable. Besides interrogations, detectives may rely on a network of informants they have cultivated over the years. Informants often have connections with persons a detective would not be able to approach formally. In criminal investigations, once a detective has a suspect or suspects in mind, the next step is to produce evidence that will stand up in a court of law. The best way is to obtain a confession from the suspect, usually in exchange for a plea bargain for a lesser sentence. A detective may lie or otherwise mislead and may psychologically pressure a suspect into confessing, though in the United States suspects may invoke their Miranda rights.

Forensic evidence

Physical forensic evidence in an investigation may provide leads to closing a case. Examples of physical evidence can be, but are not limited to:
- Fingerprinting of objects persons have touched
- DNA analysis
- Luminol to detect blood stains that have been washed
- Bloodstain pattern analysis
- Footprints or tire tracks
- Chemical testing for the presence of narcotics or expended gun propellant
- The exact position of objects at the scene of an investigation Many major police departments in a city, county, or state, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, maintain their own forensic laboratories.

Records investigation

Detectives may use public and private records to provide background information on a subject. These include:
- Fingerprint records. In the United States, the FBI maintains records of people who have committed felonies and some misdemeanors, all persons who have applied for a Federal security clearance, and all persons who have served in the U.S. armed forces
- Records of criminal arrests and convictions
- Photographs or mug shots, of persons arrested
- Motor vehicle records
- Credit card records and bank statements
- Hotel registration cards
- Credit reports
- Answer machine messages

Court testimony

Unless a plea bargain forestalls the need for a trial, detectives must testify in court about their investigation. They must seem reliable and credible to a jury, and must not give the impression of personal vindictiveness or cruelty. A detective's background often comes into question in courtroom testimony. A famous example came in the murder trial of O. J. Simpson, when Detective Mark Fuhrman of the Los Angeles Police Department testified for the prosecution. Attorney F. Lee Bailey first asked Fuhrman if he had ever used the "n-word" (see Nigger). Fuhrman denied this. In court, Bailey produced taped interviews with Fuhrman using this offensive word.

Famous detectives

The detective story has been a popular genre in books, radio, television, and movies since the early 19th century. In many police drama series, detectives are depicted as being something of an elite, with most uniformed police officers deferring to them. Famous fictional detectives include:

Police detectives

- Detective Andy Sipowicz, played by Dennis Franz in the television series NYPD Blue
- Lennie Briscoe, played by Jerry Orbach in the television series Law & Order
- Sergeant Joe Friday, portrayed by Jack Webb and later by Ed O'Neill in the television series Dragnet
- Lieutenant Columbo, played by Peter Falk in the television series Columbo (and also some television movies)
- Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison, played by Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect.
- Detective Chief Inspector Morse, in the novels of Colin Dexter and played by John Thaw in Inspector Morse.
- Detective Inspector Jack Regan, also played by John Thaw, and Detective Sergeant George Carter, played by Dennis Waterman, in the television series The Sweeney.
- Thompson and Thomson, from the comic Tintin, created by Hergé

Private detectives

- Adrian Monk, played by Tony Shalhoub
- Auguste Dupin, created by Edgar Allan Poe
- Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple, both created by Agatha Christie
- Jim Rockford, created by Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell, and portrayed by James Garner in the television series The Rockford Files
- Thomas Sullivan Magnum, played by Tom Selleck in the television series Magnum P.I.
- Philip Marlowe, created by Raymond Chandler
- Sam Spade, created by Dashiell Hammett and portrayed on film by Humphrey Bogart
- Sherlock Holmes, created by Arthur Conan Doyle See Detective fiction and Crime fiction for more details.

External links

- [http://www.my-private-investigator.com/ Online Detective Tools]
- [http://www.detectivechoice.com Online Investigation Tools]
- [http://www.diydetective.com/ Do it yourself detective] Category:Law enforcement Category:Law enforcement workers
- Detective Category:Police officers ja:探偵

Learning

:Learned redirects here. For the town in the United States, see Learned, Mississippi. Learned, Mississippi learning the countries of Asia on the floor of the central hall of the Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois ]] Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values, through study, experience, or teaching, that causes a change of behavior that is persistent, measurable, and specified or allows an individual to formulate a new mental construct or revise a prior mental construct (conceptual knowledge such as attitudes or values). It is a process that depends on experience and leads to long-term changes in behavior potential. Behavior potential describes the possible behavior of an individual (not actual behavior) in a given situation in order to achieve a goal. But potential is not enough; if individual learning is not periodically reinforced, it becomes shallower and shallower, and eventually is lost in that individual. Short term changes in behavior potential, such as fatigue, do not constitute learning. Some long-term changes in behavior potential result from aging and development, rather than learning. Learning is sense making that enables manifestation of purpose. Education is the conscious attempt to promote learning in others. The primary function of "teaching" is to create a safe, viable, productive learning environment. Management of the total learning environment to promote enhance and motivate learning is a paradigm shift from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning.

Learning - Neuroscience

The learning process can be displayed as a graph. The stronger the stimulation for the brain, the deeper the impression that is left in the neuronal network. Therefore a repeated, very intensive experience preceived through all of the senses (audition, sight, smell) of an individual will remain longer and prevail over other experiences. The complex interactions of neurons that have formed a network in the brain determine the direction of flow of the micro-voltage electricity that flows through the brain when a person thinks. The characteristics of the neuronal network shaped by previous impressions is what we call the persons "character". See also Cognitive Science

Basic learning processes

Cognitive Science back at babies who gaze at them and smile.]] The most basic learning process is imitation, one's personal repetition of an observed process, such as a smile. Thus an imitation will take one's time (attention to the details), space (a location for learning), skills (or practice), and other resources (for example, a protected area). Through copying, most infants learn how to hunt (i.e., direct one's attention), feed and perform most basic tasks necessary for survival.
- Attention
- Habituation
- Classical conditioning
- Instrumental conditioning
- Vicarious learning
- Communication

Learning by example

Example can be a motivation for learning. Imitation of a role model is a natural mechanism for infants and children, when learning from experience. Child's play is another method for learning by the example of other children, who naturally gain satisfaction by playing the role of teacher or mentor to a less-experienced child. play] The sandbox (sandpit) in a playground is an example of a location where children can learn by experience. It is instructive to watch smaller children on a merry-go-round, for example, who naturally push it more slowly than the larger, older, more experienced ones. In order for a little one to get on the merry-go-round, they might simply grab a bar and drag their feet in the sand, while holding on. This slows down the rotation, which allows the little one to climb on, under the oversight of a supervisor, to ensure their physical safety. Learning "how to learn" is a skill, which can be taught to others, by example.

Learning by teaching

Main article: Learning by teaching
Learning by teaching, is a method of teaching which allows teachers to share the new lesson contents and let little groups prepare their part in order to teach this contents to the rest of the class.

Formal learning methods

Schools use a variety of methods to help pupils learn.

Learning by worked examples

Often there are worked examples in books that show exactly how the author solved, step by step, a particular problem, for example, in mathematics. Different books may help explain methods in different ways - some are easier to understand than others and supplement what the teacher taught. Homework can be a great help, or it can be a waste of time.

Learning which alternative methods exist

Sometimes different methods can be applied to solve a particular problem. Often the student is not aware of alternatives until they are pointed out by the teacher; then the student should also be made aware of how to select the "best" method from among the available ones, and of which authors of textbooks are likely to be especially helpful.

Learning which shortcuts exist to solve specific problems

Sometimes shortcuts exist that can reduce by many hours the solution of practical problems. For example, Maxima and minima of functions can be obtained "the hard way" by a whole series of numerical calculations, while the use of calculus is often a shortcut.

Other dimensions of learning

Here are a few theories and subcategories of learning:
- Cognition
- Experiential education
- Erudition
- Formulating knowledge for learning
- Inquiry education
- Instructional technology
- Motor learning
- Language education
- Lifelong education
- Learning music by ear
- Learning disability
- Learning psychology
- Learning styles
- Learning theory (education)
- Organizational learning
- Observational learning
- Reading

External links

- [http://tip.psychology.org/ Explorations in Learning & Instruction: The Theory Into Practice Database] Category:Education Category:Psychology ko:학습 ja:学習

Natural environment

The natural environment comprises all living and non-living things that occur naturally on Earth. In its purest sense, it is thus an environment that is not the result of human activity or intervention. The natural environment may be contrasted to "the built environment." For some, there is a difficulty with the term "natural environment" in that nearly all environments have been directly or indirectly influenced by humans at some point in time. In order to address this concern, some level of human influence is thus allowable without the status of any particular landscape ceasing to be "natural." The term's meaning, however, is usually dependent more on context than a set definition. Many natural environments are the product of the interaction between nature and humans. For this reason, the term ecosystem has been used to describe an environment that contains nature, and includes people. It follows then that environmental problems are human or social problems. Some also consider it dangerously misleading to regard "environment" as separate from "people." It is the common understanding of natural environment that underlies environmentalism—a broad political, social, and philosophical movement that advocates various actions and policies in the interest of protecting what nature remains in the natural environment, or restoring or expanding the role of nature in this environment. While wilderness is increasingly rare, wild nature (e.g., unmanaged forests, uncultivated grasslands, wildlife, wildflowers) can be found in many locations previously inhabited by humans. Goals commonly expressed by environmentalists include: reduction and clean up of man-made pollution, with future goals of zero pollution; reducing societal consumption of non-renewable fuels, development of alternative, green, low carbon or renewable energy sources; conservation and sustainable use of scarce resources such as water, land and air; protection of representative or unique or pristine ecosystems; preservation and expansion of threatened or endangered species or ecosystems from extinction; the establishment of nature and biosphere reserves under various types of protection, and, most generally, the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems upon which all human and other life on earth depends. More recently, there has been a strong concern about climatic changes caused by anthroprogenic releases of greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide, and their interactions with human uses and the natural environment. Efforts here have focused on the mitigition of greenhouse gases that are causing climatic changes (i.e., through the Climate Change Convention and the Kyoto Protocol), and ondeveloping adaptative strategies to assist species, ecosystems, humans, nations and regions in adjusting to these climatic changes.

Infancy

The word infant derives from the Latin in-fans, meaning unable to speak. It is commonly used as a slightly more formal word for baby (the youngest category of child). The term infant is also used as formal/legal term for minor; that is, a child in general. A newborn infant is known as a neonate (neonatal, neonatus) after the final stage of gestation. Newborn infants are born with their skin coated with a white substance known as vernix caseosa, which is hypothesized to act as an antibacterial barrier. Newborns look physically different from prototypical older infants. They typically suffered minor trauma during birth resulting in a misshapen skull (compressed and pointed), puffy eyes, various discharges, blotchy and wrinkled skin. The Apgar score is a measure of a newborn's health. Infant mortality is the death of infants in the first year of life. Infant mortality can be subdivided into neonatal death, referring to deaths in the first 27 days of life, and post-neonatal death, referring to deaths after 28 days of life. Major causes of infant mortality include dehydration, infection, congenital malformation, and SIDS. This epidemiological indicator is recognised as a very important measure of the level of healthcare in a country because it is directly linked with the health status of infants, children, and pregnant women as well as access to medical care, socio-economic conditions, and public health practices. Feeding is done by breastfeeding or with special industrial milk, "infant formula". As infants age, and their appetites grow, many parents choose from a variety of baby foods to feed the child. Infants have a sucking instinct allowing them to extract the milk from the nipples of the breasts or the nipple of the baby bottle. If the mother is unable to breast feed, or does not want to, infant formula is used in Western countries. Sometimes a wet nurse is hired to feed the infant. wet nurse Breastfeeding provides infants with many natural immune substances and isolates the infant from most bacteria or other contaminations in the local water supply. Infant formula does not provide these immune substances and in places with poor quality water supply, subjects the infant to an increased risk of disease. Infants are incontinent, therefore diapers are generally used in industrialized countries, while methods similar to elimination communication[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eliminationcommunication/] are common in third world countries. These techniques assert babies can control their bodily functions at the age of six months and they are aware when they are urinating at even earlier age. Babies can learn to signal to the parents when it is time to urinate or defecate by turning or making some noises. Parents have to pay attention to the baby's action so they can learn the signals. third world Babies cannot walk, although more mature infants may crawl; baby transport may be by perambulator (stroller or buggy) or on the back or in front of an adult in a special bag, cloth or cradle board. Infants cry as a form of basic instinctive communication to their parents when in need of feeding or when in discomfort. As is the case with most other young children, infants are usually treated as special persons. Their social presence is different from that of adults, and they may be the focus of attention. Fees for transportation and entrance fees at locations such as amusement parks or museums are often waived.

External links

- [http://dmoz.org/Home/Family/Babies/ Baby Links] Parenting and Information sites from the Open Directory Project
- [http://www.pregnancybirthandbaby.co.uk Pregnancy, birth and baby] Parenting site including the Parenting wiki
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fields/2091.html CIA FactBook] — Infant mortality rates in different countries and other health indicators
- [http://www.babymilkaction.org Baby Milk Action] — "aims to save lives and to end the avoidable suffering caused by inappropriate infant feeding"
- [http://www.who.int/whr/2005/en/ The World Health Report 2005 – Make Every Mother and Child]
- [http://www.babycentre.co.uk BabyCentre] — "A fantastic resource for parents from preconception to baby, to toddler" Category:Infancy simple:Baby

Animal

:For the Muppet Show character, see Animal (Muppet). For the professional wrestler, see Joseph Laurinaitis.

- Porifera (sponges)
- Ctenophora (comb jellies)
- Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anenomes)
- Placozoa (trichoplax)
- Subregnum Bilateria (bilateral symmetry)
- Acoelomorpha (basal)
- Orthonectida (flatworms, echinoderms, etc.)
- Rhombozoa (dicyemids)
- Myxozoa (slime animals)
- Superphylum Deuterostomia (blastopore becomes anus)
- Chordata (vertebrates, etc.)
- Hemichordata (acorn worms)
- Echinodermata (starfish, urchins)
- Chaetognatha (arrow worms)
- Superphylum Ecdysozoa (shed exoskeleton)
- Kinorhyncha (mud dragons)
- Loricifera
- Priapulida (priapulid worms)
- Nematoda (roundworms)
- Nematomorpha (horsehair worms)
- Onychophora (velvet worms)
- Tardigrada (water bears)
- Arthropoda (insects, etc.)
- Superphylum Platyzoa
- Platyhelminthes (flatworms)
- Gastrotricha (gastrotrichs)
- Rotifera (rotifers)
- Acanthocephala (acanthocephalans)
- Gnathostomulida (jaw worms)
- Micrognathozoa (limnognathia)
- Cycliophora (pandora)
- Superphylum Lophotrochozoa (trochophore larvae / lophophores)
- Sipuncula (peanut worms)
- Nemertea (ribbon worms)
- Phoronida (horseshoe worms)
- Ectoprocta (moss animals)
- Entoprocta (goblet worms)
- Brachiopoda (brachipods)
- Mollusca (mollusks)
- Annelida (segmented worms) Animals are a major group of organisms, classified as the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. In general they are multicellular, capable of locomotion and responsive to their environment, and feed by consuming other organisms. Their body plan becomes fixed as they develop, usually early on in their development as embryos, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on. Along with sponges, gastropods, emus, dolphins and all other animals, Homo sapiens sapiens meet all the criteria above for membership in the group of organisms known as animals and they do not meet the criteria of the other groups. Some humans often consider themselves separate from animals, not on the grounds of biology, but through the use of "other contexts". Whilst self-delusion may be a unique characteristic of the human species it is not cause for exclusion from the Kingdom Animalia. The name animal comes from the Latin word animal, of which animalia is the plural, and ultimately from anima, meaning vital breath or soul.

Characteristics

Aristotle divided the living world between animals and plants, and this was followed by Carolus Linnaeus in the first hierarchical classification. Since then biologists have begun emphasizing evolutionary relationships, and so these groups have been restricted somewhat. For instance, microscopic protozoa were originally considered animals because they move, but are now treated separately. Kingdom Animalia has several characteristics that set it apart from other living things. First, animals are eukaryotic. This separates them from the Kingdom Monera. Second, animals are multicellular, which separates them from Kingdom Protista. Third, they are heterotrophic, setting them apart from Kingdom Plantae and several plant-like protists. Finally, Kingdom Animalia consists of organisms without cell walls, which makes it unique compared to Kingdom Plantae, algae, and Kingdom Fungi.

Structure

With a few exceptions, most notably the sponges (Phylum Porifera), animals have bodies differentiated into separate tissues. These include muscles, which are able to contract and control locomotion, and a nervous system, which sends and processes signals. There is also typically an internal digestive chamber, with one or two openings. Animals with this sort of organization are called metazoans, or eumetazoans when the former is used for animals in general. All animals have eukaryotic cells, surrounded by a characteristic extracellular matrix composed of collagen and elastic glycoproteins. This may be calcified to form structures like shells, bones, and spicules. During development it forms a relatively flexible framework upon which cells can move about and be reorganized, making complex structures possible. In contrast, other multicellular organisms like plants and fungi have cells held in place by cell walls, so develop by progressive growth. Also, unique to animal cells are the following intercellular junctions: tight junctions, gap junctions, and desmosomes.

Reproduction and development

Nearly all animals undergo some form of sexual reproduction. Adults are diploid or occasionally polyploid. They have a few specialized reproductive cells, which undergo meiosis to produce smaller motile spermatozoa or larger non-motile ova. These fuse to form zygotes, which develop into new individuals. Many animals are also capable of asexual reproduction. This may take place through parthenogenesis, where fertile eggs are produced without mating, or in some cases through fragmentation. A zygote initially develops into a hollow sphere, called a blastula, which undergoes rearrangement and differentiation. In sponges, blastula larvae swim to a new location and develop into a new sponge. In most other groups, the blastula undergoes more complicated rearrangement. It first invaginates to form a gastrula with a digestive chamber, and two separate germ layers - an external ectoderm and an internal endoderm. In most cases, a mesoderm also develops between them. These germ layers then differentiate to form tissues and organs. Animals grow by indirectly using the energy of sunlight. Plants use this energy to turn air into simple sugars using a process known as photosynthesis. These sugars are then used as the building blocks which allow the plant to grow. When animals eat these plants (or eat other animals which have eaten plants), the sugars produced by the plant are used by the animal. They are either used directly to help the animal grow, or broken down, releasing stored solar energy, and giving the animal the energy required for motion. This process is known as glycolysis.

Origin and fossil record

Animals are generally considered to have evolved from flagellate protozoa. Their closest living relatives are the choanoflagellates, collared flagellates that have the same structure as certain sponge cells do. Molecular studies place them in a supergroup called the opisthokonts, which also include the fungi and a few small parasitic protists. The name comes from the posterior location of the flagellum in motile cells, such as most animal sperm, whereas other eukaryotes tend to have anterior flagella. The first fossils that might represent animals appear towards the end of the Precambrian, around 600 million years ago, and are known as the Vendian biota. These are difficult to relate to later fossils, however. Some may represent precursors of modern phyla, but they may be separate groups, and it is possible they are not really animals at all. Aside from them, most animal phyla with known phyla make a more or less simultaneous appearance during the Cambrian period, about 570 million years ago. It is still disputed whether this event, called the Cambrian explosion, represents a rapid divergence between different groups or a change in conditions that made fossilization possible.

Groups of animals

The sponges (Porifera) diverged from other animals early. As mentioned, they lack the complex organization found in most other phyla. Their cells are differentiated, but not organized into distinct tissues. Sponges are sessile and typically feed by drawing in water through pores all over the body, which is supported by a skeleton typically divided into spicules. The extinct Archaeocyatha, which have fused skeletons, may represent sponges or a separate phylum. Among the eumetazoan phyla, two are radially symmetric and have digestive chambers with a single opening, which serves as both the mouth and the anus. These are the Cnidaria, which include anemones, corals, and jellyfish, and the Ctenophora or comb jellies. Both have distinct tissues, but they are not organized into organs. There are only two main germ layers, the ectoderm and endoderm, with only scattered cells between them. As such, these animals are sometimes called diploblastic. The tiny phylum Placozoa is similar, but individuals do not have a permanent digestive chamber. The remaining animals form a monophyletic group called the Bilateria. For the most part, they are bilaterally symmetric, and often have a specialized head with feeding and sensory organs. The body is triploblastic, i.e. all three germ layers are well-developed, and tissues form distinct organs. The digestive chamber has two openings, a mouth and an anus, and there is also an internal body cavity called a coelom or pseudocoelom. There are exceptions to each of these characteristics, however - for instance adult echinoderms are radially symmetric, and certain parasitic worms have extremely simplified body structures. Genetic studies have considerably changed our understanding of the relationships within the Bilateria. Most appear to belong to four major lineages: # Deuterostomes # Ecdysozoa # Platyzoa # Lophotrochozoa In addition to these, there are a few small groups of bilaterians with relatively similar structure that appear to have diverged before these major groups. These include the Acoelomorpha, Rhombozoa, and Orthonectida. The Myxozoa, single-celled parasites that were originally considered Protozoa, are now believed to have developed from the Bilateria as well.

Deuterostomes

Deuterostomes differ from the other Bilateria, called protostomes, in several ways. In both cases there is a complete digestive tract. However, in protostomes the initial opening (the archenteron) develops into the mouth, and an anus forms separately. In deuterostomes this is reversed. In most protostomes cells simply fill in the interior of the gastrula to form the mesoderm, called schizocoelous development, but in deuterostomes it forms through evagination of the endoderm, called enterocoelic pouching. Deuterostomes also have a dorsal, rather than a ventral, nerve chord and their embryos undergo different cleavage. All this suggests the deuterostomes and protostomes are separate, monophyletic lineages. The main phyla of deuterostomes are the Echinodermata and Chordata. The former are radially symmetric and exclusively marine, such as sea stars, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers. The latter are dominated by the vertebrates, animals with backbones. These include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. In addition to these, the deuterostomes also include the Hemichordata or acorn worms. Although they are not especially prominent today, the important fossil graptolites may belong to this group. The Chaetognatha or arrow worms may also be deuterostomes, but this is less certain.

Ecdysozoa

The Ecdysozoa are protostomes, named after the common trait of growth by moulting or ecdysis. The largest animal phylum belongs here, the Arthropoda, including insects, spiders, crabs, and their kin. All these organisms have a body divided into repeating segments, typically with paired appendages. Two smaller phyla, the Onychophora and Tardigrada, are close relatives of the arthropods and share these traits. The ecdysozoans also include the Nematoda or roundworms, the second largest animal phylum. Roundworms are typically microscopic, and occur in nearly every environment where there is water. A number are important parasites. Smaller phyla related to them are the Nematomorpha or horsehair worms, which are visible to the unaided eye, and the Kinorhyncha, Priapulida, and Loricifera, which are all microscopic. These groups have a reduced coelom, called a pseudocoelom. The remaining two groups of protostomes are sometimes grouped together as the Spiralia, since in both embryos develop with spiral cleavage.

Platyzoa

The Platyzoa include the phylum Platyhelminthes, the flatworms. These were originally considered some of the most primitive Bilateria, but it now appears they developed from more complex ancestors. A number of parasites are included in this group, such as the flukes and tapeworms. Flatworms lack a coelom, as do their closest relatives, the microscopic Gastrotricha. The other platyzoan phyla are microscopic and pseudocoelomate. The most prominent are the Rotifera or rotifers, which are common in aqueous environments. They also include the Acanthocephala or spiny-headed worms, the Gnathostomulida, Micrognathozoa, and possibly the Cycliophora. These groups share the presence of complex jaws, from which they are called the Gnathifera.

Lophotrochozoa

The Lophotrochozoa include two of the most successful animal phyla, the Mollusca and Annelida. The former includes animals such as snails, clams, and squids, and the latter comprises the segmented worms, such as earthworms and leeches. These two groups have long been considered close relatives because of the common presence of trochophore larvae, but the annelids were considered closer to the arthropods, because they are both segmented. Now this is generally considered convergent evolution, owing to many morphological and genetic differences between the two phyla. The Lophotrochozoa also include the Nemertea or ribbon worms, the Sipuncula, and several phyla that have a fan of cilia around the mouth, called a lophophore. These were traditionally grouped together as the lophophorates, but it now appears they are paraphyletic, some closer to the Nemertea and some to the Mollusca and Annelida. They include the Brachiopoda or lamp shells, which are prominent in the fossil record, the Entoprocta, the Phoronida, and possibly the Ectoprocta or moss animals.

History of classification

In Linnaeus' original scheme, the animals were one of three kingdoms, divided into the classes of Vermes, Insecta, Pisces, Amphibia, Aves, and Mammalia. Since then the last four have all been subsumed into a single phylum, the Chordata, whereas the various other forms have been separated out. The above lists represent our current understanding of the group, though there is some variation from source to source.

Usage of the word animal

In everyday usage animal refers to any member of the animal kingdom that is not a human being, and sometimes excludes insects (although including such arthropods as crabs). This confusion stems primarily from the familiarity with zoo animals, farm animals and pets, not from an analytical distinction between insects, humans and the rest of the animal kingdom.

Examples

Some well-known types of animals, listed by their common names:
- alpaca, ant, antelope, badger, bat, bear, bee, beetle, bird, bison, butterfly, cat, chicken, cockroach, coral, cow, deer, dinosaur, dog, dolphin, earthworm, elephant, elk, fish, fly, fox, frog, giraffe, goat, gorilla, hippopotamus, horse, human, iguana, jellyfish, kangaroo, lion, lizard, llama, lynx, monkey, mouse, nightingale, octopus, owl, ox, parrot, penguin, pig, quail, rabbit, rat, rhinoceros, salamander, scorpion, seahorse, shark, sheep, sloth, snake, spider, squid, starfish, tiger, turtle, urial, vole, whale, wolf, yak, zebra

References

External links

- [http://www.animool.com/animals/index.jsp Animals Search Engine]
- [http://www.wikianimals.com wikianimals.com] - Documenting the animal kingdom
- [http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Animals&contgroup=Eukaryotes Tree of Life]
- [http://www.arkive.org A Multimedia Database of Various UK or Endangered Species]
- [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wakefield/animals.html Animals and Birds Names] - Large table of words: animal, collective, male, female, young, & home
- [http://www273.pair.com/med/words/animal_adjectives.htm English Animal Adjectives]
- [http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/ballc/animals/animals.html Sounds of the World's Animals] - animal sounds in many languages
- [http://www.findsounds.com/ FindSounds - Search the Web for Sounds] - sound files including animal sound files
- [http://www.australianfauna.com/ Australian Animals]
- [http://www.animalreviews.com AnimalReviews] - animals reviewed and evaluated
- [http://animals.timduru.org/ The animal photo archive] - Photos of animals
- [http://www.wildlife-photo.org Photo gallery of animals pictures from the entire world.]
- [http://www.wildlife-photo.org/birds_list.htm Birds Name Check List in Latin, English, Russian and Hebrew.]
- [http://www.wildanimalsonline.com Wild Animals Online] - an online encyclopedia of wild animals - facts, photos Category:Animals zh-min-nan:Tōng-bu̍t ko:동물 ms:Haiwan ja:動物 simple:Animal th:สัตว์

Ape

Hylobatidae
Hominidae Apes are the members of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates, including humans. Currently, there are two families of hominoids:
- the family Hylobatidae consists of 4 genera and 12 species of gibbons, including the Lar Gibbon and the Siamang, collectively known as the "lesser apes"
- the family Hominidae consisting of gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, and humans, collectively known as the "great apes". A few other primates have the word "ape" in their name, but they are not regarded as true apes. Except for gorillas and humans, all true apes are agile climbers of trees. They are best described as omnivorous, their diet consisting of fruit, grass seeds, and in most cases some quantities of meat and invertebrates—either hunted or scavenged—along with anything else available and easily digested. They are native to Africa and Asia, although humans have spread to all parts of the world. Most non-human ape species are rare or endangered. The chief threat to most of the endangered species is loss of tropical rainforest habitat, though some populations are further imperiled by hunting for bushmeat.

Historical and modern terminology

"Ape" (Old Eng. apa; Dutch aap; Old Ger. affo; Welsh epa; Old Czech op) is a word of uncertain origin and is possibly an imitation of the animal's chatter. The term has a history of rather imprecise usage. Its earliest meaning was a tailless (and therefore exceptionally human-like) non-human primate, but as zoological knowledge developed it became clear that taillessness occurred in a number of different and otherwise unrelated species. The original usage of "ape" in English may have referred to the baboon, an African monkey. Two tailless species of macaque are commonly named as apes, the Barbary Ape of North Africa (introduced into Gibraltar), Macaca sylvanus, and the Sulawesi Black Ape or Celebes Crested Macaque, M. nigra. Until a handful of decades ago, humans were thought to be distinctly set apart from the other apes (even from the other great apes), so much so that many people still don't think of the term "apes" to include humans at all. However, it is not accurate to think of apes in a biological sense without considering humans to be included. The terms "non-human apes" or "non-human great apes" is used with increasing frequency to show the relationship of humans to apes while yet talking only about the non-human species.

Biology

The gibbon family, Hylobatidae, is composed of thirteen medium-sized species. Their major distinction are their long arms which they use to brachiate through the trees. As an evolutionary adaption, to this arboreal lifestyle, their wrists are ball and socket joints. The largest of the gibbons, the Siamang weighs up to 23 kg, compared to the Common Chimpanzee's modest 40 to 65 kg. The great ape family was previously referred to as Pongidae, and humans (and fossil hominids) were omitted from it, but on grounds of relatedness there is no argument for doing this. Chimpanzees, gorillas, humans and orangutans are all more closely related to one another than any of these four genera are to the gibbons. Awkwardly, however, the term "hominid" is still used with the specific meaning of extinct animals more closely related to humans than the other great apes (for example, australopithecines). It is now usual to use even finer divisions, such as subfamilies and tribes to distinguish which hominoids are being discussed. Current evidence implies that humans share a common, extinct, ancestor with the chimpanzee line, from which we separated more recently than the gorilla line. Both great apes and lesser apes fall within Catarrhini, which also includes the Old World monkeys of Africa and Eurasia. Within this group, both families of apes can be distinguished from these monkeys by the number of cusps on their molars (apes have five—the "Y-5" molar pattern, Old World monkeys have only four in a "bilophodont" pattern). Apes have more mobile shoulder joints and arms, ribcages that are flatter front-to-back, and a shorter, less mobile spine compared to Old World monkeys. These are all anatomical adaptations to vertical hanging and swinging locomotion (brachiation) in the apes. All living members of the Hylobatidae and Hominidae are tailless, and humans can therefore accurately be referred to as bipedal apes. However there are also primates in other families that lack tails. Although the hominoid fossil record is far from complete, and the evidence is often fragmentary, there is enough to give a good outline of the evolutionary history of humans. The time of the split between humans and living apes used to be thought to have occurred 15 to 20 million years ago, or even up to 30 or 40 million years ago. Some apes occurring within that time period, such as Ramapithecus, used to be considered as hominins, and possible ancestors of humans. Later fossil finds indicated that Ramapithecus was more closely related to the orangutan, and new biochemical evidence indicated that the last common ancestor of humans and other hominins occurred between 5 and 10 million years ago, and probably in the lower end of that range. Ramapithecus therefore is no longer considered a hominin.

Cultural aspects

The intelligence and humanoid appearance of apes are responsible for legends which attribute human qualities; for example, apes are sometimes said to be able to speak but refuse to do so in order to avoid work. They are also said to be the result of a curse—a Jewish folktale claims that one of the races who built the Tower of Babel became apes as punishment, while Muslim lore says that the Jews of Elath became apes as punishment for fishing on the Sabbath. Christian folklore claims that apes are a symbol of lust and were created by Satan in response to God's creation of humans. It is uncertain whether any of these references is specifically to apes, since all date from a period when the distinction between apes and monkeys was not widely understood, or not understood at all.

New Species?

Also in 2002, a new giant ape troop was discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These apes share many features of both chimpanzees and gorillas. According to a report from BBC News Online , the apes have large black faces, are two meters tall and make nests on the ground, all like gorillas. However, they live hundreds of kilometers from any other gorilla troops, and their diet is high in fruits, similar to the chimpanzee diet.

History of hominoid taxonomy

The history of hominoid taxonomy is somewhat confusing and complex. The names of subgroups have changed their meaning over time as new evidence from fossil discoveries, anatomy comparisons and DNA sequences, has changed understanding of the relationships between hominoids. The story of the hominoid taxonomy is one of gradual demotion of humans from a special position in the taxonomy to being one branch among many. It also illustrates the growing influence of cladistics (the science of classifying living things by strict descent) on taxonomy. As of 2005, there are eight extant genera of hominoids: Homo (humans), Pan (chimpanzees), Gorilla, Pongo (orangutans), and four genera of gibbons. In 1758, Carolus Linnaeus, relying on second- or third-hand accounts, placed two species in Homo along with H. sapiens: Homo troglodytes ("cave-dwelling man") and the Homo caudatus ("tail-bearing man"). It is not clear to which animals these names refer, as Linnaeus had no specimen to refer to, hence no precise description. Linnaeus named the orangutan Simia satyrus ("satyr monkey"). He placed the three genera Homo, Simia and Lemur in the family of Primates. The troglodytes name was used for the chimpanzee by Blumenbach in 1775 but moved to the genus Simia. The orangutan was moved to the genus Pongo in 1799 by Lacépède. Lacépède Until about 1960 the hominoids were usually divided into two families: humans and their extinct relatives in Hominidae, the other apes in Pongidae.
Pongidae The 1960s saw the application of techniques from molecular biology to primate taxonomy. Goodman used his 1963 immunological study of serum proteins to propose a division of the hominoids into three families, with the non-human great apes in Pongidae and the lesser apes (gibbons) in Hylobatidae. The trichotomy of hominoid families, however, prompted scientists to ask which family speciated first from the common hominoid ancestor.
speciated Within the superfamily Hominoidea, gibbons are the outgroup: this means that the rest of the hominoids are more closely related to each other than any of them are to gibbons. This led to the placing of the other great apes into the family Hominidae along with humans, by demoting the Pongidae to a subfamily; the Hominidae family now contained the subfamilies Homininae and Ponginae. Again, the three-way split in Ponginae led scientists to ask which of the three genera is least related to the others.
Ponginae Investigation showed orangutans to be the outgroup, but comparing humans to all three other hominid genera showed that African apes (chimpanzees and gorillas) and humans are more closely related to each other than any of them are to orangutans. This led to the placing of the African apes in the subfamily Homininae, forming another three-way split. This classification was first proposed by M. Goodman in 1974.
orangutan To try to resolve the hominine trichotomy, some authors proposed the division of the subfamily Homininae into the tribes Gorillini (African apes) and Hominini (humans).
orangutan However, DNA comparisons provide convincing evidence that within the subfamily Homininae, gorillas are the outgroup. This suggests that chimpanzees should be in Hominini along with humans. This classification was first proposed (though one rank lower) by M. Goodman et. al. in 1990.

Classification and evolution

As discussed above, hominoid taxonomy has undergone several changes. Current understanding is that the apes diverged from the Old World monkeys about 25 million years ago. The lesser and greater apes split about 18 mya, and the hominid splits happen 14 mya (Pongo), 7 mya (Gorilla), and 6 mya (Homo & Pan)
- Superfamily Hominoidea
- Family Hylobatidae: gibbons
- Genus Hylobates
- Genus Hoolock
- Genus Symphalangus
- Genus Nomascus
- Family Hominidae: great apes
- Genus Pongo: orangutans
- Genus Gorilla: gorillas
- Genus Homo: humans
- Genus Pan: chimpanzees

Legal status

Human beings are the only ape recognized as persons and protected in law by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights [http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html] and by all governments, though to varying degrees. Chimpanzees, Gorillas and Orangutans are not classified as persons, which means that where their interests intersect with that of humans they have no legal status. Many argue that the other apes cognitive capacity in-itself, as well as their close genetic relationship to human beings, dictates an acknowledgement of personhood. The Great Ape Project, founded by Australian philosopher Peter Singer, is campaigning to have the United Nations endorse its Declaration on Great Apes, which would extend to all species of chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans the protection of three basic interests: the right to life, the protection of individual liberty, and the prohibition of torture.

References

# [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3730574.stm 'New' giant ape found in DR Congo] at BBC News Online # # # #

External links

- [http://www.greatapeproject.org/declaration.html Declaration on Great Apes] at the Great Ape Project
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- ja:ヒト上科

Fish

Conodonta
Hyperoartia
:Petromyzontidae (lampreys)
Pteraspidomorphi (early jawless fish)
Thelodonti
Anaspida
Cephalaspidomorphi (early jawless fish)
:Galeaspida
:Pituriaspida
:Osteostraci
Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates)
:Placodermi
:Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish)
:Acanthodii
:Osteichthyes (bony fish)
::Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish)
::Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish)
:::Actinistia (coelacanths)
:::Dipnoi (lungfish)
A fish is a poikilothermic (cold-blooded) water-dwelling vertebrate with gills. There are over 27,000 species of fish, making them the most diverse group of vertebrates. Taxonomically, fish are a paraphyletic group whose exact relationships are much debated; a common division is into the jawless fish (class Agnatha, 75 species including lampreys and hagfish), the cartilaginous fish (class Chondrichthyes, 800 species including sharks and rays), with the remainder classed as bony fish (class Osteichthyes). Fish come in different sizes, from the 14m (45 ft) whale shark to a 7 mm (just over 1/4 of an inch) long stout infantfish. Many types of aquatic animals named "fish", such as jellyfish and cuttlefish, are not true fish. Other sea dwelling creatures, like dolphins, are actually mammals. Certain species of fish maintain elevated body temperatures to varying degrees. Endothermic teleosts (bony fishes) are all in the suborder Scombroidei and include the billfishes, tunas, and one species of "primitive" mackerel (Gasterochisma melampus). All sharks in the family Lamnidae – shortfin mako, long fin mako, white, porbeagle, and salmon shark – are known to have the capacity for endothermy, and evidence suggests the trait exists in family Alopiidae (thresher sharks). The degree of endothermy varies from the billfish, which warm only their eyes and brain, to bluefin tuna and porbeagle sharks who maintain body temperatures elevated in excess of 20 °C above ambient water temperatures. See also gigantothermy. Endothermy, though metabolically costly, is thought to provide advantages such as increased contractile force of muscles, higher rates of central nervous system processing, and higher rates of digestion.

Fish ecology

Fish can be found in almost all large bodies of water in either salt, brackish, or fresh water, at depths ranging from just below the surface to several thousand meters. However, hyper-saline lakes like the Great Salt Lake do not support fishes. Some species of fish have been specially bred to be kept and displayed in an aquarium, and can survive in the home environment. Catching fish for the purpose of food or sport is known as fishing. The annual yield from all fisheries worldwide is about 100 million tonnes. Overfishing is a threat to many species of fish. On May 15 2003, the journal Nature reported that all large oceanic fish species worldwide had been so systematically over caught that fewer than 10% of 1950 levels remained. [http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030514.wfish1405/BNStory/National/] Particularly imperiled were sharks, Atlantic cod, Bluefin tuna, and Pacific sardines. The authors recommended immediate, drastic cutbacks in fish catches and reservation of ocean habitats worldwide.

Note on usage: "fish" vs. "fishes"

"Fishes" is the proper English plural form of "fish" that biologists use when speaking about two or more fish species, as in "There are over 25,000 fishes in the world" (meaning that there are over 25,000 fish species in the world). When speaking of two or more individual fish organisms, then the word "fish"