Family is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between order and genus. A family may be divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae, but that family is commonly referred to as the "walnut family".
Opossums are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 120+ species in 19 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North America in the Great American Interchange following the connection of North and South America.
Iris is a flowering plant genus of 310 accepted species with showy flowers. As well as being the scientific name, iris is also widely used as a common name for all Iris species, as well as some belonging to other closely related genera. A common name for some species is 'flags', while the plants of the subgenus Scorpiris are widely known as 'junos', particularly in horticulture. It is a popular garden flower.
Aster is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Its circumscription has been narrowed, and it now encompasses around 170 species, all but one of which are restricted to Eurasia; many species formerly in Aster are now in other genera of the tribe Astereae. Aster amellus is the type species of the genus and the family Asteraceae.
Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, and is one of the few non-mammal species able to recognize itself in a mirror test. They are particularly well known for their songs and were once popular as cagebirds. In addition to other members of the genus Pica, corvids considered as magpies are in the genera Cissa, Urocissa, and Cyanopica.
A spirochaete or spirochete is a member of the phylum Spirochaetota, which contains distinctive diderm (double-membrane) gram-negative bacteria, most of which have long, helically coiled cells. Spirochaetes are chemoheterotrophic in nature, with lengths between 3 and 500 μm and diameters around 0.09 to at least 3 μm.
The Anserinae are a subfamily in the waterfowl family Anatidae. It includes the swans and true geese. Under alternative systematical concepts, it is split into two subfamilies, the Anserinae contain the geese and the ducks, while the Cygninae contain the swans.
Verrucomicrobiota is a phylum of Gram-negative bacteria that contains only a few described species. The species identified have been isolated from fresh water, marine and soil environments and human faeces. A number of as-yet uncultivated species have been identified in association with eukaryotic hosts including extrusive explosive ectosymbionts of protists and endosymbionts of nematodes residing in their gametes.
The Deferribacteraceae are a family of gram-negative bacteria which make energy by anaerobic respiration.
Knightia is a small genus of the family Proteaceae endemic to New Zealand, named in honor of Thomas Andrew Knight. One extant species, K. excelsa (rewarewa) is found in New Zealand. Two further Knightia species are found in New Caledonia, although they were placed in the genus Eucarpha by Lawrie Johnson and Barbara Briggs in their influential 1975 monograph "On the Proteaceae: the evolution and classification of a southern family", a placement supported in a 2006 classification of the Proteaceae. A fossil species from upper Miocene deposits in Kaikorai has been described as Knightia oblonga. Knightia has been placed in the tribe Roupaleae of the subfamily Grevilleoideae.
Deirochelys is a genus of freshwater turtle in the family Emydidae, the pond and marsh turtles. It contains one extant species, the chicken turtle, which is native to the southeastern United States. A second extinct member, Deirochelys carri, is known from a fossil found in Alachua County, Florida. The genus was first described by Louis Agassiz in 1857, and its name is derived from the Ancient Greek words for "neck" (deirḗ) and "tortoise" (khélūs), referring to the particularly long necks of these turtles.
Pipunculidae is a family of flies (Diptera) commonly termed big-headed flies, a reference to the large (holoptic) eyes, which cover nearly the entire head. The family is found worldwide and more than 1300 species have been described.
Enantiornis is a genus of Enantiornithes. The type and only currently accepted species E. leali is from the Late Cretaceous Lecho Formation at El Brete, Argentina. It was described from specimen PVL-4035, a coracoid, proximal scapula and proximal humerus found close to each other and suspected to represent the left shoulder of a single individual.
New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns.
Mesostigmata is an order of mites belonging to the Parasitiformes. They are by far the largest group of Parasitiformes, with over 8,000 species in 130 families. Mesostigmata includes parasitic as well as free-living and predatory forms. They can be recognized by the single pair of spiracles positioned laterally on the body.
Synanceia is a genus of ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Synanceiinae, the stonefishes, which is classified within the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and relatives. Stonefishes are venomous, dangerous, and fatal to humans. They are the most venomous fish known. They are found in the coastal regions of the Indo-Pacific.
Eucarpha is a genus of flowering plant of the family Proteaceae, endemic to New Caledonia. Two species are recognised. Up to 1975, these were classified within the genus Knightia until Lawrence Johnson and Barbara G. Briggs recognised their distinctness, particularly their prominent bracts, in their 1975 monograph "On the Proteaceae: the evolution and classification of a southern family". Nomenclatural combinations for these two species in the genus Eucarpha were published in 2022. Other sources, including Plants of the World Online as of April 2022, treat Eucarpha as a synonym of Knightia.
Diastrophosternus bruchi is a species of longhorn beetle in the Cerambycinae subfamily, and the only species in the genus Diastrophosternus. It was described by Gounelle in 1911. It is known from Paraguay and northern Argentina.
Pipunculinae is a subfamily of big-headed flies.
Lycorma imperialis is a planthopper indigenous to parts of China and Indo-Malaysia. L. imperialis was originally discovered in 1846 by Adam White and has one recognized non-nominate subspecies, L. i. punicea. L. imperialis has undergone a number of reclassifications since its discovery and is one of four species in the genus Lycorma. L. imperialis follows a hemimetabolous life cycle and will undergo a series of nymphal stages (instars) before maturing to an adult.
