Dibamidae or blind skinks is a family of lizards characterized by their elongated cylindrical body and an apparent lack of limbs. Female dibamids are entirely limbless and the males retain small flap-like hind limbs, which they use to grip their partner during mating. They have a rigidly fused skull, lack pterygoid teeth and external ears. Their eyes are greatly reduced, and covered with a scale.
Delena cancerides, the communal huntsman, flat huntsman or social huntsman, is a large, brown huntsman spider native to Australia. It has been introduced to New Zealand, where it is sometimes known as the Avondale spider. This was the species used in the Australian movie Napoleon and widely in Arachnophobia, and all films depict them as having a deadly venomous bite, but they are generally considered harmless to humans in real-life. It was first described by Charles Athanase Walckenaer in 1837.
Planaria is a genus of planarians in the family Planariidae. Due to its excellent ability to regenerate, species of Planaria has also been used as model organisms in regeneration studies. When an individual is cut into pieces, each piece has the ability to regenerate into a fully formed individual. When decapitated, they retain their memories.
The leaf muntjac, leaf deer or Putao muntjac is a small species of muntjac. It was documented in 1997 by biologist Alan Rabinowitz during his field study in the isolated Nogmung Township in Myanmar. Rabinowitz discovered the species by examining the small carcass of a deer that he initially believed was the juvenile of another species; however, it proved to be the carcass of an adult female. He managed to obtain specimens, from which DNA analysis revealed a new cervid species. Local hunters knew of the species and called it the leaf deer because its body could be completely wrapped by a single large leaf. It is found in Myanmar and India.
The Mexican burrowing toad is the single living representative of the family Rhinophrynidae. It is a unique species in its taxonomy and morphology, with special adaptations to assist them in digging burrows where they spend most of their time. These adaptations include a small pointed snout and face, keratinized structures and a lack of webbing on front limbs, and specialized tongue morphology to assist in feeding on ants and termites underground. The body is nearly equal in width and length. It is a dark brown to black color with a red-orange stripe on its back along with splotches of color on its body. The generic name Rhinophrynus means 'nose-toad', from rhino- (ῥῑνο-), the combining form of the Ancient Greek rhis and phrunē.
A cursorial organism is one that is adapted specifically to run. An animal can be considered cursorial if it has the ability to run fast or if it can keep a constant speed for a long distance. "Cursorial" is often used to categorize a certain locomotor mode, which is helpful for biologists who examine behaviors of different animals and the way they move in their environment. Cursorial adaptations can be identified by morphological characteristics, physiological characteristics, maximum speed, and how often running is used in life. There is much debate over how to define a cursorial animal specifically. The most accepted definitions include that a cursorial organism could be considered adapted to long-distance running at high speeds or has the ability to accelerate quickly over short distances. Among vertebrates, animals under 1 kg of mass are rarely considered cursorial, and cursorial behaviors and morphology are thought to only occur at relatively large body masses in mammals. There are a few mammals that have been termed "micro-cursors" that are less than 1 kg in mass and have the ability to run faster than other small animals of similar sizes.
Mudskippers are any of the 23 extant species of amphibious fish from the subfamily Oxudercinae of the goby family Oxudercidae. They are known for their unusual body shapes, preferences for semiaquatic habitats, limited terrestrial locomotion and jumping, and the ability to survive prolonged periods of time both in and out of water.
The North Island takahē is an extinct species of flightless swamphen that was native to the North Island of New Zealand. It is closely related to the living South Island takahē.
The northern sandhill frog is a small, fossorial frog native to a small region of the Western Australian coast. It was formerly considered the sole species within the genus Arenophryne until the first decade of the 2000s, when a new species of frog called the southern sandhill frog was discovered about 100 kilometres from Geraldton, Western Australia in Kalbarri National Park and given the scientific name Arenophryne xiphorhyncha.
The skull roof or the roofing bones of the skull are a set of bones covering the brain, eyes and nostrils in bony fishes and all land-living vertebrates. The bones are derived from dermal bone and are part of the dermatocranium.
Sipunculus nudus is a cosmopolitan species of unsegmented marine worm of the phylum Sipuncula, also known as peanut worms.
Inquisitor glauce is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pseudomelatomidae. It was first documented by E. A. Smith in 1888. I. glauce is not a broadcast spawner, meaning it does not release unfertilized eggs into the water. Unlike many gastropods, the trochophore stage is not present in the life cycle of these predatory sea snails, meaning it is not found as a veliger. Very little is known about its diet or habits due to its small size and residence in benthic depths.
The Balkan terrapin or western Caspian terrapin is a species of terrapin in the family Geoemydidae. It is found in the eastern Mediterranean region. While technically omnivorous, the terrapins are known to prefer meat. They can grow to 25 cm in carapace length, although hatchlings are usually only 3 to 4 cm in length.
Dugesiidae is a family of freshwater planarians distributed worldwide. The type genus is Dugesia Girard, 1850.
Dyar's Law is the observed standard that during development of the immature stages of an arthropod, increases in highly sclerotized body parts are predictable and regular by a relatively constant factor. The law is named after Harrison G. Dyar who in 1890 published a paper about his observation that the head capsule widths of lepidopteran larvae follow a geometric progression in growth. However, various authors have noted that an earlier publication in 1886 by W.K. Brooks independently described the same phenomenon in crustaceans, and therefore the variant term Brooks-Dyar Law also commonly appears in the literature. The earliest known citation of either author's observations constituting a "Law" dates to a 1925 reference to "Dyar's Law".
Peripatopsis moseleyi is a species of velvet worm in the Peripatopsidae family. Males of this species have 20 to 24 pairs of legs with claws ; females have 19 to 23 pairs of legs with claws. Females range from 11 mm to 75 mm in length, whereas males range from 9 mm to 50 mm. The type locality is in South Africa.
Planaria torva is a species of planarian in the family Planariidae. When an individual is cut into pieces, each piece has the ability to regenerate into a fully formed individual.
Joel Lester Cracraft, is an American paleontologist and ornithologist. He received a PhD in 1969 from Columbia University.
Samuel Booker McDowell Jr. was an American herpetologist who worked on the comparative anatomy of turtles and snakes and studied snakes of Oceania.
Dr Aola Mary Richards was a New Zealand entomologist specialising in the study of New Zealand and Australian cave crickets, or wētā (Rhaphidophoridae), and Australian ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae). She was the first New Zealand woman to gain a PhD in biology.
