AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
These efforts failed to achieve desired effects due to the Japanese defenses. The American bombings continued until 19 February 1945: the day the Marines landed on the island.
About 450 American ships were near Iwo Jima. The battle involved about 60,000 U.S. Marines.
At 08:59, 30,000 Marines began landing on the island. The Japanese held their fire for some time while men and material began to fill the beaches. Then the Japanese opened fire, and many in the first group of Marines were killed by the machine guns.
Japanese heavy artillery was protected by steel doors that closed to protect the guns between shots. This made it difficult for American units to destroy Japanese artillery. The Japanese soldiers hid in the tunnel system.
With tanks, naval artillery, and air bombing on Mount Suribachi, the Marines were able to get past the beaches. About 40,000 more Marines landed later.
The fighting on Iwo Jima was very violent. The Marines’ advance was stopped by defensive positions and artillery. The Marines used flamethrowers and grenades to kill Japanese troops in the tunnels.
Eight Sherman M4A3R3 medium tanks with a flamethrower destroyed Japanese defences. The Japanese ran out of water, food, and supplies. The Japanese made more nighttime attacks. Most Japanese soldiers fought to the death.
"Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima" is a photograph taken on 23 February 1945 by Joe Rosenthal. It shows five Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman raising the flag of the United States on Mount Suribachi. The photograph was popular. It won a Pulitzer Prize for Photography.
The Japanese troops stayed in the tunnels . They were all killed.
The Japanese still held positions on the north end. Kuribayashi had eight infantry battalions, a tank regiment, two artillery battalions, and three heavy mortar battalions. He also had about 5,000 gunners and naval infantry.
The Marines' tanks were destroyed by Japanese fire and mines. Many Americans were killed or wounded.
The Marines attacked in the darkness with no bombing before the attack. Many Japanese soldiers were killed while still sleeping.
On the evening of 8 March, Captain Samaji Inouye and his 1,000 men attacked the Americans causing 347 casualties (90 deaths). The Marines counted 784 dead Japanese soldiers the next day.
There was also a "kamikaze" air attack on the ships anchored at sea on 21 February. This sunk the escort carrier and severely damaged the . There was minor damage to the escort carrier , an LST, and a transport.
On 16 March, Kuribayashi's soldiers were still alive on the northwestern end of the island. On 21 March, the Marines blew up the Japanese with four tons of explosives. On 24 March, Marines sealed up the caves.
A 300-man Japanese force attacked Airfield No. 2. There was a 90-minute fight and it suffered heavy casualties (53 killed, 120 wounded). The island was finally captured at 09:00 on 26 March.
In the Pacific the United States used the M2 flamethrower. These flamethrowers were used to kill Japanese in caves. Marines also had flamethrowers on tanks which were used during battle. They were less useful because of Iwo Jima's rough land. Many other infantry weapons were utilized, including the infamous M1 Garand.
Of the 22,060 Japanese soldiers on the island, 18,844 died from fighting or by suicide. Only 216 were captured during the battle. After Iwo Jima, 3,000 hid in the tunnels.
The 36-day battle for Iwo Jima resulted in more than 26,000 American casualties, including 6,800 dead. By comparison, the 82-day battle for Okinawa resulted in casualties of over 62,000, of whom over 12,000 were killed or missing. Iwo Jima was also the only U.S. Marine battle where the Americans suffered more casualties than the Japanese.
Because they had all been removed, there were no civilian casualties at Iwo Jima, unlike at Saipan and Okinawa.
Given the number of casualties, the importance of the island's capture is controversial.
Iwo Jima was not used by the US Army Air Corp to drop the atomic bombs on Japan. Tinian was the Island both bombers left to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which were 12 hours out and back.
The argument for capturing Iwo Jima was that it provided a landing and refueling airfield for fighter escorts. Yet, only ten missions were ever flown from Iwo Jima.
Japanese fighter aircraft based on Iwo Jima sometimes attacked the US forces. Only 11 B-29s were lost.
The Japanese on Iwo Jima had radar and could notify Japanese forces at home of B-29 Superfortresses flying from the Mariana Islands.
However, the capture of Iwo Jima did not affect the Japanese radar system.
The United States Navy has several ships of the name .
On 19 February 1985, the 40th anniversary of the landings, an event called the Reunion of Honor was held. The veterans of both sides who fought in the battle of Iwo Jima attended the event. A memorial was built. Representatives of both countries shook hands.
The importance of the battle to Marines today can be seen. Marines go to the island and to the summit of Suribachi.
The Japanese government continues to search for the bodies of Japanese military troops who were killed during the battle.
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is given to a member of the United States armed forces who show bravery and risks his life in a battle. The medal is often awarded after death. It has been given only 3,464 times.
During this one-month-long battle, 27 U.S. military personnel were given the Medal of Honor for their actions, 14 of them after death.
John 3:16 (chapter 3, verse 16 of the Gospel of John) is a verse from the Christian Bible. It has been called the "Gospel in a nutshell." It is also thought to be one of the most important doctrines of Christianity.
Le Chatelier's principle
Le Châtelier's principle is a principle used in Chemistry and Physics to describe how a system at equilibrium reacts to external changes.
It is used to show how the point of equilibrium of a system will move to oppose a change in the conditions of the system, following Newton's third law. This is most commonly seen in reversible reactions in chemistry, where a chemical reaction has reached a point where the formation of products happens at the same rate the products decay back into reactants. This principle can then be used to increase the amount of desired products made by moving equilibrium towards that side in chemical industries.
If the concentration of reactants in a reaction increases, the point of equilibrium moves towards the products as this gets rid of the excess reactants and cancels the change. Similarly, if the concentration of products increases, the equilibrium moves towards the reactants.
If the pressure of a system increases, the point of equilibrium will shift to the side with less moles, as that side will occupy less volume and therefore will reduce the pressure.
If the temperature of a system is increased, the point of equilibrium moves towards whichever side is more endothermic as this will take in the excess energy as part of the products and so cancels the change of increased temperature.
This principle is also shown by Lenz's law, which states that a changing magnetic flux will produce an opposing magnetic flux (and therefore a magnetic and electric field) in any nearby metals. This will then produce a second current in the nearby metal in the opposite direction to the original current.
Continental United States
The continental United States is the area of the United States of America that is located in the continent of North America. It includes 49 of the 50 states (48 of which are located south of Canada and north of Mexico, known as the "lower 48 states", the other being Alaska) and the District of Columbia, which contains the federal capital, Washington, D.C. The only state which is not part of this is Hawaii (as they are islands in the Pacific Ocean and not part of North America).
"On May 14, 1959, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names issued the following definitions based partially on the reference in the Alaska Omnibus Bill, which defined the Continental United States as "the 49 States on the North American Continent and the District of Columbia..." The Board reaffirmed these definitions on May 13, 1999."
Some sources incorrectly mix up the "continental United States" with the "contiguous United States" (which consists simply of the lower 48 states and the District of Columbia). The contiguous United States (also known as the United States Mainland) does not include Alaska, Hawaii, or any other territories under the control of the United States.
Alaska is unique among the US states as it is part of the North American continent, meaning it is attached via Canada, and so is part of the "Continental United States". However, Alaska is not part of the "Contiguous United States", because it is not attached directly to the lower 48 states.
The Bible Belt is term for a part of the United States in which many people believe in conservative Evangelical Protestantism. This makes it a dominant part of the culture.
British people
Britons, British people, or the British are people from Britain – either from the United Kingdom or the island of Great Britain. In history, the people of the British Empire, and later the British Commonwealth, were also named British or Britons.
The first people to be named Britons were the people of ancient Britain, the ancient Britons. The ancient Romans named the people of Britain in . People from Roman Britain called themselves in . Bede used the spelling in , the spelling of which was possibly learned from the Old English word of the same meaning.
Originally, the word Briton in the English language meant a person from one of the Brythonic languages-speaking peoples in Great Britain and northern France: mostly the people of Strathclyde, Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany. This meaning of the word was used in Middle English from the 13th century and after. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Briton could also be a name for Welsh people.
The use of Britons to mean all the people of Britain was not common in the English language before the early 18th century. It became more usual after the Acts of Union 1707 joined together the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain. The word Briton was frequently used in the 18th and 19th centuries with the suggestion of "qualities of bravery and fortitude". The rare word "Britoness" was sometimes used in the past for women from Britain. Writers like Edmund Spenser, Thomas Babington Macaulay, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson used it for strong women like the ancient British queen Boudica (who fought the Romans) and the English queen, Elizabeth I (whose Royal Navy defeated the Spanish Armada).
Scissor-tailed flycatcher
The scissor-tailed flycatcher ("Tyrannus forficatus"), also known as the Texas bird-of-paradise and swallow-tailed flycatcher, is a type of bird that lives in North America, in the United States and Mexico. It eats insects. It is grey on top and light grey underneath with pink on the sides. The wings are dark and it has a long black tail. It is named "scissor-tailed" because its tail looks like a pair of scissors. The tail is shorter when it is young, and the bird is not as colorful.
The scissor-tailed flycatcher is closely related to the kingbirds. It is also the state bird of Oklahoma. The common name is derived from its former Latin name-Muscivoria forficata, meaning "flying"-"scissors" and "to devour." In Oklahoma, scissortails can be found on open prairies, along tree-lined roads, and along roadsides perched on fences, limbs and in isolated trees. They consume a great number of grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, and other ground-dwelling insects making them economically important and popular with farmers and ranchers.
Soon after the birds arrive in the state, the males begin their famous "sky dance," a popular site along roadsides during spring and early summer. After climbing about 100 feet in the air, the male makes a series of V-shaped flights, then plunges down in an erratic zigzag course often somersaulting while uttering a rolling, cackling call. The performance has been described as "an aerial ballet of incomparable grace." Nesting usually takes place in an isolated tree 7–30 feet above ground. Often two broods of 4-6 each are raised during the summer.
Scissor-tailed flycatchers are easily identified by their long scissor-like tail, which may reach nine inches in length. During flight the bird opens its tail like a pair of scissors and folds or closes the "scissors" when perching. The nape of its neck and its back are pearl gray, and the breast is white. Wings are sooty black with a touch of scarlet at the shoulders. The principal threat to scissortails is poaching. A great number of birds have been killed by poachers who wanted only the bird's tail.
Eastern redbud
Black Mesa is a mountain in Oklahoma. It is the highest point in the state.
Cassowaries ("Casuarius") are a kind of large bird which cannot fly. They are part of a group of flightless birds called the ratites. The ostrich, emu, moa (now extinct) and small kiwi are other ratites.
The cassowary lives in the tropical rainforests of New Guinea and north eastern Australia. They are shy birds living deep in the forest. They can also become angry, and they will attack people. This makes it hard to learn about them.
A group of cassowaries is called a shock.
There are three living species of cassowary:
The southern cassowary is the largest forest bird in the world, and the second heaviest bird in the world after the ostrich. It is third tallest after the ostrich and emu. Females are bigger and more brightly coloured. Adult Southern Cassowaries are between to tall. Some females may get as big as , and weigh about . They do not have feathers on their necks. The necks are brightly colored in red, blue, purple and yellow. The southern cassowary has two wattles, loose skin, which hangs down from their neck. The Northern Cassowary has one wattle. The Dwarf Cassowary has no wattles.
Cassowaries have three toes on each foot. Each has a sharp claw. The middle toe has a claw like a dagger, which is long. Because a cassowary can kick, this claw is very dangerous and can hurt or kill enemies. Scientists believe they can run up to . They can jump up to and they can swim. There have been reported attacks on people and animals by cassowaries. In April 1926, a cassowary killed a 16-year-old boy near Mossman, Queensland.
The cassowary's wings are small, and are not flight feathers. They are not adapted for flying.
Females lay between three and eight large, pale green-blue eggs at a time. These large eggs are about by and weigh about 600 grams. Ostrich and emu eggs are bigger. The male sits on the eggs for two months until they hatch. He then looks after the brown-striped chicks for nine months. The female mates with two or three males each year. A cassowary at the Healesville Sanctuary lived for 61 years.
All three types of cassowary have a horn-like helmet called a "casque" on the top of their head. The casque is a keratinous skin (like a finger nail) over an inside made of firm, but foam like material. This material can be bent and squeezed but it goes back to its proper shape. The name "cassowary" comes from two Papuan words meaning "horned head". The reason for the casque is unknown. There are a number of different ideas, such as:
Biologist Andrew Mack has watched cassowaries and disagreed with many of these ideas. He thinks that the casques play a part in the way cassowaries hear sounds or the way that they make sounds. He discovered that the dwarf Cassowary and southern cassowary make a very low sound. It is the lowest known bird call, like a "boom", which people can only just hear. The southern cassowary sound was measured at 32 hertz, and the Dwarf Cassowary was even lower at only 23 hertz. The birds live by themselves, they do not live in groups so the "booming sound" might be a way for the birds to communicate (talk) over a long distance in thick rainforest. Scientists think that this way of talking may be how dinosaurs communicated with each other.
Their main food is fruit, but they eat other things such as snails, fungi, ferns and flowers. They are important because they spread plant and fruit seeds through the forest. Each cassowary is known to live in an area of up to , so they carry seeds a long way. At least 70 rainforest trees need the cassowary to spread their seeds. Their seeds are too big for other rainforest animals to carry. Seeds from 21 plants have to be eaten and pass through the cassowary or they will not grow. Some seeds are poisonous to all other animals; only the cassowary can eat them. Scientists have worked out that about 150 rainforest plants need the cassowary.
The southern cassowary is now listed as endangered in Australia. The CSIRO states that approximately 4,400 cassowaries live in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. Many of the forest places that they like to live in have been cleared for farming and other development. It has been worked out that 75% of rain forest, where cassowaries used to live, have been cleared in Australia. When Cyclone Larry hit the Mission Beach area in 2006 a lot of cassowary forest was flattened. It is thought that 18% of the birds were killed by the storm. Animals such as wild pigs, dogs and cats, have become a big threat to the birds. Motor cars are a big danger to the birds. Scientists say that 70% of known cassowary deaths at Mission Beach, Queensland, were birds killed trying to cross roads.
The northern cassowary in New Guinea is listed as vulnerable. They could easily become an endangered animal unless things are done to protect them. Scientists do not know how many birds there are, but they think there may be anywhere from 2,500 to 9,999 northern cassowaries left.
The CSIRO are studying cassowary faeces to see if they can use their DNA to count how many birds are left. In 2008, the Australian Government stopped rainforest land being used to build houses at Mission Beach. They are going to try and keep corridors (narrow forest areas) so the birds can move between rainforest areas safely. People will be asked to replant forest trees and plants on their land to help make these corridors. The government is looking at buying land for more corridors. Scientists are finding out when and where cassowaries cross roads. This will mean strict limits on motor car speeds to protect cassowaries that might try to cross some roads. Plans are being looked at to build raised roads so the birds can pass underneath.
Many zoos, such as the Australian Reptile Park in Gosford, the Airlie Beach Wildlife Park and the Denver Zoo are trying to breed cassowaries. Cassowaries in zoos have lived for up to 60 years. The first cassowary kept in a zoo was in Amsterdam in 1597. It had been brought back as a present for the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II.
In 2007, Australian singer Christine Anu, made an album called "Chrissy's Island Family". This is a collection of songs for children. One of the songs is called "Cassowary". It is about Samu, the Wakka Woo cassowary. There is picture book for children, called "Sisi and the Cassowary", by Arone Raymond Meeks. It has drawings in traditional aboriginal style to tell a Dreamtime like story.
English natural history writer and artist, John Gould, had drawings of the cassowary in his set of seven books called "The Birds of Australia". These were printed in London between 1851 and 1869. The cassowary drawings were completed by Henry Richter. Richter's watercolor painting of the cassowary is in the museum in Melbourne, Victoria.
Province of Belluno
The Province of Belluno (; German: "Provinz Belluno") is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Belluno.
The province of Belluno has an area of and is the most northern of the provinces of the Veneto region, and is almost entirely occupied by mountain areas. In the eastern part of the province are the Dolomites, part of the eastern Alps, with high mountains, including the highest point of the province and of the region, the Marmolada () that is high.
The province is rich in water, with the presence of the wide Piave river that flows through the province from north to south.
The southern part of the province is called "Valbelluna", the widest and most populous valley of the province.
The province of Belluno borders to the north with Austria (Tyrol and Carinthia), to the east with the Friuli Venezia Giulia region (Udine and Pordenone provinces), to the south with the Treviso and Vicenza provinces) and to the west and northwest with the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region (Trento and South Tyrol provinces).
, there are 206,856 persons living in the province, for a population density of inhabitants/km².
Evolution of the population in the Belluno province
In the province, there are two language minorities, which are now recognized by law:
There are 64 municipalities (or "comuni") in the province; they are:
The following shows the 10 "comuni" with the population, and the area and altitude.
Province of Padua
Padua (or ) is a province in the region of Veneto in Italy.
Province of Rovigo
The Province of Rovigo () is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Rovigo.
The province of Rovigo has an area of and is the most southern of the provinces of the Veneto region, and its territory is almost flat, without mountains. The highest point of the province is in the Bergantino "comune", to the west of the province; it is only high.
The province is rich in water, with the presence of the two longest rivers of Italy: the Po and the Adige rivers. Both flow from west to east and into the Adriatic Sea and most of the territory of the province is between these two rivers: the Adige in the north of the province and the Po in the south of it.
The province of Rovigo borders to the northwest with the Verona province, to the north with the Padua province and the Metropolitan City of Venice, to the west with the Lombardy region (Mantua province) and to the south with the Ferrara Emilia-Romagna region. The Adriatic Sea is to the east.
, there are 240,540 persons living in the province, for a population density of inhabitants/km².
Evolution of the population in the Rovigo province
There are 50 municipalities (or "comuni") in the province; they are:
Oded Fehr
A cascade is
Cascade may also mean:
WALES, UK
Cascade, Rhymney Valley,
Dromaeosauridae
Dromaeosaurs are a family of bird-like theropod dinosaurs. They include the famous "Velociraptor" and "Deinonychus". They were small to medium-sized feathered carnivores which flourished in the Cretaceous period.
They are often called raptors, a term popularized by the movie "Jurassic Park". They were fast-running predators.
Dromaeosaurs had a world-wide distribution. They first appeared in the Middle Jurassic, 167 million years ago (mya). The larger types are not found before about 124 mya in the Lower Cretaceous, and are only found in the northern hemisphere. They survived until the end of the Cretaceous, 65.5 mya at the K/T extinction event.
The presence of dromaeosaurs in the Middle Jurassic is shown by isolated fossil teeth, though no dromaeosaurid body fossils have been found this early.
The Dromaeosaur skeleton suggests they were active, fast-running, and closely related to birds.
Dromaeosaurs have a relatively large skull, serrated teeth, narrow snout, and forward-facing eyes with some degree of binocular vision.
Dromaeosaurs, like most other theropods, had an S-curved neck, and their trunk was relatively short and deep. Like other maniraptorans, they had long arms, and relatively large hands with three long fingers ending in large claws.
The dromaeosaur hip structure featured a large 'pubic boot' (part of the hip) projecting beneath the base of the tail. These hip bones were places muscle and tendons attached.
Dromaeosaur feet bore a large, recurved claw on the second toe. Their tails were slender, and mainly used as a counterbalance.
Some, and probably all, dromaeosaurs were covered in feathers, including large, vaned, wing and tail feathers.
Like other theropods, dromaeosaurs were bipedal; that is, they walked on their hind legs. Whereas other theropods walked with three toes on the ground, fossilized footprint tracks show that most dromaeosaurs held the second toe off the ground, with only the third and fourth toes bearing the weight of the animal. The enlarged second toe bore an unusually large, curved sickle-shaped claw. It is thought to have been used in capturing prey and, in the smaller species, climbing trees.
One dromaeosaur species, "Balaur bondoc", had a first toe which was highly modified in parallel with the second. Both the first and second toes on each foot of "B. bondoc" were also held retracted and bore enlarged, sickle-shaped claws.
Dromaeosaurs had long tails. Most of the tail vertebrae bear bony, rod-like extensions, as well as bony tendons in some species. In his study of "Deinonychus", Ostrom proposed that these features stiffened the tail so that it could only flex at the base, and the whole tail would then move as a single, rigid, lever. However, one well-preserved specimen of "Velociraptor mongoliensis" (IGM 100/986) has an articulated tail skeleton which is curved horizontally in an S-shape. This suggests that, in life, the tail could bend from side to side with some degree of flexibility. It has been proposed that this tail was used as a stabilizer and/or counterweight while running. In "Microraptor", an elongate diamond-shaped fan of feathers is preserved on the end of the tail. This might have been used as a stabilizer and rudder during gliding.
Dromaeosaurs were small to medium-sized dinosaurs, ranging from about 0.7 meters in length (2.3 ft, in the case of "Mahakala") to over 6m (20 ft, in "Utahraptor" and "Achillobator"). Some were larger; undescribed specimens of "Utahraptor" in BYU collections may have been up to long. Large size appears to have evolved at least twice among dromaeosaurs. A possible third lineage of giant dromaeosaurs is represented by isolated teeth found on the Isle of Wight, England. The teeth belong to a "Utahraptor"-sized animal but are more similar in shape to the teeth of velociraptorines.
"Mahakala" is both the most primitive dromaeosaur ever described and the smallest. This evidence, and "Microraptor" and the troodontid "Anchiornis", suggests the common ancestor of dromaeosaurs, troodontids, and birds – the 'ancestral paravian' – may have been very small, at around 65 cm in length and 600 to 700 grams of mass.
Fossils show that dromaeosaurs were covered in feathers. Some fossils preserve long feathers on the hands and arms ("remiges") and tail ("rectrices"), as well as shorter, down-like feathers covering the body.
Other fossils, which do not preserve actual impressions of feathers, still preserve the associated bumps on the forearm bones where long wing feathers would have attached in life. Overall, this feather pattern looks very much like "Archaeopteryx".
The first known dromaeosaur with definitive evidence of feathers was "Sinornithosaurus", reported from China by Xu "et al." in 1999.
Many other dromaeosaur fossils have been found with feathers covering their bodies, some with fully-developed feathered wings. "Microraptor" even shows evidence of a second pair of wings on the hind legs. While direct feather impressions are only possible in fine-grained sediments, some fossils found in coarser rocks show evidence of feathers by the presence of quill knobs, the attachment points for wing feathers possessed by some birds. The dromaeosaurids "Rahonavis" and "Velociraptor" have both been found with quill knobs, showing that these forms had feathers despite no impressions having been found.
In light of this, it is most likely that even the larger ground-dwelling dromaeosaurs bore feathers, since even flightless birds today retain most of their plumage, and relatively large dromaeosaurs, like "Velociraptor", are known to have had feathers.
There is some discussion about the function of the enlarged "sickle claw" on the second toe. When John Ostrom described it for "Deinonychus" in 1969, he interpreted the claw as a blade-like slashing weapon, much like the canines of some saber-toothed cats, used with powerful kicks to cut into prey. Adams (1987) suggested that the talon was used to disembowel large ceratopsian dinosaurs. The interpretation of the sickle claw as a killing weapon applied to all dromaeosaurs.
In Manning's interpretation, the second toe claw would be used as a climbing aid when subduing bigger prey and also as stabbing weapon.
Ostrom compared "Deinonychus" to the ostrich and cassowary. He noted that the bird species can inflict serious injury with the large claw on the second toe. The cassowary has claws up to long. The seriema also has an enlarged second toe claw, and uses it to tear apart small prey items for swallowing.
The Manning team also compared the curvature of the dromaeosarid "sickle claw" on the foot with curvature in modern birds and mammals. Previous studies had shown that the amount of curvature in a claw corresponded to what lifestyle the animal has: animals with strongly curved claws of a certain shape tend to be climbers, while straighter claws indicate ground-dwelling lifestyles. The sickle-claws of the dromaeosaurid "Deinonychus" have a curvature of 160 degrees, well within the range of climbing animals. The forelimb claws they studied also fell within the climbing range of curvature.
Paleontologist Peter Mackovicky said that small, primitive dromaeosaurids (such as "Microraptor") were likely to have been tree-climbers, but that climbing did not explain why later, gigantic dromaeosaurids such as "Achillobator" retained highly curved claws when they were too large to have climbed trees.
"Deinonychus" fossils have been uncovered in small groups near the remains of the herbivore "Tenontosaurus", a larger ornithischian dinosaur. This had been interpreted as evidence that these dromaeosaurs hunted in coordinated packs like some modern mammals. However, not all paleontologists found the evidence conclusive, and a study in 2007 by Roach and Brinkman suggests that the "Deinonychus" may have actually displayed a disorganized mobbing behavior.
The first known extensive dromaeosaur trackway was found in Shandong, China.
The trackway, (made by a large, "Achillobator"-sized species), showed the sickle-claw was held off the ground. Six individuals of about equal size moved together along a shoreline. The individuals were spaced about one meter apart, and retained the same direction of travel, walking at a fairly slow pace. The trackways are evidence that some species of dromaeosaurs lived in groups. While the trackways clearly do not represent hunting behavior, the idea that groups of dromaeosaurs may have hunted together can not be ruled out.
The ability to fly or glide has been suggested for at least two dromaeosaur genera. The first, "Rahonavis" was originally classified as avian bird, but found to be a dromaeosaur in later studies. It may have been capable of powered flight. The forelimbs of "Rahonavis" were more powerfully built than "Archaeopteryx", and show evidence that they bore strong ligament attachments necessary for flapping flight. Luis Chiappe concluded that, given these adaptations, "Rahonavis" could probably fly but would have been more clumsy in the air than modern birds.
Another species of dromaeosaur, "Microraptor", may have been capable of gliding using its well-developed wings on both the fore and hind limbs. A 2005 study by Sankar Chatterjee suggested that the wings of "Microraptor" functioned like a split-level "biplane", and that it likely employed a style of gliding, in which it would launch from a perch and swoop downward in a 'U' shaped curve, then lift again to land on another tree, with the tail and hind wings helping to control its position and speed. Chatterjee also found that "Microraptor" had the basic requirements to sustain level powered flight in addition to gliding.
Dromaeosaurs share many features with early birds (clade Avialae or Aves). The nature of their relationship to birds is under discussion.
Mark Norell and colleagues analyzed a survey of coelurosaur fossils and suggested that dromaeosaurs were most closely related to birds, with troodontids as a more distant outgroup. In 2002, Hwang and colleagues suggested that birds (avialans) were better thought of as cousins to the dromaeosaurids and troodontids.
The current consensus among paleontologists agrees with Hwang that dromaeosaurids are most closely related to the troodontids, and together with the troodontids form the clade Deinonychosauria. Deinonychosaurians in turn are the sister taxon to avialans, and therefore the closest relatives of avialan birds.
A consensus of paleontologists has concluded that there is not yet enough evidence to say whether any dromaeosaurs could fly or glide, or whether they evolved from ancestors that could.
At least two schools of researchers have proposed that dromaeosaurs may actually be descended from flying ancestors.
In 2002, Hwang "et al." found that "Microraptor" was the most primitive dromaeosaur. Xu and colleagues in 2003 cited the basal position of "Microraptor", along with feather and wing features, as evidence that the ancestral dromaeosaur could glide. In that case the larger dromaeosaurs would be secondarily terrestrial—having lost the ability to glide later in their evolutionary history.
A few researchers, like Larry Martin, believe that dromaeosaurs, along with all maniraptorans are not dinosaurs at all. Martin asserted for decades that birds were unrelated to maniraptorans, but in 2004 he changed his position, and now he agrees that the two are the closest of relatives. Martin believes that maniraptorans are secondarily flightless birds, and that birds evolved from non–dinosaurian archosaurs, so that most of the species formerly called theropods would now not even be classified as dinosaurs.
A challenge to all of these alternative scenarios came when Turner and colleagues in 2007 described a new dromaeosaur, "Mahakala", which they found to be the most basal and most primitive member of the Dromaeosauridae, more primitive than "Microraptor".
"Mahakala" had short arms and no ability to glide. Turner "et al." also inferred that flight evolved only in the Avialae, and these two points suggested that the ancestral dromaeosaurid could not glide or fly. Based on this cladistic analysis, "Mahakala" suggests that the ancestral condition for dromaeosaurids is non-flying.
The family Dromaeosauridae was named in 1922, with only one new genus "Dromaeosaurus". Dromaeosauridae, along with Troodontidae, make up the infraorder Deinonychosauria.
Dromaeosauridae was first defined as a clade by Paul Sereno in 1998, as the most inclusive natural group containing "Dromaeosaurus" but not "Troodon", "Ornithomimus" or "Passer". The various "subfamilies" have also been re-defined as clades.
The subfamilies of Dromaeosauridae is not yet settled. "Mahakala", for example, the most primitive dromaeosaur in terms of structure, falls outside any named sub-group. The most basal subfamily of dromaeosaurs is often found to be the Unenlagiinae.
All known dromaeosaur skin impressions come from this group, and all show an extensive covering of feathers and well-developed wings. Some species may have been capable of active flight.
The following classification of the various genera of dromaeosaurids is based on studies by Sereno (2005), Senter (2004), Makovicky "et al." (2005), Norell "et al." (2006), and Turner "et al." (2007).
A "Deinonychus" appears in John Brosnan's 1984 novel "Carnosaur" and its movie adaptation though the book itself received little press attention.
"Velociraptor", a dromaeosaur, got attention after it was featured in the 1993 Steven Spielberg movie "Jurassic Park". However, the size of the "Velociraptor" in the movie is much larger than the largest members of that genus. Robert Bakker recalled that Spielberg had been disappointed with the dimensions of "Velociraptor" and so upsized it.
Michael Crichton used the name "Velociraptor" for the much larger raptor in his novels, on which the first two movies were based. The depiction of the dromaeosaur in the original "Jurassic Park" movie, while accurate for its time, is now known to have been inaccurate in some respects, such as the lack of feathers. While "Jurassic Park III" attempted to address this last oversight by adding quill-like structures around the head of some of its dromaeosaurs, they did not resemble the structure or distribution of actual dromaeosaurid feathers known from fossil remains.
Dromaeosaurids also appear in many of "The Land Before Time" movies, beginning with the third.
Province of Treviso
The Province of Treviso () is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Treviso.
The province of Treviso has an area of and is formed mainly by plains but there are hills in the northern part. In the border with the Belluno province, there are some mountains over high, found mainly in the Dolomites, part of the eastern Alps; the highest mountain of the province is Monte Grappa ) that is high and is on the border with the Belluno and Vicenza provinces.
The province is rich in water; the main river is the Piave river that flows through the province from north to south.
The province of Treviso borders to the north with the Belluno province, to the east with the Friuli Venezia Giulia region (Pordenone province), to the south with the Padua province and the Metropolitan City of Venice, and to the west with the Vicenza province.
, there are 885,447 persons living in the province, for a population density of inhabitants/km².
Evolution of the population in the Treviso province
There are 95 municipalities (or "comuni") in the province; they are:
The following shows the 12 "comuni" with the population, and the area and altitude.
Province of Venice
Venice (or ) is a province in the region of Veneto in Italy.
The American bullfrog ("Rana catesbeiana" or "Lithobates catesbeianus") is a semi-aquatic frog. It belongs to the family Ranidae, or 'true frogs'. Bullfrogs are native to most of North America, Canada and Mexico. The ones that live in northern America hibernate during winter. However, bullfrogs in southern US states are active all the time. Bullfrogs have been seen in South America, Asia, Western Europe and the Caribbean. These bullfrogs were brought on ships. Many people, including pet owners, have placed bullfrogs outside of their native area. They have done this: on purpose because they no longer want them, to control the pest population, or by accident by catching them in fishing nets.
Bullfrogs can adapt and live almost anywhere if there is water nearby. They can eat rodents, insects, small fish, arachnids, small birds, crustaceas, small mammals, worms, and other frogs. Because of this, they have been blamed for many animal extinctions. Bullfrogs live in large bodies of water such as swamps, lakes, and ponds. They like to stay near the edge of the water. During a rainstorm, they may travel on land. They travel in search of a new habitat.
Bullfrogs are prey to various birds like herons, and their life in the wild is much less than in captivity. One captive bullfrog lived almost 16 years. The name "bullfrog" was given because males roar when mating with a female. Bullfrogs can be kept as pets. Captive bullfrogs are given rodents, small fish, crickets, worms, and fruit flies as food and treats. Pet owners may add supplements on the frogs food for health. Bullfrogs can host many viruses, bacteria and parasites. They were blamed for an intraerythrocytic virus outbreak in Canada in 1997. Bullfrogs are the cause of the chytrid fungus spreading into Arizona. The fungus is one of the main reasons that there are fewer amphibians.
A female bullfrog can lay up to 20,000 eggs. Bullfrog tadpoles take up to a year to become a young frog. Males will stay behind and take care of the tadpoles. Males are territorial and will attack any animal, including their own kind, if they come near them. Bullfrogs can reduce the mosquito population. They do this by eating most of the mosquito's larvae. Bullfrogs do not move during the day, except if there is food nearby or when threatened.
Bullfrog legs are eaten by humans. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) rates the bullfrog as "Least Concern", which means that they are not an endangered species. However, they are dying because of habitat loss, water pollution, pesticides, and over harvesting.
The American bullfrog ("Rana catesbeiana") is its common name. It is one of 90 species of the genus "Rana".
In Quebec, Canada and Louisiana US the bullfrog is called ouaouaron "(wa'wa'ron)"; a word originating in the Wendat language and borrowed in the 17th century"." The American bullfrog is also known as "Lithobates catesbeianus". The parent family for "Rana" is Ranidae, or "true frogs".
The Ranidae is split into nine sub families. "Ceratobatrachinae" (southeast Asia), "Conrauinae" (Africa), "Dicroglossinae", "Micrixalinae" (India), "Nyctibatrachinae" (India), "Petropedetinae" (Africa), "Ptychadeninae" (Africa), "Raninae" (Australia, South America), and "Ranixalinae" (India). The American bullfrog's genus name comes from the Latin word rana, which means frog.
Bullfrogs were first described in 1802 by George Shaw. Shaw described the bullfrog in his book "General Zoology or Systematic Natural History". A bullfrogs call is a slow deep "g-r-r-u-u-u-u-m". Young bullfrogs will make a high pitch chirp before going in the water. Bullfrogs have toxic skin, though it is not harmful to humans. The toxins make it less likely that other animals will eat them.
The American bullfrog is the largest of the "true frogs" family. Bullfrogs can reach a length of . Females are larger than males. Bullfrogs can weigh up to . Bullfrogs are either brown or green. They also have darker spots on their back. Bullfrogs have webbed feet for swimming. They can leap up to . Male bullfrogs can be heard roaring when mating with a female. Males also have bigger tympanic membranes which cover their ears. Bullfrogs have brown or gold eyes. They also have broad flat heads and bodies. The mouth of a bullfrog are small and have tiny teeth inside.
Bullfrogs can live up to 4–5 years. There was one captive bullfrog that had lived up to 18years. Males are territorial and will attack any animal, including their own kind, if they come near them. They will jump, wrestle, and even chase any animal away. Bullfrogs are good at hearing. A group of bullfrogs are called an "army".
Bullfrogs are known to have many viruses and bacteria. However, only a few of them are important to nature. Bullfrogs were blamed for an intraerythrocytic virus outbreak in Canada in 1997. They were also blamed for a chytrid fungus that spread into Arizona in 2000. The chytrid fungus is believed to be one of the major causes of the decline in amphibian populations. Many bullfrogs can have parasites including helminths, trematodes, nematodes, protozoans and leeches.
In a 1913 study, it was found that bullfrogs will eat any animal it can overpower and stuff down its throat. Bullfrog stomachs have been found to have rodents, baby muskrats, small turtles, snakes, frogs (including bullfrogs), birds, and a bat, as well as the many invertebrates, such as insects. These studies show the bullfrog's diet is unique among North American "Rana". Bullfrogs are also known to eat ducklings and tadpoles. Bullfrogs have teeth on the top of their mouths. Their tongues are capable of flipping their food into their mouths. Bullfrogs will eat at night.
In captivity, pet bullfrogs are given crickets, worms, small fish, rodents, and fruit flies. In the wild they like to eat crayfish, water beetles, snails, and dragon fly larvae. Bullfrogs may eat each other, this makes up of 80% of their diet. In a 1935 study, it was found that smaller bullfrogs eat mostly insects. However, larger bullfrogs eat crayfish, frogs and mice. In an Arizona study in 1988, it was found that bullfrogs there eat invertebrates such as snails and insects. While two other studies, one in 1977 (in New Mexico) and the other in 1993 (in New York), found that bullfrogs in New York eat mostly "Ranidae" frogs. The study from New Mexico, found that bullfrogs there eat mostly toads. Adults can help decrease the mosquito population by eating most of their larvae.
Bullfrogs will become sexually active after 2–4 years of becoming a frog. Females are attracted to males who have territories that provide the most food. Bullfrogs mate between early spring to early summer. A male bullfrog grabs the female and begins roaring. A female bullfrog makes an aggressive call. The female lays her eggs in shallow waters. The male releases sperm on the eggs as fertilizer. A female can lay up to 20,000 eggs. The eggs of the bullfrogs are laid on the surface of water. They are then exposed to harmful UV-B radiation. Because of this, many bullfrogs may have abnormal (not normal) development. The eggs hatches after four days. They are called "tadpoles" and live in the water eating algae. Bullfrog tadpoles are larger in length than other tadpoles by other frogs. They become frogs in more than a year. In captivity, they can become frogs in twelve weeks. If a bullfrog tadpole remains as a tadpole for more than a year, it will become larger when it is an adult. Because of this, they will have a better chance at survival in the wild.
There are many predators such as larger fish, crustaceans, and some birds that eat some of the eggs and tadpoles. Because bullfrog tadpoles are not very active, they are less likely to be eaten by any animal. However, if spotted, bullfrog tadpoles will be eaten by salamanders and invertebrates. When they become adult frogs, the predators become food for the bullfrogs. Males will stay with their tadpoles and protect them. Males will even take their tadpoles, by digging through mud, to other large bodies of water. They do this if the water is drying up. The tadpoles of a bullfrog are not a favorite food source for fish. This is because of their awful taste. This gives bullfrog tadpoles a better chance in surviving than tadpoles of other frogs. Bullfrog tadpoles spend most of their time not swimming. This makes them less noticeable. Tadpoles of a bullfrog have also raised concerns. Their favorite food is algae and while growing up, they consume large amounts of it. They can also live anywhere where a human house is, if there is water nearby.
Once the tadpoles become "froglets", they begin hopping out of the water and into land. They loose their tails once they are at this stage. The froglets will stop using their gills and use them as lungs. They begin eating small insects. The froglets will remain near the water where they were laid. If there is a drought, they will search for a new habitat. At the time, froglets become easy prey to larger frogs, reptiles, raccoons, foxes, and birds. Froglets become adult bullfrogs after four months they began hopping on land.
Bullfrogs in southern US states are active all the time. Bullfrogs in northern US states hibernate during the winter time. Mating season begins in spring and ends in early summer. In northern US states, bullfrogs will begin coming out of hibernation. They will begin eating and swimming. During the summer, bullfrogs will spend most of their time in the water. They will feed on mosquito larvae. During the fall, northern US states bullfrogs will begin hibernating. Southern US states bullfrogs will become semi-aquatic. During the winter time, they will continue to be semi-aquatic.
If the weather outside is cold, they will hibernate for a few days. Bullfrogs are active at night. They can be seen hopping around gardens and streets. During the day, they will be near the edge of the water. During the daytime, they become motionless (not moving). They will begin moving if food is nearby, or if they feel threatened.