| slovo | definícia |
Ectopistes migratorius
(gcide) | passenger pigeon \passenger pigeon\ (Zool.),
A once common wild pigeon of North America ({Ectopistes
migratorius}), now extinct. It was so called on account of
its extensive migrations.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
Note: The passenger pigeon presents a striking example of how
dramatic a negative influence man can have on other
species. The population of the passenger pigeon is
estimated to have been at one time as high as five
billion in North America, but over a period of about
one hundred years large scale hunting for use as food
and killing for "sport" reduced the numbers below that
necessary to sustain existence of the species. At one
time over 200,000 birds were shipped to the food
markets in one day. The last wild pigeon is believed to
have died in 1900, and the last bird in captivity died
in 1914. It is a rare example of the date of a man-made
extinction being recorded with certainty.
[PJC] passe-partout |
Ectopistes migratorius
(gcide) | Extinction \Ex*tinc"tion\, n. [L. extinctio, exstinction: cf. F.
extinction.]
1. The act of extinguishing or making extinct; a putting an
end to; the act of putting out or destroying light, fire,
life, activity, influence, etc.
[1913 Webster]
2. State of being extinguished or of ceasing to be;
destruction; suppression; as, the extinction of life, of a
family, of a quarrel, of claim.
[1913 Webster]
3. Specifically: The ceasing to exist of a species of living
organism, such as a plant or animal, whose numbers
declined to the point where the last member of the species
died and therefore no new members of the species could
ever again be born.
[PJC]
Note: Extinctions have occurred many times throughout the
history of life on Earth, and abundant evidence of the
prior existence of animals and plants are found as
fossils in rock formations many millions of years old.
It is believed by some that due to the influence of man
on the environment and destruction of habitat, the rate
of extinction of species is now higher than at any
previous time on this planet. Extinctions of some
animals in recent years have actually been reliably
recorded, such as that of the dodo bird. A remarkable
example of extinction is that of the passenger pigeon
(Ectopistes migratorius) in North America, which once
numbered in the billions, and the last living member of
which species was recorded as dying in captivity in
1914.
[PJC] |
ectopistes migratorius
(wn) | Ectopistes migratorius
n 1: gregarious North American migratory pigeon now extinct
[syn: passenger pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius] |
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