title: "German Shepherd" content: and obedience, German Shepherds around the world are often the preferred breed for many types of work, including disability assistance, search-and-rescue, police and military roles, and even acting. The German Shepherd is the second-most registered breed by the American Kennel Club and seventh-most registered breed by The Kennel Club in the United Kingdom. German Shepherds are medium to large-sized dogs. The breed standard height at the withers is for males, and for females. German Shepherds are longer than tall, with an ideal proportion of 10 to 8 1/2. The AKC official breed standard does not set a standard weight range.


title: "German Shepherd" content: They have a domed forehead, a long square-cut muzzle with strong jaws and a black nose. The eyes are medium-sized and brown. The ears are large and stand erect, open at the front and parallel, but they often are pulled back during movement. A German Shepherd has a long neck, which is raised when excited and lowered when moving at a fast pace. The tail is bushy and reaches to the hock. German Shepherds have a two-layer coat which is close and dense with a thick undercoat. The coat is accepted in two variants; medium and long. The long-hair gene


title: "German Shepherd" content: is recessive, making the long-hair variety rarer. Treatment of the long-hair variation differs across standards; they are accepted but not competed with standard coated dogs under the German and UK Kennel Clubs while they can compete with standard coated dogs, but are considered a fault in the American Kennel Club. The FCI accepted the long-haired type in 2010, listing it as the variety b—while short-haired type is listed as the variety a. Most commonly, German Shepherds are either tan/black or red/black. Most colour varieties have black masks and black body markings which can range from a classic "saddle" to an


title: "German Shepherd" content: over-all "blanket." Rarer colour variations include the sable, pure-black, pure-white, liver and blue varieties. The all-black and sable varieties are acceptable according to most standards; however, the blue and liver are considered to be serious faults and the all-white is grounds for instant disqualification from showing in conformation at All Breed and Specialty Shows. German Shepherds were bred specifically for their intelligence, a trait for which they are now famous. In the book "The Intelligence of Dogs", author Stanley Coren ranked the breed third for intelligence, behind Border Collies and Poodles. He found that they had the ability to learn


title: "German Shepherd" content: simple tasks after only five repetitions and obeyed the first command given 95% of the time. Coupled with their strength, this trait makes the breed desirable as police, guard and search and rescue dogs, as they are able to quickly learn various tasks and interpret instructions better than other breeds. German Shepherds are moderately active dogs and are described in breed standards as self-assured. The breed is marked by a willingness to learn and an eagerness to have a purpose. They are curious, which makes them excellent guard dogs and suitable for search missions. They can become over-protective of their


title: "German Shepherd" content: family and territory, especially if not socialized correctly. They are not inclined to become immediate friends with strangers. German Shepherds are highly intelligent and obedient, as well as being protective of their owners. While an Australian report from 1999 provides statistics showing that German Shepherds are the breed third most likely to attack a person in some Australian locales, once their popularity is taken into account, the percentages of GSD attacks drops to 38th. According to the National Geographic Channel television show "Dangerous Encounters", the bite of a German Shepherd has a force of over (compared with that of a


title: "German Shepherd" content: Rottweiler, over , a Pit bull, , a Labrador Retriever, of approximately , or a human, of approximately ). The modern German Shepherd breed is criticized by some for straying away from Max von Stephanitz's original ideology that German Shepherds should be bred primarily as working dogs and that breeding should be strictly controlled to eliminate defects quickly. He believed that, above all else, German Shepherds should be bred for intelligence and working ability. The Kennel Club, in the United Kingdom, is involved in a dispute with German Shepherd breed clubs about the issue of soundness in the show-strain of


title: "German Shepherd" content: the breed. The show-strains have been bred with an extremely sloping topline (back) that causes poor gait in the hind legs. Working-pedigree lines, such as those in common use as service dogs, generally retain the traditional straight back of the breed. The debate was catalyzed when the issue was raised in the BBC documentary, "Pedigree Dogs Exposed", which said that critics of the breed describe it as "half dog, half frog". An orthopedic vet remarked on footage of dogs in a show ring that they were "not normal". The Kennel Club's position is that "this issue of soundness is not


title: "German Shepherd" content: a simple difference of opinion, it is the fundamental issue of the breed's essential conformation and movement." The Kennel Club has decided to retrain judges to penalize dogs suffering these problems. The Kennel Club also recommends testing for haemophilia and hip dysplasia, other common problems with the breed. German Shepherds are a popular selection for use as working dogs. They are known for being easy to train and good for performing tasks and following instructions. They are especially well known for their police work, being used for tracking criminals, patrolling troubled areas and detection and holding of suspects. Additionally thousands


title: "German Shepherd" content: of German Shepherds have been used by the military. Usually trained for scout duty, they are used to warn soldiers to the presence of enemies or of booby traps or other hazards. German Shepherds have also been trained by military groups to parachute from aircraft or as anti-tank weapons. They were used in World War II as messenger dogs, rescue dogs and personal guard dogs. A number of these dogs were taken home by foreign servicemen, who were impressed by their intelligence. The German Shepherd is one of the most widely used breeds in a wide variety of scent-work roles.


title: "German Shepherd" content: These include search and rescue, cadaver searching, narcotics detection, explosives detection, accelerant detection and mine detection dog, among others. They are suited for these lines of work because of their keen sense of smell and their ability to work regardless of distractions. At one time the German Shepherd was the breed chosen almost exclusively to be used as a guide dog for the visually impaired. When formal guide dog training began in Switzerland in the 1920s under the leadership of Dorothy Eustis, all of the dogs trained were German Shepherd females. An experiment in temperament testing of a group of


title: "German Shepherd" content: Labrador Retrievers and German Shepherds showed that the Retrievers scored higher on average in emotional stability and ability to recover promptly from frightening situations, cooperative behavior and friendliness; while the German Shepherds were superior in aggression and defensive behavior. These results suggested that Labrador Retrievers were more suited to guide dog work while German Shepherds were more suited to police work. Currently, Labradors and Golden Retrievers are more widely used for this work, although there are still German Shepherds being trained. In 2013, about 15% of the dogs trained by Guide Dogs of America are German Shepherds, while the remainder


title: "German Shepherd" content: are Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers. The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association in the United Kingdom states that crosses between Golden Retrievers and Labrador Retrievers make the best guide dogs, although they also train some German Shepherds, as well as some other breeds. Guide Dogs for the Blind in the United States trains only Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers and crosses between these breeds. Guide Dogs Queensland in Australia also trains only Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers. German Shepherds are still used for herding and tending sheep grazing in meadows next to gardens and crop fields. They are expected to


title: "German Shepherd" content: patrol the boundaries to keep sheep from trespassing and damaging the crops. In Germany and other places these skills are tested in utility dog trials also known as HGH (Herdengebrauchshund) herding utility dog trials. One Mexican German Shepherd, Zuyaqui, was dissected and his body put on display at the Sedena's "Narco Museum" in Mexico. He is regarded to be the dog who has captured the most drugs in Mexican police and military history. In 2018, a genetic study found that just prior to 1859 a broadly distributed European herding dog had given rise to the German Shepherd, the French Berger


title: "German Shepherd" content: Picard, and the five Italian herding breeds: Bergamasco Shepherd, Cane Paratore, Lupino del Gigante, Pastore d'Oropa, and the . In the 1800s northwest Europe (Belgium, Germany, Netherlands) the most common dog used to herd sheep and protect the homes was the so-called "continental shepherd dog". These dogs all looked very similar at that time, and it was around 1890 that the three breeds (Belgian Shepherd, German Shepherd and Dutch Shepherd) went their separate ways. Of those breeds, the Dutch shepherd looks closest to the continental shepherd of that time. During the 1850s, attempts were being made to standardize dog breeds.


title: "German Shepherd" content: Dogs were being bred to preserve traits that assisted in their job of herding sheep and protecting their flocks from predators. In Germany this was practiced within local communities, where shepherds selected and bred dogs. It was recognized that the breed had the necessary skills for herding sheep, such as intelligence, speed, strength and keen senses of smell. The results were dogs that were able to do such things, but that differed significantly, both in appearance and ability, from one locality to another. To combat these differences, the Phylax Society was formed in 1891 with the intention of creating standardised


title: "German Shepherd" content: development plans for native dog breeds in Germany. The society disbanded after only three years due to ongoing internal conflicts regarding the traits in dogs that the society should promote; some members believed dogs should be bred solely for working purposes, while others believed dogs should be bred also for appearance. While unsuccessful in their goal, the Phylax Society had inspired people to pursue standardising dog breeds independently. With the rise of large, industrialized cities in Germany, the predator population began to decline, rendering sheepdogs unnecessary. At the same time, the awareness of sheepdogs as a versatile, intelligent class of


title: "German Shepherd" content: canine began to rise. Max von Stephanitz, an ex-cavalry captain and former student of the Berlin Veterinary College, was an ex-member of the Phylax Society who firmly believed dogs should be bred for working. He admired the intelligence, strength and ability of Germany's native sheepdogs, but could not find any one single breed that satisfied him as the perfect working dog. In 1899, Von Stephanitz was attending a dog show when he was shown a dog named "Hektor Linksrhein". Hektor was the product of few generations of selective breeding and completely fulfilled what Von Stephanitz believed a working dog should


title: "German Shepherd" content: be. He was pleased with the strength of the dog and was so taken by the animal's intelligence, loyalty and beauty, that he purchased him immediately. After purchasing the dog he changed his name to Horand von Grafrath and Von Stephanitz founded the Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde (Society for the German Shepherd Dog). Horand was declared to be the first German Shepherd Dog and was the first dog added to the society's breed register. Horand became the centre-point of the breeding programs and was bred with dogs belonging to other society members that displayed desirable traits and with dogs from


title: "German Shepherd" content: Thuringia, Franconia and Wurttemberg. Fathering many pups, Horand's most successful was "Hektor von Schwaben". Hektor was inbred with another of Horand's offspring and produced "Heinz von Starkenburg", "Beowulf" and "Pilot", who later fathered a total of eighty-four pups, mostly through being inbred with Hektor's other offspring. This inbreeding was deemed necessary in order to fix the traits being sought in the breed. In the original German Shepherd studbook, Zuchtbuch für Deutsche Schäferhunde (SZ), within the two pages of entries from SZ No. 41 to SZ No. 76, there are four Wolf Crosses. Beowulf's progeny also were inbred and it is


title: "German Shepherd" content: from these pups that all German Shepherds draw a genetic link. It is believed the society accomplished its goal mostly due to Von Stephanitz's strong, uncompromising leadership and he is therefore credited with being the creator of the German Shepherd Dog. The breed was named "Deutscher Schäferhund" by von Stephanitz, literally translating to "German Shepherd Dog". The breed was so named due to its original purpose of assisting shepherds in herding and protecting sheep. At the time, all other herding dogs in Germany were referred to by this name; they thus became known as "Altdeutsche Schäferhunde", or Old German Shepherd


title: "German Shepherd" content: Dogs. The direct translation of the name was adopted for use in the official breed registry; however, at the conclusion of World War I, it was believed that the inclusion of the word "German" would harm the breed's popularity, due to the anti-German sentiment of the era. The breed was officially renamed by the UK Kennel Club to "Alsatian Wolf Dog", after the French region of Alsace bordering Germany. This name was also adopted by many other international kennel clubs. Eventually, the appendage "wolf dog" was dropped, after numerous campaigns by breeders who were worried that becoming known as a


title: "German Shepherd" content: wolf-dog hybrid would affect the breed's popularity and legality. The name Alsatian remained for five decades, until 1977, when successful campaigns by dog enthusiasts pressured the British kennel clubs to allow the breed to be registered again as German Shepherds. The word "Alsatian" still appeared in parentheses as part of the formal breed name and was only removed in 2010. When the UK Kennel accepted registrations in 1919, 54 German Shepherds were registered. By 1926 this number had grown to over 8,000. The breed gained international recognition after the end of World War I. Returning soldiers spoke highly of the


title: "German Shepherd" content: breed and animal actors Rin Tin Tin and Strongheart popularised the breed further. The first German Shepherd Dog registered in the United States was "Queen of Switzerland". Her offspring suffered from defects as the result of poor breeding, which caused the breed to suffer a decline in popularity during the late 1920s. Popularity increased again after the German Shepherd "Sieger Pfeffer von Bern" became the 1937 and 1938 Grand Victor in American Kennel club dog shows, only to suffer another decline at the conclusion of World War II, due to anti-German sentiment. Popularity increased gradually until 1993, when they became


title: "German Shepherd" content: the third most popular breed in the United States. , the German Shepherd is the second most popular breed in the US. Additionally, the breed is typically among the most popular in other registries. The German Shepherd Dog's physique is very well suited to competing in shows and competitions, such as agility trials. Many common ailments of the German Shepherd are a result of the inbreeding practiced early in the breed's life. One such common ailment is hip and elbow dysplasia which may cause the dog to experience pain later on in life and may cause arthritis. A study conducted


title: "German Shepherd" content: by the University of Zurich found that 45% of the police working dogs were affected by degenerative spinal stenosis, although a small sample size was used. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals found that 19.1% of German Shepherd are affected by hip dysplasia. There are however ways to help prevent hip dysplasia. They include making sure you get them from a good breeder, keeping them on a healthy diet, and limiting the amount of jumping or rough play. Due to the large and open nature of their ears, German Shepherds are not prone to ear infections because there is no hair


title: "German Shepherd" content: in the outer ear canal to hold debris or moisture. According to a recent survey in the UK, the median life span of German Shepherds is 10.95 years, which is normal for a dog of their size. Degenerative myelopathy, a neurological disease, occurs with enough regularity specifically in the breed to suggest that the breed is predisposed to it. A very inexpensive DNA saliva test is now available to screen for degenerative myelopathy. The test screens for the mutated gene that has been seen in dogs with degenerative myelopathy. A small study in the UK showed 16% of young asymptomatic


title: "German Shepherd" content: GSDs to be homozygous for the mutation, with a further 38% being carriers. Now that a test is available the disease can be bred out of breeds with a high preponderance. The test is only recommended for predisposed breeds, but can be performed on DNA samples from any dog, collected through swabbing the inside of the animal's cheek with a sterile cotton swab. Prospective German Shepherd buyers can now request the test from the breeder or buy from a breeder that is known to test their dogs. Additionally, German Shepherds have a higher than normal incidence of Von Willebrand disease,


title: "German Shepherd" content: a common inherited bleeding disorder, and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI), a degenerative disease of the pancreas. It is estimated that 1% of the UK GSD population suffers from this disease. Treatment is usually in the form of pancreatic supplements taken with food. Musculoskeletal disorders are debilitating conditions that are often associated with genetic makeup, malnutrition, and stress-related events. Some breeds like the German shepherd, are predisposed to a variety of different skeletal disorders, including but not limited to: canine hip dysplasia, Cauda equina syndrome, and osteoarthritis. These conditions can be a result of poor breeding or induced by intense exercise


title: "German Shepherd" content: and poor diet. Canine hip dysplasia (CHD) is an orthopedic condition resulting from abnormal development of the hip joint and surrounding tissue causing the instability and partial dislocation of the hip joint, resulting in pain, inflammation, lameness, and potentially osteoarthritis of the joint. German shepherds are genetically predisposed to CHD and the University of Veterinary Medicine in Germany found its prevalence estimated to be approximately 35% of veterinary cases associated with the disorder. Osteoarthritis is one of the main contributors of musculoskeletal pain and disabilities that commonly affect German shepherds. Mechanical stress, oxidative damage and inflammatory mediators combine to induce


title: "German Shepherd" content: the gradual degeneration of the articular cartilage in the joint, resulting in reduced muscle mass, pain, and locomotion. It is essential to feed a well-balanced diet designed for large breeds like the German shepherd, to ensure adequate growth rates and proper maintenance of musculoskeletal health. Dietary energy levels should be monitored and controlled throughout all life stages and activity levels of the German shepherd to assist in the prevention and treatment of musculoskeletal disorder symptoms. Several dietary factors play a crucial role in maintaining skeletal health and are described as follows. Appropriate calcium levels are vital in developing a strong


title: "German Shepherd" content: skeletal system and aid in preventing orthopaedic diseases like Canine Hip Dysplasia. Furthermore, the ratio of calcium and phosphorus must be balanced and at a recommended ratio of 1.2:1 to ensure proper bone development and structure. Imbalances in calcium and phosphorus levels can result in various skeletal complications. Excess phosphorus can produce lesions in bones whereas excessive calcium can lead to hypocalcaemia and result in excess bone deposition, interfering with normal bone development. In extreme circumstances of insufficient calcium intake, bone resorption can occur due to the body withdrawing calcium deposits from the skeletal frame as a last resort to


title: "German Shepherd" content: fulfill dietary needs. Omega-3 fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), have been shown to be highly effective in the prevention of cartilage catabolism in "in vitro" models, suggesting that its supplementation in food could aid in decreasing the symptoms of osteoarthritis in German shepherds. Furthermore, EPA and DHA inhibit key regulators of the inflammatory process and suppress their activation which can help alleviate pain and reduce inflamed joints associated with many skeletal disorders. Ensuring an appropriate ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids of approximately 5:1 is very important for inflammation processes. Animals source, specifically


title: "German Shepherd" content: marine life such as fish, krill, and mussels, and plant sources such as flaxseed, soybean and canola oil, are particularly rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Glucosamine is an amino-monosaccharide that naturally occurs in all tissues, particularly in articular cartilage of joints and from the biosynthesis of glucose. Natural synthesis of glucosamine occurs in the extracellular matrix of articular cartilage in joints. However, as a result of damage to the joint or cartilage, there is decreased ability to synthesize glucosamine resulting in the deterioration of the joint, and supplementation is required. Clinical trials of long term administration of glucosamine in German


title: "German Shepherd" content: Shepherds have reduced symptoms of degenerative joint disease and accelerated cartilage healing. Anti-inflammatory effects of glucosamine are believed to contribute to the reduction of pain, promote joint recovery and mobility, and prevent further cartilage degradation. Similarly, chondroitin supplementation is proposed to have comparable results in inhibiting degradative enzymes within the cartilage matrix to reduce the effects of osteoarthritis, but further research is required to assess long term benefits. Vitamins such as A and D also have crucial roles in bone development and maintenance by regulating bone and calcium metabolism. Adequate levels should be incorporated into a German shepherd diet to


title: "German Shepherd" content: promote a healthy musculoskeletal system. German Shepherds have been featured in a wide range of media. In 1921 Strongheart became one of the earliest canine film stars, and was followed in 1922 by Rin Tin Tin, who is considered the most famous German Shepherd. Both have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. German Shepherds were used in the popular Canadian series "The Littlest Hobo". Batman's dog Ace the Bat-Hound appeared in the Batman comic books, initially in 1955, through 1964. Between 1964 and 2007, his appearances were sporadic. A German Shepherd named Inspector Rex is the star of an


title: "German Shepherd" content: Austrian Police procedural drama program of the same name, which won many awards, where German Shepherd Rex assists the Vienna "Kriminalpolizei" homicide unit. The show was aired in many languages. Awarded the Dickin Medal for conspicuous gallantry or devotion to duty while serving in military conflict Awarded the PDSA Gold Medal for animal bravery Awarded the PDSA Certificate for Animal Bravery or Devotion Bibliography German Shepherd The German Shepherd (, ) is a breed of medium to large-sized working dog that originated in Germany. In the English language, the breed's officially recognized name is German Shepherd Dog (sometimes abbreviated as


title: "Atlantic canary" content: Atlantic canary The Atlantic canary ("Serinus canaria"), known worldwide simply as the wild canary and also called the island canary, canary, or common canary, is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus "Serinus" in the finch family, Fringillidae. It is native to the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira. Wild birds are mostly yellow-green, with brownish streaking on the back. The species is common in captivity and a number of colour varieties have been bred. This bird is the natural symbol of the Canary Islands, together with the Canary Island date palm. The wild Atlantic canary can range from


title: "Atlantic canary" content: in length, with a wingspan of and a weight of , with an average of around . The male has a largely yellow-green head and underparts with a yellower forehead, face and supercilium. The lower belly and undertail-coverts are whitish and there are some dark streaks on the sides. The upperparts are grey-green with dark streaks and the rump is dull yellow. The female is similar to the male but duller with a greyer head and breast and less yellow underparts. Juvenile birds are largely brown with dark streaks. It is about 10% larger, longer and less contrasted than its


title: "Atlantic canary" content: relative the European serin, and has more grey and brown in its plumage and relatively shorter wings. The song is a silvery twittering similar to the songs of the serin and citril finch. Hybridization with white-rumped seedeater has been noted by Antonio Arnaiz-Villena "et al". The Atlantic canary was classified by Linnaeus in 1758 in his "Systema Naturae". Linnaeus originally classified the Atlantic canary as a subspecies of the European serin and assigned them to the genus "Fringilla". Decades later, Cuvier reclassified them into the genus "Serinus" and there they have remained. The Atlantic canary's closest relative is the European


title: "Atlantic canary" content: serin, and the two can produce on average 25% fertile hybrids if crossed. The phylogeny has been obtained by Antonio Arnaiz-Villena et al. The bird is named after the Canary Islands, not the other way around. The islands' name is derived from the Latin name "canariae insulae" ("islands of dogs") used by Arnobius, referring to the large dogs kept by the inhabitants of the islands. A legend of the islands, however, states that it was the conquistadors who named the islands after a fierce tribe inhabiting the largest island of the group, known as the 'Canarii'. The colour canary yellow


title: "Atlantic canary" content: is in turn named after the yellow domestic canary, produced by a mutation which suppressed the melanins of the original dull-greenish wild Atlantic canary colour. It is endemic to the Canary Islands, Azores and Madeira in the region known as Macaronesia in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. In the Canary Islands, it is common on Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro, but more local on Gran Canaria, and rare on Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, where it has only recently begun breeding. It is common in Madeira including Porto Santo and the Desertas Islands, and has been recorded on the Salvage


title: "Atlantic canary" content: Islands. In the Azores, it is common on all islands. The population has been estimated at 80,000-90,000 pairs in the Canary Islands, 30,000-60,000 pairs in the Azores and 4,000-5,000 pairs in Madeira. It occurs in a wide variety of habitats from pine and laurel forests to sand dunes. It is most common in semiopen areas with small trees such as orchards and copses. It frequently occurs in man-made habitats such as parks and gardens. It is found from sea-level up to at least 760 m in Madeira, 1,100 m in the Azores and to above 1,500 m in the Canary


title: "Atlantic canary" content: Islands. It has become established on Midway Atoll in the northwest Hawaiian Islands, where it was first introduced in 1911. It was also introduced to neighbouring Kure Atoll, but failed to become established. Birds were introduced to Bermuda in 1930 and quickly started breeding, but they began to decline in the 1940s after scale insects devastated the population of Bermuda cedar, and by the 1960s they had died out. The species also occurs in Puerto Rico, but is not yet established there. It is a gregarious bird which often nests in groups with each pair defending a small territory. The


title: "Atlantic canary" content: cup-shaped nest is built 1–6 m above the ground in a tree or bush, most commonly at 3–4 m. It is well-hidden amongst leaves, often at the end of a branch or in a fork. It is made of twigs, grass, moss and other plant material and lined with soft material including hair and feathers. The eggs are laid between January and July in the Canary Islands, from March to June with a peak of April and May in Madeira and from March to July with a peak of May and June in the Azores. They are pale blue or


title: "Atlantic canary" content: blue-green with violet or reddish markings concentrated at the broad end. A clutch contains 3 to 4 or occasionally 5 eggs and 2-3 broods are raised each year. The eggs are incubated for 13–14 days and the young birds leave the nest after 14–21 days, most commonly after 15–17 days. It typically feeds in flocks, foraging on the ground or amongst low vegetation. It mainly feeds on seeds such as those of weeds, grasses and figs. It also feeds on other plant material and small insects. It has also been found that canaries need gravity to swallow, thus leading to


title: "Atlantic canary" content: death from dehydration in zero gravity conditions such as space. A domesticated form, known as the domestic canary, is often kept as a pet. Selective breeding has produced many varieties, differing in colour and shape. Yellow birds are particularly common, while red birds have been produced by interbreeding with the red siskins. Canaries were formerly used by miners to warn of dangerous gases ("canary in a coal mine"). The bird is also widely used in scientific research. Canaries are often depicted in the media with Tweety Bird being a well-known example. Atlantic canary The Atlantic canary ("Serinus canaria"), known worldwide


title: "Southeastern Conference" content: the men's tournament, it is typically played in a smaller venue than the men's tournament in the same season. The most frequent venues since 2000 have been Bridgestone Arena in Nashville (five times), Infinite Energy Arena in Duluth, Georgia (four), and Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas (four). "† denotes overtime games. Multiple †'s indicate more than one overtime." Besides football, basketball, and baseball, there are a number of other sports in which the Southeastern Conference actively competes. Since the SEC's founding in December 1932, the varsity athletic teams of its current 14 members have won over 200 national


title: "The Raven" content: team, was inspired by the poem. Chosen in a fan contest that drew 33,288 voters, the allusion honors Poe, who spent the early part of his career in Baltimore and is buried there. Text Commentary Illustrated Audio The Raven "The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man's slow fall into madness. The lover, often identified as being a student, is lamenting the loss


title: "Proxy server" content: before passing the data on to the next relay and ultimately the destination. This reduces the possibility of the original data being unscrambled or understood in transit. The Tor client is free software, and there are no additional charges to use the network. The I2P anonymous network ('I2P') is a proxy network aiming at online anonymity. It implements garlic routing, which is an enhancement of Tor's onion routing. I2P is fully distributed and works by encrypting all communications in various layers and relaying them through a network of routers run by volunteers in various locations. By keeping the source of


title: "Speed limit" content: to attempt to enforce them, have always been controversial. There are a variety of notable organisations and individuals who, for a variety of often passionately held views, oppose or support the use of speed limits or the way they are enforced. Speed limits, and their enforcement have been opposed by various groups and for various reasons since their inception. Historically, the AA was formed in 1905, initially to warn members about speed traps. In more recent times some advocacy groups seek to have certain speed limits as well as other measures removed. For example, automated camera enforcement has been criticised


title: "Chess libraries" content: Hooper and Whyld stated that Schmid's chess library "is the largest and finest in private hands, with more than 15,000 items". In 2008, Susan Polgar stated that Schmid "has over 20,000 chess books". Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam states that Schmid "boasts to have amassed 50,000 chess books. David DeLucia's chess library contains 7,000 to 8,000 chess books, a similar number of autographs (letters, score sheets, manuscripts), and about 1,000 items of "ephemera". DeLucia's library contains such items as "a 15th-century Lucena manuscript, score-sheets ranging from Fischer's Game of the Century against Donald Byrne to all the games of the 1927


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: Caesarea Maritima Caesarea Maritima (Greek: "Parálios Kaisáreia"), also known as Caesarea Palestinae, was an ancient city in the Sharon plain on the coast of the Mediterranean, now in ruins and included in an Israeli national park. The city and harbour were built under Herod the Great during c. 22–10 BC near the site of a former Phoenician naval station known as "Stratonos pyrgos" (Στράτωνος πύργος, "Straton's Tower"). It later became the provincial capital of Roman Judea, Roman Syria Palaestina and Byzantine Palaestina Prima provinces. The city was populated throughout the 1st to 6th centuries AD and became an important early


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: center of Christianity during the Byzantine period, but was mostly abandoned following the Muslim conquest of 640. It was re-fortified by the Crusaders, and finally slighted by the Mamluks in 1265. The name "Caesarea" (Καισάρεια) was adopted into Arabic as . The location was all but abandoned in 1800. It was re-developed into a fishing village by Bosniak Muslim immigrants after 1884, and into a modern town after 1940, incorporated in 1977 as the municipality of Caesarea (Hebrew ) within Israel's Haifa District, about halfway between the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The ruins of the ancient city, on


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: the coast about 2 km south of modern Caesarea, were excavated in the 1950s and 1960s and the site was incorporated into the new Caesarea National Park in 2011. The site of the former Phoenician naval station was awarded to Herod the Great in 30 BC. Herod built his palace on a promontory jutting out into the sea, with a decorative pool surrounded by stoas. He went on to build a large port and a city, which he named in honour of his patron Caesar Augustus. In the year AD 6, Caesarea became the civilian and military capital of Iudaea


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: Province and the official residence of the Roman procurator Antonius Felix, and prefect Pontius Pilatus. This city is the location of the 1961 discovery of the Pilate Stone, the only archaeological item that mentions the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate, by whose order Jesus was crucified. It is likely that Pilate used it as a base, and only went to Jerusalem when needed. The city was described in detail by the 1st-century Roman Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. Josephus describes the harbor as being as large as the one at Piraeus, the major harbor of Athens. Remains of the principal buildings erected


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: by Herod and the medieval town are still visible today, including the city walls, the castle and a Crusader cathedral and church. Caesarea grew rapidly, becoming the largest city in Judea, with an estimated population of 125,000 over an urban area of . According to Josephus, Caesarea was the scene in AD 26 of a major act of civil disobedience to protest against Pilate's order to plant eagle standards on the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. The emperor Vespasian raised its status to that of a "Colonia", with the name "Colonia Prima Flavia Augusta Caesarea". According to Josephus, the outbreak of


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: the Jewish revolt of AD 66 was provoked by Greeks of a certain merchant house in Caesarea sacrificing birds in front of a local synagogue. In AD 70, after the Jewish revolt was suppressed, games were held here to celebrate the victory of Titus. Many Jewish captives were brought to Caesarea Maritima; Kasher (1990) claims that 2,500 captives were "slaughtered in gladiatorial games". After the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, Caesarea became the provincial capital of the Judaea Province, before the change of name to "Syria Palaestina" in 135, in the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Caesarea was


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: one of four Roman colonies for veterans in the Syria-Phoenicia region. Caesarea is mentioned in the 3rd century Mosaic of Rehob, with respect to its non-Jewish population. When it was built in the 1st century BC, Sebastos Harbor ranked as the largest artificial harbor built in the open sea, enclosing around 100,000 m. King Herod built the two jetties of the harbor between 22 and 15 BC, and in 10/9 BC he dedicated the city and harbor to Caesar ("sebastos" is Greek for "Augustus"). The pace of construction was impressive considering size and complexity. The breakwaters were made of lime


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: and pozzolana, a type of volcanic ash, set into an underwater concrete. Herod imported over 24,000 m pozzolana from Pozzuoli, Italy, to construct the two breakwaters: the 500 meter long on the south and the 275 meter long on the north. A shipment of this size would have required at least 44 shiploads of 400 tons each. Herod also had 12,000 m of kurkar quarried to make rubble and 12,000 m of slaked lime mixed with the pozzolana. Architects had to devise a way to lay the wooden forms for the placement of concrete underwater. One technique was to drive


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: stakes into the ground to make a box and then fill it with pozzolana concrete bit by bit. However, this method required many divers to hammer the planks to the stakes underwater and large quantities of pozzolana were necessary. Another technique was a double planking method used in the northern breakwater. On land, carpenters would construct a box with beams and frames on the inside and a watertight, double-planked wall on the outside. This double wall was built with a gap between the inner and outer layer. Although the box had no bottom, it was buoyant enough to float out


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: to sea because of the watertight space between the inner and outer walls. Once it was floated into position, pozzolana was poured into the gap between the walls and the box would sink into place on the seafloor and be staked down in the corners. The flooded inside area was then filled by divers bit by bit with pozzolana-lime mortar and kurkar rubble until it rose above sea level. On the southern breakwater, barge construction was used. The southern side of Sebastos was much more exposed than the northern side, requiring sturdier breakwaters. Instead of using the double planked method


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: filled with rubble, the architects sank barges filled with layers of pozzolana concrete and lime sand mortar. The barges were similar to boxes without lids, and were constructed using mortise and tenon joints, the same technique used in ancient boats, to ensure they remained watertight. The barges were ballasted with 0.5 meters of pozzolana concrete and floated out to their position. With alternating layers, pozzolana based and lime based concretes were hand placed inside the barge to sink it and fill it up to the surface. At its height, Sebastos was one of the most impressive harbors of its time.


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: It had been constructed on a coast that had no natural harbors and served as an important commercial harbor in antiquity, rivaling Cleopatra’s harbor at Alexandria. Josephus wrote: “Although the location was generally unfavorable, [Herod] contended with the difficulties so well that the solidity of the construction could not be overcome by the sea, and its beauty seemed finished off without impediment.” However, there were underlying problems that led to its demise. Studies of the concrete cores of the moles have shown that the concrete was much weaker than similar pozzolana hydraulic concrete used in ancient Italian ports. For unknown


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: reasons, the pozzolana mortar did not adhere as well to the kurkar rubble as it did to other rubble types used in Italian harbors. Small but numerous holes in some of the cores also indicate that the lime was of poor quality and stripped out of the mixture by strong waves before it could set. Also, large lumps of lime were found in all five of the cores studied at Caesarea, which shows that the mixture was not mixed thoroughly. However, stability would not have been seriously affected if the harbor had not been constructed over a geological fault line


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: that runs along the coast. Seismic action gradually took its toll on the breakwaters, causing them to tilt down and settle into the seabed. Also, studies of seabed deposits at Caesarea have shown that a tsunami struck the area sometime during the 1st or 2nd century. Although it is unknown if this tsunami simply damaged or completely destroyed the harbor, it is known that by the 6th century the harbor was unusable and today the jetties lie more than 5 meters underwater. According to the Acts of the Apostles, Caesarea was first introduced to Christianity by Philip the Deacon, who


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: later had a house there in which he gave hospitality to Paul the Apostle. It was there that Peter the Apostle came and baptized Cornelius the Centurion and his household, the first time Christian baptism was conferred on Gentiles. When newly converted Paul the Apostle was in danger in Jerusalem, the Christians there accompanied him to Caesarea and sent him off to his native Tarsus. He visited Caesarea between his second and third missionary journeys, and later, as mentioned, stayed several days there with Philip the Deacon. Later still, he was a prisoner there for two years before being sent


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: to Rome. In the 3rd century, Origen wrote his "Hexapla" and other exegetical and theological works while living in Caesarea. The Nicene Creed may have originated in Caesarea. The Apostolic Constitutions says that the first Bishop of Caesarea was Zacchaeus the Publican, followed by Cornelius (possibly Cornelius the Centurion) and Theophilus (possibly the address of the Gospel of Luke). The first bishops considered historically attested are those mentioned by the early church historian Eusebius of Caesarea, himself a bishop of the see in the 4th century. He speaks of a Theophilus who was bishop in the 10th year of Commodus


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: (c. 189), of a Theoctistus (216–258), a short-lived Domnus and a Theotecnus, and an Agapius (?–306). Among the participants in the Synod of Ancyra in 314 was a bishop of Caesarea named Agricolaus, who may have been the immediate predecessor of Eusebius, who does not mention him, or who may have been bishop of a different Caesarea. The immediate successors of Eusebius were Acacius (340–366) and Gelasius of Caesarea (367–372, 380–395). The latter was ousted by the semi-Arian Euzoius between 373 and 379. Lequien gives much information about all of these and about later bishops of Caesarea. Greek Orthodox Church


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: of Jerusalem still has a metropolitan see in Caesarea, currently occupied by metropolitan Basilios Blatsos, since 1975. The Latin archbishopric of Caesarea in Palestina was made a Roman Catholic titular see in 1432 (Zweder van Culemborg). Melkite Catholic Church also consider Caesarea a titular see. Through Origen and especially the scholarly presbyter Pamphilus of Caesarea, an avid collector of books of Scripture, the theological school of Caesarea won a reputation for having the most extensive ecclesiastical library of the time, containing more than 30,000 manuscripts: Gregory Nazianzus, Basil the Great, Jerome and others came to study there. The Caesarean text-type


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: is recognized by scholars as one of the earliest New Testament types. The collections of the library suffered during the persecutions under the Emperor Diocletian, but were repaired subsequently by bishops of Caesarea. The library was mentioned in 6th century manuscripts but it may not have survived the capture of Caesarea in 640. Caesarea became the capital of the new province of Palaestina Prima in 390. As the capital of the province, Caesarea was also the metropolitan see, with ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Jerusalem, when rebuilt after the destruction in the year 70. In 451, however, the Council of Chalcedon established


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: Jerusalem as a patriarchate, with Caesarea as the first of its three subordinate metropolitan sees. Caesarea remained the provincial capital throughout the 5th and 6th centuries. It fell to Sassanid Persia in the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, in 614, and was re-conquered by Byzantium in 625, but was lost for good to the Muslim conquest in 640. The fall of the city was allegedly the result of the betrayal of a certain Yusef, who conducted a party of troops of Muawiyah into the city. The city appears to have been partially destroyed upon its conquest. The 7th-century Coptic bishop John


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: of Nikiû, claims "the horrors committed in the city of Caesarea in Palestine", while the 9th-century historian Al-Baladhuri merely states that the city was "reduced". The former Palaestina Prima was now administered as "Jund Filastin", with the capital first at Ludd and then at Ramla. Al-Biladhuri (d. 892) mentions "Qaysaria" as one of ten cities captured in the conquest of Palestine. The city likely remained inhabited for some time under Arab rule, during the 7th and 8th century, albeit with much reduced population. Archaeological evidence shows a clear destruction layer identified with the conquest of 640, followed by some evidence


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: of renewed settlement in the early Umayyad period. It appears that the harbour remained in use for some time, but it was allowed to silt up and it was unusable by the 9th century. By the 11th century, it appears that the town had once again been developed into a fortified city. Writing in 1047, Nasir-i-Khusraw describes it as "a fine city, with running waters, and palm-gardens, and orange and citron trees. Its walls are strong, and it has an iron gate. There are fountains that gush out within the city". This is in agreement with William of Tyre's description


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: of the Crusaders' siege in 1101, mentioning catapults and siege engines used against the city fortifications. Caesarea was re-taken by Baldwin I in the wake First Crusade, in 1101. Michael the Syrian records that the city was "devastated upon its capture", William of Tyre (10.15) describes the use of catapults and siege towers, and states that the city was taken in an assault after fifteen days of siege and given over to looting and pillaging. He also mentions (10.16) the discovery of a "vessel of the most green colour, in the shape of a serving dish" ("vas coloris viridissimi, in


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: modum parapsidis formatum") which the Genuese thought to be made of emerald, and accepted as their share of the spoils. This refers to the hexagonal bowl known as the "Sacro Catino" in Italian, which was brought to Genoa by Guglielmo Embriaco and was later identified as the Holy Chalice. Caesarea was incorporated as a lordship (dominion) within the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the Latin See of Caesarea was established, with ten archbishops listed for the period 1101–1266 (treated as titular see from 1432–1967). Archbishop Heraclius attended the Third Lateran Council in 1179. Saladin retook the city in 1187; it was


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: recaptured by the Crusaders in 1191. In 1251, Louis IX of France fortified the city, ordering the construction of high walls (parts of which are still standing) and a deep moat. The city was finally lost in 1265, when it fell to the Mamluks, who destroyed it completely to prevent its re-emergence as a fortress, in line with their practice in other formerly-Crusader coastal cities. Caesarea lay in ruins until the late nineteenth century, when the village of Qisarya (, the Arabic name for Caesarea) was established in 1884 by Bushnaks (Bosniaks) – immigrants from Bosnia, who built a small


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: fishing village on the ruins of the Crusader fortress on the coast. In February 1948 the village was conquered by a Palmach unit commanded by Yitzhak Rabin, its people already having fled following an attack by the Lehi. In 1952, a Jewish town of Caesarea was established near the ruins of the old city, which were made into the national park of Caesarea Maritima. Archaeological excavations in the 1950s and 1960s uncovered remains from many periods, in particular, a complex of Crusader fortifications and a Roman theatre. Other buildings include a temple dedicated to Caesar; a hippodrome rebuilt in the


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: 2nd century as a more conventional theater; the Tiberieum, which has a limestone block with a dedicatory inscription. This is the only archaeological find with an inscription mentioning the name "Pontius Pilatus"; a double aqueduct that brought water from springs at the foot of Mount Carmel; a boundary wall; and a 200 ft (60 m) wide moat protecting the harbour to the south and west. The harbor was the largest on the eastern Mediterranean coast. The main church, an octagonal martyrion, was built in the 6th century and sited directly upon the podium that had supported a Roman temple, as


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: was a widespread Christian practice. The Martyrion was richly paved and surrounded by small radiating enclosures. Archaeologists have recovered some foliate capitals that included representations of the Cross. The site, used by Herod for his pagan temple, then reconsecrated as a church, would in time be re-occupied, this time by a mosque. An elaborate government structure contained a basilica with an apse, where magistrates would have sat, for the structure was used as a hall of justice, as fragments of inscriptions detailing the fees that court clerks might claim attest. A well-preserved 6th-century mosaic gold and colored glass table patterned


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: with crosses and rosettes was found in 2005. In 1962, a team of Israeli and American archaeologists discovered in the sand of Caesarea Maritima three small fragments of one Hebrew stone inscription bearing the partial names of places associated with the priestly courses (the rest of which had been reconstructed), dated to the third-fourth centuries. The uniqueness of this discovery is that it shows the places of residence in Galilee of the priestly courses, places presumably resettled by Jews after the Great Jewish Revolt under Hadrian. Since 2000 the site of Caesarea Maritima is included in the "Tentative List of


title: "Caesarea Maritima" content: World Heritage Places" of the UNESCO. A rare, colorful mosaic bearing an inscription in Greek, dating from the 2nd-3rd century CE was uncovered at 2018, in the Caesarea National Park. It is one of the few extant examples of mosaics from the time period in Israel. According to the archaeologists, the mosaic measures 3.5 x 8 meters and is “of a rare high quality” comparable to that of Israel’s finest examples. Caesarea Maritima Caesarea Maritima (Greek: "Parálios Kaisáreia"), also known as Caesarea Palestinae, was an ancient city in the Sharon plain on the coast of the Mediterranean, now in ruins


title: "Uma Thurman" content: huge boost from instant name recognition the world over." Her Crimson Alberta Ferretti dress at the 72nd Academy Awards on March 26, 2000 remains among the most iconic dresses worn at the ceremony, with "The Daily Telegraph" voting it the 20th greatest red carpet gown of all time. In 2000, Thurman was selected as the face and spokeswoman of the cosmetics company Lancôme which named several shades of lipstick after her, though they were sold only in Asia. She sued the company in 2008 over the use of her image following her contract' expiration. In 2005, she became a brand


title: Chimpanzee content: Chimpanzee The taxonomical genus Pan (often referred to as chimpanzees or chimps) consists of two extant species: the common chimpanzee and the bonobo. Together with humans, gorillas, and orangutans they are part of the family Hominidae (the great apes). Native to sub-Saharan Africa, common chimpanzees and bonobos are currently both found in the Congo jungle, while only the common chimpanzee is also found further north in West Africa. Both species are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and in 2017 the Convention on Migratory Species selected the common chimpanzee for special protection. The common chimpanzee


title: Chimpanzee content: ("P. troglodytes") who live north of the Congo River, and the bonobo ("P. paniscus") who live south of it, were once considered to be the same species, but since 1928 they have been recognized as distinct. In addition, "P. troglodytes" is divided into four subspecies, while "P. paniscus" is undivided. Based on genome sequencing, these two extant "Pan" species diverged around one million years ago. The most obvious differences are that chimpanzees are somewhat larger, more aggressive and male-dominated, while the bonobos are more gracile, peaceful, and female-dominated. Their hair is typically black or brown. Males and females differ in


title: Chimpanzee content: size and appearance. Both chimps and bonobos are some of the most social great apes, with social bonds occurring throughout large communities. Fruit is the most important component of a chimpanzee's diet; but they will also eat vegetation, bark, honey, insects and even other chimps or monkeys. They can live over 30 years in both the wild and captivity. Chimpanzees and bonobos are equally humanity's closest living relatives. As such, they are among the largest-brained and most intelligent primates: they use a variety of sophisticated tools and construct elaborate sleeping nests each night from branches and foliage. Their learning abilities


title: Chimpanzee content: have been extensively studied. There may even be distinctive cultures within populations. Field studies of "Pan troglodytes" were pioneered by primatologist Jane Goodall. Both "Pan" species are considered to be endangered as human activities have caused severe declines in the populations and ranges of both species. Threats to wild panina populations include poaching, habitat destruction, and the illegal pet trade. Several conservation and rehabilitation organisations are dedicated to the survival of "Pan" species in the wild. The first use of the name "chimpanze" is recorded in "The London Magazine" in 1738, glossed as meaning "mockman" in a language of "the


title: Chimpanzee content: Angolans" (apparently from a Bantu language; reportedly modern Vili (Civili), a Zone H Bantu language, has the comparable "ci-mpenzi"). The spelling "chimpanzee" is found in a 1758 supplement to "Chamber's Cyclopædia". The colloquialism "chimp" was most likely coined some time in the late 1870s. The common chimpanzee was named "Simia troglodytes" by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach in 1776. The species name "troglodytes" is a reference to the "Troglodytae" (literally "cave-goers"), an African people described by Greco-Roman geographers. Blumenbach first used it in his "De generis humani varietate nativa liber" ("On the natural varieties of the human genus") in 1776, Linnaeus 1758


title: Chimpanzee content: had already used "Homo troglodytes" for a hypothetical mixture of human and orangutan. The genus name "Pan" was first introduced by Lorenz Oken in 1816. An alternative "Theranthropus" was suggested by Brookes 1828 and "Chimpansee" by Voigt 1831. "Troglodytes" was not available, as it had been given as the name of a genus of wren ("Troglodytidae") in 1809. The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature adopted "Pan" as the only official name of the genus in 1895. The name is a reference to Pan, the Greek god of nature and wilderness. The bonobo, in the past also referred to as the


title: Chimpanzee content: "pygmy chimpanzee", was given the species name of "paniscus" by Ernst Schwarz (1929), a diminutive of the theonym "Pan". In his book "The Third Chimpanzee", Jared Diamond proposes that "P. troglodytes" and "P. paniscus" belong with "H. sapiens" in the genus "Homo", rather than in "Pan". He argues that other species have been reclassified by genus for less genetic similarity than that between humans and chimpanzees. There are two species of the genus "Pan", both previously called Chimpanzees: The genus "Pan" is part of the subfamily Homininae, to which humans also belong. The lineages of chimpanzees and humans separated in


title: Chimpanzee content: a drawn-out process of speciation over the period of roughly between twelve and five million years ago, making them humanity's closest living relative. Research by Mary-Claire King in 1973 found 99% identical DNA between human beings and chimpanzees. For some time, research modified that finding to about 94% commonality, with some of the difference occurring in noncoding DNA, but more recent knowledge states the difference in DNA between humans, chimpanzees and bonobos at just about 1%–1.2% again. The chimpanzee fossil record has long been absent and thought to have been due to the preservation bias in relation to their environment.


title: Chimpanzee content: However, in 2005, chimpanzee fossils were discovered and described by Sally McBrearty and colleagues. Existing chimpanzee populations in West and Central Africa are separate from the major human fossil sites in East Africa; however, chimpanzee fossils have been reported from Kenya, indicating that both humans and members of the "Pan" clade were present in the East African Rift Valley during the Middle Pleistocene. A chimpanzee's arms are longer than its legs. The male common chimp stands up to high. Male adult wild chimps weigh between 40 and 60 kg with females weighing between 27 and 50 kg. When extended, the


title: Chimpanzee content: common chimp's long arms span one and a half times the body's height. The bonobo is slightly shorter and thinner than the common chimpanzee, but has longer limbs. In trees, both species climb with their long, powerful arms; on the ground, chimpanzees usually knuckle-walk, or walk on all fours, clenching their fists and supporting themselves on the knuckles. Chimpanzees are better suited for walking than orangutans, because the chimp's feet have broader soles and shorter toes. The bonobo has proportionately longer upper limbs and walks upright more often than does the common chimpanzee. Both species can walk upright on two


title: Chimpanzee content: legs when carrying objects with their hands and arms. The chimpanzee is tailless; its coat is dark; its face, fingers, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet are hairless. The exposed skin of the face, hands, and feet varies from pink to very dark in both species, but is generally lighter in younger individuals and darkens with maturity. A University of Chicago Medical Centre study has found significant genetic differences between chimpanzee populations. A bony shelf over the eyes gives the forehead a receding appearance, and the nose is flat. Although the jaws protrude, a chimp's lips are


title: Chimpanzee content: thrust out only when it pouts. The brain of a chimpanzee has been measured at a general range of 282–500 cm. The human brain, in contrast, is about three times larger, with a reported average volume of about 1330 cm. Chimpanzees reach puberty between the age of eight and ten years. A chimpanzee's testicles are unusually large for its body size, with a combined weight of about compared to a gorilla's or a human's . This relatively great size is generally attributed to sperm competition due to the polyandrous nature of chimpanzee mating behaviour. In the wild, chimpanzees live to


title: Chimpanzee content: their 30s, while some captured chimps have reached an age of 70 years and older. Chimpanzees are known for possessing great amount of muscle strength, especially in their arms. However, compared to humans the amount of strength reported in media and popular science is greatly exaggerated with numbers of four to eight times the muscle strength of a human. These numbers stem from two studies in 1923 and 1926 by a biologist named John Bauman. These studies were refuted in 1943 and an adult male chimp was found to pull about the same weight as an adult man. Corrected for


title: Chimpanzee content: their smaller body sizes, chimpanzees were found to be stronger than humans but not anywhere near four to eight times. In the 1960s these tests were repeated and chimpanzees were found to have twice the strength of a human when it came to pulling weights. The reason for the higher strength seen in chimpanzees compared to humans are thought to come from longer skeletal muscle fibers that can generate twice the work output over a wider range of motion compared to skeletal muscle fibers in humans. It is suspected that human observers can influence chimpanzee behaviour. It is suggested that


title: Chimpanzee content: drones, camera traps and remote microphones should be used rather than human observers. Anatomical differences between the common chimpanzee and the bonobo are slight. Both are omnivorous adapted to a mainly frugivorous diet. Yet sexual and social behaviours are markedly different. The common chimpanzee has a troop culture based on beta males led by an alpha male, and highly complex social relationships. The bonobo, on the other hand, has egalitarian, nonviolent, matriarchal, sexually receptive behaviour. Bonobos frequently have sex, sometimes to help prevent and resolve conflicts. Different groups of chimpanzees also have different cultural behaviour with preferences for types of


title: Chimpanzee content: tools. The common chimpanzee tends to display greater aggression than does the bonobo. The average captive chimpanzee sleeps 9 hours and 42 minutes per day. Contrary to what the scientific name ("Pan" "troglodytes") may suggest, chimpanzees do not typically spend their time in caves, but there have been reports of some of them seeking refuge in caves because of the heat during daytime. Chimpanzees live in large multi-male and multi-female social groups, which are called communities. Within a community, the position of an individual and the influence the individual has on others dictates a definite social hierarchy. Chimpanzees live in


title: Chimpanzee content: a leaner hierarchy wherein more than one individual may be dominant enough to dominate other members of lower rank. Typically, a dominant male is referred to as the alpha male. The alpha male is the highest-ranking male that controls the group and maintains order during disputes. In chimpanzee society, the 'dominant male' sometimes is not the largest or strongest male but rather the most manipulative and political male that can influence the goings on within a group. Male chimpanzees typically attain dominance by cultivating allies who will support that individual during future ambitions for power. The alpha male regularly displays


title: Chimpanzee content: by puffing his normally slim coat up to increase view size and charge to seem as threatening and as powerful as possible; this behaviour serves to intimidate other members and thereby maintain power and authority, and it may be fundamental to the alpha male's holding on to his status. Lower-ranking chimpanzees will show respect by submissively gesturing in body language or reaching out their hands while grunting. Female chimpanzees will show deference to the alpha male by presenting their hindquarters. Female chimpanzees also have a hierarchy, which is influenced by the position of a female individual within a group. In


title: Chimpanzee content: some chimpanzee communities, the young females may inherit high status from a high-ranking mother. Dominant females will also ally to dominate lower-ranking females: whereas males mainly seek dominant status for its associated mating privileges and sometimes violent domination of subordinates, females seek dominant status to acquire resources such as food, as high-ranking females often have first access to them. Both genders acquire dominant status to improve social standing within a group. Community female acceptance is necessary for alpha male status; females must ensure that their group visits places that supply them with enough food. A group of dominant females will


title: Chimpanzee content: sometimes oust an alpha male which is not to their preference and back another male, in whom they see potential for leading the group as a successful alpha male. Chimpanzees make tools and use them to acquire foods and for social displays; they have sophisticated hunting strategies requiring cooperation, influence and rank; they are status conscious, manipulative and capable of deception; they can learn to use symbols and understand aspects of human language including some relational syntax, concepts of number and numerical sequence; and they are capable of spontaneous planning for a future state or event. In October 1960, Jane


title: Chimpanzee content: Goodall observed the use of tools among chimpanzees. Recent research indicates that chimpanzees' use of stone tools dates back at least 4,300 years (about 2,300 BC). One example of chimpanzee tool usage behavior includes the use of a large stick as a tool to dig into termite mounds, and the subsequent use of a small stick altered into a tool that is used to "fish" the termites out of the mound. Chimpanzees are also known to use smaller stones as hammers and a large one as an anvil in order to break open nuts. In the 1970s, reports of chimpanzees


title: Chimpanzee content: using rocks or sticks as weapons were anecdotal and controversial. However, a 2007 study claimed to reveal the use of spears, which common chimpanzees in Senegal sharpen with their teeth and use to stab and pry Senegal bushbabies out of small holes in trees. Prior to the discovery of tool use in chimps, humans were believed to be the only species to make and use tools; however, several other tool-using species are now known. Nest-building, sometimes considered to be a form of tool use, is seen when chimpanzees construct arboreal night nests by lacing together branches from one or more


title: Chimpanzee content: trees to build a safe, comfortable place to sleep; infants learn this process by watching their mothers. The nest provides a sort of mattress, which is supported by strong branches for a foundation, and then lined with softer leaves and twigs; the minimum diameter is and may be located at a height of . Both day and night nests are built, and may be located in groups. A study in 2014 found that the Muhimbi tree is favoured for nest building by chimpanzees in Uganda due to its physical properties, such as bending strength, inter-node distance, and leaf surface area.


title: Chimpanzee content: Studies have shown chimpanzees engage in apparently altruistic behaviour within groups. Some researchers have suggested that chimpanzees are indifferent to the welfare of unrelated group members, but a more recent study of wild chimpanzees found that both male and female adults would adopt orphaned young of their group. Also, different groups sometimes share food, form coalitions, and cooperate in hunting and border patrolling. Sometimes, chimpanzees have adopted young that come from unrelated groups. And in some rare cases, even male chimps have been shown to take care of abandoned infant chimps of an unrelated group, though in most cases they


title: Chimpanzee content: would kill the infant. According to a literature summary by James W. Harrod, evidence for chimpanzee emotivity includes display of mourning; "incipient romantic love"; "rain dances"; appreciation of natural beauty (such as a sunset over a lake); curiosity and respect towards other wildlife (such as the python, which is neither a threat nor a food source to chimpanzees); altruism toward other species (such as feeding turtles); and animism, or "pretend play", when chimps cradle and groom rocks or sticks. Chimps communicate in a manner that is similar to that of human nonverbal communication, using vocalizations, hand gestures, and facial expressions.


title: Chimpanzee content: There is even some evidence that they can recreate human speech. Research into the chimpanzee brain has revealed that when chimpanzees communicate, an area in the brain is activated which is in the same position as the language center called Broca's area in human brains. Adult common chimpanzees, particularly males, can be very aggressive. They are highly territorial and are known to kill other chimps. Chimpanzees also engage in targeted hunting of lower-order primates, such as the red colobus and bush babies, and use the meat from these kills as a "social tool" within their community. In February 2013, a


title: Chimpanzee content: study found that chimpanzees solve puzzles for entertainment. Chimps, as well as other apes, had also been purported to have been known to ancient writers, but mainly as myths and legends on the edge of European and Near Eastern societal consciousness. Apes are mentioned variously by Aristotle. The English word "ape" translates Hebrew "qőf" in English translations of the Bible (1 Kings 10:22), but the word may refer to a monkey rather than an ape proper. The diary of Portuguese explorer Duarte Pacheco Pereira (1506), preserved in the Portuguese National Archive ("Torre do Tombo"), is probably the first written document


title: Chimpanzee content: to acknowledge that chimpanzees built their own rudimentary tools. The first of these early transcontinental chimpanzees came from Angola and were presented as a gift to Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange in 1640, and were followed by a few of its brethren over the next several years. Scientists described these first chimpanzees as "pygmies", and noted the animals' distinct similarities to humans. The next two decades, a number of the creatures were imported into Europe, mainly acquired by various zoological gardens as entertainment for visitors. Darwin's theory of natural selection (published in 1859) spurred scientific interest in chimpanzees, as in


title: Chimpanzee content: much of life science, leading eventually to numerous studies of the animals in the wild and captivity. The observers of chimpanzees at the time were mainly interested in behaviour as it related to that of humans. This was less strictly and disinterestedly scientific than it might sound, with much attention being focused on whether or not the animals had traits that could be considered 'good'; the intelligence of chimpanzees was often significantly exaggerated, as immortalized in Hugo Rheinhold's "Affe mit Schädel" (see image, left). By the end of the 19th century, chimpanzees remained very much a mystery to humans, with


title: Chimpanzee content: very little factual scientific information available. In the 20th century, a new age of scientific research into chimpanzee behaviour began. Before 1960, almost nothing was known about chimpanzee behaviour in their natural habitats. In July of that year, Jane Goodall set out to Tanzania's Gombe forest to live among the chimpanzees, where she primarily studied the members of the Kasakela chimpanzee community. Her discovery that chimpanzees made and used tools was groundbreaking, as humans were previously believed to be the only species to do so. The most progressive early studies on chimpanzees were spearheaded primarily by Wolfgang Köhler and Robert


title: Chimpanzee content: Yerkes, both of whom were renowned psychologists. Both men and their colleagues established laboratory studies of chimpanzees focused specifically on learning about the intellectual abilities of chimpanzees, particularly problem-solving. This typically involved basic, practical tests on laboratory chimpanzees, which required a fairly high intellectual capacity (such as how to solve the problem of acquiring an out-of-reach banana). Notably, Yerkes also made extensive observations of chimpanzees in the wild which added tremendously to the scientific understanding of chimpanzees and their behaviour. Yerkes studied chimpanzees until World War II, while Köhler concluded five years of study and published his famous "Mentality of


title: Chimpanzee content: Apes" in 1925 (which is coincidentally when Yerkes began his analyses), eventually concluding, "chimpanzees manifest intelligent behaviour of the general kind familiar in human beings ... a type of behaviour which counts as specifically human" (1925). The August 2008 issue of the "American Journal of Primatology" reported results of a year-long study of chimpanzees in Tanzania's Mahale Mountains National Park, which produced evidence of chimpanzees becoming sick from viral infectious diseases they had likely contracted from humans. Molecular, microscopic and epidemiological investigations demonstrated the chimpanzees living at Mahale Mountains National Park have been suffering from a respiratory disease that is


title: Chimpanzee content: likely caused by a variant of a human paramyxovirus. As of November 2007, about 1,300 chimpanzees were housed in 10 U.S. laboratories (out of 3,000 great apes living in captivity there), either wild-caught, or acquired from circuses, animal trainers, or zoos. Most of the labs either conduct or make the chimps available for invasive research, defined as "inoculation with an infectious agent, surgery or biopsy conducted for the sake of research and not for the sake of the chimpanzee, and/or drug testing". Two federally funded laboratories use chimps: the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia,


title: Chimpanzee content: and the Southwest National Primate Center in San Antonio, Texas. Five hundred chimps have been retired from laboratory use in the U.S. and live in animal sanctuaries in the U.S. or Canada. Chimpanzees used in biomedical research tend to be used repeatedly over decades, rather than used and killed as with most laboratory animals. Some individual chimps currently in U.S. laboratories have been used in experiments for over 40 years. According to Project R&R, a campaign to release chimps held in U.S. labs—run by the New England Anti-Vivisection Society in conjunction with Jane Goodall and other primate researchers—the oldest known


title: Chimpanzee content: chimp in a U.S. lab is Wenka, which was born in a laboratory in Florida on May 21, 1954. She was removed from her mother on the day of birth to be used in a vision experiment that lasted 17 months, then sold as a pet to a family in North Carolina. She was returned to the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in 1957 when she became too big to handle. Since then, she has given birth six times, and has been the subject of research into alcohol use, oral contraceptives, aging, and cognitive studies. With the publication of the


title: Chimpanzee content: chimpanzee genome, plans to increase the use of chimps in labs are reportedly increasing, with some scientists arguing that the federal moratorium on breeding chimps for research should be lifted. A five-year moratorium was imposed by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in 1996, because too many chimps had been bred for HIV research, and it has been extended annually since 2001. Other researchers argue that chimps are unique animals and either should not be used in research, or should be treated differently. Pascal Gagneux, an evolutionary biologist and primate expert at the University of California, San Diego, argues, given


title: Chimpanzee content: chimpanzees' sense of self, tool use, and genetic similarity to human beings, studies using chimps should follow the ethical guidelines used for human subjects unable to give consent. Also, a recent study suggests chimpanzees which are retired from labs exhibit a form of posttraumatic stress disorder. Stuart Zola, director of the Yerkes National Primate Research Laboratory, disagrees. He told "National Geographic": "I don't think we should make a distinction between our obligation to treat humanely any species, whether it's a rat or a monkey or a chimpanzee. No matter how much we may wish it, chimps are not human." An


title: Chimpanzee content: increasing number of governments are enacting a great ape research ban forbidding the use of chimpanzees and other great apes in research or toxicology testing. As of 2006, Austria, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK had introduced such bans. Scientists have long been fascinated with the studies of language, believing it to be a unique human cognitive ability. To test this hypothesis, scientists have attempted to teach human language to several species of great apes. One early attempt by Allen and Beatrix Gardner in the 1960s involved spending 51 months teaching American Sign Language (ASL) to a chimpanzee


title: Chimpanzee content: named Washoe. The Gardners reported Washoe learned 151 signs, and she had spontaneously taught them to other chimpanzees. Over a longer period of time, Washoe learned over 800 signs. Debate is ongoing among some scientists (such as David Premack), about non-human great apes' ability to learn language. Since the early reports on Washoe, numerous other studies have been conducted, with varying levels of success, including one involving a chimpanzee named jokingly Nim Chimpsky, trained by Herbert Terrace of Columbia University. Although his initial reports were quite positive, in November 1979, Terrace and his team, including psycholinguist Thomas Bever, re-evaluated the


title: Chimpanzee content: videotapes of Nim with his trainers, analyzing them frame by frame for signs, as well as for exact context (what was happening both before and after Nim's signs). In the reanalysis, Terrace and Bever concluded Nim's utterances could be explained merely as prompting on the part of the experimenters, as well as mistakes in reporting the data. "Much of the apes' behaviour is pure drill," he said. "Language still stands as an important definition of the human species." In this reversal, Terrace now argued Nim's use of ASL was not like human language acquisition. Nim never initiated conversations himself, rarely


title: Chimpanzee content: introduced new words, and simply imitated what the humans did. More importantly, Nim's word strings varied in their ordering, suggesting that he was incapable of syntax. Nim's sentences also did not grow in length, unlike human children whose vocabulary and sentence length show a strong positive correlation. A 30-year study at Kyoto University's Primate Research Institute has shown that chimps are able to learn to recognise the numbers 1 through 9 and their values. The chimps further show an aptitude for photographic memory, demonstrated in experiments in which the jumbled digits are flashed onto a computer screen for less than


title: Chimpanzee content: a quarter of a second. One chimp, Ayumu, was able to correctly and quickly point to the positions where they appeared in ascending order. The same experiment was failed by human world memory champion Ben Pridmore on most attempts. In controlled cooperative experiments researchers have found that chimpanzees have a basic understanding of cooperation. Chimpanzees recruit the best collaborators. In a group setting with a device that delivered food rewards only to cooperating chimpanzees, cooperation first increased, then, due to competitive behaviour, decreased, before finally increasing to the highest level through punishment and other arbitrage behaviour. Laughter might not be


title: Chimpanzee content: confined or unique to humans. The differences between chimpanzee and human laughter may be the result of adaptations that have evolved to enable human speech. Self-awareness of one's situation as seen in the mirror test, or the ability to identify with another's predicament (see mirror neurons), are prerequisites for laughter, so animals may be laughing for the same reasons that humans do. Chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans show laughter-like vocalizations in response to physical contact, such as wrestling, play-chasing, or tickling. This is documented in wild and captive chimpanzees. Common chimpanzee laughter is not readily recognisable to humans as such, because


title: Chimpanzee content: it is generated by alternating inhalations and exhalations that sound more like breathing and panting. Instances in which nonhuman primates have expressed joy have been reported. One study analyzed and recorded sounds made by human babies and bonobos when tickled. Although the bonobo's laugh was a higher frequency, the laugh followed a pattern similar to that of human babies and included similar facial expressions. Humans and chimpanzees share similar ticklish areas of the body, such as the armpits and belly. The enjoyment of tickling in chimpanzees does not diminish with age. The US Fish and Wildlife Service finalized a rule


title: Chimpanzee content: on June 12, 2015, creating very strict regulations, practically barring any activity with chimpanzees other than for scientific, preservation-oriented purposes. Chimpanzees have traditionally been kept as pets in a few African villages, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Virunga National Park in the east of the country, the park authorities regularly confiscate chimpanzees from people keeping them as pets. Chimpanzees are popular as wild pets in many areas despite their strength, aggression, and wild nature. Even in areas where keeping non-human primates as pets is illegal, the exotic pet trade continues to prosper and some people keep chimpanzees


title: Chimpanzee content: as pets mistakenly believing that they will bond with them for life. As they grow, so do their strength and aggression; some owners and others interacting with the animals have lost fingers and suffered severe facial damage among other injuries sustained in attacks. In addition to the animals' hostile potential and strength well beyond any human being, chimpanzees physically mature a lot more proportionally than do human beings, and even among the most cleanly and well-organized of housekeepers, maintaining cleanliness and control of chimpanzees is physically demanding to the point that it is impossible for humans to control, especially due


title: Chimpanzee content: to the animals' strength and aggression. Chimpanzees have been commonly stereotyped in popular culture, where they are most often cast in standardized roles as childlike companions, sidekicks or clowns. They are especially suited for the latter role on account of their prominent facial features, long limbs and fast movements, which humans often find amusing. Accordingly, entertainment acts featuring chimpanzees dressed up as humans have been traditional staples of circuses and stage shows. In the age of television, a new genre of chimp act emerged in the United States: series whose cast consisted entirely of chimpanzees dressed as humans and "speaking"


title: Chimpanzee content: lines dubbed by human actors. These shows, examples of which include "Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp" in the 1970s or "The Chimp Channel" in the 1990s, relied on the novelty of their ape cast to make their timeworn, low comedy gags funny. Their chimpanzee "actors" were as interchangeable as the apes in a circus act, being amusing as chimpanzees and not as individuals. Animal rights groups have urged a stop to this practice, considering it animal abuse. When chimpanzees appear in other TV shows, they generally do so as comic relief sidekicks to humans. In that role, for instance, J. Fred


title: Chimpanzee content: Muggs appeared with "Today Show" host Dave Garroway in the 1950s, Judy on "Daktari" in the 1960s and Darwin on "The Wild Thornberrys" in the 1990s. In contrast to the fictional depictions of other animals, such as dogs (as in "Lassie"), dolphins ("Flipper"), horses ("The Black Stallion") or even other great apes ("King Kong"), chimpanzee characters and actions are rarely relevant to the plot. The rare depictions of chimpanzees as individuals rather than stock characters, and as central rather than incidental to the plot are generally found in works of science fiction. Robert A. Heinlein's short story "Jerry Was a


title: Chimpanzee content: Man" (1947) centers on a genetically enhanced chimpanzee suing for better treatment. The 1972 film "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes", the third sequel of "Planet of the Apes", portrays a futuristic revolt of enslaved apes led by the only talking chimpanzee, Caesar, against their human masters. Chimpanzee The taxonomical genus Pan (often referred to as chimpanzees or chimps) consists of two extant species: the common chimpanzee and the bonobo. Together with humans, gorillas, and orangutans they are part of the family Hominidae (the great apes). Native to sub-Saharan Africa, common chimpanzees and bonobos are currently both found in


title: Symphytum content: Symphytum Symphytum is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae. There are up to 35 species, known by the common name comfrey (pronounced ). Some species and hybrids, particularly "S. officinale" and "S." × "uplandicum", are used in gardening and herbal medicine. They are not to be confused with "Cynoglossum virginianum", known as wild comfrey, another member of the borage family. Species include: The Russian comfrey 'Bocking 14' cultivar was developed during the 1950s by Lawrence D Hills, the founder of the Henry Doubleday Research Association (the organic gardening organisation itself named after the Quaker pioneer who


title: Symphytum content: first introduced Russian comfrey into Britain in the nineteenth century) following trials at Bocking, near Braintree. Comfrey is a source of fertilizer to the organic gardener. It is claimed that since it is very deep rooted it acts as a dynamic accumulator, mining a host of nutrients from the soil. In fact there is little scientific evidence that the nutrients in comfrey are more concentrated than in other plants, nor that the nutrients it has come from its deep roots rather than, as is the case in most plants, from its near-surface roots. The nutrients that are available in comfrey


title: Symphytum content: are made available through its fast-growing leaves (up to per plant per cut) which, lacking fibres, quickly break down to a thick black liquid. There is also no risk of nitrogen loss when comfrey is dug into the soil as the C:N ratio of the leaves is lower than that of well-rotted compost. Comfrey is an excellent source of potassium, an essential plant nutrient needed for flower, seed and fruit production. Its leaves contain 2–3 times more potassium than farmyard manure, mined from deep in the subsoil, tapping into reserves that would not normally be available to plants. There are


title: Symphytum content: various ways in which comfrey can be used as a fertilizer. These include: Bocking 14 is sterile, and therefore will not set seed (one of its advantages over other cultivars as it will not spread out of control), thus is propagated from root cuttings. The gardener can produce his or her own "offsets" from mature, strongly growing plants by driving a spade horizontally through the leaf clumps about below the soil surface. This removes the crown, which can then be split into pieces. The original plant will quickly recover, and each piece can be replanted with the growing points just


title: Symphytum content: below the soil surface, and will quickly grow into new plants. When choosing plants to divide, ensure that they are strong healthy specimens with no signs of rust or mildew. When dividing comfrey plants, take care not to spread root fragments around, or dispose of on the compost heap, as each can re-root, and comfrey can be stubborn. Offsets can also be purchased by mail order from specialist nurseries in order to initially build up a stock of plants. Folk medicine names for comfrey include knitbone, boneset and the derivation of its Latin name "Symphytum" (from the Greek "symphis", meaning


title: Symphytum content: growing together of bones, and "phyton", a plant), referring to its ancient uses. Similarly the common French name is "consoude", meaning to weld together. The tradition in different cultures and languages suggest a common belief in its usefulness for mending bones. Comfrey contains mixed phytochemicals in varying amounts, including allantoin, mucilage, saponins, tannins, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, inulin, and proteins, among others. Liver toxicity is associated with consuming this plant or its extracts. In modern herbalism, comfrey is most commonly used topically. In 2001, the United States Food and Drug Administration issued a ban of comfrey products marketed for internal use, and


title: Symphytum content: a warning label for those intended for external use. Comfrey should not be used during pregnancy and lactation, in infants, and in people with liver, kidney, or vascular diseases. Symphytum Symphytum is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae. There are up to 35 species, known by the common name comfrey (pronounced ). Some species and hybrids, particularly "S. officinale" and "S." × "uplandicum", are used in gardening and herbal medicine. They are not to be confused with "Cynoglossum virginianum", known as wild comfrey, another member of the borage family. Species include: The Russian comfrey 'Bocking 14'


title: "Fraxinus americana" content: Fraxinus americana Fraxinus americana, the white ash or American ash, is a species of "ash tree" native to eastern and central North America. It is found in mesophytic hardwood forests from Nova Scotia west to Minnesota, south to northern Florida, and southwest to eastern Texas. Isolated populations have also been found in western Texas, Wyoming, and Colorado, and the species is reportedly naturalized in Hawaii. There are an estimated 8 billion ash trees – the majority being the white ash trees and the green ash trees. The name white ash derives from the glaucous undersides of the leaves. It is


title: "Fraxinus americana" content: similar in appearance to the green ash, making identification difficult. The lower sides of the leaves of white ash are lighter in color than their upper sides, and the outer surface of the twigs of white ash may be flaky or peeling. Green ash leaves are similar in color on upper and lower sides, and twigs are smoother. Despite some overlap, the two species tend to grow in different locations as well; white ash is a forest tree that commonly occurs alongside sugar maple while green ash is a pioneer species that inhabits riparian zones and disturbed areas. Its compound


title: "Fraxinus americana" content: leaves more often than not have 7 leaflets per leaf whereas other ash trees are usually more diverse. White ash is one of the most used trees for everyday purposes and, to keep up with high demand, is cultivated almost everywhere it can be. The wood is white and quite dense (within 20% of 670 kg/m), strong, and straight-grained. Its species produces an ideal, Apical dominant Excurrent structured crown. And traditional timber of choice for production of baseball bats and tool handles. The wood is also favorable for furniture and flooring. Woodworkers use the timber mainly for interior uses due


title: "Fraxinus americana" content: to high perishability in contact with ground soil. It is also used to make lobster traps. Since the 1950s, it has also become a popular choice for solid electric guitar bodies. It makes a very serviceable longbow if properly worked. The wood was used in ceiling fan blades from the 1970s through the mid-1980s, though cane was sometimes simulated with plastic then. It is no longer used for ceiling fan blades in most countries. White ash is not seen in cultivation as often as green ash due to its preference for undisturbed forest sites away from urban pollution and soil


title: "Fraxinus americana" content: compaction, but sometimes has been planted for its consistently reliably autumn colors, which typically are bright orange and red hues as opposed to other species of ash that produce a uniform yellow color. Cultivation of White Ash differs across North American continent. For example, within City of Chicago region. 2010 Statistics show most common street tree species is White Ash at 6.2%. Along with third ranked Green type at 4.9%, Ashes combine to make up 11% percent of cities street trees. Along with overall population of 13,648,044 Million standing Ashes within Cook county alone. Autumn Purple, or Junginger. A wild


title: "Fraxinus americana" content: Variety of American White Ash selected for its Purple leaf color. Had been discovered by University of Wisconsin Horticulturist Karl Junginger of McKay nursery, Waterloo, Iowa. And after its introduction in 1956, it quickly became the Most popular and most expensive landscape selection. Surpassing even the high priced Ginkgo, London Plane & White/Burr Oak. A related species, Biltmore ash, is sometimes treated as a variety of white ash. However, other taxonomists argue that Biltmore ash is its own species ("Fraxinus biltmoreana"). North American native ash tree species are used by North American frogs as a critical food source, as the


title: "Fraxinus americana" content: leaves that fall from the trees are particularly suitable for tadpoles to feed upon in ponds (both temporary and permanent), large puddles, and other water sources. Species such as red maple, which are taking the place of ash, due to the ash borer, are much less suitable for the frogs as a food source — resulting in poor frog survival rates and small frog sizes. It is the lack of tannins in the American ash variety that makes them good for the frogs as a food source and also not resistant to the ash borer. Varieties of ash from outside


title: "Fraxinus americana" content: North America typically have much higher tannin levels and resist the borer. Maples and various non-native invasive trees, trees that are taking the place of American ash species in the North American ecosystem, typically have much higher leaf tannin levels. Ash species native to North America also provide important habit and food for various other creatures that are native to North America. The emerald ash borer ("Agrilus planipennis"), also commonly known by the acronym EAB, is a green beetle native to Asia. In North America the emerald ash borer is an invasive species, highly destructive to ash trees in its


title: "Fraxinus americana" content: introduced range. The damage of this insect rivals that of chestnut blight and Dutch elm disease. To put its damage in perspective, the number of chestnuts killed by the chestnut blight was around 3.5 billion chestnut trees while there are 3.5 billion ash trees in Ohio alone. Dutch elm disease killed only 200 million elm trees while EAB threatens 7.5 billion ash trees in the United States. The insect threatens the entire North American genus "Fraxinus". Since its accidental introduction into the United States and Canada in the 1990s, and its subsequent detection in 2002, it has spread to eleven


title: "Fraxinus americana" content: states and adjacent parts of Canada. It has killed at least 50 million ash trees so far and threatens to kill most of the ash trees throughout North America. The green ash and the black ash trees are affected. White ash is also killed rapidly, but usually only after green and black ash trees are eliminated. Blue ash displays some resistance to the emerald ash borer by forming callus tissue around EAB galleries; however, they are usually killed. Statistically, White ash has been less affected by emerald ash borer. Due to its smaller population within wild forests, where long term


title: "Fraxinus americana" content: field studies in Michigan and Ohio have been underway. Similarly same for Black Ash, until studies undertaken within its primary natural range such as State of Minnesota. An infested tree can be recognized by premature fall color and leaf senescence observed on affected branches between August and last week of September. Before EAB officially identified, such dieback symptoms thought to have been caused by a vascular disease classified as Ash Yellows. Assuming damage caused by Borers taking advantage of weakened tree. Other recognizable signs regularly observed have been upper crown dieback, epicormic shoots or sprouts, bark lesions, frass filled larval


title: "Fraxinus americana" content: galleries, and deformed exit holes ; when the "Flatheaded" beetle has fully developed, it will bore out of the tree, in this instance, with a hole in a deformed "D" shape. In past it had been assumed, once any symptoms had started to show. Or "Once a tree had become Infested", it was likely too late to begin management. Today only on site professionals diagnosing an individual tree can responsibly make such determinations. "Hymenoscyphus fraxineus" is a fungal disease that attacks ash trees. The disease causes leaf loss, crown dieback, and lesions in the bark. This fungus is, for the