parent_taxon seriema
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in both South America and Latin America . As the world ' s fifth - largest country by both ___MASK24___ and population , it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language and the only one in the Americas . Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east , Brazil has a coastline of . It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile and covers 47 . 3 % of the continent ' s land ___MASK24___ . Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest , home to diverse wildlife , a variety of ecological systems , and extensive natural resources spanning numerous protected habitats . This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries , and is the subject of significant global interest and debate regarding deforestation and environmental protection . The Paraguay River ( Río Paraguay in Spanish , Rio Paraguai in Portuguese , Ysyry Paraguái in Guarani ) is a major river in south - central South America , running through Brazil , Bolivia , Paraguay and ___MASK21___ . It flows about from its headwaters in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso to its confluence with the Paraná River north of Corrientes and Resistencia . Vertebrates comprise all species of animals within the subphylum ___MASK47___ ( chordates with backbones ). Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata , with currently about 64 , 000 species described . Vertebrates include the jawless fish and the jawed vertebrates , which include the cartilaginous fish ( sharks and rays ) and the bony fish . The seriemas are the sole living members of the small ___MASK94___ family Cariamidae , which is also the only surviving lineage of the order Cariamae . Once believed to be related to cranes , they have been placed near the falcons , parrots and passerines , as well as the extinct terror birds . The seriemas are large , long - legged terrestrial birds that range from 70 to 90 cm . They live in grasslands , savanna , dry woodland and open forests of Brazil , Bolivia , ___MASK21___ , Paraguay and Uruguay . There are two species of seriemas , the red - legged seriema ( ___MASK95___ cristata ) and the black - legged seriema ( Chunga burmeisteri ) . Names for these birds in the Tupian languages are siriema , sariama , çariama , which are explained as meaning `` crested '' ( New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary ) . Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in central South America , bordered by ___MASK21___ to the south and southwest , Brazil to the east and northeast , and Bolivia to the northwest . Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River , which runs through the center of the country from north to south . Due to its central location in South America , it is sometimes referred to as " Corazón de Sudamérica " (" Heart of South America "). Paraguay is one of the two landlocked countries ( the other is Bolivia ) that lie outside Afro - Eurasia . Paraguay is the smallest landlocked country in the Americas . A songbird is a ___MASK94___ belonging to the clade ___MASK71___ of the perching birds ( Passeriformes ). Another name that is sometimes seen as a scientific or vernacular name is Oscines , from Latin " oscen ", " a songbird ". This group contains some 4 , 000 species found all over the world , in which the vocal organ typically is developed in such a way as to produce a diverse and elaborate ___MASK94___ song . Grasslands are ___MASK13___ where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae ), however sedge ( Cyperaceae ) and rush ( ___MASK96___ ) families can also be found . Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica . Grasslands are found in most ecoregions of the Earth . For example , there are five terrestrial ecoregion classifications ( subdivisions ) of the temperate grasslands , savannas , and shrublands biome ( ecosystem ), which is one of eight terrestrial ecozones of the Earth ' s surface . Montevideo is the capital and largest city of Uruguay . According to the 2011 census , the city proper has a population of 1 , 319 , 108 ( about one - third of the country ' s total population ) in an ___MASK24___ of . The southernmost capital city in the Americas , Montevideo is situated in the southern coast of the country , on the northeastern bank of the Río de ___MASK16___ Plata . Chile , officially the Republic of Chile , is a South American country occupying a long , narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west . It borders Peru to the north , Bolivia to the northeast , ___MASK21___ to the east , and the Drake Passage in the far south . Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández , Salas y Gómez , Desventuradas , and Easter Island in Oceania . Chile also claims about of Antarctica , although all claims are suspended under the Antarctic Treaty . Uruguay , officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay , is a country in the southeastern region of South America . It borders ___MASK21___ to its west and Brazil to its north and east , with the Río de ___MASK16___ Plata ( River of Silver ) to the south and with the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast . Uruguay is home to an estimated 3 . 42 million people , of whom 1 . 8 million live in the metropolitan area of its capital and largest city , Montevideo . With an area of approximately , Uruguay is geographically the second - smallest nation in South America , only larger in size than Suriname . A passerine is any ___MASK94___ of the order Passeriformes , which includes more than half of all ___MASK94___ species . A notable feature of passerines compared to other orders of Aves is the arrangement of their toes , three pointing forward and one back , which facilitates perching . Sometimes known as perching birds or , less accurately , as songbirds , the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders , with over 5 , 000 identified species . It has roughly twice as many species as the largest of the ___MASK81___ orders , the ___MASK59___ . It contains more than 110 families , the second - most of any order of tetrapods ( after Squamata , the scaled reptiles ). The passerines contain several groups of brood parasites such as the viduas , cuckoo - finches , and the cowbirds . Most passerines are omnivorous , while the shrikes are carnivorous . The Altiplano ( Spanish for " high plain "), Collao ( Quechua and Aymara : Qullaw , meaning " place of the Qulla "), Andean Plateau or Bolivian Plateau , in west - central South America , is the ___MASK24___ where the Andes are the widest . It is the most extensive ___MASK24___ of high plateau on Earth outside Tibet . The bulk of the Altiplano lies in Bolivia , but its northern parts lie in Peru , and its southern parts lie in Chile and ___MASK21___ . Buenos Aires is the capital and most populous city of ___MASK21___ . The city is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de ___MASK16___ Plata , on the South American continent ' s southeastern coast . " Buenos aires " can be translated as " fair winds " or " good airs ", but the first one was the meaning intended by the founders in the 16th century , by the use of the original name " Real de Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Ayre ". The Greater Buenos Aires conurbation , which also includes several Buenos Aires Province districts , constitutes the fourth - most populous metropolitan area in the Americas , with a population of around 17 million . The black - legged ___MASK86___ (" Chunga burmeisteri ") is one of two living species of seriemas in the family Cariamidae . It is found in ___MASK21___ , Bolivia , and Paraguay . Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland . El Alto ( Spanish for " The Heights ") is the second - largest city in Bolivia , located adjacent to ___MASK16___ Paz in Pedro Domingo Murillo Province on the Altiplano highlands . El Alto is today one of Bolivia ' s fastest - growing urban centers , with a population of 974 , 754 in 2011 . El Alto is the highest major metropolis in the world , with an average elevation of . Southern Cone is a geographic region composed of the southernmost ___MASK13___ of South America , south of and around the Tropic of Capricorn . Traditionally , it covers Argentina , Chile and Uruguay , bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean , and south to the junction between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans , which is the closest continental area of Antarctica ( 1000 km ). In terms of social and political geography , the Southern Cone comprises Argentina , Chile , Uruguay , Southern Brazil and sometimes Paraguay . The ear is the organ of hearing and , in mammals , balance . In mammals , the ear is usually described as having three parts  the outer ear , middle ear and the inner ear . The outer ear consists of the ___MASK33___ and the ear canal . Since the outer ear is the only visible portion of the ear in most animals , the word " ear " often refers to the external part alone . The middle ear includes the tympanic cavity and the three ossicles . The inner ear sits in the bony labyrinth , and contains structures which are key to several senses : the semicircular canals , which enable balance and eye tracking when moving ; the utricle and saccule , which enable balance when stationary ; and the cochlea , which enables hearing . The ears of vertebrates are placed somewhat symmetrically on either side of the head , an arrangement that aids sound localisation . The red - legged ___MASK86___ or crested ___MASK95___ (" ___MASK95___ cristata ") is a mostly predatory terrestrial bird in the ___MASK86___ family ( Cariamidae ), included in the " ___MASK88___ " in the old paraphyletic circumscription , but increasingly placed in a distinct order Cariamiformes ( along with three extinct families ). The red - legged ___MASK86___ inhabits grasslands from Brazil south of the Amazon to Uruguay and northern Argentina . The area over which it occurs is estimated at 5 . 9 million km² , though the bird is not found everywhere in this region of course . The species is absent from the Mata Atlântica and planalto uplands along the coast of Brazil . Bolivia (; ), officially known as the Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country located in western - central South America . It is bordered to the north and east by Brazil , to the southeast by Paraguay , to the south by ___MASK21___ , to the southwest by Chile , and to the northwest by Peru . One - third of the country is the Andean mountain range , with one of its largest cities and principal economic centers , El Alto , located on the Altiplano . Bolivia is one of two landlocked countries ( the other is Paraguay ) that lie outside Afro - Eurasia . Bolivia is the largest landlocked country in the Americas . Shrubland , scrubland , scrub or brush is a ___MASK5___ community characterised by vegetation dominated by shrubs , often also including grasses , herbs , and geophytes . Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity . It may be the mature vegetation type in a particular region and remain stable over time , or a transitional community that occurs temporarily as the result of a disturbance , such as fire . A stable state may be maintained by regular natural disturbance such as fire or browsing . Shrubland may be unsuitable for human habitation because of the danger of fire . The term " shrubland " was first coined in 1903 . Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade Dinosauria that first appeared during the Triassic . Although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is the subject of active research , the current scientific consensus places their origin between 231 and 243 million years ago . They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic  Jurassic extinction event 201 million years ago . Their dominance continued through the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and ended when the Cretaceous  Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of most ___MASK3___ groups 66 million years ago . The ___MASK88___ are an order containing a considerable number of living and extinct bird families , with a widespread geographical diversity . Gruiform means " crane - like ". An endotherm ( from Greek  " endon " " within " and  " therm " " heat ") is an organism that maintains its body at a metabolically favorable temperature , largely by the use of heat set free by its internal bodily functions instead of relying almost purely on ambient heat . Such internally generated heat is mainly an incidental product of the ___MASK20___ ' s routine metabolism , but under conditions of excessive cold or low activity an endotherm might apply special mechanisms adapted specifically to heat production . Examples include special - function muscular exertion such as shivering , and uncoupled oxidative metabolism such as within brown adipose tissue . Only birds and mammals are extant universally endothermic groups of animals . Certain lamnid sharks , tuna and billfishes are also endothermic . The Río de ___MASK16___ Plata (" River of Silver ")  rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth and ___MASK16___ Plata River ( occasionally Plata River ) in other English - speaking countries  is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay and the Paraná rivers . It empties into the Atlantic Ocean , forming a funnel - shaped indentation on the southeastern coastline of South America . ___MASK21___ , officially the Argentine Republic , is a federal republic in the southern half of South America . Sharing the bulk of the Southern Cone with its neighbor Chile to the west , the country is also bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay to the north , Brazil to the northeast , Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east , and the Drake Passage to the south . With a mainland area of , ___MASK21___ is the eighth - largest country in the world , the second largest in Latin America , and the largest Spanish - speaking one . The country is subdivided into twenty - three provinces ( singular " provincia ") and one autonomous city (" ciudad autónoma "), Buenos Aires , which is the federal capital of the nation as decided by Congress . The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions , but exist under a federal system . A " metropolitan ___MASK24___ ", sometimes referred to as a " metro ___MASK24___ " or just " metro ", is a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less - populated surrounding territories , sharing industry , infrastructure , and housing . A metro ___MASK24___ usually comprises multiple jurisdictions and municipalities : neighborhoods , townships , boroughs , cities , towns , exurbs , suburbs , counties , districts , states , and even nations like the eurodistricts . As social , economic and political institutions have changed , metropolitan ___MASK13___ have become key economic and political regions . Metropolitan ___MASK13___ include one or more urban ___MASK13___ , as well as satellite cities , towns and intervening rural ___MASK13___ that are socio - economically tied to the urban core , typically measured by commuting patterns . The superclass ___MASK45___ ( Ancient Greek s tetrapods , " four - footed "), or the tetrapods , comprises the first four - limbed vertebrates and their descendants , including the living and extinct amphibians , birds , mammals , reptiles and some ancient , exclusively aquatic creatures such as the Acanthostega . Tetrapods evolved from the lobe - finned fishes around 390 million years ago in the middle Devonian Period , with modern tetrapod groups having appeared by the late Devonian , 367 . 5 million years ago . The specific aquatic ancestors of the tetrapods , and the process by which land colonization occurred , remain unclear , and are areas of active research and debate among palaeontologists at present . The bee hummingbird , zunzuncito or Helena hummingbird (" ___MASK87___ helenae ") is a species of hummingbird . The ___MASK12___ or common ___MASK12___ (" ___MASK34___ camelus ") is either one or two species of large flightless birds native to Africa , the only living member ( s ) of the genus " ___MASK34___ ", which is in the ratite family . In 2014 , the Somali ___MASK12___ (" ___MASK34___ molybdophanes ") was recognized as a distinct species . A habitat is an ecological or environmental ___MASK24___ that is inhabited by a particular species of animal , ___MASK5___ , or other type of organism . The term typically refers to the zone in which the organism lives and where it can find food , shelter , protection and mates for reproduction . It is the natural environment in which an organism lives , or the physical environment that surrounds a species population . Hummingbirds are birds from the Americas that constitute the family ___MASK10___ . They are among the smallest of birds , most species measuring . Indeed , the smallest extant ___MASK94___ species is a hummingbird , the 5 - cm bee hummingbird weighing less than a U . S . penny ( 2 . 5 g ). Birds ( Aves ), also known as avian dinosaurs , are a group of endothermic vertebrates , characterised by feathers , toothless beaked jaws , the laying of hard - shelled eggs , a high metabolic rate , a four - chambered heart , and a lightweight but strong skeleton . Birds live worldwide and range in size from the bee hummingbird to the ___MASK12___ . They rank as the class of tetrapods with the most living species , at approximately ten thousand , with more than half of these being passerines , sometimes known as perching birds or , less accurately , as songbirds .