Tag: commercial applications

 Certain minerals may occur as alluvial deposits in sands of valley floors and the base of hills. These deposits are called ‘placer deposits’ and generally contain minerals, which are not corroded by water. Gold, silver, tin and platinum are most important among such minerals.

Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) is an extinct sirenian discovered by Europeans in 1741. At that time, it was found only around the Commander Islands in the Bering Sea between Alaska and Russia; its range was more extensive during the Pleistocene epoch, and it is possible that the animal and humans previously interacted. Some 18th-century adults would have reached weights of 8–10 t (8.8–11.0 short tons) and lengths up to 9 m (30 ft). Steller's sea cow was named after Georg Wilhelm Steller, a naturalist who discovered the species in 1741 on Vitus Bering's Great Northern Expedition when the crew became shipwrecked on Bering Island. Much of what is known about its behavior comes from Steller's observations on the island, documented in his posthumous publication On the Beasts of the Sea. Within 27 years of discovery by Europeans, the slow-moving and easily caught mammal was hunted into extinction for its meat, fat, and hide.

The polar bear is completely adapted for its survival in the cold polar regions. It has white furry skin, that helps it survive the extremely cold climate conditions. It has paws and feet so that it can move swiftly in snow. It can also hide as it gets camouflaged in white snow.

Different species require different temperature and climatic conditions to survive and reproduce. They can survive only in those particular areas which have favourable conditions for them. Such species are known as endemic species of that particular area or zone or state or country.

Species is a group of individuals that can potentially interbreed to produce fertile offspring. Splitting of existing species into daughter species or transformation of existing species into a new one without formation of any lineage species is termed as speciation. 

 The species which are found primarily, most abundantly or spend most of their time in ecotone or community boundary are known as edge species.

Endemic means a species which is native to a place and is not found anywhere else in the world. Endemic basically means indigenous. The more endemic species at a place more is the biodiversity of that place. Another example includes the Nilgiri tahr, also known as Nilgiri Ibex is endemic to the Nilgiri Hills and some part of Western Ghats of Kerala.