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Podiceps

 
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Podiceps is a genus of bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s in the grebe
Grebe

Grebes are members of the Podicipediformes order , a widely distributed order of freshwater diving Avess, some of which visit the sea when Bird migration and in winter....
 family.

It has representatives breeding in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, North
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 and South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
. Most northern hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of the equator?the word sphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator....
 species migrate
Bird migration

Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather....
 in winter to the coast or warmer climates.

They breed in vegetated areas of freshwater lakes, nesting on the water's edge, since their legs are set too far back for easy walking. Usually two eggs
Egg (biology)

In most birds and reptiles, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. To enable incubation the egg is usually kept within a favourable temperature range as it nourishes and protects the growing embryo....
 are laid, and the striped young may be carried on the adult's back.

All the genus are excellent swimmers and divers, and pursue their fish prey underwater.

Adults have striking breeding plumage, with no difference between the sexes.






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Encyclopedia


Podiceps is a genus of bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s in the grebe
Grebe

Grebes are members of the Podicipediformes order , a widely distributed order of freshwater diving Avess, some of which visit the sea when Bird migration and in winter....
 family.

It has representatives breeding in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, North
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 and South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
. Most northern hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of the equator?the word sphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator....
 species migrate
Bird migration

Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather....
 in winter to the coast or warmer climates.

They breed in vegetated areas of freshwater lakes, nesting on the water's edge, since their legs are set too far back for easy walking. Usually two eggs
Egg (biology)

In most birds and reptiles, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. To enable incubation the egg is usually kept within a favourable temperature range as it nourishes and protects the growing embryo....
 are laid, and the striped young may be carried on the adult's back.

All the genus are excellent swimmers and divers, and pursue their fish prey underwater.

Adults have striking breeding plumage, with no difference between the sexes. In winter, the plumage is subdued whites and greys.

Systematics

The Black-necked, Colombian, Silvery and Junin Flightless Grebes are very closely related and were formerly sometimes separated as the genus Dyas. The Great Grebe has also sometimes been separated as the sole member of the genus Podicephorus.

  • Red-necked Grebe
    Red-necked Grebe

    The Red-necked Grebe, Podiceps grisegena, is a bird migration aquatic bird that is found in the Climate_zone#GROUP_C:_Temperate.2Fmesothermal_climates of the northern hemisphere....
    , Podiceps grisegena
  • Great Crested Grebe
    Great Crested Grebe

    The Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus is a member of the grebe family of water birds....
    , Podiceps cristatus
  • Slavonian Grebe
    Slavonian Grebe

    The Slavonian Grebe, Podiceps auritus, is a member of the grebe family of water birds. It is known in North America as the Horned Grebe....
     or Horned Grebe, Podiceps auritus
  • Black-necked Grebe
    Black-necked Grebe

    The Black-necked Grebe, Podiceps nigricollis, known in North America as the Eared Grebe, is a member of the grebe family of water birds....
     or Eared Grebe, Podiceps nigricollis
  • Colombian Grebe
    Colombian Grebe

    The Colombian Grebe , was a grebe found in the Bogot? wetlands in the Eastern Andes of Colombia. The species was still abundant on Lake Tota in 1945....
    , Podiceps andinus - extinct (1977)
  • Great Grebe
    Great Grebe

    The Great Grebe is the largest species of grebe on earth. A disjunct population exists in northwestern Peru, while the main distribution is from extreme southeastern Brazil to Patagonia and central Chile....
    , Podiceps major
  • Silvery Grebe
    Silvery Grebe

    The Silvery Grebe is a species of grebe in the Podicipedidae family.It is found in Argentina, Chile, the Falkland Islands and Paraguay as well as Andes regions of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru....
    , Podiceps occipitalis
  • Junin Flightless Grebe
    Junin Flightless Grebe

    The Junin Flightless Grebe Podiceps taczanowskii, also known as the Puna Grebe and the Jun?n Grebe, is a grebe found only on Lake Junin in the highlands of Jun?n Region, west-central Peru....
    , Podiceps taczanowskii
  • Hooded Grebe
    Hooded Grebe

    The Hooded Grebe , is a medium-sized grebe found in the southern region of South America. It grows to about 34 cm in length, and is black and white in color ....
    , Podiceps gallardoi


One of the very oldest fossil
Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or trace fossil of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous Rock formations and sedimentary rock layers is known as the fossil record....
 grebes known to date actually belongs to this genus. Altogether - as in all grebes - the fossil record leaves much to be desired, being quite complete for the last 5 million years before present or so, but very incomplete before the Pliocene
Pliocene

The Pliocene epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 1.806 million years before present.The Pliocene is the second epoch of the Neogene period in the Cenozoic era....
.

Fossil species of Podiceps are:
  • Podiceps oligocaenus (John Day Late Oligocene/Early Miocene)
  • Podiceps cf. auritus (Early Pliocene of Florida, USA) - formerly P. pisanus, P. howardae and Pliodytes lanquisti
  • Podiceps subparvus (Middle Pliocene of California, USA)
  • Podiceps discors (Late Pliocene of WC USA)
  • Podiceps? sp. (Late Pliocene of WC USA) - see Murray (1967)
  • Podiceps sp. (Early Pleistocene of Dursunlu, Turkey) - see Louchart et al. (1998)
  • Podiceps dixi (Late Pleistocene)
  • Podiceps parvus (Late Pleistocene of W North America)


Among the material assigned to P. parvus were bones of another species, which may or may not belong into this genus (Murray 1967).