vs Long-tailed Sylph

Chroococcus turicensis compared with Aglaiocercus kingii

Key Differences

is Not Evaluated while Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank		Long-tailed Sylph
Kingdom	Bacteria (Bacteria)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Cyanobacteria (Cyanobacteria)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Cyanobacteriia	Aves (Birds)
Order	Cyanobacteriales	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Microcystaceae	Trochilidae
Genus	Chroococcus	Aglaiocercus
Species	Chroococcus turicensis	Aglaiocercus kingii

Conservation Status

NE — Not Evaluated

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute		Long-tailed Sylph
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Habitat

Native to Europe, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Norway and Sweden.

Long-tailed Sylph

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

Chroococcus turicensis is a species of cyanobacteria in the family Chroococcaceae, with the specific epithet turicensis referring to Turicum, the Latin name for the city of Zurich, Switzerland, suggesting that the species was first described or commonly documented from Swiss freshwater habitats. Chroococcus species are small, coccoid cyanobacteria occurring in pairs or tetrads within gelatinous sheaths in freshwater and moist environments. Chroococcus turicensis has been recorded from lakes and other freshwater localities in central Europe, including the alpine and pre-alpine lakes of Switzerland. Alpine and subalpine freshwater bodies are generally oligotrophic, and the cyanobacteria that inhabit them tend to be well adapted to low nutrient concentrations and clear, well-lit waters. The freshwater phytoplankton of Alpine lakes has been extensively studied due to the ecological and economic importance of these water bodies as drinking water reservoirs and indicators of environmental change. Chroococcus turicensis contributes to the diversity of the cyanobacterial component of such communities. Like all Chroococcus species, it is a prokaryote whose conservation status has not been assessed by the IUCN.

Long-tailed Sylph

One of the most strikingly ornamented hummingbirds, male long-tailed sylphs have iridescent green plumage and dramatically elongated, ribbon-like outer tail feathers reaching up to 22 cm — over three times the body length. Found in Andean cloud forests of Colombia and Venezuela, they inhabit humid montane forest between 1,400–2,800 meters elevation. Males perform elaborate display flights to attract females. Their extravagant tails are a classic example of sexual selection via female preference.