Clinging Snakefern vs Epaulard

Microgramma heterophylla compared with Orcinus orca

Key Differences

  • Clinging Snakefern is Least Concern while Epaulard is Data Deficient.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank Clinging Snakefern Epaulard
Kingdom Plantae (植物) Animalia (動物)
Phylum Tracheophyta Chordata (脊索動物)
Class Polypodiopsida (ウラボシ綱) Mammalia (哺乳類)
Order Polypodiales (ウラボシ目) Cetacea (Whales & Dolphins)
Family Polypodiaceae Delphinidae (Oceanic Dolphins)
Genus Microgramma Orcinus (Orcas)
Species Microgramma heterophylla Orcinus orca

Conservation Status

Clinging Snakefern

LC — Least Concern

Epaulard

DD — Data Deficient

Population: ~50.0K

Trend: Unknown ?

Physical Characteristics

Attribute Clinging Snakefern Epaulard
Diet Carnivore
Average Lifespan 50 years
Average Length 8.0 m
Average Weight 5.4 t

Habitat & Geographic Range

Clinging Snakefern

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Found in Cuba.

Epaulard

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 11 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (4 countries), and South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela).

Clinging Snakefern

Clinging Snakefern, Microgramma species, is a genus of small epiphytic ferns in the family Polypodiaceae found in tropical and subtropical forests of the Americas, from Florida and the Caribbean through Central America to South America. The ferns cling tightly to tree bark and rock surfaces using creeping rhizomes with specialized clinging scales, making them true epiphytes that depend entirely on the host surface for physical support while deriving all their water and nutrients from rainfall and atmospheric deposition. The common name 'snakefern' refers to the slender, creeping rhizomes that resemble snakes threading through moss and bark. The fronds are small and simple, either entirely fertile bearing sori on their undersurface or sterile with entire margins. Clinging snakeferns contribute to the high epiphyte diversity of tropical forest canopies and are important components of the moss-and-lichen matrix on tree trunks in humid forests. They are sensitive to moisture availability and desiccation and are among the first species to decline when humid forest is cleared or fragmented. Several Microgramma species are used as ornamental plants in warm-climate gardens for their ability to creep over rocks and tree stumps. Conservation status varies by species within the genus.

Epaulard

イルカ科で最大の種であるシャチ(Orcinus orca)は体長最大9メートル、体重6トンに達し、北極から南極まですべての海洋に生息しています。独特の方言、狩猟戦略、集団間で異なる文化的伝統を持つ母系ポッドで生活する頂点捕食者です。一部の集団は魚類を、他の集団は海洋哺乳類を専門に捕食します。天敵はなく、シャチは生息するすべての海洋食物連鎖の頂点に位置します。

Nature FYI Family

Explore more of the natural world across our sister sites.

Part of the Nature FYI family — FYIPedia