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Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
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In 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. In 1972 she launched a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, breaking another political barrier.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
| Asia Minor ground squirrel | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Sciuridae |
| Genus: | Spermophilus |
| Species: | S. xanthoprymnus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Spermophilus xanthoprymnus (Bennett, 1835)
| |
The Asia Minor ground squirrel (Spermophilus xanthoprymnus), also known as Anatolian souslik, Anatolian ground squirrel, is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in Armenia, Iran, and Turkey.[2] The scientific name roughly translates as "seed-lover with yellow underparts".
Like many other ground squirrels, the Asia Minor species has a rounded body and head, with short limbs and tail. Males, at 25 to 29 centimetres (9.8 to 11.4 in) in total length and 235 to 490 grams (8.3 to 17.3 oz) in weight, are noticeably larger than females at 23 to 28 centimetres (9.1 to 11.0 in) and 170 to 410 grams (6.0 to 14.5 oz). The tail is 3 to 6 centimetres (1.2 to 2.4 in) long.
The fur is uniform in colour over most of the body, and does not have the darker markings found in neighbouring species such as the European souslik. Asia Minor ground squirrels are typically buff in colour, but may vary from greyish to dark brown. The underside and limbs are somewhat paler than the rest of the body, often being yellowish in colour. The only clear markings are narrow white rings around the eyes, and a white patch on the chin and throat. Females have eight or ten teats, and both sexes possess scent-producing anal glands.[3]
Asia Minor ground squirrels are found throughout central and eastern Anatolia in Turkey, extending into Iran and Armenia at the very eastern edge of their range. Small, isolated populations have also been identified in the Antalya and Çukurova plain regions of southern Anatolia, but the species is otherwise absent from near-coastal regions and from European Turkey. They inhabit steppe country and alpine meadows, between 800 and 2,900 metres (2,600 and 9,500 ft) elevation.[3]
Although two subspecies of Asia Minor ground squirrel were formerly recognised, inhabiting the northwest highlands and the central lowlands of Anatolia, respectively, there seems to be little scientific evidence to support their distinct identities.[4]
They feed primarily on seeds, leaves, and shoots of hardy plants such as cocklebur, star-thistle, shepherd's purse, mustard, wild onion, speedwell, and wild grains, in addition to domesticated crops. Although primarily herbivorous, they may also eat small invertebrates. Because of the relatively arid nature of the preferred habitat, they rarely, if ever, drink free-standing water, obtaining all they need from their diet. Natural predators include eagle owls, buzzards, falcons, and red foxes.[3]
Asia Minor ground squirrels are diurnal, burrowing, animals, that hibernate through the winter. Their regular burrows are simple tunnels about 21 to 57 centimetres (8.3 to 22.4 in) deep. However, burrows used for nesting or hibernation may be as deep as 219 centimetres (86 in), and may have additional entrances and deep nesting and food storage chambers.[3] They generally hibernate from September to March, although the exact timing depends on the local climate. Hibernation in the Asia Minor ground squirrel consists of bouts of torpor lasting up to a couple of weeks, during which the body temperature drops by 10 degrees Celsius or more, separated by brief periods of arousal.[5]
Asia Minor ground squirrels mate underground shortly after emerging from hibernation in March or April. During the mating season, males travel between several females, and may fight with each other for access to mates. The females produce a single litter of three to nine (although most commonly four or five) young each year, and gestation lasts around 25 days. The young are born blind and hairless, weighing 5 to 7 grams (0.18 to 0.25 oz). The fur begins to appear at 15 days, and the eyes open at 22–25 days. By four weeks of age, they begin to leave the burrow, and they are fully weaned by seven weeks.[3]
Fossils of Asia Minor ground squirrels are known from the early Pleistocene, and include some specimens from as far west as Chios, suggesting that the species formerly had a wider distribution than it does today.[3]
Biochemical studies indicate that the species diverged from the common ancestor of the European souslik and the Taurus ground squirrel, its closest living relatives, around five million years ago. This coincides with the formation of the Bosporus, and the subsequent separation of Anatolia from Europe, during the late Miocene. During the last ice age, they may have survived in small mountain refugia in the Anatolian region.[4]
Because Asia Minor ground squirrels will consume agricultural grains when they are available, they are considered a pest in many areas, and may be poisoned. In consequence, the increase of agriculture in central Anatolia led to declines of as much as 20–25% in ground squirrel populations over the first decade of the twenty-first century. Given this decline the International Union for Conservation of Nature re-classified the Asia Minor ground squirrel as "Near Threatened" in the 2009 edition of the IUCN Red List; the species previously having been considered as of Least Concern.[1] Asia Minor ground squirrels also have legal protection in the Republic of Turkey.[3]
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
The Asia Minor ground squirrel (Spermophilus xanthoprymnus), also known as Anatolian souslik, Anatolian ground squirrel, is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in Armenia, Iran, and Turkey. The scientific name roughly translates as "seed-lover with yellow underparts".
The Asia Minor Slavs were the historical South Slavic communities that were relocated, usually forcibly, from the Balkan Peninsula to Asia Minor by the Byzantine Empire from the mid-600s onwards. Slavic population transfers cannot be viewed in separation from the resettlement of similar communities, hostile to Byzantine power, like the Paulicians, this time from Anatolia to the Balkans or the periodic reinforcement of the newly established Byzantine themata in Europe with Greek speakers from Italy, Asia Minor and the Aegean islands. These population transfers were designed to further the re-Byzantinisation of the Empire's Balkan holdings following the Slavic migrations by strengthening the Greek and diluting the Slavic element, while eliminating potentially hostile populations along its Anatolian border with the Arabs. Most Asia Minor Slavs were transferred to the historical region of Bithynia, which accounted for most of the early Byzantine theme of Opsikion, which was divided in the 750s into Opsician proper, Optimates and the Bucellarian Theme.
The Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor in 782 was one of the largest operations launched by the Abbasid Caliphate against the Byzantine Empire. The invasion was launched as a display of Abbasid military might in the aftermath of a series of Byzantine successes. Commanded by the Abbasid heir-apparent, the future Harun al-Rashid, the Abbasid army reached as far as Chrysopolis, across the Bosporus from the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, while secondary forces raided western Asia Minor and defeated the Byzantine forces there. As Harun did not intend to assault Constantinople and lacked ships to do so, he turned back. The Byzantines, who in the meantime had neutralized the detachment left to secure the Abbasid army's rear in Phrygia, were able to trap Harun's army between their own converging forces. The defection of the Armenian general Tatzates, however, allowed Harun to regain the upper hand. The Abbasid prince sent for a truce and detained the high-ranking Byzantine envoys, who included Empress Irene's chief minister, Staurakios. This forced Irene to agree to a three-year truce and pay a heavy annual tribute. Irene then focused her attention to the Balkans, but warfare with the Arabs resumed in 786, until mounting Arab pressure led to another truce in 798, on terms similar to those of 782.
Asia Minor Greeks, Anatolian Greeks or Mikrasiates (Greek: Μικρασιάτες, romanized: Mikrasiates) are the Greek populations who lived in Asia Minor from the 13th century BC until the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey according to the Treaty of Lausanne, in the aftermath of World War I and the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922). Most Asia Minor Greeks migrated to Greece. Today, many Greeks descending from Asia Minor Greek refugees live all over Greece and the diaspora. Greeks in present day Turkey form a small minority, mostly living in Istanbul.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Shirley Chisholm, elected in 1968.
