title: Golgo 13

text: "Anime News Network"'s Carl Kimlinger compared Saito's work on the series to the novels of John le Carré and Frederick Forsyth, as the stories are "dark, meticulously constructed [and] painstakingly realistic". Leo Lewis of the "Financial Times" wrote that "Unsmiling, misogynist and inexorable, [the character] is a literary cousin of James Bond without the scene-softeners of Moneypenny, M, Q or exploding fountain pens." The "Daily Vanguard" called Duke "a badass, something like a cross between Dirty Harry and "Metal Gear Solid"s Solid Snake." Jc DuBois of Dragon's Anime has criticized those who say that most of Golgo 13's hits are impossible to do since there are problems that would prevent him from shooting straight such as the wind or with the coriolis effect, saying that the "whole mystique of "Golgo 13" is that he's just that damn good. He CAN make those shots—and he can do it with one shot."


title: Prime meridian

text: A prime meridian is an arbitrary meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°. Together, a prime meridian and its anti-meridian (the 180th meridian in a 360°-system) form a great circle. This great circle divides a spheroid, like the Earth, into two hemispheres: the Eastern Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere (for an east-west notational system). For Earth's prime meridian, various conventions have been used or advocated in different regions throughout history. The Earth's current international standard prime meridian is the IERS Reference Meridian. It is derived, but differs slightly, from the Greenwich Meridian, the previous standard.


title: Prime meridian

text: A prime meridian for a planetary body not tidally locked (or at least not in synchronous rotation) is entirely arbitrary, unlike an equator, which is determined by the axis of rotation. However, for celestial objects that are tidally locked (more specifically, synchronous), their prime meridians are determined by the face always inward of the orbit (a planet facing its star, or a moon facing its planet), just as equators are determined by rotation.


title: Prime meridian

text: Longitudes for the Earth and Moon are measured from their prime meridian (at 0°) to 180° east and west. For all other Solar System bodies, longitude is measured from 0° (their prime meridian) to 360°. West longitudes are used if the rotation of the body is prograde (or 'direct', like Earth), meaning that its direction of rotation is the same as that of its orbit. East longitudes are used if the rotation is retrograde.


title: Prime meridian

text: The notion of longitude for Greeks was developed by the Greek Eratosthenes (c.276195BCE) in Alexandria, and Hipparchus (c.190120BCE) in Rhodes, and applied to a large number of cities by the geographer Strabo (64/63BCEc.24CE). But it was Ptolemy (c.90168CE) who first used a consistent meridian for a world map in his "Geographia".


title: Prime meridian

text: Ptolemy used as his basis the "Fortunate Isles", a group of islands in the Atlantic, which are usually associated with the Canary Islands (13° to 18°W), although his maps correspond more closely to the Cape Verde islands (22° to 25° W). The main point is to be comfortably west of the western tip of Africa (17.5° W) as negative numbers were not yet in use. His prime meridian corresponds to 18° 40' west of Winchester (about 20°W) today. At that time the chief method of determining longitude was by using the reported times of lunar eclipses in different countries.


title: Prime meridian

text: One of the earliest known descriptions of "standard time" in India appeared in the 4th century CE astronomical treatise Surya Siddhanta. Postulating a spherical earth, the book described the thousands years old customs of the prime meridian, or zero longitude, as passing through "Avanti", the ancient name for the historic city of Ujjain, and "Rohitaka", the ancient name for Rohtak (), a city near the Kurukshetra.


title: Prime meridian

text: Ptolemy's "Geographia" was first printed with maps at Bologna in 1477, and many early globes in the 16th century followed his lead. But there was still a hope that a "natural" basis for a prime meridian existed. Christopher Columbus reported (1493) that the compass pointed due north somewhere in mid-Atlantic, and this fact was used in the important Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494, which settled the territorial dispute between Spain and Portugal over newly discovered lands. The Tordesillas line was eventually settled at 370 leagues (2,193 kilometers, 1,362 statute miles, or 1,184 nautical miles) west of Cape Verde. This is shown in Diogo Ribeiro's 1529 map. São Miguel Island (25.5°W) in the Azores was still used for the same reason as late as 1594 by Christopher Saxton, although by then it had been shown that the zero magnetic deviation line did not follow a line of longitude.


title: Prime meridian

text: In 1541, Mercator produced his famous 41 cm terrestrial globe and drew his prime meridian precisely through Fuerteventura (14°1'W) in the Canaries. His later maps used the Azores, following the magnetic hypothesis. But by the time that Ortelius produced the first modern atlas in 1570, other islands such as Cape Verde were coming into use. In his atlas longitudes were counted from 0° to 360°, not 180°W to 180°E as is usual today. This practice was followed by navigators well into the 18th century. In 1634, Cardinal Richelieu used the westernmost island of the Canaries, El Hierro, 19° 55' west of Paris, as the choice of meridian. The geographer Delisle decided to round this off to 20°, so that it simply became the meridian of Paris disguised.


title: Prime meridian

text: In the early 18th century the battle was on to improve the determination of longitude at sea, leading to the development of the marine chronometer by John Harrison. But it was the development of accurate star charts, principally by the first British Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed between 1680 and 1719 and disseminated by his successor Edmund Halley, that enabled navigators to use the lunar method of determining longitude more accurately using the octant developed by Thomas Godfrey and John Hadley.


title: Prime meridian

text: In the 18th century most countries in Europe adapted their own "prime" meridian, usually through their capital, hence in France the Paris meridian was prime, in Germany it was the Berlin meridian, in Denmark the Copenhagen meridian, and in United Kingdom the Greenwich meridian.


title: Prime meridian

text: Between 1765 and 1811, Nevil Maskelyne published 49 issues of the "Nautical Almanac" based on the meridian of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. "Maskelyne's tables not only made the lunar method practicable, they also made the Greenwich meridian the universal reference point. Even the French translations of the "Nautical Almanac" retained Maskelyne's calculations from Greenwich – in spite of the fact that every other table in the "Connaissance des Temps" considered the Paris meridian as the prime."


title: Prime meridian

text: In 1884, at the International Meridian Conference in Washington, D.C., 22 countries voted to adopt the Greenwich meridian as the prime meridian of the world. The French argued for a neutral line, mentioning the Azores and the Bering Strait, but eventually abstained and continued to use the Paris meridian until 1911.


title: Prime meridian

text: The current international standard Prime Meridian is the IERS Reference Meridian. The International Hydrographic Organization adopted an early version of the IRM in 1983 for all nautical charts. It was adopted for air navigation by the International Civil Aviation Organization on 3 March 1989.


title: Prime meridian

text: Since 1984, the international standard for the Earth's prime meridian is the IERS Reference Meridian. Between 1884 and 1984, the meridian of Greenwich was the world standard. These meridians are physically very close to each other.


title: Prime meridian

text: In October 1884 the Greenwich Meridian was selected by delegates (forty-one delegates representing twenty-five nations) to the International Meridian Conference held in Washington, D.C., United States to be the common zero of longitude and standard of time reckoning throughout the world.


title: Prime meridian

text: The position of the historic prime meridian, based at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, was established by Sir George Airy in 1851. It was defined by the location of the Airy Transit Circle ever since the first observation he took with it. Prior to that, it was defined by a succession of earlier transit instruments, the first of which was acquired by the second Astronomer Royal, Edmond Halley in 1721. It was set up in the extreme north-west corner of the Observatory between Flamsteed House and the Western Summer House. This spot, now subsumed into Flamsteed House, is roughly 43 metres to the west of the Airy Transit Circle, a distance equivalent to roughly 2 seconds of longitude. It was Airy's transit circle that was adopted in principle (with French delegates, who pressed for adoption of the Paris meridian abstaining) as the Prime Meridian of the world at the 1884 International Meridian Conference.


title: Prime meridian

text: All of these Greenwich meridians were located via an astronomic observation from the surface of the Earth, oriented via a plumb line along the direction of gravity at the surface. This astronomic Greenwich meridian was disseminated around the world, first via the lunar distance method, then by chronometers carried on ships, then via telegraph lines carried by submarine communications cables, then via radio time signals. One remote longitude ultimately based on the Greenwich meridian using these methods was that of the North American Datum 1927 or NAD27, an ellipsoid whose surface best matches mean sea level under the United States.


title: Prime meridian

text: Beginning in 1973 the International Time Bureau and later the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service changed from reliance on optical instruments like the Airy Transit Circle to techniques such as lunar laser ranging, satellite laser ranging, and very-long-baseline interferometry. The new techniques resulted in the IERS Reference Meridian, the plane of which passes through the centre of mass of the Earth. This differs from the plane established by the Airy transit, which is affected by vertical deflection (the local vertical is affected by influences such as nearby mountains). The change from relying on the local vertical to using a meridian based on the centre of the Earth caused the modern prime meridian to be 5.3″ east of the astronomic Greenwich prime meridian through the Airy Transit Circle. At the latitude of Greenwich, this amounts to 102 metres. This was officially accepted by the Bureau International de l'Heure (BIH) in 1984 via its BTS84 (BIH Terrestrial System) that later became WGS84 (World Geodetic System 1984) and the various International Terrestrial Reference Frames (ITRFs).


title: Prime meridian

text: Due to the movement of Earth's tectonic plates, the line of 0° longitude along the surface of the Earth has slowly moved toward the west from this shifted position by a few centimetres; that is, towards the Airy Transit Circle (or the Airy Transit Circle has moved toward the east, depending on your point of view) since 1984 (or the 1960s). With the introduction of satellite technology, it became possible to create a more accurate and detailed global map. With these advances there also arose the necessity to define a reference meridian that, whilst being derived from the Airy Transit Circle, would also take into account the effects of plate movement and variations in the way that the Earth was spinning.


title: Prime meridian

text: As a result, the IERS Reference Meridian was established and is commonly used to denote the Earth's prime meridian (0° longitude) by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, which defines and maintains the link between longitude and time. Based on observations to satellites and celestial compact radio sources (quasars) from various coordinated stations around the globe, Airy's transit circle drifts northeast about 2.5 centimetres per year relative to this Earth-centred 0° longitude.


title: Prime meridian

text: It is also the reference meridian of the Global Positioning System operated by the United States Department of Defense, and of WGS84 and its two formal versions, the ideal International Terrestrial Reference System (ITRS) and its realization, the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF). A current convention on the Earth uses the line of longitude 180° opposite the IRM as the basis for the International Date Line.


title: Prime meridian

text: On Earth, starting at the North Pole and heading south to the South Pole, the IERS Reference Meridian (as of 2016) passes through:


title: Prime meridian

text: As on the Earth, prime meridians must be arbitrarily defined. Often a landmark such as a crater is used; other times a prime meridian is defined by reference to another celestial object, or by magnetic fields.


title: Annelid

text: The annelids (Annelida , from Latin ', "little ring"), also known as the segmented worms, are a large phylum, with over 22,000 extant species including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to various ecologies – some in marine environments as distinct as tidal zones and hydrothermal vents, others in fresh water, and yet others in moist terrestrial environments.


title: Annelid

text: The Annelids are bilaterally symmetrical, triploblastic, coelomate, invertebrate organisms. They also have parapodia for locomotion. Most textbooks still use the traditional division into polychaetes (almost all marine), oligochaetes (which include earthworms) and leech-like species. Cladistic research since 1997 has radically changed this scheme, viewing leeches as a sub-group of oligochaetes and oligochaetes as a sub-group of polychaetes. In addition, the Pogonophora, Echiura and Sipuncula, previously regarded as separate phyla, are now regarded as sub-groups of polychaetes. Annelids are considered members of the Lophotrochozoa, a "super-phylum" of protostomes that also includes molluscs, brachiopods, and nemerteans.


title: Annelid

text: The basic annelid form consists of multiple segments. Each segment has the same sets of organs and, in most polychates, has a pair of parapodia that many species use for locomotion. Septa separate the segments of many species, but are poorly defined or absent in others, and Echiura and Sipuncula show no obvious signs of segmentation. In species with well-developed septa, the blood circulates entirely within blood vessels, and the vessels in segments near the front ends of these species are often built up with muscles that act as hearts. The septa of such species also enable them to change the shapes of individual segments, which facilitates movement by peristalsis ("ripples" that pass along the body) or by undulations that improve the effectiveness of the parapodia. In species with incomplete septa or none, the blood circulates through the main body cavity without any kind of pump, and there is a wide range of locomotory techniques – some burrowing species turn their pharynges inside out to drag themselves through the sediment.


title: Annelid

text: Earthworms are oligochaetes that support terrestrial food chains both as prey and in some regions are important in aeration and enriching of soil. The burrowing of marine polychaetes, which may constitute up to a third of all species in near-shore environments, encourages the development of ecosystems by enabling water and oxygen to penetrate the sea floor. In addition to improving soil fertility, annelids serve humans as food and as bait. Scientists observe annelids to monitor the quality of marine and fresh water. Although blood-letting is used less frequently by doctors than it once was, some leech species are regarded as endangered species because they have been over-harvested for this purpose in the last few centuries. Ragworms' jaws are now being studied by engineers as they offer an exceptional combination of lightness and strength.


title: Annelid

text: Since annelids are soft-bodied, their fossils are rare – mostly jaws and the mineralized tubes that some of the species secreted. Although some late Ediacaran fossils may represent annelids, the oldest known fossil that is identified with confidence comes from about in the early Cambrian period. Fossils of most modern mobile polychaete groups appeared by the end of the Carboniferous, about . Palaeontologists disagree about whether some body fossils from the mid Ordovician, about , are the remains of oligochaetes, and the earliest indisputable fossils of the group appear in the Paleogene period, which began 66 million years ago.


title: Annelid

text: There are over 22,000 living annelid species, ranging in size from microscopic to the Australian giant Gippsland earthworm and "Amynthas mekongianus", which can both grow up to long to the largest annelid, "Microchaetus rappi" which can grow up to 6.7 m (22 ft). Although research since 1997 has radically changed scientists' views about the evolutionary family tree of the annelids, most textbooks use the traditional classification into the following sub-groups:


title: Annelid

text: The Archiannelida, minute annelids that live in the spaces between grains of marine sediment, were treated as a separate class because of their simple body structure, but are now regarded as polychaetes. Some other groups of animals have been classified in various ways, but are now widely regarded as annelids:


title: Annelid

text: No single feature distinguishes Annelids from other invertebrate phyla, but they have a distinctive combination of features. Their bodies are long, with segments that are divided externally by shallow ring-like constrictions called annuli and internally by septa ("partitions") at the same points, although in some species the septa are incomplete and in a few cases missing. Most of the segments contain the same sets of organs, although sharing a common gut, circulatory system and nervous system makes them inter-dependent. Their bodies are covered by a cuticle (outer covering) that does not contain cells but is secreted by cells in the skin underneath, is made of tough but flexible collagen and does not molt – on the other hand arthropods' cuticles are made of the more rigid α-chitin, and molt until the arthropods reach their full size. Most annelids have closed circulatory systems, where the blood makes its entire circuit via blood vessels.


title: Annelid

text: Most of an annelid's body consists of segments that are practically identical, having the same sets of internal organs and external chaetae (Greek χαιτη, meaning "hair") and, in some species, appendages. The frontmost and rearmost sections are not regarded as true segments as they do not contain the standard sets of organs and do not develop in the same way as the true segments. The frontmost section, called the prostomium (Greek προ- meaning "in front of" and στομα meaning "mouth") contains the brain and sense organs, while the rearmost, called the pygidium (Greek πυγιδιον, meaning "little tail") or periproct contains the anus, generally on the underside. The first section behind the prostomium, called the peristomium (Greek περι- meaning "around" and στομα meaning "mouth"), is regarded by some zoologists as not a true segment, but in some polychaetes the peristomium has chetae and appendages like those of other segments.


title: Annelid

text: The segments develop one at a time from a growth zone just ahead of the pygidium, so that an annelid's youngest segment is just in front of the growth zone while the peristomium is the oldest. This pattern is called teloblastic growth. Some groups of annelids, including all leeches, have fixed maximum numbers of segments, while others add segments throughout their lives.


title: Annelid

text: Annelids' cuticles are made of collagen fibers, usually in layers that spiral in alternating directions so that the fibers cross each other. These are secreted by the one-cell deep epidermis (outermost skin layer). A few marine annelids that live in tubes lack cuticles, but their tubes have a similar structure, and mucus-secreting glands in the epidermis protect their skins. Under the epidermis is the dermis, which is made of connective tissue, in other words a combination of cells and non-cellular materials such as collagen. Below this are two layers of muscles, which develop from the lining of the coelom (body cavity): circular muscles make a segment longer and slimmer when they contract, while under them are longitudinal muscles, usually four distinct strips, whose contractions make the segment shorter and fatter. But several families have lost the circular muscles, and it has been suggested that the lack of circular muscles is a plesiomorphic character in Annelida. Some annelids also have oblique internal muscles that connect the underside of the body to each side.


title: Annelid

text: The setae ("hairs") of annelids project out from the epidermis to provide traction and other capabilities. The simplest are unjointed and form paired bundles near the top and bottom of each side of each segment. The parapodia ("limbs") of annelids that have them often bear more complex chetae at their tips – for example jointed, comb-like or hooked. Chetae are made of moderately flexible β-chitin and are formed by follicles, each of which has a chetoblast ("hair-forming") cell at the bottom and muscles that can extend or retract the cheta. The chetoblasts produce chetae by forming microvilli, fine hair-like extensions that increase the area available for secreting the cheta. When the cheta is complete, the microvilli withdraw into the chetoblast, leaving parallel tunnels that run almost the full length of the cheta. Hence annelids' chetae are structurally different from the setae ("bristles") of arthropods, which are made of the more rigid α-chitin, have a single internal cavity, and are mounted on flexible joints in shallow pits in the cuticle.


title: Annelid

text: Nearly all polychaetes have parapodia that function as limbs, while other major annelid groups lack them. Parapodia are unjointed paired extensions of the body wall, and their muscles are derived from the circular muscles of the body. They are often supported internally by one or more large, thick chetae. The parapodia of burrowing and tube-dwelling polychaetes are often just ridges whose tips bear hooked chetae. In active crawlers and swimmers the parapodia are often divided into large upper and lower paddles on a very short trunk, and the paddles are generally fringed with chetae and sometimes with cirri (fused bundles of cilia) and gills.


title: Annelid

text: The brain generally forms a ring round the pharynx (throat), consisting of a pair of ganglia (local control centers) above and in front of the pharynx, linked by nerve cords either side of the pharynx to another pair of ganglia just below and behind it. The brains of polychaetes are generally in the prostomium, while those of clitellates are in the peristomium or sometimes the first segment behind the prostomium. In some very mobile and active polychaetes the brain is enlarged and more complex, with visible hindbrain, midbrain and forebrain sections. The rest of the central nervous system, the ventral nerve cord, is generally "ladder-like", consisting of a pair of nerve cords that run through the bottom part of the body and have in each segment paired ganglia linked by a transverse connection. From each segmental ganglion a branching system of local nerves runs into the body wall and then encircles the body. However, in most polychaetes the two main nerve cords are fused, and in the tube-dwelling genus "Owenia" the single nerve chord has no ganglia and is located in the epidermis.


title: Annelid

text: As in arthropods, each muscle fiber (cell) is controlled by more than one neuron, and the speed and power of the fiber's contractions depends on the combined effects of all its neurons. Vertebrates have a different system, in which one neuron controls a group of muscle fibers. Most annelids' longitudinal nerve trunks include giant axons (the output signal lines of nerve cells). Their large diameter decreases their resistance, which allows them to transmit signals exceptionally fast. This enables these worms to withdraw rapidly from danger by shortening their bodies. Experiments have shown that cutting the giant axons prevents this escape response but does not affect normal movement.


title: Annelid

text: The sensors are primarily single cells that detect light, chemicals, pressure waves and contact, and are present on the head, appendages (if any) and other parts of the body. Nuchal ("on the neck") organs are paired, ciliated structures found only in polychaetes, and are thought to be chemosensors. Some polychaetes also have various combinations of ocelli ("little eyes") that detect the direction from which light is coming and camera eyes or compound eyes that can probably form images. The compound eyes probably evolved independently of arthropods' eyes. Some tube-worms use ocelli widely spread over their bodies to detect the shadows of fish, so that they can quickly withdraw into their tubes. Some burrowing and tube-dwelling polychaetes have statocysts (tilt and balance sensors) that tell them which way is down. A few polychaete genera have on the undersides of their heads palps that are used both in feeding and as "feelers", and some of these also have antennae that are structurally similar but probably are used mainly as "feelers".


title: Annelid

text: Most annelids have a pair of coelomata (body cavities) in each segment, separated from other segments by septa and from each other by vertical mesenteries. Each septum forms a sandwich with connective tissue in the middle and mesothelium (membrane that serves as a lining) from the preceding and following segments on either side. Each mesentery is similar except that the mesothelium is the lining of each of the pair of coelomata, and the blood vessels and, in polychaetes, the main nerve cords are embedded in it. The mesothelium is made of modified epitheliomuscular cells; in other words, their bodies form part of the epithelium but their bases extend to form muscle fibers in the body wall. The mesothelium may also form radial and circular muscles on the septa, and circular muscles around the blood vessels and gut. Parts of the mesothelium, especially on the outside of the gut, may also form chloragogen cells that perform similar functions to the livers of vertebrates: producing and storing glycogen and fat; producing the oxygen-carrier hemoglobin; breaking down proteins; and turning nitrogenous waste products into ammonia and urea to be excreted.


title: Annelid

text: Many annelids move by peristalsis (waves of contraction and expansion that sweep along the body), or flex the body while using parapodia to crawl or swim. In these animals the septa enable the circular and longitudinal muscles to change the shape of individual segments, by making each segment a separate fluid-filled "balloon". However, the septa are often incomplete in annelids that are semi-sessile or that do not move by peristalsis or by movements of parapodia – for example some move by whipping movements of the body, some small marine species move by means of cilia (fine muscle-powered hairs) and some burrowers turn their pharynges (throats) inside out to penetrate the sea-floor and drag themselves into it.


title: Annelid

text: The fluid in the coelomata contains coelomocyte cells that defend the animals against parasites and infections. In some species coelomocytes may also contain a respiratory pigment – red hemoglobin in some species, green chlorocruorin in others (dissolved in the plasma) – and provide oxygen transport within their segments. Respiratory pigment is also dissolved in the blood plasma. Species with well-developed septa generally also have blood vessels running all long their bodies above and below the gut, the upper one carrying blood forwards while the lower one carries it backwards. Networks of capillaries in the body wall and around the gut transfer blood between the main blood vessels and to parts of the segment that need oxygen and nutrients. Both of the major vessels, especially the upper one, can pump blood by contracting. In some annelids the forward end of the upper blood vessel is enlarged with muscles to form a heart, while in the forward ends of many earthworms some of the vessels that connect the upper and lower main vessels function as hearts. Species with poorly developed or no septa generally have no blood vessels and rely on the circulation within the coelom for delivering nutrients and oxygen.


title: Annelid

text: However, leeches and their closest relatives have a body structure that is very uniform within the group but significantly different from that of other annelids, including other members of the Clitellata. In leeches there are no septa, the connective tissue layer of the body wall is so thick that it occupies much of the body, and the two coelomata are widely separated and run the length of the body. They function as the main blood vessels, although they are side-by-side rather than upper and lower. However, they are lined with mesothelium, like the coelomata and unlike the blood vessels of other annelids. Leeches generally use suckers at their front and rear ends to move like inchworms. The anus is on the upper surface of the pygidium.


title: Annelid

text: In some annelids, including earthworms, all respiration is via the skin. However, many polychaetes and some clitellates (the group to which earthworms belong) have gills associated with most segments, often as extensions of the parapodia in polychaetes. The gills of tube-dwellers and burrowers usually cluster around whichever end has the stronger water flow.


title: Annelid

text: Feeding structures in the mouth region vary widely, and have little correlation with the animals' diets. Many polychaetes have a muscular pharynx that can be everted (turned inside out to extend it). In these animals the foremost few segments often lack septa so that, when the muscles in these segments contract, the sharp increase in fluid pressure from all these segments everts the pharynx very quickly. Two families, the Eunicidae and Phyllodocidae, have evolved jaws, which can be used for seizing prey, biting off pieces of vegetation, or grasping dead and decaying matter. On the other hand, some predatory polychaetes have neither jaws nor eversible pharynges. Selective deposit feeders generally live in tubes on the sea-floor and use palps to find food particles in the sediment and then wipe them into their mouths. Filter feeders use "crowns" of palps covered in cilia that wash food particles towards their mouths. Non-selective deposit feeders ingest soil or marine sediments via mouths that are generally unspecialized. Some clitellates have sticky pads in the roofs of their mouths, and some of these can evert the pads to capture prey. Leeches often have an eversible proboscis, or a muscular pharynx with two or three teeth.


title: Annelid

text: The gut is generally an almost straight tube supported by the mesenteries (vertical partitions within segments), and ends with the anus on the underside of the pygidium. However, in members of the tube-dwelling family Siboglinidae the gut is blocked by a swollen lining that houses symbiotic bacteria, which can make up 15% of the worms' total weight. The bacteria convert inorganic matter – such as hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide from hydrothermal vents, or methane from seeps – to organic matter that feeds themselves and their hosts, while the worms extend their palps into the gas flows to absorb the gases needed by the bacteria.


title: Annelid

text: Annelids with blood vessels use metanephridia to remove soluble waste products, while those without use protonephridia. Both of these systems use a two-stage filtration process, in which fluid and waste products are first extracted and these are filtered again to re-absorb any re-usable materials while dumping toxic and spent materials as urine. The difference is that protonephridia combine both filtration stages in the same organ, while metanephridia perform only the second filtration and rely on other mechanisms for the first – in annelids special filter cells in the walls of the blood vessels let fluids and other small molecules pass into the coelomic fluid, where it circulates to the metanephridia. In annelids the points at which fluid enters the protonephridia or metanephridia are on the forward side of a septum while the second-stage filter and the nephridiopore (exit opening in the body wall) are in the following segment. As a result, the hindmost segment (before the growth zone and pygidium) has no structure that extracts its wastes, as there is no following segment to filter and discharge them, while the first segment contains an extraction structure that passes wastes to the second, but does not contain the structures that re-filter and discharge urine.


title: Annelid

text: Polychaetes can reproduce asexually, by dividing into two or more pieces or by budding off a new individual while the parent remains a complete organism. Some oligochaetes, such as "Aulophorus furcatus", seem to reproduce entirely asexually, while others reproduce asexually in summer and sexually in autumn. Asexual reproduction in oligochaetes is always by dividing into two or more pieces, rather than by budding. However, leeches have never been seen reproducing asexually.


title: Annelid

text: Most polychaetes and oligochaetes also use similar mechanisms to regenerate after suffering damage. Two polychaete genera, "Chaetopterus" and "Dodecaceria", can regenerate from a single segment, and others can regenerate even if their heads are removed. Annelids are the most complex animals that can regenerate after such severe damage. On the other hand, leeches cannot regenerate.


title: Annelid

text: It is thought that annelids were originally animals with two separate sexes, which released ova and sperm into the water via their nephridia. The fertilized eggs develop into trochophore larvae, which live as plankton. Later they sink to the sea-floor and metamorphose into miniature adults: the part of the trochophore between the apical tuft and the prototroch becomes the prostomium (head); a small area round the trochophore's anus becomes the pygidium (tail-piece); a narrow band immediately in front of that becomes the growth zone that produces new segments; and the rest of the trochophore becomes the peristomium (the segment that contains the mouth).


title: Annelid

text: However, the lifecycles of most living polychaetes, which are almost all marine animals, are unknown, and only about 25% of the 300+ species whose lifecycles are known follow this pattern. About 14% use a similar external fertilization but produce yolk-rich eggs, which reduce the time the larva needs to spend among the plankton, or eggs from which miniature adults emerge rather than larvae. The rest care for the fertilized eggs until they hatch – some by producing jelly-covered masses of eggs which they tend, some by attaching the eggs to their bodies and a few species by keeping the eggs within their bodies until they hatch. These species use a variety of methods for sperm transfer; for example, in some the females collect sperm released into the water, while in others the males have a penis that inject sperm into the female. There is no guarantee that this is a representative sample of polychaetes' reproductive patterns, and it simply reflects scientists' current knowledge.


title: Annelid

text: Some polychaetes breed only once in their lives, while others breed almost continuously or through several breeding seasons. While most polychaetes remain of one sex all their lives, a significant percentage of species are full hermaphrodites or change sex during their lives. Most polychaetes whose reproduction has been studied lack permanent gonads, and it is uncertain how they produce ova and sperm. In a few species the rear of the body splits off and becomes a separate individual that lives just long enough to swim to a suitable environment, usually near the surface, and spawn.


title: Annelid

text: Most mature clitellates (the group that includes earthworms and leeches) are full hermaphrodites, although in a few leech species younger adults function as males and become female at maturity. All have well-developed gonads, and all copulate. Earthworms store their partners' sperm in spermathecae ("sperm stores") and then the clitellum produces a cocoon that collects ova from the ovaries and then sperm from the spermathecae. Fertilization and development of earthworm eggs takes place in the cocoon. Leeches' eggs are fertilized in the ovaries, and then transferred to the cocoon. In all clitellates the cocoon also either produces yolk when the eggs are fertilized or nutrients while they are developing. All clitellates hatch as miniature adults rather than larvae.


title: Annelid

text: Charles Darwin's book "The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms" (1881) presented the first scientific analysis of earthworms' contributions to soil fertility. Some burrow while others live entirely on the surface, generally in moist leaf litter. The burrowers loosen the soil so that oxygen and water can penetrate it, and both surface and burrowing worms help to produce soil by mixing organic and mineral matter, by accelerating the decomposition of organic matter and thus making it more quickly available to other organisms, and by concentrating minerals and converting them to forms that plants can use more easily. Earthworms are also important prey for birds ranging in size from robins to storks, and for mammals ranging from shrews to badgers, and in some cases conserving earthworms may be essential for conserving endangered birds.


title: Annelid

text: Terrestrial annelids can be invasive in some situations. In the glaciated areas of North America, for example, almost all native earthworms are thought to have been killed by the glaciers and the worms currently found in those areas are all introduced from other areas, primarily from Europe, and, more recently, from Asia. Northern hardwood forests are especially negatively impacted by invasive worms through the loss of leaf duff, soil fertility, changes in soil chemistry and the loss of ecological diversity. Especially of concern is "Amynthas agrestis" and at least one state (Wisconsin) has listed it as a prohibited species.


title: Annelid

text: Earthworms migrate only a limited distance annually on their own, and the spread of invasive worms is increased rapidly by anglers and from worms or their cocoons in the dirt on vehicle tires or footwear.


title: Annelid

text: Marine annelids may account for over one-third of bottom-dwelling animal species around coral reefs and in tidal zones. Burrowing species increase the penetration of water and oxygen into the sea-floor sediment, which encourages the growth of populations of aerobic bacteria and small animals alongside their burrows.


title: Annelid

text: Although blood-sucking leeches do little direct harm to their victims, some transmit flagellates that can be very dangerous to their hosts. Some small tube-dwelling oligochaetes transmit myxosporean parasites that cause whirling disease in fish.


title: Annelid

text: Earthworms make a significant contribution to soil fertility. The rear end of the Palolo worm, a marine polychaete that tunnels through coral, detaches in order to spawn at the surface, and the people of Samoa regard these spawning modules as a delicacy. Anglers sometimes find that worms are more effective bait than artificial flies, and worms can be kept for several days in a tin lined with damp moss. Ragworms are commercially important as bait and as food sources for aquaculture, and there have been proposals to farm them in order to reduce over-fishing of their natural populations. Some marine polychaetes' predation on molluscs causes serious losses to fishery and aquaculture operations.


title: Annelid

text: Scientists study aquatic annelids to monitor the oxygen content, salinity and pollution levels in fresh and marine water.


title: Annelid

text: Accounts of the use of leeches for the medically dubious practise of blood-letting have come from China around 30 AD, India around 200 AD, ancient Rome around 50 AD and later throughout Europe. In the 19th century medical demand for leeches was so high that some areas' stocks were exhausted and other regions imposed restrictions or bans on exports, and "Hirudo medicinalis" is treated as an endangered species by both IUCN and CITES. More recently leeches have been used to assist in microsurgery, and their saliva has provided anti-inflammatory compounds and several important anticoagulants, one of which also prevents tumors from spreading.


title: Annelid

text: Ragworms' jaws are strong but much lighter than the hard parts of many other organisms, which are biomineralized with calcium salts. These advantages have attracted the attention of engineers. Investigations showed that ragworm jaws are made of unusual proteins that bind strongly to zinc.


title: Annelid

text: Since annelids are soft-bodied, their fossils are rare. Polychaetes' fossil record consists mainly of the jaws that some species had and the mineralized tubes that some secreted. Some Ediacaran fossils such as "Dickinsonia" in some ways resemble polychaetes, but the similarities are too vague for these fossils to be classified with confidence. The small shelly fossil "Cloudina", from , has been classified by some authors as an annelid, but by others as a cnidarian (i.e. in the phylum to which jellyfish and sea anemones belong). Until 2008 the earliest fossils widely accepted as annelids were the polychaetes "Canadia" and "Burgessochaeta", both from Canada's Burgess Shale, formed about in the early Cambrian. "Myoscolex", found in Australia and a little older than the Burgess Shale, was possibly an annelid. However, it lacks some typical annelid features and has features which are not usually found in annelids and some of which are associated with other phyla. Then Simon Conway Morris and John Peel reported "Phragmochaeta" from Sirius Passet, about , and concluded that it was the oldest annelid known to date. There has been vigorous debate about whether the Burgess Shale fossil "Wiwaxia" was a mollusc or an annelid. Polychaetes diversified in the early Ordovician, about . It is not until the early Ordovician that the first annelid jaws are found, thus the crown-group cannot have appeared before this date and probably appeared somewhat later. By the end of the Carboniferous, about , fossils of most of the modern mobile polychaete groups had appeared. Many fossil tubes look like those made by modern sessile polychaetes, but the first tubes clearly produced by polychaetes date from the Jurassic, less than . In 2012, a 508 million year old species of annelid found near the Burgess shale beds in British Columbia, "Kootenayscolex", was found that changed the hypotheses about how the annelid head developed. It appears to have bristles on its head segment akin to those along its body, as if the head simply developed as a specialized version of a previously generic segment.


title: Annelid

text: The earliest good evidence for oligochaetes occurs in the Tertiary period, which began , and it has been suggested that these animals evolved around the same time as flowering plants in the early Cretaceous, from . A trace fossil consisting of a convoluted burrow partly filled with small fecal pellets may be evidence that earthworms were present in the early Triassic period from . Body fossils going back to the mid Ordovician, from , have been tentatively classified as oligochaetes, but these identifications are uncertain and some have been disputed.


title: Annelid

text: Traditionally the annelids have been divided into two major groups, the polychaetes and clitellates. In turn the clitellates were divided into oligochaetes, which include earthworms, and hirudinomorphs, whose best-known members are leeches. For many years there was no clear arrangement of the approximately 80 polychaete families into higher-level groups. In 1997 Greg Rouse and Kristian Fauchald attempted a "first heuristic step in terms of bringing polychaete systematics to an acceptable level of rigour", based on anatomical structures, and divided polychaetes into:


title: Annelid

text: Also in 1997 Damhnait McHugh, using molecular phylogenetics to compare similarities and differences in one gene, presented a very different view, in which: the clitellates were an offshoot of one branch of the polychaete family tree; the pogonophorans and echiurans, which for a few decades had been regarded as a separate phyla, were placed on other branches of the polychaete tree. Subsequent molecular phylogenetics analyses on a similar scale presented similar conclusions.


title: Annelid

text: In 2007 Torsten Struck and colleagues compared three genes in 81 taxa, of which nine were outgroups, in other words not considered closely related to annelids but included to give an indication of where the organisms under study are placed on the larger tree of life. For a cross-check the study used an analysis of 11 genes (including the original 3) in ten taxa. This analysis agreed that clitellates, pogonophorans and echiurans were on various branches of the polychaete family tree. It also concluded that the classification of polychaetes into Scolecida, Canalipalpata and Aciculata was useless, as the members of these alleged groups were scattered all over the family tree derived from comparing the 81 taxa. It also placed sipunculans, generally regarded at the time as a separate phylum, on another branch of the polychaete tree, and concluded that leeches were a sub-group of oligochaetes rather than their sister-group among the clitellates. Rouse accepted the analyses based on molecular phylogenetics, and their main conclusions are now the scientific consensus, although the details of the annelid family tree remain uncertain.


title: Annelid

text: In addition to re-writing the classification of annelids and three previously independent phyla, the molecular phylogenetics analyses undermine the emphasis that decades of previous writings placed on the importance of segmentation in the classification of invertebrates. Polychaetes, which these analyses found to be the parent group, have completely segmented bodies, while polychaetes' echiurans and sipunculan offshoots are not segmented and pogonophores are segmented only in the rear parts of their bodies. It now seems that segmentation can appear and disappear much more easily in the course of evolution than was previously thought. The 2007 study also noted that the ladder-like nervous system, which is associated with segmentation, is less universal than previously thought in both annelids and arthropods.


title: Annelid

text: The updated phylogenetic tree of the Annelid phylum is comprised by a grade of basal groups of polychaetes: Palaeoannelida, Chaetopteriformia and the Amphinomida/Sipuncula/"Lobatocerebrum" clade. This grade is followed by Pleistoannelida, the clade containing nearly all of annelid diversity, divided into two highly diverse groups: Sedentaria and Errantia. Sedentaria contains the clitellates, pogonophorans, echiurans and some archiannelids, as well as several polychaete groups. Errantia contains the eunicid and phyllodocid polychaetes, and several archiannelids. Some small groups, such as the Myzostomida, are more difficult to place due to long branching, but belong to either one of these large groups.


title: Annelid

text: Annelids are members of the protostomes, one of the two major superphyla of bilaterian animals – the other is the deuterostomes, which includes vertebrates. Within the protostomes, annelids used to be grouped with arthropods under the super-group Articulata ("jointed animals"), as segmentation is obvious in most members of both phyla. However, the genes that drive segmentation in arthropods do not appear to do the same in annelids. Arthropods and annelids both have close relatives that are unsegmented. It is at least as easy to assume that they evolved segmented bodies independently as it is to assume that the ancestral protostome or bilaterian was segmented and that segmentation disappeared in many descendant phyla. The current view is that annelids are grouped with molluscs, brachiopods and several other phyla that have lophophores (fan-like feeding structures) and/or trochophore larvae as members of Lophotrochozoa. Meanwhile, arthropods are now regarded as members of the Ecdysozoa ("animals that molt"), along with some phyla that are unsegmented.


title: Annelid

text: The "Lophotrochozoa" hypothesis is also supported by the fact that many phyla within this group, including annelids, molluscs, nemerteans and flatworms, follow a similar pattern in the fertilized egg's development. When their cells divide after the 4-cell stage, descendants of these four cells form a spiral pattern. In these phyla the "fates" of the embryo's cells, in other words the roles their descendants will play in the adult animal, are the same and can be predicted from a very early stage. Hence this development pattern is often described as "spiral determinate cleavage".


title: Annelid

text: Fossil discoveries lead to the hypothesis that Annelida and the lophophorates are more closely related to each other than any other phyla. Because of the body plan of lophotrochozoan fossils, a phylogenetic analysis found the lophophorates as the sister group of annelids. Both groups share in common: the presence of chaetae secreted by microvilli; paired, metameric coelomic compartments; and a similar metanephridial structure.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: Owen Lee Hargreaves (born 20 January 1981) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He was known as a hard-working and "solid defensive midfielder who worked tirelessly to win the ball" and provide his teammates with possession. He played with Calgary Foothills as a youth before beginning his professional football career in Germany with Bayern Munich. After seven years with the Munich side – during which time he won four German league titles and the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League – Hargreaves signed for Manchester United in 2007, winning the Premier League and UEFA Champions League in his first season. However, his time at Manchester United was plagued with injuries and he was allowed to leave the club at the end of his contract in June 2011. Hargreaves posted YouTube videos in a bid to convince potential suitors of his fitness, and in August 2011, Manchester City offered a one-year contract to Hargreaves, which he accepted.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: As a Canadian citizen with a Welsh mother and an English father, Hargreaves was eligible to represent Canada, Wales or England. Hargreaves initially played for Wales, and was capped three times for the Wales under-19 team, but then opted to play for the England under-21 team in 2000 and was capped by the senior squad the following year. He is the only player to have played for England without having previously lived in England, and only the second, after Joe Baker, to have done so without having previously played in the English football league system.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: Hargreaves was born in Calgary, Alberta, as the youngest of three children of Margaret and Colin Hargreaves, who had emigrated from the United Kingdom at the start of the 1980s. His father played football for the Bolton Wanderers youth side and also for the Calgary Kickers of the Canadian Soccer League. He is the only member of his family born in Canada; his brother Darren and his mother were both born in Wales, and his other brother Neil and his father were born in England.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: As a youngster in North America, Hargreaves grew up mostly watching and playing sports like basketball, ice hockey and American football. His sporting heroes were basketball legend Michael Jordan and American football player Deion Sanders. He did not begin to play football seriously until the age of 15.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: Hargreaves tried out for Bayern Munich in October 1996. Hargreaves moved at the age of 16 from Calgary Foothills to Bayern Munich on 1 July 1997. He played in the Under-19 team for two and a half years before spending nine months with the Amateur team. While with the Under-19s the team reached the final of the German Championship in 1998. They lost in the final to Borussia Dortmund, but only after a penalty shoot-out in Dortmund's Stadion Rote Erde.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: On 12 August 2000, Hargreaves played in his first Bundesliga match against Hertha Berlin, making an appearance as a substitute for Carsten Jancker in the 83rd minute. His first start came against SpVgg Unterhaching on 16 September 2000. That season the club were Bundesliga champions and also won the UEFA Champions League, with Hargreaves starting the final in central midfield. Hargreaves is one of only two English players to have won a Champions League medal with a non-English club, alongside two-time winner Steve McManaman (who won the Champions League with Real Madrid in 1999–2000 and 2001–02).


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: In the 2001–02 season Hargreaves established himself as a first team regular. He made 46 appearances in all, with the club finishing third in the Bundesliga, making the quarter finals of the Champions League and being defeated in the DFB-Pokal by Schalke. The club regained their Bundesliga title in 2002–03, along with the DFB-Pokal. On 26 January 2003, Hargreaves scored his first Bundesliga goal in the game against Borussia Mönchengladbach.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: 2002–03 saw Hargreaves out injured on three occasions. In September he tore a thigh muscle, then in October a calf muscle. Towards the end of the season adductor problems meant he missed a further three weeks. Altogether he made 25 Bundesliga appearances, four in Cup games and three in the Champions League.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: The 2003–04 season was Hargreaves' first with Bayern without winning any silverware. After clinching the double the year before, the Bavarian side finished second in the Bundesliga, and were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid. Hargreaves made a total of 38 appearances for the club in this season.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: In 2004–05 Hargreaves picked up another German championship and DFB-Pokal. He made 27 appearances in the Bundesliga (one goal), played in three Cup games (two goals) and eight Champions League games. In the 2005–06 season, he added another Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal title. Hargreaves scored the first goal at the new Allianz Arena in a competitive match on 5 August 2005, against Borussia Mönchengladbach. In all, he made 15 league appearances (one goal), four cup appearances (two goals) and three Champions League appearances. In October 2005, he extended his contract at Bayern for another four years.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: In the 2006–07 season, Hargreaves broke his leg, which kept him out of most of Bayern's league campaign that season. He recovered in time to take part in Bayern's victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League, progressing after an aggregate score of 4–4 thanks to their two away goals in the 3–2 defeat in the first leg at Madrid's Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. However, Bayern were knocked out in the quarter-final by Milan and finished fourth in the Bundesliga, missing out on Champions League football for the first time since 1996. In total he played 145 top-flight matches in Germany for FC Bayern.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: On 31 May 2007, it was announced that Hargreaves would join Manchester United on 1 July 2007, after almost a year of negotiations between Bayern Munich and United for a fee of around £17 million. Hargreaves was finally unveiled as a United player on 1 July, having signed a four-year contract with the club. He was then revealed to the press on 9 July, along with fellow newcomer Nani. Hargreaves was given the number 4 shirt at Old Trafford.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: Hargreaves made his first United appearance in a friendly against Peterborough United on 4 August, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 3–1 victory. He made his first Premier League appearance in United's third game of the season, in the derby match away to Manchester City in a 1–0 defeat. Hargreaves scored his first league goal for United against Fulham on 1 March, a free kick from just outside the penalty box. He scored his second league goal for the club on 13 April, a free kick winner against Arsenal. In his first season with United they won the Premier League and Champions League titles. In the Champions League final, Hargreaves played all 120 minutes, starting on the right of midfield, and scored United's fourth penalty of the shootout as they defeated Chelsea 6–5 on penalties.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: The start of Hargreaves' second season at United was hampered by injury, a recurring patellar tendinitis problem that restricted him to sporadic appearances in 2008–09. After trips to specialists in both London and Sweden yielded no results, Hargreaves travelled to Colorado, USA, in November 2008 to visit renowned knee surgeon, Richard Steadman. Hargreaves underwent surgery on his right knee on 10 November and received a similar operation on his left knee in January 2009. However, this meant that he would miss the remainder of the 2008–09 season, ultimately meaning he would miss out on a second Premier League title as well as League Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and FA Community Shield winner's medals. Hargreaves underwent his rehabilitation programme in the United States, and was due to return to training with United at the Audi Cup in Munich. However, upon assessment, it was decided that he should continue with his rehabilitation in the United States. Hargreaves returned to the club on 23 September 2009, joined by his physiotherapist for a week to aid the transition process and for the club to understand his rehabilitation programme.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: In January 2010, it was speculated that Hargreaves was slated to return in time for United's Champions League first knockout round tie against Milan, despite not being fully match-fit. However, on 4 February, Hargreaves suffered a major setback to hopes of playing in the 2010 FIFA World Cup as Sir Alex Ferguson omitted him from the squad for the knockout stage in favour of Belgian defender Ritchie De Laet. It was expected that Hargreaves would make his return from injury in a reserve team match against Manchester City on 11 March, but on the day of the match, Hargreaves pulled out of the game to continue with his training regime. He eventually made his comeback a week later, playing for 45 minutes of United's reserve team match against Burnley on 18 March. On 24 April, Hargreaves was named as an unused substitute for the first-team match against Tottenham Hotspur.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: On 2 May 2010, Hargreaves made his Premier League return in the 93rd minute of United's penultimate game of the season against Sunderland. It was his first Premier League action since a 1–1 draw with Chelsea in September 2008, in which time he had missed 113 matches in 20 months. Despite this, Hargreaves missed the beginning of the 2010–11 season, having suffered another injury, for which he travelled to the United States to see a specialist. On 24 September, manager Ferguson announced that Hargreaves had returned to training. On 6 November 2010, he made his first start since September 2008 against Wolverhampton Wanderers, however it was short-lived after a hamstring injury forced his withdrawal for Bébé just five minutes into the match, which United went on to win 2–1.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: On 22 May 2011, Ferguson confirmed that the club would not offer Hargreaves a new contract. His contract expired at the end of the 2010–11 season and he left the club, despite offering to play the 2011–12 season for free. Hargreaves later posted videos on YouTube of him exercising, in order to prove his fitness to potential clubs. Buoyed by Richard Steadman's optimistic assessment that Hargreaves' knees, a source of injury for a number of years, could withstand the impact of 'jumping from the Eiffel Tower', a number of clubs including Bolton Wanderers Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest Queens Park Rangers, Rangers, and "several MLS clubs", were believed to be considering an offer for Hargreaves. In Ferguson's autobiography released in 2013, he called Hargreaves one of his most disappointing signings. In 2020, ESPN ranked his transfer to United as the 27th worst Premier League transfer of all time.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: On 30 August 2011, Hargreaves was pictured supposedly having a medical with Manchester City doctor Phillip Batty ahead of a move to the club. The medical team at City were reportedly impressed by Hargreaves' state of body as well as his state of mind. City had been looking for a replacement for Patrick Vieira who retired the season before and an additional midfielder due to Yaya Touré's anticipated absence during January 2012 because of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. They had earmarked Daniele De Rossi, Fernando Gago and Mark van Bommel but when these approaches failed, City turned to Hargreaves – a player they had been looking at for a few months prior to their initial approach.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: On 31 August 2011, City confirmed that they had signed Hargreaves on a one-year deal. It was expected Hargreaves would join West Bromwich Albion, but the City offer came as a surprise. The move offered Hargreaves an opportunity for Champions League football as the club looked to challenge United for the Premier League. However, he was left out of the Champions League squad. Hargreaves made his City debut against Birmingham City in the League Cup, and opened the scoring in a 2–0 victory with a goal in the 17th minute. On 27 April 2012, it was confirmed that he would be released at the end of the season after just four appearances for the club. City were to be victorious in the Premier League, winning their first English title for 44 years, with Hargreaves being involved in the on-pitch celebrations after defeating Queens Park Rangers on the final day. However, after only playing one league match all season, he did not qualify to receive a winner's medal.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: Following his release, he trained with Queens Park Rangers, but was not offered a contract by the club.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: Born in Canada to a Welsh mother and an English father, Hargreaves was eligible to play international football for England, Wales or Canada. Hargreaves was not selected to play for the Canada U-17 World Cup team, despite being a promising youth player who trialled for Bayern Munich and was about to sign a contract with them. Hargreaves drew the ire of soccer fans in Canada and football fans in Wales for choosing to play for England. One fansite went to the lengths of demanding that the three Canadian teams in MLS (Montreal Impact, Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps) never sign Hargreaves to play for them, after he was courted by the Vancouver Whitecaps in 2010.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: He represented Wales at the 1998 Milk Cup where Wales finished in third place behind Turkey and Northern Ireland, but finished above Russia. He was set to make his début for the Wales U21 team against the Belarus U21 team in September 2000 but pulled out of the squad after he was approached by England.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: On 31 August 2000, the then England under-21 manager, Howard Wilkinson, called the 19-year-old into his squad for the match against Georgia. The game, played at the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough, ended in a 6–1 win for the home team. Further appearances for the under-21s followed in friendlies against Italy and Spain.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: Hargreaves played his first full international game on 15 August 2001 against the Netherlands at White Hart Lane, giving him the distinction of being the only player to appear for England despite having never lived in England. He was also the second player (after Joe Baker) to have appeared for England without having played in English league football and the first to appear for England without having played in England. In only his second cap he came on as a substitute as England famously beat Germany 5–1 in the Olympiastadion. Hargreaves was the only player playing outside the Premier League to be selected for England's 2002 FIFA World Cup squad. Hargreaves was injured after just fifteen minutes of England's second group game against Argentina and had to be substituted.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: Although he had not usually been part of the first-team, he was selected for the England squads at Euro 2004 in Portugal and the 2006 World Cup in Germany despite criticism from sections of the press and public. The generally negative perception of him by English fans had not been helped by his seeming to have an essence of "German-ness", exacerbated by his Canadian, Welsh accent and fluency in German. While restricted to three appearances as a substitute at Euro 2004, Hargreaves was in the starting lineup of England's final three matches in 2006. In a tournament in which England were generally regarded as having underachieved, he was, by the end of England's participation, widely considered one of the few successes of the English squad. He was named Man of the match in the quarter final against Portugal, the game in which England were eliminated after a penalty shootout, Hargreaves having been the only successful English penalty taker. In 2006, he won both England Player of the Year, and England Player of the World Cup in official FA polls, the first to win both in the same year.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: Hargreaves picked up the Man of the match award in England's 4–0 win over Greece on 16 August 2006. On 30 January 2007 he was voted England Player of the Year 2006, as voted for by visitors to the Official FA site.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: In June 2007, FIFA announced that Hargreaves and Philipp Lahm would visit South Africa in advance support for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: After his transfer to Manchester City in 2011, England coach Fabio Capello hoped that Hargreaves would regain his fitness saying "I hope he will be really good in the short-term for Manchester City and also for England."


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: Hargreaves' career was affected by injuries, the bulk of which formed in 2006, the year he won the award for England's best player at the 2006 World Cup. Hargreaves stated that he believed the bulk of his injury problems to have been in 2007, when he returned from injury after breaking his leg. He felt that his muscle in his leg was weaker than before he sustained his broken leg, and initially Hargreaves ignored the aching and played on.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: It emerged by 2008 that Hargreaves was suffering from a problem with his patella tendon and this was eventually narrowed down to patellar tendinitis. Surgeon Richard Steadman stated that Hargreaves knees were in a worse state than any other he had come across in his 35 years of experience. After numerous operations on both his knees, Steadman said in September 2010 that Hargreaves' problems with his knees were over but Alex Ferguson denied this. In November 2010, Hargreaves made his first start for Manchester United in 777 days, but limped off after six minutes.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: In 2011, Manchester United did not renew his contract due to his injury troubles. Speculation rumbled about Hargreaves retiring due to his injuries but determined to prove himself, he uploaded YouTube videos of himself training to convince potential clubs of his fitness. His determination to carry on despite chronic injury won him admirers.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: After his move to Manchester City, Hargreaves stated that he felt like "a guinea pig" during his time on the treatment table at Manchester United. He believed that his prolonged trouble with injuries were due to the revolutionary treatments he was forced to undergo in an effort to solve a problem he felt had been exacerbated by the injections. Sir Alex Ferguson has rejected these claims.


title: Owen Hargreaves

text: Hargreaves appears as a pundit for BT Sport as part of their Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Champions League coverage. He is also a Football Analyst on news channel CNN, and has covered the Euro 2016 competition in France.


title: Charan Singh

text: Chaudhary Charan Singh (23 December 1902 – 29 May 1987) served as the 5th Prime Minister of India between 28 July 1979 to 14 January 1980. Historians and people alike frequently refer to him as the 'champion of India's peasants.'


title: Charan Singh

text: Charan Singh was born on 23 December 1902 in a rural peasant Hindu Jat family of the Teotia clan of village Noorpur, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. Charan Singh entered politics as part of the Indian Independence Movement motivated by Mahatma Gandhi. He was active from 1931 in the Ghaziabad District Arya Samaj as well as the Meerut District Indian National Congress for which he was jailed twice by the British. Before independence, as a member of Legislative Assembly of the United Provinces elected in 1937, he took a deep interest in the laws that were detrimental to the village economy and he slowly built his ideological and practical stand against the exploitation of tillers of the land by landlords.


title: Charan Singh

text: Between 1952 to 1967, he was one of "three principal leaders in Congress state politics." He became particularly notable in Uttar Pradesh from the 1950s for drafting and ensuring the passage of what were then the most revolutionary land reform laws in any state in India under the tutelage of the then Chief Minister Govind Ballabh Pant; first as Parliamentary Secretary and then as Revenue Minister responsible for Land Reforms. He became visible on the national stage from 1959 when he publicly opposed the unquestioned leader and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's socialistic and collectivist land policies in the Nagpur Congress Session. Though his position in the faction-ridden Uttar Pradesh Congress was weakened, this was a point when the middle peasant communities across castes in North India began looking up to him as their spokesperson and later as their unquestioned leader. Singh stood for tight government spending, enforced consequences for corrupt officers, and advocated a "firm hand in dealing with the demands of government employees for increased wages and dearness allowances." It is also worth noting that within the factional Uttar Pradesh Congress, his ability to articulate his clear policies and values made him stand out from his colleagues. Following this period, Charan Singh defected from the Congress on 1 April 1967, joined the opposition party, and became the first non-Congress chief minister of UP. This was a period when non-Congress governments were a strong force in India from 1967–1971.


title: Charan Singh

text: As leader of the Bharatiya Lok Dal, a major constituent of the Janata coalition, he was disappointed in his ambition to become Prime Minister in 1977 by Jayaprakash Narayan's choice of Morarji Desai.


title: Charan Singh

text: During 1977 Lok Sabha Elections, the fragmented opposition united a few months before the elections under the Janata Party banner, for which Chaudhary Charan Singh had been struggling almost single-handedly since 1974. It was because of the efforts of Raj Narain that he became Prime Minister in the year 1979 though Raj Narain was Chairman of Janata Party-Secular and assured Charan Singh of elevating him as Prime Minister, the way he helped him to become Chief Minister in the year 1967 in Uttar Pradesh. However, he resigned after just 24 weeks in office when Indira Gandhi's Congress Party withdrew support to the government. Charan Singh said he resigned because he was not ready to be blackmailed into withdrawing Indira Gandhi's emergency-related court cases. Fresh elections were held six months later. Charan Singh continued to lead the Lok Dal in opposition until his death in 1987.


title: Charan Singh

text: Charan Singh's ancestor was a prominent leader of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Raja Nahar Singh of Ballabhgarh (in present-day Haryana). Nahar Singh was sent to the gallows in Chandni Chowk, Delhi. In order to escape the oppression from the British Government following their defeat, the Maharaja's followers, including Charan Singh's grandfather moved eastward to district Bulandshaher in Uttar Pradesh.


title: Charan Singh

text: Charan Singh was born on 23 December, 1902 in the village of Noorpur in the Meerut district in the Rohilkhand region of the North-Western part of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh in British India (present-day in Bijnor district, Uttar Pradesh, India) into a rural peasant Hindu Jat family of the Teotia clan. He was a good student, and received a Master of Arts (MA) degree in 1925 and a law degree in 1926 from Agra University. He started practice as a civil lawyer at Ghaziabad in 1928.


title: Charan Singh

text: In February 1937 he was elected from the constituency of Chhaprauli (Baghpat) to the Legislative Assembly of the United Provinces at the age of 34. In 1938 he introduced an Agricultural Produce Market Bill in the Assembly which was published in the issues of The Hindustan Times of Delhi dated 31 March 1938. The Bill was intended to safeguard the interests of the farmers against the rapacity of traders. The Bill was adopted by most of the States in India, Punjab being the first state to do so in 1940.


title: Charan Singh

text: Charan Singh followed Mahatma Gandhi in non-violent struggle for independence from the British Government, and was imprisoned several times. In 1930, he was sent to jail for 12 years by the British for contravention of the salt laws. He was jailed again for one year in November 1940 for individual Satyagraha movement. In August 1942 he was jailed again by the British under DIR and released in November 1943.


title: Charan Singh

text: Charan Singh opposed Jawaharlal Nehru on his Soviet-style economic reforms. Charan Singh was of the opinion that cooperative farms would not succeed in India. Being a son of a farmer, Charan Singh opined that the right of ownership was important to the farmer in remaining a cultivator. He wanted to preserve and stabilize a system of peasant proprietorship. Charan Singh's political career suffered due to his open criticism of Nehru's economic policy.


title: Charan Singh

text: Charan Singh left the Congress party in 1967, and formed his own political party, Bharatiya Kranti Dal. With the help and support of Raj Narain and Ram Manohar Lohia, he became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1967, and later in 1970. In 1975, he was jailed again, but this time by then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, daughter of his former rival Nehru. She had declared the state of emergency and jailed all her political opponents. In the 1977 general elections, the Indian populace voted her out, and the opposition party, of which Chaudhary Charan Singh was a senior leader came into power. He served as Deputy Prime Minister, Home Minister and Finance minister in the Janata government headed by Morarji Desai.


title: Charan Singh

text: When the Janata Party won the Lok Sabha elections in 1977, its MPs authorized Congress elders Jayaprakash Narayan and Acharya Kripalani to choose the Prime Minister. Morarji Desai was chosen and he named Singh Home Minister. Singh was asked to resign in June 1978 following disagreements with Desai, but was brought back to the cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister in January 1979. The truce did not last long, and a mutiny reduced the government to a minority. Charan Singh was sworn in as Prime Minister on 28 July 1979, with outside support from Indira Gandhi's Congress (I) party and with Yeshwantrao Chavan of the Congress (Socialist) party as his Deputy Prime Minister. Just before he was to confirm his majority in the Lok Sabha, Indira Gandhi withdrew support to his government. He resigned on 20 August 1979, after just 23 days in office, becoming the only Prime Minister never to obtain the confidence of Parliament. Singh then advised President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy to dissolve the Lok Sabha. Janata Party leader Jagjivan Ram challenged that advice and sought time to cobble support, but the Lok Sabha was dissolved, and Charan Singh continued as caretaker Prime Minister until January 1980.


title: Charan Singh

text: Charan Singh had six children with wife Gayatri Devi (1905-2002). Gayatri Devi was elected an MLA from Iglas in 1969, from Gokul in 1974, then elected to Lok Sabha from Kairana in 1980, and lost Lok Sabha election from Mathura in 1984. His son Ajit Singh was the president of a political party Rashtriya Lok Dal and a former Union Minister and a many times Member of Parliament. Ajit Singh's son Jayant Chaudhary was elected to 15th Lok Sabha from Mathura, which he lost to Hema Malini in the election of 2014.


title: Charan Singh

text: Singh suffered a stroke on 29 November 1985. He could not completely recover from the condition despite being treated the following March at a hospital in the US. At 11:35 p.m. (IST) on 28 May 1987 doctors were called for to his residence in New Delhi, after his respiration was found "unsteady". Efforts to revive him failed and was declared dead at 2:35 a.m. (IST) the following morning after a "cardiovascular collapse".


title: Charan Singh

text: He was the chief architect of land reforms in U.P.; he took a leading part in formulation and finalization of the Dept. Redemption Bill 1939, which brought great relief to rural debtors. It was also at his initiative that the salaries and other privileges enjoyed by Ministers in U.P. were drastically reduced. As Chief Minister he was instrumental in bringing about the Land Holding Act 1960 which was aimed at lowering the ceiling on land holdings to make it uniform throughout the State.


title: Charan Singh

text: Since his death, many who knew Singh have ensured his life and work are remembered positively. These perceptions enforce the notion that he was of a "higher category of leaders" in the areas of "intellect, personal integrity, and . . . coherence of his economic and social thought." His association with causes dear to farming communities in India caused his memorial in New Delhi to be named "Kisan Ghat" (in Hindi, Kisan is the word for farmer and Ghat is word for river bank). His birthday on 23 December is celebrated as Kisan Diwas in India. A commemorative postage stamp was issued by the government of India on the third death anniversary (29 May 1990) of Charan Singh.


title: Charan Singh

text: The Amausi Airport in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh was renamed Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport after him, and the University of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, India, was also named Chaudhary Charan Singh University in his honour.


title: Charan Singh

text: "Kisan Kranti Ke Praneta - Ch. Charan Singh" is a 1996 short documentary film directed by Ashok Vazirani and produced by the Films Division of India which covers the life and achievements of the prime minister including his contributions to the Indian agriculture sector. Charan Singh has also been portrayed by Anwar Fatehan in the 2013 television series "Pradhanmantri" (), which covers the tenures of Indian PMs, by Sundaram in the 2019 film "" which is based on the life of Indian actor-politician N. T. Rama Rao., and by Govind Namdeo in the 2021 film "Main Mulayam Singh Yadav" which charts the life of former Uttar Pradesh CM Mulayam Singh Yadav.


title: Muscovy duck

text: The Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) is a large duck native to the Americas, from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and Mexico south to Argentina and Uruguay. Small wild and feral breeding populations have established themselves in the United States, particularly in Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, the Big Island of Hawaii, as well as in many other parts of North America, including southern Canada. Feral Muscovy ducks are found in New Zealand, Australia, and in parts of Europe.


title: Muscovy duck

text: It is a large duck, with the males about long, and weighing up to . Females are noticeably smaller, and only grow to , roughly half the males' size. The bird is predominantly black and white, with the back feathers being iridescent and glossy in males, while the females are more drab. The amount of white on the neck and head is variable, as well as the bill, which can be yellow, pink, black, or any mixture of these colors. It may have white patches or bars on the wings, which become more noticeable during flight. Both sexes have pink or red wattles around the bill, those of the male being larger and more brightly colored.


title: Muscovy duck

text: Although the Muscovy duck is a tropical bird, it adapts well to cooler climates, thriving in weather as cold as and able to survive even colder conditions. In general, Barbary duck is the term used for "C. moschata" in a culinary context.


title: Muscovy duck

text: The domestic subspecies, "Cairina moschata domestica", is commonly known in Spanish as the "pato criollo". They have been bred since pre-Columbian times by Native Americans and are heavier and less able to fly long distances than the wild subspecies. Their plumage color is also more variable. Other names for the domestic breed in Spanish are "pato casero" ("backyard duck") and "pato mudo" ("mute duck").


title: Muscovy duck

text: All Muscovy ducks have long claws on their feet and a wide, flat tail. In the domestic drake (male), length is about and weight is , while the domestic hen (female) is much smaller, at in length and in weight. Large domesticated males often weigh up to , and large domesticated females up to .


title: Muscovy duck

text: The true wild Muscovy duck, from which all domestic Muscovies originated, is blackish, with large white wing patches. Length can range from , wingspan from and weight from . On the head, the wild male has a short crest on the nape. The bill is black with a speckling of pale pink. A blackish or dark red knob can be seen at the bill base, which is similar in colour to the bare skin of the face. The eyes are yellowish-brown. The legs and webbed feet are blackish. The wild female is similar in plumage, but much smaller, with a feathered face and lacking the prominent knob. The juvenile is duller overall, with little or no white on the upperwing.


title: Muscovy duck

text: Domesticated birds may look similar; most are dark brown or black mixed with white, particularly on the head. Other colors, such as lavender or all-white, are also seen. Both sexes have a nude black-and-red or all-red face; the drake also has pronounced caruncles at the base of the bill and a low erectile crest of feathers. "C. moschata" ducklings are mostly yellow with buff-brown markings on the tail and wings. For a while after hatching, juveniles lack the distinctive wattles associated with adult individuals, and resemble the offspring of various other ducks, such as mallards. Some domesticated ducklings have a dark head and blue eyes, others a light brown crown and dark markings on their nape. They are agile and speedy precocial birds.


title: Muscovy duck

text: The karyotype of the Muscovy duck is 2n=80, consisting of three pairs of macrochromosomes, 36 pairs of microchromosomes, and a pair of sex chromosomes. The two largest macrochromosome pairs are submetacentric, while all other chromosomes are acrocentric or probably telocentric for the smallest microchromosomes. The submetacentric chromosomes and the Z (female) chromosome show rather little constitutive heterochromatin (C bands), while the W chromosomes are at least two-thirds heterochromatin.


title: Muscovy duck

text: Male Muscovy ducks have helical penises that become erect to in s. Females have vaginas that coil in the opposite direction that appear to have evolved to limit forced copulation by males.


title: Muscovy duck

text: "Muscovy" is an old name for the region of Russia surrounding Moscow, but these ducks are neither native there nor were introduced there before they became known in Western Europe. It is not quite clear how the term came about; it very likely originated between 1550 and 1600, but did not become widespread until somewhat later.


title: Muscovy duck

text: In one suggestion, it has been claimed that the Company of Merchant Adventurers to New Lands traded these ducks to Europe occasionally after 1550; this chartered company became eventually known as the "Muscovy Company" or "Muscovite Company" so the ducks might thus have come to be called "Muscovite ducks" or "Muscovy ducks" in keeping with the common practice of attaching the importer's name to the products they sold. But while the Muscovite Company initiated vigorous trade with Russia, they hardly, if at all, traded produce from the Americas; thus, they are unlikely to have traded "C. moschata" to a significant extent.


title: Muscovy duck

text: Alternatively—just as in the "turkey" (which is also from North America, not Turkey) and the "guineafowl" (which are not limited to Guinea)—"Muscovy" might be simply a generic term for an exotic place, in reference to the singular appearance of these birds. This is evidenced by other names suggesting the species came from lands where it is not actually native, but from where much "outlandish" produce was imported at that time (see below).


title: Muscovy duck

text: Yet another view—not incompatible with either of those discussed above—connects the species with the Muisca, a Native American nation in today's Colombia. The duck is native to these lands also, and it is likely that it was kept by the Muisca as a domestic animal to some extent. It is conceivable that a term like "Muisca duck", hard to comprehend for the average European of those times, would be corrupted into something more familiar. Likewise, the Miskito Indians of the Miskito Coast in Nicaragua and Honduras heavily relied on it as a domestic species, and the ducks as well may have been named after this region.


title: Muscovy duck

text: Linnaeus’ description of "Anas moschata" only consists of a curt but entirely unequivocal "[Anas] facie nuda papillosa" ("A duck with a naked and carunculated face"), and his primary reference is his earlier work "Fauna Svecica". But Linnaeus refers also to older sources, wherein much information on the origin of the common name is found.


title: Muscovy duck

text: Conrad Gessner is given by Linnaeus as a source, but the "Historia animalium" mentions the Muscovy duck only in passing. Ulisse Aldrovandi discusses the species in detail, referring to the wild birds and its domestic breeds variously as "anas cairina", "anas indica" or "anas libyca" – "duck from Cairo", "Indian duck" (in reference to the West Indies) or "Libyan duck". But his "anas indica" (based, like Gessner's brief discussion, ultimately on the reports of Christopher Columbus's travels) also seems to have included another species, perhaps a whistling-duck ("Dendrocygna"). Already however the species is tied to some more or less nondescript "exotic" locality – "Libya" could still refer to any place in Northern Africa at that time – where it did not natively occur. Francis Willughby discusses "The Muscovy duck" as "anas moschata" and expresses his belief that Aldrovandi's and Gessner's "anas cairina", "anas indica" and "anas libyca" (which he calls "The Guiny duck", adding another mistaken place of origin to the list) refer to the very same species. Finally, John Ray attempts to clear up the confusion by providing an alternative explanation for the name's etymology:


title: Muscovy duck

text: In English, it is called "The Muscovy-Duck", though this is not transferred from Muscovia [the New Latin name of Muscovy], but from the rather strong musk odour it exudes.


title: Muscovy duck

text: Linnaeus came to witness the birds' "gamey" aroma first-hand, as he attests in the "Fauna Svecica" and again in the travelogue of this 1746 Västergötland excursion. Similarly, the Russian name of this species, "muskusnaya utka" (Мускусная утка), means "musk duck" – without any reference to Moscow – as do the Bokmål and Danish "moskusand", Dutch "muskuseend", Finnish "myskisorsa", French "canard musqué", German "Moschusente", Italian "anatra muschiata", Spanish "pato almizclado" and Swedish "myskand". In English, however, musk duck refers to the Australian species "Biziura lobata".


title: Muscovy duck

text: The currently assigned genus name Cairina, meanwhile, traces its origin to Aldrovandi and the mistaken belief that the birds came from Egypt: translated, the current scientific name of the Muscovy duck means "the musky one from Cairo".


title: Muscovy duck

text: In some regions the name "Barbary duck" is used for domestic and "Muscovy duck" for wild birds; in other places, "Barbary duck" refers specifically to the dressed carcass, while "Muscovy duck" applies to living "C. moschata", regardless of whether they are wild or domestic. In general, "Barbary duck" is the usual term for "C. moschata" in a culinary context.


title: Muscovy duck

text: The species was first scientifically described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 edition of "Systema Naturae" as "Anas moschata", literally meaning "musk duck". It was later transferred to the genus "Cairina", making its current binomial name "Cairina moschata".


title: Muscovy duck

text: The Muscovy duck was formerly placed into the paraphyletic "perching duck" assemblage, but subsequently moved to the dabbling duck subfamily (Anatinae). Analysis of the mtDNA sequences of the cytochrome "b" and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 genes, however, indicates that it might be closer to the genus "Aix" and better placed in the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae. In addition, the other species of "Cairina", the rare white-winged duck ("C. scutulata"), seems to belong to a distinct genus ("Asarcornis").


title: Muscovy duck

text: This non-migratory species normally inhabits forested swamps, lakes, streams and nearby grassland and farm crops, and often roosts in trees at night. The Muscovy duck's diet consists of plant material (such as the roots, stems, leaves, and seeds of aquatic plants and grasses, as well as terrestrial plants, including agricultural crops) obtained by grazing or dabbling in shallow water, and small fish, amphibians, reptiles, crustaceans, insects, millipedes, and worms. This is an aggressive duck; males often fight over food, territory or mates. The females fight with each other less often. Some adults will peck at the ducklings if they are eating at the same food source.


title: Muscovy duck

text: The Muscovy duck has benefited from nest boxes in Mexico, but is somewhat uncommon in much of the eastern part of its range due to excessive hunting. It is not considered a globally threatened species by the IUCN, however, as it is widely distributed.


title: Muscovy duck

text: This species, like the mallard, does not form stable pairs. They will mate on land or in water (note the submerged female in the image below). Domestic Muscovy ducks can breed up to three times each year.


title: Muscovy duck

text: The hen lays a clutch of 8–16 white eggs, usually in a tree hole or hollow, which are incubated for 35 days. The sitting hen will leave the nest once a day from 20 minutes to one and a half hours, and will then defecate, drink water, eat and sometimes bathe. Once the eggs begin to hatch, it may take 24 hours for all the chicks to break through their shells. When feral chicks are born, they usually stay with their mother for about 10–12 weeks. Their bodies cannot produce all the heat they need, especially in temperate regions, so they will stay close to the mother, especially at night.


title: Muscovy duck

text: Often, the drake will stay in close contact with the brood for several weeks. The male will walk with the young during their normal travels in search for food, providing protection. Anecdotal evidence from East Anglia, U.K. suggests that, in response to different environmental conditions, other adults assist in protecting chicks and providing warmth at night. It has been suggested that this is in response to local efforts to cull the eggs, which has led to an atypical distribution of males and females, as well as young and mature birds.


title: Muscovy duck

text: For the first few weeks of their lives, Muscovy chicks feed on grains, corn, grass, insects, and almost anything that moves. Their mother instructs them at an early age how to feed.


title: Muscovy duck

text: Feral Muscovy ducks can breed near urban and suburban lakes and on farms, nesting in tree cavities or on the ground, under shrubs in yards, on apartment balconies, or under roof overhangs. Some feral populations, such as that in southern Florida, have a reputation of becoming pests on occasion. At night they often sleep at water, if there is a water source available, to flee quickly from predators if awakened. Small populations of Muscovy ducks can also be found in Ely, Cambridgeshire, Calstock, Cornwall, and Lincoln, Lincolnshire, U.K. Muscovy ducks have also been spotted in the Walsall Arboretum. There has been a small population in the Pavilion Gardens public park in Buxton, Derbyshire for many years.


title: Muscovy duck

text: In the U.S., Muscovy ducks are considered an invasive species. An owner may raise them for food production only (not for hunting). Similarly, if the ducks have no owner, 50CFR Part 21 (Migratory Bird Permits) allows the removal or destruction of the ducks, their eggs and their nests anywhere in the United States outside of Hidalgo, Starr and Zapata Counties in Texas, where they are considered indigenous. The population in southern Florida is considered, with numbers in the several thousands, to be established enough to be considered "countable" for bird watchers.


title: Muscovy duck

text: Legal methods to restrict breeding include not feeding these ducks, deterring them with noise or chasing them away.


title: Muscovy duck

text: Although legislation passed in the U.S. prohibiting trade of Muscovy ducks, Fish and Wildlife Services intend to revise the regulations. They are not currently implementing them, though release of Muscovy ducks to the wild outside their natural range is prohibited.


title: Muscovy duck

text: Muscovy ducks had been domesticated by various Native American cultures in the Americas when Columbus arrived in the Bahamas. A few were brought onto Columbus' ship the "Santa Maria", they then sailed back to Europe by the 16th century.


title: Muscovy duck

text: The Muscovy duck has been domesticated for centuries, and is widely traded as "Barbary duck". Muscovy breeds are popular because they have stronger-tasting meat—sometimes compared to roast beef—than the usual domestic ducks, which are descendants of the mallard ("Anas platyrhynchos"). The meat is lean when compared to the fatty meat of mallard-derived ducks, its leanness and tenderness being often compared to veal. Muscovy ducks are also less noisy, and sometimes marketed as a "quackless" duck; even though they are not completely silent, they do not actually quack (except in cases of extreme stress). The carcass of a Muscovy duck is also much heavier than most other domestic ducks, which makes it ideal for the dinner table.


title: Muscovy duck

text: Domesticated Muscovy ducks, like those pictured, often have plumage features differing from other wild birds. White breeds are preferred for meat production, as darker ones can have much melanin in the skin, which some people find unappealing.


title: Muscovy duck

text: The Muscovy duck can be crossed with mallards in captivity to produce hybrids known as mulards ("mule ducks") because they are sterile. Muscovy drakes are commercially crossed with mallard-derived hens either naturally or by artificial insemination. The 40–60% of eggs that are fertile result in birds raised only for their meat or for production of foie gras: they grow fast like mallard-derived breeds, but to a large size like Muscovy ducks. Conversely, though crossing mallard-derived drakes with Muscovy hens is possible, the offspring are neither desirable for meat nor for egg production.


title: Muscovy duck

text: In addition, Muscovy ducks are reportedly crossbred in Israel with mallards to produce kosher duck products. The kashrut status of the Muscovy duck has been a matter of rabbinic discussion for over 150 years.


title: Muscovy duck

text: Oscillococcinum is a homeopathic preparation made from Muscovy duck livers and hearts manufactured by the French company Boiron; similar products are also available from other manufacturers. Typically diluted with lactose and sucrose to 1:10 (far less than one in one googol), they are advertised to relieve influenza-like symptoms, but no evidence has been found of their efficacy.


title: Muscovy duck

text: A study examining birds in northwestern Colombia for blood parasites found the Muscovy duck to be more frequently infected with "Haemoproteus" and malaria ("Plasmodium") parasites than chickens, domestic pigeons, domestic turkeys and, in fact, almost all wild bird species also studied. It was noted that in other parts of the world, chickens were more susceptible to such infections than in the study area, but it may well be that Muscovy ducks are generally more often infected with such parasites (which might not cause pronounced disease, though, and are harmless to humans).


title: Retrograde ejaculation

text: Retrograde ejaculation occurs when semen which would be ejaculated via the urethra is redirected to the urinary bladder. Normally, the sphincter of the bladder contracts before ejaculation, sealing the bladder which besides inhibiting the release of urine also prevents a reflux of seminal fluids into the male bladder during ejaculation. The semen is forced to exit via the urethra, the path of least resistance. When the bladder sphincter does not function properly, retrograde ejaculation may occur. It can also be induced deliberately by a male as a primitive form of male birth control (known as "coitus saxonicus") or as part of certain alternative medicine practices. The retrograde-ejaculated semen, which goes into the bladder, is excreted with the next urination.