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Ambiguity | Linguistic forms | Linguistic forms
Lexical ambiguity is contrasted with semantic ambiguity. The former represents a choice between a finite number of known and meaningful context-dependent interpretations. The latter represents a choice between any number of possible interpretations, none of which may have a standard agreed-upon meaning. This form of ambiguity is closely related to vagueness.
Ambiguity in human language is argued to reflect principles of efficient communication. Languages that communicate efficiently will avoid sending information that is redundant with information provided in the context. This can be shown mathematically to result in a system that is ambiguous when context is neglected. In this way, ambiguity is viewed as a generally useful feature of a linguistic system.
Linguistic ambiguity can be a problem in law, because the interpretation of written documents and oral agreements is often of paramount importance.thumb|Structural analysis of an ambiguous Spanish sentence: Pepe vio a Pablo enfurecido.Interpretation 1: When Pepe was angry, then he saw Pablo.Interpretation 2: Pepe saw that Pablo was angry.Here, the syntactic tree in figure represents interpretation 2. |
Ambiguity | Lexical ambiguity | Lexical ambiguity
The lexical ambiguity of a word or phrase applies to it having more than one meaning in the language to which the word belongs. "Meaning" here refers to whatever should be represented by a good dictionary. For instance, the word "bank" has several distinct lexical definitions, including "financial institution" and "edge of a river". Or consider "apothecary". One could say "I bought herbs from the apothecary". This could mean one actually spoke to the apothecary (pharmacist) or went to the apothecary (pharmacy).
The context in which an ambiguous word is used often makes it clearer which of the meanings is intended. If, for instance, someone says "I put $100 in the bank", most people would not think someone used a shovel to dig in the mud. However, some linguistic contexts do not provide sufficient information to make a used word clearer.
Lexical ambiguity can be addressed by algorithmic methods that automatically associate the appropriate meaning with a word in context, a task referred to as word-sense disambiguation.
The use of multi-defined words requires the author or speaker to clarify their context, and sometimes elaborate on their specific intended meaning (in which case, a less ambiguous term should have been used). The goal of clear concise communication is that the receiver(s) have no misunderstanding about what was meant to be conveyed. An exception to this could include a politician whose "weasel words" and obfuscation are necessary to gain support from multiple constituents with mutually exclusive conflicting desires from his or her candidate of choice. Ambiguity is a powerful tool of political science.
More problematic are words whose multiple meanings express closely related concepts. "Good", for example, can mean "useful" or "functional" (That's a good hammer), "exemplary" (She's a good student), "pleasing" (This is good soup), "moral" (a good person versus the lesson to be learned from a story), "righteous", etc. "I have a good daughter" is not clear about which sense is intended. The various ways to apply prefixes and suffixes can also create ambiguity ("unlockable" can mean "capable of being opened" or "impossible to lock"). |
Ambiguity | Semantic and syntactic ambiguity | Semantic and syntactic ambiguity
thumb|Which is wet: the food, or the cat?
Semantic ambiguity occurs when a word, phrase or sentence, taken out of context, has more than one interpretation. In "We saw her duck" (example due to Richard Nordquist), the words "her duck" can refer either
to the person's bird (the noun "duck", modified by the possessive pronoun "her"), or
to a motion she made (the verb "duck", the subject of which is the objective pronoun "her", object of the verb "saw").
Syntactic ambiguity arises when a sentence can have two (or more) different meanings because of the structure of the sentence—its syntax. This is often due to a modifying expression, such as a prepositional phrase, the application of which is unclear. "He ate the cookies on the couch", for example, could mean that he ate those cookies that were on the couch (as opposed to those that were on the table), or it could mean that he was sitting on the couch when he ate the cookies. "To get in, you will need an entrance fee of $10 or your voucher and your drivers' license." This could mean that you need EITHER ten dollars OR BOTH your voucher and your license. Or it could mean that you need your license AND you need EITHER ten dollars OR a voucher. Only rewriting the sentence, or placing appropriate punctuation can resolve a syntactic ambiguity.Critical Thinking, 10th ed., Ch 3, Moore, Brooke N. and Parker, Richard. McGraw-Hill, 2012
For the notion of, and theoretic results about, syntactic ambiguity in artificial, formal languages (such as computer programming languages), see Ambiguous grammar.
Usually, semantic and syntactic ambiguity go hand in hand. The sentence "We saw her duck" is also syntactically ambiguous. Conversely, a sentence like "He ate the cookies on the couch" is also semantically ambiguous. Rarely, but occasionally, the different parsings of a syntactically ambiguous phrase result in the same meaning. For example, the command "Cook, cook!" can be parsed as "Cook (noun used as vocative), cook (imperative verb form)!", but also as "Cook (imperative verb form), cook (noun used as vocative)!". It is more common that a syntactically unambiguous phrase has a semantic ambiguity; for example, the lexical ambiguity in "Your boss is a funny man" is purely semantic, leading to the response "Funny ha-ha or funny peculiar?"
Spoken language can contain many more types of ambiguities that are called phonological ambiguities, where there is more than one way to compose a set of sounds into words. For example, "ice cream" and "I scream". Such ambiguity is generally resolved according to the context. A mishearing of such, based on incorrectly resolved ambiguity, is called a mondegreen. |
Ambiguity | Philosophy | Philosophy
Philosophers (and other users of logic) spend a lot of time and effort searching for and removing (or intentionally adding) ambiguity in arguments because it can lead to incorrect conclusions and can be used to deliberately conceal bad arguments. For example, a politician might say, "I oppose taxes which hinder economic growth", an example of a glittering generality. Some will think they oppose taxes in general because they hinder economic growth. Others may think they oppose only those taxes that they believe will hinder economic growth. In writing, the sentence can be rewritten to reduce possible misinterpretation, either by adding a comma after "taxes" (to convey the first sense) or by changing "which" to "that" (to convey the second sense) or by rewriting it in other ways. The devious politician hopes that each constituent will interpret the statement in the most desirable way, and think the politician supports everyone's opinion. However, the opposite can also be true—an opponent can turn a positive statement into a bad one if the speaker uses ambiguity (intentionally or not). The logical fallacies of amphiboly and equivocation rely heavily on the use of ambiguous words and phrases.
In continental philosophy (particularly phenomenology and existentialism), there is much greater tolerance of ambiguity, as it is generally seen as an integral part of the human condition. Martin Heidegger argued that the relation between the subject and object is ambiguous, as is the relation of mind and body, and part and whole. In Heidegger's phenomenology, Dasein is always in a meaningful world, but there is always an underlying background for every instance of signification. Thus, although some things may be certain, they have little to do with Dasein's sense of care and existential anxiety, e.g., in the face of death. In calling his work Being and Nothingness an "essay in phenomenological ontology" Jean-Paul Sartre follows Heidegger in defining the human essence as ambiguous, or relating fundamentally to such ambiguity. Simone de Beauvoir tries to base an ethics on Heidegger's and Sartre's writings (The Ethics of Ambiguity), where she highlights the need to grapple with ambiguity: "as long as there have been philosophers and they have thought, most of them have tried to mask it ... And the ethics which they have proposed to their disciples has always pursued the same goal. It has been a matter of eliminating the ambiguity by making oneself pure inwardness or pure externality, by escaping from the sensible world or being engulfed by it, by yielding to eternity or enclosing oneself in the pure moment." Ethics cannot be based on the authoritative certainty given by mathematics and logic, or prescribed directly from the empirical findings of science. She states: "Since we do not succeed in fleeing it, let us, therefore, try to look the truth in the face. Let us try to assume our fundamental ambiguity. It is in the knowledge of the genuine conditions of our life that we must draw our strength to live and our reason for acting". Other continental philosophers suggest that concepts such as life, nature, and sex are ambiguous. Corey Anton has argued that we cannot be certain what is separate from or unified with something else: language, he asserts, divides what is not, in fact, separate. Following Ernest Becker, he argues that the desire to 'authoritatively disambiguate' the world and existence has led to numerous ideologies and historical events such as genocide. On this basis, he argues that ethics must focus on 'dialectically integrating opposites' and balancing tension, rather than seeking a priori validation or certainty. Like the existentialists and phenomenologists, he sees the ambiguity of life as the basis of creativity. |
Ambiguity | Literature and rhetoric | Literature and rhetoric
In literature and rhetoric, ambiguity can be a useful tool. Groucho Marx's classic joke depends on a grammatical ambiguity for its humor, for example: "Last night I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I'll never know". Songs and poetry often rely on ambiguous words for artistic effect, as in the song title "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" (where "blue" can refer to the color, or to sadness).
In the narrative, ambiguity can be introduced in several ways: motive, plot, character. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the latter type of ambiguity with notable effect in his novel The Great Gatsby. |
Ambiguity | Mathematical notation | Mathematical notation
Mathematical notation is a helpful tool that eliminates a lot of misunderstandings associated with natural language in physics and other sciences. Nonetheless, there are still some inherent ambiguities due to lexical, syntactic, and semantic reasons that persist in mathematical notation. |
Ambiguity | Names of functions | Names of functions
The ambiguity in the style of writing a function should not be confused with a multivalued function, which can (and should) be defined in a deterministic and unambiguous way. Several special functions still do not have established notations. Usually, the conversion to another notation requires to scale the argument or the resulting value; sometimes, the same name of the function is used, causing confusions. Examples of such underestablished functions:
Sinc function
Elliptic integral of the third kind; translating elliptic integral form MAPLE to Mathematica, one should replace the second argument to its square; dealing with complex values, this may cause problems.
Exponential integral
Hermite polynomial |
Ambiguity | Expressions | Expressions
Ambiguous expressions often appear in physical and mathematical texts.
It is common practice to omit multiplication signs in mathematical expressions. Also, it is common to give the same name to a variable and a function, for example, Then, if one sees there is no way to distinguish whether it means multiplied by or function evaluated at argument equal to In each case of use of such notations, the reader is supposed to be able to perform the deduction and reveal the true meaning.
Creators of algorithmic languages try to avoid ambiguities. Many algorithmic languages (C++ and Fortran) require the character * as symbol of multiplication. The Wolfram Language used in Mathematica allows the user to omit the multiplication symbol, but requires square brackets to indicate the argument of a function; square brackets are not allowed for grouping of expressions. Fortran, in addition, does not allow use of the same name (identifier) for different objects, for example, function and variable; in particular, the expression is qualified as an error.
The order of operations may depend on the context. In most programming languages, the operations of division and multiplication have equal priority and are executed from left to right. Until the last century, many editorials assumed that multiplication is performed first, for example, is interpreted as in this case, the insertion of parentheses is required when translating the formulas to an algorithmic language. In addition, it is common to write an argument of a function without parenthesis, which also may lead to ambiguity.
In the scientific journal style, one uses roman letters to denote elementary functions, whereas variables are written using italics.
For example, in mathematical journals the expression does not denote the sine function, but the product of the three variables although in the informal notation of a slide presentation it may stand for
Commas in multi-component subscripts and superscripts are sometimes omitted; this is also potentially ambiguous notation.
For example, in the notation the reader can only infer from the context whether it means a single-index object, taken with the subscript equal to product of variables and or it is an indication to a trivalent tensor. |
Ambiguity | Examples of potentially confusing ambiguous mathematical expressions | Examples of potentially confusing ambiguous mathematical expressions
An expression such as can be understood to mean either or Often the author's intention can be understood from the context, in cases where only one of the two makes sense, but an ambiguity like this should be avoided, for example by writing
The expression means in several texts, though it might be thought to mean since commonly means Conversely, might seem to mean as this exponentiation notation usually denotes function iteration: in general, means However, for trigonometric and hyperbolic functions, this notation conventionally means exponentiation of the result of function application.
The expression can be interpreted as meaning however, it is more commonly understood to mean |
Ambiguity | Notations in quantum optics and quantum mechanics | Notations in quantum optics and quantum mechanics
It is common to define the coherent states in quantum optics with and states with fixed number of photons with Then, there is an "unwritten rule": the state is coherent if there are more Greek characters than Latin characters in the argument, and -photon state if the Latin characters dominate. The ambiguity becomes even worse, if is used for the states with certain value of the coordinate, and means the state with certain value of the momentum, which may be used in books on quantum mechanics. Such ambiguities easily lead to confusions, especially if some normalized adimensional, dimensionless variables are used. Expression may mean a state with single photon, or the coherent state with mean amplitude equal to 1, or state with momentum equal to unity, and so on. The reader is supposed to guess from the context. |
Ambiguity | Ambiguous terms in physics and mathematics | Ambiguous terms in physics and mathematics
Some physical quantities do not yet have established notations; their value (and sometimes even dimension, as in the case of the Einstein coefficients), depends on the system of notations. Many terms are ambiguous. Each use of an ambiguous term should be preceded by the definition, suitable for a specific case. Just like Ludwig Wittgenstein states in Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus: "... Only in the context of a proposition has a name meaning."
A highly confusing term is gain. For example, the sentence "the gain of a system should be doubled", without context, means close to nothing.
It may mean that the ratio of the output voltage of an electric circuit to the input voltage should be doubled.
It may mean that the ratio of the output power of an electric or optical circuit to the input power should be doubled.
It may mean that the gain of the laser medium should be doubled, for example, doubling the population of the upper laser level in a quasi-two level system (assuming negligible absorption of the ground-state).
The term intensity is ambiguous when applied to light. The term can refer to any of irradiance, luminous intensity, radiant intensity, or radiance, depending on the background of the person using the term.
Also, confusions may be related with the use of atomic percent as measure of concentration of a dopant, or resolution of an imaging system, as measure of the size of the smallest detail that still can be resolved at the background of statistical noise. See also Accuracy and precision.
The Berry paradox arises as a result of systematic ambiguity in the meaning of terms such as "definable" or "nameable". Terms of this kind give rise to vicious circle fallacies. Other terms with this type of ambiguity are: satisfiable, true, false, function, property, class, relation, cardinal, and ordinal.Russell/Whitehead, Principia Mathematica |
Ambiguity | Mathematical interpretation of ambiguity | Mathematical interpretation of ambiguity
The Necker cube and impossible cube, an underdetermined and overdetermined object, respectively.|thumb
In mathematics and logic, ambiguity can be considered to be an instance of the logical concept of underdetermination—for example, leaves open what the value of is—while overdetermination, except when like , is a self-contradiction, also called inconsistency, paradoxicalness, or oxymoron, or in mathematics an inconsistent system—such as which has no solution.
Logical ambiguity and self-contradiction is analogous to visual ambiguity and impossible objects, such as the Necker cube and impossible cube, or many of the drawings of M. C. Escher. |
Ambiguity | Constructed language | Constructed language
Some languages have been created with the intention of avoiding ambiguity, especially lexical ambiguity. Lojban and Loglan are two related languages that have been created for this, focusing chiefly on syntactic ambiguity as well. The languages can be both spoken and written. These languages are intended to provide a greater technical precision over big natural languages, although historically, such attempts at language improvement have been criticized. Languages composed from many diverse sources contain much ambiguity and inconsistency. The many exceptions to syntax and semantic rules are time-consuming and difficult to learn. |
Ambiguity | Biology | Biology
In structural biology, ambiguity has been recognized as a problem for studying protein conformations. The analysis of a protein three-dimensional structure consists in dividing the macromolecule into subunits called domains. The difficulty of this task arises from the fact that different definitions of what a domain is can be used (e.g. folding autonomy, function, thermodynamic stability, or domain motions), which sometimes results in a single protein having different—yet equally valid—domain assignments. |
Ambiguity | Christianity and Judaism | Christianity and Judaism
Christianity and Judaism employ the concept of paradox synonymously with "ambiguity". Many Christians and Jews endorse Rudolf Otto's description of the sacred as 'mysterium tremendum et fascinans', the awe-inspiring mystery that fascinates humans. The apocryphal Book of Judith is noted for the "ingenious ambiguity"Jerusalem Bible (1966), footnote a at Judith 11:5 expressed by its heroine; for example, she says to the villain of the story, Holofernes, "my lord will not fail to achieve his purposes", without specifying whether my lord refers to the villain or to God.
The orthodox Catholic writer G. K. Chesterton regularly employed paradox to tease out the meanings in common concepts that he found ambiguous or to reveal meaning often overlooked or forgotten in common phrases: the title of one of his most famous books, Orthodoxy (1908), itself employed such a paradox.Chesterton, G. K., Orthodoxy, especially p. 32 |
Ambiguity | Music | Music
In music, pieces or sections that confound expectations and may be or are interpreted simultaneously in different ways are ambiguous, such as some polytonality, polymeter, other ambiguous meters or rhythms, and ambiguous phrasing, or (Stein 2005, p. 79) any aspect of music. The music of Africa is often purposely ambiguous. To quote Sir Donald Francis Tovey (1935, p. 195), "Theorists are apt to vex themselves with vain efforts to remove uncertainty just where it has a high aesthetic value." |
Ambiguity | Visual art | Visual art
thumb|This image can be interpreted three ways: as the letters "K B", as the mathematical inequality "1 < 13", or as the letters "V D" with their mirror image.
In visual art, certain images are visually ambiguous, such as the Necker cube, which can be interpreted in two ways. Perceptions of such objects remain stable for a time, then may flip, a phenomenon called multistable perception.
The opposite of such ambiguous images are impossible objects.
Pictures or photographs may also be ambiguous at the semantic level: the visual image is unambiguous, but the meaning and narrative may be ambiguous: is a certain facial expression one of excitement or fear, for instance? |
Ambiguity | Social psychology and the bystander effect | Social psychology and the bystander effect
In social psychology, ambiguity is a factor used in determining peoples' responses to various situations. High levels of ambiguity in an emergency (e.g. an unconscious man lying on a park bench) make witnesses less likely to offer any sort of assistance, due to the fear that they may have misinterpreted the situation and acted unnecessarily. Alternately, non-ambiguous emergencies (e.g. an injured person verbally asking for help) elicit more consistent intervention and assistance. With regard to the bystander effect, studies have shown that emergencies deemed ambiguous trigger the appearance of the classic bystander effect (wherein more witnesses decrease the likelihood of any of them helping) far more than non-ambiguous emergencies. |
Ambiguity | Computer science | Computer science
In computer science, the SI prefixes kilo-, mega- and giga- were historically used in certain contexts to mean either the first three powers of 1024 (1024, 10242 and 10243) contrary to the metric system in which these units unambiguously mean one thousand, one million, and one billion. This usage is particularly prevalent with electronic memory devices (e.g. DRAM) addressed directly by a binary machine register where a decimal interpretation makes no practical sense.
Subsequently, the Ki, Mi, and Gi prefixes were introduced so that binary prefixes could be written explicitly, also rendering k, M, and G unambiguous in texts conforming to the new standard—this led to a new ambiguity in engineering documents lacking outward trace of the binary prefixes (necessarily indicating the new style) as to whether the usage of k, M, and G remains ambiguous (old style) or not (new style). 1 M (where M is ambiguously or ) is less uncertain than the engineering value (defined to designate the interval ). As non-volatile storage devices begin to exceed 1 GB in capacity (where the ambiguity begins to routinely impact the second significant digit), GB and TB almost always mean 109 and 1012 bytes. |
Ambiguity | See also | See also |
Ambiguity | References | References |
Ambiguity | External links | External links
Collection of Ambiguous or Inconsistent/Incomplete Statements
Leaving out ambiguities when writing
Category:Semantics
Category:Mathematical notation
Category:Concepts in epistemology
Category:Formal semantics (natural language) |
Ambiguity | Table of Content | Short description, Linguistic forms, Lexical ambiguity, Semantic and syntactic ambiguity, Philosophy, Literature and rhetoric, Mathematical notation, Names of functions, Expressions, Examples of potentially confusing ambiguous mathematical expressions, Notations in quantum optics and quantum mechanics, Ambiguous terms in physics and mathematics, Mathematical interpretation of ambiguity, Constructed language, Biology, Christianity and Judaism, Music, Visual art, Social psychology and the bystander effect, Computer science, See also, References, External links |
Abel | short description | Abel ( Hébel, in pausa Hā́ḇel; Hábel; , Hābēl) is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within the Abrahamic religions. Born as the second son of Adam and Eve, the first two humans created by God, he was a shepherd who offered his firstborn flock to God as a religious offering. God accepted Abel's offering but not the offering of his older brother Cain, leading Cain to stone Abel to death out of jealousy. This act marked the first death in biblical history, making Abel the first murder victim. |
Abel | Life and death | Life and death |
Abel | Interpretations | Interpretations |
Abel | Jewish and Christian interpretations | Jewish and Christian interpretations
According to the narrative in Genesis, Abel is Eve's second son. His name in Hebrew is composed of the same three consonants as a root meaning "the air that remains after you exhale" also synonymous in Hebrew to "nothing", as stated in Ecclesiastes. Julius Wellhausen has proposed that the name is independent of the root.Julius Wellhausen, Skizzen und Vorarbeiten, volume 3, (1887), p. 70. Eberhard Schrader had previously put forward the Akkadian (Old Assyrian dialect) ablu ("son") as a more likely etymology.Eberhard Schrader, Die Keilinschrift und das Alte Testament, 1872.
thumb|right| The First Mourning (Adam and Eve mourn the death of Abel); oil on canvas 1888 painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau
In Christianity, comparisons are sometimes made between the death of Abel and that of Jesus, the former thus seen as being the first martyr. In Matthew 23:35 Jesus speaks of Abel as "righteous", and the Epistle to the Hebrews states that "The blood of sprinkling ... [speaks] better things than that of Abel" (Hebrews 12:24). The blood of Jesus is interpreted as bringing mercy; but that of Abel as demanding vengeance (hence the curse and mark).For copies of a spectrum of notable translations and commentaries see Hebrews 12:24 at the Online Parallel Bible.
Abel is invoked in the litany for the dying in the Roman Catholic Church, and his sacrifice is mentioned in the Canon of the Mass along with those of Abraham and Melchizedek. The Alexandrian Rite commemorates him with a feast day on December 28.Holweck, F. G., A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co., 1924.
According to the Coptic Book of Adam and Eve (at 2:1–15), and the Syriac Cave of Treasures, Abel's body, after many days of mourning, was placed in the Cave of Treasures, before which Adam and Eve, and descendants, offered their prayers. In addition, the Sethite line of the Generations of Adam swear by Abel's blood to segregate themselves from the unrighteous.
In the Book of Enoch (22:7), regarded by most Christian and Jewish traditions as extra-biblical, the soul of Abel is described as having been appointed as the chief of martyrs, crying for vengeance, for the destruction of the seed of Cain. A similar view is later shown in the Testament of Abraham (A:13 / B:11), where Abel has been raised to the position as the judge of the souls.
In Bereshit Rabbah (22:2), a discussion of Gen. 4:1 ff. has Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha mentioning that Cain was born with a twin sister, and Abel with two twin sisters. This is based on the principle that the otherwise superfluous accusative article "et" always conveys some additional teaching (Pesachim 22b). The "et"'s are parsed slightly differently in Yebamot 62a where the two "et"'s in Gen. 4:2 indicate Cain and his sister, and Abel and his (one) sister. |
Abel | Sethian Gnostic interpretation | Sethian Gnostic interpretation
In the Apocryphon of John, a work belonging to Sethian Gnosticism, Abel is the offspring of Yaldaboath and Eve, who is placed over the elements of water and earth as Elohim, but was only given his name as a form of deception. |
Abel | {{anchor | Mandaean interpretation
According to Mandaean beliefs and scriptures including the Qulasta, the Book of John and Genzā Rabbā, Abel is cognate with the angelic soteriological figure Hibil Ziwa, (, sometimes translated "Splendid Hibel"), who is spoken of as a son of Hayyi or of Manda d-Hayyi, and as a brother to Anush (Enosh) and to Sheetil (Seth), who is the son of Adam. Elsewhere, Anush is spoken of as the son of Sheetil, and Sheetil as the son of Hibil, where Hibil came to Adam and Eve as a young boy when they were still virgins, but was called their son. [Note: this is book 10 in some other editions.] Hibil is an important lightworld being (uthra) who conquered the World of Darkness. As Yawar Hibil, he is one of multiple figures known as Yawar (), being so named by and after his father. |
Abel | Islamic interpretation | Islamic interpretation
thumb|Grave of Abel within the Nabi Habeel Mosque
thumb|The Mausoleum of Abel in the Nabi Habeel Mosque
According to Shi'a Muslim belief, Abel ("Habeel") is buried in the Nabi Habeel Mosque, located on the west mountains of Damascus, near the Zabadani Valley, overlooking the villages of the Barada river (Wadi Barada), in Syria. Shi'a are frequent visitors of this mosque for ziyarat. The mosque was built by Ottoman Wali Ahmad Pasha in 1599. |
Abel | In modern media | In modern media
Abel is portrayed by Franco Nero in the film The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966).
Paul Rudd played the role of Abel in the 2009 film Year One.
In the SCP series, an anomaly named Able with the codename SCP-076 is based on Abel.
In Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, the main character Kazuya is the reincarnation of Abel.
Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher penned a song titled "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel", which appears on the band's 2005 album Don't Believe the Truth. |
Abel | Notes | Notes |
Abel | References | References
Category:Biblical murder victims
Category:Book of Genesis people
Category:Children of Adam and Eve
Category:Shepherds
Category:Uthras |
Abel | Table of Content | short description, Life and death, Interpretations, Jewish and Christian interpretations, Sethian Gnostic interpretation, {{anchor, Islamic interpretation, In modern media, Notes, References |
Animal (disambiguation) | wiktionary | An animal is a multicellular, eukaryotic organism of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa.
Animal, Animals, or The Animal may also refer to: |
Animal (disambiguation) | People | People
The Animal (nickname), a list of people nicknamed "The Animal" or "Animal"
Animal Hamaguchi, a ring name of Japanese retired professional wrestler Heigo Hamaguchi (born 1947)
Road Warrior Animal or Animal, ring names of American professional wrestler Joseph Michael Laurinaitis (1960–2020) |
Animal (disambiguation) | Books and publications | Books and publications
Animal (book), full title Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to The World's WildLife
Animal, 2012 novel by K'wan Foye
Animal (journal), full title: Animal: An International Journal of Animal Bioscience
Animals (novel), a 2014 novel by Emma Jane Unsworth |
Animal (disambiguation) | Film and television | Film and television |
Animal (disambiguation) | Films | Films
Animal (1977 film), a French film (L'Animal) starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Raquel Welch
Animals (1998 film), an American film starring Tim Roth and Rod Steiger
Animal (2001 film), an Argentine comedy film by Sergio Bizzio with Carlos Roffé
Animal (2005 film), an American direct-to-video action drama film starring Ving Rhames and Terrance Howard
Animal (2014 film), an American horror film starring Keke Palmer
Animal (2018 film), an Argentine film
Animals (2003 film), a stand-up show written and performed by Ricky Gervais
Animals (2012 film), a Spanish film
Animals (2014 film), a British drama film written by and starring David Dastmalchian
Animals (2017 film), a German film
Animals (2019 film), an Australian film
Animals (2021 film), a psychological thriller film
The Animal, a 2001 American comedy film featuring Rob Schneider
The Animals (film), a 2012 Filipino coming-of-age film by Gino M. Santos
Animal (2023 Greek film), a 2023 Greek drama film directed by Sofia Exarchou
Animal (2023 Indian film), a 2023 Indian Hindi language action drama film |
Animal (disambiguation) | Television | Television
Animal (TV series), an American nature documentary series
Animals (American TV series), a 2016–2018 animated series
Animals (South Korean TV series), a 2015 reality-variety show
"Animals" (Brass Eye), a 1997 episode
"Animals" (The Goodies), a 1980 episode
"Animals" (Men Behaving Badly), a 1992 episode
"Animals" (Off the Air), a 2011 episode
"Animals" (The Vicar of Dibley), a 1994 episode
"The Animals" (Orange Is the New Black), a 2016 episode
Animal (audio drama), a 2011 audio drama based on Doctor Who |
Animal (disambiguation) | Characters | Characters
Animal (Muppet), a character from the television series The Muppet Show
Animal, a character in the television series Takeshi's Castle
Animal, played by Ken Hudson Campbell, a character on the TV sitcom Herman's Head
Dennis "Animal" Price, a character on the TV series Lou Grant |
Animal (disambiguation) | Music | Music
The Animals, a British rock band
A.N.I.M.A.L., an Argentine heavy metal band
Animal (Nick Culmer) lead singer of the Anti-Nowhere League |
Animal (disambiguation) | Albums | Albums
Animal (Animosity album), 2007
Animal (Bar-Kays album), 1989
Animal (Big Scary album), 2016
Animal (Kesha album), 2010
Animal (Lump album), 2021
Animal (María Becerra album), 2021
Animal (Motor Ace album), 2005
Animal (Shining album), 2018
Animals (Pink Floyd album), 1977
Animals (This Town Needs Guns album), 2008
The Animals (American album), by the Animals, 1964
The Animals (British album), by the Animals, 1964
Animal, a 2009 album by AutoKratz
Animal, a 2013 album by Berlin
Animal, a 2008 album by Far East Movement
Animal, a 1992 album by France D'Amour
Animal!, a 2008 album by Margot & the Nuclear So and So's |
Animal (disambiguation) | EPs | EPs
Animals (EP) by Ryan Starx, 2013
Animal, a 2015 EP by Hidden in Plain View
A.N.I.M.A.L, a 2019 EP by John Newman |
Animal (disambiguation) | Songs | Songs |
Animal (disambiguation) | "Animal" | "Animal"
"Animal" (Álvaro Soler song), 2017
"Animal" (Conor Maynard song), 2013
"Animal" (Def Leppard song), 1987
"Animal" (Jebediah song), 1999
"Animal" (Juvenile song), 2006
"Animal" (María Becerra and Cazzu song), 2022
"Animal" (Miike Snow song), 2009
"Animal" (Neon Trees song), 2010
"Animal" (Pearl Jam song), 1994
"Animal" (R.E.M. song), 2004
"Animal" (R.I.O. song), 2011
"Animal" (Trey Songz song), 2017
"Animal" (Troye Sivan song), 2018
"Animal", by Against Me! from New Wave, 2007
"Animal", by Ani DiFranco from Educated Guess, 2004
"Animal", by Anti-Nowhere League from We Are...The League, 1982
"Animal", by Aurora from A Different Kind of Human (Step 2), 2019
"Animal", by Black Light Burns from Cruel Melody, 2007
"Animal", by Brockhampton from TM, 2022
"Animal", by Ellie Goulding from Lights, 2010
"Animal", by France D'Amour from Animal, 1992
"Animal", by Karen O and the Kids from Where the Wild Things Are, 2009
"Animal", by Kat DeLuna from 9 Lives, 2007
"Animal", by Kesha from Animal, 2010
"Animal", by Mabel from About Last Night..., 2022
"Animal", by the Men from Open Your Heart, 2012
"Animal", by Mindless Self Indulgence from If, 2008
"Animal", by Mudmen from Overrated
"Animal", by Nada Surf from You Know Who You Are, 2016
"Animal", by Pvris from Evergreen, 2023
"Animal", by Subhumans from Demolition War, 1981
"Animal", by Sunhouse from Crazy On The Weekend
"Animal", by The Kinks from To the Bone, 1994
"Animal", by Toto from Past to Present 1977–1990, 1990
"Animal (F**k Like a Beast)", by W.A.S.P., 1984 |
Animal (disambiguation) | "Animals" | "Animals"
"Animals" (Architects song), 2020
"Animals" (Kevin Ayers song), 1980
"Animals" (Maroon 5 song), 2014
"Animals" (Martin Garrix song), 2013
"Animals" (Muse song), 2012
"Animals" (Nickelback song), 2005
"Animals", by CocoRosie from The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn, 2007
"Animals", by Coldplay as one of the B-sides for "Clocks", 2003
"Animals", by Dead Poetic from Vices, 2006
"Animals", by Talking Heads from Fear of Music, 1979
"Animals", by The End from Elementary, 2007
"Animals", by Todrick Hall featuring Matt Bloyd from Forbidden, 2018 |
Animal (disambiguation) | "The Animal" | "The Animal"
"The Animal" (song), by Disturbed, 2010
"The Animal", by Steve Vai from Passion and Warfare, 1990 |
Animal (disambiguation) | Other uses | Other uses
ANIMAL (computer worm), an early self-replicating computer program
ANIMAL (image processing), an interactive software environment for image processing
Operation Animals, a World War II Allied deception operation in Greece
Animals (Israeli organization), an animal rights group based in Israel |
Animal (disambiguation) | See also | See also
Animals, Animals, Animals, an American educational television series (1976–1981) |
Animal (disambiguation) | Table of Content | wiktionary, People, Books and publications, Film and television, Films, Television, Characters, Music, Albums, EPs, Songs, "Animal", "Animals", "The Animal", Other uses, See also |
Aardvark | Short description | thumb|Skeleton of an aardvark
Aardvarks ( ; Orycteropus afer) are medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammals native to Africa."Aardvark, n." Dictionary of South African English. Dictionary Unit for South African English, 2018. 26 February 2019. Aardvarks are the only living species of the family Orycteropodidae and the order Tubulidentata. They have a long proboscis, similar to a pig's snout, which is used to sniff out food.
They are afrotheres, a clade that also includes elephants, manatees, and hyraxes.
They are found over much of the southern two-thirds of the African continent, avoiding areas that are mainly rocky. Nocturnal feeders, aardvarks subsist on ants and termites by using their sharp claws and powerful legs to dig the insects out of their hills. Aardvarks also dig to create burrows in which to live and rear their young. |
Aardvark | Name and taxonomy | Name and taxonomy |
Aardvark | Name | Name
The aardvark is sometimes colloquially called the "African ant bear", "anteater" (not to be confused with the South American anteaters), or the "Cape anteater" after the Cape of Good Hope.
The name "aardvark" is Afrikaans () and comes from earlier Afrikaans . It means "earth pig" or "ground pig" (: , : ), because of its burrowing habits.
The name Orycteropus means "burrowing foot", and the name afer refers to Africa. The name of the aardvark's order, Tubulidentata, comes from the tubule-style teeth. |
Aardvark | Taxonomy | Taxonomy
thumb|Skull of an aardvark
The aardvark is not closely related to the pig; rather, it is the sole extant representative of the obscure mammalian order Tubulidentata, in which it is usually considered to form one variable species of the genus Orycteropus, the sole surviving genus in the family Orycteropodidae. The aardvark is not closely related to the South American anteater, despite sharing some characteristics and a superficial resemblance. The similarities are the outcome of convergent evolution. The closest living relatives of the aardvark are the elephant shrews, Tenrecidae, and golden moles. Along with sirenians, hyraxes, elephants, and their extinct relatives, these animals form the superorder Afrotheria. Studies of the brain have shown the similarities with Condylarthra. |
Aardvark | Evolutionary history | Evolutionary history
Based on his study of fossils, Bryan Patterson has concluded that early relatives of the aardvark appeared in Africa around the end of the Paleocene. The ptolemaiidans, a mysterious clade of mammals with uncertain affinities, may actually be stem-aardvarks, either as a sister clade to Tubulidentata or as a grade leading to true tubulidentates.
The first unambiguous tubulidentate was probably Myorycteropus africanus from Kenyan Miocene deposits. The earliest example from the genus Orycteropus was Orycteropus mauritanicus, found in Algeria in deposits from the middle Miocene, with an equally old version found in Kenya. Fossils from the aardvark have been dated to 5 million years, and have been located throughout Europe and the Near East.
The mysterious Pleistocene Plesiorycteropus from Madagascar was originally thought to be a tubulidentate that was descended from ancestors that entered the island during the Eocene. However, a number of subtle anatomical differences coupled with recent molecular evidence now lead researchers to believe that Plesiorycteropus is a relative of golden moles and tenrecs that achieved an aardvark-like appearance and ecological niche through convergent evolution. |
Aardvark | Subspecies | Subspecies
The aardvark has seventeen poorly defined subspecies listed:
Orycteropus afer afer (Southern aardvark)
O. a. adametzi Grote, 1921 (Western aardvark)
O. a. aethiopicus Sundevall, 1843
O. a. angolensis Zukowsky & Haltenorth, 1957
O. a. erikssoni Lönnberg, 1906
O. a. faradjius Hatt, 1932
O. a. haussanus Matschie, 1900
O. a. kordofanicus Rothschild, 1927
O. a. lademanni Grote, 1911
O. a. leptodon Hirst, 1906
O. a. matschiei Grote, 1921
O. a. observandus Grote, 1921
O. a. ruvanensis Grote, 1921
O. a. senegalensis Lesson, 1840
O. a. somalicus Lydekker, 1908
O. a. wardi Lydekker, 1908
O. a. wertheri Matschie, 1898 (Eastern aardvark)
The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica also mentions O. a. capensis or Cape ant-bear from South Africa. |
Aardvark | Description | Description
thumb|Strong forelimb of aardvark
The aardvark is vaguely pig-like in appearance. Its body is stout with a prominently arched back and is sparsely covered with coarse hairs. The limbs are of moderate length, with the rear legs being longer than the forelegs. The front feet have lost the pollex (or 'thumb'), resulting in four toes, while the rear feet have all five toes. Each toe bears a large, robust nail which is somewhat flattened and shovel-like, and appears to be intermediate between a claw and a hoof. Whereas the aardvark is considered digitigrade, it appears at times to be plantigrade. This confusion happens because when it squats it stands on its soles. A contributing characteristic to the burrow digging capabilities of aardvarks is an endosteal tissue called compacted coarse cancellous bone (CCCB). The stress and strain resistance provided by CCCB allows aardvarks to create their burrows, ultimately leading to a favourable environment for plants and a variety of animals. Digging is also facilitated by its forearm's unusually stout ulna and radius.thumb|right|An aardvark skeleton and mounted individualAn aardvark's weight is typically between . An aardvark's length is usually between , and can reach lengths of when its tail (which can be up to ) is taken into account. It is tall at the shoulder, and has a girth of about . It does not exhibit sexual dimorphism.
It is the largest member of the proposed clade Afroinsectiphilia. The aardvark is pale yellowish-grey in colour and often stained reddish-brown by soil. The aardvark's coat is thin, and the animal's primary protection is its tough skin. Its hair is short on its head and tail; however its legs tend to have longer hair. The hair on the majority of its body is grouped in clusters of three to four hairs. The hair surrounding its nostrils is dense to help filter particulate matter out as it digs. Its tail is very thick at the base and gradually tapers. |
Aardvark | Head | Head
The greatly elongated head is set on a short, thick neck, and the end of the snout bears a disc, which houses the nostrils. It contains a thin but complete zygomatic arch. The head of the aardvark contains many unique and different features. One of the most distinctive characteristics of the Tubulidentata is their teeth. Instead of having a pulp cavity, each tooth has a cluster of thin, hexagonal, upright, parallel tubes of vasodentin (a modified form of dentine), with individual pulp canals, held together by cementum. The number of columns is dependent on the size of the tooth, with the largest having about 1,500. The teeth have no enamel coating and are worn away and regrow continuously. The aardvark is born with conventional incisors and canines at the front of the jaw, which fall out and are not replaced. Adult aardvarks have only cheek teeth at the back of the jaw, and have a dental formula of: These remaining teeth are peg-like and rootless and are of unique composition. The teeth consist of 14 upper and 12 lower jaw molars. The nasal area of the aardvark is another unique area, as it contains ten nasal conchae, more than any other placental mammal.
The sides of the nostrils are thick with hair. The tip of the snout is highly mobile and is moved by modified mimetic muscles. The fleshy dividing tissue between its nostrils probably has sensory functions, but it is uncertain whether they are olfactory or vibratory in nature. Its nose is made up of more turbinate bones than any other mammal, with between nine and 11, compared to dogs with four to five. With a large quantity of turbinate bones, the aardvark has more space for the moist epithelium, which is the location of the olfactory bulb. The nose contains nine olfactory bulbs, more than any other mammal. Its keen sense of smell is not just from the quantity of bulbs in the nose but also in the development of the brain, as its olfactory lobe is very developed. The snout resembles an elongated pig snout. The mouth is small and tubular, typical of species that feed on ants and termites. The aardvark has a long, thin, snakelike, protruding tongue (as much as long) and elaborate structures supporting a keen sense of smell. The ears, which are very effective, are disproportionately long, about long. The eyes are small for its head, and consist only of rods. |
Aardvark | Digestive system | Digestive system
The aardvark's stomach has a muscular pyloric area that acts as a gizzard to grind swallowed food up, thereby rendering chewing unnecessary. Its cecum is large. Both sexes emit a strong smelling secretion from an anal gland. Its salivary glands are highly developed and almost completely ring the neck; their output is what causes the tongue to maintain its tackiness. The female has two pairs of teats in the inguinal region.
Genetically speaking, the aardvark is a living fossil, as its chromosomes are highly conserved, reflecting much of the early eutherian arrangement before the divergence of the major modern taxa. |
Aardvark | Habitat and range | Habitat and range
Aardvarks are found in sub-Saharan Africa, where suitable habitat (savannas, grasslands, woodlands and bushland) and food (i.e., ants and termites) is available. They spend the daylight hours in dark burrows to avoid the heat of the day. The only major habitat that they are not present in is swamp forest, as the high water table precludes digging to a sufficient depth. They also avoid terrain rocky enough to cause problems with digging. They have been documented as high as in Ethiopia. They can be found throughout sub-Saharan Africa from Ethiopia all the way to Cape of Good Hope in South Africa with few exceptions including the coastal areas of Namibia, Ivory Coast, and Ghana. They are not found in Madagascar. |
Aardvark | Ecology and behaviour | Ecology and behaviour
thumb|upright|right|Aardvark resting
thumb|right|Entrance to a burrow
thumb|right|Emerging from a burrow
Aardvarks live for up to 23 years in captivity. Its keen hearing warns it of predators: lions, leopards, cheetahs, African wild dogs, hyenas, and pythons. Some humans also hunt aardvarks for meat. Aardvarks can dig fast or run in zigzag fashion to elude enemies, but if all else fails, they will strike with their claws, tail and shoulders, sometimes flipping onto their backs lying motionless except to lash out with all four feet. They are capable of causing substantial damage to unprotected areas of an attacker. They will also dig to escape as they can. Sometimes, when pressed, aardvarks can dig extremely quickly. |
Aardvark | Feeding | Feeding
left|thumb|The unusual cross-walk gait of the aardvark
The aardvark is nocturnal and is a solitary creature that feeds almost exclusively on ants and termites (myrmecophagy); studies in the Nama Karoo revealed that ants, especially Anoplolepis custodiens, were the predominant prey year-round, followed by termites like Trinervitermes trinervoides. In winter, when ant numbers declined, aardvarks relied more on termites, often feeding on epigeal mounds coinciding with the presence of alates, possibly to meet their nutritional needs. They avoid eating the African driver ant and red ants. Due to their stringent diet requirements, they require a large range to survive.
The only fruit eaten by aardvarks is the aardvark cucumber. In fact, the cucumber and the aardvark have a symbiotic relationship as they eat the subterranean fruit, then defecate the seeds near their burrows, which then grow rapidly due to the loose soil and fertile nature of the area. The time spent in the intestine of the aardvark helps the fertility of the seed, and the fruit provides needed moisture for the aardvark.
An aardvark emerges from its burrow in the late afternoon or shortly after sunset, and forages over a considerable home range encompassing . While foraging for food, the aardvark will keep its nose to the ground and its ears pointed forward, which indicates that both smell and hearing are involved in the search for food. They zig-zag as they forage and will usually not repeat a route for five to eight days as they appear to allow time for the termite nests to recover before feeding on it again.
During a foraging period, they will stop to dig a V-shaped trench with their forefeet and then sniff it profusely as a means to explore their location. When a concentration of ants or termites is detected, the aardvark digs into it with its powerful front legs, keeping its long ears upright to listen for predators, and takes up an astonishing number of insects with its long, sticky tongue—as many as 50,000 in one night have been recorded. Its claws enable it to dig through the extremely hard crust of a termite or ant mound quickly. It avoids inhaling the dust by sealing the nostrils. When successful, the aardvark's long (up to ) tongue licks up the insects; the termites' biting, or the ants' stinging attacks are rendered futile by the tough skin. After an aardvark visit at a termite mound, other animals will visit to pick up all the leftovers. Termite mounds alone do not provide enough food for the aardvark, so they look for termites that are on the move. When these insects move, they can form columns long and these tend to provide easy pickings with little effort exerted by the aardvark. These columns are more common in areas of livestock or other hoofed animals. The trampled grass and dung attract termites from the Odontotermes, Microtermes, and Pseudacanthotermes genera.
On a nightly basis they tend to be more active during the first portion of night (roughly the four hours between 8:00p.m. and 12:00a.m.); however, they do not seem to prefer bright or dark nights over the other. During adverse weather or if disturbed they will retreat to their burrow systems. They cover between per night; however, some studies have shown that they may traverse as far as in a night.
Aardvarks shift their circadian rhythms to more diurnal activity patterns in response to a reduced food supply. This survival tactic may signify an increased risk of imminent mortality. |
Aardvark | Vocalisation | Vocalisation
The aardvark is a rather quiet animal. However, it does make soft grunting sounds as it forages and loud grunts as it makes for its tunnel entrance. It makes a bleating sound if frightened. When it is threatened it will make for one of its burrows. If one is not close it will dig a new one rapidly. This new one will be short and require the aardvark to back out when the coast is clear. |
Aardvark | Movement | Movement
The aardvark is known to be a good swimmer and has been witnessed successfully swimming in strong currents. It can dig a yard of tunnel in about five minutes, but otherwise moves fairly slowly.
When leaving the burrow at night, they pause at the entrance for about ten minutes, sniffing and listening. After this period of watchfulness, it will bound out and within seconds it will be away. It will then pause, prick its ears, twisting its head to listen, then jump and move off to start foraging.
Aside from digging out ants and termites, the aardvark also excavates burrows in which to live, which generally fall into one of three categories: burrows made while foraging, refuge and resting location, and permanent homes. Temporary sites are scattered around the home range and are used as refuges, while the main burrow is also used for breeding. Main burrows can be deep and extensive, have several entrances and can be as long as . These burrows can be large enough for a person to enter. The aardvark changes the layout of its home burrow regularly, and periodically moves on and makes a new one. The old burrows are an important part of the African wildlife scene. As they are vacated, then they are inhabited by smaller animals like the African wild dog, ant-eating chat, Nycteris thebaica and warthogs. Other animals that use them are hares, mongooses, hyenas, owls, pythons, and lizards. Without these refuges many animals would die during wildfire season. Only mothers and young share burrows; however, the aardvark is known to live in small family groups or as a solitary creature. If attacked in the tunnel, it will escape by digging out of the tunnel thereby placing the fresh fill between it and its predator, or if it decides to fight it will roll onto its back, and attack with its claws. The aardvark has been known to sleep in a recently excavated ant nest, which also serves as protection from its predators. |
Aardvark | Reproduction | Reproduction
thumb|right|Aardvark mother and young
It is believed to exhibit polygamous breeding behavior. During mating, the male secures himself to the female's back using his claws, which can occasionally result in noticeable scratches. Males play no role on parental care.
Aardvarks pair only during the breeding season; after a gestation period of seven months, one cub weighing around is born during May–July. When born, the young has flaccid ears and many wrinkles. When nursing, it will nurse off each teat in succession. After two weeks, the folds of skin disappear and after three, the ears can be held upright. After 5–6 weeks, body hair starts growing. It is able to leave the burrow to accompany its mother after only two weeks and eats termites at nine weeks, and is weaned between three months and 16 weeks. At six months of age, it is able to dig its own burrows, but it will often remain with the mother until the next mating season, and is sexually mature from approximately two years of age. |
Aardvark | Conservation | Conservation
Aardvarks were thought to have declining numbers, however, this is possibly because they are not readily seen. There are no definitive counts because of their nocturnal and secretive habits; however, their numbers seem to be stable overall. They are not considered common anywhere in Africa, but due to their large range, they maintain sufficient numbers. There may be a slight decrease in numbers in eastern, northern, and western Africa. Southern African numbers are not decreasing. It has received an official designation from the IUCN as least concern. However, they are a species in a precarious situation, as they are so dependent on such specific food; therefore if a problem arises with the abundance of termites, the species as a whole would be affected drastically.
Recent research suggests that aardvarks may be particularly vulnerable to alterations in temperature caused by climate change. Droughts negatively impact the availability of termites and ants, which comprise the bulk of an aardvark's diet. Nocturnal species faced with resource scarcity may increase their diurnal activity to spare the energy costs of staying warm at night, but this comes at the cost of withstanding high temperatures during the day. A study on aardvarks in the Kalahari Desert saw that five out of six aardvarks being studied perished following a drought. Aardvarks that survive droughts can take long periods of time to regain health and optimal thermoregulatory physiology, reducing the reproductive potential of the species.
Aardvarks adapt well to captivity. The first recorded instance was at London Zoo in 1869, which housed an individual from South Africa. |
Aardvark | Mythology and popular culture | Mythology and popular culture
thumb|200px|F-111 Aardvark
thumb|200px|F-14 Tomcat from VF-114 Aardvarks with the squadron mascot painted on the tail
In African folklore, the aardvark is much admired because of its diligent quest for food and its fearless response to soldier ants. Hausa magicians make a charm from the heart, skin, forehead, and nails of the aardvark, which they then proceed to pound together with the root of a certain tree. Wrapped in a piece of skin and worn on the chest, the charm is said to give the owner the ability to pass through walls or roofs at night. The charm is said to be used by burglars and those seeking to visit young girls without their parents' permission. Also, some tribes, such as the Margbetu, Ayanda, and Logo, will use aardvark teeth to make bracelets, which are regarded as good luck charms. The meat, which has a resemblance to pork, is eaten in certain cultures. In the mythology of the Dagbon people of Ghana, the aardvark is believed to possess superpowers. The Dagombas believe this animal can transfigure into and interact with humans.
The ancient Egyptian god Set is usually depicted with the head of an unidentified animal, whose similarity to an aardvark has been noted in scholarship.
The titular character and his families from Arthur, an animated television series for children based on a book series and produced by WGBH, shown in more than 180 countries, is an aardvark. In the first book of the series, Arthur's Nose (1976), he has a long, aardvark-like nose,Arthur's Nose, Thriftbooks; accessed 2020.09.29. but in later books, his face becomes more rounded.Arthur's Eyes, Thriftbooks; accesses 2020.09.29.
Otis the Aardvark was a puppet character used on Children's BBC programming.
An aardvark features as the antagonist in the cartoon The Ant and the Aardvark as well as in the Canadian animated series The Raccoons.
The supersonic fighter-bomber F-111/FB-111 was nicknamed the Aardvark because of its long nose resembling the animal. It also had similarities with its nocturnal missions flown at a very low level employing ordnance that could penetrate deep into the ground. In the US Navy, the squadron VF-114 was nicknamed the Aardvarks, flying F-4s and then F-14s. The squadron mascot was adapted from the animal in the comic strip B.C., which the F-4 was said to resemble.
Cerebus the Aardvark is a 300-issue comic book series by Dave Sim. |
Aardvark | Footnotes | Footnotes |
Aardvark | References | References
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Aardvark | External links | External links
IUCN/SSC Afrotheria Specialist Group
A YouTube video introducing the Bronx Zoo's aardvarks
"The Biology of the Aardvark (Orycteropus afer)" a diploma thesis (without images)
"The Biology of the Aardvark" (Orycteropus afer)" the thesis with images
Category:Orycteropus
Category:Mammals of Africa
Category:Xerophiles
Category:Myrmecophagous mammals
Category:Mammals described in 1766
Category:Extant Zanclean first appearances
Category:Taxa named by Peter Simon Pallas
Category:Afrikaans words and phrases |
Aardvark | Table of Content | Short description, Name and taxonomy, Name, Taxonomy, Evolutionary history, Subspecies, Description, Head, Digestive system, Habitat and range, Ecology and behaviour, Feeding, Vocalisation, Movement, Reproduction, Conservation, Mythology and popular culture, Footnotes, References, External links |
Aardwolf | Short description | The aardwolf (Proteles cristatus) is an insectivorous hyaenid species, native to East and Southern Africa. Its name means "earth-wolf" in Afrikaans and Dutch."Aardwolf, n." Dictionary of South African English. Dictionary Unit for South African English, 2018. Web. 25 February 2019. It is also called the maanhaar-jackal"Maanhaar, n." Dictionary of South African English. Dictionary Unit for South African English, 2018. Web. 25 February 2019. (Afrikaans for "mane-jackal"), termite-eating hyena and civet hyena, based on its habit of secreting substances from its anal gland, a characteristic shared with the African civet.
Unlike many of its relatives in the order Carnivora, the aardwolf does not hunt large animals. It eats insects and their larvae, mainly termites; one aardwolf can lap up as many as 300,000 termites during a single night using its long, sticky tongue. The aardwolf's tongue has adapted to be tough enough to withstand the strong bite of termites.
The aardwolf lives in the shrublands of eastern and southern Africa – open lands covered with stunted trees and shrubs. It is nocturnal, resting in burrows during the day and emerging at night to seek food. |
Aardwolf | Taxonomy | Taxonomy
The aardwolf is generally classified as part of the hyena family Hyaenidae. However, it was formerly placed in its own family Protelidae. Early on, scientists felt that it was merely mimicking the striped hyena, which subsequently led to the creation of Protelidae. Recent studies have suggested that the aardwolf probably diverged from other hyaenids early on; how early is still unclear, as the fossil record and genetic studies disagree by 10 million years.
The aardwolf is the only surviving species in the subfamily Protelinae. There is disagreement as to whether the species is monotypic, or can be divided into subspecies. A 2021 study found the genetic differences in eastern and southern aardwolves may be pronounced enough to categorize them as species.
Image Subspecies Distribution180pxP. c. cristatus Southern Africa180pxP. c. septentrionalis East Africa.
A 2006 molecular analysis indicates it is phylogenetically the most basal of the four extant hyaenidae species. |
Aardwolf | Etymology | Etymology
The generic name Proteles is derived from two words of Greek origin: , prōtos and téleios, which combined mean "complete in front" referring to the aardwolf's five toes on the front paws and four on the hindpaws.
The specific name cristatus is derived from Latin and means "provided with a comb or tuft", relating to its mane. |
Aardwolf | Description | Description
thumb|Aardwolf with tongue exposed. Note the prominent papillae
The aardwolf resembles a much smaller and thinner striped hyena, with a more slender muzzle, black vertical stripes on a coat of yellowish fur, and a long, distinct mane down the midline of the neck and back. It also has one or two diagonal stripes down the fore and hindquarters and several stripes on its legs. The mane is raised during confrontations to make the aardwolf appear larger. It is missing the throat spot that others in the family have. Its lower leg (from the knee down) is all black, and its tail is bushy with a black tip.
The aardwolf is about long, excluding its bushy tail, which is about long, and stands about tall at the shoulders. An adult aardwolf weighs approximately , sometimes reaching . The aardwolves in the south of the continent tend to be slightly smaller (about ) than the eastern version (around ). This makes the aardwolf the smallest extant member of the Hyaenidae family. The front feet have five toes each, unlike the four-toed hyena. The skull is similar in shape to those of other hyenas, though much smaller, and its cheek teeth are specialised for eating insects. It still has canines, but unlike other hyenas, these teeth are used primarily for fighting and defense. Its ears, which are large, are very similar to those of the striped hyena.
As an aardwolf ages, it will typically lose some of its teeth, though this has little impact on its feeding habits due to the softness of the insects that it eats. |
Aardwolf | Distribution and habitat | Distribution and habitat
Aardwolves live in open, dry plains and bushland, avoiding mountainous areas. Due to their specific food requirements, they are found only in regions where termites of the family Hodotermitidae occur. Termites of this family depend on dead and withered grass and are most populous in heavily grazed grasslands and savannahs, including farmland. For most of the year, aardwolves spend time in shared territories consisting of up to a dozen dens, which are occupied for six weeks at a time.
There are two distinct populations: one in Southern Africa, and another in East and Northeast Africa. The species does not occur in the intermediary miombo forests.
An adult pair, along with their most-recent offspring, occupies a territory of . |
Aardwolf | Behavior and ecology | Behavior and ecology
thumb|left|Aardwolf at the San Antonio Zoo
Aardwolves are shy and nocturnal, sleeping in burrows by day. They will, on occasion during the winter, become diurnal feeders. This happens during the coldest periods as they then stay in at night to conserve heat.
They are primarily solitary animals, though during mating season they form monogamous pairs which occupy a territory with their young.Richardson, P. R. K. "Aardwolf mating system: overt cuckoldry in an apparently monogamous mammal." South African Journal of Science 83.7 (1987): 405. If their territory is infringed upon by another aardwolf, they will chase the intruder away for up to or to the border. If the intruder is caught, which rarely happens, a fight will occur, which is accompanied by soft clucking, hoarse barking, and a type of roar. The majority of incursions occur during mating season, when they can occur once or twice per week. When food is scarce, the stringent territorial system may be abandoned and as many as three pairs may occupy a single territory.
The territory is marked by both sexes, as they both have developed anal glands from which they extrude a black substance that is smeared on rocks or grass stalks in -long streaks. Aardwolves also have scent glands on the forefoot and penile pad.Stoeckelhuber, Mechthild, Alexander Sliwa, and Ulrich Welsch. "Histo-physiology of the scent-marking glands of the penile pad, anal pouch, and the forefoot in the aardwolf (Proteles cristatus)." The anatomical record 259.3 (2000): 312-326. They often mark near termite mounds within their territory every 20 minutes or so. If they are patrolling their territorial boundaries, the marking frequency increases drastically, to once every . At this rate, an individual may mark 60 marks per hour, and upwards of 200 per night.
An aardwolf pair's territory may have up to 10 dens, and numerous middens where they dig small holes and bury their feces with sand. Their dens are usually abandoned aardvark, springhare, or porcupine dens, or on occasion they are crevices in rocks. They will also dig their own dens, or enlarge dens started by springhares. They typically will only use one or two dens at a time, rotating through all of their dens every six months. During the summer, they may rest outside their den during the night and sleep underground during the heat of the day.
Aardwolves are not fast runners nor are they particularly adept at fighting off predators. Therefore, when threatened, the aardwolf may attempt to mislead its foe by doubling back on its tracks. If confronted, it may raise its mane in an attempt to appear more menacing. It also emits a foul-smelling liquid from its anal glands. |
Aardwolf | Feeding | Feeding
The aardwolf feeds primarily on termites and more specifically on Trinervitermes. This genus of termites has different species throughout the aardwolf's range. In East Africa, they eat Trinervitermes bettonianus, in central Africa, they eat Trinervitermes rhodesiensis, and in southern Africa, they eat T. trinervoides. Their technique consists of licking them off the ground as opposed to the aardvark, which digs into the mound. They locate their food by sound and also from the scent secreted by the soldier termites. An aardwolf may consume up to 250,000 termites per night using its long, broad, sticky tongue.
They do not destroy the termite mound or consume the entire colony, thus ensuring that the termites can rebuild and provide a continuous supply of food. They often memorize the location of such nests and return to them every few months. During certain seasonal events, such as the onset of the rainy season and the cold of midwinter, the primary termites become scarce, so the need for other foods becomes pronounced. During these times, the southern aardwolf will seek out Hodotermes mossambicus, a type of harvester termite active in the afternoon, which explains some of their diurnal behavior in the winter. The eastern aardwolf, during the rainy season, subsists on termites from the genera Odontotermes and Macrotermes. They are also known to feed on other insects and larvae, and, some sources mention, very occasionally small mammals and birds, but these constitute a very small percentage of their total diet. They use their wide tongues to lap surface foraging termites off of the ground and consume large quantities of sand in the process, which aids in digestion in the absence of teeth to break down their food.
Unlike other hyenas, aardwolves do not scavenge or kill larger animals. Contrary to popular myths, aardwolves do not eat carrion, and if they are seen eating while hunched over a dead carcass, they are actually eating larvae and beetles. Also, contrary to some sources, they do not like meat, unless it is finely ground or cooked for them. The adult aardwolf was formerly assumed to forage in small groups, but more recent research has shown that they are primarily solitary foragers, necessary because of the scarcity of their insect prey. Their primary source, Trinervitermes, forages in small but dense patches of . While foraging, the aardwolf can cover about per hour, which translates to per summer night and per winter night. |
Aardwolf | Breeding | Breeding
The breeding season varies depending on location, but normally takes place during autumn or spring. In South Africa, breeding occurs in early July. During the breeding season, unpaired male aardwolves search their own territory, as well as others, for a female to mate with. Dominant males also mate opportunistically with the females of less dominant neighboring aardwolves, which can result in conflict between rival males. Dominant males even go a step further and as the breeding season approaches, they make increasingly greater and greater incursions onto weaker males' territories. As the female comes into oestrus, they add pasting to their tricks inside of the other territories, sometimes doing so more in rivals' territories than their own. Females will also, when given the opportunity, mate with the dominant male, which increases the chances of the dominant male guarding "his" cubs with her. Copulation lasts between 1 and 4.5 hours.
Gestation lasts between 89 and 92 days, producing two to five cubs (most often two or three) during the rainy season (October–December), when termites are more active. They are born with their eyes open, but initially are helpless, and weigh around . The first six to eight weeks are spent in the den with their parents. The male may spend up to six hours a night watching over the cubs while the mother is out looking for food. After three months, they begin supervised foraging, and by four months are normally independent, though they often share a den with their mother until the next breeding season. By the time the next set of cubs is born, the older cubs have moved on. Aardwolves generally achieve sexual maturity at one and a half to two years of age. |
Aardwolf | Conservation | Conservation
The aardwolf has not seen decreasing numbers and is relatively widespread throughout eastern Africa. They are not common throughout their range, as they maintain a density of no more than 1 per square kilometer, if food is abundant. Because of these factors, the IUCN has rated the aardwolf as least concern. In some areas, they are persecuted because of the mistaken belief that they prey on livestock; however, they are actually beneficial to the farmers because they eat termites that are detrimental. In other areas, the farmers have recognized this, but they are still killed, on occasion, for their fur. Dogs and insecticides are also common killers of the aardwolf. |
Aardwolf | In captivity | In captivity
thumb|Illustration of Proteles cristatus
Frankfurt Zoo in Germany was home to the oldest recorded aardwolf in captivity at 18 years and 11 months. |
Aardwolf | Notes | Notes |
Aardwolf | References | References |
Aardwolf | Sources | Sources
|
Aardwolf | Further reading | Further reading
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Aardwolf | External links | External links
Animal Diversity Web
IUCN Hyaenidae Specialist Group Aardwolf pages on hyaenidae.org
Cam footage from the Namib desert https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lRevqS6Pxgg
Category:Mammals described in 1783
Category:Carnivorans of Africa
Category:Hyenas
Category:Mammals of Southern Africa
Category:Fauna of East Africa
Category:Myrmecophagous mammals
Category:Taxa named by Anders Sparrman
Category:Nocturnal animals
Category:Mammals of Africa |
Aardwolf | Table of Content | Short description, Taxonomy, Etymology, Description, Distribution and habitat, Behavior and ecology, Feeding, Breeding, Conservation, In captivity, Notes, References, Sources, Further reading, External links |
Adobe | Short description | thumb|Adobe wall (detail) in Bahillo, Palencia, Spain
thumb|Renewal of the surface coating of an adobe wall in Chamisal, New Mexico
thumb|Adobe walls separate urban gardens in Shiraz, Iran
Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of earthen construction, or various architectural styles like Pueblo Revival or Territorial Revival. Most adobe buildings are similar in appearance to cob and rammed earth buildings. Adobe is among the earliest building materials, and is used throughout the world.
Adobe architecture has been dated to before 5,100 BP. |
Adobe | Description | Description
Adobe bricks are rectangular prisms small enough that they can quickly air dry individually without cracking. They can be subsequently assembled, with the application of adobe mud to bond the individual bricks into a structure. There is no standard size, with substantial variations over the years and in different regions. In some areas a popular size measured weighing about ; in other contexts the size is weighing about . The maximum sizes can reach up to ; above this weight it becomes difficult to move the pieces, and it is preferred to ram the mud in situ, resulting in a different typology known as rammed earth. |
Adobe | Strength | Strength
In dry climates, adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for some of the oldest existing buildings in the world. Adobe buildings offer significant advantages due to their greater thermal mass, but they are known to be particularly susceptible to earthquake damage if they are not reinforced.Short documentary about adobe preparation and 2010 Chile earthquake Livingatlaschile.com, FICh. Retrieved 5 March 2014 Cases where adobe structures were widely damaged during earthquakes include the 1976 Guatemala earthquake, the 2003 Bam earthquake, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. |
Adobe | Distribution | Distribution
Buildings made of sun-dried earth are common throughout the world (Middle East, Western Asia, North Africa, West Africa, South America, Southwestern North America, Southwestern and Eastern Europe.).Marchand, Trevor (2009). The Masons of Djenne. Bloomington: University of Indiana Press Adobe had been in use by indigenous peoples of the Americas in the Southwestern United States, Mesoamerica, and the Andes for several thousand years. Puebloan peoples built their adobe structures with handsful or basketsful of adobe, until the Spanish introduced them to making bricks. Adobe bricks were used in Spain from the Late Bronze and Iron Ages (eighth century BCE onwards). Its wide use can be attributed to its simplicity of design and manufacture, and economics. |
Adobe | Etymology | Etymology
thumb|left|Church at San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
The word adobe has existed for around 4,000 years with relatively little change in either pronunciation or meaning. The word can be traced from the Middle Egyptian () word ḏbt "mud brick" (with vowels unwritten). Middle Egyptian evolved into Late Egyptian and finally to Coptic (), where it appeared as ⲧⲱⲃⲉ tōbə. This was adopted into Arabic as aṭ-ṭawbu or aṭ-ṭūbu, with the definite article al- attached"adobe", Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) © Oxford University Press, 2009 to the root tuba.Spanish Word Histories and Mysteries: English Words that Come from Spanish, Houghton Mifflin Co., 2007, p.5"Adobe Moulding" Auroville Earth Institute This was assimilated into the Old Spanish language as adobe , probably via Mozarabic. English borrowed the word from Spanish in the early 18th century, still referring to mudbrick construction.
In more modern English usage, the term adobe has come to include a style of architecture popular in the desert climates of North America, especially in New Mexico, regardless of the construction method. |
Adobe | Composition | Composition
thumb|Adobe style in Santa Fe, New Mexico
An adobe brick is a composite material made of earth mixed with water and an organic material such as straw or dung. The soil composition typically contains sand, silt and clay. Straw is useful in binding the brick together and allowing the brick to dry evenly, thereby preventing cracking due to uneven shrinkage rates through the brick. Dung offers the same advantage. The most desirable soil texture for producing the mud of adobe is 15% clay, 10–30% silt, and 55–75% fine sand. Another source quotes 15–25% clay and the remainder sand and coarser particles up to cobbles , with no deleterious effect. Modern adobe is stabilized with either emulsified asphalt or Portland cement up to 10% by weight.
No more than half the clay content should be expansive clays, with the remainder non-expansive illite or kaolinite. Too much expansive clay results in uneven drying through the brick, resulting in cracking, while too much kaolinite will make a weak brick. Typically the soils of the Southwest United States, where such construction has been widely used, are an adequate composition. |
Adobe | Material properties | Material properties
thumb|The Great Mosque of Djenné, Mali, built in adobe. The struts projecting from the wall serve as decoration, as well as supports for scaffolding during maintenance.
thumb|Maintenance of historic architecture in Agadez, Niger, by adding a new layer of mud rendering
Adobe walls are load bearing, i.e. they carry their own weight into the foundation rather than by another structure, hence the adobe must have sufficient compressive strength. In the United States, most building codes call for a minimum compressive strength of for the adobe block. Adobe construction should be designed so as to avoid lateral structural loads that would cause bending loads. The building codes require the building sustain a lateral acceleration earthquake load. Such an acceleration will cause lateral loads on the walls, resulting in shear and bending and inducing tensile stresses. To withstand such loads, the codes typically call for a tensile modulus of rupture strength of at least for the finished block.
In addition to being an inexpensive material with a small resource cost, adobe can serve as a significant heat reservoir due to the thermal properties inherent in the massive walls typical in adobe construction. In climates typified by hot days and cool nights, the high thermal mass of adobe mediates the high and low temperatures of the day, moderating the temperature of the living space. The massive walls require a large and relatively long input of heat from the sun (radiation) and from the surrounding air (convection) before they warm through to the interior. After the sun sets and the temperature drops, the warm wall will continue to transfer heat to the interior for several hours due to the time-lag effect. Thus, a well-planned adobe wall of the appropriate thickness is very effective at controlling inside temperature through the wide daily fluctuations typical of desert climates, a factor which has contributed to its longevity as a building material.
Thermodynamic material properties have significant variation in the literature. Some experiments suggest that the standard consideration of conductivity is not adequate for this material, as its main thermodynamic property is inertia, and conclude that experimental tests should be performed over a longer period of time than usual – preferably with changing thermal jumps. There is an effective R-value for a north facing wall of R0=10 hr ft2 °F/Btu, which corresponds to thermal conductivity k=10 in x 1 ft/12 in /R0=0.33 Btu/(hr ft °F) or 0.57 W/(m K) in agreement with the thermal conductivity reported from another source. To determine the total R-value of a wall, scale R0 by the thickness of the wall in inches. The thermal resistance of adobe is also stated as an R-value for a wall R0=4.1 hr ft2 °F/Btu. Another source provides the following properties: conductivity 0.30 Btu/(hr ft °F) or 0.52 W/(m K); specific heat capacity 0.24 Btu/(lb °F) or 1 kJ/(kg K) and density , giving heat capacity 25.4 Btu/(ft3 °F) or 1700 kJ/(m3 K). Using the average value of the thermal conductivity as k = 32 Btu/(hr ft °F) or 0.55 W/(m K), the thermal diffusivity is calculated to be . |
Adobe | Uses | Uses |
Adobe | Poured and puddled adobe walls | Poured and puddled adobe walls
thumb|left|Cliff dwellings of poured or puddled adobe (cob) at Cuarenta Casas in Mexico
Poured and puddled adobe (puddled clay, piled earth), today called cob, is made by placing soft adobe in layers, rather than by making individual dried bricks or using a form. "Puddle" is a general term for a clay or clay and sand-based material worked into a dense, plastic state."puddle, n. 4.". Oxford English Dictionary 2nd. ed. 2009. CD-rom. These are the oldest methods of building with adobe in the Americas until holes in the ground were used as forms, and later wooden forms used to make individual bricks were introduced by the Spanish.Keefe, Laurence (2005). Earth Building: Methods and Materials, Repair and Conservation. London: Taylor & Francis. p. 22. . |
Adobe | Adobe bricks | Adobe bricks
thumb|Adobe bricks near a construction site in Milyanfan, Kyrgyzstan
Bricks made from adobe are usually made by pressing the mud mixture into an open timber frame. In North America, the brick is typically about in size. The mixture is molded into the frame, which is removed after initial setting. After drying for a few hours, the bricks are turned on edge to finish drying. Slow drying in shade reduces cracking.
The same mixture, without straw, is used to make mortar and often plaster on interior and exterior walls. Some cultures used lime-based cement for the plaster to protect against rain damage.
Depending on the form into which the mixture is pressed, adobe can encompass nearly any shape or size, provided drying is even and the mixture includes reinforcement for larger bricks. Reinforcement can include manure, straw, cement, rebar, or wooden posts. Straw, cement, or manure added to a standard adobe mixture can produce a stronger, more crack-resistant brick. A test is done on the soil content first. To do so, a sample of the soil is mixed into a clear container with some water, creating an almost completely saturated liquid. The container is shaken vigorously for one minute. It is then allowed to settle for a day until the soil has settled into layers. Heavier particles settle out first, sand above, silt above that, and very fine clay and organic matter will stay in suspension for days. After the water has cleared, percentages of the various particles can be determined. Fifty to 60 percent sand and 35 to 40 percent clay will yield strong bricks. The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service at New Mexico State University recommends a mix of not more than clay, not less than sand, and never more than silt.
During the Great Depression, designer and builder Hugh W. Comstock used cheaper materials and made a specialized adobe brick called "Bitudobe." His first adobe house was built in 1936. In 1948, he published the book Post-Adobe; Simplified Adobe Construction Combining A Rugged Timber Frame And Modern Stabilized Adobe, which described his method of construction, including how to make "Bitudobe." In 1938, he served as an adviser to the architects Franklin & Kump Associates, who built the Carmel High School, which used his Post-adobe system. |
Adobe | Adobe wall construction | Adobe wall construction
thumb|The earthen plaster removed, exposing the adobe bricks at Fort St. Sebastien in France
The ground supporting an adobe structure should be compressed, as the weight of adobe wall is significant and foundation settling may cause cracking of the wall. Footing depth is to be below the ground frost level. The footing and stem wall are commonly thick, respectively. Modern construction codes call for the use of reinforcing steel in the footing and stem wall. Adobe bricks are laid by course. Adobe walls usually never rise above two stories as they are load bearing and adobe has low structural strength. When creating window and door openings, a lintel is placed on top of the opening to support the bricks above. Atop the last courses of brick, bond beams made of heavy wood beams or modern reinforced concrete are laid to provide a horizontal bearing plate for the roof beams and to redistribute lateral earthquake loads to shear walls more able to carry the forces. To protect the interior and exterior adobe walls, finishes such as mud plaster, whitewash or stucco can be applied. These protect the adobe wall from water damage, but need to be reapplied periodically. Alternatively, the walls can be finished with other nontraditional plasters that provide longer protection. Bricks made with stabilized adobe generally do not need protection of plasters. |
Adobe | Adobe roof | Adobe roof
The traditional adobe roof has been constructed using a mixture of soil/clay, water, sand and organic materials. The mixture was then formed and pressed into wood forms, producing rows of dried earth bricks that would then be laid across a support structure of wood and plastered into place with more adobe.
Depending on the materials available, a roof may be assembled using wood or metal beams to create a framework to begin layering adobe bricks. Depending on the thickness of the adobe bricks, the framework has been preformed using a steel framing and a layering of a metal fencing or wiring over the framework to allow an even load as masses of adobe are spread across the metal fencing like cob and allowed to air dry accordingly. This method was demonstrated with an adobe blend heavily impregnated with cement to allow even drying and prevent cracking.
The more traditional flat adobe roofs are functional only in dry climates that are not exposed to snow loads. The heaviest wooden beams, called vigas, lie atop the wall. Across the vigas lie smaller members called latillas and upon those brush is then laid. Finally, the adobe layer is applied.
To construct a flat adobe roof, beams of wood were laid to span the building, the ends of which were attached to the tops of the walls. Once the vigas, latillas and brush are laid, adobe bricks are placed. An adobe roof is often laid with bricks slightly larger in width to ensure a greater expanse is covered when placing the bricks onto the roof. Following each individual brick should be a layer of adobe mortar, recommended to be at least thick to make certain there is ample strength between the brick's edges and also to provide a relative moisture barrier during rain.
Roof design evolved around 1850 in the American Southwest. of adobe mud was applied on top of the latillas, then of dry adobe dirt applied to the roof. The dirt was contoured into a low slope to a downspout aka a 'canal'. When moisture was applied to the roof the clay particles expanded to create a waterproof membrane. Once a year it was necessary to pull the weeds from the roof and re-slope the dirt as needed.
Depending on the materials, adobe roofs can be inherently fire-proof. The construction of a chimney can greatly influence the construction of the roof supports, creating an extra need for care in choosing the materials. The builders can make an adobe chimney by stacking simple adobe bricks in a similar fashion as the surrounding walls.
In 1927, the Uniform Building Code (UBC) was adopted in the United States. Local ordinances, referencing the UBC added requirements to building with adobe. These included: restriction of building height of adobe structures to 1-story, requirements for adobe mix (compressive and shear strength) and new requirements which stated that every building shall be designed to withstand seismic activity, specifically lateral forces. By the 1980s however, seismic related changes in the California Building Code effectively ended solid wall adobe construction in California; however Post-and-Beam adobe and veneers are still being used. |
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