Podiceps cristatus australis (Great Crested Grebe) is a subspecies of birds in the family grebes. Individuals can grow to 90 cm. They rely on flight and drag powered swimming to move around.
Definition: Drag swimmers use a cyclic motion where they push water back in a power stroke, and return their limb forward in the return or recovery stroke. When they push water directly backwards, this moves their body forward, but as they return their limbs to the starting position, they push water forward, which will thus pull them back to some degree, and so opposes the direction that the body is heading. This opposing force is called drag. The return-stroke drag causes drag swimmers to employ different strategies than lift swimmers. Reducing drag on the return stroke is essential for optimizing efficiency.
Definition: overall repetitive or reflective pattern in the body of one individual of this taxon. eg: bilateral symmetry, rotational symmetry, radial symmetry
Definition: Component found in mineralized skeletal tissue, (a specialized form of biogenic tissue in which the extracellular matrix is mineralized, and which functions in mechanical and structural support.)
Definition: Because of the difference in refractive index between air and water (or corneal tissue), a curved cornea is an image-forming lens in its own right. Its focal length is determined by the radius of curvature of the cornea. Many corneal eyes (eg: in land vertebrates) also have lenses, but the lens is flattened and weakened compared with an aquatic lens; most of the refractive power is provided by the cornea. Corneal eyes cannot focus in aquatic habitat.
