Five finger mountain - Pentadaktylos - Πενταδάκτυλος

Ο Πενταδάκτυλος (740 m), το πιο ευδιάκριτο και επιβλητικό βουνό της Κύπρου.

Pentadaktylos (740 m), the most conspicuous and imposing mountain of Cyprus.

The Kyrenia Mountains is a long, narrow mountain range that runs for approximately 160 km (100 mi) along the northern coast of the island of Cyprus. It is primarily made of limestone, with some marble. Its highest peak is Mount Kyparissovouno, at 1,024 m (3,360 ft). Pentadaktylos (also spelt Pentadactylos; Greek: Πενταδάκτυλος; Turkish: Beşparmak) is another name for the Kyrenia Mountains, though Britannica refers to Pentadaktylos as the "western portion" of the latter, or the part west of Melounta.Pentadaktylos (lit. "five-fingered") is so-named after one of its most distinguishing features, a peak that resembles five fingers.

A devastating fire in July 1995 burned large portions of the Kyrenia Mountains, resulting in the loss of significant forest land and natural habitat.

The only other mountain range in Cyprus is the Troodos Mountains..From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ο Πενταδάκτυλος είναι επιμήκης ασβεστολιθική οροσειρά που εκτείνεται κατά μήκος της βόρειας ακτής της Κύπρου. Οφείλει το όνομά του στην ομώνυμη κορυφή, η οποία έχει το σχήμα παλάμης με πέντε δάκτυλα. Σύμφωνα με την παράδοση, η οποία ανάγεται στα βυζαντινά χρόνια, ο Διγενής Ακρίτας στην προσπάθειά του να υπερπηδήσει την οροσειρά άφησε το αποτύπωμα της παλάμης του στο βουνό. Πολλοί άλλοι μύθοι και θρύλοι είναι συνδεδεμένοι με τα κάστρα που δεσπόζουν στις κορυφές του βουνού, τα οποία κτίστηκαν από τους Βυζαντινούς για να ελέγχουν το θαλάσσιο χώρο βόρεια του νησιού και να εντοπίζουν έγκαιρα πλοία των Σαρακηνών πειρατών. From Βικιπαίδεια

.Photos   by George Konstantinou

Photos  31/5/2023 by George Konstantinou

Eastern annual saltmarsh aster - Symphyotrichum squamatum (Spreng.) G. L. Nesom -- - Cyprus

Symphyotrichum subulatum (formerly Aster subulatus), commonly known as eastern annual saltmarsh aster or, in Britain and Ireland where it is naturalized, annual saltmarsh aster,[7] is an annual plant in the family Asteraceae native to the eastern United States and the Gulf Coast to Texas.[8] The species grows primarily in coastal salt marshes, although in the Ozarks it occurs as a non-marine weedy variety.[9]

Description

Symphyotrichum subulatum is an annual forb that possesses a single erect stem that can reach up to 1 meter (3 feet 3 inches) in height. The stem, along with its thin green to dark green leaves, are both hairless. The sheathing base-blades of the leaves are ovulate, and the margins are entire.[10]

The top of the stem extends into a raceme inflorescence. The heads open up into bright yellow disc florets that are surrounded by ray florets that vary in color from white to lavender. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Fasouri 29/8/2015 by George Konstantinou

Nassarius circumcinctus (Adams A., 1852) - Cyprus

Family Nassariidae,

Nassarius circumcinctus is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Nassariidae, the Nassa mud snails or dog whelks.
The shell grows to a length of 15 mm.
This species occurs in the Mediterranean Sea.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

.Photos Eftakomi 11/4/2013  by George Konstantinou

Cataglyphis, or desert ants - Cataglyphis noda Brullé, 1833 - Cyprus

Cataglyphis, or desert ants, is a genus of ant in the subfamily Formicinae. Its most famous species is C. bicolor, the Sahara Desert ant, which runs on hot sand to find insects that died of heat exhaustion, and can sustain body temperatures of up to 50°C
Species of this genus are generally morphologically and physiologically adapted to dry and hot habitats

In the Sahara, ants are living where there there are no bushes or clumps of grass, and where tracks are covered by wind-blown sand in seconds. The midday sun is so hot that even the permanent residents, sand lizards and insects and a few birds, have to take shelter. But this is when, for not much more than an hour, it's safe for Cataglyphis to come out of their underground nests and forage. According to Wehner, they can withstand higher temperatures than any other insects.They pour out on to the sand and search for insects that have died of heat stress. Each ant dashes about in zigzag patterns, but as soon as one is lucky enough to find a tiny insect corpse, it has to get it back to the nest fast before it itself dies of the heat. It does not retrace the zig-zagging path of its outward journey; even if a scent-trail made this possible, such a route would be time-wasting. Instead, it runs in a straight line directly back to its nest-hole.

On its outward journey, it zig-zags right and left. Every time it changes direction, it lifts its head and wheels around to take a bearing on the sun. In addition, it has to remember how far it went on each straight run. When it’s time to head for home, it has to sum all this data and come out with the precise direction needed. Some outward journeys take an ant a quarter of an hour, with sun-sightings every few seconds.

In an experiment, individual ants were fitted with an apparatus, which blocked direct sight of the sun while giving a false impression of where the sun was, using a mirror. When these ants headed for home, they dashed off to a point in the desert displaced by just the amount that the mirror had shifted the sun's position.

At least five different species of Cataglyphis occur in the Sahara desert, which may be considered the center of distribution for this genus. Some species reach into southern Russia, southern Spain, the European part of Turkey, the Aral-Caspian area near Tijanchan, Yugoslavia and Hungary.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

.Photos and video Nicosia  by George Konstantinou

Platytarus faminii (Dejean 1826) - Cyprus

Platytarus is a genus of beetles in the family Carabidae, containing the following species

.Photos Meneou 6/9/2015  by George Konstantinou

Giant Glycymeris sp. - Fossil from Nicosia- Cyprus

Family Glycymerididae

Glycymeris, common name the bittersweet clams, is a genus of saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Glycymerididae

Fossil records

These clams are very common as fossils, from the Cretaceous period in the Valanginian age (between 140.2 ± 3.0 mya and 136.4 ± 2.0 mya). Fossil shells of these molluscs can be found all over the world. Genus Glycymeris includes about 100 extinct species.

Description

The shells are generally biconvex, with equal valves round in outline, and slightly longer than wide. Their size varies from medium to large. The external ligament lacks transverse striations. These clams are a facultatively mobile infaunal suspension feeders.

Photos Nicosia  by George Konstantinou

Whale barnacles - Coronula diadema fossil - Geri, Cyprus

Whale barnacles (Coronula diadema) attach themselves to the throat and belly of humpback whales. The barnacle shell is made up of a series of calcium carbonate plates. The animal lives within these, attached by its head to a bottom plate that is embedded in the skin of a whale.

.Photos Nicosia  by George Konstantinou

Fossils Crab from Nicosia - Cyprus

Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen), usually hidden entirely under the thorax (brachyura means "short tail" in Greek[a]). They live in all the world's oceans, in freshwater, and on land, are generally covered with a thick exoskeleton, and have a single pair of pincers. They first appeared during the Jurassic Period.
Fossil Crab  from Nicosia

.Photos Nicosia  by George Konstantinou