query: Mark Cuban is an author.

pos: Mark Cuban Mark Cuban ( born July 31 , 1958 ) is an American businessman , investor , author , television personality , and philanthropist . He is the owner of the NBA 's Dallas Mavericks , co-owner of 2929 Entertainment and chairman of the AXS TV . He is also one of the main `` shark '' investors on the ABC reality television series , Shark Tank . In 2011 , Cuban wrote an e-book , How to Win at the Sport of Business , in which he chronicles his life experiences in business and sports .

neg: Manhattan Transfer (novel) Manhattan Transfer is an American novel by John Dos Passos published in 1925 . It focuses on the development of urban life in New York City from the Gilded Age to the Jazz Age as told through a series of overlapping individual stories .   It is considered to be one of Dos Passos ' most important works . The book attacks the consumerism and social indifference of contemporary urban life , portraying a Manhattan that is merciless yet teeming with energy and restlessness . The book shows some of Dos Passos ' experimental writing techniques and narrative collages that would become more pronounced in his U.S.A. trilogy and other later works . The technique in Manhattan Transfer was inspired in part by James Joyce 's Ulysses ( 1922 ) , T. S. Eliot 's The Waste Land , and experiments with film collage by Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein .   Sinclair Lewis described it as `` a novel of the very first importance ... The dawn of a whole new school of writing . '' D. H. Lawrence called it `` the best modern book about New York '' he had ever read , describing it as `` a very complete  film ... of the vast loose gang of strivers and winners and losers which seems to be the very pep of New York . '' In a blurb for a European edition , Ernest Hemingway wrote that , alone among American writers , Dos Passos has `` been able to show to Europeans the America they really find when they come here . ''

neg: Carole Maso Carole Maso is a contemporary American novelist and essayist , known for her experimental , poetic and fragmentary narratives often called postmodern . She received a B.A. in English from Vassar College in 1977 . She is the recipient of a Lannan Literary Fellowship for Fiction , an NEA fellowship , and several other grants . Her first published novel was Ghost Dance , which appeared in 1986 . Her best known novel is probably Defiance , published in 1998 . She is a professor of literary arts at Brown University , where she has taught since 1995 , and has previously held positions as a writer-in-residence at Illinois State University in 1991 -- 92 and George Washington University in 1992 -- 93 , as well as teaching writing at Columbia University in 1993 . A forthcoming novel , The Bay of Angels , incorporates various narrative types -- essay , memoir , prose poems , and even graphics -- and represents nearly 15 years of work . Parts of The Bay of Angels have appeared in journals and anthologies .   Maso was born in Paterson , New Jersey in 1955 , the child of her jazz musician father and her emergency room nurse mother .   Maso admits she was not an avid reader in childhood . Indeed , she did not write creatively until her senior year at Vassar , when she submitted about 50 pages of prose poems as her senior honors thesis . It is at this point that she knew she wanted to be a writer .   Maso eschewed the traditional path to teaching , having never studied formally beyond her Vassar B.A. , despite having been offered a graduate fellowship at Boston University . Rather , she devoted 9 years to learning the craft by doing , writing while alternately working as a waitress , artist 's model , and fencing instructor . She also did some house - and cat-sitting , which afforded her time to write . Maso has referred to this period as her `` apprenticeship years . ''

neg: Cuba Libre (novel) Cuba Libre is a 1998 historical novel written by Elmore Leonard . The story takes place in 1898 , immediately before the outbreak of the Spanish -- American War .

neg: Mark M. Ford Mark Morgan Ford , also Mark Ford and Michael Masterson , is an American author , entrepreneur , publisher , real estate investor , filmmaker , art collector , and consultant to the direct marketing and publishing industries .   Ford is the author of essays and books on entrepreneurship , wealth-building , economics , and copywriting . He has also written a book of poetry and a book on word use titled Words that Work .   Ford 's business writing is published under the pen name Michael Masterson . His books , Automatic Wealth and Ready , Fire , Aim , were recognized on the Wall Street Journal and New York Times Best Sellers lists .   Ford is active in real estate development both in the United States and abroad .   Since 1993 , he has been the chief growth strategist for Agora , Inc. , a publisher of newsletters and books .   In 2014 , Ford co-wrote the comedic coming-of-age film After Midnight with Steve Cabrera .

neg: Norwegian Cuba Association The Norwegian Cuba Association ( Cubaforeningen i Norge , Asociación de amistad Noruego-Cubana ) is a Norwegian advocacy group .   Established on 17 April 1964 as Norsk-Cubansk Forening , its purpose is to `` further the friendship between Norway and Cuba '' and to spread information about the `` real Cuba '' . It publishes the magazine Cuba Nytt , and arranges for groups known as `` brigades '' to travel to Cuba .   It condemns the United States embargo against Cuba , demands the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles and the release of the Cuban 5 , and supports a campaign to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Fidel Castro . Harboring several viewpoints that do not directly pertain to Cuba , the organization supports the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela , opposes the Colombian Uribe government as well as the Iraq War , and calls for a boycott of Israel through membership in the network Boikott Israel .

neg: Cuban packages The Cuban packages ( 1972 ) was a Chilean smuggling scandal , involving President Salvador Allende , his Minister of the Interior , Hernán del Canto and the Director of the Civil Police Eduardo Paredes . It was cited by the authors of the Chamber of Deputies ' Declaration of the Breakdown of Chile 's Democracy as one of the instances of government officials ' illegality .   The packages turned out to have contained automatic weapons , grenades and ammunition destined to form a small `` revolutionary '' army in Chile . These specific packages were just the tip of the iceberg of a constant smuggling of weapons from Cuba that were delivered regularly twice a week via Cubana de Aviación , hidden inside the diplomatic pouches .

neg: Mark Thompson (historian) Mark Thompson ( born 1959 ) is an award-winning British historian . The most recent of his four books is Birth Certificate : The Story of Danilo Kis ( 2013 ) , which was described by Adam Thirlwell , in a lead review in the Times Literary Supplement , as `` a great biography of the work as much as the life '' .   The White War . Life and Death on the Italian Front , 1915-1919 ( 2008 ) is the first comprehensive narrative history in English of the part played by Italy in World War I . It was selected as Book of the Week by The Guardian newspaper , and hailed there as `` magnificent ... original , masterly and definitive . ''   Forging War ( 1999 ) is an account of the media manipulation that took place before and during the Wars of Yugoslav Succession .   A Paper House ( 1992 ) is a political travelogue which describes the federal republic of Yugoslavia upon the brink of dissolution .   Thompson has also edited , with Louis Mackay , Something in the Wind : Politics after Chernobyl ( 1988 ) , and has translated fiction from French , Italian and Croatian .   His CV includes stints as the head of media analysis for the biggest peacekeeping mission mounted by the United Nations ( UNPROFOR ) , in 1994 and 1995 ; the first political officer to serve with the UN 's smallest peacekeeping mission ( UNMOP ) in 1997 ; the spokesman and head of media affairs for the mission to Croatia of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE ) in 1998 and 1999 ; and the Balkans Program Director of the International Crisis Group ( ICG ) in 2000 and 2001 .   In 2015 , Thompson took up a position as Reader in Modern History at the University of East Anglia ( half time ) . He lives in Oxford , where he supervises a small number of undergraduate and graduate students at the Faculty of History . Thompson is an alumnus of Merchant Taylors ' School , Northwood .

neg: Mark Frost Mark Frost ( born November 25 , 1953 ) is an American novelist , screenwriter , director and film producer , best known as a writer for the television series Hill Street Blues and as the co-creator of the television series Twin Peaks .

neg: Normando Hernández González Normando Hernández González ( born Camagüey , October 21 , 1969 ) is a Cuban writer and journalist who now lives in the United States .   He was the youngest of 75 persons rounded up by Cuban authorities on March 18 , 2003 , a day that is now commonly known as `` Black Spring . '' Arrested for having criticized conditions under the Fidel Castro government , he was held for seven years in various prisons , from 2003 to 2010 . During his incarceration , he spent long periods in solitary confinement and was subject to beatings and torture .   Released in 2010 as a result of efforts by the Catholic Church and the government of Spain , Hernández spent several months in Madrid , where , he later said , he and his family were treating abusively by Spanish authorities , whom he accused of serving as accomplices to `` the Castro brothers . '' In 2011 , he accepted asylum in the U.S , where he founded the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press and the Cuban Foundation for Human Rights and became a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy .

neg: Mark Abley Mark Abley ( born 13 May 1955 ) is a Canadian poet , journalist , editor and non-fiction writer . His latest book of non-fiction is Conversations with a Dead Man : The Legacy of Duncan Campbell Scott , published in November 2013 .   Born in Warwickshire , England , he moved to Canada as a small boy and grew up in Lethbridge , Alberta and Saskatoon , Saskatchewan . He attended the University of Saskatchewan from which he won a Rhodes Scholarship in 1975 . He won prizes for his poetry while a student at St John 's College , Oxford , and began to write full-time after moving to Toronto in 1978 . He has been a contributing editor of both Maclean 's and Saturday Night magazines , and a regular contributor to the Times Literary Supplement . In 1996 he won Canada 's National Newspaper Award for critical writing .   Since 1983 Abley has lived in the Montreal area . For sixteen years he worked as a feature writer and book-review editor at the Montreal Gazette . He returned to freelance writing in 2003 , though he continues to write columns on language issues for the Gazette . In 2009 he joined McGill-Queen 's University Press as a part-time acquisition editor . He became the first-ever writer-in-residence for the city of Pointe-Claire in 2010-11 .   He has written four books of poetry , two children 's books , and several books of non-fiction . The best-known is probably Spoken Here : Travels Among Threatened Languages ( 2003 ) , in which Abley showcases people and cultures whose languages are at risk of vanishing in an era of globalization . Abley poses the question : should anybody care that thousands of languages are at risk ? Spoken Here : Travels Among Threatened Languages was short-listed for the Grand Prix du Livre de Montreal and the Pearson Writers ' Trust Non-Fiction Prize . It was translated into French , Spanish and Japanese , and was largely responsible for Abley being awarded the LiberPress Prize for international authors in Girona , Spain , in October 2009 . Abley has given lectures at Oxford University , Cambridge University , Ohio State University , McGill University , and elsewhere .   In 2005 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for research into language change . His book The Prodigal Tongue : Dispatches from the Future of English appeared in May 2008 . It was praised as `` fascinating '' in The Times ( London ) , and hailed by William Safire in The New York Times . In August 2009 Abley published a children 's book about words and their origins , Camp Fossil Eyes .   Abley has edited several books , including When Earth Leaps Up and A Woman Clothed in Words by Anne Szumigalski ; he was Szumigalski 's literary executor . Over the years he has led workshops for the Quebec Writers ' Federation , the Maritime Writers ' Workshop and the Banff Centre for the Arts .   In 2010 Abley began to research the complex legacy of a troubling figure from the Canadian past , Duncan Campbell Scott , a poet who ran the Department of Indian Affairs for many years and is sometimes accused of cultural genocide . The result is a book of creative nonfiction entitled Conversations with a Dead Man : The Legacy of Duncan Campbell Scott . It appeared in November 2013 and won high praise from reviewers .   In 2015 Coteau Books published `` The Tongues of Earth , '' a volume of new and selected poems . It made an implicit claim for Abley 's status not only as a prose writer but as a poet too . In 2016 it was shortlisted for the Fred Cogswell Award for literary excellence . Abley is now at work on a new book about language and a memoir of his father .

neg: Humberto Fontova Humberto Fontova ( born 1954 ) is a Cuban-American author , blogger , political commentator , and conservative polemicist . A critic of the Castro regime , many of his works are aimed at correcting the record to what he contends is the unreported and inaccurate portrayal of Castro 's Cuba . Fontova is a frequent contributor to several websites and has made guest appearances on the Glenn Beck Program and Fox News show Hannity and Colmes .

neg: Cuba (song) `` Cuba '' is a 1978 song by The Gibson Brothers taken from their album Cuba . It was the group 's first charting single reaching number 41 in the UK upon its original release however following the success of their following top 10 hit songs `` Ooh , What a Life '' and `` Que Sera Mi Vida ( If You Should Go ) '' it was re-released in 1980 where it reached number 12 in the UK with Better Do It Salsa , however , its chart performance did not improve in the U.S.

neg: Havana Times Havana Times is an independent Cuban blog and online magazine founded in 2008 . The online publication is edited in Nicaragua . Most of its contributors live in Havana , Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo . There are also Cuban contributors in Venezuela , the Dominican Republic , Ecuador and Mexico and volunteer translators in the Netherlands , the United States and England .

neg: Mark Moran (writer) Mark Moran is a co-creator of the Weird N.J. magazine and website . Moran , along with co-creator Mark Sceurman , started Weird N.J. as a homemade newsletter , passed out to family and friends . It was produced as an annual issue . The `` zine '' as they called it , contains articles , facts , and legends about weird places to visit in New Jersey .   He is a lifetime New Jersey resident , who grew up in Livingston , New Jersey and graduated from Parsons School of Design .   His Internet success led him to co-create and co-star in the History Channel show Weird U.S. . In 2003 , Moran and Sceurman published their first book , Weird N.J. : Your Travel Guide to New Jersey 's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets . The book was well-received , and soon the travel writers began to receive submissions from other states . Weird U.S. : Your Travel Guide to America 's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets was the result of such fandom . It was published in 2004 by Barnes & Noble Press . In 2005-2006 , the writers of Weird U.S. released a calendar based on the book .

neg: John Beverley (Latin Americanist) John Randolph Beverley II is a literary and cultural critic who works at the University of Pittsburgh . He is a professor of Spanish and Latin American Literature and Cultural Studies as well as an adjunct professor in the English and communication departments . He was influential in co-founding the Latin American subaltern studies group as well as a founding member of the Graduate Program in Cultural Studies at the University of Pittsburgh .   PhD , University of California at San Diego .   Visiting professor at Stanford University , University of California -- San Diego , Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar , University of Minnesota , University of Washington .   No one who has read the work of John Beverley will doubt his importance as one of the most key U.S.-based Latin Americanist cultural and literary theorists of his generation . But what is the nature of that importance ? Overall it is his commitment to revolutionary changes that would end the differences between rich and poor in Latin America and make a new and revolutionary democratic culture corresponding to the people 's economic and political democratic revolutions . It is this dual emphasis on democracy and the people -- the workers , the masses , los de abajo , the multitude , and ultimately , his preferred designation , the subalter -- that distinguishes his work as a Latin Americanist .   Born into a prosperous Anglo American family residing in South America , he became sensitive to the poverty and misery in which so many lived even as he had all the benefits of his class and caste . In this sense , his life goal has been to negate such differences . As a non-Hispanic student of Spanish literature , he gradually turned to Latin American themes , but always relating them to Spanish , but also U.S. , European and worldwide concerns as he knew them more than most from his special point of enunciation . At Princeton and then at the University of California , San Diego , he focused on Spanish Peninsular literature with the likes of Américo Castro , Carlos Blanco Aguinaga , and Claudio Guillén ; and he ventured to study with the young Fredric Jameson who was developing sophisticated methods for a rich Marxist approach to cultural and literary phenomena . The first result was a fine Marxist interpretation of Gongora 's Soledades as his dissertation and first book . But early on , the center of his interests began to drift from Spain to Latin America , impelled by the political hopes of the 60s and 70s and given weight by his application of his understanding of the Baroque to the development and structural situation of literature as a colonial and postcolonial institution in the Americas . Probably his early interest was spurred on by the dichotomy Américo Castro claimed existed in the Spanish literary tradition between state-centered officialist castizo structures and those emanating from converso and other trends helped lead him to examine the relation of literature to different social groups and structures of power . As a self-proclaimed Marxist and activist , he developed his literary work in relation to the Institute of Ideologies and Literatures in Minnesota , seeking to find progressive dimensions of literature and criticism that transcended state-centered powers of structure . That effort culminated in his Del Lazarillo a Sandinismo and his book with Marc Zimmerman , Literature and Politics in the Central American Revolutions . But that book also marked the limit of his hopes in Latin America 's Marxism and in literature as he began to doubt the very social groups of letrados which both produced the area 's cultural leftism and even its most leftist literature .  Already Beverley had written crucial texts on a form of literature which was in some ways anti-literature , the testimonio , a subject which becomes central to the question of popular representation in Literature and Politics . But along with his literary concerns came his growing suspicion that Latin America 's own ideological structures prevented the area 's most progressive intellectuals from grasping their own reality -- a position not received very favorably by his Latin American intellectual colleagues and friends . With the end of the cold war , the defeat of the Sandinistas and the full emergence of postmodern perspectives in Latin Americanist discourse , he produced a key collection called The Post-Modern Debate in Latin America . While working on that text , he along with Ileana Rodríguez and others , co-founded the Latin American Subaltern Studies group , seeking a new post-cold war/post-sandinista post/postmodedrn theorization of the relations between culture , literature and political possibility , which he and other members ( following Ernesto Laclau and others involved in cultural studies theory , but above all the South Asian Subaltern studies Group -- at first through Gayatri Spivack and then more directly through R. Guha and others ) saw as centered not directly on social classes but on the social groups and movements that struggled for empowerment and expression in the Americas . A first articulation of his evolving views came with the publication of the provocative Against Literature , a transitional work which , from a subalternist perspective , poses literature and existing literary studies ( even leftwing versions ) as implicated in hegemonic modernization projects at odds with subaltern positions . This view , now developed in relation to developing Latin American cultural studies discourse and in relation to the full emergence of globalization as the new macro-narrative of the post-postmodern period , became the subject of Subalternity and Representation , which appeared in 1999 . The Latin American subaltern group dissolved early in our new century , but Beverley has continued working , co-developing a Pittsburgh University Press book series called `` Illuminations : Cultural Formations of the Americas , '' publishing a new collection on Cuban literature , re-publishing his book with Hugo Achugar on testimonio , and completing his own definitive take on the theme , in Testimonio : The Politics of Truth ( 2004 ) . Meanwhile , he has kept abreast of all the polemics surrounding Latin American Cultural Studies in relation to globalization and the new lefts in Latin America , culminating in his recent volume , Latin Americanism after 9/11 . This volume argues for a new situation for Latin America in the emerging global order , especially in view of Chavez , Evo Morales and the other new left figures which have emerged in recent years and have threatened older paradigms of left and right that circulated in previous decades . This small book is replete with acute analyses of the failed politics of Zapatismo , and the `` neo-conservative turn '' which he imputes to his arielist antagonists on the Latin American left .  Beverley has always found the polemical edge to make his voice heard . He has been probably the major target of his friends and students seeking to up their cultural capital by mounting arguments against his views . At times depressed by the constant debates , but pleased ever to be part of them , he repeatedly speaks of ending his Latin Americanist effort , only to try again as he ... keeps on rollin ' on .

neg: Academia Cubana de la Lengua The Academia Cubana de la Lengua ( Spanish for Cuban Academy of Language ) is an association of academics and experts on the use of the Spanish language in Cuba . It was founded in Havana on May 19 , 1926 . It is a member of the Association of Spanish Language Academies .   Category : Spanish language academies  Category : Cuban literature  Category : Organizations established in 1926  Category : Cuba -- Spain relations

neg: Cuban art Cuban art is an exceptionally diverse cultural blend of African , South American , European and North American elements , reflecting the diverse demographic makeup of the island . Cuban artists embraced European modernism , and the early part of the 20th century saw a growth in Cuban vanguardist movements , which were characterized by the mixing of modern artistic genres . Some of the more celebrated 20th-century Cuban artists include Amelia Peláez ( 1896 -- 1968 ) , best known for a series of mural projects , and painter Wifredo Lam ( Dec 8,1902 -- September 11 , 1982 ) , who created a highly personal version of modern primitivism . The Cuban born painter Federico Beltran Masses ( 1885-1949 ) , was renowned as a colourist whose seductive portrayals of women sometimes made overt references to the tropical settings of his childhood .   Better known internationally is the work of photographer Alberto Korda , whose photographs following the early days of the Cuban Revolution included a picture of Che Guevara which was to become one of the most recognizable images of the 20th century .   There is a flourishing street art movement influenced by Latin American artists José Guadalupe Posada and the muralist Diego Rivera .   After the Cuban Revolution of 1959 , some artists felt it was in their best interests to leave Cuba and produce their art , while others stayed behind , either happy or merely content to be creating art in Cuba , which was sponsored by the government . Because it was state sponsored , an implied censorship occurred , since artists would n't want to make art that was against the revolutionary movement as that was the source of their funding . It was during the 1980s in which art began to reflect true uninfluenced expression . The `` rebirth '' of expression in Cuban art was greatly affected by the emergence of a new generation of Cuban , which did not remember the revolution directly .   In 1981 Cubans saw the introduction of `` Volumen Uno '' , a series of one man exhibitions featuring contemporary Cuban artists . Three years later , the introduction of the `` Havana Bienal '' assisted in the further progression of the liberation of art and free speech therein .

neg: Hill & Wang Hill & Wang is an American book publishing company focused on American history , world history , and politics . It is a division of Farrar , Straus and Giroux .   Hill & Wang was founded as an independent publishing house in 1956 by Arthur Wang ( 1917/18 -- 2005 ) and Lawrence Hill , who were both working at A. A. Wyn . They bought backlist books from Wyn and started Dramabooks , publishing plays in trade paperback , then a new format . The series included Jean Cocteau , Arthur L. Kopit and Lanford Wilson . In 1959 , Arthur Wang acquired Elie Wiesel 's Holocaust memoir , Night , which had been turned down by several English-language publishers , publishing it in 1960 . They continued to build the Hill & Wang list to include such authors as Roland Barthes , Langston Hughes , and American historians Stanley Kutler and William Cronon .   In 1971 , the two sold Hill & Wang to Farrar , Straus and Giroux , and the imprint continues to be recognized for its high quality nonfiction . More recently , it has published authors such as Cass Sunstein , Philip Gura , John Allen Paulos , Melvyn Leffler , Thomas Bender , William Poundstone , Woody Holton , and Eric Rauchway .   The imprint also launched a graphic line , `` Novel Graphics , '' when it published a graphic adaptation of the 9/11 Commission Report by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón . It has since published several graphic biographies and works of graphic journalism , and a graphic adaptation of the United States Constitution .

neg: La Demajagua (newspaper) La Demajagua is the official Cuban newspaper of the provincial committee of the Cuban Communist Party in Granma Province . It is published in Spanish and English . It was named after the homonym sugar mill , near Manzanillo , in which Carlos Manuel de Céspedes issued his cry of independence , the `` 10th of October Manifesto '' , in 1868 .

neg: Cuban migration to Miami Cuban immigration has greatly characterized modern Miami , creating what is known as `` Cuban Miami . '' However , Miami reflects global trends as well , such as the growing trends of multiculturalism and multiracialism ; this reflects the way in which international politics shape local communities .  Essentially , the coexistence of growth and internationalization within Miami has perpetuated an ethnically driven social polarization . The growing number of Cubans in Miami have remained loyal to their cultural norms , mores , customs , language , and religious affiliations . The transnational force of immigration defines Miami as a growing metropolis , and the 20th century Cuban influx has greatly affected Miami 's growth .   As of 2012 , there were 1.2 million Cubans in Greater Miami . As of that year , about 400,000 had arrived after 1980 .


query: Most species on Earth have not been described.

pos: Earth Earth ( from Eorðe -LSB- Γαῖα , Gaia -RSB- Terra ) , otherwise known as the World or the Globe , is the third planet from the Sun and the only object in the Universe known to harbor life . It is the densest planet in the Solar System and the largest of the four terrestrial planets .   According to radiometric dating and other sources of evidence , Earth formed about 4.54 billion years ago . Earth 's gravity interacts with other objects in space , especially the Sun and the Moon , Earth 's only natural satellite . During one orbit around the Sun , Earth rotates about its axis over 365 times ; thus , an Earth year is about 365.26 days long . Earth 's axis of rotation is tilted , producing seasonal variations on the planet 's surface . The gravitational interaction between the Earth and Moon causes ocean tides , stabilizes the Earth 's orientation on its axis , and gradually slows its rotation .   Earth 's lithosphere is divided into several rigid tectonic plates that migrate across the surface over periods of many millions of years . About 71 % of Earth 's surface is covered with water , mostly by its oceans . The remaining 29 % is land consisting of continents and islands that together have many lakes , rivers and other sources of water that contribute to the hydrosphere . The majority of Earth 's polar regions are covered in ice , including the Antarctic ice sheet and the sea ice of the Arctic ice pack . Earth 's interior remains active with a solid iron inner core , a liquid outer core that generates the Earth 's magnetic field , and a convecting mantle that drives plate tectonics .   Within the first billion years of Earth 's history , life appeared in the oceans and began to affect the Earth 's atmosphere and surface , leading to the proliferation of aerobic and anaerobic organisms . Some geological evidence indicates that life may have arisen as much as 4.1 billion years ago . Since then , the combination of Earth 's distance from the Sun , physical properties , and geological history have allowed life to evolve and thrive . In the history of the Earth , biodiversity has gone through long periods of expansion , occasionally punctuated by mass extinction events . Over 99 % of all species that ever lived on Earth are extinct . Estimates of the number of species on Earth today vary widely ; most species have not been described . Over 7.4 billion humans live on Earth and depend on its biosphere and minerals for their survival . Humans have developed diverse societies and cultures ; politically , the world has about 200 sovereign states .

neg: Microorganism A microorganism or microbe is a microscopic organism , which may be single-celled or multicellular . The study of microorganisms is called microbiology , a subject that began with the discovery of microorganisms in the 1670s by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek . Robert Hooke coined the term `` cell '' after viewing plant cells under his microscope . Later , in the 19th century , Louis Pasteur found that microorganisms caused food spoilage , debunking the theory of spontaneous generation . In 1876 Robert Koch discovered that microorganisms cause diseases .   Microorganisms are very diverse and include all bacteria , archaea and most protozoa . This group also contains some fungi , algae , and some micro-animals such as rotifers . Many macroscopic animals and plants have microscopic juvenile stages . Some microbiologists classify viruses and viroids as microorganisms , but others consider these as nonliving . In July 2016 , scientists identified a set of 355 genes from the last universal common ancestor of all life , including microorganisms , living on Earth .   Microorganisms live in every part of the biosphere , including soil , hot springs , inside rocks at least 12 mi deep underground , the deepest parts of the ocean , and at least 40 mi high in the atmosphere . Microorganisms , under certain test conditions , have been observed to thrive in the vacuum of outer space . Microorganisms likely far outweigh all other living things combined . The mass of prokaryote microorganisms including the bacteria and archaea may be as much as 0.8 trillion tons of carbon , out of the total biomass of between 1 and 4 trillion tons . Microorganisms appear to thrive in the Mariana Trench , the deepest spot in the Earth 's oceans . Other researchers reported related studies that microorganisms thrive inside rocks up to 580 m below the sea floor under 2590 m of ocean off the coast of the northwestern United States , as well as 2400 m beneath the seabed off Japan . In August 2014 , scientists confirmed the existence of microorganisms living 800 m below the ice of Antarctica . According to one researcher , `` You can find microbes everywhere -- they 're extremely adaptable to conditions , and survive wherever they are . ''   Microorganisms are crucial to nutrient recycling in ecosystems as they act as decomposers . As some microorganisms can fix nitrogen , they are a vital part of the nitrogen cycle , and recent studies indicate that airborne microorganisms may play a role in precipitation and weather . Microorganisms are also exploited in biotechnology , both in traditional food and beverage preparation , and in modern technologies based on genetic engineering . A small proportion of microorganisms are pathogenic , causing disease and even death in plants and animals .

neg: Endemism Endemism is the ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic location , such as an island , nation , country or other defined zone , or habitat type ; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere . The extreme opposite of endemism is cosmopolitan distribution . An alternative term for a species that is endemic is precinctive , which applies to species ( and subspecific categories ) that are restricted to a defined geographical area .   The word endemic is from New Latin endēmicus , from Greek ενδήμος , endēmos , `` native '' . Endēmos is formed of en meaning `` in '' , and dēmos meaning `` the people '' . The term , precinctive , has been suggested by some scientists , and was first used in botany by MacCaughey in 1917 . It is the equivalent of `` endemism '' . Precinction was perhaps first used by Frank and McCoy . Precinctive seems to have been coined by David Sharp when describing the Hawaiian fauna in 1900 : `` I use the word precinctive in the sense of ` confined to the area under discussion ' ... ` precinctive forms ' means those forms that are confined to the area specified . '' That definition excludes artificial confinement of examples by humans in far-off botanical gardens or zoological parks .

neg: Ichthyology Ichthyology ( from Greek : ἰχθύς , ikhthus , `` fish '' ; and λόγος , logos , `` study '' ) , also known as fish science , is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish . This includes bony fish ( Osteichthyes ) , cartilaginous fish ( Chondrichthyes ) , and jawless fish ( Agnatha ) . While a large number of species have been discovered , approximately 250 new species are officially described by science each year . According to FishBase , 33,400 species of fish had been described by October 2016 .

neg: Evolution of birds The evolution of birds began in the Jurassic Period , with the earliest birds derived from a clade of theropoda dinosaurs named Paraves . Birds are categorized as a biological class , Aves . The earliest known is Archaeopteryx lithographica , from the Late Jurassic period , though Archaeopteryx is not commonly considered to have been a true bird . Modern phylogenies place birds in the dinosaur clade Theropoda . According to the current consensus , Aves and a sister group , the order Crocodilia , together are the sole living members of an unranked `` reptile '' clade , the Archosauria . Four distinct lineages of bird survived the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event 66 million years ago , giving rise to ostriches and relatives ( Paleognathae ) , ducks and relatives ( Anseriformes ) , ground-living fowl ( Galliformes ) , and `` modern birds '' ( Neoaves ) .   Phylogenetically , Aves is usually defined as all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of a specific modern bird species ( such as the house sparrow , Passer domesticus ) , and either Archaeopteryx , or some prehistoric species closer to Neornithes ( to avoid the problems caused by the unclear relationships of Archaeopteryx to other theropods ) . If the latter classification is used then the larger group is termed Avialae . Currently , the relationship between dinosaurs , Archaeopteryx , and modern birds is still under debate .

neg: Biogeography Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through ( geological ) time . Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude , elevation , isolation and habitat area . Phytogeography is the branch of biogeography that studies the distribution of plants . Zoogeography is the branch that studies distribution of animals .   Knowledge of spatial variation in the numbers and types of organisms is as vital to us today as it was to our early human ancestors , as we adapt to heterogeneous but geographically predictable environments . Biogeography is an integrative field of inquiry that unites concepts and information from ecology , evolutionary biology , geology , and physical geography .   Modern biogeographic research combines information and ideas from many fields , from the physiological and ecological constraints on organismal dispersal to geological and climatological phenomena operating at global spatial scales and evolutionary time frames .   The short-term interactions within a habitat and species of organisms describe the ecological application of biogeography . Historical biogeography describes the long-term , evolutionary periods of time for broader classifications of organisms . Early scientists , beginning with Carl Linnaeus , contributed to the development of biogeography as a science . Beginning in the mid-18th century , Europeans explored the world and discovered the biodiversity of life .   The scientific theory of biogeography grows out of the work of Alexander von Humboldt ( 1769 -- 1859 ) , Hewett Cottrell Watson ( 1804 -- 1881 ) , Alphonse de Candolle ( 1806 -- 1893 ) , Alfred Russel Wallace ( 1823 -- 1913 ) , Philip Lutley Sclater ( 1829 -- 1913 ) and other biologists and explorers .

neg: Type species In zoological nomenclature , a type species ( species typica ) is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated , i.e. , the species that contains the biological type specimen ( s ) . A similar concept is used for suprageneric groups called a type genus .   In botanical nomenclature , these terms have no formal standing under the code of nomenclature , but are sometimes borrowed from zoological nomenclature . In botany , the type of a genus name is a specimen ( or , rarely , an illustration ) which is also the type of a species name . The species name that has that type can also be referred to as the type of the genus name . Names of genus and family ranks , the various subdivisions of those ranks , and some higher-rank names based on genus names , have such types .   In bacteriology , a type species is assigned for each genus .   Every named genus or subgenus in zoology , whether or not currently recognized as valid , is theoretically associated with a type species . In practice , however , there is a backlog of untypified names defined in older publications when it was not required to specify a type .

neg: Eurypterid Eurypterids ( sea scorpions ) are an extinct group of arthropods related to arachnids that include the largest known arthropods to have ever lived . They are members of the extinct order Eurypterida ( Chelicerata ) ; which is the most diverse Paleozoic chelicerate order in terms of species . The name Eurypterida comes from the Greek words eury - ( meaning `` broad '' or `` wide '' ) and pteron ( meaning `` wing '' ) . This name was chosen due to the pair of wide swimming appendages on the first fossil eurypterids discovered . The largest , such as Jaekelopterus , reached 2.5 m in length , but most species were less than 20 cm . They were formidable predators that thrived in warm shallow water , in both seas and lakes , from the mid Ordovician to late Permian .   Although informally called `` sea scorpions '' , only the earliest ones were marine ( later ones lived in brackish or freshwater ) , and they were not true scorpions . According to theory , the move from the sea to fresh water had probably occurred by the Pennsylvanian subperiod . Eurypterids are believed to have undergone ecdysis , making their significance in ecosystems difficult to assess , because it can be difficult to tell a fossil moult from a true fossil carcass . They became extinct during the Permian -- Triassic extinction event or sometime before the event . Their fossils have a near global distribution .   About two dozen families of eurypterids are known . Perhaps the best-known genus of eurypterid is Eurypterus , of which around 16 fossil species are known . The genus Eurypterus was described in 1825 by James Ellsworth De Kay , a zoologist . He recognized the arthropod nature of the first-ever described eurypterid specimen , found by Dr. S. L. Mitchill . In 1984 , that species , Eurypterus remipes was named the state fossil of New York .   Pentecopterus decorahensis , which lived as early as 467.3 million years ago , is the oldest described eurypterid ; with an estimated length of 1.83 m , it has been described as `` the first real big predator '' .

neg: Cryptogam A cryptogam ( scientific name Cryptogamae ) is a plant ( in the wide sense of the word ) that reproduces by spores , without flowers or seeds . `` Cryptogamae '' ( Greek -LSB- : wikt : κρυπτός , κρυπτός -RSB- kryptos , `` hidden '' + -LSB- : wikt : γαμέω , γαμέω -RSB- , gameein , `` to marry '' ) means hidden reproduction , referring to the fact that no seed is produced , thus cryptogams represent the non-seed bearing plants . Other names , such as `` thallophytes '' , `` lower plants '' , and `` spore plants '' are also occasionally used . As a group , Cryptogamae are the opposite of the Phanerogamae ( Greek φανερός , phaneros = `` visible '' ) or Spermatophyta ( Greek -LSB- : wikt : σπέρμα , σπέρμα -RSB- , sperma = `` seed '' and -LSB- : wikt : φυτόν , φυτόν -RSB- , phyton = `` plant '' ) , the seed plants . The best known groups of cryptogams are algae , lichens , mosses and ferns , but it also includes non-photosynthetic organisms traditionally classified as plants , such as fungi , slime molds , and bacteria .   At one time , the cryptogams were formally recognised as a group within the plant kingdom . In his system for classification of all known plants and animals , Carl Linnaeus ( 1707 -- 1778 ) divided the plant kingdom into 24 classes ,   During World War II , the Government Code and Cypher School recruited Geoffrey Tandy , a marine biologist expert in cryptogams , to Station X , Bletchley Park when someone confused these with cryptograms .

neg: Natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype . It is a key mechanism of evolution , the change in heritable traits of a population over time . Charles Darwin popularised the term `` natural selection '' , and compared it with artificial selection .   Variation exists within all populations of organisms . This occurs partly because random mutations arise in the genome of an individual organism , and offspring can inherit such mutations . Throughout the lives of the individuals , their genomes interact with their environments to cause variations in traits . The environment of a genome includes the molecular biology in the cell , other cells , other individuals , populations , species , as well as the abiotic environment . Individuals with certain variants of the trait may survive and reproduce more than individuals with other , less successful , variants ; therefore , the population evolves . Factors that affect reproductive success are also important , including sexual selection ( now often included in natural selection ) and fecundity selection .   Natural selection acts on the phenotype , or the observable characteristics of an organism , but the genetic ( heritable ) basis of any phenotype that gives a reproductive advantage may become more common in a population . Over time , this process can result in populations that specialise for particular ecological niches ( microevolution ) and may eventually result in speciation ( the emergence of new species , macroevolution ) . In other words , natural selection is a key process in the evolution of a population . Natural selection can be contrasted with artificial selection , in which humans intentionally choose specific traits , whereas in natural selection there is no intentional choice .   Natural selection is one of the cornerstones of modern biology . The concept , published by Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in a joint presentation of papers in 1858 , was elaborated in Darwin 's influential 1859 book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection , or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life , which described natural selection as analogous to artificial selection , a process by which animals and plants with traits considered desirable by human breeders are systematically favoured for reproduction . The concept of natural selection originally developed in the absence of a valid theory of heredity ; at the time of Darwin 's writing , science had yet to develop modern theories of genetics . The union of traditional Darwinian evolution with subsequent discoveries in classical genetics formed the modern synthesis of the mid-20th century . The addition of molecular genetics has led to evolutionary developmental biology , which explains evolution at the molecular level . While genotypes can slowly change by random genetic drift , natural selection remains the primary explanation for adaptive evolution .

neg: List of birds of Bolivia This is a list of the bird species recorded in Bolivia . The avifauna of Bolivia has 1381 species ( 1382 according to Clements ; see puffbirds ) . Fifteen are endemic , two have been introduced by humans , and 19 are rare or accidental . An additional 38 species are hypothetical ( see below ) .   This list 's taxonomic treatment ( designation and sequence of orders , families , and species ) and nomenclature ( common and scientific names ) follow the conventions of The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World , 2016 edition . The family accounts at the beginning of each heading reflect this taxonomy , as do the species counts found in each family account . Introduced and accidental species are included in the total counts . Except as an entry is cited otherwise , the list of species is that of the South American Classification Committee ( SACC ) of the American Ornithologists ' Union . The taxonomy used by the SACC differs from `` Clements '' , and significant differences in names are noted . Differences from `` Clements '' in the sequence of orders , families , and species within families are not noted .  The following tags have been used to highlight certain categories , but not all species fall into one of these categories . Those that do not are commonly occurring native species .   ( A ) Accidental - a species that rarely or accidentally occurs in Bolivia  ( E ) Endemic - a species endemic to Bolivia  ( I ) Introduced - a species introduced to Bolivia as a consequence , direct or indirect , of human actions  ( H ) Hypothetical - a species recorded but with `` no tangible evidence '' according to the SACC

neg: List of marine gastropod genera in the fossil record This list of marine gastropod genera in the fossil record is an attempt to list all the genera of sea snails or marine gastropod mollusks which have been found in the fossil record . Nearly all of these are genera of shelled forms , since it is relatively rare for gastropods without a shell ( sea slugs ) to leave any recognizable traces . It is also worth pointing out that this list of genera represents only a very tiny fraction of the number of genera that must actually have existed over the evolutionary time span : the fossil record is an extremely patchy and exceedingly incomplete pteryrecord of life on earth in earlier geological eras .   Many genera on this list are still extant , are still living now . On the current version of this list , some extant genera are mistakenly marked as extinct , with a '' † '' next to the name , but this should slowly become more accurate over time as corrections are made .   The list consists of formal genera names in the class Gastropoda ; it excludes purely vernacular names . It shows all commonly accepted genera , but it also includes genera which are now considered invalid or doubtful ( nomina dubia ) , and names that were not formally published ( nomina nuda ) , as well as junior synonyms of more established names .   The list also includes some genera which were first described as gastropods , but which are no longer considered to be gastropods , and which in many cases are not even considered to be mollusks .   Genera are listed here alphabetically ; no attempt has been made to group them in families or other higher taxa .

neg: Chitinozoan Chitinozoa ( singular : chitinozoan , plural : chitinozoans ) are a taxon of flask-shaped , organic walled marine microfossils produced by an as yet unknown animal . Common from the Ordovician to Devonian periods ( i.e. the mid-Paleozoic ) , the millimetre-scale organisms are abundant in almost all types of marine sediment across the globe . This wide distribution , and their rapid pace of evolution , makes them valuable biostratigraphic markers .   Their bizarre form has made classification and ecological reconstruction difficult . Since their discovery in 1931 , suggestions of protist , plant , and fungal affinities have all been entertained . The organisms have been better understood as improvements in microscopy facilitated the study of their fine structure , and there is mounting evidence to suggest that they represent either the eggs or juvenile stage of a marine animal .   The ecology of chitinozoa is also open to speculation ; some may have floated in the water column , where others may have attached themselves to other organisms . Most species were particular about their living conditions , and tend to be most common in specific paleoenvironments . Their abundance also varied with the seasons .

neg: List of birds of Colorado This list of birds of Colorado includes every wild bird species recorded in the U.S. state of Colorado as of March 2017 . Unless otherwise noted , the list is that of the Colorado Bird Records Committee ( CBRC ) of Colorado Field Ornithologists .   Only birds that are considered to have established , self-sustaining , wild populations in Colorado are included on this list . This excludes birds that are considered probable escapees , although they may have been sighted flying free in Colorado . Introduced species that are not native to North America , but were brought to this continent by human activity , are marked on this list as ( I ) .   This list is presented in the taxonomic sequence of The Check-list of North American Birds ( 7th edition through the 57th supplement , 2016 ) , published by the American Ornithological Society . Common and scientific names are also those of the Check-list .   The official state list of birds includes 499 species , of which six are introduced .

neg: List of systems of plant taxonomy This list of systems of plant taxonomy presents `` taxonomic systems '' used in plant classification .   A taxonomic system is a coherent whole of taxonomic judgments on circumscription and placement of the considered taxa . It is only a `` system '' if it is applied to a large group of such taxa ( for example , all the flowering plants ) .   There are two main criteria for this list . A system must be taxonomic , that is deal with a large number of plants , by their botanical names . Secondly it must be a system , i.e. deal with the relationships of plants . Although thinking about relationships of plants had started much earlier ( see history of plant systematics ) , such systems really only came into being in the 19th century , as a result of an ever increasing influx from all over the world of newly discovered plant species . The 18th century saw some early systems , which are perhaps precursors rather than full taxonomic systems .   A milestone event was the publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus which serves as the starting point of binomial nomenclature for plants . By its size this would qualify to be on this list , but it does not deal with relationships , beyond assigning plants into genera .   Note that a system is not necessarily monolithic and often goes through several stages of development , resulting in several versions of the same system . When a system is widely adopted , many authors will adopt their own particular version of the system . The Cronquist system is well known for existing in many versions .

neg: Sister group A sister group or sister taxon is a phylogenetic term denoting the closest relatives of another given unit in an evolutionary tree . The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram : A , B , and C each represent a taxon :   The sister group to A is B ; conversely , the sister group to B is A. Groups A and B , together with all other descendants of their most recent common ancestor , form the clade AB . The sister group to clade AB is C.   The whole clade ABC is itself a subtree of a larger tree , which offers yet more sister group branches that are related but farther removed from the leaf nodes , such as A , B , and C.   In cladistic standards , A , B , and C may represent specimens , species , taxon-groups , etc. . If they represent species , the term sister species is sometimes used .   The term `` sister group '' is used in phylogenetic analysis , and only groups identified in the analysis are labeled as sister groups . An example is in birds , whose sister group is commonly cited as the crocodiles , but that is true only when dealing with extant taxa . The bird family tree is rooted in the dinosaurs , making for a number of extinct groups branching off before coming to the last common ancestor of birds and crocodiles . Thus , the term sister group must be seen as a relative term , with the caveat that the sister group is the closest relative only among the groups/species/specimens that are included in the analysis .

neg: Conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms ( for instance , a species ) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future . Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation status : not simply the number of individuals remaining , but the overall increase or decrease in the population over time , breeding success rates , and known threats . Various systems of conservation status exist and are in use at international , multi-country , national and local levels as well as for consumer use

neg: Journal of Natural History The Journal of Natural History is a scientific journal published by Taylor & Francis focusing on entomology and zoology . The journal was established in 1841 under the name Annals and Magazine of Natural History ( Ann . Mag . Nat . Hist . ) and obtained its current title in 1967 . The journal was formed by the merger of the Magazine of Natural History ( 1828 -- 1840 ) and the Annals of Natural History ( 1838 -- 1840 ; previously the Magazine of Zoology and Botany , 1836 -- 1838 ) and Loudon and Charlesworth 's Magazine of Natural History ) .   In September 1855 , the Annals and Magazine of Natural History published `` On the Law which has Regulated the Introduction of New Species '' , a paper which Alfred Russel Wallace had written while working in the state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo in February of that year . This paper gathered and enumerated general observations regarding the geographic and geologic distribution of species ( biogeography ) . The conclusion that `` Every species has come into existence coincident both in space and time with a closely allied species '' has come to be known as the `` Sarawak Law '' . The paper was hailed by Edward Blyth and shook the thinking of Charles Lyell . They both advised Charles Darwin of the paper , and though he missed its significance , Lyell 's concerns about priority pressed Darwin to push ahead towards the publication of Darwin 's theory .

neg: Gastropoda The Gastropoda or gastropods , more commonly known as snails and slugs , are a large taxonomic class within the phylum Mollusca . The class Gastropoda includes snails and slugs of all kinds and all sizes from microscopic to large . There are many thousands of species of sea snails and sea slugs , as well as freshwater snails , freshwater limpets , land snails and land slugs .   The class Gastropoda contains a vast total of named species , second only to the insects in overall number . The fossil history of this class goes back to the Late Cambrian . There are 611 families of gastropods known , of which 202 are extinct and appear only in the fossil record .   Gastropoda ( previously known as univalves and sometimes spelled `` Gasteropoda '' ) are a major part of the phylum Mollusca , and are the most highly diversified class in the phylum , with 65,000 to 80,000 living snail and slug species . The anatomy , behavior , feeding , and reproductive adaptations of gastropods vary significantly from one clade or group to another . Therefore , it is difficult to state many generalities for all gastropods .   The class Gastropoda has an extraordinary diversification of habitats . Representatives live in gardens , woodland , deserts , and on mountains ; in small ditches , great rivers and lakes ; in estuaries , mudflats , the rocky intertidal , the sandy subtidal , in the abyssal depths of the oceans including the hydrothermal vents , and numerous other ecological niches , including parasitic ones .   Although the name `` snail '' can be , and often is , applied to all the members of this class , commonly this word means only those species with an external shell big enough that the soft parts can withdraw completely into it . Those gastropods without a shell , and those with only a very reduced or internal shell , are usually known as slugs ; those with a shell into which they can not withdraw are termed limpets .   The marine shelled species of gastropod include edible species such as abalone , conches , periwinkles , whelks , and numerous other sea snails that produce seashells that are coiled in the adult stage -- though in some , the coiling may not be very visible , for example in cowries . In a number of families of species , such as all the various limpets , the shell is coiled only in the larval stage , and is a simple conical structure after that .

neg: Species (metaphysics) Species , in metaphysics , is a specific genus-differentia defined item that is described first by its genus ( genos ) and then its differentia ( diaphora ) . Put differently , it is an item , not necessarily biological , that belongs to a group and can be distinguished from other species in that group .   For example , a human being as a species can be defined as an animal ( genus ) that can reason ( differentia ) .   The term is derived from the Greek word eidos , which means form in Plato 's dialogues but should be taken to mean species in Aristotle 's corpus .

neg: Evolution Without Evidence Evolution Without Evidence : Charles Darwin and `` The Origin of Species '' is a 1982 book by historian Barry G. Gale .   Contrary to the title , the book is not on the Creation -- evolution controversy . Gale attempts to explain why Charles Darwin waited twenty years to publish his theory of natural selection and how his theory evolved during this period . The book heavily relies on Darwin 's letters , notebooks , essays and papers . Darwin 's private correspondences with Asa Gray and Joseph Hooker are cited .