query: Jeff Bezos has an estimated net worth of $76 billion.

pos: Jeff Bezos Jeff Bezos ( -LSB- ˈbeɪzoʊs -RSB- born Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen ; January 12 , 1964 ) is an American technology and retail entrepreneur , investor , and philanthropist who is best known as the founder , chairman , and chief executive officer of Amazon.com , which is the world 's largest online shopping retailer . The company began as an Internet merchant of books and expanded to a wide variety of products and services , most recently video streaming and audio streaming . Amazon.com is currently the world 's largest Internet sales company on the World Wide Web , as well as being the world 's largest provider of cloud infrastructure services , through its Amazon Web Services arm .   Bezos 's other diversified business interests include aerospace and newspapers . He is the founder and manufacturer of Blue Origin ( founded in 2000 ) with test flights to space which started in 2015 , and plans for commercial suborbital human spaceflight beginning in 2018 . In 2013 , Bezos purchased The Washington Post newspaper . A number of other business investments are managed through Bezos Expeditions .   With an estimated net worth of US$ 82 billion as of May 2017 , Bezos is currently the third-richest person in the world , just behind Bill Gates and Amancio Ortega in first and second places , and just ahead of Warren Buffett in fourth place . His rise to this position occurred after Amazon registered a 67 % jump in share price .

neg: Gregorio Pérez Companc Gregorio Perez Companc ( born August 23 , 1934 ) also known as `` Don Gregorio '' or `` Goyo , '' is Argentina 's wealthiest individual , with an estimated net worth of US$ 1.57 billion in 2012 .

neg: Big Six energy suppliers The Big Six are the United Kingdom 's largest energy suppliers , supplying gas and electricity to over 50 million homes and businesses in Britain , with over 90 % share of domestic customers . `` Supplier '' is meant by the business of buying wholesale power ( or gas ) , paying network and government policy costs and charges , and charging the customers of that supplier , for their electricity ( or gas ) . The assets of a supplier , which is a separate licensed business , are its people , and its offices . The business of four of the big energy Suppliers , including of their wider company groups , does not entail owning , or running , any actual network assets - underground cables , overhead lines , or pipes - to physically deliver electricity or gas . The two exceptions to this , are the two big Scottish Supplier firms , whose wider company groups do own some network assets .   Confusingly , the term `` Big Six '' has recently been used prominently in the British media to refer , instead , to Britain 's energy network firms such as UK Power Networks ( which are generally independent of the biggest six British energy suppliers ) . There has also been a tendency in the media to wrongly refer to electricity network firms as `` electricity suppliers '' , thus sowing further confusion and misunderstanding ,   The `` Big Six '' as the term has most often been used , tends to be a reference to the oldest British electricity companies ( which are all also involved in the retail Supply of gas ) plus British Gas . This comprises ( 1 ) British Gas ( owned by UK firm Centrica which is listed on the LSE ) , ( 2 ) EDF Energy ( owned by French firm Électricité de France which is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange , ( 3 ) npower , ( 4 ) E.ON UK ( each German-owned ) , ( 5 ) Scottish Power ( Spanish-owned ) , and ( 6 ) SSE ( listed on the LSE ) .   According to SERIS , the generation businesses of the ` Big Six ' energy firms amount to around three-quarters of British generating capacity . Three out of the ` Big Ten ' generators in the UK can probably still be categorised as majority-owned by British shareholders ; the other seven are listed firms that are owned by their many shareholders , some of whom will be British , but many of whom may not be British .   Figures from independent research group Cornwall Energy suggest that by September 2014 Britain 's big six energy companies had a 92.4 % share of the market -- a decrease from 99.8 % in 2009 .

neg: Justice (economics) Justice in economics is a subcategory of welfare economics with models frequently representing the ethical-social requirements of a given theory , whether `` in the large , '' as of a just social order , or `` in the small , '' as in the equity of `` how institutions distribute specific benefits and burdens . '' That theory may or may not elicit acceptance . In the Journal of Economic Literature classification codes ` justice ' is scrolled to at JEL : D63 , wedged on the same line between ` Equity ' and ` Inequality ' along with ` Other Normative Criteria and Measurement ' . Categories above and below the line are Externalities and Altruism .   Some ideas about justice and ethics overlap with the origins of economic thought , often as to distributive justice and sometimes as to Marxian analysis . The subject is a topic of normative economics and philosophy and economics . In early welfare economics , where mentioned , ` justice ' was little distinguished from maximization of all individual utility functions or a social welfare function . As to the latter , Paul Samuelson ( 1947 ) , expanding on work of Abram Bergson , represents a social welfare function in general terms as any ethical belief system required to order any ( hypothetically feasible ) social states for the entire society as `` better than , '' `` worse than , '' or `` indifferent to '' each other . Kenneth Arrow ( 1963 ) showed a difficulty of trying to extend a social welfare function consistently across different hypothetical ordinal utility functions even apart from justice . Utility maximization survives , even with the rise of ordinal-utility/Pareto theory , as an ethical basis for economic-policy judgments in the wealth-maximization criterion invoked in law and economics .   Amartya Sen ( 1970 ) , Kenneth Arrow ( 1983 ) , Serge-Christophe Kolm ( 1969 , 1996 , 2000 ) , and others have considered ways in which utilitarianism as an approach to justice is constrained or challenged by independent claims of equality in the distribution of primary goods , liberty , entitlements , opportunity , exclusion of antisocial preferences , possible capabilities , and fairness as non-envy plus Pareto efficiency . Alternate approaches have treated combining concern for the worst off with economic efficiency , the notion of personal responsibility and ( de ) merits of leveling individual benefits downward , claims of intergenerational justice , and other non-welfarist/Pareto approaches . Justice is a subarea of social choice theory , for example as to extended sympathy , and more generally in the work of Arrow , Sen , and others .   A broad reinterpretation of justice from the perspective of game theory , social contract theory , and evolutionary naturalism is found in works of Ken Binmore ( 1994 , 1998 , 2004 ) and others . Arguments on fairness as an aspect of justice have been invoked to explain a wide range of behavioral and theoretical applications , supplementing earlier emphasis on economic efficiency ( Konow , 2003 ) .

neg: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers ( KPCB ) is an American venture capital firm located on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park in Silicon Valley . Specializing in investments in incubation , early stage and growth companies , since its founding in 1972 the firm has backed entrepreneurs in around 500 ventures , including AOL , Amazon.com , Compaq , Electronic Arts , Google , Netscape , Sun Microsystems , Nest , Snap , AppDynamics , and Twitter . Kleiner Perkins focuses its global investments in practice areas including technology and life sciences . The Wall Street Journal and other publications have called it one of the `` largest and most established '' venture capital firms and Dealbook named it `` one of Silicon Valley 's top venture capital providers . '' In addition to its Menlo Park headquarters , the company has offices in San Francisco and Shanghai , China .

neg: One57 One57 , formerly known as Carnegie 57 and nicknamed `` The Billionaire Building '' , is a 75-story ( marketed as 90-story ) supertall skyscraper at 157 West 57th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in the Midtown neighborhood of Manhattan , New York City . Upon completion in 2014 , it stood at 1,005 ft tall , making it the tallest residential building in the city for a few months until the completion of 432 Park Avenue . The building has 92 condominium units on top of a new Park Hyatt Hotel with 210 rooms , which is set to become the flagship Hyatt property .   The building 's developer is Extell Development Company , and the contractor was Lend Lease Project Management & Construction , As of January 2015 , it is home to the most expensive residence ever sold in New York City .

neg: Mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions ( M&A ) are transactions in which the ownership of companies , other business organizations or their operating units are transferred or combined . As an aspect of strategic management , M&A can allow enterprises to grow , shrink , and change the nature of their business or competitive position .   From a legal point of view , a merger is a legal consolidation of two entities into one entity , whereas an acquisition occurs when one entity takes ownership of another entity 's stock , equity interests or assets . From a commercial and economic point of view , both types of transactions generally result in the consolidation of assets and liabilities under one entity , and the distinction between a `` merger '' and an `` acquisition '' is less clear . A transaction legally structured as an acquisition may have the effect of placing one party 's business under the indirect ownership of the other party 's shareholders , while a transaction legally structured as a merger may give each party 's shareholders partial ownership and control of the combined enterprise . A deal may be euphemistically called a `` merger of equals '' if both CEOs agree that joining together is in the best interest of both of their companies , while when the deal is unfriendly ( that is , when the management of the target company opposes the deal ) it may be regarded as an `` acquisition '' .

neg: American upper class The American upper class is a social group consisting of the people who have the highest social rank and who are usually rich . People of this social class are socioeconomically distinguishable from other classes by its greater influence , power , and wealth . The American upper class is composed of members born into this class , called members of Old money ; as well as those who have acquired their wealth and influence within their own generation , called the Nouveau riche . In a CNBC Millionaire Survey it can be observed that a majority of millionaires polled , representing the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans , described themselves as middle class ( 44 % ) or upper middle class ( 40 % ) .   `` The study of attitudes is reasonably easy -LSB- ... -RSB- it 's concluded that for roughly 70 % of the population -- the lower 70 % on the wealth/income scale -- they have no influence on policy whatsoever . They 're effectively disenfranchised . As you move up the wealth/income ladder , you get a little bit more influence on policy . When you get to the top , which is maybe a tenth of one percent , people essentially get what they want , i.e. they determine the policy . So the proper term for that is not democracy ; it 's plutocracy . '' -- Noam Chomsky .   Many Politicians , heirs to fortunes , top business executives , CEOs , successful venture capitalists , those born into high society , and some celebrities may be considered members of this class . Some prominent and high-rung professionals may also be included if they attain great influence and wealth . The main distinguishing feature of this class , which is estimated to constitute roughly 1 % of the population , is the source of income . While the vast majority of people and households derive their income from wages or salaries , those in the upper class derive their income from investments and capital gains . Estimates for the size of this group commonly vary from 1 % to 2 % , while some surveys have indicated that as many as 6 % of Americans identify as `` upper class . '' Sociologist Leonard Beeghley sees wealth as the only significant distinguishing feature of this class and , therefore , refers to this group simply as `` the rich . ''   Sociologists such as W. Lloyd Warner , William Thompson and Joseph Hickey recognize prestige differences between members of the upper class . Established families , prominent professionals and politicians may be deemed to have more prestige than some entertainment celebrities who in turn may have more prestige than the members of local elites . Yet , contemporary sociologists argue that all members of the upper class share such great wealth , influence and assets as their main source of income as to be recognized as members of the same social class . As great financial fortune is the main distinguishing feature of this class , sociologist Leonard Beeghley at the University of Florida identifies all `` rich '' households , those with incomes in the top 1 % or so , as upper class .   In 1998 , Bob Herbert of The New York Times referred to modern American plutocrats as `` The Donor Class '' ( list of top donors ) and defined the class , for the first time , as `` a tiny group -- just one-quarter of 1 percent of the population -- and it is not representative of the rest of the nation . But its money buys plenty of access . ''

neg: Scott Belsky Scott Belsky ( born April 18 , 1980 ) is an American entrepreneur , author and early-stage investor best known for co-creating the online portfolio platform , Behance , Inc. . In 2010 , Belsky was included in Fast Company 's `` 100 Most Creative People in Business '' list .   In December 2012 , Behance was acquired by Adobe where Belsky became VP of Products , Mobile and Community at Adobe . In February 2016 Belsky left Adobe and joined Benchmark as the firm 's sixth general partner . Prior to joining Benchmark , Belsky had been an early-stage investor and active advisor to companies including Uber , Warby Parker , Pinterest , Periscope and Sweetgreen .

neg: Corporate law Corporate law ( also `` company '' or `` corporations '' law ) is the practice or study of how shareholders , directors , employees , creditors , and other stakeholders such as consumers , the community , and the environment interact with one another . Corporate law is a part of a broader companies law ( or law of business associations ) . Other types of business associations can include partnerships ( in the UK governed by the Partnership Act 1890 ) , or trusts ( like a pension fund ) , or companies limited by guarantee ( like some community organizations or charities ) . Under corporate law , corporations of all sizes have separate legal personality , with limited or unlimited liability for its shareholders . Shareholders control the company through a board of directors which , in turn , typically delegates control of the corporation 's day-to-day operations to a full-time executive . Corporate law deals with firms that are incorporated or registered under the corporate or company law of a sovereign state or their subnational states . The four defining characteristics of the modern corporation are :   Separate legal personality of the corporation ( access to tort and contract law in a manner similar to a person )  Limited liability of the shareholders ( a shareholder 's personal liability is limited to the value of their shares in the corporation )  Shares ( if the corporation is a public company , the shares are traded on a stock exchange )  Delegated management ; the board of directors delegates day-to-day management of the company to executives   In many developed countries outside of the English speaking world , company boards are appointed as representatives of both shareholders and employees to `` codetermine '' company strategy . Corporate law is often divided into corporate governance ( which concerns the various power relations within a corporation ) and corporate finance ( which concerns the rules on how capital is used ) .

neg: Sergey Brin Sergey Mikhaylovich Brin ( Серге́й Миха́йлович Брин born August 21 , 1973 ) is a Russian American computer scientist , internet entrepreneur , and philanthropist . Together with Larry Page , he co-founded Google . Brin is the President of Google 's parent company Alphabet Inc. .   , Brin is the 13th richest person in the world , with an estimated net worth of US$ 39.8 billion .   Brin immigrated to the United States with his family from the Soviet Union at the age of 6 . He earned his bachelor 's degree at the University of Maryland , following in his father 's and grandfather 's footsteps by studying mathematics , as well as computer science . After graduation , he moved to Stanford University to acquire a PhD in computer science . There he met Page , with whom he later became friends . They crammed their dormitory room with inexpensive computers and applied Brin 's data mining system to build a web search engine . The program became popular at Stanford , and they suspended their PhD studies to start up Google in a rented garage .   The Economist referred to Brin as an `` Enlightenment Man '' , and as someone who believes that `` knowledge is always good , and certainly always better than ignorance '' , a philosophy that is summed up by Google 's mission statement , `` Organize the world 's information and make it universally accessible and useful , '' and unofficial yet sometimes controversial motto , `` Do n't be evil '' .

neg: Joe Jamail Joseph Dahr Jamail , Jr. ( October 19 , 1925 -- December 23 , 2015 ) was an American attorney and billionaire . The wealthiest practicing attorney in America , he was frequently referred to as the `` King of Torts '' .   In 2011 , his net worth was estimated by Forbes to be $ 1.5 billion , making him the 833rd richest person in the world . Joseph Jamail died on December 23 , 2015 in Houston .

neg: Real estate appraisal Real estate appraisal , property valuation or land valuation is the process of developing an opinion of value for real property ( usually market value ) . Real estate transactions often require appraisals because they occur infrequently and every property is unique ( especially their condition , a key factor in valuation ) , unlike corporate stocks , which are traded daily and are identical ( thus a centralized Walrasian auction like a stock exchange is unrealistic ) . The location also plays a key role in valuation . However , since property can not change location , it is often the upgrades or improvements to the home that can change its value . Appraisal reports form the basis for mortgage loans , settling estates and divorces , taxation , and so on . Sometimes an appraisal report is used to establish a sale price for a property .   Besides of the mandatory educational grade , which can vary from Finance to Construction Technology , most , but not all , countries require appraisers to have the license for the practice . Usually , the real estate appraiser has the opportunity to reach 3 levels of certification : Appraisal Trainee , Licensed Appraiser and Certified Appraiser . The second and third levels of license require no less than 2000 experience hours in 12 months and 2500 experience hours in no less than 24 months respectively . Appraisers are often known as `` property valuers '' or `` land valuers '' ; in British English they are `` valuation surveyors '' . If the appraiser 's opinion is based on market value , then it must also be based on the highest and best use of the real property . In the United States , mortgage valuations of improved residential properties are generally reported on a standardized form like the Uniform Residential Appraisal Report . Appraisals of more commercial properties ( e.g. , income-producing , raw land ) are often reported in narrative format and completed by a Certified General Appraiser .

neg: Azim Premji Azim Hashim Premji ( born 24 July 1945 ) is an Indian business tycoon , investor , and philanthropist , who is the chairman of Wipro Limited . He is informally known as the Czar of the Indian IT Industry . He was responsible for guiding Wipro through four decades of diversification and growth to finally emerge as one of the global leaders in the software industry . In 2010 , he was voted among the 20 most powerful men in the world by Asiaweek . He has twice been listed among the 100 most influential people by TIME Magazine , once in 2004 and more recently in 2011 . Premji owns 73 % percent of Wipro and also owns a private equity fund , PremjiInvest , which manages his $ 2 billion worth of personal portfolio .   He is currently the second richest person in india with an estimated net worth of US$ 16.1 billion as of April 2017 . In 2013 , he agreed to give away at least half of his wealth by signing The Giving Pledge . Premji started with a $ 2.2 billion donation to the Azim Premji Foundation , focused on education in India .

neg: List of wealthiest charitable foundations This is a list of wealthiest charitable foundations worldwide . It consists of the 36 largest charitable foundations , private foundations engaged in philanthropy , and other charitable organizations .   Only nonprofit foundations are included in this list . Organisations that are part of a larger company are excluded , such as holding companies .   The entries are ordered by the size of the organisation 's financial endowment ( that is , the value of assets net of liabilities , or invested donations ) . The endowment value is an estimate measured in United States dollars , based on the exchange rates on December 31 , 2016 . Due to fluctuations in holdings , currency exchange and asset values , this list only represents the valuation of each foundation on a single day .

neg: Jeff Bewkes Jeffrey Lawrence `` Jeff '' Bewkes ( born May 25 , 1952 ) is an American media executive . He has been CEO of Time Warner since January 1 , 2008 , President since December 2005 , and Chairman of the Board since January 1 , 2009 .

neg: Capital budgeting Capital budgeting , or investment appraisal , is the planning process used to determine whether an organization 's long term investments such as new machinery , replacement of machinery , new plants , new products , and research development projects are worth the funding of cash through the firm 's capitalization structure ( debt , equity or retained earnings ) . It is the process of allocating resources for major capital , or investment , expenditures . One of the primary goals of capital budgeting investments is to increase the value of the firm to the shareholders .   Many formal methods are used in capital budgeting , including the techniques such as  Accounting rate of return  Average accounting return  Payback period  Net present value  Profitability index  Internal rate of return  Modified internal rate of return  Equivalent annual cost  Real options valuation   These methods use the incremental cash flows from each potential investment , or project . Techniques based on accounting earnings and accounting rules are sometimes used - though economists consider this to be improper - such as the accounting rate of return , and `` return on investment . '' Simplified and hybrid methods are used as well , such as payback period and discounted payback period .

neg: List of largest Chinese companies This article lists the largest companies in China in terms of their revenue , net profit and total assets , according to the American business magazines Fortune and Forbes . In 2014 , Fortune '' 's Global 500 list of the world 's largest corporations included 95 Chinese companies , with combined revenues of US$ 5.8 trillion . That same year , Forbes '' reported that five of the world 's ten largest public companies were Chinese , including the world 's largest bank by total assets , the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China . Many of China 's largest companies are state-owned enterprises , due to the significant presence of the governing Chinese Communist Party in the national economy .

neg: The Famous Entrepreneurs Series The Famous Entrepreneurs Series ( FES ) is a business membership organization created to fuel the entrepreneurial flame in the Greater Syracuse and Central Upstate New York ( CNY ) region . FES hosts quarterly lectures for local members of the academic community , entrepreneurs , and businesses . Through FES , CEOs and management thought leaders share their successes , failures and visions in an effort to create inspired discussions within the local community .   FES was created in 2006 by Jud Gostin , CEO of Sensis Corporation , in partnership with many other CEOs from growing companies in the CNY . Other FES founding companies include : Anaren Inc. , Clear Channel Communications , Communigration , Dolphin Technologies , O'Brien & Gene , PPC , SRC and United Radio .   Past speakers have included Facebook Co-founder and `` MyBarakObama.com '' Founder , Chris Hughes , Founder and General Manager of IDEO Product Development , Tom Kelley , Professor of International Business and Founding Director of the Center for Global Leadership at the Tusk School of Business at Dartmouth College , Vijay Govindarajan , CEOs Carly Fiorina of Hewlett-Packard , Richard Teerlink of Harley-Davidson , Jon Luther of Dunkin' Brands , Anne Mulcahy of Xerox and David Barger of Jet Blue . FES has also featured entrepreneurs and authors C.K. Prahalad , author of `` Competing for the Future , '' Michael Treacy , author of `` The Discipline of Market Leaders , '' and Rod Beckstrom , author of `` The Starfish and the Spider '' .

neg: Rio Tinto Group Rio Tinto is an Australian-British multinational and one of the world 's largest metals and mining corporations . The company was founded in 1873 , when a multinational consortium of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto , in Huelva , Spain , from the Spanish government . Since then , the company has grown through a long series of mergers and acquisitions to place itself among the world leaders in the production of many commodities , including aluminium , iron ore , copper , uranium , coal , and diamonds . Although primarily focused on extraction of minerals , Rio Tinto also has significant operations in refining , particularly for refining bauxite and iron ore . The company has operations on six continents , but is mainly concentrated in Australia and Canada , and owns its mining operations through a complex web of wholly and partly owned subsidiaries .  Rio Tinto has joint head offices in London ( global and `` plc '' ) and Melbourne ( `` Limited '' Australia ) .   Rio Tinto Group is a dual-listed company traded on both the London Stock Exchange , where it is a component of the FTSE 100 Index , and the Australian Securities Exchange , where it is a component of the S&P / ASX 200 index .

neg: Paul Tudor Jones Paul Tudor Jones II ( born September 28 , 1954 ) is an American investor , hedge fund manager , and philanthropist . In 1980 , he founded his hedge fund , Tudor Investment Corporation , an asset management firm headquartered in Greenwich , Connecticut . Soon after , he created the Tudor Group , a hedge fund holding company that specializes in fixed income , currencies , equities , and commodities .   As of February 2017 , Forbes Magazine estimated his net worth to be US$ 4.7 billion , making him the 120th richest person on the Forbes 400 and the 22nd highest earning hedge fund manager . He is known for his large scale philanthropy and eight years after founded his hedge fund , he founded the Robin Hood Foundation which focuses on poverty reduction .


query: The brown bear is several countries' national or state animal.

pos: Brown bear The brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) is a large bear with the widest distribution of any living ursid . The species is distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America . It is one of the two largest terrestrial carnivorans alive today , rivaled in body size only by its close cousin , the polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ) , which is much less variable in size and averages larger due to this . There are several recognized subspecies , many of which are quite well-known within their native ranges , found in the brown bear species .   The brown bear 's principal range includes parts of Russia , Central Asia , China , Canada , the United States ( mostly Alaska ) , Scandinavia and the Carpathian region ( especially Romania ) , Anatolia , and Caucasus . The brown bear is recognized as a national and state animal in several European countries .   While the brown bear 's range has shrunk and it has faced local extinctions , it remains listed as a least concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN ) with a total population of approximately 200,000 . As of 2012 , this and the American black bear are the only bear species not classified as threatened by the IUCN . However , the Californian , North African ( Atlas bear ) , and Mexican subspecies were hunted to extinction in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries , and many of the southern Asian subspecies are highly endangered . One of the smaller-bodied subspecies , the Himalayan brown bear , is critically endangered , occupying only 2 % of its former range and threatened by uncontrolled poaching for its parts . The Marsican brown bear , one of several currently isolated populations of the main Eurasian brown bear race , in central Italy is believed to have a population of just 30 to 40 bears .

neg: Black bear Black bear may refer to :   Animals  American black bear ( Ursus americanus ) , a North American bear species  Asian black bear ( Ursus thibetanus ) , an Asian bear species   Sports  Maine Black Bears , the athletic teams representing the University of Maine  Berkshire Black Bears , a minor league baseball team  West Virginia Black Bears , a minor league baseball team   '' ` People  Blackbear , Stage name of American musician Matthew Musto

neg: Archipelagic state An archipelagic state is any internationally recognized state or country that comprises a series of islands that form an archipelago . The term is defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in order to define what borders such states should be allowed to claim .   In various conferences , Fiji , Indonesia , Papua New Guinea , the Bahamas , and the Philippines are the five sovereign states that obtained approval in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea signed in Montego Bay , Jamaica on December 10 , 1982 and qualified as archipelagic states .   Archipelagic states are states that are composed of groups of islands forming a state as a single unit , with the islands and the waters within the baselines as internal waters . Under this concept ( `` archipelagic doctrine '' ) , an archipelago shall be regarded as a single unit , so that the waters around , between , and connecting the islands of the archipelago , irrespective of their breadth and dimensions , form part of the internal waters of the state , and are subject to its exclusive sovereignty .   The approval of the United Nations for the five sovereign states as archipelagic states respect existing agreements with other countries and shall recognize traditional fishing rights and other legitimate activities of the immediately adjacent neighboring countries in certain areas falling within archipelagic waters . The terms and conditions for the exercise of such rights and activities , including the nature , the extent and the areas to which they apply , shall , at the request of any of the countries concerned , be regulated by bilateral agreements between them . Such rights shall not be transferred to or shared with third countries or their nationals .

neg: Bear Mountain (Colorado) According to the USGS GNIS , the state of Colorado in the United States has 10 peaks named Bear Mountain :

neg: Sable The sable ( Martes zibellina ) is a marten species , a small carnivorous mammal inhabiting forest environments , primarily in Russia from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia , northern Mongolia . Its habitat also leans the borders of eastern Kazakhstan , China , North and South Korea and Hokkaidō in Japan . Its range in the wild originally extended through European Russia to Poland and Scandinavia . It has historically been hunted for its highly valued dark brown or black fur , which remains a luxury good to this day . While hunting of wild animals is still common in Russia , most fur in the market is now commercially farmed .

neg: Obedska bara Obedska bara ( Obedska pond or Obedska bog , Serbian Cyrillic : Обедска бара , pronounced -LSB- ɔ̂bɛdskaː bâra -RSB- ) is a large swamp-forest area and natural reserve stretching along the Sava River in Southern Syrmia ( Serbia ) , some 40 km west of Belgrade .   The pond is an oxbow lake , a remnant of the meanders of the old Sava River , whose main stream presently flows more southward . Due to its shape the swampy bed of the pond , situated between the villages of Obrež and Kupinovo , is called `` The Horse-shoe '' ( potkovica ) . Higher grounds with cut-in depressions and old oak forests are called `` The Hoof '' ( kopito ) .   The pond is an authentic complex of stagnant tributaries , marshes , pits , marsh vegetation , damp meadows and forests . It is home to over 30 different water , swamp , forest and meadow biocoenoses . The fauna includes 220 species of birds , 50 species of mammals , 13 of amphibians , 11 of reptiles and 16 of fish , while the flora includes 500 species plants , 180 species of mushrooms and 50 species of moss . It is one of the richest and best preserved wildlife habitats in the Pannonian plain .   Obedska pond is one of the world 's oldest nature areas , first administrative protective measures having been introduced 1874 , when the Habsburg Empire protected it as hunting ground of the royal family . Presently , it has first-category legal protection status , denoting a natural asset of exceptional value . Its status has been verified by the Ramsar Convention on swamps since 1977 , and included in the List of areas of special significance for birds of Europe of Important Bird Area project , and UNESCO 's list of world 's most important wetland areas .

neg: Finnish mythology Finnish mythology is a commonly applied description of the folklore of Finnish paganism , of which a modern revival is practiced by a small percentage of the Finnish people . It has many features shared with fellow Finnic Estonian mythology and its non-Finnic neighbours , the Balts and the Scandinavians . Some of their myths are also distantly related to the myths of other Finno-Ugric speakers like the Samis .   Finnish mythology survived within an oral tradition of mythical poem-singing and folklore well into the 19th century .   Although the gradual influence of surrounding cultures raised the significance of the sky-god in a monolatristic manner , the father god `` Ukko '' ( Old Man ) was originally just a nature spirit like all the others . Of the animals , the most sacred was the bear , whose real name was never uttered out loud , lest his kind be unfavorable to the hunting . The bear ( `` karhu '' in Finnish ) was seen as the embodiment of the forefathers , and for this reason it was called by many circumlocutions : mesikämmen ( `` mead-paw '' ) , otso ( `` browed one '' ) , kontio ( `` dweller of the land '' ) , metsän kultaomena ( `` the golden apple of the forest '' ) but not a god .

neg: Bruno the bear Bruno the bear may refer to :   Bear JJ1 , a European brown bear who made the news in 2006  Bruno ( bear actor ) , a trained American black bear who played Gentle Ben  Name of the Brown Bears , mascot of Brown University  A character on the TV series Edward and Friends  A character in the cartoon Big Top Bunny

neg: Asian black bear The Asian black bear ( Ursus thibetanus , previously known as Selenarctos thibetanus ) , also known as the moon bear , Asiatic black bear and white-chested bear , is a medium-sized bear species native to Asia and largely adapted to arboreal life . It lives in the Himalayas , in the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent , Korea , northeastern China , the Russian Far East , the Honshū and Shikoku islands of Japan , and Taiwan . It is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN ) , mostly because of deforestation and hunting for its body parts .   The species is morphologically very similar to some prehistoric bears , and is thought by some scientists to be the ancestor of other extant bear species ( aside from pandas and spectacled bears ) . Though largely herbivorous , Asian black bears can be very aggressive toward humans , who frequently trap or kill them for traditional medicine .

neg: List of Oregon state symbols The U.S. state of Oregon has 27 official emblems , as designated by the Oregon State Legislature . Most of the symbols are listed in Title 19 , Chapter 186 of the Oregon Revised Statutes ( 2011 edition ) . Oregon 's first symbol was the motto Alis Volat Propriis , written and translated in 1854 . Latin for `` She Flies With Her Own Wings '' , the motto remained unchanged until 1957 , when `` The Union '' became the official state motto . Alis Volat Propriis became the state motto once again in 1987 . Originally designed in 1857 , usage of the Oregon State Seal began after Oregon became the 33rd state of the United States on February 14 , 1859 . The motto and seal served as Oregon 's only symbols until over 50 years later , when the Oregon-grape became the state flower in 1899 . Oregon had six official symbols by 1950 and 22 symbols by 2000 . The newest symbol of Oregon is brewer 's yeast , declared the state microbe in 2013 .   While some of the symbols are unique to Oregon , others are used by multiple states . For example , the western meadowlark , Oregon 's state bird , is also an official symbol for Kansas , Montana , Nebraska , North Dakota and Wyoming . The North American beaver is also the state animal of New York , and the Chinook salmon ( sometimes known as the king salmon ) is also the state fish of Alaska . The square dance and milk are commonly used state dances and state beverages , respectively .

neg: Culture of the United Kingdom The culture of the United Kingdom is influenced by the UK 's history as a developed island country , a liberal democracy and a major power ; its predominantly Christian religious life ; and its composition of four countries -- England , Wales , Scotland and Northern Ireland -- each of which has distinct customs , cultures and symbolism . The wider culture of Europe has also influenced British culture , and Humanism , Protestantism and representative democracy developed from broader Western culture .   British literature , music , cinema , art , theatre , comedy , media , television , philosophy , architecture and education are important aspects of British culture . The United Kingdom is also prominent in science and technology , producing world-leading scientists ( e.g. Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin ) and inventions . Sport is an important part of British culture ; numerous sports originated in the country , including football . The UK has been described as a `` cultural superpower '' , and London has been described as a world cultural capital .   The Industrial Revolution , which started in the UK , had a profound effect on the socio-economic and cultural conditions of the world . As a result of the British Empire , significant British influence can be observed in the language , law , culture and institutions of a geographically wide assortment of countries , including Australia , Canada , India , the Republic of Ireland , New Zealand , Nigeria , Pakistan , South Africa , the United States and English speaking Caribbean nations . These states are sometimes collectively known as the Anglosphere , and are among Britain 's closest allies . In turn the empire also influenced British culture , particularly British cuisine .   The cultures of England , Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland are diverse and have varying degrees of overlap and distinctiveness .

neg: Conservation in Australia Conservation in Australia is an issue of state and federal policy . Australia is one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world , with a large portion of species endemic to Australia . Preserving this wealth of biodiversity is important for future generations .   Animal habitats like reefs and forests must be preserved in order to preserve population and diversity of animal species . Conservation is vital for future study and for field research to be taken , and because biological richness is an unmeasurable aesthetic that may be developed into commercial recreational attractions .   According to Janine Benyus , the potential for advances in biomimicry in Australia are great because the extreme weather and conditions found here provide an excellent evolutionary incubator . Research on natural processes can only occur if habitat is preserved and organisms continue to thrive .   Federal and State governments manage protected areas and national parks ; a number of non-governmental organizations are also involved in conservation .

neg: American Pit Bull Terrier The American Pit Bull Terrier ( APBT ) is a dog breed . It is a medium-sized , solidly-built , intelligent , short-haired dog whose early ancestors came from the British Isles . When compared with the English Staffordshire Bull Terrier ( another breed within the type commonly called pit bulls ) , the American Pit Bull Terrier is larger by margins of 6 - in height and 25 - in weight . The American Pit Bull Terrier varies in size . Males normally are about 18-21 inches ( 45 -- 53 cm ) in height and around 35-60 pounds ( 15 -- 27 kg ) in weight . Females are normally around 17-20 inches ( 43 -- 50 cm ) in height and 30-50 pounds ( 13 -- 22 kg ) in weight .   The American Pit Bull is medium-sized , and has a short coat and smooth well-defined muscle structure . Its eyes are round to almond-shaped , and its ears are small to medium in length , typically half prick or rose in carriage . The tail is slightly thick and tapers to a point . The coat is glossy , smooth , short , and stiff to the touch . Any color , color pattern , or combination of colors is acceptable , both the ADBA and UKC do not recognize merle coloring . Color patterns that are typical in the breed are spotted , brindled , solid , and with points .   Twelve countries in Europe , as well as Australia , Canada , Ecuador , Malaysia , New Zealand , Puerto Rico , Singapore , and Venezuela have enacted some form of breed-specific legislation on pit bull-type dogs , including American Pit Bull Terriers , ranging from outright bans to restrictions and conditions on ownership . The state of New South Wales in Australia places restrictions on the breed , including mandatory sterilization . The breed is banned in the United Kingdom , in the Canadian province of Ontario , and in many locations in the United States .

neg: List of World Heritage Sites in Northern and Central Asia The UNESCO ( United Nations Educational , Scientific and Cultural Organization ) has designated 19 World Heritage Sites in six countries ( also called `` state parties '' ) of Central and North Asia : Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan , Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan and the Asian part of Russia . The European part of Russia is included in Eastern Europe .   Russia is home to the most inscribed sites with 7 sites , one of which is a transborder property shared with Mongolia in Eastern Asia . The first site from the region was the Itchan Kala in Uzbekistan inscribed in 1990 . Each year , UNESCO 's World Heritage Committee may inscribe new sites on the list , or delist sites that no longer meet the criteria . Selection is based on ten criteria : six for cultural heritage ( i -- vi ) and four for natural heritage ( vii -- x ) . Some sites , designated `` mixed sites , '' represent both cultural and natural heritage . In Northern and Central Asia , there are 11 cultural , 8 natural , and no mixed sites . All of the Russian sites ( 7 ) are natural and with the exception of Sayarka , all of the sites in Central Asia are cultural .   The World Heritage Committee may also specify that a site is endangered , citing `` conditions which threaten the very characteristics for which a property was inscribed on the World Heritage List . '' None of the sites in this region has ever been listed as endangered , but possible danger listing has been considered by UNESCO in a number of cases .

neg: Primate A primate ( -LSB- ˈpraɪmeɪt -RSB- ) is a mammal of the order Primates ( Latin : `` prime , first rank '' ) . In taxonomy , primates include two distinct lineages , strepsirrhines and haplorhines . Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests ; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment . Most primate species remain at least partly arboreal .   With the exception of humans , who inhabit every continent , most primates live in tropical or subtropical regions of the Americas , Africa and Asia . They range in size from Madame Berthe 's mouse lemur , which weighs only 30 g , to the eastern gorilla , weighing over 200 kg ; that is , without taking into account the weight of particular human individuals , reaching up to 635 kg . Based on fossil evidence , the earliest known true primates , represented by the genus Teilhardina , date to 55.8 million years old . An early close primate relative known from abundant remains is the Late Paleocene Plesiadapis , c. 55 -- 58 million years old . Molecular clock studies suggest that the primate branch may be even older , originating near the Cretaceous -- Paleogene boundary or around 63 -- 74 mya .   The order Primates was traditionally divided into two main groupings : prosimians and anthropoids ( simians ) . Prosimians have characteristics more like those of the earliest primates , and include the lemurs of Madagascar , lorisoids , and tarsiers . Simians include monkeys , apes and hominins . More recently , taxonomists have preferred to split primates into the suborder Strepsirrhini , or wet-nosed primates , consisting of non-tarsier prosimians , and the suborder Haplorhini , or dry-nosed primates , consisting of tarsiers and the simians .   Simians are divided into two groups : catarrhine ( narrow-nosed ) monkeys and apes of Africa and Southeast Asia and platyrrhine ( `` flat-nosed '' ) or New World monkeys of South and Middle America . Catarrhines consist of Old World monkeys ( such as baboons and macaques ) , gibbons and great apes ; New World monkeys include the capuchin , howler and squirrel monkeys . Humans are the only extant catarrhines to have spread successfully outside of Africa , South Asia , and East Asia , although fossil evidence shows many other species were formerly present in Europe . New primate species are still being discovered . More than 25 species were taxonomically described in the decade of the 2000s and eleven have been described since 2010 .   Considered generalist mammals , primates exhibit a wide range of characteristics . Some primates ( including some great apes and baboons ) are primarily terrestrial rather than arboreal , but all species possess adaptations for climbing trees . Locomotion techniques used include leaping from tree to tree , walking on two or four limbs , knuckle-walking , and swinging between branches of trees ( brachiation ) .   Primates are characterized by large brains relative to other mammals , as well as an increased reliance on stereoscopic vision at the expense of smell , the dominant sensory system in most mammals . These features are more developed in monkeys and apes and noticeably less so in lorises and lemurs . Three-color vision has developed in some primates . Most also have opposable thumbs and some have prehensile tails . Many species are sexually dimorphic ; differences include body mass , canine tooth size , and coloration . Primates have slower rates of development than other similarly sized mammals and reach maturity later , but have longer lifespans . Depending on the species , adults may live in solitude , in mated pairs , or in groups of up to hundreds of members .

neg: Illegal logging in Madagascar Illegal logging has been a problem in Madagascar for decades and is perpetuated by extreme poverty and government corruption . Often taking the form of selective logging , the trade has been driven by high international demand for expensive , fine-grained lumber such as rosewood and ebony . Historically , logging and exporting in Madagascar have been regulated by the Malagasy government , although the logging of rare hardwoods was explicitly banned from protected areas in 2000 . Since then , government orders and memos have intermittently alternated between permitting and banning exports of precious woods . The most commonly cited reason for permitting exports is to salvage valuable wood from cyclone damage , although this reasoning has come under heavy scrutiny . This oscillating availability of Malagasy rosewood and other precious woods has created a market of rising and falling prices , allowing traders or `` timber barons '' to stockpile illegally sourced logs during periodic bans and then flood the market when the trade windows open and prices are high .   The unsustainable exploitation of these tropical hardwoods , particularly rosewood from the SAVA Region , has escalated significantly since the start of the 2009 Malagasy political crisis . Thousands of poorly paid Malagasy loggers have flooded into the national parks -- especially in the northeast -- building roads , setting up logging camps , and cutting down even the most difficult to reach rosewood trees . Illegal activities are openly flaunted , armed militia have descended upon local villages , and a rosewood mafia easily bribe government officials , buying export permits with ease . These illegal operations are funded in part by advance payments for future shipments ( financed by Chinese expatriates and Chinese importers ) and by loans from large , international banks . Demand is fueled mostly by a growing Chinese middle class and their desire for exotic imperial-style furniture . European and American demand for high-end musical instruments and furniture have also played a role . However , public scrutiny has put significant pressure on shipping companies involved in the trade , and the United States is starting to enforce the Lacey Act by investigating companies with suspected involvement in the illegal trade of Malagasy precious woods .   Logging in Madagascar 's tropical rainforests has had many secondary effects , beyond the risk of depletion of rare , endemic trees . Habitat has been disturbed , illegal mining has begun , local people have turned in desperation to the forests for resources , and poaching of endangered wildlife has escalated . Lemurs , the most well-known faunal group from the island , have been captured for the exotic pet trade as well as killed for food . Even the most critically endangered species have been targeted , primarily to feed a growing demand for delicacy food in up-scale restaurants . The local villagers have also suffered as tourism has declined sharply or ceased almost entirely . Some have resorted to working as loggers for minimal pay , while others have spoken out against it , often receiving death threats from the rosewood mafia in return .

neg: Gobi bear The Gobi bear , Ursus arctos gobiensis ( known in Mongolian as the mazaalai / Мазаалай ) is a subspecies of the brown bear , Ursus arctos , that is found in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia . It is listed as critically endangered by Mongolian Redbook of Endangered Species and by the Zoological Society of London using IUCN standards , the population included only around 20 adults and were separated by enough distance .   `` Break camp about 9.30 a.m. and head for the Atis Mountains . We cross a large open plain and then enter a steep-sided , black , shale-strewn valley . Just before we entered the valley we discovered the footprints of the extremely rare Gobi Bear ( ursus gobiensis ) -LSB- there are presumed to be approximately only thirty-two in the world and there is continuing debate among scientists over whether they are a true species or a sub-species -RSB- . ''   Gobi bears mainly eat roots , berries , and other plants , sometimes rodents , there were no evidence that they ate large mammals . Small compared to other brown bear subspecies , adult males weigh about 96.0 -- and females about 51.0 -- .   The Gobi brown bear is sometimes classified as being of the same subspecies as the Tibetan blue bear ; this is based on morphological similarities , and the belief that the desert-dwelling Gobi bear represents a relict population of the blue bear . However , the Gobi bear is sometimes classified as its own subspecies , and closely resembles other Asian brown bears . There are only 22 Gobi bears left .

neg: World Charter for Nature World Charter for Nature was adopted by United Nations member nation-states on October 28 , 1982 . It proclaims five `` principles of conservation by which all human conduct affecting nature is to be guided and judged . ''   Nature shall be respected and its essential processes shall not be impaired .  The genetic viability on the earth shall not be compromised ; the population levels of all life forms , wild and domesticated , must be at least sufficient for their survival , and to this end necessary habitats shall be safeguarded .  All areas of the earth , both land and sea , shall be subject to these principles of conservation ; special protection shall be given to unique areas , to representative samples of all the different types of ecosystems and to the habitats of rare or endangered species .  Ecosystems and organisms , as well as the land , marine and atmospheric resources that are utilized by man , shall be managed to achieve and maintain optimum sustainable productivity , but not in such a way as to endanger the integrity of those other ecosystems or species with which they coexist .  Nature shall be secured against degradation caused by warfare or other hostile activities .   The vote was 111 for , one against ( United States ) , 18 abstentions .

neg: Aggregation (ethology) In ethology , an aggregation is any form of gathering of organisms and the process of coming together . In some forms groups of unrelated species might form , in which interaction between members of the aggregation might be minimal ; for example herds of grazing zebra and antelopes might combine , both the better to observe the approach of predators , and to improve the odds of escape in the event of attack by predators . Sometimes there might be some interaction , such as mixed flocks of birds that observe each other 's foraging behaviour in searching for food . Sometimes there might be quite orderly common action , such as the queuing up for a resource ; for example different species of fishes may aggregate around a cleaning station where cleaner wrasse and cleaner shrimp are active , more or less taking turns for attention . Such aggregations , where there is no particular association of species or sizes , may be referred to loosely as unstructured aggregations . Commonly they are very temporary and may be loose , with flocks or herds associating casually and separating equally casually within hours .   Structured aggregations tend to be longer-term and of a specific life-cycle function and context . Typically , though not necessarily , they will be of a single species . Often they will be of a single age and possibly of a single sex , such as shoals of fish fry that have specific ecological requirements that are not compatible with those of the mature species . One class of such aggregations comprises groups of adult , but immature `` bachelor '' males of elephants , seals , lions and other animals in which the mature herd will not tolerate males that would begin to compete with the dominant males . Another is when aposematic larvae of certain insects such as some Lepidoptera and Hemiptera form a flock that feed together and may migrate in `` processions '' until they are mature after which some kinds disperse . Most species of migrating birds and mammals flock on a large scale , partly for protection and partly for greater reliability of navigation . In some species of Hemiptera the adults remain with their aggregated immature offspring , sometimes in protective roles .   The range of functions is very wide in detail , but among the more important classes of function are security against predators , success in food location , wide range of mate choice , with concomitant increase of outbreeding opportunities , location with other members of the same species ( sometimes adherence to separate communities can almost amount to parapatric residence when say , different communities of rats or chimpanzees have violent mutual antipathy ) . There also are various forms of educational function , such as in some species where the young must learn the correct mate recognition skills , and in highly intelligent species such as crows and elephants , must learn the necessary social skills and the necessary traditional foraging techniques in their region .   Aggregation activities are not restricted to the animal kingdom ; for one example , a fundamental class of aggregations occurs in the various groups of slime molds , in which separate cells actually aggregate in the process of constructing their reproductive structure .   Category : Ethology

neg: Belgium Belgium ( -LSB- ˈbɛldʒəm -RSB- België -LSB- ˈbɛlɣijə -RSB- ; Belgique -LSB- bɛlʒik -RSB- ; Belgien -LSB- ˈbɛlɡi̯ən -RSB- ) , officially the Kingdom of Belgium , is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France , the Netherlands , Germany , Luxembourg , and the North Sea . It is a small , densely populated country which covers an area of 30528 km2 and has a population of about 11 million people . Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Latin Europe , Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups : the Dutch-speaking , mostly Flemish community , which constitutes about 59 % of the population , and the French-speaking , mostly Walloon population , which comprises 41 % of all Belgians . Additionally , there is a small group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area , and bordering Germany .   Historically , Belgium , the Netherlands and Luxembourg ( along with parts of Northern France and Western Germany ) were known as the Low Countries ; it once covered a somewhat larger area than the current Benelux group of states . The region was called Belgica in Latin , after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica . From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century , the area of Belgium was a prosperous and cosmopolitan centre of commerce and culture . From the 16th century until the Belgian Revolution in 1830 , when Belgium seceded from the Netherlands , the area of Belgium served as the battleground between many European powers , causing it to be dubbed the `` Battlefield of Europe , ''  a reputation strengthened by both world wars .   Today , Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance . It is divided into three regions and three communities , that exist next to each other . Its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia . The Brussels-Capital Region is an officially bilingual ( French and Dutch ) enclave within the Flemish Region .  A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia .  Belgium 's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance , made up of six different governments .   Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution  and , during the course of the 20th century , possessed a number of colonies in Africa . The second half of the 20th century was marked by rising tensions between the Dutch-speaking and the French-speaking citizens fueled by differences in language and culture and the unequal economic development of Flanders and Wallonia . This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms , resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993 . Despite the reforms , tensions between the groups have remained , if not increased ; there is significant separatism particularly among the Flemish ; controversial language laws exist such as the municipalities with language facilities ; and the formation of a coalition government took 18 months following the June 2010 federal election , a world record . Belgium is one of the six founding countries of the European Union and hosts the official seats of the European Commission , Council of the European Union , and European Council , as well as a seat of the European Parliament in the country 's capital , Brussels . Belgium is also a founding member of the Eurozone , NATO , OECD and WTO , and a part of the trilateral Benelux Union . Its capital , Brussels , hosts several of the EU 's official seats as well as the headquarters of many major international organizations such as NATO.Belgium is a member of , or affiliated to , many international organizations , including ACCT , AfDB , AsDB , Australia Group , Benelux , BIS , CCC , CE , CERN , EAPC , EBRD , EIB , EMU , ESA , EU , FAO , G-10 , IAEA , IBRD , ICAO , ICC , ICRM , IDA , IDB , IEA , IFAD , IFC , IFRCS , IHO , ILO , IMF , IMO , IMSO , Intelsat , Interpol , IOC , IOM , ISO , ITU , MONUC ( observers ) , NATO , NEA , NSG , OAS ( observer ) , OECD , OPCW , OSCE , PCA , UN , UNCTAD , UNECE , UNESCO , UNHCR , UNIDO , UNMIK , UNMOGIP , UNRWA , UNTSO , UPU , WADB ( non-regional ) , WEU , WHO , WIPO , WMO , WTrO , ZC . Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area . Belgium is a developed country , with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as `` very high '' in the Human Development Index .

neg: Animal language Animal languages are forms of non-human animal communication that show similarities to human language . Animals communicate by using a variety of signs such as sounds or movements . Such signing may be considered complex enough to be called a form of language if the inventory of signs is large , the signs are relatively arbitrary , and the animals seem to produce them with a degree of volition ( as opposed to relatively automatic conditioned behaviors or unconditioned instincts , usually including facial expressions ) . In experimental tests , animal communication may also be evidenced through the use of lexigrams ( as used by chimpanzees and bonobos ) . While the term `` animal language '' is widely used , researchers agree that animal languages are not as complex or expressive as human language .   Many researchers argue that animal communication lacks a key aspect of human language , that is , the creation of new patterns of signs under varied circumstances . ( In contrast , for example , humans routinely produce entirely new combinations of words . ) Some researchers , including the linguist Charles Hockett , argue that human language and animal communication differ so much that the underlying principles are unrelated . Accordingly , linguist Thomas A. Sebeok has proposed to not use the term `` language '' for animal sign systems . Marc Hauser , Noam Chomsky , and W. Tecumseh Fitch assert an evolutionary continuum exists between the communication methods of animal and human language .


query: A phylogenetic tree shows relationships.

pos: Phylogenetic tree A phylogenetic tree or evolutionary tree is a branching diagram or `` tree '' showing the inferred evolutionary relationships among various biological species or other entities -- their phylogeny -- based upon similarities and differences in their physical or genetic characteristics . The taxa joined together in the tree are implied to have descended from a common ancestor . Phylogenetic trees are central to the field of phylogenetics .   In a phylogenetic tree , each node with descendants represents the inferred most recent common ancestor of the descendants , and the edge lengths in some trees may be interpreted as time estimates . Each node is called a taxonomic unit . Internal nodes are generally called hypothetical taxonomic units , as they can not be directly observed . Trees are useful in fields of biology such as bioinformatics , systematics , and phylogenetic comparative methods .   Unrooted trees illustrate only the relatedness of the leaf nodes and do not require the ancestral root to be known or inferred .

neg: Tree alignment In computational phylogenetics , tree alignment is the problem of producing a multiple sequence alignment , which can be used to analyse a set of sequences with evolutionary relationship using a fixed tree . Essentially , tree alignment is an algorithm for optimizing phylogenetic tree by calculating the edit distance to achieve the minimum value . To be specific , phylogenetic tree shows an evolutionary relationship between different species and taxa joined together are assumed to have the same ancestor .

neg: Ecdysozoa Ecdysozoa -LSB- ˌɛkdɪsoʊ-ˈzoʊə -RSB- is a group of protostome animals , including Arthropoda ( insects , chelicerata , crustaceans , and myriapods ) , Nematoda , and several smaller phyla . They were first defined by Aguinaldo et al. in 1997 , based mainly on phylogenetic trees constructed using 18S ribosomal RNA genes . A large study in 2008 by Dunn et al. strongly supported the Ecdysozoa as a clade , that is , a group consisting of a common ancestor and all its descendants .   The group is also supported by morphological characters , and includes all animals that shed their exoskeleton ( see ecdysis ) .   The group was initially contested by a significant minority of biologists . Some argued for groupings based on more traditional taxonomic techniques , while others contested the interpretation of the molecular data .

neg: Primate A primate ( -LSB- ˈpraɪmeɪt -RSB- ) is a mammal of the order Primates ( Latin : `` prime , first rank '' ) . In taxonomy , primates include two distinct lineages , strepsirrhines and haplorhines . Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests ; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment . Most primate species remain at least partly arboreal .   With the exception of humans , who inhabit every continent , most primates live in tropical or subtropical regions of the Americas , Africa and Asia . They range in size from Madame Berthe 's mouse lemur , which weighs only 30 g , to the eastern gorilla , weighing over 200 kg ; that is , without taking into account the weight of particular human individuals , reaching up to 635 kg . Based on fossil evidence , the earliest known true primates , represented by the genus Teilhardina , date to 55.8 million years old . An early close primate relative known from abundant remains is the Late Paleocene Plesiadapis , c. 55 -- 58 million years old . Molecular clock studies suggest that the primate branch may be even older , originating near the Cretaceous -- Paleogene boundary or around 63 -- 74 mya .   The order Primates was traditionally divided into two main groupings : prosimians and anthropoids ( simians ) . Prosimians have characteristics more like those of the earliest primates , and include the lemurs of Madagascar , lorisoids , and tarsiers . Simians include monkeys , apes and hominins . More recently , taxonomists have preferred to split primates into the suborder Strepsirrhini , or wet-nosed primates , consisting of non-tarsier prosimians , and the suborder Haplorhini , or dry-nosed primates , consisting of tarsiers and the simians .   Simians are divided into two groups : catarrhine ( narrow-nosed ) monkeys and apes of Africa and Southeast Asia and platyrrhine ( `` flat-nosed '' ) or New World monkeys of South and Middle America . Catarrhines consist of Old World monkeys ( such as baboons and macaques ) , gibbons and great apes ; New World monkeys include the capuchin , howler and squirrel monkeys . Humans are the only extant catarrhines to have spread successfully outside of Africa , South Asia , and East Asia , although fossil evidence shows many other species were formerly present in Europe . New primate species are still being discovered . More than 25 species were taxonomically described in the decade of the 2000s and eleven have been described since 2010 .   Considered generalist mammals , primates exhibit a wide range of characteristics . Some primates ( including some great apes and baboons ) are primarily terrestrial rather than arboreal , but all species possess adaptations for climbing trees . Locomotion techniques used include leaping from tree to tree , walking on two or four limbs , knuckle-walking , and swinging between branches of trees ( brachiation ) .   Primates are characterized by large brains relative to other mammals , as well as an increased reliance on stereoscopic vision at the expense of smell , the dominant sensory system in most mammals . These features are more developed in monkeys and apes and noticeably less so in lorises and lemurs . Three-color vision has developed in some primates . Most also have opposable thumbs and some have prehensile tails . Many species are sexually dimorphic ; differences include body mass , canine tooth size , and coloration . Primates have slower rates of development than other similarly sized mammals and reach maturity later , but have longer lifespans . Depending on the species , adults may live in solitude , in mated pairs , or in groups of up to hundreds of members .

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: Function tree In the theory of complex systems , a function tree is a diagram showing the dependencies between the functions of a system . It breaks a problem ( or its solution ) down into simpler parts .   When used in computer programming , a function tree visualizes which function calls another .   Category : Diagrams

neg: Taruga (amphibian) Taruga is the only foam-nesting tree frog in the Old World Tree frog family ( Rhacophoridae ) that is endemic to Sri Lanka .   Genus Taruga was previously assigned to the genus Polypedates . As presently understood , Taruga comprises three named species : T. fastigo , T. eques and T. longinasus . Hence two genera of foam-nesting rhacophorid tree frogs are present in Sri Lanka : ( 1 ) Polypedates , with many species in India and Asia but just two in Sri Lanka ( P. maculatus -- widely distributed in South Asia ; and P. cruciger -- endemic to Sri Lanka , albeit widely distributed ) ; and ( 2 ) Taruga , the Sri Lankan endemic forms , whose three constituent species ( T. eques , T. fastigo and T. longinasus ) each have restricted distributions mostly in the forested highlands .  The best character to distinguish the adults of Taruga from Polypedates are a set of prominent cone-like projections around the vent . Furthermore , the supratympanic fold of Taruga is straighter than those in Polypedates . The snout of Taruga is very much acute than that of Polypedates .   Considering tadpoles , the vent of Polypedates forms a tube between left leg and tail , and in Taruga , there is no such tube , only an opening between leg and tail . There are also several more features of the mouth cavity , such as the number of projections on the tongue , shape of the tongue etc. that helps to distinguish Taruga from Polypedates .   Taruga in Sanskrit ( and early-Sinhala ) means `` tree climber '' . This name is very appropriate as the adults of these are tree inhabiting frogs , and rarely come to the ground . They often even lay their eggs on vegetation overhanging water .   All three frogs need shade in the form of a canopy to survive , and shallow and slow flowing streams or puddles to breed .   The female of the species builds a foamy nest overhanging water where eggs develop for a few days , after which tadpoles fall into water where they undergo further development until metamorphosis occurs . The juvenile frogs that emerge from water return to an arboreal life , on trees .   Sri Lanka is now known to contain clade level endemicity despite many land-bridge connections with India . Taruga is yet another such deeply divergent clade .   Following scientists contributed to this paper : Dr. Madhava Meegaskumbura ( Dept. of Zoology , University of Peradeniya , Sri Lanka ) ; Dr. Suyama Meegaskumbura ( Dept. of Zoology , University of Peradeniya ) , Mr. Gayan Bowatte ( Dept. of Zoology , University of Peradeniya ) , Prof. Christopher J. Schneider ( Boston University , USA ) and Prof. James Hanken ( Harvard University , USA ) .

neg: Viridiplantae Viridiplantae ( literally `` green plants '' ) are a clade of eukaryotic organisms made up of the green algae , which are primarily aquatic , and the land plants ( embryophytes ) , which emerged within them . Green algae traditionally excludes the land plants , rendering them a paraphyletic group . They have cells with cellulose in their cell walls , and primary chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria that contain chlorophylls a and b and lack phycobilins . More than 350,000 species of Viridiplantae exist .   In some classification systems , the group has been treated as a kingdom , under various names , e.g. Viridiplantae , Chlorobionta , or simply Plantae , the latter expanding the traditional plant kingdom to include the green algae . Adl et al. , who produced a classification for all eukaryotes in 2005 , introduced the name Chloroplastida for this group , reflecting the group having primary chloroplasts with green chlorophyll . They rejected the name Viridiplantae on the grounds that some of the species are not plants , as understood traditionally . The Viridiplantae are made up of two clades : Chlorophyta and Streptophyta . Together with Rhodophyta and glaucophytes , Viridiplantae are thought to belong to a larger clade called Archaeplastida or Primoplantae .   A taxonomic evaluation of eukaryotes based on myosin distribution showed the Viridiplantae lost class-I myosins .

neg: Cladogram A cladogram ( from Greek clados `` branch '' and gramma `` character '' ) is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms . A cladogram is not , however , an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to descendants , nor does it show how much they have changed ; many evolutionary trees can be inferred from a single cladogram . A cladogram uses lines that branch off in different directions ending at a clade , a groups of organisms with a last common ancestor . There are many shapes of cladograms but they all have lines that branch off from other lines . The lines can be traced back to where they branch off . These branching off points represent a hypothetical ancestor ( not an actual entity ) which can be inferred to exhibit the traits shared among the terminal taxa above it . This hypothetical ancestor might then provide clues about the order of evolution of various features , adaptation , and other evolutionary narratives about ancestors . Although traditionally such cladograms were generated largely on the basis of morphological characters , DNA and RNA sequencing data and computational phylogenetics are now very commonly used in the generation of cladograms , either on their own or in combination with morphology .

neg: R-tree R-trees are tree data structures used for spatial access methods , i.e. , for indexing multi-dimensional information such as geographical coordinates , rectangles or polygons . The R-tree was proposed by Antonin Guttman in 1984 and has found significant use in both theoretical and applied contexts . A common real-world usage for an R-tree might be to store spatial objects such as restaurant locations or the polygons that typical maps are made of : streets , buildings , outlines of lakes , coastlines , etc. and then find answers quickly to queries such as `` Find all museums within 2 km of my current location '' , `` retrieve all road segments within 2 km of my location '' ( to display them in a navigation system ) or `` find the nearest gas station '' ( although not taking roads into account ) . The R-tree can also accelerate nearest neighbor search for various distance metrics , including great-circle distance .

neg: Diplostephium Diplostephium is a genus of trees and shrubs in the sunflower family .   Diplostephium is distributed on high mountains zones from Venezuela to Chile with the exception of two species in Costa Rica ( INBio information system , July 2005 ) and twelve in the `` Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta '' ( Colombia ) . It makes part of the high andean forest and the paramo ecosystems . Colombia has the most species with 63 ( Vargas & Madriñán , 2006 ) , the majority of them found in the Oriental Cordillera , which has 33 registered species until this moment . Diplostephium is the third most diverse genus on the paramos with 70 species after Pentacalia and Senecio ( Luteyn , 1999 ) .   According to José Cuatrecasas , ( 1986 ) the genus is an element of Neotropical origin that could have reached the paramos from the southern latitudes of South America ; where the primitive arboreal species can be found in the high Andean forest while the most advanced members can be found in the paramos and super-paramos . This reinforces previous theories from Cuatrecasas ( 1969 ) , who proposed as atavistic characteristics the morphologies present in the arboreal species of high Andean forest . Based on this , Cuatrecasas made a phylogenetic ordination into natural groups or series where the derived species are more diverse and are found at high altitudes .   Accepted Species

neg: The Spiral of Life Mural Series The Spiral of Life mural series is a collection of phylogenetic tree public art murals currently housed by the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium , the National Aviary and the Carnegie Science Center . The murals reinterpret Charles Darwin 's Tree of Life model appearing in On the Origin of Species by using the spiral shape in order to show the evolutionary relatedness among species over time . The models accurately depict a modern phylogenetic tree , along with a time scale and illustrations of various plants , animals , fungi , insects , and bacteria . Opposite Darwin 's illustration , which has often led to misconceptions that evolution is a linear process , the Spiral of Life shows a radial branching out of species from the last universal common ancestor and emphasizes that evolution is not exclusively linear or vertical .   The series of illustrations was created by biological artist Joana Ricou under the guidance of Duquesne University professor John A. Pollock , Ph.D. , along with the help of a research team at the Regenerative Medicine Partnership in Education . The team used current phylogenetic data and research to construct a self-explanatory and aesthetic phylogenetic tree for multiple age groups . Specifically , the model depicts possibilities for the roles that horizontal gene transfer plays in the evolution of life , which is not depicted in Darwin 's illustration .   In 2009 , the series of illustrations were exhibited as educational wall murals during a celebration of the bicentennial anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , titled Darwin 2009 : A Pittsburgh Partnership . In addition to permanent exhibitions at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium , the National Aviary and the Carnegie Science Center , temporary murals were displayed at the Children 's Museum of Pittsburgh and Phipps Conservatory .

neg: Phenotype A phenotype is the composite of an organism 's observable characteristics or traits , such as its morphology , development , biochemical or physiological properties , behavior , and products of behavior ( such as a bird 's nest ) . A phenotype results from the expression of an organism 's genetic code , its genotype , as well as the influence of environmental factors and the interactions between the two . When two or more clearly different phenotypes exist in the same population of a species , the species is called polymorphic . A well-documented polymorphism is Labrador Retriever coloring ; while the coat color depends on many genes , it is clearly seen in the environment as yellow , black and brown .   This genotype-phenotype distinction was proposed by Wilhelm Johannsen in 1911 to make clear the difference between an organism 's heredity and what that heredity produces . The distinction is similar to that proposed by August Weismann , who distinguished between germ plasm ( heredity ) and somatic cells ( the body ) . The genotype-phenotype distinction should not be confused with Francis Crick 's central dogma of molecular biology , which is a statement about the directionality of molecular sequential information flowing from DNA to protein , and not the reverse .   Richard Dawkins in 1978 and then again in his 1982 book The Extended Phenotype suggested that bird nests and other built structures such as caddis fly larvae cases and beaver dams can be considered as `` extended phenotypes '' .

neg: Taxonomic sequence Taxonomic sequence ( also known as systematic , phyletic or taxonomic order ) is a sequence followed in listing of taxa which aids ease of use and roughly reflects the evolutionary relationships among the taxa . Taxonomic sequences can exist for taxa within any rank , that is , a list of families , genera , species can each have a sequence .   Early biologists used the concept of `` age '' or `` primitiveness '' of the groups in question to derive an order of arrangement , with `` older '' or more `` primitive '' groups being listed first and more recent or `` advanced '' ones last . A modern understanding of evolutionary biology has brought about a more robust framework for the taxonomic ordering of lists . A list may be seen as a rough one-dimensional representation of a phylogenetic tree . Taxonomic sequences are essentially heuristic devices that help in arrangements of linear systems such as books and information retrieval systems . Since phylogenetic relationships are complex and non-linear , there is no unique way to define the sequence , although they generally have the more basal listed first with species that cluster in a tight group included next to each other .   The organization of field guides and taxonomic monographs may either follow or prescribe the taxonomic sequence ; changes in these sequences are often introduced by new publications .

neg: Supergene A supergene is a group of neighbouring genes on a chromosome which are inherited together because of close genetic linkage and are functionally related in an evolutionary sense , although they are rarely co-regulated genetically .   Supergenes have cis-effects due to multiple loci ( which may be within a gene , or within a single gene 's regulatory region ) , and tight linkage . They are classically polymorphic , and different elements code for different fitness effects which combine to form a coherent or epistatic whole . The two classic supergenes are ( 1 ) the Primula heterostyly locus , which controls `` pin '' and `` thrum '' types , and ( 2 ) the locus controlling Batesian mimetic polymorphism in Papilio memnon butterflies . For example , pin and thrum morphs of Primula have effects on genetic compatibility ( pin style x thrum pollen , or thrum style x pin pollen matings are successful , while pin x pin , and thrum x thrum matings are rarely successful due to pollen-style incompatibility ) , and have different style length , anther height in the corolla tube , pollen size , and papilla size on the stigma . Each of these effects is controlled by a different locus in the same supergene , but recombinants are occasionally found with traits combining those of `` pin '' and `` thrum '' morphs .   Gene complexes , in contrast , are simply tightly linked groups of genes , often created via gene duplication ( sometimes called segmental duplication if the duplicates remain side-by-side ) . Here , each gene has similar though slightly diverged function . For example , the human major histocompatibility complex ( MHC ) region is a complex of tightly linked genes all acting in the immune system , but has no claim to be a supergene , even though the component genes very likely have epistatic effects and are in strong disequilibrium due in part to selection .   No supergene has yet been characterized to the functional DNA level , but work is proceeding in a number of species .   The earliest use of the term `` supergene '' may be in an article by A. Ernst ( 1936 ) in the journal Archiv der Julzus Klaus-stiftung fur Vererbungsforschung , Sozialanthropologie und Rassenhygiene .

neg: Tree rearrangement Tree rearrangements are used in heuristic algorithms devoted to searching for an optimal tree structure . They can be applied to any set of data that are naturally arranged into a tree , but have most applications in computational phylogenetics , especially in maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood searches of phylogenetic trees , which seek to identify one among many possible trees that best explains the evolutionary history of a particular gene or species .

neg: Decurrent Decurrent is a term used in botany and mycology to describe plant or fungal parts that extend downward .   In botany , the term is most often applied to leaf blades that partly wrap or have wings around the stem or petiole and extend down along the stem . A `` decurrent branching habit '' is a plant form common for shrubs and most angiosperm trees , contrasted with the excurrent or `` cone-shaped crown '' common among many gymnosperms . The decurrent habit is characterized by having weak apical dominance that eventually produces a rounded or spreading tree crown . Examples of trees with decurrent habit are most hardwood trees : oak , hickory , maple , etc. .   In mycology , the term is most often applied to the hymenophore of a basidiocarp ( such as the lamellae or `` gills '' of a mushroom or the `` pores '' of a bracket fungus ) when it is broadly attached to and extends down the stipe .

neg: Substitution model In biology , a substitution model describes the process from which a sequence of symbols changes into another set of traits . For example , in cladistics , each position in the sequence might correspond to a property of a species which can either be present or absent . The alphabet could then consist of `` 0 '' for absence and `` 1 '' for presence . Then the sequence 00110 could mean , for example , that a species does not have feathers or lay eggs , does have fur , is warm-blooded , and can not breathe underwater . Another sequence 11010 would mean that a species has feathers , lays eggs , does not have fur , is warm-blooded , and can not breathe underwater . In phylogenetics , sequences are often obtained by firstly obtaining a nucleotide or protein sequence alignment , and then taking the bases or amino acids at corresponding positions in the alignment as the characters . Sequences achieved by this might look like AGCGGAGCTTA and GCCGTAGACGC .   Substitution models are used for a number of things :  Constructing evolutionary trees in phylogenetics or cladistics .  Simulating sequences to test other methods and algorithms .

neg: Willi Hennig Society The Willi Hennig Society `` was founded in 1980 with the expressed purpose of promoting the field of phylogenetic systematics . '' The society is represented by phylogenetic systematists managing and publishing in the peer-reviewed journal titled Cladistics . The society is named after Willi Hennig , a German systematic entomologist who developed the modern methods and philosophical approach to systematics in the 1940s and 1950s . The society is also involved in reconstructing the tree of life . The current president , Ward Wheeler of the American Museum of National History , was elected in 2016 , succeeding Dr. Jyrki Muona .

neg: List of birds of Brazil Brazil has one of the richest bird diversities in the world . The avifauna of Brazil include a total of 1799 species , of which 231 are endemic . Four have been introduced by humans , 69 are rare or accidental , and four are extinct or extirpated . An additional 24 species are hypothetical ( see below ) .   Brazil hosts about 60 % of the bird species recorded for all of South America . These numbers are still increasing almost every year , due to new occurrences , new species being described , or splits of existing species . About 10 % of the bird species found in Brazil are , nonetheless , threatened .   In June 2013 a simultaneous discovery of fifteen bird species in Brazil was announced , the first such since 1871 , when August von Pelzeln described forty new species . The birds were from the families Corvidae , Thamnophilidae , Dendrocolaptidae , Tyrannidae , and Polioptilidae . Eleven of the new species are endemics of Brazil and four also inhabit Peru and Bolivia .   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 . 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 . Especially see typical antbirds and puffbirds ; entries in those families increase the above total species count by two and decrease the endemic count by one , respectively .   Differences from `` Clements '' in the sequence of orders , families , and species within families are not noted . Several new species have been proposed and are under consideration by the SACC ; one is listed here .   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 Brazil  ( E ) Endemic - a species endemic to Brazil  ( I ) Introduced - a species introduced to Brazil as a consequence , direct or indirect , of human actions  ( H ) Hypothetical - a species recorded but with `` no tangible evidence '' according to the SACC

neg: MUMmer MUMmer is a bioinformatics software system for sequence alignment . It is based on the suffix tree data structure and is one of the fastest and most efficient systems available for this task , enabling it to be applied to very long sequences . It has been widely used for comparing different genomes to one another . In recent years it has become a popular algorithm for comparing genome assemblies to one another , which allows scientists to determine how a genome has changed after adding more DNA sequence or after running a different genome assembly program . The acronym `` MUMmer '' comes from `` Maximal Unique Matches '' , or MUMs . The original algorithms in the MUMMER software package were designed by Art Delcher , Simon Kasif and Steven Salzberg . Mummer was the first whole genome comparison system developed in Bioinformatics . It was originally applied to comparison of two related strains of bacteria .   The MUMmer software is open source and can be found at the MUMmer home page . The home page also has links to technical papers describing the system . The system is maintained primarily by Steven Salzberg and Arthur Delcher at Center for Computational Biology at Johns Hopkins University .   MUMmer is a highly cited bioinformatics system in the scientific literature . According to Google Scholar , as of early 2013 the original MUMmer paper ( Delcher et al. , 1999 ) has been cited 691 times ; the MUMmer 2 paper ( Delcher et al. , 2002 ) has been cited 455 times ; and the MUMmer 3.0 article ( Kurtz et al. , 2004 ) has been cited 903 times .