RONALDINHO LIFE

Ronaldinho
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

This is a Portuguese name; the first family name is de Assis and the second is Moreira.
Ronaldinho

Personal information
Full name
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira
Date of birth
21 March 1980 (1980-03-21) (age 29)
Place of birth
Porto Alegre, Brazil
Height
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Playing position
Attacking midfielder[2]
Club information
Current club
Milan
Number
80
Youth career
1997–1998
Grêmio
Senior career*
Years
Team
Apps (Gls)†
1998–2001
Grêmio
044 (21)
2001–2003
Paris Saint-Germain
055 (17)
2003–2008
FC Barcelona
145 (70)
2008–
Milan
040 (11)
National team‡
1999–
Brazil
114 (50)
Honours[show]
Competitor for Brazil
Men's Football
Bronze
2008 Beijing
Team Competition
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 April 2009.
† Appearances (Goals).‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 5 April 2009
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980 in Porto Alegre), commonly known as Ronaldinho or Ronaldinho Gaúcho,[3] is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Italian Serie A side Milan and the Brazilian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the most gifted footballers of his generation.
Ronaldinho, Portuguese for "Little Ronaldo," is known in Brazil by the nickname "Gaúcho," in order to distinguish him from Ronaldo, who was already called "Ronaldinho" in Brazil. Ronaldo simply went by his first name upon his move to Europe, thereby allowing Ronaldinho to drop the "Gaúcho" and remain simply as Ronaldinho.
Prior to his move to Milan, he played for Paris Saint-Germain, and FC Barcelona, with whom he won his first Champions League in 2006. He became a Spanish citizen in January 2007.[4]
Contents[hide]
1 Biography and personal life
2 Club career
2.1 Early career
2.2 FC Barcelona
2.3 Milan
3 International career
4 Career statistics
4.1 Club career
4.2 International career
5 Honours
6 References
7 External links
//
Biography and personal life
Ronaldinho was born in the city of Porto Alegre, capital of the Rio Grande do Sul state of Brazil. His mother, Dona Miguelina, is a former salesperson who studied to become a nurse. His father, João, was a shipyard worker and footballer for local club Esporte Clube Cruzeiro (not to be confused with Cruzeiro EC).[5] He suffered a fatal heart attack in the family swimming pool when Ronaldinho was eight. After Ronaldinho's older brother, Roberto, signed with Grêmio, the family moved to a home in the more affluent Guarujá section of Porto Alegre, which was a gift from Grêmio to convince Roberto to stay at the club. Roberto's career was ultimately cut short by injury.
Ronaldinho's football skills began to blossom at an early age, and he was first given the nickname Ronaldinho because he was often the youngest and the smallest player in youth club matches.[6] He developed an interest in futsal and beach football, which later expanded to organized football. His first brush with the media came at the age of thirteen, when he scored all 23 goals in a 23-0 victory against a local team.[7] Ronaldinho was identified as a rising star at the 1997 U-17 World Championship in Egypt, in which he scored two goals on penalty kicks.[8][9]
Today, Roberto acts as Ronaldinho's manager, while his sister Deisi works as his press coordinator.[6][10] Ronaldinho became a father for the first time on 25 February 2005, after Brazilian dancer Janaína Mendes gave birth to their son, who was named João after Ronaldinho's late father. [11]
Club career
Early career
Ronaldinho's career began with the Grêmio youth squad under head coach Liam Higgins. He made his senior side debut during the 1998 Copa Libertadores.[12] In 2001, Arsenal expressed interest in signing Ronaldinho, but the move collapsed after he could not obtain a work permit because he was a non-EU player who had not played enough international matches.[13] He considered playing on loan with Scottish Premier League side St. Mirren, which never happened due to his involvement in a fake passport scandal in Brazil.[14] In 2001, Ronaldinho signed a five-year contract with French side Paris Saint-Germain in a €5.1 million transfer.[15]
During the 2001-02 season, Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Fernández claimed that Ronaldinho was too focused on the Parisian nightlife rather than football, and complained that his holidays in Brazil never ended at the scheduled times.[12] In 2003, less than two years into his PSG stint, Ronaldinho made it clear he wanted to leave the club after PSG failed to qualify for any European competition.
FC Barcelona
Originally, FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta had promised to bring David Beckham to the club, but following his transfer to Real Madrid, Barcelona entered the running for Ronaldinho and outbid Manchester United for his signature in a €32,250,000 transfer.[16] He made his team debut in a friendly against A.C. Milan at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C, scoring one goal in a 2-0 victory. After suffering from injury during the first half of the campaign, he returned and helped lead Barcelona to a second-place league finish.
Ronaldinho won his first league title in 2004-05, and was named FIFA World Player of the Year on 20 December 2004. In 2005, Ronaldinho received his second consecutive honour of FIFA World Player of the Year, beating Chelsea's Frank Lampard and fellow Barça player Samuel Eto'o. On 8 March 2005, Barcelona was eliminated from the UEFA Champions League by Chelsea in the first knockout round, with Ronaldinho scoring both goals in a 4-2 loss.[17]
With his contract expiring in 2008, Ronaldinho was offered an extension until 2014 that would have net him £85 million over nine years,[18] but he turned it down. In September 2005, he signed a two-year extension that contained a minimum-fee release clause that allowed him to leave should a club make an offer to Barcelona of at least £85 million for him.[19]

Ronaldinho with Frank Rijkaard at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
By the end of the 2004-05 season, Ronaldinho had started to accumulate a host of personal awards. He won the inaugural FIFPro World Player of the Year in September 2005, in addition to being included in the 2005 FIFPro World XI, and being named the 2005 European Footballer of the Year. Also that year, Ronaldinho added to his collection a second FIFA World Player of the Year with 956 points, more than triple the amount (306) of runner-up Frank Lampard. On 19 November, Ronaldinho scored twice as Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 3-0 on the road in the first leg of El Clásico. After he sealed the match with his second goal, he received a standing ovation from the Madrid fans.

Ronaldinho taking a corner against Celta de Vigo
Ronaldinho was chosen for the UEFA Team of the Year for the third consecutive time in January 2006, and he contributed one goal in Barcelona's elimination of SL Benfica in the '05-06 Champions League quarterfinals with a 2-0 home victory. After a 1-0 semifinal aggregate win over Milan, in which Ronaldinho assisted the series' only goal by Ludovic Giuly, Barcelona progressed to the Champions League final, which they won on 17 May 2006 with a 2-1 defeat of Arsenal. Two weeks earlier, Barcelona had clinched their second straight La Liga title with a 1-0 win over Celta Vigo, giving Ronaldinho his first career double. He finished the season with a career-best 26 goals in all competitions, and was named the 2005-06 Champions League Player of the Year.
On 25 November 2006, Ronaldinho scored his 15th career league goal against Villarreal CF, then later scored a second time with an overhead bicycle kick. He later said to reporters that the latter was a goal he had dreamed of scoring since he was a boy.[20] He scored once and set up two others in Barcelona's 4-0 Club World Cup win over Mexico's Club América on 14 December, but Barcelona were defeated 1-0 by Brazilian club Internacional in the final.[21] Ronaldinho was nonetheless the recipient of the Bronze Ball Award for the competition.
The next day, Ronaldinho finished third in the running for the 2006 FIFA World Player of the Year, behind World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro and Zinedine Zidane.[22] Ronaldinho was named among the UEFA Team of the Year for the third straight time in January 2007, receiving the highest number of votes with over 290,000 nominations.[23] He was forced to miss a charity match on 13 March due to an injury he had picked up several days earlier in Barcelona's 3-3 El Clásico draw with Real Madrid.[24][25]

Ronaldinho playing for Milan
He played his 200th career match for Barcelona in a league match against CA Osasuna on 3 February 2008. However, his 2007-08 campaign as a whole was plagued by injuries, and a muscle tear in his right leg on 3 April prematurely ended his season.[26] On 19 May, Laporta stated that Ronaldinho needed a "new challenge," claiming that he needed a new club if he were to revive his career.[27] Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra confirmed on 6 June that he was interested in acquiring him.[28]
Ronaldinho and Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi each captained a team of international stars in an anti-racism exhibition match in Venezuela on 28 June, which ended in a 7-7 draw. Ronaldinho finished with a pair of goals and two assists in what would be his last match as a Barcelona player.[29]
Milan
In July 2008, Ronaldinho turned down a £25.5 million offer from Manchester City[30] to join Italian Serie A giants Milan on a three-year contract thought to be worth around £5.1 million (€6.5 million) a year, for a fee in the region of £14.5 million (€18.5 million).[31][32] With the number 10 already occupied by teammate Clarence Seedorf, he selected 80 as his jersey number, because 1980 was his birth year. Ronaldinho scored his first goal for Milan in a 1-0 derby victory over Internazionale on 28 September 2008, and his first brace was in a 3-0 win over Sampdoria on 19 October 2008. He scored a 93rd-minute match-winner against S.C. Braga in the UEFA Cup group stage on November 6.
He finished his first season at Milan with 10 goals from 32 appearances in all competitions.
International career
Ronaldinho is one of few Brazilian players to have played at every international age level. He was part of the first Brazilian team to win the FIFA U-17 World Championship in 1997, in which his first goal was a penalty against Austria in the first group match, which Brazil won 7-0. Ronaldinho finished with two goals and was awarded the Bronze Ball award as Brazil scored a total of twenty-one goals while only conceding two.

Ronaldinho with Brazilian President Lula
1999 was a busy year for Ronaldinho in terms of international play. He took part in the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship, scoring his first goal in Brazil's last group match. In the round of sixteen, he scored two first-half goals in a 4-0 win over Croatia, and finished with three goals as Brazil were eliminated by Uruguay in the quarterfinals. On 26 June, three days before the start of the 1999 Copa América, he earned his first cap for Brazil in a 3-0 win over Latvia, and he scored one goal during Brazil's victorious Copa América campaign. One week after the conclusion of the Copa América, he was called up for the 1999 Confederations Cup, in which he scored in every match except the final, including a hat-trick in an 8-2 semifinal rout of Saudi Arabia. Ronaldinho did not score in the final, which Brazil lost 4-3 to Mexico. He won the Golden Ball award for the best player in tournament as well as the Golden Boot award for the tournament top-scorer.
In 2000, Ronaldinho participated in Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia with Brazil U-23 team. Earlier that year, Ronaldinho led Brazil to win the Pre-Olympic Tournament, scoring nine goals in seven matches. However in the Olympics, Brazil was eliminated in the quarterfinal by Cameroon, who later won the gold medal. Ronaldinho appeared four times and scored only one goal, which came in the quarterfinal defeat by Cameroon.
Ronaldinho participated in his first World Cup in 2002, as part of a formidable offensive unit with Ronaldo and Rivaldo, who were also on the 1999 Copa América winning squad. He appeared in five matches and scored two goals. The first goal came in the group stage match against China, which Brazil won 4-0. The second goal was a match-winning goal in the quarterfinal against England on 21 June. In the 50th minute, Ronaldinho took a free-kick from 35 metres, beating England goalkeeper David Seaman to give Brazil a 2-1 lead. However, seven minutes later, he was sent-off for a foul on England defender Danny Mills. He was suspended for the semifinal, but returned to Brazil's starting lineup for the 2-0 victory over Germany in the final as Brazil won the World Cup for the fifth time.
Ronaldinho's next international tournament was 2003 Confederations Cup. However, Ronaldinho did not manage to score any goals during the tournament as Brazil performed poorly and was eliminated in the group stage. The following year, he was left out from Brazil's 2004 Copa América squad, as coach Carlos Alberto Parreira decided to rest his stars and used a largely reserve squad.[33]
He captained Brazil to its second Confederations Cup title in 2005, and was named Man of the Match in a 4-1 victory over archrivals Argentina in the final on 29 June. Ronaldinho scored three goals in the tournament and is tied with Cuauhtémoc Blanco as the tournament's all-time scorer with nine goals.

Ronaldinho at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Ronaldinho started in all five of Brazil's 2006 World Cup finals matches as part of a much-publicized "magic quartet" of offensive players, alongside Adriano, Ronaldo, and Kaká. However, the foursome finished with only five goals as Brazil disappointed as a whole in the tournament. Ronaldinho turned in his worst collective performance in his international career, going scoreless with only one assist, which was for Gilberto's goal in a 4-1 group stage victory over Japan. He was a non-factor as Brazil was eliminated by France 1-0 in the quarterfinal, in which Brazil had only one shot on goal for the entire match.[34] The team was harshly criticized by Brazilian fans and media following their return home. On 3 July, two days after Brazil's elimination, vandals immolated and destroyed a 7.5-meter (23-foot) tall fiberglass and resin statue of Ronaldinho in Chapecó.[35] The statue had been erected in 2004 to celebrate his first FIFA World Player of the Year award. That same day, Ronaldinho, joined by Adriano, returned to Barcelona and held a party at his home, which was continued into the early morning hours at a nightclub. This aggravated the hard feelings of many Brazilian fans, who believed that they were betrayed by the lack of effort from the squad.[36]
On 24 March 2007, he scored twice in a 4-0 win over Chile, which marked his first goal since the 2005 Confederations Cup final and thus ended a scoreless streak that lasted nearly two years.[37] He was not called up for the 2007 Copa América after asking to be excused from the tournament due to tiredness.[38] On 18 October, he was controversially benched by Barcelona after he was late returning to Spain following Brazil's 5-0 friendly win over Ecuador. He and several Brazil players celebrated the win by partying through the night at a posh Rio de Janeiro nightclub. Ronaldinho left at 11 a.m. the next morning, allegedly in the trunk of a car in order to avoid the media.[39]
On 7 July 2008, Ronaldinho was named to Brazil's 2008 Summer Olympics squad as one of the over-age players.[40] Barcelona initially blocked the move because of his then-upcoming Champions League commitments with the club, but the decision was later nullified following Ronaldinho's transfer to Milan, who in turn permitted him to make the trip to Beijing.[41] Ronaldinho scored his only two goals in a decisive 5-0 victory over New Zealand before Brazil were beaten by Argentina in the semifinal. Brazil finished with the bronze medal after defeating Belgium 3-0 in the bronze medal match.

FLOWER

Flower
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see Flower (disambiguation).

A poster with twelve species of flowers or clusters of flowers of different families
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Magnoliophyta, also called angiosperms). The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds. The process begins with pollination, is followed by fertilization, leading to the formation and dispersal of the seeds. For the higher plants, seeds are the next generation, and serve as the primary means by which individuals of a species are dispersed across the landscape. The grouping of flowers on a plant is called the inflorescence.
In addition to serving as the reproductive organs of flowering plants, flowers have long been admired and used by humans, mainly to beautify their environment but also as a source of food.
Contents[hide]
1 Flower specialization and pollination
2 Morphology
2.1 Floral formula
3 Development
3.1 Flowering transition
3.2 Organ Development
4 Pollination
4.1 Attraction methods
4.2 Pollination mechanism
4.3 Flower-pollinator relationships
5 Fertilization and dispersal
6 Evolution
7 Symbolism
8 Usage
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
//
Flower specialization and pollination
Further information: Pollination syndrome
Flowering plants usually face selective pressure to optimise the transfer of their pollen, and this is typically reflected in the morphology of the flowers and the behaviour of the plants. Pollen may be transferred between plants via a number of 'vectors'. Some plants make use of abiotic vectors - namely wind (anemophily) or, much less commonly, water (hydrophily). Others use biotic vectors including insects (entomophily), birds (ornithophily), bats (chiropterophily) or other animals. Some plants make use of multiple vectors, but many are highly specialised.
Cleistogamous flowers are self pollinated, after which they may or may not open. Many Viola and some Salvia species are known to have these types of flowers.
The flowers of plants that make use of biotic pollen vectors commonly have glands called nectaries that act as an incentive for animals to visit the flower. Some flowers have patterns, called nectar guides, that show pollinators where to look for nectar. Flowers also attract pollinators by scent and color. Still other flowers use mimicry to attract pollinators. Some species of orchids, for example, produce flowers resembling female bees in color, shape, and scent. Flowers are also specialized in shape and have an arrangement of the stamens that ensures that pollen grains are transferred to the bodies of the pollinator when it lands in search of its attractant (such as nectar, pollen, or a mate). In pursuing this attractant from many flowers of the same species, the pollinator transfers pollen to the stigmas—arranged with equally pointed precision—of all of the flowers it visits.

Callistemon citrinus flowers.
Anemophilous flowers use the wind to move pollen from one flower to the next. Examples include grasses, birch trees, ragweed and maples. They have no need to attract pollinators and therefore tend not to be "showy" flowers. Male and female reproductive organs are generally found in separate flowers, the male flowers having a number of long filaments terminating in exposed stamens, and the female flowers having long, feather-like stigmas. Whereas the pollen of animal-pollinated flowers tends to be large-grained, sticky, and rich in protein (another "reward" for pollinators), anemophilous flower pollen is usually small-grained, very light, and of little nutritional value to animals.
Morphology
Flowering plants are heterosporangiate, producing two types of reproductive spores. The pollen (male spores) and ovules (female spores) are produced in different organs, but the typical flower is a bisporangiate strobilus in that it contains both organs.
A flower is regarded as a modified stem with shortened internodes and bearing, at its nodes, structures that may be highly modified leaves.[1] In essence, a flower structure forms on a modified shoot or axis with an apical meristem that does not grow continuously (growth is determinate). Flowers may be attached to the plant in a few ways. If the flower has no stem but forms in the axil of a leaf, it is called sessile. When one flower is produced, the stem holding the flower is called a peduncle. If the peduncle ends with groups of flowers, each stem that holds a flower is called a pedicel. The flowering stem forms a terminal end which is called the torus or receptacle. The parts of a flower are arranged in whorls on the torus. The four main parts or whorls (starting from the base of the flower or lowest node and working upwards) are as follows:

Diagram showing the main parts of a mature flower

An example of a "perfect flower", this Crateva religiosa flower has both stamens (outer ring) and a pistil (center).
Calyx: the outer whorl of sepals; typically these are green, but are petal-like in some species.
Corolla: the whorl of petals, which are usually thin, soft and colored to attract animals that help the process of pollination. The coloration may extend into the ultraviolet, which is visible to the compound eyes of insects, but not to the eyes of birds.
Androecium (from Greek andros oikia: man's house): one or two whorls of stamens, each a filament topped by an anther where pollen is produced. Pollen contains the male gametes.
Gynoecium (from Greek gynaikos oikia: woman's house): one or more pistils. The female reproductive organ is the carpel: this contains an ovary with ovules (which contain female gametes). A pistil may consist of a number of carpels merged together, in which case there is only one pistil to each flower, or of a single individual carpel (the flower is then called apocarpous). The sticky tip of the pistil, the stigma, is the receptor of pollen. The supportive stalk, the style becomes the pathway for pollen tubes to grow from pollen grains adhering to the stigma, to the ovules, carrying the reproductive material.
Although the floral structure described above is considered the "typical" structural plan, plant species show a wide variety of modifications from this plan. These modifications have significance in the evolution of flowering plants and are used extensively by botanists to establish relationships among plant species. For example, the two subclasses of flowering plants may be distinguished by the number of floral organs in each whorl: dicotyledons typically having 4 or 5 organs (or a multiple of 4 or 5) in each whorl and monocotyledons having three or some multiple of three. The number of carpels in a compound pistil may be only two, or otherwise not related to the above generalization for monocots and dicots.
In the majority of species individual flowers have both pistils and stamens as described above. These flowers are described by botanists as being perfect, bisexual, or hermaphrodite. However, in some species of plants the flowers are imperfect or unisexual: having only either male (stamens) or female (pistil) parts. In the latter case, if an individual plant is either female or male the species is regarded as dioecious. However, where unisexual male and female flowers appear on the same plant, the species is considered monoecious.
Additional discussions on floral modifications from the basic plan are presented in the articles on each of the basic parts of the flower. In those species that have more than one flower on an axis—so-called composite flowers—the collection of flowers is termed an inflorescence; this term can also refer to the specific arrangements of flowers on a stem. In this regard, care must be exercised in considering what a ‘‘flower’’ is. In botanical terminology, a single daisy or sunflower for example, is not a flower but a flower head—an inflorescence composed of numerous tiny flowers (sometimes called florets). Each of these flowers may be anatomically as described above. Many flowers have a symmetry, if the perianth is bisected through the central axis from any point, symmetrical halves are produced—the flower is called regular or actinomorphic, e.g. rose or trillium. When flowers are bisected and produce only one line that produces symmetrical halves the flower is said to be irregular or zygomorphic. e.g. snapdragon or most orchids.

Christmas Lillium (Lilium longiflorum). 1. Stigma, 2. Style, 3. Stamens, 4. Filament, 5. Petal
Floral formula
A floral formula is a way to represent the structure of a flower using specific letters, numbers, and symbols. Typically, a general formula will be used to represent the flower structure of a plant family rather than a particular species. The following representations are used:
Ca = calyx (sepal whorl; e. g. Ca5 = 5 sepals)Co = corolla (petal whorl; e. g., Co3(x) = petals some multiple of three ) Z = add if zygomorphic (e. g., CoZ6 = zygomorphic with 6 petals)A = androecium (whorl of stamens; e. g., A∞ = many stamens)G = gynoecium (carpel or carpels; e. g., G1 = monocarpous)
x: to represent a "variable number"∞: to represent "many"
A floral formula would appear something like this:
Ca5Co5A10 - ∞G1
Several additional symbols are sometimes used (see Key to Floral Formulas).
The four main parts of a flower are generally defined by their positions on the receptacle and not by their function. Many flowers lack some parts or parts may be modified into other functions and/or look like what is typically another part. In some families, like Ranunculaceae, the petals are greatly reduced and in many species the sepals are colorful and petal-like. Other flowers have modified stamens that are petal-like, the double flowers of Peonies and Roses are mostly petaloid stamens.[2] Flowers show great variation and plant scientists describe this variation in a systematic way to identify and distinguish species.
Specific terminology is used to descried flowers and their parts. Many flower parts are fused together; fused parts originating from the same whorl are connate, while fused parts originating from different whorls are adnate, parts that are not fused are free. When petals are fused into a tube or ring that falls away as a single unit, they are sympetalous (also called gamopetelous.} Petals that are connate may have distinctive regions: the cylindrical base is the tube, the expanding region is the throat and the flaring outer region is the limb. A sympetalous flower, with bilateral symmetry with an upper and lower lip, is bilabiate. Flowers with connate petals or sepals may have various shaped corolla or calyx including: campanulate, funnelform, tubular, urceolate, salverform or rotate.
Development
Flowering transition
The transition to flowering is one of the major phase changes that a plant makes during its life cycle. The transition must take place at a time that is favorable for fertilization and the formation of seeds, hence ensuring maximal reproductive success. To meet these needs a plant is able to interpret important endogenous and environmental cues such as changes in levels of plant hormones and seasonable temperature and photoperiod changes.[3] Many perennial and most biennial plants require vernalization to flower. The molecular interpretation of these signals is through the transmission of a complex signal known as florigen, which involves a variety of genes, including CONSTANS, FLOWERING LOCUS C and FLOWERING LOCUS T. Florigen is produced in the leaves in reproductively favorable conditions and acts in buds and growing tips to induce a number of different physiological and morphological changes.[4] The first step is the transformation of the vegetative stem primordia into floral primordia. This occurs as biochemical changes take place to change cellular differentiation of leaf, bud and stem tissues into tissue that will grow into the reproductive organs. Growth of the central part of the stem tip stops or flattens out and the sides develop protuberances in a whorled or spiral fashion around the outside of the stem end. These protuberances develop into the sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels. Once this process begins, in most plants, it cannot be reversed and the stems develop flowers, even if the initial start of the flower formation event was dependent of some environmental cue.[5] Once the process begins, even if that cue is removed the stem will continue to develop a flower.
Organ Development

The ABC model of flower development.
The molecular control of floral organ identity determination is fairly well understood. In a simple model, three gene activities interact in a combinatorial manner to determine the developmental identities of the organ primordia within the floral meristem. These gene functions are called A, B and C-gene functions. In the first floral whorl only A-genes are expressed, leading to the formation of sepals. In the second whorl both A- and B-genes are expressed, leading to the formation of petals. In the third whorl, B and C genes interact to form stamens and in the center of the flower C-genes alone give rise to carpels. The model is based upon studies of homeotic mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana and snapdragon, Antirrhinum majus. For example, when there is a loss of B-gene function, mutant flowers are produced with sepals in the first whorl as usual, but also in the second whorl instead of the normal petal formation. In the third whorl the lack of B function but presence of C-function mimics the fourth whorl, leading to the formation of carpels also in the third whorl. See also The ABC Model of Flower Development.
Most genes central in this model belong to the MADS-box genes and are transcription factors that regulate the expression of the genes specific for each floral organ.
Pollination

Grains of pollen sticking to this bee will be transferred to the next flower it visits

Tip of a tulip stamen. Note the grains of pollen
Main article: pollination
The primary purpose of a flower is reproduction. Since the flowers are the reproductive organs of plant, they mediate the joining of the sperm, contained within pollen, to the ovules - contained in the ovary. Pollination is the movement of pollen from the anthers to the stigma. The joining of the sperm to the ovules is called fertilization. Normally pollen is moved from one plant to another, but many plants are able to self pollinate. The fertilized ovules produce seeds that are the next generation. Sexual reproduction produces genetically unique offspring, allowing for adaptation. Flowers have specific designs which encourages the transfer of pollen from one plant to another of the same species. Many plants are dependent upon external factors for pollination, including: wind and animals, and especially insects. Even large animals such as birds, bats, and pygmy possums can be employed. The period of time during which this process can take place (the flower is fully expanded and functional) is called anthesis.
Attraction methods

A Bee orchid has evolved over many generations to better mimic a female bee to attract male bees as pollinators.
Plants can not move from one location to another, thus many flowers have evolved to attract animals to transfer pollen between individuals in dispersed populations. Flowers that are insect-pollinated are called entomophilous; literally "insect-loving" in Latin. They can be highly modified along with the pollinating insects by co-evolution. Flowers commonly have glands called nectaries on various parts that attract animals looking for nutritious nectar. Birds and bees have color vision, enabling them to seek out "colorful" flowers. Some flowers have patterns, called nectar guides, that show pollinators where to look for nectar; they may be visible only under ultraviolet light, which is visible to bees and some other insects. Flowers also attract pollinators by scent and some of those scents are pleasant to our sense of smell. Not all flower scents are appealing to humans, a number of flowers are pollinated by insects that are attracted to rotten flesh and have flowers that smell like dead animals, often called Carrion flowers including Rafflesia, the titan arum, and the North American pawpaw (Asimina triloba). Flowers pollinated by night visitors, including bats and moths, are likely to concentrate on scent to attract pollinators and most such flowers are white.
Still other flowers use mimicry to attract pollinators. Some species of orchids, for example, produce flowers resembling female bees in color, shape, and scent. Male bees move from one such flower to another in search of a mate.
Pollination mechanism
The pollination mechanism employed by a plant depends on what method of pollination is utilized.
Most flowers can be divided between two broad groups of pollination methods:
Entomophilous: flowers attract and use insects, bats, birds or other animals to transfer pollen from one flower to the next. Often they are specialized in shape and have an arrangement of the stamens that ensures that pollen grains are transferred to the bodies of the pollinator when it lands in search of its attractant (such as nectar, pollen, or a mate). In pursuing this attractant from many flowers of the same species, the pollinator transfers pollen to the stigmas—arranged with equally pointed precision—of all of the flowers it visits. Many flowers rely on simple proximity between flower parts to ensure pollination. Others, such as the Sarracenia or lady-slipper orchids, have elaborate designs to ensure pollination while preventing self-pollination.

Anthers detached from a Meadow Foxtail flower.

A grass flower head (Meadow Foxtail) showing the plain coloured flowers with large anthers.
Anemophilous: flowers use the wind to move pollen from one flower to the next, examples include the grasses, Birch trees, Ragweed and Maples. They have no need to attract pollinators and therefore tend not to be "showy" flowers. Whereas the pollen of entomophilous flowers tends to be large-grained, sticky, and rich in protein (another "reward" for pollinators), anemophilous flower pollen is usually small-grained, very light, and of little nutritional value to insects, though it may still be gathered in times of dearth. Honeybees and bumblebees actively gather anemophilous corn (maize) pollen, though it is of little value to them.
Some flowers are self pollinated and use flowers that never open or are self pollinated before the flowers open, these flowers are called cleistogamous. Many Viola species and some Salvia have these types of flowers.
Flower-pollinator relationships
Many flowers have close relationships with one or a few specific pollinating organisms. Many flowers, for example, attract only one specific species of insect, and therefore rely on that insect for successful reproduction. This close relationship is often given as an example of coevolution, as the flower and pollinator are thought to have developed together over a long period of time to match each other's needs.
This close relationship compounds the negative effects of extinction. The extinction of either member in such a relationship would mean almost certain extinction of the other member as well. Some endangered plant species are so because of shrinking pollinator populations.
Fertilization and dispersal
Main article: biological dispersal

Cassia Fistula. A bisexual flower showing both male and female parts.
Some flowers with both stamens and a pistil are capable of self-fertilization, which does increase the chance of producing seeds but limits genetic variation. The extreme case of self-fertilization occurs in flowers that always self-fertilize, such as many dandelions. Conversely, many species of plants have ways of preventing self-fertilization. Unisexual male and female flowers on the same plant may not appear or mature at the same time, or pollen from the same plant may be incapable of fertilizing its ovules. The latter flower types, which have chemical barriers to their own pollen, are referred to as self-sterile or self-incompatible (see also: Plant sexuality).

RYAN LOCHTE SWIMMER

Ryan Lochte
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Ryan Lochte
Ryan Lochte during the 2008 Olympic Trials
Personal information
Full name
Ryan Steven Lochte
Nickname(s)
The Lochtenator [1]
Nationality
United States
Stroke(s)
Medley, Backstroke, Freestyle
Club
Daytona Beach Speed Swimming
College team
Florida Gators
Date of birth
August 3, 1984 (1984-08-03) (age 25)
Place of birth
Canandaigua, New York
Height
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Medal record[show]
Olympic Games
Gold
2004 Athens
4×200m freestyle
Gold
2008 Beijing
200m backstroke
Gold
2008 Beijing
4×200m freestyle
Silver
2004 Athens
200m medley
Bronze
2008 Beijing
200m medley
Bronze
2008 Beijing
400m medley
World Championships (LC)
Gold
2005 Montreal
4×200m freestyle
Gold
2007 Melbourne
200m backstroke
Gold
2007 Melbourne
4×200m freestyle
Gold
2009 Rome
200m medley
Gold
2009 Rome
400m medley
Gold
2009 Rome
4x100m freestyle
Gold
2009 Rome
4x200m freestyle
Silver
2007 Melbourne
100m backstroke
Silver
2007 Melbourne
200m medley
Silver
2007 Melbourne
400m medley
Bronze
2005 Montreal
200m backstroke
Bronze
2005 Montreal
200m medley
Bronze
2009 Rome
200m backstroke
World Championships (SC)
Gold
2004 Indianapolis
4×200m freestyle
Gold
2006 Shanghai
200m backstroke
Gold
2006 Shanghai
200m medley
Gold
2006 Shanghai
400m medley
Gold
2008 Manchester
100m medley
Gold
2008 Manchester
200m medley
Gold
2008 Manchester
400m medley
Gold
2008 Manchester
4×100m freestyle
Silver
2004 Indianapolis
200m medley
Silver
2006 Shanghai
4×100m medley
Silver
2008 Manchester
200m backstroke
Silver
2008 Manchester
4×100m medley
Bronze
2004 Indianapolis
200m freestyle
Bronze
2006 Shanghai
4×100m freestyle
Bronze
2006 Shanghai
4×200m freestyle
Pan American Games
Gold
2003 Santo Domingo
4×200m freestyle
Pan Pacific Championships
Gold
2006 Victoria
4×200m freestyle
Silver
2006 Victoria
100m backstroke
Silver
2006 Victoria
200m medley
Ryan Steven Lochte (born August 3, 1984) is an American swimmer. He is a multiple world record holder and Olympic gold medalist. He is a 2004 Olympic Champion in the 4×200 m freestyle, Olympic silver medalist in the 200 m individual medley and 2008 Olympics champion in the 200 m backstroke, the 4×200 m freestyle, and bronze medalist in the 400 m and 200 m individual medley.
Lochte specializes in the backstroke and individual medley, but is also a freestyle relay swimmer. He is noted for the speed and distance he attains while kicking underwater.
He is a close rival and friends with Michael Phelps in the individual medley events and Aaron Peirsol in the backstroke races.
Contents[hide]
1 Personal life
2 Career
2.1 Collegiate career
2.2 International career
2.3 2008 Summer Olympic Games
2.4 2009 World Championships
3 Best times
4 References
5 External links
6 See also
//
Personal life
Ryan Lochte was born in Canandaigua, New York. He attended Spruce Creek High School in Port Orange, Florida.[2]
He graduated from the University of Florida, and represented them in NCAA competition. He currently lives and trains in Gainesville, Florida.[3]
Career
Collegiate career
At the 2006 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships held at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia, Lochte won individual titles in all three of his individual events, setting U.S. Open and American records in the 200 yard individual medley and the 200 yard backstroke. He broke Tom Dolan's nearly decade old NCAA record in the 400 yard individual medley. He set another U.S. Open and American record in the 100 yard backstroke leading off the 4×100 yard medley relay for the Florida Gators. This time was faster than the record in the 100 yard butterfly at the time.[4] The record in the 100 yard fly has since been lowered under Lochte's backstroke record.
Lochte won swimmer of the meet for his senior year.
Other accomplishments in 2006 include breaking the 11-year-old SEC record in the 100 butterfly previously held by John Hargis. After finishing his fourth year of collegiate eligibility with the Gators, he was sponsored by Speedo, thus turning professional.
International career
Lochte made his Olympic debut after finishing second to Michael Phelps in the 200 m individual medley at the US trials. He also qualified for the 4×200 m freestyle relay team. At the Olympics, Lochte swam with Phelps, Klete Keller and Peter Vanderkaay to upset the Australian team and capture the gold medal in the 4×200 m freestyle relay. He also narrowly edged out George Bovell and Laszlo Cseh in the 200 m individual medley to win the silver medal behind Phelps.
Later that year at the 2004 FINA Short Course World Championships in Indianapolis, Lochte won the silver medal in the 200 m individual medley and the bronze in the freestyle. He also won the gold medal in the 4×200 m freestyle relay.
At the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal, Canada, Lochte won the bronze medals in the 200 m backstroke and individual medley, and was a part of the 4×200 m freestyle relay team which set an American record and won the gold.
Just two weeks after the 2006 NCAA Championships, at the 2006 FINA Short Course World Championships, Lochte won the world titles in the same events he won at the NCAA championships and set world records in the same events he for which he set American records. He won two individual events in the 200 m individual medley and the 200 m backstroke, setting new world records in both events. He also set another world record in the 100 m backstroke, in the opening leg of the 4×100 m medley relay, becoming the first man to complete the distance in under 50 seconds. He won a third gold medal in the 400 m individual medley, setting a new American record. He was named as the male swimmer of the meet by FINA.

Lochte (left) with Phelps (center) and Cseh (right) after winning the bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 400 Individual Medley.
At the 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne, Australia, Lochte won his first individual gold medal at a long course world championship in the 200 m backstroke against American Aaron Peirsol, breaking Peirsol's world record and his seven-year winning streak in the event. This was Lochte's his first world record in a long course event. Lochte went on to set a world record in the 4×200 freestyle relay with Michael Phelps, Klete Keller, and Peter Vanderkaay. He also won silver medals in the 100 m backstroke, the 200 m IM, and the 400 m IM, making his medal total for the meet second to only Phelps.
Within a week of the world championships, Lochte competed in the annual Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool where he again beat Piersol. In the 100 meter backstroke, he beat Peirsol's other seven-year winning streak in the shorter of the backstroke races, edging out Peirsol by .06 seconds.
2008 Summer Olympic Games
See also: Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics
At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Lochte won the bronze medal in the 400 m IM event, with Phelps grabbing the gold in a world record time. On August 13, 2008, Lochte was part of the 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay that set the world record as the American team finished first with a time of 6:58.56. The Americans were the first team to break the seven-minute mark in the relay, and broke the previous record, set in Melbourne, Australia, by more than four and a half seconds.[5] On August 14, 2008, Lochte won the gold medal in the 200 meter backstroke, while simultaneously beating the world record. 27 minutes after the final of the 200 m backstroke, Lochte went on to win the bronze in the 200 m IM.
2009 World Championships
See also: Swimming at the 2009 World Aquatics Championships
Lochte swam the second leg of the 4x100m freestyle final at the 2009 World Championships in Rome and earned a gold medal when the US placed first in the final.[6] For his second event, the 200 m individual medley, Lochte won the gold in a world record time of 1:54.10 to better Michael Phelps record of 1:54.23. Even more amazing, he did it in a LZR Racer.[7] In the 200 m backstroke final, Lochte earned a bronze medal. Lochte swam in the final of the 4x200m freestyle, which won gold and bettered the world record set last year.[8]

ANIMAL

Animal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from ANIMAL)
Jump to: navigation, search

"Animalia" redirects here. For other uses, see Animalia (disambiguation).
For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation).
AnimalsFossil range: Ediacaran - Recent,
PreЄ
Є
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N

Left to right: Hapalochlaena lunulata (a mollusk), Sphodromantis viridis (an arthropod), Lumbricus terrestris (an annelid), Panthera tigris (a chordate), and Chrysaora colorata (a cnidarian).
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukarya
(unranked)
Opisthokonta
(unranked)
Holozoa
(unranked)
Filozoa
Kingdom:
AnimaliaLinnaeus, 1758
Phyla
Subkingdom Parazoa
Porifera
Placozoa
Subkingdom Eumetazoa
Radiata (unranked)
Ctenophora
Cnidaria
Bilateria (unranked)
Orthonectida
Rhombozoa
Acoelomorpha
Chaetognatha
Superphylum Deuterostomia
Chordata
Hemichordata
Echinodermata
Xenoturbellida
Vetulicolia†
Protostomia (unranked)
Superphylum Ecdysozoa
Kinorhyncha
Loricifera
Priapulida
Nematoda
Nematomorpha
Lobopodia
Onychophora
Tardigrada
Arthropoda
Superphylum Platyzoa
Platyhelminthes
Gastrotricha
Rotifera
Acanthocephala
Gnathostomulida
Micrognathozoa
Cycliophora
Superphylum Lophotrochozoa
Sipuncula
Hyolitha†
Nemertea
Phoronida
Bryozoa
Entoprocta
Brachiopoda
Mollusca
Annelida
Echiura
Animals are a major group of mostly multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and independently. All animals are also heterotrophs, meaning they must ingest other organisms for sustenance.
Most known animal phyla appeared in the fossil record as marine species during the Cambrian explosion, about 542 million years ago.
Contents[hide]
1 Etymology
2 Characteristics
2.1 Structure
2.2 Reproduction and development
2.3 Food and energy sourcing
3 Origin and fossil record
4 Groups of animals
4.1 Porifera, Radiata and basal Bilateria
4.2 Deuterostomes
4.3 Ecdysozoa
4.4 Platyzoa
4.5 Lophotrochozoa
5 Model organisms
6 History of classification
7 See also
8 References
8.1 Notes
8.2 Bibliography
9 External links
//
Etymology
The word "animal" comes from the Latin word animale, neuter of animalis, and is derived from anima, meaning vital breath or soul. In everyday colloquial usage, the word usually refers to non-human animals.[1] Frequently fish and insects are excluded from colloquial use of the word as well.[citation needed] The biological definition of the word refers to all members of the Kingdom Animalia including humans.[2]
Characteristics
Animals have several characteristics that set them apart from other living things. Animals are eukaryotic and are multicellular[3] (although see Myxozoa), which separates them from bacteria and most protists. They are heterotrophic,[4] generally digesting food in an internal chamber, which separates them from plants and algae (some sponges are capable of photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation though).[5] They are also distinguished from plants, algae, and fungi by lacking rigid cell walls.[6] All animals are motile,[7] if only at certain life stages. In most animals, embryos pass through a blastula stage, which is a characteristic exclusive to animals.
Structure
With a few exceptions, most notably the sponges (Phylum Porifera) and Placozoa, animals have bodies differentiated into separate tissues. These include muscles, which are able to contract and control locomotion, and nerve tissue, which sends and processes signals. There is also typically an internal digestive chamber, with one or two openings. Animals with this sort of organization are called metazoans, or eumetazoans when the former is used for animals in general.
All animals have eukaryotic cells, surrounded by a characteristic extracellular matrix composed of collagen and elastic glycoproteins. This may be calcified to form structures like shells, bones, and spicules. During development it forms a relatively flexible framework upon which cells can move about and be reorganized, making complex structures possible. In contrast, other multicellular organisms like plants and fungi have cells held in place by cell walls, and so develop by progressive growth. Also, unique to animal cells are the following intercellular junctions: tight junctions, gap junctions, and desmosomes.
Reproduction and development

A newt lung cell stained with fluorescent dyes undergoing mitosis, specifically early anaphase.
Nearly all animals undergo some form of sexual reproduction. They have a few specialized reproductive cells, which undergo meiosis to produce smaller motile spermatozoa or larger non-motile ova. These fuse to form zygotes, which develop into new individuals.
Many animals are also capable of asexual reproduction. This may take place through parthenogenesis, where fertile eggs are produced without mating, or in some cases through fragmentation.
A zygote initially develops into a hollow sphere, called a blastula, which undergoes rearrangement and differentiation. In sponges, blastula larvae swim to a new location and develop into a new sponge. In most other groups, the blastula undergoes more complicated rearrangement. It first invaginates to form a gastrula with a digestive chamber, and two separate germ layers - an external ectoderm and an internal endoderm. In most cases, a mesoderm also develops between them. These germ layers then differentiate to form tissues and organs.
Food and energy sourcing

A juvenile Red-tailed Hawk eating a California Vole
All animals are heterotrophs, meaning that they feed directly or indirectly on other living things. They are often further subdivided into groups such as carnivores, herbivores, omnivores, and parasites.
Predation is a biological interaction where a predator (a heterotroph that is hunting) feeds on its prey (the organism that is attacked). Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of the prey. The other main category of consumption is detritivory, the consumption of dead organic matter. It can at times be difficult to separate the two feeding behaviours, for example where parasitic species prey on a host organism and then lay their eggs on it for their offspring to feed on its decaying corpse. Selective pressures imposed on one another has led to an evolutionary arms race between prey and predator, resulting in various antipredator adaptations.
Most animals feed indirectly from the energy of sunlight. Plants use this energy to convert sunlight into simple sugars using a process known as photosynthesis. Starting with the molecules carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O), photosynthesis converts the energy of sunlight into chemical energy stored in the bonds of glucose (C6H12O6) and releases oxygen (O2). These sugars are then used as the building blocks which allow the plant to grow. When animals eat these plants (or eat other animals which have eaten plants), the sugars produced by the plant are used by the animal. They are either used directly to help the animal grow, or broken down, releasing stored solar energy, and giving the animal the energy required for motion. This process is known as glycolysis.
Animals who live close to hydrothermal vents and cold seeps on the ocean floor are not dependent on the energy of sunlight. Instead chemosynthetic archaea and bacteria form the base of the food chain.
Origin and fossil record
Further information: Urmetazoon

Dunkleosteus was a gigantic, 10 meter (33 ft) long prehistoric fish.[8]

Vernanimalcula guizhouena is a fossil believed by some to represent the earliest known member of the Bilateria.
Animals are generally considered to have evolved from a flagellated eukaryote. Their closest known living relatives are the choanoflagellates, collared flagellates that have a morphology similar to the choanocytes of certain sponges. Molecular studies place animals in a supergroup called the opisthokonts, which also include the choanoflagellates, fungi and a few small parasitic protists. The name comes from the posterior location of the flagellum in motile cells, such as most animal spermatozoa, whereas other eukaryotes tend to have anterior flagella.
The first fossils that might represent animals appear towards the end of the Precambrian, around 610 million years ago, and are known as the Ediacaran or Vendian biota. These are difficult to relate to later fossils, however. Some may represent precursors of modern phyla, but they may be separate groups, and it is possible they are not really animals at all. Aside from them, most known animal phyla make a more or less simultaneous appearance during the Cambrian period, about 542 million years ago. It is still disputed whether this event, called the Cambrian explosion, represents a rapid divergence between different groups or a change in conditions that made fossilization possible. However some paleontologists and geologists would suggest that animals appeared much earlier than previously thought, possibly even as early as 1 billion years ago. Trace fossils such as tracks and burrows found in Tonian era indicate the presence of triploblastic worm like metazoans roughly as large (about 5 mm wide) and complex as earthworms.[9] In addition during the beginning of the Tonian period around 1 billion years ago (roughly the same time that the trace fossils previously discussed in this article date back to) there was a decrease in Stromatolite diversity which may indicate the appearance of grazing animals during this time as Stromatolites also increased in diversity shortly after the end-Ordovician and end-Permian rendered large amounts of grazing marine animals extinct and decreased shortly after their populations recovered. The discovery that tracks very similar to these early trace fossils are produced today by the giant single-celled protist Gromia sphaerica casts further doubt on their interpretation as evidence of early animal evolution.[10][11]
Groups of animals
Porifera, Radiata and basal Bilateria

Orange elephant ear sponge, Agelas clathrodes, in foreground. Two corals in the background: a sea fan, Iciligorgia schrammi, and a sea rod, Plexaurella nutans.
The sponges (Porifera) were long thought to have diverged from other animals early. They lack the complex organization found in most other phyla. Their cells are differentiated, but in most cases not organized into distinct tissues. Sponges typically feed by drawing in water through pores. Archaeocyatha, which have fused skeletons, may represent sponges or a separate phylum. However, a phylogenomic study in 2008 of 150 genes in 21 genera[12] revealed that it is the Ctenophora or comb jellies which are the basal lineage of animals, at least among those 21 phyla. The authors speculate that sponges—or at least those lines of sponges they investigated—are not so primitive, but may instead be secondarily simplified.
Among the other phyla, the Ctenophora and the Cnidaria, which includes sea anemones, corals, and jellyfish, are radially symmetric and have digestive chambers with a single opening, which serves as both the mouth and the anus. Both have distinct tissues, but they are not organized into organs. There are only two main germ layers, the ectoderm and endoderm, with only scattered cells between them. As such, these animals are sometimes called diploblastic. The tiny placozoans are similar, but they do not have a permanent digestive chamber.
The remaining animals form a monophyletic group called the Bilateria. For the most part, they are bilaterally symmetric, and often have a specialized head with feeding and sensory organs. The body is triploblastic, i.e. all three germ layers are well-developed, and tissues form distinct organs. The digestive chamber has two openings, a mouth and an anus, and there is also an internal body cavity called a coelom or pseudocoelom. There are exceptions to each of these characteristics, however - for instance adult echinoderms are radially symmetric, and certain parasitic worms have extremely simplified body structures.
Genetic studies have considerably changed our understanding of the relationships within the Bilateria. Most appear to belong to two major lineages: the deuterostomes and the protostomes, the latter of which includes the Ecdysozoa, Platyzoa, and Lophotrochozoa. In addition, there are a few small groups of bilaterians with relatively similar structure that appear to have diverged before these major groups. These include the Acoelomorpha, Rhombozoa, and Orthonectida. The Myxozoa, single-celled parasites that were originally considered Protozoa, are now believed to have developed from the Medusozoa as well.