Please join the "Maximaphily, traditional and non-traditional" groups at Facebook and Linkedin! :)

Please join the "Maximaphily, traditional and non-traditional" groups at Facebook and Linkedin! :)

1) The Gough Bunting, or Gough Finch (Rowettia goughensis); 2) Gough Moorhen (Gallinula comeri) - WWF maximum cards from Tristan da Cunha, the most remote inhabited location on Earth.

"The Gough Bunting or Gough Finch (Rowettia goughensis) is a songbird species."
This bird species is endemic [lives only here] to the remote South Atlantic Gough Island .

Its "population has collapsed and it is on the verge of extinction due to the introduced population of house mice (Mus musculus), noted for its unusual aggressiveness^[4], competing with the birds for food and eating their eggs and nestlings. Consequently, it was uplisted to Critically Endangered in 2008^[5]."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gough_Bunting

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This bird is protected on its native Gough Island, but not on the Tristan da Cunha Island (where it was introduced in 1956). Same archipelago, different attitudes.

"The Gough Moorhen, Gallinula comeri, is a medium-sized, almost flightless bird that is similar to the Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus), but is smaller, stockier, and has shorter wings."

"On Gough Island, it appears that the bird's future is secure with the island being a nature reserve and a World Heritage Site. In the mid 1990s, it was estimated that 2500 breeding pairs existed on Gough Island. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gough_moorhen

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How is it correct to say: remotest, or the most remote? I've seen both forms used.

Now, let's analyze the distinction between island, archipelago, inhabited, uninhabited, land and "continental land".

Semantics does matter, except where it doesn't. :)

For the following discussion, it does.

"Tristan da Cunha (pronounced /ˈtrɪstən də ˈkuːnə/) is a remote volcanic group of islands in the south Atlantic Ocean, and also the name of the main island of that group. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world,^[1] lying 2,816 kilometres (1,750 mi) from the nearest [MY NOTE: continental] land,South Africa, and 3,360 kilometres (2,090 mi) from South America. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha ^[2] which also includesSaint Helena 2,430 kilometres (1,510 mi) to its north, and equatorial Ascension Island even farther removed, grouping the British South Atlantic islands into one far-flung centrally administered aggregate. Tristan da Cunha is said to be the "most remote inhabited location on Earth."^[3] It has a population of 275 (2009 figures).^[4]

The territory consists of the main island of Tristan da Cunha itself, which measures about 11.27 kilometres (7.00 mi) across and has an area of 98 square kilometres (38 sq mi), along with the uninhabited Nightingale Islands and the wildlife reserves of Inaccessible Island and Gough Island."

Being an archipelago, none of its islands is the most remote uninhabited island in the world.

They have each other, so to speak.

"The most remote island is Bouvet Island, an uninhabited and small Norwegian island in the South Atlantic Ocean. It lies at coordinates 54°26′S 3°24′E. The nearest land is the uninhabited Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, over 1,600 km (994 mi) away to the south. The nearest inhabited land is Tristan da Cunha, 2,260 km (1,404 mi) away and South Africa, 2,580 km (1,603 mi) away."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_points_of_Earth

Please read the fascinating facts about the Tristan da Cunha archipelago:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_da_cunha

WWF maximum cards from Somalia: Soemmerring's Gazelle (Nanger soemmerringii; formerly Gazella soemmerringii). Speke's Gazelle (Gazella spekei) is the smallest of the gazelle species.

What do YOU know about Somalia, besides "Pirates of the Somalian [Coast]"?
"Black Hawk Down"? That was a case of mis-allocation of resources: DON'T send your troops in the harm's way, without proper support!

Soomaaliya?
I see three redundant letter/sounds here.
"Somalia" is clear enough for me. :)
Every language in the world, including English, Esperanto, etc., is too imperfect, not phonetic enough, not optimized. None is 100% "what-you-read-is-what-you-pronounce".
There are thousands of languages and dialects, and about 26 (?) major languages.
Every language has a lot of unnecessary complications and other problems, I think.
Or, do you have a counterexample? :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia

Do you have a gazelle species named after you?
I bet you don't.
But some people do:
Speke's Gazelle, G. spekei
Cuvier's Gazelle, G. cuvieri
Thomson's Gazelle, E. thomsoni
Soemmerring's Gazelle, N. soemmerringii
Grant's Gazelle, N. granti


"Speke's Gazelle (Gazella spekei) is the smallest of the gazelle species. Partially sympatric withG. gazella pelzini, it is confined to the horn of Africa where it inhabits stony brush, grass steppes, and semi deserts (Kingdom 1982, 1997). "
"This Gazelle is currently (2008) classified as endangered under the IUCN Red List."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speke's_gazelle

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Temporarily territorial:
"The Soemmerring's Gazelle is a tall gazelle with tan flanks, gradually turning to white on the belly, and long black horns. They are approximately 0.6-0.9 m (2-3 ft.) at the shoulder, and they weigh 35-45 kg (77-99 lb). The diet of the gazelle consists of acacia and bush leaves, grasses, and herbs. They inhabit open steppes with brush and acacia, as well as steppes with few trees, and scientists suggest that male Soemmerring's are temporarily territorial."


From the gazelles' perspective, there's no such thing as an O.K. Corral; no corral is OK:
"In many parts of North Africa and the Middle East, large stone corrals were constructed to drive herds of gazelle into, making for an easy ambush. This method of hunting started in prehistoric time and continued into the early part of the twentieth century. One interesting fact is that at some point in history, a Soemmerring's gazelle population became isolated on Kebir Island in the Dahlak archipelago where the gazelle actually developed a dwarf form of the larger mainland races."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soemmerring's_Gazelle

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