who was the only female prime minister of canada

Avril Phaedra Douglas "Kim" Campbell PC CC OBC QC (born March 10, 1947) is a Canadian politician, diplomat, lawyer and writer who served as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, from June 25, 1993, to November 4, 1993. Campbell was the first, and to date, only female prime minister of Canada, the first baby boomer to hold that office, and the only prime minister born in British Columbia.[1] She currently is the chairperson for Canada's Supreme Court Advisory Board.[2][3]

Kim Campbell

Campbell was born in Port Alberni, British Columbia, the daughter of Phyllis "Lissa" Margaret (née Cook; 1923–2013) and George Thomas Campbell (1920–2002), a barrister who had served with The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada in Italy.[4] Her father was born in Montreal, to Scottish parents, from Glasgow.[5] Her mother left the family when Campbell was 12, leaving Kim and her sister Alix to be raised by their father. As a teenager, Campbell permanently nicknamed herself Kim.

While in her pre-teens, Campbell was a host and reporter on the CBC children's program Junior Television Club.[6]

Campbell and her family moved to Vancouver, where she attended Prince of Wales Secondary School and was a top student. She became the school's first female student president, and graduated in 1964.

She earned an honours bachelor's degree in political science from the University of British Columbia, graduating in 1969. She was active in the student government and served as the school's first female president of the freshman class. She then completed a year of graduate study at that school, to qualify for doctoral-level studies.[7] Campbell entered the London School of Economics in 1970 to study towards her doctorate in Soviet Government, and spent three months touring the Soviet Union, from April to June 1972. She had spent several years studying the Russian language, and was nearly fluent.[8] Campbell ultimately left her doctoral studies, returning to live in Vancouver after marrying Nathan Divinsky, her longtime partner, in 1972. She earned, in 1983, an LL.B. from the University of British Columbia. She was called to the British Columbia Bar in 1984, and practised law in Vancouver until 1986.

During her marriage to Divinsky, Campbell lectured part-time in political science at the University of British Columbia and at Vancouver Community College. While still attending law school, she entered politics as a trustee on the Vancouver School Board, becoming, in 1983, the chair of that board and serving in 1984 as its vice-chair. She once claimed to have told the board to "back off" although others alleged that she said "fuck off".[9] In total, she was a trustee there from 1980 to 1984. Campbell and Divinsky were divorced in 1983, and Campbell married Howard Eddy in 1986, a marriage that lasted until shortly before she became prime minister. Campbell is the second prime minister of Canada to have been divorced, after Pierre Trudeau.

She briefly dated Gregory Lekhtman, the inventor of Exerlopers, during her term as prime minister, but the relationship was relatively private and she did not involve him in the 1993 election campaign. She is currently married to Hershey Felder, an actor, playwright, composer, and concert pianist.[10] She remains close to Nathan Divinsky's daughter Pamelea.

Campbell was the unsuccessful British Columbia Social Credit Party (Socred) candidate in Vancouver Centre for a seat in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in 1983, receiving 12,740 votes (19.3% in a double member riding). Campbell ran unsuccessfully for the leadership of the BC Social Credit Party in the summer of 1986 (placing last with 14 votes from delegates), but was elected in October 1986 to the British Columbia Legislative Assembly as a Socred member for Vancouver-Point Grey, getting 19,716 votes (23.2%, also in a double member riding). Consigned to the backbenches, she became disenchanted with Premier Bill Vander Zalm's leadership and broke with him and Social Credit over the issue of abortion, which Vander Zalm was opposed to. Campbell decided to leave provincial politics and enter federal politics.[11]

Campbell was elected in the 1988 federal election as the member of parliament (MP) from Vancouver Centre. She won the party nomination after the incumbent, Pat Carney, declined to stand for re-nomination. In 1989 she was appointed to the cabinet as Minister of State (Indian Affairs and Northern Development). From 1990â€“1993 she held the post of Minister of Justice and Attorney General where she oversaw notable amendments to the Criminal Code in the areas of firearms control and sexual assault. In 1990, following the Supreme Court's decision invalidating the country's abortion law, Campbell was responsible for introducing Bill C-43 to govern abortions in Canada. Although it passed the House of Commons, it failed to pass the Senate, and as of 2017 there is no national law governing abortions.[12][13]

In 1993 Campbell was transferred to the posts of Minister of National Defence and Minister of Veterans Affairs. Notable events during her tenure included dealing with the controversial issue of replacing shipborne helicopters for the navy and for search and rescue units. The actions by Canadian Airborne Regiment in the military scandal known as the Somalia Affair also first emerged while Campbell was minister.[14][15] When the Liberal Party of Canada took power, the incident became the subject of a lengthy public inquiry, continuing to focus attention on Campbell and the PCs.

In February 1993, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney announced his retirement from politics, to take effect June 25, 1993. Campbell entered the party leadership race to succeed Mulroney. Campbell had served in four cabinet portfolios prior to running for the party leadership, including three years as Minister of Justice, and garnered support of more than half the PC caucus when she declared for the leadership.

She defeated Jean Charest at the Progressive Conservative leadership convention that June, and Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn appointed her Prime Minister on June 25. As a concession to Charest, Campbell appointed him to the posts of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry, Science and Technologyâ€”the first largely symbolic, and the second a significant cabinet portfolio position.

After becoming party leader and Prime Minister, Campbell set about reorganizing the cabinet. She cut it from 35 ministers to 23 ministers; she consolidated ministries by creating three new ministries: Health, Canadian Heritage, and Public Security. Campbell extensively campaigned during the summer, touring the nation and attending barbecues and other events. In August 1993, a Gallup Canada poll showed Campbell as having a 51 percent approval rating, which placed her as Canada's most popular prime minister in 30 years.[16][17] By the end of the summer, her personal popularity had increased greatly, far surpassing that of Liberal Party leader Jean Chrétien.[18] Support for the Progressive Conservative Party had also increased to within a few points of the Liberals, while the Reform Party had been reduced to single digits.

Campbell was the only Canadian prime minister not to have resided at 24 Sussex Drive since that address became the official home of the Prime Minister of Canada in 1951. Campbell's predecessor Mulroney remained at 24 Sussex while renovations on his new home in Montreal were being completed. Campbell instead took up residence at Harrington Lake, the PM's summer and weekend retreat, located in rural Quebec, north of Ottawa, and she did not move into 24 Sussex after Mulroney left. Like Charles Tupper and John Turner, Campbell never sat in Parliament as Prime Minister, as her term was filled by the summer break and the election campaign.

Campbell entered office facing a statutory general election. She waited as long as she could before asking Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn to dissolve Parliament on September 8, only weeks before Parliament was due to expire. The election was scheduled for October 25, the latest date it could be legally held under Section 4 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Tories were optimistic that they would be able to remain in power and, if not, would at least be a strong opposition to a Liberal minority government.

Campbell's initial popularity declined after the writ was dropped. When she was running for the party leadership, Campbell's frank honesty was seen as an important asset and a sharp contrast from Mulroney's highly polished style. However, this backfired when she told reporters at a Rideau Hall event that it was unlikely that the deficit or unemployment would be much reduced before the "end of the century". During the election campaign, she further stated that discussing a complete overhaul of Canada's social policies in all their complexities could not be done in just 47 days; this statement was reduced to her having stated that an election is no time to discuss important issues.

Progressive Conservative support tailed off as the campaign progressed. By October, polls showed the Liberals were well on their way to at least a minority government, and would probably win a majority without dramatic measures. Even at this point, Campbell was still considerably more popular than Liberal leader Jean Chrétien. In hopes of stemming the tide, the Progressive Conservative campaign team put together a series of ads attacking the Liberal leader. The second ad appeared to mock Chrétien's Bell's Palsy facial paralysis, and generated a severe backlash from the media,[19] with some Tory candidates calling for the ad to be pulled from broadcasts. Campbell claims to have not been directly responsible for the ad, and to have ordered it off the air[20] over her staff's objections.

It was to no avail. Tory support plummeted into the teens in the aftermath of the ad, all but assuring that the Liberals would win a majority government.

On election night, October 25, the Progressive Conservatives were swept from power in a Liberal landslide. Campbell herself was defeated in Vancouver Centre by rookie Liberal Hedy Fry. She conceded defeat with the remark, "Gee, I'm glad I didn't sell my car."[21]

It was only the third time in Canadian history that a prime minister was unseated at the same time that his or her party lost an election. All Progressive Conservatives running for re-election lost their seats, with the lone exception of Jean Charest, who was also the only surviving member of Campbell's cabinet. The Tories' previous support in Western Canada moved to Reform and the Liberals, while the Bloc Québécois inherited most soft-nationalist Tory support in Quebec. In some cases, the Bloc pushed Cabinet ministers from Quebec into third place.

The Tories still finished with over two million votes, taking third place in the popular vote, and falling only two percentage points short of Reform for second place. However, as a consequence of the first past the post system, Tory support was not concentrated in enough areas to translate into victories in individual ridings. As a result, the Tories won only two seats, compared to Reform's 52 and the Bloc's 54. It was the worst defeat in party history, and the worst defeat ever suffered by a Canadian governing party at the federal level.

Campbell faced hurdles that she blamed as being insurmountable. Mulroney left office as one of the most (and according to Campbell, the most)[22] unpopular prime ministers since opinion polling began in the 1940s. He considerably hampered his own party's campaign effort by staging a very lavish international farewell tour at taxpayer expense, and by delaying his retirement until there were only two-and-a-half months left in the Tories' five-year mandate.

Some have pointed to her gender as a major contributing factor to her historic loss. University of New Brunswick professor Joanna Everitt writes that while media simply reported the facts about rival male leaders such as Jean ChrÃ©tien, Campbell's actions were usually interpreted as having some motive (drawing up support, appealing to a group, etc.)[23]

Canadian humourist Will Ferguson suggested that the poor campaign meant Campbell should receive "some of the blame" for her party's losses, though "taking over the party leadership from Brian (Mulroney) was a lot like taking over the controls of a 747 just before it plunges into the Rockies."[24]

On December 13, 1993, Campbell resigned as party leader; Jean Charest succeeded her.

Despite her dramatic loss in the election, the Canadian women's magazine Chatelaine named Campbell as its Woman of the Year for 1993.[25] She published an autobiography, Time and Chance, (ISBN 0-770-42738-3) in 1996. The book became a Canadian bestseller, and is in its third edition from the University of Alberta Bookstore Press (ISBN 000010132X).

It was briefly rumoured that she was to be sent to Moscow as the ambassador to Russia.[26] However, in 1996, Campbell was appointed consul general to Los Angeles by the ChrÃ©tien government, a post in which she remained until 2000. While she was there, she collaborated with her husband, composer, playwright and actor Hershey Felder, on the production of a musical, Noah's Ark.

From 1999 to 2003, she chaired the Council of Women World Leaders, a network of women who hold or have held the office of president or prime minister. She was succeeded by former Irish President Mary Robinson. From 2003 until 2005 she served as President of the International Women's Forum, a global organization of women of prominent achievement, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. From 2001 to 2004, she lectured at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She continues as an Honorary Fellow at the Center for Public Leadership at the Kennedy School. She served as a director of several publicly traded companies in high technology and biotechnology.

Campbell chairs the steering committee of the World Movement for Democracy. She served on the board of the International Crisis Group, an NGO that aims to prevent and resolve deadly conflicts. She is on the board of the Forum of Federations, the EastWest Institute, and is on the advisory body of The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence at King's College London. She was a founding member of the Club de Madrid, an independent organization whose main purpose is to strengthen democracy in the world. Its membership is by invitation only, and consists of former Heads of State and Government. At different times Campbell has served as its Interim President, Vice President and from 2004 2006 its Secretary General. Campbell was the founding Chair of the International Advisory Board of the Ukrainian Foundation for Effective Governance, an NGO formed in September 2007 with the aid of businessman Rinat Akhmetov.[27]

During the 2006 election campaign, Campbell endorsed the candidacy of Tony Fogarassy, the Conservative candidate in Campbell's former riding of Vancouver Centre. Campbell also clarified to reporters that she is a supporter of the new Conservative Party. Fogarassy lost the election, placing a distant third.

While testifying in April 2009 at the Mulroney-Schreiber Airbus inquiry, Campbell said she still follows Canadian politics "intermittently."[28]

In April 2014, Campbell was appointed the founding principal of the new Peter Lougheed Leadership College at the University of Alberta.[29]

She has appeared on the CBC Television program Canada's Next Great Prime Minister, a show which profiles and selects young prospective leaders, and has also been an occasional panelist on Real Time with Bill Maher.

On August 2, 2016, it was announced by Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that Campbell had agreed to chair a seven-person committee to prepare a shortlist of candidates to succeed Thomas Cromwell on the Supreme Court of Canada.[30] In mid-October 2016, the committee announced that it would recommend the appointment of Malcolm Rowe to the court, and he was sworn in on October 31 as the first Supreme Court justice to hail from Newfoundland and Labrador.[31]

As Justice Minister, Campbell brought about a new rape law that clarified sexual assault and whose passage firmly entrenched that in cases involving sexual assault, "no means no". She also introduced the rape shield law, legislation that protects a person's sexual past from being explored during trial. Her legacy of supporting sexual victims has been confirmed through her work with the Peter Lougheed Leadership College at the University of Alberta, where the inaugural cohort of scholars proposed that the college immediately implement mandatory education regarding sexual assault for students, which Campbell readily accepted.[32][33][34]

Since Parliament never sat during Campbell's four months as a prime minister,[35] she was unable to bring forth new legislation, which must be formally introduced there. However, she did implement radical changes to the structure of the Canadian government. Under her tenure, the federal cabinet's size was cut from over 35 cabinet ministers and ministers of state to 23. This included the redesign of 8 ministries and the abolition or merging of 15 others.[36][37] The ChrÃ©tien government retained these new ministries when it took office. The number of cabinet committees was reduced from 11 to 5. Her successors have continued to keep the size of the federal Cabinet to approximately 30 members. She was also the first prime minister to convene a First Ministers' conference for consultation prior to representing Canada at the G7 Summit. Due to her brief time in office, Campbell holds a unique spot among Canadian prime ministers in that she made no Senate appointments.

Campbell harshly criticized Mulroney for not allowing her to succeed him before June 1993. In her view, when she became prime minister, she had very little time or chance to make up ground on the Liberals once her initial popularity faded. In her memoirs, Time and Chance, and in her response to The Secret Mulroney Tapes, Campbell suggested that Mulroney knew the Tories would be defeated in the upcoming election, and wanted a "scapegoat who would bear the burden of his unpopularity" rather than a viable successor. The cause of the 1993 debacle remains disputed, with some arguing that the election results were a vote against Mulroney rather than a rejection of Campbell, and others suggesting that the poorly run Campbell campaign was the key factor in the result.

Although the Progressive Conservatives survived as a distinct political party for another decade after the 1993 debacle, they never recovered their previous standing. During that period they were led by Jean Charest (1993–1998), Elsie Wayne (1998) and then, for the second time, by Joe Clark (1998–2003) (who had been Opposition Leader and briefly Prime Minister 20 years earlier). By 2003, the party under new leader Peter MacKay had voted to merge with the Canadian Alliance to form the Conservative Party of Canada, thus ceasing to exist, despite MacKay having promised not to pursue a mergers. Joe Clark continued to sit as a "Progressive Conservative" into 2004. The new generation of right-leaning Conservatives gained power in the election of 2006, ensuring the "Tory" nickname's survival in the federal politics of Canada. A PC "rump" caucus continued to exist in the Senate of Canada (consisting of certain Clark, Mulroney and Paul Martin appointees), but as of 2012 only one senator, Elaine McCoy of Alberta, sits as a Progressive Conservative.

Campbell remains one of the youngest women to have ever assumed the office of Prime Minister in any country, and thus also one of the youngest to have left the office.

Campbell was ranked No. 20 out of the first 20 Prime Ministers of Canada (through Jean Chrétien) by a survey of 26 Canadian historians used by J.L. Granatstein and Norman Hillmer in their 1997 book Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada's Leaders. A follow-up article co-authored by Hillmer in 2011 for Maclean's Magazine broadened the number of historians surveyed; in this new survey of over 100 Canadian historians, Campbell again finished dead last, this time coming at #22 out of Canada's first 22 Prime Ministers (through Stephen Harper).[38]

In 2004, she was included in the list of 50 most important political leaders in history in the Almanac of World History compiled by the National Geographic Society. She was cited for her status as the only woman head of government of a North American country (defined variously), but controversy ensued among academics in Canada over the merit of this honour, since her brief term in office was marked by very few, if any, major political accomplishments.

On November 30, 2004, Campbell's official portrait for the parliamentary Prime Minister's gallery was unveiled. The painting was created by Victoria, British Columbia artist David Goatley. Campbell said she was "deeply honoured" to be the only woman to have her picture in the Prime Ministers' corridor, stating: "I really look forward to the day when there are many other female faces." The painting shows a pensive Campbell sitting on a chair with richly coloured Haida capes and robes in the background, symbolizing her time as a cabinet minister and as an academic.[39]

According to Canadian protocol, as a former Prime Minister, she is styled "The Right Honourable" for life.


how tall is expedition everest at disney world

The train departs the station to the right and climbs a small lift leading to a short drop, then circles around to the 118-foot (36 m) lift hill, carrying the riders into the 199 1⁄2-foot-high (60.8 m) mountain. It is the tallest attraction at Walt Disney World, beating The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror by 6 inches. Disney keeps it just under 200 feet because law requires structures 200 feet or taller to have a blinking red light as a beacon for low-flying planes, which Disney feels would take parkgoers out of the experience. On the way up it passes through a ransacked temple with murals of the yeti, warning the riders that the mountain is his territory. At the top of the mountain the train curves around the main peak and goes through a cave. When it emerges, it draws to a halt in front of track that has been torn apart, presumably by the yeti. The train itself is held in place by a series of rubber tires while an automatic switch rotates the piece of track directly behind the train. The train then rolls backwards along a new route that spirals down through the mountain, coming to a halt in a large cave, where riders see the yeti's shadow on the wall as he tears up more track. This effect distracts riders from noticing another automatic track switch rotates in front of them. As the shadow moves away, the train rolls forward out of the mountain and down the main 80-foot (24 m) drop. It enters a 250° turn and speeds back up through another cave in the mountain, where the roars of the yeti are heard once more. The train exits from the rear of the mountain and enters a large helix before being lifted back into the mountain a final time. The train drops through a cave, where the yeti is reaching down toward it. On reaching the bottom of this drop, riders return to the unloading dock and depart into a gift shop. One ride takes about 2 minutes and 50 seconds.[8][11][12][13]

Expedition Everest

Expedition Everest â€” Legend of the Forbidden Mountain is a steel roller coaster built by Vekoma at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The ride is themed around the Yeti protecting the Forbidden Mountain next to Mount Everest. It is listed in the 2011 book of Guinness World Records as the most expensive roller coaster in the world.[2] Including sets and extras, its total cost was reported to be US$100 million for six years of planning and construction.[2][3] It is the tallest artificial mountain in all of the Walt Disney Parks and Disney's 18th mountain-themed attraction.[4]

The attraction was announced publicly on April 22, 2003, during an event to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Disney's Animal Kingdom.[5] Its construction required three years and more than 38 miles of rebar, 5,000 tons of structural steel, and 10,000 tons of concrete.[6] Expedition Everest opened for previews on January 26, 2006,[1] and had its grand opening on April 7, 2006,[7] in ceremonies led by Disney CEO Bob Iger and theme parks chairman Jay Rasulo.

The attraction features a stand-by, Fastpass+, and a single-rider line.[1] The queue starts at the office of the fictional "Himalayan Escapes" travel agency, progressing to a replica temple with little holy figures. Visitors next enter a tea garden, followed by a room with equipment from a successful expedition, and then the "Yeti Museum", which contains information on the Yeti and a moulding of a Yeti footprint.[8] There are also about 8,000 artifacts brought from the Nepal trip in the museum.[9][10] The single-rider line skips all of the exhibits.

The riders board the roller coaster in the model village of Serka Zong, to begin a speedy route through the Himalayas to the base of Mount Everest.[4][8]

Expedition Everest has six steam-like trains, each with six cars that together provide 17 rows seating two abreast, for a total of 36 riders per train. The trains are themed as the "Anandapur Rail Service" and are made to look old and rusty.[4][8] Riders must be at least 44 inches (110Â cm) tall and are secured by a lap bar.[4][13] Up to five trains usually operate at once, but fewer can be used if guest demand is low.[1] To create the illusion of a "steam powered" train, engineers placed vents under the station. When a train comes into the station, steam comes up through the vents and enters the loading platform.[6]

The steel track is 4,424 feet (1,348 m) long and the lift is about 118 feet (36 m) high. Expedition Everest is the first ride to use Vekoma's newest track system, which places the rails on the outside of the ties rather than on the inside. This was the first large-scale installation of such a system.[12]

Although moderate in height and length by contemporary standards, Expedition Everest was the first ride for Disney to have its trains travel both forward and backward. This is accomplished through two sets of track switches, one before the rear segment and one after. This was the second Disney roller coaster to run backwards, the first being Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril: Backwards! at Disneyland Resort Paris (2000–2004).[14] Expedition Everest, however, was the first Disney roller coaster to switch between forward and backward sections during a single ride.[15]

The mountain faÃ§ade, the Yeti audio-animatronic, and the roller coaster are three independent structures. Each structure reaches the ground-level and does not touch the other two structures. This was achieved via 4-D scheduling software that told builders how to construct it.[16]

Expedition Everest is often compared to the 1959 Matterhorn Bobsleds roller coaster at Disneyland, which also features a snowy mountain setting and an "abominable snowman" figure throughout the ride.[17] Expedition Everest's mountain is made from 1,800 tons of steel and painted with 2,000 gallons of paint.[4][13] It is the tallest artificial mountain in the world, but not, as occasionally cited, the tallest point in Florida.[6] It is Disney's 18th mountain-themed attraction.[4] As of 2012[update], there are 20 mountain-themed attractions.

The artificial mountain is a model, not of Mount Everest, but of the fictional "forbidden mountain" guarded by the yeti in the story created by Walt Disney Imagineering for the attraction. Everest is represented by the barren background peak on the far right, which is made to seem far in the distance (an example of forced perspective).[13]

The yeti is the largest and most complex audio-animatronic figure ever built by Walt Disney Imagineering.[6][8] It is 25 feet (7.6 m) tall. Its "skin" measures 1,000 square feet (93 m2), and is held in place by 1,000 snaps and 250 zippers. Its movement is controlled by 19 actuators when functioning in "A-mode", its full mode of operation. In "A-mode," it can move 5 ft (1.5 m) horizontally and 18 in (46 cm) vertically. The yeti's roars are provided by voice actor Fred Tatasciore.

A few months after the ride opened in 2006, the yeti figure's framing split, threatening catastrophic malfunction if it were to be operated further in "A-mode". [18] Since then it has been operated only in the alternative "B-mode", in which a strobe-light effect is used to give the appearance of movement, earning it the nickname "Disco Yeti" from some fans. It is speculated that the problem was caused by damage to the yeti's concrete base structure, which is unlikely to be repaired until a major refurbishment in the distant future, because the design limits access to the yeti without major disassembly of the superstructure.[19] The problem with the concrete is rumored to have occurred due to a glitch in the 4-D scheduling software that prevented adequate curing of a portion of the Yeti's foundation before the fabrication of mountain elements and roller coaster track.[20]

Joe Rohde, the Imagineer in charge of building the attraction and Animal Kingdom, was asked about the yeti at the 2013 D23 Expo. Rohde responded, "You have to understand, it's a giant complicated machine sitting on top of, like, a 46-foot tall tower in the middle of a finished building. So, it's really hard to fix, but we are working on it. And we continue to work on it. We have tried several 'things', none of them quite get to the key, turning of the 40-foot tower inside of a finished building, but we are working on it... I will fix the Yeti someday, I swear." [21][22]

In 2005, Disney, Discovery Networks, and Conservation International conducted expeditions to Nepal as part of the promotion for Expedition Everest. The purpose was to conduct scientific and cultural research in remote areas of the Himalayas, the location of the yeti legend. Participants included Joe Rohde from Walt Disney Imagineering and scientists from Conservation International and Disney's Animal Kingdom.[10]

The expeditions and the making of the attraction were chronicled in three documentaries broadcast on Discovery's cable television channels in April 2006.[7] The first was Expedition Everest: Journey to Sacred Lands, broadcast on the Travel Channel on April 9 to coincide with the attraction's grand opening.[7] The second, Building A Thrill Ride: Expedition Everest, was aired on April 10[7] and detailed the planning and construction of the ride, along with some of the ideas that made it possible. (During construction, for example, instead of traditional scaffolding the Imagineers used interior poles that poked through the outside of the mountain and were connected by wooden platforms.)[6] This documentary also featured survival tips from Les Stroud. The third, Corwin's Quest: Realm of the Yeti, was broadcast on Animal Planet on April 15 and featured American animal and nature conservationist Jeff Corwin.[7]

On February 15, 2006, Disney staged an elaborate publicity stunt called "Everest in the City" in Times Square, New York City. They draped large billboards over the sides of several buildings, depicting Everest with a coaster car careening down the mountainside and the yeti looking on from another peak, its eyes glowing red and flashing when the text message "Disney” was sent to “4Yeti” as provided by Disney.[23]

On December 18, 2007, a 44-year-old guest was found unconscious after the train returned to the station. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A preliminary autopsy by the Orange County medical examiner's office concluded that the victim had died of dilated cardiomyopathy.[24]

Expedition Everest is listed in the 2011 book of Guinness World Records as the most expensive roller coaster in the world. Including sets and extras, the total cost of the ride was reported to be US$100 million over six years of planning and construction.[3]

Expedition Everest won the 2006 Theme Park Insider Award for the "World's Best New Theme Park Attraction".[25] It has also been ranked in the Golden Ticket Awards and the Best Roller Coaster Poll. It was ranked 2nd for "Best New Ride For 2006" in the Golden Ticket Awards.[26]


why was the sun god important to the incas

The Inca dedicated many ceremonies to the Sun in order to ensure the Sapa Inca's welfare.[2] The sun was also important to the Incas, particularly the people of the highlands, because it was necessary for the production of crops like maize and other grains.[6] The sun's heat was also thought to cause rain. During the rainy season the sun was hotter and brighter, while during the dry season it was weaker.[7]

Inti

Inti is the ancient Incan sun god. He is revered as the national patron of the Inca state. Although most consider Inti the sun god, he is more appropriately viewed as a cluster of solar aspects, since the Inca divided his identity according to the stages of the sun.[1] Worshiped as a patron deity of the Inca Empire,[2] he is of unknown mythological origin. The most common story says that he is the son of Viracocha, the god of civilization.[3]

Inti and his sister, Mama Killa, the Moon goddess were generally considered benevolent deities. Mama Killa supposedly gave birth to their child. Their court is served by the Rainbow, the Pleiades, Venus, and others.The founding Inca ancestor, known as Manco Cápac, was thought to have been the son of Inti. According to an ancient myth, Inti taught his son Manco Cápac and his daughter Mama Ocllo the arts of civilization and they were sent to earth to pass this. Another legend, however, states Manco Cápac was the son of Viracocha.

Inti ordered his children to build the Inca capital where a divine golden wedge they carried with them would penetrate the earth. Incas believed that this happened in the city of Cusco. The Inca ruler was considered to be the living representative of Inti. Pachacuti is often linked to the origin and expansion of the Inca Sun Cult.[4][5]

The Willaq Umu was the high priest of the Sun (Inti). His position placed him as the second most powerful person in the kingdom. He was directly underneath the Sapa Inca, and they were often brothers. The emperor and his family were believed to be descended from Inti.[6]

A great golden disk representing Inti was captured by the Spanish conquistadors in 1571 and was sent to the pope via Spain. It has since been lost.

The Incas would set aside large quantities of natural and human resources throughout the empire for Inti. Each conquered province was supposed to dedicate a third of their lands and herds to Inti as mandated by the Inca. Each major province would also have a Sun Temple in which male and female priests would serve.[2] The female priests were the mamakuna, who were chosen from the aqllakuna ("chosen women"), and they would weave special cloth and brew chicha for festivities and sacrifices to Inti.[8]

Additionally, the chief temple of the Inca state religion was the Qurikancha in Cusco. Within this temple were wall niches in which the bodies of previous emperors and rulers were exhibited along with various statues of Inti in certain festivals. Some figures of Inti also depicted him in human form with a hollowed out midsection that was filled with a concoction made of gold dust and the ashes of the Inca kings' hearts.[9]

Inti is represented as a golden disk with rays and a human face. Many such disks were supposedly held in Cusco as well as in shrines throughout the empire, especially at Qurikancha, where the most significant image of Inti was discovered by anthropologists. This representation, adorned with ear spools, a pectoral, and a royal headband, was known as punchaw (Quechua for day, also spelled punchao). This image of Inti was also said to have lions and serpents projecting from its form.[10]

The worship of Inti and the rise of the Inti cult are considered to be exploitations of religion for political purposes, since the Inca king was increasingly identified with the sun god. This grew into a form of divine patronage and the convenience of these comparisons for Inca emperors is crucial.[11]

The festival of Inti Raymi honors the sun god and was originally meant to celebrate the start of a new planting season.[12] It now attracts many tourists each year to Cusco, which is [13] the ancient capital of the Inca Empire. The name of the festival, Inti Raymi, translates into "sun festival" [1] and was held during the Southern Hemisphere's winter solstice,[13] which is the shortest day of the year. This fell around June 24 in the Incan Empire.

This festival was attended by the four sectors of Tawantinsuyu. Military captains, government officials, and the vassals who attended were dressed in their best costumes and carried their best weapons and instruments.

Preparation for the festival of Inti Raymi began with a fast of three days, where there was no fire lit and the people refrained from having sexual intercourse. This festival would last for nine days, and during this time the people consumed massive amounts of food and drink.[13] There were many sacrifices as well, which were all performed on the first day. After the nine days everyone would leave with the permission of the Inca.

Corresponding with the three diurnal stages of the sun, Inti's identity is also divided into three primary subcomplexes, which are the father, son, and brother. The first of these is Apu Inti ("supreme Inti"). He represents the father and is sometimes known as "The Lord Sun."[9] The second is Churi Inti, or "Son Inti," who represents the son of Inti and is often known as "Daylight." The third and final division of Inti is Inti Wawqi ("Sun brother", or "Inti brother", also spelled Inti-Guauqui, Inti-Huaoqui). Inti Wawqi also represents the sun god in his specific position as the founding father of Inca reign and the center of the state's official ancestor cult.[1]

In astronomy, Apu Inti and Churi Inti can actually be separated from one another along an astronomical axis. This is because they are associated with the summer and winter solstices respectively. Inti Wawqi, however, is not associated with an astronomical location.[12]

The sun is also found on the coat of arms of Bolivia and coat of arms of Ecuador, as well as the historical flag of Peru. All these three countries were historically part of the Incan Empire. It is also depicted on the Hispanic flag.

The Sun of May has possibly its roots in Inti as well and can be found on the Flag of Argentina and Flag of Uruguay.


how much does it cost for euthanasia in switzerland

According to the official Dignitas website [12], as of 2017 Dignitas charges its patients 7’000 Swiss Francs (approx. £5’180 / $7’980) for preparation and suicide assistance, or 10’500 Swiss Francs (approx. £7,770 / $11,970) in case of taking over family duties, including funerals, medical costs and official fees. Dignitas has been known to waive certain costs where there is hardship.[13] Under Swiss Law, Dignitas operates as a non-profit organization, but does not open its finances to the public,[14] which has elicited criticism from some quarters.

Dignitas (Swiss non-profit organisation)

Dignitas is a Swiss non-profit members' society providing assisted/accompanied suicide to those members of the organisation who suffer from terminal illness and/or severe physical and/or mental illnesses, supported by (of the organization independent) qualified Swiss doctors. They have helped over 2,100[1] people die at home within Switzerland and at Dignitas' house/flat near Zürich. Additionally, they do advisory work on palliative care, health care advance directive and suicide attempt prevention and they have been leading and supporting numerous court cases and legislation projects for right-to-die laws around the world.[2] Members of Dignitas who wish for an assisted suicide have to be of sound judgement, themselves able to do the last act which brings about death, and submit a formal request including a letter explaining their wish to die and most of all medical reports showing diagnosis and treatments tried. For people with severe psychiatric illnesses, additionally, an in-depth medical report prepared by a psychiatrist that establishes the patient's condition, is required as to a Swiss Supreme Court decision.[3]

Dignitas was founded 17 May 1998 by Ludwig Minelli, a Swiss lawyer specialising in human rights law. Swiss laws provide that assistance to suicide is legal as long as it is not motivated by selfish motives. The person who wishes to die meets several Dignitas personnel, in addition to an independent medical doctor, for a private consultation. The independent doctor assesses the evidence provided by the patient in advance and is met on two separate occasions, with a time gap between each of the consultations.[4] Legally admissible proof that the person wishes to die is also created, in the form of a signed affidavit, countersigned by independent witnesses. In cases where a person is physically unable to sign a document, a short video film of the person is made in which they are asked to confirm their identity, that they wish to die, and that their decision is made of their own free will, without any form of persuasion / coercion. This evidence of informed consent remains private and is preserved only for use in any possible legal dispute.[citation needed]

Finally, a few minutes before the lethal overdose is provided, the person is once again reminded that taking the overdose will surely kill them. Additionally, they are asked several times whether they want to proceed, or take some time to consider the matter further. This gives the person the opportunity to stop the process at any time. However, if at this point the person states that they are determined to proceed, a lethal overdose is provided and ingested.[5]

In general, Dignitas uses the following protocol to assist suicides: an oral dose of an antiemetic drug, followed approximately half an hour later by a lethal overdose of 15 grams of powdered pentobarbital dissolved in a glass of water. If necessary, the drugs can be ingested via a drinking straw. The pentobarbital overdose depresses the central nervous system, causing the person to become drowsy and fall asleep within 3–5 minutes of drinking it. Anaesthesia progresses to coma and later, as the person's breathing becomes more shallow, followed by respiratory arrest and death, which occurs within 30–40 minutes of ingesting the pentobarbital.

Exceptionally, in four cases in 2008, Dignitas used breathing helium gas[6] as a suicide method instead of a pentobarbital overdose. The medical supervision was still observed, however, the prescription controlled drugs avoided, which reduced the risk of the medical board / authorities harassing the medical doctor giving a "green light" for the accompanied suicide.

In two referenda on 15 May 2011, voters in the Canton of Zürich overwhelmingly rejected calls to ban assisted suicide or to outlaw the practice for non-residents. Out of more than 278,000 ballots cast, the initiative to ban assisted suicide was rejected by 85 per cent of voters and the initiative to outlaw it for non-residents was turned down by 78 per cent.[7][8][9]

Ludwig Minelli said in an interview in March 2008 that Dignitas had assisted 840 people to die, 60% of them Germans.[6] By 2010, that number had exceeded a thousand assisted suicides.[10]

Most people contacting Dignitas do not plan to die but need insurance in case their illness becomes intolerable. Of those who receive the so-called "provisional green light", 70% never return to Dignitas.[6]

21% of people receiving assisted suicide in Dignitas do not have a terminal or progressive illness, but rather "weariness of life".[11]

Although mainly Germans turn to Dignitas for so called 'assisted suicide', as of August 2015, approximately 300 British citizens had travelled to Switzerland from the UK to die at one of Dignitas' rented apartments in Zürich.[15]

Soraya Wernli (a nurse employed by Dignitas for two-and-a-half years, until March 2005), accused the organization of being a 'production line of death concerned only with profits'.[16] Wernli claimed many wealthy and vulnerable people bequeathed "vast sums" to Minelli in addition to standard fees and some were not terminally ill.[16] She also complained some patients died in pain, and resigned after an alleged incident in which a new type of machine left a client suffering for 70 hours.[16] Dignitas denied all allegations and pointed out that Wernli left Dignitas several years ago.[16] Minelli said that "If the state prosecutors feel Iâ€™m making myself rich they should start legal proceedings."[17]

Dignitas-founder Ludwig Minelli describes the difficulties that Dignitas has faced over the years.[18] In Sept 2007, it was evicted, blocked or locked out of three flats, and so Mr Minelli offered assisted suicide in his private house. This, however, was then prohibited by the local council. In October 2007, Dignitas was again prevented from working in a private house by the local council and refused rooms on an industrial site. In December 2007, an interim judgment prevented Dignitas from working in a building next to a busy brothel. The media frenzy led to several people offering Dignitas flats or houses, of which one turned out to be suitable. Since 2009, Dignitas has a house at an undisclosed location where accompanied suicide for people from abroad has taken place.

Although Dignitas and Exit provide little or no data into its activities, it is known that 21% of people receiving assistance by Dignitas and 65% of women attending Exit do not have a terminal or progressive illness. In certain right-to-die organisations, an age restriction is in place for potential patients, so as to prevent young people from using their services.[19]

In April 2010, private divers found a group of over 60 cremation urns in Lake Zürich. Each of the urns bore the logo of the Zürich Nordheim crematorium also used by Dignitas. Soraya Wernli, a former employee, had told The Times 18 months previously that Dignitas had dumped at least 300 urns in the lake. She claimed that Minelli dumped them there himself, but later asked his daughter and another member of staff to do it. In 2008, allegedly two members of Dignitas were caught trying to pour the ashes of 20 dead people into the lake.[20][21] However, it was never established whether Dignitas had anything to do with it and no charges were taken. In Switzerland, it is not against the law to scatter cremation ashes out into nature.

In 2008, the documentary film Right to Die? was broadcast on Sky Real Lives (rebroadcast on PBS Frontline in March 2010 as The Suicide Tourist). Directed by Oscar-winning Canadian John Zaritsky, it depicts the assisted suicide of several people who have gone to Switzerland to end their lives.[22] It includes the story of Craig Ewert, a 59-year-old retired university professor who suffered from a motor neurone disease. Ewert traveled to Switzerland where he was assisted by the Dignitas NGO. The documentary shows him passing away with Mary, his wife of 37 years, at his side. It was shown on the Swiss television network SF1 and is available as a web movie on the Dignitas website.[23]

The BBC produced a film titled A Short Stay in Switzerland[24] telling the story of Dr Anne Turner, who made the journey to the Dignitas assisted suicide clinic. On January 24, 2006, the day before her 67th birthday, she ended her life. The film was shown on BBC1 on January 25, 2009.

British maestro Sir Edward Downes, who conducted the BBC Philharmonic and the Royal Opera but struggled in recent years (but was not terminally ill) as his hearing and sight failed, died with his wife, who had terminal cancer, at an assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland in July 2009. He was 85 and she was 74.[25]

French lesbian theorist and translator Michele Causse chose to die on her birthday, July 29, 2010, in association with Dignitas.[26][27]

On June 13, 2011, BBC Two aired a documentary titled Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die, featuring author and Alzheimer's disease sufferer Sir Terry Pratchett guiding viewers through an assisted suicide which took place at Dignitas facilities in Switzerland. Peter Smedley, a British hotelier and millionaire, and his wife Christine allowed for Pratchett to film Smedley's deliberate consumption of prepared barbiturate in a glass in order to kill himself as Christine comforted Smedley in his demise. The documentary received a highly polarized reaction in the United Kingdom, with much praise for the programme as "brave", "sensitive"[28] and "important"[29] whilst it also gathered accusations of "pro-death" bias from anti-euthanasia pressure groups and of encouraging the view that disability was a good reason for killing from disability groups.[30][31]

Dignitas continued to be presented in the media as a political stance on the right to die. BBC featured an article regarding the death of UK citizen Jeffrey Spector, a businessman who decided to travel to Switzerland to undergo assisted suicide through Dignitas for an inoperable tumour which most likely would have caused paralysis later on in its development. This situation reignited the debate revolving around the morality of assisted suicides in certain dilemmas, and incited current stances concerning euthanasia. Former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer said he would "attempt to reintroduce a bill that would allow assisted dying in the UK".[32]

Both the book Me Before You and the movie discuss the organization as it serves a vital function in both the main plot and the characters' lives.


respect the old but seek out the new

Michiba was also extremely supportive of Nakamura's successor, Masaharu Morimoto. Inarguably, Morimoto took Michiba's "no borders to ingredients" philosophy to a different level. The show often referred to the relationship between Michiba and Morimoto as that between master and student, especially after an episode when Michiba flew to New York to visit Morimoto's restaurant, Nobu. So supportive of Morimoto was Michiba that, before his infamous New York battle with chef Bobby Flay, Michiba gave Morimoto a large box of katsuobushi flakes with a hand-calligraphed message: "respect the old, but seek out the new."

Rokusaburo Michiba

Rokusaburo Michiba (道場 六三郎, Michiba Rokusaburō, born 3 January 1931) is a Japanese cuisine chef most notable as the first Japanese Iron Chef on the television series Iron Chef. He was on the show from its inception in 1993 until his retirement on his 65th birthday, January 3, 1996. After his retirement as an Iron Chef, he made sporadic appearances on the show, and producers even dedicated a special 1996 tribute episode to him called The Legend of Michiba. Rokusaburo Michiba originally balked at his blue attire (a samue outfit with a flat cap), but was flattered into wearing it.

Michiba was once considered a maverick for his philosophy of "there are no borders to ingredients." Although primarily a Japanese chef, Michiba was unafraid of incorporating decidedly non-Japanese elements into his dishes â€” something that did not sit well with more traditional-minded Japanese cuisine chefs. Indeed, in his first battle against French cuisine-trained Kobayakawa Yousei, Michiba was given a theme ingredient virtually foreign to Japanese cuisine: foie gras. Michiba was declared the winner. In fact, of his outstanding career win-loss record of thirty-two wins, five losses, and one tie, he, arguably, can take some personal and professional satisfaction that his record against the traditionalists is a fine ten wins and one loss.

Michiba's trademark was "Inochi no Dashi" (命の出汁; いのちのだし or "Broth of Vigour",) a combination of plenty of katsuobushi, skipjack tuna shavings and edible kelp (konbu), which he used during virtually every battle.

Michiba was also skilled in calligraphy, often using precious minutes, usually at the beginning of a battle, to write a menu. On one occasion, however, Michiba forgot to write a menu and lost a battle; on another occasion, he did it at the last moment and lost as well. In an episode where his sous-chef challenged Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, Michiba explained that he wrote out his menu partly to clarify what he wanted to present, and partly to inform his assistants so that they would know which ingredients to gather and prepare. Several challengers also wrote out their menus during their battle; commentators referred to this as "taking a page out of Iron Chef Michiba's book."

His imaginative mind and skills allowed him to, on occasion, finish a battle earlier than expected and prepare extra dishes. Despite being the oldest of the Iron Chefs, he holds the Kitchen Stadium record for most dishes in a battle: eight. In each contest, he would also try to create one dish that an ordinary person could duplicate without specialized equipment or knowledge.

Because of his age, experience, and excellent time management skills, Rokusaburo Michiba was regarded as the senior Iron Chef. His "borderless Japanese cuisine" is often not only considered to be neo-Japanese in style, but a precursor to neo-Japanese cuisine.

Michiba's tenure was interrupted by an illness in mid-1995 that briefly hospitalized him, and afterwards, although his cooking form was as good as ever, he began tiring from the stress of appearing on the show and running his three restaurants: Poisson Rokusaburo in Akasaka, and Ginza Rokusan-tei and Kaishoku-Michiba in Ginza. It only worsened during overtime battles which were made possible by the addition of a fourth judge.

According to Takeshi Kaga, after his decision to retire, Rokusaburo Michiba vowed to personally recruit his successor. The show continued with just Iron Chef French Hiroyuki Sakai and Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi for two months. But, finally, it was announced that Michiba had completed his mission with the naming of Koumei Nakamura. "All my instincts told me he was the one," said Michiba. Initially, Nakamura refused, but was convinced to accept. Nakamura's first battle on March 1, 1996 was against French chef Kiyoshi Suzuki. During the introduction of the theme ingredient of the day, Chairman Kaga stated that he could not resist choosing foie gras, wanting to relive some of the magic of Michiba's first victory using the same ingredient.

Michiba made appearances throughout the 2012 revival of Iron Chef through interviews on former assistant Kenichi Miyanaga, a seat on the tasting panel and as a competitor against new Iron Chef Jun Kurogi in the revival's 2012 "Ryouri no Tetsujin Dream Match! World Iron Chef Live Battle Special."

The manga series Kandō Ō Retsuden featured a story about Michiba in volume 2, called Michiba Rokusaburō Monogatari. The data collecting and organizing was made by Yasuo Negishi and it was illustrated by Yoshihiro Takahashi.[1]


who is known for his forensic contribution to anthropometry

Alphonse Bertillon (French: [bɛʁtijɔ̃]; 24 April 1853 – 13 February 1914) was a French police officer and biometrics researcher who applied the anthropological technique of anthropometry to law enforcement creating an identification system based on physical measurements. Anthropometry was the first scientific system used by police to identify criminals. Before that time, criminals could only be identified by name or photograph. The method was eventually supplanted by fingerprinting.[1]

Alphonse Bertillon

He is also the inventor of the mug shot. Photographing of criminals began in the 1840s only a few years after the invention of photography, but it was not until 1888 that Bertillon standardized the process.

Bertillon was born in Paris.[2] He was a son of statistician Louis-Adolphe Bertillon and younger brother of the statistician and demographer Jacques Bertillon.

After being expelled from the Imperial LycÃ©e of Versailles, Bertillon drifted through a number of jobs in England and France, before being conscripted into the French army in 1875. Several years later, he was discharged from the army with no real higher education, so his father arranged for his employment in a low-level clerical job at the Prefecture of Police in Paris. Thus, Bertillon began his police career on 15 March 1879 as a department copyist.

Being an orderly man, he was dissatisfied with the ad hoc methods used to identify the increasing number of captured criminals who had been arrested before. This, together with the steadily rising recidivism rate in France since 1870,[3] motivated his invention of anthropometrics. His road to fame was a protracted and hard one, as he was forced to do his measurements in his spare time. He used the famous La Santé Prison in Paris for his activities, facing jeers from the prison inmates as well as police officers.

Bertillon also created many other forensics techniques, including the use of galvanoplastic compounds to preserve footprints, ballistics, and the dynamometer, used to determine the degree of force used in breaking and entering.

The nearly 100-year-old standard of comparing 16 ridge characteristics to identify latent prints at crime scenes against criminal records of fingerprint impressions was based on claims in a 1912 paper Bertillon published in France.[4]

Bertillon died 13Â February 1914 in Paris.

Bertillon was a witness for the prosecution in the Dreyfus affair in 1894 and again in 1899. He testified as a handwriting expert and claimed that Alfred Dreyfus had written the incriminating document (known as the “bordereau”). However, he was not a handwriting expert, and his convoluted and flawed evidence was a significant contributing factor to one of the most infamous miscarriages of justice – the condemnation of the innocent Dreyfus to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island.

Using a complex system of measurements, he attempted to prove that Dreyfus had disguised his handwriting by imitating his own handwriting as if someone else was doing so, so that if anyone thought the bordereau was in Dreyfusâ€™s hand, he would be able to say that someone else had forged his writing. Both courts martial evidently accepted this, and Dreyfus was convicted. The verdict of the second court martial caused a huge scandal, and it was eventually overturned.

Bertillon was by many accounts regarded as extremely eccentric. According to Maurice Paleologue, who observed him at the second court-martial, Bertillon was “certainly not in full possession of his faculties”. Paleologue goes on to describe Bertillon’s argument as “...a long tissue of absurdities,” and writes of “...his moonstruck eyes, his sepulchral voice, the saturnine magnetism” that made him feel that he was “...in the presence of a necromancer.”[5]

Bertillon pretended that his graphological system was based on mathematical probability calculus. A later expertise undertaken in 1904 by three renowned mathematicians, Henri Poincaré, Jean Gaston Darboux, and Paul Émile Appell, concluded that Bertillon's system was deprived of any scientific value and that he had failed both to apply the method and to present his data properly.[6] With this key evidence against Dreyfus debunked, he was finally acquitted in 1906.

Bertillon is referenced in the Sherlock Holmes story The Hound of the Baskervilles, in which one of Holmes’ clients refers to Holmes as the “second highest expert in Europe” after Bertillon. Also, in "The Naval Treaty", speaking of the Bertillon system of measurements Holmes himself “... expressed his enthusiastic admiration of the French savant.”

In the Arsène Lupin story The Escape of Arsène Lupin by Maurice Leblanc, Lupin escapes by exploiting the same flaws in anthropometry that led to its eventual disuse.

In Surfeit of Lampreys by Ngaio Marsh Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn touches on the system in Chapter 14, Part 1.

Bertillon is also referenced in the Caleb Carr novel The Alienist. The Isaacson brothers, who are detectives, mention that they are trained in Bertillon system.

The Bertillon Measurements are also mentioned in Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu-inspired The Emperor of America (Cassel, 1929, p. 61), the Ross MacDonald novels The Drowning Pool and "Blue City" (p.30), and Yves Fey's mystery Floats the Dark Shadow.

Bertillonage is mentioned in Chapter 4 and in an appendix of the mystery "The Assassin in the Marais" by Claude Izner.

Bertillon appears in Eric Zencey's novel Panama.

Bertillon is the main character of the third episode of Czech TV series The Adventures of Criminology called “Bertillonage”.

Bertillon is also mentioned in the second episode of the seventh season of FX television series Archer.

Bertillon was also referenced in a series called Elementary. Season 2, Episode 17 (Ears To You).

Bertillon is lampooned in “The Dreyfus Case: IV,” by Finley Peter Dunne (“Mr. Dooley”), reprinted in “Mr. Dooley in the Hearts of His Countrymen” (Robert Howard Russell, pub., 1899), pp. 268, ff.


how many different species of arachnids are there

Almost all extant arachnids are terrestrial, living mainly on land. However, some inhabit freshwater environments and, with the exception of the pelagic zone, marine environments as well. They comprise over 100,000 named species.

Arachnid

Arachnids are a class (Arachnida) of joint-legged invertebrate animals (arthropods), in the subphylum Chelicerata. All arachnids have eight legs, although the front pair of legs in some species has converted to a sensory function, while in other species, different appendages can grow large enough to take on the appearance of extra pairs of legs. The term is derived from the Greek word ἀράχνη (aráchnē), from the myth of the hubristic human weaver Arachne who was turned into a spider.[1] Spiders are the largest order in the class, which also includes scorpions, ticks, mites, harvestmen, and solifuges.[2]

Almost all adult arachnids have eight legs, and arachnids may be easily distinguished from insects by this fact, since insects have six legs. However, arachnids also have two further pairs of appendages that have become adapted for feeding, defense, and sensory perception. The first pair, the chelicerae, serve in feeding and defense. The next pair of appendages, the pedipalps, have been adapted for feeding, locomotion, and/or reproductive functions. In Solifugae, the palps are quite leg-like, so that these animals appear to have ten legs. The larvae of mites and Ricinulei have only six legs; a fourth pair usually appears when they moult into nymphs. However, mites are variable: as well as eight, there are adult mites with six or even four legs.[3]

Arachnids are further distinguished from insects by the fact they do not have antennae or wings. Their body is organized into two tagmata, called the prosoma, or cephalothorax, and the opisthosoma, or abdomen. The cephalothorax is derived from the fusion of the cephalon (head) and the thorax, and is usually covered by a single, unsegmented carapace. The abdomen is segmented in the more primitive forms, but varying degrees of fusion between the segments occur in many groups. It is typically divided into a preabdomen and postabdomen, although this is only clearly visible in scorpions, and in some orders, such as the Acari, the abdominal sections are completely fused.[4] A telson is present in scorpions, where it has been modified to a stinger, and in the Schizomida, whip scorpions and Palpigradi.[5]

Like all arthropods, arachnids have an exoskeleton, and they also have an internal structure of cartilage-like tissue, called the endosternite, to which certain muscle groups are attached. The endosternite is even calcified in some Opiliones.[6]

Most arachnids lack extensor muscles in the distal joints of their appendages. Spiders and whipscorpions extend their limbs hydraulically using the pressure of their hemolymph.[7] Solifuges and some harvestmen extend their knees by the use of highly elastic thickenings in the joint cuticle.[7] Scorpions, pseudoscorpions and some harvestmen have evolved muscles that extend two leg joints (the femur-patella and patella-tibia joints) at once.[8][9] The equivalent joints of the pedipalps of scorpions though, are extended by elastic recoil.[10]

There are characteristics that are particularly important for the terrestrial lifestyle of arachnids, such as internal respiratory surfaces in the form of tracheae, or modification of the book gill into a book lung, an internal series of vascular lamellae used for gas exchange with the air.[11] While the tracheae are often individual systems of tubes, similar to those in insects, ricinuleids, pseudoscorpions, and some spiders possess sieve tracheae, in which several tubes arise in a bundle from a small chamber connected to the spiracle. This type of tracheal system has almost certainly evolved from the book lungs, and indicates that the tracheae of arachnids are not homologous with those of insects.[12]

Further adaptations to terrestrial life are appendages modified for more efficient locomotion on land, internal fertilisation, special sensory organs, and water conservation enhanced by efficient excretory structures as well as a waxy layer covering the cuticle.

The excretory glands of arachnids include up to four pairs of coxal glands along the side of the prosoma, and one or two pairs of Malpighian tubules, emptying into the gut. Many arachnids have only one or the other type of excretory gland, although several do have both. The primary nitrogenous waste product in arachnids is guanine.[12]

Arachnid blood is variable in composition, depending on the mode of respiration. Arachnids with an efficient tracheal system do not need to transport oxygen in the blood, and may have a reduced circulatory system. In scorpions and some spiders, however, the blood contains haemocyanin, a copper-based pigment with a similar function to haemoglobin in vertebrates. The heart is located in the forward part of the abdomen, and may or may not be segmented. Some mites have no heart at all.[12]

Arachnids are mostly carnivorous, feeding on the pre-digested bodies of insects and other small animals. Only in the harvestmen and among mites, such as the house dust mite, is there ingestion of solid food particles, and thus exposure to internal parasites,[13] although it is not unusual for spiders to eat their own silk. Several groups secrete venom from specialized glands to kill prey or enemies. Several mites and ticks are parasites, some of which are carriers of disease.

Arachnids produce digestive juices in their stomachs, and use their pedipalps and chelicerae to pour them over their dead prey. The digestive juices rapidly turn the prey into a broth of nutrients, which the arachnid sucks into a pre-buccal cavity located immediately in front of the mouth. Behind the mouth is a muscular, sclerotised pharynx, which acts as a pump, sucking the food through the mouth and on into the oesophagus and stomach. In some arachnids, the oesophagus also acts as an additional pump.

The stomach is tubular in shape, with multiple diverticula extending throughout the body. The stomach and its diverticula both produce digestive enzymes and absorb nutrients from the food. It extends through most of the body, and connects to a short sclerotised intestine and anus in the hind part of the abdomen.[12]

Arachnids have two kinds of eyes: the lateral and median ocelli. The lateral ocelli evolved from compound eyes and may have a tapetum, which enhances the ability to collect light. With the exception of scorpions, which can have up to five pairs of lateral ocelli, there are never more than three pairs present. The median ocelli develop from a transverse fold of the ectoderm. The ancestors of modern arachnids probably had both types, but modern ones often lack one type or the other.[13] The cornea of the eye also acts as a lens, and is continuous with the cuticle of the body. Beneath this is a transparent vitreous body, and then the retina and, if present, the tapetum. In most arachnids, the retina probably does not have enough light sensitive cells to allow the eyes to form a proper image.[12]

In addition to the eyes, almost all arachnids have two other types of sensory organs. The most important to most arachnids are the fine sensory hairs that cover the body and give the animal its sense of touch. These can be relatively simple, but many arachnids also possess more complex structures, called trichobothria.

Finally, slit sense organs are slit-like pits covered with a thin membrane. Inside the pit, a small hair touches the underside of the membrane, and detects its motion. Slit sense organs are believed to be involved in proprioception, and possibly also hearing.[12]

Arachnids may have one or two gonads, which are located in the abdomen. The genital opening is usually located on the underside of the second abdominal segment. In most species, the male transfers sperm to the female in a package, or spermatophore. Complex courtship rituals have evolved in many arachnids to ensure the safe delivery of the sperm to the female.[12]

Arachnids usually lay yolky eggs, which hatch into immatures that resemble adults. Scorpions, however, are either ovoviviparous or viviparous, depending on species, and bear live young. In most arachnids only the females provide parental care, with harvestmen being one of the few exceptions.[citation needed]

The phylogenetic relationships among the main subdivisions of arthropods have been the subject of considerable research and dispute for many years. A consensus emerged from about 2010 onwards, based on both morphological and molecular evidence. Extant (living) arthropods are a monophyletic group and are divided into three main clades: chelicerates (including arachnids), pancrustaceans (the paraphyletic crustaceans plus insects and their allies), and myriapods (centipedes, millipedes and allies).[14][15][16][17][18] The three groups are related as shown in the cladogram below.[16] Including fossil taxa does not fundamentally alter this view, although it introduces some additional basal groups.[19]

Chelicerata (sea spiders, horseshoe crabs and arachnids)

Pancrustacea (crustaceans and insects)

Myriapoda (centipedes, millipedes, and allies)

The extant chelicerates comprise two marine groups: sea spiders and horseshoe crabs, and the terrestrial arachnids. These are related as shown below.[15][18] (Pycnogonida (sea spiders) may be excluded from the chelicerates, which are then identified as the group labelled "Euchelicerata".[20])

Pycnogonida (sea spiders)

Xiphosura (horseshoe crabs)

Discovering relationships within the arachnids has proven difficult as of MarchÂ 2016[update], with successive studies producing different results. A study in 2014, based on the largest set of molecular data to date, concluded that there were systematic conflicts in the phylogenetic information, particularly affecting the orders Acariformes, Parasitiformes and Pseudoscorpiones, which have had much faster evolutionary rates. Analyses of the data using sets of genes with different evolutionary rates produced mutually incompatible phylogenetic trees. The authors favoured relationships shown by more slowly evolving genes, which demonstrated the monophyly of Chelicerata, Euchelicerata and Arachnida, as well as of some clades within the arachnids. The diagram below summarizes their conclusions, based largely on the 200 most slowly evolving genes; dashed lines represent uncertain placements.[18]

Thelyphonida (Uropygi)

Tetrapulmonata, here consisting of Araneae, Amblypygi and Thelyphonida (Schizomida was not included in the study), received strong support. The addition of Scorpiones to produce a clade called Arachnopulmonata was also well supported. Pseudoscorpiones may also belong here, possibly as the sister of Scorpiones. Somewhat unexpectedly, there was support for a clade comprising Opiliones, Ricinulei and Solifugae, a combination not found in most other studies.[18]

The subdivisions of the arachnids are usually treated as orders. Historically, mites and ticks were treated as a single order, Acari. However, molecular phylogenetic studies suggest that the two groups do not form a single clade, with morphological similarities being due to convergence. They are now usually treated as two separate taxa – Acariformes, mites, and Parasitiformes, ticks – which may be ranked as orders or superorders. The arachnid subdivisions are listed below alphabetically; numbers of species are approximate.

It is estimated that 98,000 arachnid species have been described, and that there may be up to 600,000 in total.[21]

Acari or Acarina is a taxon of arachnids that contains mites and ticks. Its fossil history goes back to the Devonian period, although there is also a questionable Ordovician record. The Devonian period was the time frame in which certain species of animals developed legs. In most modern treatments, the Acari is considered a subclass of Arachnida and is composed of two or three orders or superorders: Acariformes, Parasitiformes, and Opilioacariformes. Most acarines are minute to small (e.g. 0.080–1.00 mm), but the giants of the Acari (some ticks and red velvet mites) may reach lengths of 10–20 mm. It is estimated that over 50,000 species have been described (as of 1999) and that a million or more species are currently living.[citation needed] The study of mites and ticks is called acarology.[22]

Only the faintest traces of primary segmentation remain in mites, the prosoma and opisthosoma being insensibly fused, and a region of flexible cuticle (the cirumcapitular furrow) separates the chelicerae and pedipalps from the rest of the body. This anterior body region is called the gnathosoma (or capitulum) and is also found in the Ricinulei. The remainder of the body is called the idiosoma and is unique to mites. Most adult mites have four pairs of legs, like other arachnids, but some have fewer. For example, gall mites like Phyllocoptes variabilis (superfamily Eriophyioidea) have a wormlike body with only two pairs of legs; some parasitic mites have only one or three pairs of legs in the adult stage. Larval and prelarval stages have a maximum of three pairs of legs; adult mites with only three pairs of legs may be called 'larviform'.

Acarine ontogeny consists of an egg, a prelarval stage (often absent), a larval stage (hexapod except in Eriophyoidea, which have only two pairs of legs), and a series of nymphal stages. Larvae (and prelarvae) have a maximum of three pairs of legs (legs are often reduced to stubs or absent in prelarvae); the fourth pair of legs is added at the first nymphal stage.

Acarines live in practically every habitat, and include aquatic (freshwater and sea water) and terrestrial species. They outnumber other arthropods in the soil organic matter and detritus. Many are parasitic, and they affect both vertebrates and invertebrates. Most parasitic forms are external parasites, while the free living forms are generally predaceous and may even be used to control undesirable arthropods. Others are detritivores that help to break down forest litter and dead organic matter such as skin cells. Others still are plant feeders and may damage crops. Damage to crops is perhaps the most costly economic effect of mites, especially by the spider mites and their relatives (Tetranychoidea), earth mites (Penthaleidae), thread-footed mites (Tarsonemidae) and the gall and rust mites (Eriophyoidea). Some parasitic forms affect humans and other mammals, causing damage by their feeding, and can even be vectors of diseases such as scrub typhus and rickettsial pox. A well-known effect of mites on humans is their role as an allergen and the stimulation of asthma in people affected by the respiratory disease. The use of predatory mites (e.g. Phytoseiidae) in pest control and herbivorous mites that attack weeds is also important. An unquantified, but major positive contribution of the Acari is their normal functioning in ecosystems, especially their roles in the decomposer subsystem.[22]

Amblypygids are also known as tailless whip scorpions or cave spiders. Approximately 5 families, 17 genera and 136 species have been described. They are found in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. Some species are subterranean; many are nocturnal. During the day, they may hide under logs, bark, stones, or leaves. They prefer a humid environment. Amblypygids may range from 5 to 40Â mm. Their bodies are broad and highly flattened and the first pair of legs (the first walking legs in most arachnid orders) are modified to act as sensory organs. (Compare solifugids, uropygids, and schizomids.) These very thin modified legs can extend several times the length of body. They have no silk glands or venomous fangs, but can have prominent pincer-like pedipalps. Amblypygids often move about sideways on their six walking legs, with one "whip" pointed in the direction of travel while the other probes on either side of them. Prey are located with these "whips", captured with pedipalps, then torn to pieces with chelicerae. Fossilised amblypygids have been found dating back to the Carboniferous period.

Amblypygids, particularly the species Phrynus marginemaculatus and Damon diadema, are thought to be one of the few species of arachnids that show signs of social behavior. Research conducted at Cornell University by entomologists suggests that a mother amblypygid comforts her young by gently caressing the offspring with her feelers. Further, when two or more siblings were placed in an unfamiliar environment, such as a cage, they would seek each other out and gather back in a group.[23]

Araneae, or spiders, are the most familiar of the arachnids, and the most species-rich with around 40,000 described species.[24] All spiders produce silk, a thin, strong protein strand extruded by the spider from spinnerets most commonly found on the end of the abdomen. Many species use it to trap insects in webs, although there are many species that hunt freely. Silk can be used to aid in climbing, form smooth walls for burrows, build egg sacs, wrap prey, temporarily hold sperm, and even fly, among other applications.

All spiders except those in the families Uloboridae and Holarchaeidae, and in the suborder Mesothelae (together about 350 species) can inject venom to protect themselves or to kill and liquefy prey. Only about 200 species, however, have bites that can pose health problems to humans.[25] Many larger species' bites may be painful, but will not produce lasting health concerns.

Spiders are found all over the world, from the tropics to the Arctic, with some extreme species even living underwater in silken domes that they supply with air,[26] and on the tops of the highest mountains.

Haptopoda is an extinct order known exclusively from a few specimens from the Upper Carboniferous of the United Kingdom. It is monotypic, i.e. has only one species, Plesiosiro madeleyi. Relationships with other arachnids are obscure, but closest relatives may be the Amblypygi, Thelyphonida and Schizomida of the tetrapulmonate clade[27] â€“ a result which has been reflected in cladistic analyses.[28]

Opiliones (formerly Phalangida, and better known as harvestmen or daddy longlegs) are arachnids that are harmless to people and are known for their exceptionally long walking legs, compared to their body size. As of December 2011[update], over 6,500 species of harvestmen have been discovered worldwide.[29] The order Opiliones is divided into five suborders: Cyphophthalmi, Eupnoi, Dyspnoi, Laniatores, and the recently described Tetrophthalmi.[30] Well-preserved fossils have been found in the 410-million year old Rhynie cherts of Scotland and 305-million-year-old rocks from France; they look surprisingly modern, suggesting that the basic structure of the harvestmen has not changed much since then.[31][32]

The difference between harvestmen and spiders is that in harvestmen the two main body sections (the abdomen or opisthosoma with ten segments and the cephalothorax or prosoma) are nearly joined, so that they appear to be one oval structure. In more advanced species, the first five abdominal segments are often fused into a dorsal shield called the scutum, which is normally fused with the carapace. Sometimes this shield is only present in males. The two hindmost abdominal segments may be reduced or separated in the middle on the surface to form two plates lying next to each other. The second pair of legs is longer than the others and works as antennae. They have a single pair of eyes in the middle of their heads, oriented sideways. They have a pair of prosomatic scent glands that secrete a peculiar smelling fluid when disturbed. Harvestmen do not have spinnerets and do not possess poison glands, posing absolutely no danger to humans. They breathe through tracheae. Between the base of the fourth pair of legs and the abdomen is a pair of spiracles, one opening on each side. In more active species, spiracles are also found upon the tibia of the legs. They have a gonopore on the ventral cephalothorax, and copulation is direct, as the male has a penis (while the female has an ovipositor).

Typical body length does not exceed 7 millimetres (0.28 in) even in the largest species. However, leg span is much larger and can exceed 160 mm (6.3 in). Most species live for a year. Many species are omnivorous, eating primarily small insects and all kinds of plant material and fungi; some are scavengers of the decays of any dead animal, bird dung and other fecal material. They are mostly nocturnal and coloured in hues of brown, although there are a number of diurnal species that have vivid patterns in yellow, green and black with varied reddish and blackish mottling and reticulation.

Palpigradi, commonly known as "microwhip scorpions", are tiny cousins of the uropygid, or whip scorpion, no more than 3Â mm in length. They have a thin, pale, segmented carapace that terminates in a whip-like flagellum, made up of 15 segments. The carapace is divided into two plates between the third and fourth leg set. They have no eyes. Some species have three pairs of book lungs, while others have no respiratory organs at all.[33] Approximately 80 species of Palpigradi have been described worldwide, in the families Eukoeneniidae and Prokoeneniidae, with a total of seven genera.

They are believed to be predators like their larger relatives, feeding on minuscule insects in their habitat. Their mating habits are unknown, except that they lay only a few relatively large eggs at a time. Microwhip scorpions need a damp environment to survive, and they always hide from light, so they are commonly found in the moist earth under buried stones and rocks. They can be found on every continent, except in Arctic and Antarctic regions.

Phalangiotarbi is an extinct arachnid order known exclusively from the Palaeozoic (Devonian to Permian) of Europe and North America. The affinities of phalangiotarbids are obscure, with most authors favouring affinities with Opiliones (harvestmen)[28] and/or Acari (mites and ticks). Phalangiotarbi has been recently proposed to be sister group to (Palpigradi+Tetrapulmonata): the taxon Megoperculata sensu Shultz (1990).[34]

Pseudoscorpions are small arthropods with a flat, pear-shaped body and pincers that resemble those of scorpions. They range from 2 to 8 mm (0.079 to 0.315 in) long.[35] The opisthosoma is made up of twelve segments, each guarded by plate-like tergites above and sternites below. The abdomen is short and rounded at the rear, rather than extending into a segmented tail and stinger like true scorpions. The colour of the body can be yellowish-tan to dark-brown, with the paired claws often a contrasting colour. They may have two, four or no eyes. They have two very long pedipalps with palpal chelae (pincers) that strongly resemble the pincers found on a scorpion. The pedipalps generally consist of an immobile "hand" and "finger", with a separate movable finger controlled by an adductor muscle. A venom gland and duct are usually located in the mobile finger; the poison is used to capture and immobilise the pseudoscorpion's prey. During digestion, pseudoscorpions pour a mildly corrosive fluid over the prey, then ingest the liquefied remains. Pseudoscorpions spin silk from a gland in their jaws to make disk-shaped cocoons for mating, molting, or waiting out cold weather. Another trait they share with their closest relatives, the spiders, is breathing through spiracles. Most spiders have one pair of spiracles, and one of book lungs, but pseudoscorpions do not have book lungs.

There are more than 2,000 species of pseudoscorpions recorded. They range worldwide, even in temperate to cold regions, but have their most dense and diverse populations in the tropics and subtropics. The fossil record of pseudoscorpions dates back over 380 million years, to the Devonian period, near the time when the first land-animal fossils appear.

During the elaborate mating dance, the male of some pseudoscorpion species pulls a female over a spermatophore previously laid upon a surface.[36] In other species, the male also pushes the sperm into the female genitals using the forelegs.[37] The female carries the fertilised eggs in a brood pouch attached to her abdomen, and the young ride on the mother for a short time after they hatch.[35] Up to two dozen young are hatched in a single brood; there may be more than one brood per year. The young go through three molts over the course of several years before reaching adulthood. Adult pseudoscorpions live 2 to 3 years. They are active in the warm months of the year, overwintering in silken cocoons when the weather grows cold.

Pseudoscorpions are generally beneficial to humans since they prey on clothes moth larvae, carpet beetle larvae, booklice, ants, mites, and small flies. They are small and inoffensive, and are rarely seen due to their size. They usually enter the home by "riding along" with larger insects (known as phoresy), or are brought in with firewood. They are often observed in bathrooms or laundry rooms, since they seek humidity. They may sometimes be found feeding on mites under the wing covers of certain beetles.

Ricinulei (hooded tickspiders) are 5–10 mm long. Their most notable feature is a "hood" that can be raised and lowered over the head; when lowered, it covers the mouth and the chelicerae. Ricinulei have no eyes. The pedipalps end in pincers that are small relative to their bodies, when compared to those of the related orders of scorpions and pseudoscorpions. The heavy-bodied abdomen forms a narrow pedicel, or waist, where it attaches to the prosoma. In males, the third pair of legs are modified to form copulatory organs. Malpighian tubules and a pair of coxal glands make up the excretory system. They have no lungs, as gas exchange takes place through the trachea.

Ricinulei are predators, feeding on other small arthropods. Little is known about their mating habits; the males have been observed using their modified third leg to transfer a spermatophore to the female. The eggs are carried under the mother's hood, until the young hatch into six-legged "larva", which later molt into their adult forms. Ricinulei require moisture to survive. Approximately 57 species of ricinuleids have been described worldwide, all in a single family that contains three genera.

Schizomida is an order of arachnids that tend to live in the top layer of soils. Schizomids present the prosoma covered by a large protopeltidium and smaller, paired, mesopeltidia and metapeltidia. There are no eyes. The opisthosoma is a smooth oval of 12 recognisable somites. The first is reduced and forms the pedicel. The last three are much constricted, forming the pygidium. The last somite bears the flagellum, which in this order is short and consists of not more than four segments.

The name means "split or cleaved middle", referring to the way the cephalothorax is divided into two separate plates. Like the Thelyphonida, Amblypygi, and Solifugae, the schizomids use only six legs for walking, having modified their first two legs to serve as sensory organs. They also have large well-developed pedipalps (pincers) just behind the sensory legs.

Scorpions (formally the order Scorpiones) are characterised by a metasoma (tail) comprising six segments, the last containing the scorpion's anus and bearing the telson (the sting). The telson, in turn, consists of the vesicle, which holds a pair of venom glands and the hypodermic aculeus, the venom-injecting barb. The abdomen's front half, the mesosoma, is made up of six segments. The first segment contains the sexual organs as well as a pair of vestigial and modified appendages forming a structure called the genital operculum. The second segment bears a pair of featherlike sensory organs known as the "pectines"; the final four segments each contain a pair of book lungs. The mesosoma is armored with chitinous plates, known as tergites on the upper surface and sternites on the lower surface.

The cuticle of scorpions is covered with hairs in some places that act like balance organs. An outer layer that makes them fluorescent green under ultraviolet light is called the hyaline layer. Newly molted scorpions do not glow until after their cuticle has hardened. The fluorescent hyaline layer can be intact in fossil rocks that are hundreds of millions of years old.

Scorpions are opportunistic predators of small arthropods and insects. They use their chelae (pincers) to catch the prey initially. Depending on the toxicity of their venom and size of their claws, they will then either crush the prey or inject it with neurotoxic venom. The neurotoxins consist of a variety of small proteins as well as sodium and potassium cations, which serve to interfere with neurotransmission in the victim. Scorpions use their venom to kill or paralyze their prey so that it can be eaten; in general, it is fast acting, allowing for effective prey capture. Scorpion venoms are optimised for action on other arthropods and therefore most scorpions are relatively harmless to humans; stings produce only local effects (such as pain, numbness or swelling). A few scorpion species, however, mostly in the family Buthidae, can be dangerous to humans. The scorpion that is responsible for the most human deaths is Androctonus australis, or fat-tailed scorpion of North Africa. The toxicity of A. australis's venom is roughly half that of the deathstalker (Leiurus quinquestriatus), but since A. australis injects quite a bit more venom into its prey, it is the most deadly to humans. Human deaths normally occur in the young, elderly, or infirm; scorpions are generally unable to deliver enough venom to kill healthy adults. Some people, however, may be allergic to the venom of some species, in which case the scorpion's sting can more likely kill. A primary symptom of a scorpion sting is numbing at the injection site, sometimes lasting for several days. It has been found that scorpions have two types of venom: a translucent, weaker venom designed to stun only, and an opaque, more potent venom designed to kill heavier threats.[38][39]

Unlike the majority of Arachnida species, scorpions are viviparous. The young are born one by one, and the brood is carried about on its mother's back until the young have undergone at least one moult.[40] The young generally resemble their parents, requiring between five and seven moults to reach maturity. Scorpions have quite variable lifespans and the lifespan of most species is not known. The age range appears to be approximately 4–25 years (25 years being the maximum reported life span in the giant desert hairy scorpion, Hadrurus arizonensis). They are nocturnal and fossorial, finding shelter during the day in the relative cool of underground holes or undersides of rocks and coming out at night to hunt and feed. Scorpions prefer to live in areas where the temperature is 20–37 °C (68–99 °F), but may survive in the temperature range of 14–45 °C (57–113 °F).[41][42]

Scorpions have been found in many fossil records, including coal deposits from the Carboniferous Period and in marine Silurian deposits. They are thought to have existed in some form since about 450 to 425 million years ago. They are believed to have an oceanic origin, with gills and a claw-like appendage that enabled them to hold onto rocky shores or seaweed.

Solifugae is a group of 900 species of arachnids, commonly known as camel spiders, wind scorpions, and sun spiders. The name derives from Latin, and means those that flee from the sun. Most Solifugae live in tropical or semitropical regions where they inhabit warm and arid habitats, but some species have been known to live in grassland or forest habitats. The most distinctive feature of Solifugae is their large chelicerae. Each of the two chelicerae are composed of two articles forming a powerful pincer; each article bears a variable number of teeth. Males in all families but Eremobatidae possess a flagellum on the basal article of the chelicera. Solifugae also have long pedipalps, which function as sense organs similar to insects' antennae and give the appearance of the two extra legs. Pedipalps terminate in reversible adhesive organs.

Solifugae are carnivorous or omnivorous, with most species feeding on termites, darkling beetles, and other small arthropods; however, solifugae have been videotaped consuming larger prey, such as lizards. Prey is located with the pedipalps and killed and cut into pieces by the chelicerae. The prey is then liquefied and the liquid ingested through the pharynx. Reproduction can involve direct or indirect sperm transfer; when indirect, the male emits a spermatophore on the ground and then inserts it with his chelicerae in the female's genital pore.

The Thelyphonida (formerly Uropygi), commonly known as vinegarroons or whip scorpions, range from 25 to 85 mm in length; the largest species, of the genus Mastigoproctus, reaches 85 mm (3.3 in). Like the related orders Schizomida, Amblypygi, and Solifugae, the vinegarroons use only six legs for walking, having modified their first two legs to serve as antennae-like sensory organs. Many species also have very large scorpion-like pedipalps (pincers). They have one pair of eyes at the front of the cephalothorax and three on each side of the head. Whip scorpions have no poison glands, but they do have glands near the rear of their abdomen that can spray a combination of acetic acid and octanoic acid when they are bothered. Other species spray formic acid or chlorine. As of 2006, over 100 species have been described worldwide.

Whip scorpions are carnivorous, nocturnal hunters feeding mostly on insects but sometimes on worms and slugs. The prey is crushed between special teeth on the inside of the trochanters (the second segment of the leg) of the front legs. They are valuable in controlling cockroach and cricket populations.

Males secrete a sperm sac, which is transferred to the female. Up to 35 eggs are laid in a burrow, within a mucous membrane that preserves moisture. Mothers stay with the eggs and do not eat. The white young that hatch from the eggs climb onto their mother's back and attach themselves there with special suckers. After the first molt, they look like miniature whip scorpions, and leave the burrow; the mother dies soon after. The young grow slowly, going through three molts in about three years before reaching adulthood.

Vinegarroons are found in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide, usually in underground burrows that they dig with their pedipalps. They may also burrow under logs, rotting wood, rocks, and other natural debris. They enjoy humid, dark places and avoid the light.

The order Trigonotarbida is an extinct group of arachnids whose fossil record extends from the Silurian to the Lower Permian.[43] They are known from several localities in North Asia, North America and Argentina. They superficially resemble spiders, to which they were clearly related - most cladistic analyses recover them in a clade with Thelyphonida, Schizomida, Amblypygi and Araneae.[28]

These early arachnids seem to have been adapted to stalking prey on the ground.[44] They have been found within the very structure of ground-dwelling plants, possibly where they hid to await their prey. Trigonotarbids are currently among the oldest known land arthropods. They lack silk glands on the opisthosoma and cheliceral poison glands, and most likely represented independent offshoots of the Arachnida.

Uraraneida is a small extinct order of arachnids consisting of two fossil species found in the Devonian and the Permian. They were at one time identified as spiders, and are clearly closely related to them. However, they differ in a several respects. Silk is produced from spigots borne along the rear edges of plates on the underside of the abdomen, not on appendage-like spinnerets, as in spiders. They also have a long, jointed "tail" or flagellum at the end of the abdomen, after the anus, a feature lacking in spiders but present in some other arachnids, such as whip scorpions.[45]