biology

Peucaea

Peucaea is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Peucaea rather than just read about it. In short: Peucaea is a genus of American sparrows. The species in this genus used to be included in the genus Aimophila.

Key takeaways

Peucaea belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Peucaea to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Peucaea from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Peucaea is a genus of American sparrows. The species in this genus used to be included in the genus Aimophila.

Taxonomy and species A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2009 found that the genus Aimophila was polyphyletic. In the resulting reorganization to create monophyletic genera, eight species were moved from Aimophila to the resurrected genus Peucaea. Peucaea had been introduced by the Franco-American ornithologist John James Audubon in 1839. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek peukē meaning "pine-tree". The type species was designated by English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1841 as Fringilla bachmani, a taxon now considered to be a subspecies of Bachman's sparrow with the trinomial name Peucaea aestivalis bachmani. Peucaea is the sister genus to Ammodramus within the family Passerellidae. The genus contains the following 8 species:

Rufous-winged sparrow, Peucaea carpalis Cinnamon-tailed sparrow, Peucaea sumichrasti Stripe-headed sparrow, Peucaea ruficauda Black-chested sparrow, Peucaea humeralis Bridled sparrow, Peucaea mystacalis Botteri's sparrow, Peucaea botterii Cassin's sparrow, Peucaea cassinii Bachman's sparrow, Peucaea aestivalis

Notes

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Peucaea

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Peucaea claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Peucaea before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Peucaea ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Peucaea

In research: Peucaea appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Peucaea in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Peucaea is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics American sparrows, Bird genera, Peucaea, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Peucaea outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Peucaea” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Peucaea in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Peucaea means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Peucaea out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Peucaea in simple terms?

Peucaea is a genus of American sparrows. The species in this genus used to be included in the genus Aimophila.

Why does Peucaea matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Peucaea?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Peucaea.