Ara ararauna
(Linnaeus, 1758) · speciesAt a glance
Sources11 archives
Databases and archives Ara ararauna's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation18 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility117 403 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI44 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics61 specimens↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinegenome & karyotype↗
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗
IOC World Bird ListIOCbird checklist↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
The blue-and-yellow macaw (Ara ararauna), also known as the blue-and-gold macaw, is a large South American parrot with mostly blue top parts and light orange underparts, with gradient hues of green on top of its head. It is a member of the large group of neotropical parrots known as macaws. It inhabits forest (especially varzea, but also in open sections of terra firme or unflooded forest), woodland and savannah of tropical South America. They are popular in aviculture because of their striking color, ability to talk, ready availability in the marketplace, and close bonding to humans. They can also live for 65–70 years.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology14
Life cycle & reproduction6
Diet & foraging8
Habitat & environment4
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Ara ararauna has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
Besides the big genome in the nucleus, cells carry a small, circular loop of DNA inside the cell's energy factories — the mitochondria. It is inherited almost only from the mother and is a leftover from ancient bacteria that moved into the cell. The mitochondrial markers above (ND*, COX, CYTB…) are read from exactly this loop. Outer ring = one strand, inner ring = the other.
The complete instruction manual Ara ararauna carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
Record type117 403 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions15 of 37 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Chicago, US | 34 |
| Museu Nacional/Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeirolocation not on record | 26 |
| Washington, US | 15 |
| Philadelphia, US | 11 |
| Louisiana State University, Museum of Zoologylocation not on record | 11 |
| Los Angeles, US | 9 |
| Corporacion Autonoma Regional del Cesarlocation not on record | 9 |
| Frankfurt am Main | 8 |
| Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH)location not on record | 7 |
| Cambridge, US | 7 |
| Universidad de Caldas (UCaldas)location not on record | 4 |
| Ann Arbor, US | 4 |
| Instituto Tecnológico Metropolitanolocation not on record | 4 |
| Paris, FR | 4 |
| INMAlocation not on record | 3 |
| New Haven, US | 3 |
| Barcelona, ES | 3 |
| EL PASO, US | 2 |
| Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (PUJ)location not on record | 2 |
| Area metropolitana del Valle de Aburralocation not on record | 2 |
| Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL)location not on record | 2 |
| Instituto de Investigacion de Recursos Biologicos Alexander von Humboldtlocation not on record | 2 |
| Seattle, US | 2 |
| Berkeley, US | 2 |
| ASNHClocation not on record | 1 |
| MZLUlocation not on record | 1 |
| Corporacion Autonoma Regional del Valle del Caucalocation not on record | 1 |
| US | 1 |
| The University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobagolocation not on record | 1 |
| UNICAMPlocation not on record | 1 |
| Honolulu, US | 1 |
| Musée des Confluenceslocation not on record | 1 |
| University of Nebraska State Museumlocation not on record | 1 |
| Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS)location not on record | 1 |
| PROMIGAS S.A. E.S.P. (Promigas)location not on record | 1 |
| Natural History Museum Rotterdamlocation not on record | 1 |
| Provincia di Livornolocation not on record | 1 |
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Where the DNA of Ara ararauna was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.