Riparia paludicola (African Sand Martin) is a species of birds in the family swallows. They are associated with freshwater habitat. They are found in the palearctic, the indo-malayan realm, and Afrotropics.
Definition: The largest scale biogeographic division of the earth's surface based on the historic and evolutionary distribution patterns of plants and animals.
Definition: A linear shoaling landform feature within a body of water. Bars tend to be long and narrow (linear) and develop where a current (or waves) promote deposition of granular material, resulting in localized shallowing (shoaling) of the water. Bars can appear in the sea, in a lake, or in a river. They are typically composed of sand, although could be of any granular matter that the moving water has access to and is capable of shifting around (for example, soil, silt, gravel, cobble, shingle, or even boulders). The grain size of the material comprising a bar is related: to the size of the waves or the strength of the currents moving the material, but the availability of material to be worked by waves and currents is also important.
