Numenius

Numenius may refer to more than one subject in different fields.

In ornithology, Numenius is a genus of wading birds in the family Scolopacidae, commonly known as curlews. Members of this genus have long legs and a distinctive long, downward-curving bill, and they favor coastal, wetland, and tundra habitats. The best-known species include the Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata); the long-billed curlew (Numenius americanus) of North America; the bristle-thighed curlew (Numenius tahitiensis), found in the Pacific; and the slender-billed curlew (Numenius tenuirostris), whose status ranges from critically endangered to possibly extinct. Curlews are migratory, with many populations undertaking extensive long-distance flights between Arctic breeding grounds and southern wintering areas. They feed mainly on invertebrates such as mollusks, crustaceans, and worms, obtained by probing in soft mud or soil. Breeding typically occurs on open ground in northern regions, where they lay camouflaged eggs in simple ground nests.

Numenius of Apamea is a Greek philosopher of the 2nd to 3rd century CE, associated with the early development of Neoplatonism. He is known primarily from fragments preserved by later authors and is regarded as an influence on later Platonist thought. His work is thought to present a metaphysical system that reinterprets Platonic ideas, often described as proposing a triadic framework involving the One, the Nous (Intellect), and the World Soul, through which reality is organized and emanates. Numenius’s writings contributed to the synthesis that shaped later Neoplatonic philosophy and influenced figures such as Plotinus.