Saturday 29 July 2006 White Rhinoceros - same skin color as the Black Rhino

The White Rhinoceros or Square-lipped rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) belongs to the family of Rhinocerotidae. Together with the Sumatran Rhinoceros, Black Rhinoceros, Indian Rhinoceros and Javan Rhinoceros it makes up the 5 species of Rhinoceros alive. It lives in the north-east and south of Africa. Its distinctive features are a hump on its back near its head. Funny enough, the White Rhinoceros isn't white (it has about the same skin color as the Black Rhinoceros). Its name is derived from the Afrikaans word for wide ("weit"), which refers to the widt of its mouth, which got misinterpreted by early English settlers.. Therefore, Square-lipped Rhinoceros would be more accurate. The White Rhinoceros can weigh between 1800 - 2700 kg. They are listed as "Critically endangered". Major threats are habitat destruction and poaching.

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Tuesday 25 July 2006 Antillean ghost-faced bat

The Antillean ghost-faced bat, or Blainvillee's leaf-chinned bat (Mormoops blainvillii) is a small bat, weighing only 9 grams ! The length of the forearms are between 43 to 50 milimeters. They have short and round ears, standing wide open, giving the impression of a funnel surrounding the head. Their eyes reduced eyes almost seem to be within the ears. The Antillean ghost-faced bat feeds in the underbrush on insects by night, and by day it prefers a hot cave.

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Monday 24 July 2006 Ethiopian wolf

The Ethiopian Wolf (Canis simensis) is one of the most endangered canids on the planet. It lives in Ethiopia and Eritrea at altitudes of 3000 meters. It is estimated that about 550 individuals exist. Their diet consists primarily on rodents, hunting alone, digging out their burrows at night. The Ethiopian Wolf is a social animal however, which forms hierarchical packs of 3-13 individuals. A recent study showed that the Ethiopian Wolf is more closely related to gray wolves and coyotes than the foxes they resemble.

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Tuesday 18 July 2006 Pizote

The pizote (Nasua narica), or coati, is a member of the Raccoon family in the Carnivora order which lives in the southern states of North America to the north of South America. They can reach lengths of up to 80 to 130 centimeters and can weigh 3 to 5 kilograms. They are recognizable by their flexible long nose and their long, slim tail. Pizotes are omnivores, their diet consists of spiders, scorpions, millipedes, insects and crabs, but also mice, frogs, lizards and eggs, fruit and nuts. They are hunted by boa's, cats, and tayras.

Image licensed under GFDL, photo by Julie Ramsey (Ram-Man)

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Wednesday 12 July 2006 Thylacine - extinct species cloning project dropped and restarted

The extinct species Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) is also called Tasmanian Wolf or Tasmanian Tiger. Its extinction in the wild (1932) was caused by the introduction of dogs, and by people actively hunting the animal. The last living Thylacine was Benjamin in the Hobart zoo in Australia in 1936. I found a short black and white clip of him on google video. Watch here. There also has been a lot of debate on whether and how to clone the thylacine. There has been a group of researchers that started the project, but after they saw that the quality of the extracted DNA was too poor, they aborted their mission (source). In may of this year, the University of NSW's Dean of Science Mike Archer said the work was being picked up by a group of interested universities and a research institute (source)

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Tuesday 11 July 2006 Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth

The Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth (Bradypus variegatus) lives in Central and South America in tropical forests. It is most famous for its arboreal lifestyle and its incredible slow movements... When it is on the ground, it is rather helpless, because the brown-throated three-toed sloth is built for a life in the trees, with its curved feet for tree-grabbing and the weakness of its limbs to support its own weight. It can sleep as much as twenty hours a day and reaches a speed of .1 to .3 miles per hour horizontally. They hide from their predators high in the trees, like the jaguar or the leopard. They are vulnerable to deforestation and habitat fragmentation, because of their slow movement and their special diet needs.

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Saturday 08 July 2006 Patas monkey - Racing guenons of the African savannahs

Monkeys are regarded as very skillful and agile when it comes to climbing trees, but being very fast runners surely is not one of their main characteristics. But - as always - there are exceptions from the rule in this case too. One of these exceptions is the Patas monkey (Erythrocebus patas), the speed-record-holder among all apes. It reaches speeds of more than 50 km/h in not more than three seconds. Patas monkeys are related to guenons. They have long and strong legs and relatively short feet and toes - characteristics, which identify them as fast sprinters. Climbing trees is not their ambition - they are adapted to living on the ground. The Patas monkeys' favourite habitats are the African savannas south of the Sahara, dominated by grasslands and areas of acacia bushes, where hardly any trees can be found. (more)

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Wednesday 05 July 2006 Impala - don't shit where you eat

The impala (Aepyceros melampus) lives in the savannas of African Countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Namibia. Its scientific name means high horn (Aepyceros), black foot (melampus). They weigh around 50 kilograms and can become 95 centimeters tall. Impalas eat grasses and leaves. They use specific areas for their excrement, so they don't shit where they eat... A bachelor herd of impalas can have as much as 30 individuals. Impalas are active both during the day and during the night.

Image © en:User:Pcb21, licensed under GFDL.

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Monday 03 July 2006 Crowned lemur

The Crowned Lemur (Eulemur coronatus) lives on the island of Madagascar. They are exlusively found in the North of Madagascar and are about the same size as a normal housecat. Gestation length is roughly 125 days. Matings occur in late May and June, resulting in births between mid September and October. Although they can reach an age of 36 in captivity, the lifespan in the wild will be a lot lower... Groups can range between 5 to 15 individuals, with an average group size is 5 or 6. Females are dominant over males.

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