Wednesday 30 August 2006
Long-tailed weasel
The
Long-tailed Weasel (
Mustela frenata) is the most widespread Mustelid of the Americas, it ranges from north of South America to the south of Canada. Once thought to be nocturnal, it also hunts by day, primarily on voles. They are known for their zig-zag pattern hunting from burrow to burrow. The reason why weasels in a chicken yard, may kill all the chickens (more than it needs), is because its instinct dictates it should procure food when available and store it afterwards. When weasels drag their rump on the ground, they are thought to leave a scent to let other weasels know its sex and maybe even its identity. The Long-tailed Weasel is hunted by hawks, owls, cats, foxes, and snakes...
You can help spreading the word about this animal by liking it on facebook
Permanent Link
Tuesday 29 August 2006
Eastern Quoll
The
Eastern Quoll (
Dasyurus viverrinus) is a carnivorous marsupial of Australia, where it is extinct on the mainland of Australia, and only extant on Tasmania. With the size of a small cat, the Eastern Quoll hunts at night on insects and small rodents and fruit. The dens of the eastern quoll are usually in caves and hollow logs or trees. They are threatened by illegal poisoning by humans and feral cats and dogs and the destruction of their habitat. They are under tight legislation in Tasmania as a threatened species.
Picture of the Eastern Quoll licensed under GFDL
You can help spreading the word about this animal by liking it on facebook
Permanent Link
Saturday 26 August 2006
Platypus - unlike we have ever seen before, until now...
The
platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is a member of the order of monotremata, the egg laying mammals. It is very strange: a venomous, duck-billed, egg-laying mammal (?!). It is unlike we have ever seen, until now! Recent
fossil discovery of an extinct species named
Akidolestes, a half shrew - half platypus species, challenges conventional wisdom about how placental mammals split from earlier egg-layers. The platypus has a low body temparature compared to other mammals, it is only 32°C compared to 38°C. The platypus is one of the closest relatives of ancestral mammals, although it is not itself a link in the chain of mammalian evolution. Its branch is quite separate from any other one known to man. The recent fossil discovery of
Akidolestes gives hope to get more insight in the separation of this branch.
Image:
Author striatic http://www.flickr.com/photos/striatic/17367/
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0
Resources:
National geographic news
Wikipedia on the platypus
You can help spreading the word about this animal by liking it on facebook
Permanent Link
Sunday 20 August 2006
Arctic fox
The
arctic fox (Alopex lagopus), also called 'polar fox', lives in the cold Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It differs from the
Red Fox with its smaller, more rounded ears, a more rounded braincase, and a slightly shorter and broader muzzle. Its diet consists mostly of lemmings. Other prey are arctic hares, birds and their eggs, and carrion. The population of Arctic foxes is declining, because the Red Fox shares the same habitat.
Gray wolves used to control the number of Red Foxes, but since humans almost hunted gray wolves to extinction, the Arctic Fox is losing ground.
You can help spreading the word about this animal by liking it on facebook
