Monday 30 October 2006
Pudu - smallest deer in the world
The
pudu (
Pudu puda) is the smallest deer in the world, ranging from 60 to 85 centimeters in length. They can be found in Chile and Argentina from sea level to 3200 meters high. They are very cautious animals, checking the wind every now and then by standing on their hind legs when feeding on twigs and bark, fruits, leaves and seeds. Its predators are eagle owls, the
cougar, foxes and small cats. When the pudu feels threatened, it flees usually in a zig-zag pattern and have the unique ability, for deers, to be able to climb trees when threatened. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN and its main threats are habitat destruction, roe and fallow deer introduced from Europe, and domestic dogs.
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Thursday 26 October 2006
Giant anteater
The
Giant Anteater (
Myrmecophaga tridactyla) is the largest of the anteaters and lives Central and South America. Its diet consists mainly of ants and termites. Sometimes it feeds on up to 30,000 in a single day, moving from one anthill or temitehill to another. They do not have any teeth, even when reaching adulthood. The only mammals that has no teeth too, when mature, are the
Pangolins. The middle three digits on their forefeet have longer claws, which they use to break open mounds of ants and termites. Actually they have five digits, despite their name
'tridactyla', which means 'three fingers' in Greek, the two outer digits are much smaller. The Giant anteater is the mammal with the longest tongue in relation to its body and can extend it as much as 150 times per minute and as long as 61 centimeters. They do not use their claws to digg burrows, yet they sleep in dense vegetation, abandoned burrows, or a hole in the ground. They are hunted on by
jaguars and
pumas, but their primary threat is habitat destruction. Giant anteaters are listed as 'vulnerable' by the
IUCN.
Picture of the giant eater by Malene Thyssen, www.mtfoto.dk/malene/, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5
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Monday 23 October 2006
Gray Fox - only canid to climb trees
The
Gray Fox (
Urocyon cinereoargenteus) ranges from lower Canada all the way to Venezuela, excluding the Great Plains, northwestern United States, and eastern Central America. It has a gray back, light brown to brownish orange on the sides, neck and legs, and a black stripe along its back and tail and a white belly. It is very agile and can climb up and down trees easily with their powerful, hooked claws and are they only member of the canid family to climb trees. It preys on cottontail rabbits, birds, voles,
field mice, shrews and insects. It also eats fruits, berries and vegetable material. Gray foxes can weigh between 3.6 to 6.8 kilograms and can become 6 to 10 years in the wild.
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Saturday 21 October 2006
Lion
The
lion (Panthera leo) is one of the four 'big cats' in the genus Panthera. The
tiger is the largest of the big cats and the second place is for the lion. They can become 10 to 14 years in the wild and the male can weigh as much as 225 kilograms. Their main threats are inbreeding, because remaining populations became isolated. Lions usually hunt at night and dawn, hunting on
antelopes, gazelles,
warthogs, wildebeest, buffalos and
zebras, but also carrion from hyenas or
African wild dogs. Lions can run as fast as 60 kilometers per hour, but cannot maintain that speed fo a very long time. Lions can either be 'nomads', or 'residents'. When lions are in groups (prides) of related females, their young and 1 to 4 males (a 'coalition'), they are said to be 'residents'. When one or two lions
migrate over great distances, they are said to be 'nomads'. Lions spend about 20 hours per day resting. Did you know a lion can be crossbred to produce a
liger or
tigon (ligers (male lion and a tigress) and tigons (male tiger and a lioness) are crossbreeds of a lion and a tiger), leopons (crossbreed a lion and a leopard), and a jaglion (jaglions are crosbreeds between a jaguar and a lion).
Bertram the liger
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Wednesday 18 October 2006
Northern ghost bat
The
Northern Ghost Bat (Diclidurus albus) is also called Jumbie or Jumby bat or white bat and belongs to the Emballonuridae family of bats. Although relatively rare, it is widespread as it is found in eastern Brazil, North Peru, and Mexico and also in the Caribbean, especially in Trinidad. They roost at daytime in rock crevices, old mines and caves in colonies, and alone under leaves of palm trees from lowland regions up to the mountain areas of about 1500 meters high.
The length of the bat's head and body ranges from 86 to 103 millimeters, and its forearm is from 60 to 70 millimeters. It weighs about 17 to 24 grams. Obviously, the white bat's color is white and has short rounded yellowish ears and hair bases that may be visibly grayish. Its pelage is white, and its patagia is translucent and pinkish. It has a short tail, about 18 to 22 millimeters, which is perhaps one-third of the length of the bat's uropatagium. Its face is almost naked, and its eyes are big. The white bat does not have wing sacs unlike the other members of Emballonuridae family. Its uropatagium has a unique triangular gland instead with two valves. Its function is unknown, but the male has a larger gland that becomes bigger and more prominent when breeding season comes. The Northern Ghost Bat also has vestigial thumbs.
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