Wednesday 27 December 2006
North Atlantic Right Whale
The
North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) can grow up to 18 meters and weigh up to 100,000 kilograms. They were named 'right' whale by fisherman, because they thought it was the right whale to hunt, as they swim close to the shore, float when killed and 40 % of their body is blubber. Baleen whales feed with their baleen, they 'skim' the water with their mouth open. Water and prey come into the mouth of the whale, but only the water can pass throught, leaving prey like zooplankton, krill, little shrimps behind. There are about 300 Atlantic Northern Right Whales living today, almost all in the western North Atlantic, and are an endangered species.
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Wednesday 20 December 2006
Order Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates)
The members of the order of
Perissodactyla all have an odd number of toes on their hooves. Living members are from the families Equidae (horses, asses, zebra's), Tapiridae (tapirs) and Rhinocerotidae (rhinoceroses). If you are interested in extinct species, about 10 million years after the dinosaurs died out, the order of Perissodactyla began to rise, with bizarre species like the
Chalicothere or check out this
giant extinct rhino (twice the size of an elephant).
Featured members are:
- the donkey
- the horse
- the zebra
- the brazillian tapir
- the white rhinoceros
- the black rhinoceros
- the indian rhinoceros
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Tuesday 19 December 2006
Order Lagomorpha (hares, rabbits and pikas)
The order of
Lagomorpha consists of two familes: Leporidae (hares and rabbits) and Ochotonidae (pikas). The members of Lagomorpha are sometimes mistaken for rodents, but there are a lot of differences between rodents and members of Lagomorpha. From
wikipedia:
- Lagomorphs (loģ o-moŕ fs)(Gr. lagos, hare: + morphē, form) differ from rodents in that:
- they have four incisors in the upper jaw (not two as in rodents);
- they will only eat vegetation (unlike rodents, who will eat meat and vegetation)
- the male's scrotum is in front of the penis;
- the penis has no bone (baculum) unlike the rodent penis; and
- they will redigest first-time droppings (called cecotropes) to obtain the most from their plant diet.
They resemble rodents, however, in that their teeth grow throughout their life, thus necessitating constant chewing to keep them from growing too long.
Featured members are
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Monday 18 December 2006
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