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The Long-nosed cusimanse (Crossarchus obscurus) can be found in forests and swamps of Africa, particularly Central and Western, also in Liberia, Ivory Coast and Ghana. A Long-nosed cusimanse is a mongoose, its body is thin, with short tail tapers. Long-nosed cusimanses heads are long, with short ears. Just like the other kinds of mongoose, their pupils are oval-shaped, horizontally. Their curved claws are used to catch insects, and the front claws are longer than those at the back. The feet's soles are hairless, the covering (of the body) is brown-grey and they have 36 teeth.
A Long-nosed cusimanse's diet is made up of larvae, small reptiles, berries, fruits and crabs. Foraging, they can come together in sets of up to 20 members. The Long-nosed cusimanse digs in leaves and using the snout, they can move wood. In a way, they are intelligent, for they can crack crab shells against stones.
The long-nosed cusimanse is a sociable creature, they can be found grouped together with up to 24 individuals. One to three families make up their group, each family is made up of a couple plus the newborns. They are in constant movement, not staying at a single place for long periods.
When domesticated, if a female is not mated, she could go into heat up to 9 times annually. In the wild, though, they can produce only two to three litters annually.
Image of the Long nosed cusimanse by LA Dawson, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5
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A Springhare (Pedetes capensis) looks like a kangaroo, because of the long tail, long hind legs and shorter front legs. As its name implies, it is an enthusiastic jumper, and can jump up to 2 meters in a single jump. Technically though, Springhares are rodents, not hares. The head is short and rounded, they have big eyes, with ears that are both upright and narrow.
A Springhare grazes and its diet mainly consists of grass. Every so often, one would eat some roots and leaves, they could also consume wheat and oats. Their natural predators are owls, snakes and jackals. The typical Springhare could give birth all throughout the year, and the female would have 3.6 liters annually on the average. Young are born with hair all over their bodies and it would take at least 3 days before the eyes would open.
Springhares are principally nocturnal but they could be up and about in the daytime too. At day times, they stay in tunnels which they themselves make. Experts have studied that two individuals could reside in many burrows at different times. Actually, they usually form 3 burrows close together forming a circle. A burrow is ordinarily set near the biggest tree.
These rodents are hunted in South Africa, being thought of as a significant food source. In the wild, they could be said to be solitary, but if captured, they could co-exist peacefully.
Interesting fact: They do not drink water, they just get moisture from dew and the rain.
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The shrewlike Cuban Solenodon (Solenodon cubanus) has short legs and it possesses skin glands that produce a goat-like smell. Its elongated head has tiny eyes coupled with a flexible snout. Their fur could be any of the following: black, red-brown or dark brown. They could be found in both forests and scrublands, and in the main, they are terrestrial. However, the Cuban Solenodons have the ability to climb. At the ground level, they move with an unsteady gait, but for short lengths, a Cuban Solenodon could run quickly.
At night when they are foraging for food, they use that snout to tear tree trunks. Their diet also consists of snakes, frogs, and crabs. A Cuban Solenodon is basically social, with many members residing in a single hole (burrow that is). A Cuban Solenodon communicates with others via squeaks, squeals and twitters. They comprise the family Solenodontidae, and this in turn belongs to a set of mammals termed as insectivores by the scientific community.
Wilhelm Peters discovered this breed of solenodons in 1861. By 1970, everybody thought they had gone extinct. Wrong, three individual solenodons were caught in the mid-70s. Still, they are rare in any part of the globe they exist in. Before 2003, the last sighting came in '99 and no wonder- they are night burrowers and they live in the basement, so to speak.
In 2003, one of them was captured and it raised the number of captured to 37 (they named it Alejandrito). It was released later on, after experts studied it for just a couple of days.
Interesting fact: The solenodon adults approach one another with their mouths open, probably giving out high-frequency sounds.
Another interesting fact: The solenodon is one of the species of mammals that has venomous saliva.
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They have black shoulders, back, arms, head and tail, but the back of the Golden Snub-nosed Monkey (Pygathrix roxellana) is adorned with a long covering of silver hairs, and for the male, the side of the head, the forehead, neck parts are bright golden, hence the name of these monkeys. The female Golden Snub-nosed Monkey looks like the males, but the upper parts and head are more of the black side. Noses of Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys are flat and established back from their muzzles. They are capable of giving out a set of sounds, often with the absence of facial expressions. In the wild, chorus-like vocalizations often happen.
They live in high forests, going to elevations of more or less 3,000m, but the Golden Snub-nosed Monkey goes down to lower territories during the winter season.
Studies done over the years (just recent) have educated the world on the behavioral and ecological aspects, but more research still needs to be accomplished. The Golden Snub-nosed Monkey is a social creature, forming groups of 20 to 30 during the harsh days of winter, and up to two hundred during summer. These groups would congregate further, forming bands reaching a number of 600. The family unit is made up of one male and on the average, 4 females. Of course, the newborns are included in there. During a moment of danger, they climb very fast up into the refuge of their trees...that is, assuming the predator is not a snake. (A snake could of course catch up with them, no matter how high the tree is).
The Golden Snub-nosed Monkey is capable of exhibiting mating inclination all throughout a year. A young comes out after a gestation of about seven months, and there had been occasions where 2 newborns were given life. Just like so many other kinds, the mother is the one tasked to the infant's rearing, but it is not impossible to find a male actually grooming the newborn.
The diet of these monkeys consists of firs, pine needles, but they could also survive on buds, bamboo shoots and even fruits, among others. One area which needs to be conclusively studied is the life expectancy, as of now, it is for all intents and purposed, unknown.
Interesting fact: A long time ago, the coat of these monkeys was thought of to defeat rheumatism, and only Manchurian officials were allowed to wear it.
The Common Treeshrew (Tupaia glis) has a long nose, and unlike squirrels, no long black whiskers. The Common Treeshrews differ from their relatives, as their tails are layered with long hair, they have an area of naked skin just above the nose, and an earlobe that is tinier than the ear's top area. The colors of the upper body could be any of a multitude of hues, such as red, ochre, brownish, olive and dark- but not exaxctly black, just dark.
They are diurnal creatures, but they use the bulk of the time at the ground and bush areas. Hungry or not, they are on search for food, constantly. Their diet comprises of insects, leaves and fruits. If a Common Treeshrew is eating, it would settle on its haunches, then manage the food via its front paws- very much like a squirrel. The social group is usually made up of a male, and he is accompanied by one to three females, but that's only a norm. A territory is well-set with both sexes interacting.
Their breeding occurs all throughout the year, and the litter size is can range from 1 to 3. The young are kept in an isolated place, and the parents just visits them to do feeding. Typically, sexual maturity of this shrew is attained at three months of age, for both genders.
Interesting fact: A long time ago, they had been categorized as insectivores, that or "primitive primates", but that was then. At present, they are under the order of "Scandentia".
Picture of the common treeshrew by User:Stavenn, licensed under GFDL
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The Long-nosed cusimanse (Crossarchus obscurus) can be found in forests and swamps of Africa, particularly Central and Western, also in Liberia, Ivory Coast and Ghana. A Long-nosed cusimanse is a mongoose, its body is thin, with short tail tapers. Long-nosed cusimanses heads are long, with short ears. Just like the other kinds of mongoose, their pupils are oval-shaped, horizontally. Their curved claws are used to catch insects, and the front claws are longer than those at the back. The feet's soles are hairless, the covering (of the body) is brown-grey and they have 36 teeth.
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