Thursday 30 November 2006 The Australian Sea Lion

Did you know you can tell a sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) from a seal because it has got an external ear, seals have internal ears? Sea lions exist near both the antarctic and the arctic. The Australia Sea lions are found only on islands offshore of West Australia and South Australia. The Australian sea lion once bred in Bass Strait but was eradicated by the sealing industry (source). The bulls stay ashore to defend pregnant females. The (non-pregnant) females go out to hunt a wide variety of prey including several types of fish (including sharks), cephalopods, sea birds and rock lobsters. Females also display "fostering behavior", caring and nursing and protecting the young of others at her own expense. She will even adopt it when the natural mother is killed.

Photo by Brian M Hunt. Licensed under GNU Free Documentation License.

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Sunday 26 November 2006 Lar gibbon

The Lar Gibbon (Hylobates lar), also known as the white-handed gibbon, ranges from the Southwest of china, to Malysia and Indonesia. They primarily live in trees, where they move swiftly, swinging from branch to branch. They live a monogamous life, mating for life. Their diet consists of fruit, leaves and insects. The Lar gibbon can live to up to 25 years in the wild, but they are threatened in several ways. It is hunted for its meat, or to keep as a pet, but the biggest threat is the loss of its habitat as more and more forests are cut down.

photo taken by: de:User:Matthias Trautsch, licensed under GFDL.

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Thursday 23 November 2006 Beluga whale

The Beluga Whale or White Whale (Delphinapterus leucas) lives in the arctic and subarctic regions. It gets its name from the Russian word 'beloye' which means 'white'. The Beluga is also called 'sea canary', because of its high pitch sounds it produces. They feed mainly on fish, but their diet also contains crab or squid. It is estimated that the world population of belugas is around 100,000 individuals, although it is declining. Through history, belugas have been an easy prey for hunting by humans, because of their predictable migration.

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Wednesday 22 November 2006 Common marmoset

The Common Marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), or Cotton Eared Marmoset, is is a New World monkey from Brazil. There are four families of New World monkeys, and the Common Marmoset belongs to the family Callitrichinae. Their size ranges from only 14 to 18 centimeters and weigh around 400 grams. Their diet consists of tree sap, fruit, insects, eggs of birds, flowers and spiders. Common Marmosets have long limbs and tail which they use for climbing and have specially designed teeth for extracting gum from trees. Distinguishing characteristics of common marmosets include white ear tufts, and a white blaze on the forehead.

Image by Raimond Spekking, licensed under GFDL, originally from Wikimedia Commons

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Tuesday 21 November 2006 Asian elephant

The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), is one of the three species of elephant. It lives in areas in India, Southeast Asia, including the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo. It is distinguishable by its smaller size and its smaller ears, compared to African elephants. Small is relative in this case, since the Asian elephant can weigh up to 5000 kilograms and 4 meters in height! Females live in groups, bulls are solitary. The oldest female leads the group and guides their movement in search for food and water. The young hold their mother's or their sister's tail when following the group. If they are in danger, the elephants run with their tails in the air, signalling the other herd members that there is danger. After 15 years, bulls enter sexual maturity, and enter a period called 'musth' each year, in which their testosterone levels soar and they become extemely aggressive. Asian elephants are considered 'endangered' by the IUCN.

Photography by Semnoz, July 2004, licensed under GFDL

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Thursday 16 November 2006 Red fox - widest range of any land carnivore

The Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) has the widest range of any land carnivore, spannin from North America to Eurasia and parts of North Africa. Subspecies exist in Japan. They vary greatly in size, with adults weighing from 2.7–6.8 kilograms, depending on their region. In Europe, the red foxes tend to be larger than in North America. Their diet consists of rodents and other small animals, insects, varied with fruits, and also birds. In Britain, the foxes have adapted to the urban life, scavenging on garbage. When Red foxes reproduce, the female has her own "maternity den" and the male will supply her with food up to and after birthing. They are not considered to be endangered, and are the most widespread and abundant wild carnivore in the world.

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Monday 13 November 2006 Pig-footed Bandicoot

The Pig-footed Bandicoot (Chaeropus ecaudatus) once lived in Australia, but is now extinct. It ranged from Western Australia, through South Australia and the southern part of the Northern Territory, to southwestern New South Wales and western Victoria in a variety of habitatss. It got its name from their forefeet, which had only two functional toes with hoof-like nails. It became extinct in the 20th century, but before that their numbers were declining through the second part of the 19th century. The cause of their extinction remains unanswered. The most destructive species, foxes and rabbits, were introduced later than their decline started. The most plausible reason of their decline is that with the settlement of Europeans in Australia, their habitat changed by introducing livestock and putting an end to aboriginal land-management. The aboriginals before the Europeans settlers burned small areas to provide fresh, regenerated areas, with a new supply of food.

Picture of a pig-footed bandicoot specimen by Peter Halasz, licensed under GFDL.

Links

IUCN 2004. 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

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Sunday 12 November 2006 Donkey or ass

The donkey or ass (Equus asinus) is a member of Horse family. Wild donkeys are only found in Northern Africa and the Arabian peninsula and can become 25 to 30 years of age. Predators of the donkey are lions and wolves. Donkeys have great sense of self-preservation, hence they will not do anything which will put themselves in any danger. This behavior has resulted in donkeys being called stubborn, although this is the result of the misinterpretation of their behavior. A donkey can be cross-bred with a horse to produce a mule or a hinny. A hinny is the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey (jenny). A mule is the offspring of a male donkey (jack) and a female horse. Both are almost always sterile since horses have 64 chromosomes and donkeys have 62, which results in offspring with an uneven 63 chromosomes.

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Thursday 09 November 2006 The Western Long-beaked Echidna

The Western Long-beaked Echidna (Zaglossus bruijni) is one of four living species of Echidnas (The Cyclops Long-beaked Echidna was recently discovered). The Western Long-beaked Echidna species live in New Guinea, but earlier fossils indicate that they once also occurred in Australia. Echidnas are, together with platypuses, the only known mammals that lay eggs. Together, they are placed in the order Monotremata. The difference between the short-beaked echidna and the long-beaked echidna is that the short-beaked eats termites and ants, while the long-beaked echidna eats earthworms. The Western Long-beaked Echidna is listed as endangered by the IUCN. Their main threats are habitat destruction and hunting.

Image licensed under GFDL

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Tuesday 07 November 2006 Tiger quoll - largest carnivorous marsupial of Australia

The Tiger Quoll (Dasyurus maculatus) is a carnivorous marsupial of the order of Dasyuromorphia. It is also known as the Spotted-tail Quoll or the Spotted Quoll and for being the largest carnivorous marsupial in Australia. There are two subspecies: D.m. gracilis and D.m. maculatus. The first is listed as endangered and the last as vulnerable. Male Tiger quolls can reach 7 kilo in weight and grow up to 38 - 76 centimeters in body length while females only reach 4 kilo in weight and 35 - 45 centimeters in length.

Image licensed under GNU Free Documentation License

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Monday 06 November 2006 Yellow-shouldered Fruit Bat

The Yellow-shouldered Fruit Bat (Sturnira lilium) lives in the area from northern Mexico to Uruguay, eastern Barzil and northern Argentina. Most yellow shouldered bat males have patches of orange fur over glands on their shoulders, which give the species their name. These glands are also used to attract females. Its diet consists of fruit, insects and pollen. The yellow-shouldered fruit bat is common to abundant.

Image of the yellow shouldered fruit bat by A. Martin, with permission from Regua.co.uk

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Saturday 04 November 2006 Fossa - hunting lemurs in Madagascar

The Fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) lives on the island of Madagascar, being the largest mammalian carnivore on the island. Although they resemble a crossing between a cat and a dog, it is actually related to the mongoose. The Fossa is very agile and is very adept at hunting lemurs. In the movie Madagascar the lemurs shivered at the mere mention of the Fossae. Together with the Boa constrictor, they are the only predators of lemurs. Apart from the Nile Crocodile, they have no natural predators themselves. Yet the settlement of man and the destruction of their habitat earned the Fossa the status of 'endangered'.

Picture: Photographed by User:Dawson, licensed under ShareAlike License v. 2.5

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Thursday 02 November 2006 Ringtail

The ringtail (Bassariscus astutus) is a member of the raccoon family and lives in the mountains, badlands and forests in southwestern United States to Baja California and southern Mexico (source and range map). It got its name from its black and white striped tail. The ringtail is an agile climber, their ankle joint can turn 180 degrees and can become 7 years of age in the wild. They are most active at dusk and at night, when they feed on insects, squirrels, rodents, rabbits, and occasionally birds, lizards, snakes, frogs, carrion and plants. When ringtails feel threatened, they bristle the hair on its tail, pulling its tail towards its head to look bigger. The scientific Latin name can be translated as cunning little fox.

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Wednesday 01 November 2006 Mountain goat - more related to the antelope family

The Mountain Goat or Rocky Mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) exists only in the Rocky Mountains and the Coast mountains regions in North America. Although it looks like a goat, it is called a goat, it is actually more related to the antelope family. To avoid predators, it can climb rocky cliffs that predators (like the grizzly bear and the cougar) cannot reach. "Mountain goats dig 25-50 mm deep "bedding depressions," where they rest during the mid-day and night. They also dust bathe in these depressions, possibly to remove parasites or shedding skin/hair. These beds have caused damage to certain rare and endangered plant populations in areas of Washington where mountain goats have been introduced. ( source )" About 100,000 mountain goats are estimated to live in North America.

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